Author: The Free Stater

Staff Reporter The former mayor of Nketoana Local Municipality, Mandla Mamba, and two accomplices have been found guilty of fraud, money laundering and contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act by the Bethlehem Serious Commercial Crimes Court. The matter against Mamba, 49, Vincent Mkhefa, 46, and Caroline Nketu, 52, dates back to 2011 when a whistle blower reported alleged tender fraud and corruption at the eastern Free State municipality whose main towns include Lindley, Petrus Steyn, Reitz and Arlington. Judgment in the matter was delivered on Monday and the trio was asked to return to court on December 7 for sentencing. …

Staff Reporter South Africa suffered a 72 percent drop in tourist volumes in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which saw both international and local travel coming to a complete standstill. Tourism Deputy Minister Fish Mahlalela said this in an address at the Central University of Technology (CUT) Hotel School in Bloemfontein recently. “Our numbers went down from 10.2 million in 2019 to 2.8 million in 2020,” said Mahlalela. The provincial tourism department and the CUT hosted a Tourism Month Public Lecture last Friday. The public lecture sought to promote transparent and open dialogue between government and…

Staff Reporter Free State businesses as well as aspiring entrepreneurs have a chance to learn about new opportunities across the globe when business promotions company, MyArts International, hosts the Free State Market Access Expo on Tuesday and Wednesday in Bloemfontein. The event, according to the company, aims to bridge the gap between big businesses, government, diplomatic missions and local entrepreneurs. Diplomats from countries such as the Qatar, USA, Indonesia, Turkey, Kenya, Mozambique, Morocco and others represented in South Africa will be in Bloemfontein for this inaugural event to interact with entrepreneurs from the Free State in order to share information…

We recently had the opportunity of marketing eight bachelor flats in the same complex for an owner. Initially, the owner wanted to sell the flats as a whole but, eventually, we managed to show him the advantages of selling them individually. What was interesting was that a few of them were sold two at a time to the same buyer. It made us realise what a substantial saving can be made if you buy them on a single offer to purchase rather than as two separate deals. Taking a price of say R300 000, the cost of registering each one as…

Staff Reporter The Consulate of the United States of America in South Africa says it is looking at possible ways it could work with the Central University of Technology (CUT) in producing students that that are ready for the job market. The newly appointed US consul general Vincent Spera said this when he visited the Free State institution on Thursday. He said the United States has numerous programmes aimed at ensuring students are taught entrepreneurial skills and exposed to the real work environment at an early stage so that they won’t struggle when they enter the working world. “From a policy…

Staff Reporter The Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Wednesday sentenced Kopano Nelson Tjobo to 15 years’ imprisonment for the murder of his wife, Sefora Tjobo, last year. The court heard that Kopano led Bloemspruit police to an empty reservoir dam in an open veld near the intersection of the R702 and Dewetsdorp Road, where he had killed the woman. Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said in a statement the accused initially misled his neighbours into believing that his wife disappeared with a boyfriend. “He drafted a false letter with a message from a fictitious boyfriend arranging to meet his wife…

Staff Reporter A director of a company called Pit Dog Trading who is facing charges of fraud allegedly committed at Mafube Local Municipality has been granted bail by the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court. Tumahole Jeffrey Mokoena, 42, was released on a bail R7 000 and told to return to court on October 6 when he will appear with his co-accused, Nkabi Andrew Hlubi, 43. Hlubi appeared before the same court last Friday on charges of fraud, uttering and corruption. It is alleged that during 2015, Hlubi who was the acting municipal manager of Mafube municipality, awarded tenders to Pit Dog Trading.…

Staff Reporter Water supplies in Zastron and Rouxville in the Mohokare Local Municipality are set to improve as the municipality, in collaboration with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), is about to complete upgrades to the water treatment plants in the two towns. Municipal officials told journalists during a tour of the two facilities that water treatment capacity in the towns is set to more than double upon completion of the work. The upgrades in Zastron will ensure sustainable water supplies to the residents of the town and an additional 748 households that will benefit from this first phase…

Staff Reporter The Free State High Court has sentenced a man convicted of multiple cases of robbery and rape to 35 years’ imprisonment. John Komane, 34, terrorised residents of Kopanong in Mangaung between 2013 and 2015 where he would commit house robberies, rape his victims and rob them of their valuable belongings. The matter was investigated by Detective Warrant Officer Jan Bezuidenhout of the provincial Serial and Electronic Crimes Unit. Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said in a statement, while investigating the matter, Bezuidenhout noticed that he was dealing with one accused as the modus operandi were the same. …

Staff Reporter Elizabeth Ross Hospital in the eastern Free State town of QwaQwa reported 469 deliveries by girls aged 14 to 19 years old between April 2020 and March this year, the provincial health department said. And from April this year to mid-June, the same hospital reported 109 deliveries by girls within the ages of 15 to 19 years. The Free State Department of Health recently revealed the statistics in QwaQwa during a campaign aimed at discouraging teenage pregnancies particularly by those still in school under the theme ‘Responsibilities of the Young Mother Project’. “The purpose of this project is…