sekhukhune dispatch 29 january 2016

Friday 29 January 2016Year 6 166th Edition Tel: 013 262 4416

Nkosinathi Mashilo (13) is being denied his child rights. The boy hasbeen locked inside a room by his grandmother and aunt. The alarm wasraised by the neighbours to other community members and they later toldthe police and social workers about the incident. But that did not helpNkosinathi as he is still locked inside the house in Matshelapata Section,Moteti Village.African Peoples Socialist Party (APSP) and CPF member in the villageMichael Sepato said the boy's tragedy started after his mother passedaway a few years ago. "Nkosinathi was left in care of his aunt LesegoMashilo when his mother passed away. He was then registered for afoster grant that was processed and approved a few months later. Fromthen, his aunt and grandmother did not want him to leave their sight andstarted to lock him inside the house," he said.He said the boy was urged to drop out of school at lower grades whenhis aunt and grandmother started to lock him inside the house. He addedthat sometimes the boy is left locked inside the house while his grand-mother and aunt are away resulting in him sleeping without anything toeat. "The boy sometimes escapes but they will hunt him down and thatnight he will receive a heavy beating from his aunt and grandmotherbefore they can put him on chains so that he will not escape again," saidSepato. Sepato added that Nkosinathi's aunt is just after his foster grantas he is not providing the boy with anything."Nkosinathi will wear the same clothes everyday and one can see thathe did not take bath for many days. Hunger is always written on the boy'sface at all times. While locked inside, the boy is given a bucket to pee andrelief himself. The room stinks and exposes Nkosinathi to contractdiseases," he said. "They (social workers) told us that the boy'sapplication to the place of safety where he will be attending school hasbeen approved and he will move there soon. Two years have passed andnothing happened. We raised funds in the community to buy Nkosinathiclothes but suddenly they were taken and given to the aunt's childrenby his grandmother." he said.A community member, Qaphela Sithebe, said he knows Gogo DoraMashilo family for many years starting from when they were bothresiding in KZN. "I know the family for a very long time as we come fromthe same village in KZN, we are actually family friends with the Mashilo's.I used to visit them but I stopped after they were accusing me ofinterfering in their affairs when I ask why they lock the boy inside theroom every day," he said.Sithebe said if it happens that Nkosinathi gets a chance to escape, hecomes straight to his house and starts crying. He said in other occasionNkosinathi's aunt came looking for him carrying a leash to tie him up buthe refused to hand the boy over to them and promised to call the policeif they forcefully took the boy, that's when they went away....continues on page 2.

Nkosinathi locked up for grantmoney N k o s i n a t h i

Mashilo inside theroom where hisgrandmother andaunt lock him up.

African PeoplesSocialist Party(APSP) and CPFmember MichaelSepato say socialworkers are drag-ging feet in at-t e n d i n gN k o s i n a t h iMashilo's case.

N k o s i n a t h i ' sgrandmother ,Dora Mashilowho locks the 13year old boy in-side the roomevery day andnight.

2 DISPATCH FRIDAY 29 JANUARY 2016

...continues from P1"He is denied his rights and I demand that hemust be taken to the place of safety because hismind is now disturbed due to the treatment hereceives from his family on a daily basis," hesaid. He said the matter has been reported to thesocial workers and the police in 2013 but noth-ing has been done yet. Sithebe told the Dis-patch that they lost hope in the Limpopo Pro-vincial Government and will now seek assist-ance from Mpumalanga Provincial Governmentofficials. "The government has failed us a lot inthis matter. We lost hope in the social workersworking under Limpopo and we now want totake our chances in our neighbouringMpumalanga where we hope we will be as-sisted," he said. When the Dispatch and com-munity members visited the family, Nkosinathi'sgrandmother, Dora Mashilo said the boy wastaken the night before to North West. But someof the community members requested to seethe boy's room and Nkosinathi was foundlocked inside a empty room in the house witha bucket that he used to relieve and pee and afew blankets. The room was stinky where thebucket was almost full and seems like it was notemptied for days. His granny did not knowwhat to say after the discovery and changedher statemtent saying the boy will be leaving atnight. When asked what he was doing in thelocked room, Nkosinathi said: "My grand-mother and aunt refuse when I want to go andplay with other children. They always lock mein this room giving me a bucket to pee and reliefmyself," he said. The Social Worker handlingNkosinathi's case LL Mavhunga was not avail-able to comment as the Sempupuru Social De-velopment landline rang without anyone pick-ing it up for two consecutive days.

Nkosinathilocked up forgrant money

Drugs Kingpins nabbed inGroblersdal and Marble Hall

The AK-47 ammunition that was recovered by the policewhen searching at one of the suspected drug dealers, JohnMaila in Groblersdal Town.

A riffle and AK-47 ammunition were recovered at JohnMaila's house in Groblersdal.

The Hawks have arrested a well-known drugs kingpin and businessmanin Groblersdal on Friday 22 January. The suspect John Maila (48) wasarrested together with seven other drug kingpins around Groblersdaland Marble Hall during a police operation. The dealers were arrested forallegedly dealing with drugs, possession of unlicensed firearms andillegal ammunitions. The eight were arrested after an investigationconducted by the Hawks for a period of a year. The investigationfollowed after numerous drug related complaints that caused the highrate of crime in the community of Groblersdal and Marble Hall. "Theinvestigation included undercover police who masqueraded as poten-tial clients and bought drugs mostly nyaope from these arrested deal-ers," said the Hawks Spokesperson Lieutenant Robert Netshiunda.He said a number of fourteen transaction amounting to over R50 000 wereconducted before the dealers were arrested on Friday. "The police raidedMaila's house in Groblersdal Town where money and firearms wererecovered. In his house, the police found R70 000 in cash, a policebulletproof vest, a 303 riffle with ammunition and an AK-47 ammunitionand dagga," he said. He said the police continued to search in the storeroom of his business around town where they found an amount of R29000 in cash, an R1 Riffle, AK-47 ammunition and dagga."A total of four firearms, two stolen vehicles and five pieces of gold wereconfiscated by the police. Four of the arrested were Nigerian nationals

A suspected drug dealer, John Maila being arrested atGroblersdal by the Hawks.

and one was Portuguese. Their age ranges from 25 to 49 years. The eightare expected to appear in the Groblersdal Magistrate's Court and MarbleHall Periodical Court on Monday 1 February for formal bail applications.They will be facing charges of drug dealing, possession of unlicensedfirearms, possessions of illegal ammunitions and illegal possession ofgold," he said.

DISPATCH FRIDAY 29 JANUARY 2016 3

After serving just three years in the school, ateacher at Mahlare Secondary allegedly im-pregnated three pupils. As a result, one of thesepupil's future has been shattered after she wasurged to drop out of school to take care of herchild. The other one took a transfer and the thirdone is still attending at the same school. All thethree girls were under the age of 18 when theteacher “fell in love with them”.It is alleged that the teacher was promisingthese girls that they will pass and be promotedto the next grades even if they fail.To make the matters worse, the educator is notsupporting his three children and continuesteaching lessons at the school without anyactions taken against him.This has angered community members atSerithing Village in Ephraim Mogale LocalMunicipality. They demand that the teacher beexpelled as he continues falling in love withother young girls attending the same schoolwhere he impregnated three pupils.A community leader, December Mokomanetold the Dispatch that a meeting was heldbetween the community SGB and staff mem-bers but they were not promising actions tomake sure that the teacher faces the conse-quences of what he has done."We had countless fruitless meetings at theschool but could not reach a concrete solution.He should have been suspended a long time

Teacher impregnatesthree pupils

ago. It is like the school staff and SGB aredefending the teacher," he said.He said the community agreed that they willfollow the procedure by approaching the schoolprincipal and SGB, which resulted in them beingfailed to deal with the matter. He said they willnow take the matter to the MEC for Educationin the province.Mokomane said the teacher is now makingthreatening calls to the victims. "The future ofour children has been destroyed by this teacherand we cannot just sit and do nothing about it.We will continue engaging with the principaland SGB and if they fail, we will take the matterto the office of the MEC for Education Depart-ment in the province," he said.One of the victim's mother who did not want tobe named refused to comment to the Dispatch.She agreed that her daughter has a baby but didnot reveal if the teacher is the father."I don't want to be a part of the negotiations inthis matter. I also deny my daughter to be a partof it," she said.The Limpopo Department of Education Spokes-person Dr Naledzani Rasila said there was nocase reported at the department at the stage."We can't confirm that the incidents happeneduntil they are brought to our attention. Af-fected parents should come forward and opencases against the teacher and that's when wewill intervene in the matter," he said.

A 57 year old Police Officer, Warrant Officer Boshego Joel Seloga was shot and killed at the funeralin Madibong Village near Jane Furse on Saturday 23 January. The Warrant Officer from HlogotlouSAPS in Monsterlus was part of an operation with colleagues from Brits in North West when theywere about to arrest a suspect who was attending the funeral of a villager in Madibong who hadbeen shot and killed a week before. The traced suspect was wanted for the crimes he committedin Brits.When the police apprehended the suspect, he screamed for help and community members rushedto investigate. They then mistook the police officers for being criminals and also suspected thatthey might be involved in the killing of the person who was been buried that day."The police officers were wearing their private clothes that is why the community members didnot notice that they were member of the SAPS. The warrant officer was chased and cornered. Hisservice pistol was forcefully taken and he was shot in the head and died on the scene. WarrantOfficer Seloga was stationed at Hlogotlou Police Station," said the Limpopo Provincial PoliceSpokesperson Colonel Ronel Otto. Otto said 11 people were arrested on Saturday night and earlyhours of Sunday in connection with the killing of the police officer."Ten men and a woman were arrested in the Jane Furse area where the crime took place. Thesuspects are between the ages of 26 and 48. The victim's service pistol with 12 bullets wasrecovered after being dug up where it was buried by the suspects. They are expected to appearbefore the Sekhukhune Magistrate's Court where they will be facing murder charges," she said.Deputy Chairperson of Madibong Tribal Council Kgopotso Morewane said the Tribal Councilis still in shock about what happened. He said they are saddened about both killing incidents andcannot condone killings in the area.He said community members have a feeling that the killing of a police officer receives moreattention than that of a villager who had been killed a week before. He said this is evident aftera chopper has been deployed to search for the killers of the police officer whereas other murdercases do not receive that kind of attention.

Police Officer killed in a Funeral atJane Furse


Stepfather allegedlyrapesdisabled stepdaughter

Thembi Motau (Right), with her disabled daughter AlisonLebo Motau who was allegedly raped by her stepfather whileThembi was away to attend a political seminar in Durban.

A 35 year old man named Themba RichardLebone is out on bail after allegedly raping his21 year old disabled stepdaughter. Now theterrified mother of the victim, Thembi Motaufears that the suspect could come back to harmher family after they laid charges against him. "Ifeel like we are not safe anymore as he is nowwalking free. They should have denied him bailand sentenced him to many years in prison,"she told the Dispatch.The mother of the victim was away when theincident took place at her residence in MotetiVillage. It is alleged that after the mother left, thesuspect came back during the night and rapedthe deaf and muted 21 year old woman.Thembi said her boyfriend took advantage ofher disabled daughter while she was awayattending a political seminar in Durban on 19December."I received a call from my brother telling meabout the incident the following day on Sunday20 December. I couldn’t believe my ears until Irushed to the hospital where my daughter wasexamined and it was confirmed that she wasraped by my boyfriend. She is still traumatizedby the incident and afraid of male persons," shesaid.Thembi added that she did not suspect any-thing bad would happen when her boyfriendgiven her transport money to pay for a taxi fare."I left my three children along with Richard'sother two children who were visiting us forChristmas. I did not think that he can come at myplace as I was not there that night but he pitchedin the aim of raping my daughter," she said.Thembi said the suspect went to the victim'sroom during mid-night and dragged her to themain bedroom where he started undress andraping her. She said her 15 year old son sus-

pected something was wrong when he heard his sister groaning in theroom she was not sleeping in. He went to investigate and find hisstepfather on top of his sister."He immediately went to my parents' place to report the matter. Mybother rushed to my house and find my daughter busted in tears. Thepolice were told but took time to arrive. Themba was arrested after testresults showed that he raped my daughter," she added.She said she never want to see the suspect again in her life after whathe did to her disabled daughter."My daughter did not receive any formal counselling since the incidenthappened and this breaks my heart. She does not want to sleep alone andkeeps on asking whether Themba will come back and rape her again. Iwish that he can be taken back in custody and receive a heavy sentencefor the cruelty he did to my child," she said.

Two former Mpumalanga Party councillors were told to reverse theirstatement after they made it publicly that they are now EFF members.Elias Motsaoledi Ward 11 Councillor Ali Maloba and his PR OupaMotau's announcement was slammed by the Mpumalanga Party Presi-dent William Ramphisa."After a lengthy discussion during the meeting, we agreed with Ramphisathat we must officially withdraw our statement that appeared in theDispatch newspaper on Friday 15 January," said Maloba."I would like to apologies to President Ramphisa and other fellowMpumalanga Party councillors and members for the inconvenience. Asper his advice I will wait for the state president to announce the electiondate before I can jump the ship," he said.Mpumalanga Party President William Ramphisa was not available for acomment as his cellphone rang unanswered.

Former MP councillors toldto apologise after declaring

jumping of the ship

Ali Maloba (left) and Oupa Motau (Right) just after theyrecieved a warm welcoming from the Elias Motsoaledi EFFSub-Regional Coordinator Skhumbuzo Shabba (Centre).


A 31 year old man was sentenced to 12 years inprison at the Motetema Regional Court onMonday 18 January the police said. The ac-cused, Steven Steyn Moganedi was foundguilty of crime he committed on 27 April 2013.He was found guilty of attempted armed rob-bery, possession of illegal firearm and posses-sion of illegal ammunition."The accused and his accomplice attempted torob two victims off their cellphones at gunpoint at Majakaneng Section in Tafelkop Vil-lage. During the incident, the male victim man-aged to grab the firearm from the victim andcalled the police and he was arrested at thescene.His accomplice managed to flee. Moganediwas charged with attempted robbery and point-ing of firearm," said Constable BoitumeloMatlala from Motetema SAPS.Matlala said the accused was undergoing trialsince the arrest until he was sentenced onMonday 18 January."He was sentenced to 8 years for attemptedarmed robbery, 3 years for possession of unli-censed firearm and one year for illegal ammuni-tion. He was also declared unfit to possess afirearm," he said.

Mansentencedto 12 years

A 59 year-old-man named Johannes Makamawas arrested for raping and impregnatinghis own 12 year old child.The man was arrested after the child con-fessed to community members that her ownfather was sleeping with her. A neighbourwho doesn’t want to be named told theDispatch that the Grade 5 pupil was stayingwith her father and siblings after the motherpassed away. It is alleged that the manstarted raping the victim since then until heimpregnated her in March last year. Shegave birth in December."I noticed that the child was abused andconfronted her. After asking her questions,she admitted that her own father is sleepingwith her every day," she said.She said the victim fell pregnant two timesbefore but the father had always taken her todo illegal abortions at private unregistereddoctors. "He always wanted to be with hereverywhere he goes and also giving the childmoney so that she could be quite about therape. We did not suspect anything as she ishis own flesh and blood," she said.She added that sometimes the two were

An unknown suspect is on the run after rob-bing and attempting to rape an 85 year oldwoman. According to the police report, the 85year old granny from Moteti Liberty was sleep-ing when she heard someone forcing entrythrough the door. She immediately woke up andsaw a man standing beside her demandingmoney."According to the reports we received the oldwoman told the criminal that she only has R40.He then tried to rape her but later changed hismind and unzipped his pants and put his penisinside the gogo's mouth just before he fled thescene," said Constable Shipalana, DenniltonSAPS Spokesperson.Shipalana said the matter was reported to thepolice where a docket of robbery and attemptedrape were opened."No one is arrested at the stage and an inves-tigation is underway," she said.

Suspect onthe run afterrobbing and

attempting torape an 85

year oldwoman

Father arrested for rapingand impregnating his 12

year old daughterspending the whole day inside the house.The child ended up never playing with otherchildren."She stopped going to school and the fatherhad also told her not to play with otherchildren anymore claiming that they willinfluence her not to listen to him anymore. Itbecame worse when he stopped her to visitneighbours and going to shops, that’s whenwe started suspecting that something wrongwas going on in that house," she adds.She said the father denied impregnating hischild where the police and social workerswere called to intervene. A paternity testwas conducted in Philadelphia Hospital andproved that the victim's own father wasindeed the father of her child. He wasarrested on the spot.She went on and said: "That's when thevictim revealed that she was impregnatedtwo times before by her own father.I wish he can rot in jail as what he did to thatinnocent child is cruel."The police confirmed that a case of rape wasopened at Dennilton SAPS and the matterwas later transferred FSC Unit in Groblersdal.


A Motetema based business man, Thabo Leshaba engages youngpeople in sport participation to fight the high rate of crime and drug use.Leshaba is the owner of Kotse Investment that operates in GroblersdalTown. The entrepreneur organizes soccer and netball tournaments in thetownship with his main focus is on children of school going age.

Thabo Leshabatackles drugs and

crime through sports

"I started engagingthese young ones insports a few years agoafter realizing that theywere roaming thestreets doing nothingafter school hours.That's when Ipartnered with someof the communitymembers to start asoccer and netballleague to benefit resi-dents. That's when theMotetema Footballand Netball Leaguewere started," he said.Leshaba added thatthis year he is busyengaging localschools where differ-ent sporting codeswill be taking place onWednesdays."Sport activities are nomore taken seriouslyin our community.Most of our schoolsplay importantmatches without wear-ing any soccer or net-ball kits. Even onWednesdays, pupilsare no longer partici-pating in sports but itwas amended by thegovernment as a na-tional sports day," hesaid.He also blames par-ents for not encour-aging their children totake part in sportingactivities."If you can go to pri-vate schools, you willfind every learner par-ticipating in the sport-ing code of theirchoice and when theyplay; their parentscome in numbers tosupport them. But inpublic schools, mostparents don’t evenknow what kind ofsport their children areinterested in," addedLeshaba.He further said, byengaging school prin-cipals, it will be easierto organize trainingsessions everyWednesday wherepupils will be acquir-ing new skills that theywill use in future."Our aim is to have amulti-sports centrewhere children can beexposed to differentkinds of sporting ac-tivities. We want themto recognize sport as acareer that could takethem somewhere in lifein the near future," hesaid.

Under the theme: 'We must put our hands together and fight racism',Kgoshi Mampuru II Day Commemoration was held at Mamone Villagein Jane Furse on Saturday 23 January. The annual celebration of thisBapedi Ba-Maroteng Chief marked the third official government eventscalendar commemoration this year.Dignitaries attended the event included the Minister of CorrectionalServices and Justice Michael Masutha, Limpopo Premier Stanley ChupuMathabatha, MEC Makoma Makhurupetje, Justice and CorrectionalService Portfolio Committee Chairperson Mathole Motshega, Mayor ofSekhukhune District Municipality Mogobo David Magabe and Mayorsof local municipalities in Sekhukhune.Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was in the list of dignitaries but hewas later unable to come. People from different parts of the country camedressed in traditional clothes and filled the Try Again Sports Groundsin Mamone Moshate where the event was held. Kgoshi Mampuru II wasamong the country's first liberation icons that refused to recognise theoppressive hut tax that the colonial government had imposed on African

Mampuru Day commemorated inMamone

households in the 1860s. He was charged withpublic violence and revolt and also the murderof rival leader Sekhukhune. Since his death,Mampuru's remains were not found until today.This led to the current Kgoshi Mampuru III tourge the government to assist the Bapedi tribeto trace the remains of the executed leader sothat he could be afforded a descent burial atMamone Village. Delivering a key note ad-dress, Justice and Correctional Minister MichaelMasutha said it is everyone's responsibility tofight racism. He stressed that people must work hand inhand regardless their origin, religion and skincolour. People were entertained with culturalmusic such as dinaka dance, gum boot danceant the others.

Kgosi Mampuru III urged the govern-ment to assist to trace the remains ofMampuru I who was hanged in Preto-ria Prison in 1881.

Baba FC celebrating after winning asoccer tournament organized byThabo Leshaba in Motetema Town-ship.

Baba ladies are amongst the NetballClubs rewarded after winning in tour-naments at Motetema where ThaboLeshaba is the main organizer andsponsor.


Dennilton SAPS FC hosted Dennilton TaxiAssociation FC for a fitness friendly soccermatch. The two soccer teams clashed at Phila-delphia Sports Grounds in Dennilton onWednesday 20 January and the match startedat 17:h00.When the referee blows his whistle to officiallystart the match, the hosts pressured demand-ing to score an early goal but they were unableto penetrate the defenders. A goal attempt wasmade by SAPS' Vusi when he managed topenetrate the defenders after a counter attack;his shot was saved by a defender in the goal-keeper’s absence.The taxi association made a comeback justbefore the 10th minute when starting to playgood passes resulting in SAPS to concedefouls in the dangerous spot, but failed to con-vert them into goals after being denied by theSAPS goalie.Towards the 15th minute SAPS started domi-nating again and this time they attacked enter-ing the opposition's box. They managed toscore an opener in the 14th minute by Sandile,

Friendly soccer match ends with a 3-3 drawa hanger outside the box after a counter inposition eleven, 1-0 it was to Dennilton SAPSFC.After the goal the visitors started to play longpasses into the SAPS' box, trying to find theirstrikers to score an equalizer. Their efforts offinding an equalizer failed when most of theirshots went off target. Towards the 20th minute,a counter was made by the visitor's Zuma intothe box penetrating the defenders, passing theball to Bidi who was in a good scoring position;he was unlucky when his shot hit the post whilesuccessfully sending the goalie the wrong way.The ball went back to the field offering anotherchance to the visitors to equalize butMkongwana's shot went wide.A few minutes after Dennilton Taxi Associa-tion's dangerous attack, the police made a goodcome back with good passes in the mid-fieldresulting in a counter by Maruma and Vusiwhere the ball ended up by Sandile in the box,his shot went wide facing the goalkeeper.Towards the end of the first half the visitorsattacked and scored a goal in the 44th minute

but the referee already blew his whistle sayingit was an off-side. The first half ended 1-0 toDennilton SAPS FC.In the second half, the taxi association startedby playing good passes dominating the matchdemanding an early equalizer but were deniedby the host playing defensively and not allow-ing them to enter the box.The visitors continued the pressure and startedplaying square passes into the box but weredenied by the SAPS goalkeeper and defenders.This led to many corner kicks conceded bySAPS putting them in danger of being pun-ished and they made no mistake and kept ondenying the visitors scoring goals.Dennilton Taxi Association's pressure did notlast for long when they were punished by SAPSmid-fielder, Manyaka, who scored a secondgoal for his side in the 62nd minute, a counterpenetrating the defenders entering the box andsent the goali the wrong way, 2-0 it was toDennilton SAPS.After the goal the host kept on putting pressureand attacking demanding to extend the lead.They nearly scored a third goal by a substitute,Musasa, whose shot went straight to the up-post when trying to hang the goalie.In the 67th minute, the visitors scored a beau-tiful goal by Bidi, a close range sending the

goalie the wrong way after a counter comingfrom the middle, 2-1 it was. After the goal the taxiassociation improved the pace and started at-tacking frequently. They scored an equalizer inthe in the 73rd minute, six minutes after their firstgoal when Thabang receives a ball in the boxand send the goalkeeper to the wrong way, 2-2 it was on the score board.After an equalizing goal, the visitors continuedputting more pressure on SAPS and led themplay half ground. This led to the SAPS headcoach; Madida Ndala made a few substitutionsto try to score a winning goal. But just in the 81stminute, the taxi association scored a third goalby Thabang, an easy goal when he took his timewhile inside the box and send the goalie to thewrong way, 3-2 it was to Dennilton Taxi Asso-ciation.A few minutes later in the 86th minute, SAPSscored an equalizer by Vusi Sepoto when heplayed a counter with Manyaka penetrating thedefenders entering the box to score an equal-izer. After the goal the host started to dominatethe match and received a free-kick in referee'soptional time. The ball was played into the boxand the ref said game over just before it can beconverted to a goal. The match ended 3-3 whenDennilton SAPS FC hosted Dennilton TaxiAssociation FC.

Dennilton Taxi Association FC just before the start of the friendly match atPhiladelphia Sports Grounds facing Dennilton SAPS FC.

Dennilton SAPS' striker Sandileconrolling the ball during the match.

SAPS coach Madida Ndala was urged to pitch in the field just after the visitorsscored a second equalizing goal.

SAPS' attacking mid-fielder VusiSepoto, on the way to score a thirdgoal to equalize the scores in a matchthat ended with a 3-3 draw.

sekhukhune dispatch 29 january 2016

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