City of Tshwane – Page 6

Transforming Pretoria’s heritage landscape continue

On Friday, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa gave a report-back on work being done to transform South Africa’s heritage landscape. He noted it was necessary to continue to dismantle the apartheid social structure, including the removal of colonial and apartheid-era monuments and place names. The process initiated by Mthethwa in 2015 was a response to incidents surrounding statues in public spaces, after the demand for the removal of a statue of Cecil John Rhodes at the University of Cape Town. It sparked a national debate over the transformation of the heritage landscape to foster a new national identity. Among the resolutions taken was that there was a need to create civic awareness and national consciousness using shared symbols such as the flag and national anthem, while offensive names and other "symbols of hate" should be removed. However, this did not mean every old name and statue had to be removed. Where such symbols reflected separate histories, an i…

Social media posts hamper Pretoria cash heist probe

False information on social media following a daring heist on the N4 on Friday was hampering investigations, police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo said on Monday. He said some dishonest social media users were spreading misinformation that three suspects were later caught, shot and killed by the police. He warned that some people were misleading the public by posting photographs on social media. “Concerned citizens who sought justice need not be entertained by such reports, but work with the police to help catch the culprits.” Masondo was speaking on the incident which happened last week in which nine men armed with rifles shot at a G4 Security vehicle, forcing it to stop, on the N4 between Ga-Rankuwa and the R80. The suspects then overwhelmed three security officers out of the vehicle before using explosives to destroy the truck. Masondo said the security officers were not harmed in the process and the private companies involved in the cash-in-transit he…

Teetuin by die Sammy Marks-museum moet deure sluit ná 25 jaar

Eers het die Pretoria Boeremark by die Pioniersmuseum in die slag gebly, toe is dit Tant Miertjie se kombuisrestaurant by die Willem Prinsloo-museum wat sy deure moet sluit. Nou is die nuutste slagoffer van Ditsong Museums van Suid-Afrika glo The Rose Garden-teetuin by die Sammy Marks-museum, wat sy deure ná 25 suksesvolle jare moet sluit. Volgens Werner Weinbeck (74), eienaar van die teetuin, is dit vir hom vreeslik hartseer om sy deure nou ná al die jare te sluit omdat Ditsong Museums glo besluit het om die teetuin op tender uit te sit. Werner Weinbeck, eienaar van The Rose Garden-teetuin by die Sammy Marks-museum, moet sy gereelde klante nou ná 25 suksesvolle jare groet. “Hierdie was my plek. Dis so mooi en rustig hier by die museum. Ek het elke dag met ’n lied in my hart kom werk. Dis die einde van ’n baie goeie hoofstuk in my lewe. Ek is verpletter, maar ek het nie ’n ander keuse as om aan te beweeg nie,” sê Weinbeck. Benewens die teetuin het Weinbeck ook…

Oom Paul statue excluded from monument; EFF threat to topple it

OOM Paul’s statue at Church Square is the subject of debate yet again, after the city council resolved to support a motion by the EFF that it be excluded from the Lalela Freedom of Expression Monument. However, there is still no mention of whether the statue will be removed or not. The resolution was passed during a council sitting on Thursday. It was opposed by the ANC, which said this would be “against the party policies on statues and heritage”. Last year, mayor Solly Msimanga said Church Square would be transformed into a place of open-air entertainment, called the Lalela Freedom of Expression Monument. Work has already started at the historic site. Msimanga said the Lalela project was aimed at bringing about vibrancy in public activities in the inner city. At the time, he said the statue would remain in place as the inner city regeneration project changed the face of Church Square around it. EFF councillor MoAfrika Mabogwane proposed that Paul Kruger’s st…

Nehawu to intensify Unisa strike, may spread to Tuks

WORKERS at the University of Pretoria could soon join their Unisa counterparts in a strike for higher wages, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) said yesterday. As the strike at Unisa entered its fourth day yesterday, Nehawu threatened to intensify its strike and mobilise members at other universities. Nehawu national organiser for higher education Ntsako Nombelani said this was not Unisa’s fight alone and next on the list to strike would be its members at Tuks. They too, according to Nombelani, were at loggerheads with the university with their wage rates. “In the next couple of weeks the strike will hit Tuks,” he said. Workers affiliated to Nehawu at and Tshwane University of Technology managed to score them themselves a good deal during negotiations last year. They agreed on a 7% hike, coupled with numerous benefits. Nombelani said that university was safe from the wage-related strikes. At Unisa, students were yet again hit as s…

ANCYL, Vat Alles workers vow to bring Pretoria CBD to a standstill

No application had been received by Monday night for Friday’s planned shutdown of the city spearheaded by the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) Greater Tshwane region. Mayoral spokesperson Samkelo Mgobozi said: “We are aware of the planned shutdown. However, no application has been received to our knowledge and thus the march will be unprotected and illegal.” Mgobozi said the DA-led administration hoped there would be no loss to life or limb, or damage to property, and that proceedings would be conducted within the ambit of law. Metro Police spokesperson Nonhlanhla Mgiba also confirmed that no application had been received for the planned march. Mgiba said the City had only received a request for a march by former Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees. Mgiba said the ANCYL march had not yet been approved due to requirements still pending. However, the route to be taken would be communicated once the march was approved. “Should this march be approved, the …

Pretoria bus with passengers hijacked during feud between taxi operators

A bus with passengers was hijacked in Pretoria on Tuesday afternoon after a feud between several taxi operators on the city's express bus service. Sheila Lynn Senkubuge, Mayor Committee on Roads and Transport, said on Wednesday that the A Re Yeng bus was allegedly hijacked by "double crossed " bus drivers who disregarded an agreement between the Tshwane metro and three taxi ranks. The company entered the agreement with the taxi associations of Hammanskraal, Stinkwater and Eersterust in December 2017. According to the company, taxi drivers are reimbursed to no longer enter the city center, but to pick up and drop off commuters at a newly built taxi and bus stop at the Wonderboom Junction shopping center at R17 per ride. From Wonderboom Junction, commuters will then be transported with A Re Yeng buses to the city center at R8 per ride. This agreement was implemented on January 8. "On Tuesday afternoon, taxi drivers from all three taxi associations refused to take pass…

Slagpale in Pretoria gesluit ná bakterie in vleismonsters gevind word

Die Gautengse department van Gesondheid het ‘n slagpale in Pretoria gesluit na vleismonsters van dié slagpale positief getoets het vir die Listeriose bakterie. Die slagpale mag nie enige produkte verkoop tot hulle aan die vereistes van die departement voldoen nie. Dit sluit in dat die bron van die organisme bepaal word, ontsmetting van die perseel plaasvind en monsters van die werksoppervlaktes en water voor en na ontsmetting gedoen word. Vroeër vanjaar het die Nasionale Departement van Gesondheid ‘n uitbraak van Listeriose aangekondig na ten minste 365 gevalle van dié toestand en 28 sterfgevalle aangemeld is. Die departement van Gesondheid het die afgelope tyd hard gewerk om die bron van die uitbraak vas te stel. Na ‘n pasiënt onlangs met die toestand gediagnoseer is, kon die department die bron van die besmette vleis na die betrokke slagpale in Pretoria naspoor. Die Gautengse Department van Gesondheid het ook monsters ook aan die “National Institute for communicalble…

Passasiers kaap glo 2 Prasa-treine by Hercules-treinstasie in Pretoria

Twee treine van die Passasierspooragentskap van Suid-Afrika (Prasa) is glo Dinsdagoggend by die Hercules-treinstasie in Pretoria gekaap deur passasiers wat na Saulsville wou reis in plaas daarvan om terug te keer na Koedoespoort. Luidens ’n verklaring van die vervoervakbond Untu het die passasiers die treinspoor omstreeks 07:00 vol betonblokke gepak waarna hulle die drywers gedwing het om na Saulsville te ry. Volgens Louwrens Erasmus, wat die pendeltrein tussen Koedoespoort en Hercules beman het, het hy uit sy kajuit geklim om in die teenoorgestelde kajuit te klim toe die passasiers hom voorgekeer het en hom gedwing het om aan te hou ry. “Ek het besef ek moet saamwerk of ek en my Metro-wag gaan seerkry. Toe ek uit die kajuit klim om in die ander een in te klim op na Koedoespoort toe het die ontstoke passasiers my teruggedruk en betonblokke op die spoor agter die trein gepak. Ek het vir my lewe gevrees en daar was geen Prasa-veiligheidswagte in sig nie,” het Erasmus, wa…

Is that Pretoria ‘pap and vleis’ being made with donkey?

The slaughter of donkeys has raised concerns about consumers being duped when ordering “pap and vleis” from vendors on the outskirts of Pretoria. Three men caught driving a Citi Golf‚ loaded with buckets and refuse bags of freshly slaughtered donkey meat‚ appeared in the Ga-rankuwa Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of livestock theft. Zimbabwean national Mgcini Dube was denied bail while local residents Stephen Sepeng and Collen Molapo were released on bail of R1‚000 and R500 respectively. The trio were arrested on November 29 when an off duty police captain spotted a suspicious vehicle making a U-turn. SPCA inspector Mishack Matlou was shocked when he arrived at the scene of arrest‚ after the organisation was contacted by the police. "The meat was packed in buckets and refuse bags. We are still investigating as to how we could add cruelty to animals to their charges because the donkeys are killed in the most horrible way‚ sometime hacked with pangas‚" he s…