Author: The Free Stater

Staff Reporter The Free State Department of Health says its former head Dr David Motau, who appeared in court on Monday facing several criminal charges together with current and other ex-officials as well as some service providers, was never supposed to be charged because he is the one who raised alarm when the impropriety was initially discovered. Provincial health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi told The Free Stater that the former head of department has been wrongly implicated in the matter because he is the one who instructed the department to lay criminal charges against employees who were found on the wrong…

Staff Reporter The former head of the Free State Department of Health, Dr David Motau, together with three other ex-officials, two current officials and five company directors and their companies have appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court facing charges of contravening the Public Finance Management Act, forgery, uttering, fraud, corruption and money laundering. Motau, 54, who resigned from the provincial health department a few months ago, made his initial court appearance on Monday together with Motsumi Polori, 47, and Kenosi Legobate, 45, who are still employees of the department. The other former employees are Mietjies Johns, 63, John Chakane, 65,…

Staff Reporter Illegal power connections in Mangaung have more than doubled over the past year resulting in the local power distributor, Centlec, struggling to keep the lights on in several parts of the city as the network is constantly overloaded. In a detailed written response to questions submitted by The Free Stater, Centlec spokesperson Lele Mamatu said illegal connections in the Free State capital jumped from 248 in 2019/2020 to 559 in the just-ended 2020/2021 financial year. He said the situation had become so grave that it compromised the company’s ability to conform to the required design standards including regulatory…

South African actor and film producer Shona Ferguson has died. He was 47. Conrad Mwanza, a representative from the Ferguson Foundation, confirmed Ferguson died on Friday at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg due to COVID-19-related complications and not a heart operation as earlier reported. “Yes, Mr Ferguson passed away at noon today. And all the family is asking for at the moment is just to mourn in private. But it’s very difficult, you can imagine, for Connie and the family,” Mwanza said. Ferguson was married to actress and producer Connie Ferguson. Born Aaron Arthur Ferguson on 30 April 1974, he started…

Tatjana Schoenmaker scooped South Africa’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games as she won the women’s 200m breaststroke in a world record on Friday morning. Schoenmaker screamed with delight when she caught sight of her two-minute 18.95 second mark, the first individual world record of this gala, and wept with joy as she was congratulated by the American silver and bronze medallists, Lilly King and Annie Lazor, and her fifth-placed Tuks teammate Kaylene Corbett. King, in lane two, set the early pace and had the lead at the halfway mark, but Schoenmaker remained steadfast in executing her strategy,…

Staff Reporter Mangaung Metro has continued to record the highest numbers of new daily cases of COVID-19 in the Free State with the latest figure standing at 207. As of Wednesday, the province recorded 655 new cases over a 24-hour cycle and the metro together with Fezile Dabi district were the only areas in the province with over 200 daily cases. There were 212 new cases in Fezile Dabi while Thabo Mofutsanyana had 115, Lejweleputswa 111 and Xhariep 10. Free State health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi recently said the department was worried daily figures in the province had remained above 500…

I recently discussed the steep rise in the cost of geysers in this column but I have thought it prudent to revisit this important household appliance and focus on the issue of quality. Personally, I don’t think modern geysers are that high quality – at least they seem to need regular replacement. I have lived in my house since 1975 and have only had to replace the geyser once. Geyser prices, like I have said before, have shot up quite significantly. It’s therefore very important to check the cover that you have for it because it’s important to be insured…

Staff Reporter Over 100 000 people aged between 35 and 49 years old in the Free State have registered to be vaccinated against COVID-19 since the opening of the window for the that age group a few weeks ago. Provincial health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi announced this in a brief statement and described it as an indication that people in this age group want to protect themselves against the deadly disease. “We have just passed the 100 000 mark for registrations of 35 to 49,” said Mvambi earlier today. “This is indicative of a growing appetite for the vaccine in this age…

Staff Reporter At least 10 people are behind bars after allegedly stealing diesel from a truck along the N5 highway near Kestell today. The suspects were cornered after about five police units responded to a tip-off about the seemingly well-coordinated criminal operation. Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said teams from Park Road, Selosesha and Phuthaditjhaba Tactical Response as well as Welkom and Bethlehem K9 and Anti-Gang units were deployed to look out for a black Audi sedan that had been linked to the crime. “The . . . vehicle was spotted on the N5 and approached,” said Makhele in…

Staff Reporter Two armed men who robbed an Odendaalsrus business owner of an undisclosed amount of cash and cigarettes yesterday may live to regret their love for gadgets after they dropped a cellphone during the robbery and tried to retrieve it later. Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said in a statement the pair entered a shop owned by a 31-year-old foreign national just before 18:00 and ordered him and his employee to lie down. They allegedly robbed them of an undisclosed amount of cash and cigarettes before fleeing the scene, dropping a cellphone in the process. “Police were alerted…