Author: The Free Stater

Staff Reporter The Free State is once again commanding the top spot in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations after recording an 85.7 percent pass rate for the 2021 academic year. The province improved by 0.6 percentage points from 2020 when it achieved 85.1 percent. This is the sixth time the province has come first since 2013 and the third consecutive lead since 2019. Announcing the matric results on Thursday evening, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the national pass rate improved by 0.2 percentage points to 76.4 percent, including progressed learners. Without the progressed learners, the overall pass rate…

While interest rates are set to rise in 2022, the rise is likely to be very mild. This still means that buying your own flat or townhouse is far better in the short to medium term and definitely a real winner in the long term. With current rentals for nice two-bedroom flats being around R6 000 per month, it is still most often cheaper to buy than to rent. This is in absolute terms because the cost of a bond plus the levy payments is still often below the rental. A bond of R6 000 means that you could get…

Staff Reporter The Department of Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA) has promised to work closely with struggling media organisations in the Free State in order to see how best it can support them as they are a key stakeholder in the province. DESTEA MEC Makalo Mohale told a media briefing held on Tuesday in Bloemfontein that his department will prioritise finding ways to assist the local media. “We remain a government that believes so much in the local media . . .” said Mohale during a briefing to provide a detailed update on the Free State…

Staff Reporter The Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Tuesday postponed a case against 27-year-old Mokheseng Jafta Mofokeng who is accused of breaking into the SABC premises in the Free State capital in the early hours of Sunday. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Free State spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said, in a brief statement, the case was postponed to January 25 for further investigations. Tuesday’s proceedings were held in the absence of the accused as he is currently in hospital where he is recovering from a gunshot wound. He is facing charges of business burglary, trespassing and malicious damage to property. It is alleged…

Staff Reporter A man has been shot and wounded after he was found inside the SABC building in Bloemfontein in the early hours of Sunday. In a statement, SABC Free State regional operations manager Mandla Mbusi says when a security guard came from patrol, he saw a man through the security cameras from the control room on the studio side. The officer, according to Mbuli, investigated the apparent security breach and that is when the intruder fought with the guard. The officer called for a backup and the intruder was shot. Police were then called in. The incident becomes the…

Staff Reporter Late applications by some parents with children entering the foundation phase or starting high school has seen over a thousand learners failing to start school on time this week as they are yet to be placed at different schools across the Free State. Provincial education department spokesperson Howard Ndaba told The Free Stater that at least 121 Grade R learners, 374 Grade 1 learners and 1 144 learners starting Grade 8 at public schools had not been placed when the academic year resumed this week. He said following an oversight and monitoring visit conducted by the provincial government,…

Commissions of inquiry have been a feature of political life in South Africa since 1994. However, the Seriti and Zondo commissions arguably represent the most explicit evidence of the scourge of corruption in democratic South Africa. The Seriti inquiry into the arms deal, which cost R137 million, was handed over to former President Jacob Zuma in 2016. This commission found no evidence of the 1999 arms deal corruption. However, Justice Raymond Zondo would hand over one of his three reports to President Cyril Ramaphosa in early January six years later. Despite their similarities – their role in investigating allegations of…

In a recent case in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), it was confirmed that there are limits to what a body corporate can do. One thing that they cannot do is to stop an estate agency from working in a building or complex. This arose from an owner who long leased his unit via an estate agency with the agreement that the tenant could sublease to tenants on short leases – think Airbnb. Obviously, this caused some serious problems as these overnight tenants did not behave as was expected by the other owners. They had noisy parties and there…

Staff Reporter The Free State Provincial Government will officially hand over the Vrede Dairy Integrated Farm Project to approved beneficiaries on Friday after the black empowerment project was mired in controversy for close to nine years when it failed to take off as planned. About 65 black farmers are expected to take over the running of Krynaauwslust Farm situated in the small agricultural town of Vrede in line with the recommendations given by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane in December 2020. Premier Sisi Ntombela will preside over the ceremony, according to a statement issued by her office. The project, meant to…

Staff Reporter One of Mangaung’s most wanted criminals facing numerous charges of rape has been arrested. Police spokesperson Sergeant Peter Kareli said the 34-year-old suspect was arrested after two weeks of tracking and tracing by a dedicated team of police officials. The Mangaung Tracing Intervention Task Team cornered him in the city just after midday on Thursday. “He has been on the wanted list for the past 13 years and was arrested after he was linked through DNA,” said Kareli. “It is alleged that the suspect surprised his victims by sneaking from behind and grabbing them by the neck, threatening…