DEATH OF TWO DAN RADEBE PRIMARY BY POSSIBLE DROWNING @KASIBC_AFRICA

DEATH OF TWO DAN RADEBE PRIMARY BY POSSIBLE DROWNING @KASIBC_AFRICA

ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA

Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of two Grade 5 boy learners from Dan Radebe Primary School in Duduza, Ekurhuleni. 

The two learners, who were close friends and in the same class, are suspected to have drowned after their bodies were discovered in a water pond on Friday, 20 June 2025.

It is alleged that the learners were reported missing on Thursday, 19 June 2025. Subsequently, their bodies were found during a search mission by Emergency Services in a water pond that was reportedly formed by excavations at a nearby construction site, in Duduza. According to the community; this large, rain-filled pit, unsecured and unmarked, has become a hazardous attraction for informal swimming to children in the area.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) is investigating circumstances surrounding this incident.

The GDE’s Psycho-Social Support Unit has been dispatched to Dan Radebe Primary School to provide trauma counselling and support to the affected learners, educators, and families.

“This is a heartbreaking incident. Losing young lives in this manner is devastating not only for the families, but for the school community and the province as a whole. Our sincerest condolences go out to the parents, teachers, classmates, and friends of these learners,” said MEC Chiloane.

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LOTTO R60BILLION CORRUPTION @KASIBC_AFRICA

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ONLINE EDITOR MAKE KASI GREAT 

LOTTO R60BILLION CORRUPTION @KASIBC_AFRICA 

Tomorrow, following the DA’s request, the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) and the Minister of Trade, Industry & Competition, Parks Tau, will appear before the Portfolio Committee in Parliament to answer to numerous concerns surrounding the awarding of the lottery licence to Sizekhaya Holdings. 

This follows revelations of links between Sizekhaya and the Deputy President, Paul Mashatile.

The DA will demand complete transparency from the Minister tomorrow on whether the Deputy President was in any way involved in awarding the R60 billion contract. We will also demand a full record of the Minister’s decision-making process.

After leaving the decision on the tender award to the last minute and jeopardising the functioning of the lottery over the next year, Minister Parks Tau finally awarded the licence to Sizekhaya Holdings. Sizekhaya is reportedly part-owned by Bellamont Holdings, a company co-founded and co-directed by Mashatile’s sister-in-law Khumo Bogatsu and Mashatile’s close associate Moses Tembe. Another ANC-linked businessman, Sandile Zungu, is also involved in Sizekhaya. Sizekhaya was founded just days before the deadline for the lottery licence.

Our request initially came after the NLC lost a court case before the North Gauteng High Court, which found that the process undertaken to award the lottery licence was irregular in terms of the Lotteries Act. The DA has repeatedly raised its concerns about the process undertaken to award the licence, including the political connections of many of the bidders.

The NLC and Tau last week were denied leave to appeal, with costs.

Further, in a very irregular practice, Ithuba Holdings wrote to the Committee raising its own concerns on the lottery licence process.

The DA will not tolerate any malpractice involved, will seek answers and will hold to account all those implicated.

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TOKOLOGO MUNICIPALITY SIU INVESTIGATION @KASIBC_AFRICA

TOKOLOGO MUNICIPALITY SIU INVESTIGATION @KASIBC_AFRICA 

@KASIBC_AFRICA ONLINE EDITOR 

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Tokologo will table a motion to overhaul the municipality’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) policy after a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe was hampered by missing procurement records.

The SIU was mandated to investigate the irregular procurement of 15 High-Mass Lights and the electrification of New Stance Settlement (Mamantelekile) in Boshof, but found that key documents had either gone missing or were deliberately destroyed.

It should be overhauled to prevent the irregular appointments of service providers, especially those that are appointed on an emergency basis without following the due processes of the normal SCM.

The investigation by the SIU revealed that all procurement documents related to the procurement of these 15 High Mass Lights could not be found, as they were either lost or intentionally destroyed to conceal information. The municipal manager opened the theft case at the time, but it yielded no results as the investigation grew cold and investigators were unable to find any leads.

The municipality must, therefore, develop and implement an official policy regarding records management in response to this. Additionally, establish a records department to safeguard all municipal documents, particularly those related to Supply Chain Management, thereby preventing the loss of essential documents in the future.

The municipal manager must take reasonable steps to ensure that complete and accurate records of the municipality's financial affairs are maintained by all prescribed norms and standards.

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NKANDLA STUDENT ACCOMMODATION CRISES @KASIBC_AFRICA

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NKANDLA STUDENT ACCOMMODATION CRISES @KASIBC_AFRICA

The Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) in KwaZulu-Natal welcomes the swift relocation of students from substandard off-campus housing at Umfolozi TVET College's Nkandla Campus to safer accommodation, following DASO’s oversight visit last month which exposed the appalling living conditions.

During an oversight visit to the campus' internal residences and two privately operated student hostels outside of the campus, DASO identified broken infrastructure, cramped living conditions, a lack of security, and general unsafe conditions at the external facilities.

At the most appalling external accomodation, we found that NSFAS was paying R3000 per student for two students to share a tiny room with no running water, broken windows, no security, and broken communal showers - to name a few. Our intervention compelled the University and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to act immediately—students were moved from the worst-off building, and that residence is now undergoing full refurbishment and upgrades.

DASO will maintain regular inspections of student accommodation across KZN to ensure no learner is exploited for profit by unscrupulous service providers. We are determined to expose every facility where safety or dignity is compromised, and to hold landlords and operators to account.

Nationally, the DA has launched a campaign to end the student accommodation crisis. If you’re a student living in unsafe or unfit conditions, share your story via our portal at https://FixStudentRes.da.org.za and help us shine a light on the real challenges you face.

No student must be left behind. DASO and the DA will continue fighting for safe, dignified housing so that every learner can pursue their studies in an environment that supports—not undermines—their success.

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DISSOLUTION NGWATHE COUNCIL @KASIBC_AFRICA

DISSOLUTION NGWATHE COUNCIL @KASIBC_AFRICA

DA welcomes court-ordered dissolution of Ngwathe Council over service delivery collapse

 

The Democratic Alliance welcomes the ruling handed down by Judge JP Daffue in the Free State High Court, ordering the immediate dissolution of the Ngwathe Local Municipality’s Council and compelling the Free State Provincial Government to intervene under Section 139(5) of the Constitution.

This ruling confirms what the DA and the residents of Ngwathe, including the towns of Parys, Heilbron, Koppies, Vredefort, and Edenville, have long known: the municipality is completely dysfunctional and has failed in its constitutional obligations to provide even the most basic services, including access to water, sanitation, and infrastructure maintenance.

We commend AfriForum and the Save Ngwathe Group for taking decisive action where both local and provincial ANC governments failed to act. The judgement highlights the prolonged collapse of governance and the shocking inaction by the MEC for COGTA and the Free State Executive Council, despite clear constitutional duties to intervene.

The DA now calls on Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae to implement the court’s orders without delay:

Dissolve the Ngwathe Municipal Council;

Appoint a competent administrator;

Approve an urgent financial recovery plan and budget to restore basic services.

We will monitor the progress reports the Premier is ordered to submit every three months and will not hesitate to take further legal or political action if there is any attempt to delay or obstruct the implementation of the recovery measures.

This court victory is a major milestone in the broader fight against ANC-induced local government collapse across the country. We stand with the residents of Ngwathe, and we remain committed to restoring dignity, accountability, and quality service delivery at local government level.

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MPUMALANGA LIFESTYLE AUDITS BLOCKED @KASIBC_AFRICA

While the Mpumalanga Provincial Government, and Premier Mandla Ndlovu, are refusing to do lifestyle audits on all senior government officials in the province, six out of ten Heads of Departments (HODs) are currently being investigated, suspended, or implicated in financial misconduct.

During a sitting of the Mpumalanga Legislature on Friday, the DA introduced a debate calling on Premier Ndlovu and his administration to urgently conduct lifestyle audits on all departments HODs, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), the Secretary of the Legislature, all senior procurement officials, senior Parastatals officials, and all managers within the Provincial Government and Municipalities. 

The DA’s call for such drastic, but necessary action, was triggered by reports that six out of ten department’s HODs in the province, are currently under investigation or suspended for financial misconduct. Implicated HODs are from the following departments: 

Education 

Sports, Culture and Recreation 

Agriculture 

Public Works 

Safety and Security 

Human Settlements 

The DA stated that the above-mentioned investigations and suspension of these senior accounting officers are good enough reasons for the Premier and his administration to conduct lifestyle audits on all senior officials who are directly or indirectly responsible for taxpayers' money in municipalities, provincial government departments, and parastatals. But to the DAs surprise, the ANC majority in the legislature decided to racialise the issue instead of agreeing to the lifestyle audits.

It seems that the DA opened Pandora's Box by introducing this debate. The ANC reacted with their backs against the wall and blamed "colonialism" and "white people not accepting that black people can be successful and have money". 

The ANC decided to ignore the fact that it is their MECs themselves that are currently investigating financial misconduct against these HODs; not the DA. Ironically, the EFF abstained from the debate.

Instead of allowing processes that will help the government in the fight against malpractice, corruption, and self-enrichment, the ANC decided to play the race card.

The DA will continue to fight corruption. But refusing to conduct lifestyle audits on the people responsible for taxpayers' money, the ANC showed their true colors. They simply don’t have the intention of fighting corruption within their ranks.

ILLEGAL GAMBLING CRISES NEEDS SPECIALIST DIGITAL AND INVESTIGATIVE SKILLS @KASIBC_AFRICA

RISE Mzansi has taken its fight against illegal gambling, and for gambling reforms to the country’s law enforcement agencies. We can today reveal that work is being done at the level of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI or Hawks) to end the scourge of illegal gambling in South Africa. We will not rest until there are gambling reforms in South Africa.

The Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, in reply to a RISE Mzansi written parliamentary question has stated that, over the last five-years:

36 illegal online gambling cases were reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS) 39 arrests were made in illegal online gambling cases

22 arrests resulted in convictions, in illegal online gambling cases, however 13 suspects had charges withdrawn in court

32,906 cases of illegal “land-based” gambling were reported to the SAPS

 

It is clear from the above that illegal gambling is fast becoming a priority crime, with the online form of gambling beginning to rear its ugly head.

RISE Mzansi is encouraged that illegal gambling is on the radar of the SAPS and Hawks.We are also given a sense of peace that the Police Minister Mchunu has stated that he is working with stakeholders such as the National Gambling Board (NGB) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and other Government Departments.

In a separate reply to a RISE Mzansi written parliamentary reply, the custodian of gambling legislation, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), Parks Tau, worryingly stated the NGB only has two people dedicated to deal with the crisis of illegal gambling websites, with an allocation only R596,000 to deal with an industry worth over R1Trillion. The paltry amount of R596,000 must also cover the costs of travel and Legal Enforcement Forum Meetings for the 2025/25 financial year.

Moreover, DTIC Minister Tau stated that the NGB Database indicates that 90 illegal gambling websites are operating in South Africa; and of those 90, ten were forwarded to Google for their removal, but to-date they remain up and running.

With regards to online gambling, Police Minister Mchunu has indicated that there were problems surrounding the validity of the search warrants, an issue that requires further probing.

It is clear that the SAPS, NPA and DTIC require specialist digital and investigative capacity to deal with illegal gambling, which not only steals money owed to the Government , but it also threatens the livelihoods of South Africans.