Author: The Free Stater

We are coming up for the end of another busy year and many of us will be going out of town on leave. At the very least you will be closing down for three weeks or if you do keep open your commercial properties will often be in areas where most of the businesses will close down for the year-end break. Many may be faced with security problems, and if you don’t arrange property security before you leave you could face major challenges. Have you booked your full-time security for this period? But it is more than physical security. Have…

Staff Reporter The Bloemfontein Regional Court has transferred the R25-million Nulane Investment case to the Free State High Court of South Africa. A statement issued by Investigating Directorate spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka, after the matter was heard virtually, said a pre-trial conference has been set down for February 23 next year. The warrant of arrest against Nulane Investments employee Dinesh Patel, issued in October by the court after he failed to show up due to ill health, was cancelled. The accused in the matter include Ronica Ragavan who stands accused in her personal capacity and in her representative capacity as a…

There is a recent court case which I think is very important to every trustee and owner in a sectional title scheme. It relates to two very important facts. Firstly, trustees have no authority to accept compromise on levies owed. Secondly, trustees and body corporates cannot amend the basis on which levies are charged except by going through a legal change to the participation quota on the sectional title plans. The matter, Zikalala versus Body Corporate of Selma Court and Another, was heard in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg in May and judgment was delivered on September 23, 2021.…

Staff Reporter A 50-year-old man from Rammolutsi in Viljoenskroon has appeared in court facing allegations of repeatedly raping his 14-year-old step-granddaughter. The man, who was arrested last Sunday and made his initial court appearance this week, will make a second appearance next Tuesday. Free State police said in a statement the man was arrested after the 14-year-old victim finally gathered the strength to inform her grandmother about her ordeal at the hands of her grandfather. “The victim alleged that the first incident occurred in August 2020 when she was at home watching TV in the absence of her grandmother,” reads…

Staff Reporter The official unemployment rate in the Free State grew by 1.6 percentage points to 38.1 percent between July and September this year. Latest figures released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) also indicate that the expanded unemployment rate, which includes people who have given up looking for jobs, now stands at 45.8 percent – an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter. This means of the province’s nearly 1.2 million labour force, only 720 000 people were employed in the third quarter, compared to 723 000 in the previous…

As we have said many times before, managing any business or body corporate takes a wide range of skills and knowledge. Even after over 45 years of managing large and small sectional title schemes, I still learn something new every day. How then do trustees accumulate skills to allow them to guide the sectional title scheme that they are voted to be trustees for? Quite honestly, very few indeed have the knowledge and skills required. I will ask a simple question: how many trustees have ever taken the time and trouble to read the Sectional Titles Act and the Sectional…

Staff Reporter The Bloemfontein Magistrates court has sentenced the former head of the Department of Human Settlements in the Free State to a total of 15 years for corruption and contravening the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). Mpho Moses Mokoena, 61, however, escaped jail after pleading guilty to the offences that took place during the 2010/2011 financial year. Magistrate Rashied Mathews had sentenced Mokoena to 10 years’ imprisonment for corruption and five years for contravening the PFMA but these were wholly suspended after he pleaded guilty in terms of Section 105 of the Criminal Procedure Act. A statement issued by…

Staff Reporter The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has ordered Metsimaholo Local Municipality mayor Selloane Motjeane to resign with immediate effect. Party leader Julius Malema told a media briefing on Thursday afternoon that Motjeane was instructed to step down during an earlier meeting because she would be forced to work with the ANC since they supported her to assume the high office. “We have asked the mayor of Metsimaholo to resign with immediate effect because she became a mayor through the vote of the ANC,” said Malema, as he gave feedback on the party’s performance in the just-ended municipal elections. “We…

Staff Reporter Local events management company Lazy Fair is set to host a charity golf event on Thursday in support of the Bloemfontein Equestrian Centre. Lazy Fair director Martin Nombita told The Free Stater they found it important to assist the organisation because of the work it does to help children with special needs. “The Bloemfontein Equestrian Centre caught our attention with the good work that they do with children with autism and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) through horse riding activities,” said Nombita. “The equestrian centre is truly doing an impressive job. The stalls and horses are high maintenance.…

Staff Reporter Mangaung Metro executive mayor Mxolisi Siyonzana says the ANC will establish long-standing working relationships with all parties in council in a bid to turn around the city and improve the lives of the people. In a brief acceptance speech after being re-elected mayor of the Free State capital after serving for less than three months in the last administration, Siyonzana said the city is faced with a host of challenges which can best be addressed if all councillors work together. “We are going to form cooperation (agreements) with all parties,” he said. The mayor said several topical issues…