23 March, 2018 beateditor@gmail.com | Website: thebeat.linmedia.co.za
NEWS
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Most popular Sayinyova laid to rest TK Mashaba The most recognisable white police officer in the township in Bela Bela, Warrant Officer Thomas Jacobus van Blerk – affectionately known as “Sayinyova” – was laid to rest last Friday 16 March. Speaker after speaker testified that Van Blerk would be solemnly missed by his colleagues and the broader community, with particular reference to the local township. The reference “sayinyova” was borrowed from a mid-1980s political chant, meaning the deliberate destruction of State property at the height of political unrest. Bela-Bela SAPS head of detectives, Lieutenant-Colonel Abel Phetla paid a moving tribute to Van Blerk, who had joined the police force in 1982, holding the rank of a constable. Phetla said the popular “Sayinyova” was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1994.
Colonel Lindi Marx during the burial. Photo: TK Mashaba.
The detective head said Van Blerk was a dedicated police officer who served the SAPS with aplomb. Van Blerk was also popular for his master of a number of African languages. With a career dating back to the Apartheid-era SAP, Van Blerk was also known, controversially so, for the dedicated pursuit of political activists of yesteryear such as the late Sam Makhubela. But still township folk this week continued to talk in glowing terms about his unwavering commitment, and how he easily switched to work under the Democratic government of Nelson Mandela. Phetla explained that at the height of his career as a member of the latter-day SAPS, the deceased was good at investigating high-profile cases such as murder and culpable homicide. Bela-Bela SAPS station commissioner, Colonel Lindi Marx, added that Van Blerk was a hard-working officer, with a special kindness to his colleagues.
Taximen descend on Bela-Bela for Bra Musa Mashugu’s burial The late Mashugu (right) in a file picture from the WATA archives. Photo supplied. Lizzy Bapela Scores of mourners from all walks of life paid their last respects to the late Bela-Bela taxi operator, Musa Mashugu, otherwise known as Bra Musa, on Sunday 18 March. His family have confirmed he died of natural causes. He started working as a taxi driver for the Warmbaths Taxi Association (WATA) in 1991, and rose to the status of a fullyfledged operator in 2006. He served two terms in the association’s executive committee as a training officer. Mashugu also served on the taxi associations’ forum which looked into the problems members, operators and
associations face on a daily basis. He is survived by five children. Nduna and Nese Mashugu have also been in the taxi industry for more than five years, and said they have enjoyed working with their father. Condolences poured in from the entire taxi industry including WATA and other associations, colleagues, neighbours and friends. Among them was prominent taxi operator, Jabulani Tswago, who expressed sadness and heartbreak over Mashugu’s passing. “I lost a man who meant much more to me than a friend. I recruited him from his previous job to join the taxi industry, and we grew up together,” he said. Tswago said Mashugu had one taxi operating locally and when he spoke to him on the day he passed, he was planning on bringing a second one into the fleet.
EFF considers motion of no confidence against mayor Andries van der Heyde The EFF in Bela-Bela has given notice to the Bela-Bela Local Municipality that they are considering a motion of no confidence against Bela-Bela Mayor Jeremiah Ngobeni. Sello Moswoeu, the local EFF councillor, demanded that land and housing issues in the town be addressed, but alleged the mayor was “slow in getting it done”. Moswoeu was charged for trespassing last year after EFF supporters attempted a land-grab outside of town next to Alma Road. A court case against him was still pending and he was scheduled to
appear before the Bela-Bela Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday 27 March. In his notice to bring a motion of no confidence, Moswoeu said during the previous council meeting in January, it was noted that council took a resolution to request the department of cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs (CoGHSTA) to purchase land on behalf of the municipality for residential purposes. The land in question is the remainder of portion 147 of the farm Roodekuil 496 KR near Extension 10 and 12 of the Bela-Bela Township. According to Ngobeni, other land can also be considered to meet the housing demands. A Reconstruction and Development
Bela-Bela mayor meets BBTF TK Mashaba Both Bela-Bela mayor Jeremiah Ngobeni and the Bela-Bela Taxpayers Forum (BBTF) chairman, Johan Mills, have confirmed meeting last Thursday 15 March. The meeting was a direct sequel to fullpage BBTF advertisements published in both The BEAT and our sister newspaper, The Post. Mills had initially placed it on record the BBTF had formally asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene in alleged maladministration in the town. On Monday 19 March mayoral spokesperson, David Raborolo, confirmed the meeting between Ngobeni and Mills had indeed taken place.
However, Mills moved swiftly on the same day, saying the mayor had dismissed everything with regards to the adverts as untrue. The community-based BBTF pressure group, Mills said, would go ahead with strategies to put the squeeze on the mayor and the Bela-Bela Local Municipality. In the advert, Mills placed on record that correspondence had been dispatched to the President of the Republic “taking him up on his promise to ensure a clean and honest administration.” Mills said the BBTF further asked Ramaphosa to help “his” town, Bela-Bela, in the struggle for economic survival against “a reckless, lawless, spendthrift municipal management.” Ramaphosa owns a game farm on the outskirts of Bela-Bela.
Programme (RDP) has been ongoing in Extension 9 in the Bela-Bela Township since last year. CoGHSTA approved 200 dwellings to be built and handed over to beneficiaries, where another 500 houses are to be built in the next financial year. The EFF’s argument for the motion of no confidence is that the mayor allegedly failed to implement what was discussed at the council meeting, according to the EFF’s letter. Moswoeu demanded that Ngobeni make available his correspondence between himself and CoGHSTA on this matter within a set timeframe, otherwise the EFF would write to Zachariah Moeletsi, the Speaker, to table a motion of no confidence, and that it be added to the
agenda of the next council meeting. The next council meeting was scheduled for Friday 23 March. Ngobeni said in an interview no timeframe for the said purchase of land was ever discussed, but that the executive committee was mandated to write to CoGHSTA. Ngobeni said he will make the correspondence between him and CoGHSTA available on a later stage and until the basic services issues are met. “There is no (need for a) rush,” he said. “As for the motion of no confidence, I believe it is our responsibility to do so, so that people can see that we are holding government to account,” Moswoeu said.
Case dropped against Ledwaba Andries van der Heyde The court case against Henriëtta Ledwaba, the chief whip and former mayor of BelaBela, was withdrawn on Friday 16 March. Ledwaba was charged with crimen injuria in 2017 after she allegedly made defamatory remarks about a local woman. Since she was charged, quite a few ANC supporters attended court to show their support for Ledwaba. The case was set for trial on Friday 16 March, but it was announced that the charges against Ledwaba had been withdrawn. The withdrawal was a sequel to mediation
which took place between Ledwaba and her accuser. Abraham Mohlabe, the state prosecutor, as well as presiding magistrate Gerrit Olivier, agreed to the mediation. The magistrate warned Ledwaba that it should be for the last time she appeared before the court on a similar charge. Ledwaba told The BEAT afterwards that she was displeased with the outcome of the case. “I will never insult people publicly because I know I am a public figure, and I do not know how it came to this,” she said. She said she was weighing her options whether to consider legal action against her accuser.