As President Ramaphosa announced the Level 2 restrictions tonight, one could feel the country shake as people jumped up in jubilation! The whole country is moving to Level 2 and with restrictions being lifted, life is slowly but surely coming back to “normal” or the new normal we have become accustomed to.
This is what is allowed under Level 2 lockdown:
The National State of Disaster has been extended to 15 September.
Restaurants may remain open with a curfew from 10 pm – 4 am.
Alcohol may be served in all licenced restaurants.
The number of guests remains limited to prevent spread of the virus.
The number of people in stores restaurants etc. still remains limited to ensure the prevention of spreading the virus. Although interprovincial travel has been opened, international travel is still banned and borders will not open as of yet.
It has been a long wait but it seems like everything is going back to the new normal.
The SANBS urges you to keep Blood stocks up. Be a Hero, It’s in your Blood!
Following a successful run during stages five and four of the national lockdown, the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) has started to see a decline in their blood stocks. The SANBS is, therefore, appealing to all blood donors to continue to donate blood to increase the current blood stock level.
With very little blood available, this will have a severe impact on the patients who rely on lifesaving blood transfusions. “Whenever our blood stocks reach below two-days, it places the lives of patients at risk. The lives of a haemorrhaging mother, newborn babies, accident victims, cancer-fighting patients and thousands of other patients in need of a blood transfusion,” said Silungile Mlambo, SANBS Chief Marketing Officer.
Your blood will make a difference
The SANBS needs to collect 4 000 units of blood a day to meet the daily demand for blood. “This is an urgent call to all who are eligible, willing and able to donate blood to give the gift, as you have consistently done in the months that have passed,” Mlambo pleaded.
Don’t let South Africa run out of safe blood. Donate today.
A blood donation gives patients a second chance with their loved ones. Another Christmas to remember, another summer holiday at the beach.
Everyone is called to please continue to visit their nearest blood donor centre or mobile blood drive. It’s more than just one unit of blood. It is a move that can save up to 3 lives. 30 minutes, 4 four times a year, is all it takes to make a monumental impact on the lives of others.”
• Consider your blood safe for transfusion to a patient
• Commit to donating blood regularly
To find out more about where you can donate blood, visit sanbs.org.za or call 0800 11 90 31. Connect with us on Twitter (@theSANBS), Facebook (@SANBS) and Instagram (@thesanbs).
Don’t let South Africa run out of safe blood. Donate today.
Rita Meyer is a well-known name in town. She has helped many people through her Psychotherapy practice and is also a Fibromyalgia. But now she is fighting back 1 day at a time through Equine Therapy.
Fibromyalgia is a long-term (chronic) condition. This condition can be hard to understand, even for healthcare providers. Its symptoms mimic those of other conditions and there are not any real tests to confirm the diagnosis. As a result, fibromyalgia is often misdiagnosed.
Rita studied her Degree in Social Work at the University of Pretoria where after she finished her master’s degree in Clinical Health through UNISA.
Rita and one of the ponies at a therapy session
Her first job was working in the prison service. Soon after that she worked at the Sterkfontein psychiatric hospital and at a clinic for alcohol and drug abuse. After all the experience she accumulated through those years she decided it was time to open her own practice in Benoni.
After opening the practice in Benoni Rita and her husband decided to move to Secunda.
Secunda was familiar territory for Rita as she grew up on a farm in Leslie.
During the lockdown, a friend of Rita’s mentioned that her son was riding at the stables at Lake Umuzi. Her friend told her that Susan, the owner of the horses is looking for a therapist to work with people by using the horses as a therapeutic outlet.
Equine Therapy at Lake Umuzi
Rita contacted Susan and they immediately got a long very well. They decided to start with equine therapy. Rita would be able to assist her patients and help them reach their goals through this.
Rita studied Equine Therapy through online courses and she is still continuing with more courses to be better equipped to assist her patients.
Equine Therapy, also known as Equine-Assisted Therapy (EAT), is a treatment that includes equine activities and/or an equine environment in order to promote physical, occupational and emotional growth in persons suffering from many mental health and health problems.
“With the horses you do not have to speak. You can just be with a horse. They are incredibly smart animals and they feel what you feel,” said Rita.
She continued: “With the Fibromyalgia this type pf therapy helps a lot. People can get out of the house and walk around. The horses help with the Fibromyalgia because the horse can feel your pain.”
Are hospitals more dangerous because of COVID-19? Evander Hospital certainly became a place to avoid!
We all tend to think that a hospital is a safe place. One that we go to when you are ill or have an emergency.
During the COVID-19 pandemic it became clear that hospitals are increasingly dangerous places to be.
Mrs S Gwarube from the DA asked the Minister of health (in parliament) the following:
What total number of field hospitals have been built in each province since 1 March 2020.
The answer is simply shocking.
On June 26 the Minister replied that none were built in Mpumalanga.
Answer from Minister of Health on the readiness of Field Hospitals
The reporting from the Mpumalanga department of health is also not very accurate. The Bulletin asked the department about their readiness for the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is the question and answer:
Do you perhaps have a statement regarding your readiness in Mpumalanga as well as the state of the field hospitals.
Response. The Department is ready to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department developed plans to mitigate the surge of COVID-19 in the province. We have made available quarantine and isolation sites across the three districts, and also deployed Community Health Workers to conduct screening. We are working with the Department of Public Works to establish field hospitals. This question was answered on July 21st.
There are several quarantine units in the area, but they are not equipped to handle any medical problems.
We have several hospitals in our area. It became clear that the COVID-19 cases are threatening to flood the hospitals. Several hospitals are in a state of preparedness, but several are not. It would appear that Evander Hospital is totally swamped with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The terrain is empty at Evander Hospital this afternoon shortly after 15H00
The Bulletin is aware of an employee that took the test at Evander hospital, 3 weeks and a day ago, and still have no results provided to him.
Evander Hospital is an example of how poor management are endangering the lives of the patients.
The Bulletin investigated allegations that the hospital is a crisis waiting to happen.
What we have uncovered is a hospital that have no control over the surge of COVID-19 cases
Allegations were made about Evander Hospital to The Bulletin that stated the following:
There is a shortage of staff members, both doctors and nursing staff. The shortages can be contributed mainly to the mandatory quarantine period after having been tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
This staff shortage is creating a very volatile situation at Evander Hospital. Information at The Bulletins disposal is that patients sometimes have to go without receiving proper medication. Wound dressings are not changed due to the shortage of staff and patients sometimes must forcefully skip a meal.
The Bulletin also learned that 40 to 50 patients are sometimes left in the care of only two staff nurses.
The Staff nurses left to tend to patients are not qualified to dispense medicine according to information received.
Patients that visit the Evander Hospital for testing are not triaged and told to wait outside. No vitals are taken.
Screening stations at the hospital entrances are inadequate as symptomatic (COVID-19 symptoms) patients venture past screening stations with no effort to block them from doing so. They would venture into already overcrowded waiting areas without being separated from the other patients to undergo COVID-19 testing and isolation. At certain times there are no functioning screening stations at entry points and patients and family members are free to enter the hospital at free will.
The Bulletin was told that after 14H00 there are no staff available as all would leave work at that time.
The Evander Hospital management refuses to concentrate on the COVID-19 pandemic and continues with non-urgent and non-emergency services.
Social distancing practices are not adhered to and the hospital is overcrowded most of the time.
About a week ago 37 staff members tested positive.
The Bulletin also learned that Staff members are apparently expected to continue to work and not self-isolate. They are told that they are not a “close contact” even if they work in close contact with someone that tested positive for COVID-19.
Patients that did not make appointments are bringing family members with them and exacerbating the overcrowding problem.
Questions sent to the Department of health, to both the spokesperson for the MEC and the Spokesperson for the department were not responded to at the time of placing this article. This is despite promises that a response would be compiled and sent to The Bulletin by 09H00 this morning. We are therefore posting these allegations without any response from the Mpumalanga Department of Health.
Life Cosmos Hospital responded in the following manner to The Bulletins questions on their readiness:
Could you please confirm the availability of beds in your Kosmos Hospital in Witbank?
As the number of cases fluctuates around the country, all our hospitals in the various provinces are experiencing pressure on COVID-19 admissions at one point or another given the increase in infection rate. It is important to note that capacity in any hospital is based on a number of factors, not only patient and bed numbers.
All hospitals also need to balance available staffing – nurses, specialists and allied healthcare professionals – with the need to accommodate and treat patients who are admitted for various health-related conditions. The overall bed capacity cannot be simply correlated to the number of Covid-19 patients that can be admitted as we also admit for other conditions, i.e. trauma, emergency medicine, maternity etc.
Our hospital management teams remain in constant contact with one another, their doctors and other healthcare professionals and private hospital groups to ensure that additional beds are available should this be required. Life Cosmos Hospital is licensed by the Department of Health as a 261-bed facility of which there are a total of 30 ICU beds for medical and surgical cases.
Do you perhaps have a statement regarding your readiness in the Mpumalanga area in particular or perhaps countrywide?
As with all our hospitals across South Africa, Life Cosmos Hospital in eMalahleni and Life Midmed Hospital in Middleburg remain open and operational for admission of patients and treatment of medical emergencies. Each hospital is using its facilities in the most efficient manner to provide the most appropriate care to the maximum amount of people.
We continue to provide quality care to our patients who require hospital services outside of COVID-19 related care such as trauma, emergency medicine, maternity, cardiac etc. To make sure that the situation is managed as best as possible, each Life Healthcare hospital has a Doctor COVID Committee that works closely with hospital management in the daily and ongoing clinical decisions in the interest of patients, staff and doctors.
There are daily operational briefings and live data to keep all the management teams appraised of facility status and enhanced collaboration between hospitals in the country to ensure best practice and shared learnings.
A capacity forum has been formed to deal with capacity considerations, including equipment and our COVID-19 task team is continuously assessing the situation and making sure that our facilities and employees across the country have all the required resources to treat patients who are affected by the virus and those who are not.
Thank you Dr Charl van Loggerenberg, General manager, Emergency medicine, Life Healthcare for your response in this matter.
We also spoke to the General Manager of Emalahleni Private Hospital that confirmed their readiness. The GM confirmed that all their allocated Covid-19 beds were full. This was during the latter part of July.
Mediclinic Highveld also received its share of criticism regarding their COVID-19 preparedness and protocols.
In response to The Bulletin’s questions we received the following response:
Questions:
How full are the facilities with regards to the COVID-19 allocated beds?
What is the procedure that you follow when receiving a patient that tested positive? If you have space and if you have none?
Dr Stefan Smuts, Chief Clinical Officer of Mediclinic Southern Africa, responded by saying “While we can confirm that Mediclinic Highveld is currently operating at full capacity, with an increased demand for intensive care and high care beds, it is important to note that this situation remains fluid and is continuously being monitored across all bed types and across all hospitals in the region to ensure the optimal use of available resources and continuity of patient care.”
“We would also like to reassure the community that our Emergency Centre remains open to stabilise any patient in an extreme emergency, irrespective of age or comorbidities, and regardless of the hospital divert status. Once the patient’s condition is stable, the individual will then be referred to the closest most appropriate facility if required,” Dr Smuts said in their response, “Mediclinic Highveld is ready to safely receive patients in a medical emergency. We therefore encourage our community to seek medical care if they are ill or in pain.”
The Bulletin was told that no sanitising had been done for a while at the hospital while the positive case count is mounting.
MEDICLINIC CONFIRMS COVID-19 CLEANING MEASURES
“Mediclinic Highveld can confirm that in addition to our existing infection prevention and control procedures, additional cleaning measures were put in place at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Said Dr Stefan Smuts, Chief Clinical Officer of Mediclinic Southern Africa.
“The hospital has implemented additional cleaning rounds in all rooms. High touch areas in the hospital have been identified with cleaning protocols put into place to address these areas. Staff areas, bathrooms, pharmacy, reception and theatre have regular cleaning scheduled throughout the day. A checklist is signed by the appointed cleaner after each round to allow monitoring of these measures.”
Treatment areas within the COVID-19 unit have additional disinfection processes to further manage the risk of transmission.
While it is very concerning that certain health-related institutions are clearly having a problem in coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic such as the Evander Hospital, others have clearly made extensive efforts in coping with the Pandemic.
The Bulletin will continue to monitor the complaints and criticism as well as the compliments levelled at our health institutions. Let us hope that Evander Hospital will show a drastic improvement in the management of the facility.
VISIT Mpumalanga Department of Heaths’s Facebook page HERE
Sam Msuseni Ntuli (59), a former immigration officer was found guilty and sentenced by the Piet Retief Regional Court on Wednesday, 12 August 2020 for Fraud.
Sam Msuseni Ntuli (59) Former immigration officer
Between the period of 30 July 2015 to 04 June 2016 Ntuli was an employee of the Department of Home Affairs at Mahamba Port of entry in Mpumalanga.
Ntuli was employed as an Immigration Officer responsible for detecting signs and traces in travel documents to establish migration violation and other illegal activities.
Despite the responsibilities vested upon Ntuli, he fraudulently stamped a passport of Mr Elvis Muzi Mpanza, a Swati Citizen without him being physically present at the Port of entry which allowed Mr Mpanza to stay in the Republic of South Africa.
An investigation within the Department of Home Affairs by the Counter Corruption team was initiated following allegations about the illegal activities piloted by Ntuli.
During the internal investigation Ntuli was caught red handed with the stamped passport while the owner was not present.
A disciplinary hearing within the Department of Home Affairs was conducted and led to the dismissal of Ntuli from the service.
The criminal case was opened and the matter was referred to the Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation Mpumalanga and the accused was summoned to appear before court on 18 February 2020 pending the sentence which was handed down on the 12 August 2020.
Ntuli was sentenced to four months imprisonment or R 6000.00 fine.
FAST FOOD DELIVERY MAN ARRESTED FOR BANK CARD SKIMMING FRAUD
MPUMALANGA – A 35-year-old Congolese national, Patrick Kananga Mukandila has made a brief appearance in the Emalahleni Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday facing charges of fraud and possession of an illegal point of sale device (POS).
Mukandila was employed at a well-known fast food outlet in Emalahleni to deliver food to customer homes using a motorcycle. During November 2019, the bank manager allegedly received a lot of complaints from the clients about extra charges debited from their bank accounts after paying for their orders on the speed point provided by the delivery man.
The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation resulted in the arrest of Mukandila. Visit them HERE
The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation resulted in the arrest of Mukandila on 28 November 2019, following an Intelligence-driven operation where he was stopped while on his way to deliver food to the clients in the area. A POS card skimming device was found in his possession. The team proceeded to his house where a stolen bank card, external hard drivers, laptop, three computer towers, memory sticks, two cell phones, slips and cash valued to R120 000.00. All items were seized for further investigation.
Mukandila has since appeared in court on numerous occasions including his most recent appearance where he was remanded in custody. The matter is postponed to 28 August 2020.
Nog ‘n “So is die lewe” rubriek vanuit die pen van Ds Marius Britz. Titel is Skiet Afrika
Dit is asembenewend, skrikwekkend. Vir dae aaneen, voor die skryf van hierdie rubriek, het my selfoontoepassing gereeld gepiep met nuusflitse: “Man killed in gun shooting.” “Verkeersbeampte doodgeskiet deur motoris.” “Man skiet drie inbrekers in huisrooftog in Durban dood.” ”Een persoon doodgeskiet in rooftog in Somerset Mall.” “Plaasaanvallers skiet boer in opstal dood.” “Vrou in rooftog doodgeskiet.” “Kind in St. Helenabaai geskiet terwyl hy sit en TV kyk in sy oom se plakkershut.”
“Driejarige kind op ma se skoot geskiet. Sterf op pad hospitaal toe.” “Polisie skiet vermeende kapers dood.” “ Bejaarde ouerpaar en dogter in Noord-Kaap ontvoer en wreed vermoor.” Gewone plaasmense wat net wou lèèf, hulle Sondagmiddagmaal nog onaangeraak op die stoof toe hulle aangeval is. Tradisionele kos: oondgebraaide vleis, aartappels, groenbone, pampoen en rys, waarskynlik.
Baie van hierdie gebeure haal nie eens die koerant of nuus op radio en TV nie. Andere doen wel. Soos die hoofopskrifte: “Joost se broer skiet twee aanvallers in kerk dood.” Die hele land is geskok oor die feit dat die een aanvaller, nadat hy sy pistool teen die pastoor se kop gedruk het, op slag deur Pieter van der Westhuizen, ‘n gewese polisieman, doodgeskiet is. So ook ‘n tweede aanvaller binne in die kerk. ‘n Derde een is vermoedelik gewond, maar het weggekom. Die gemeente is verstar, en kliphard aan die bid in daardie paar minute wat die hele slagting afgespeel het.
Dit klink amper soos die draaiboek van ‘n goedkoop Wilde Westerse rolprent. Bendegevegte op die Kaapse vlakte waar eenvoudig net geskiet word. Koeëls wat heen en weer trek, en mense wat mekaar met vuurwapens, aan beide kante van die reg, bestook.Gelisensieerde vuurwapens, hanteer deur wetsgehoorsame mense wat hulleself en hulle geliefdes moet verdedig , maar meestal ongelisensieerde, gesteelde vuurwapens in die hande van meedoënlose, gewetenlose misdadigers wat nie huiwer om te skiet om dood te maak nie.
Die vraag is: wat doen hierdie dinge aan die psige van ‘n nasie? Noodwendig moet dit ‘n rimpeleffek hê op die bestaan van Suid Afrika se inwoners. Sommige mense raak meer en meer apaties, leef half asof in ‘n ontkenningsfase. “Dit sal nie met my gebeur nie. Dis met ander mense op ander plekke wat dit gebeur.” Andere weer, raak meer en meer aggressief en militant.
Skiet om dood te skiet, word die mantra. “Bewapen jouself”, skryf vele op platforms soos Facebook en WhatsApp. As daar berugte geplaas word oor misdadigers wat hul rieme styfgeloop het in skietgevegte, is daar ‘n tasbare vreugde, wat bykans grens aan ’n koudbloedige sadisme, uit die reaksie. “Goed so!”, is die reaksie.
Dit sal nie met my gebeur nie. Dis met ander mense op ander plekke wat dit gebeur
Daar is ook ‘n ander kant van die muntstuk. Dis maklik om ‘n kantlyn-waarnemer te wees en kommentaar te lewer as dit jou nie direk raak nie. Dit raak effens anders as jy dit persoonlik beleef, in die midde van so ‘n situasie is. Dit veroorsaak post-traumatiese stres wat vir baie jare latent kan bly, of onmiddelik ‘n effek op jou emosionele en psigiese toestand kan hê. Alle ondeurdagte kommentators moet weet dat dit geweldige gevolge het vir die slagoffers van roekelose skieters.
Oud soldate en polisiemanne wat baie met geweldsdood te doen gehad het, is skynbaar beter in beheer van hulle ervarings. Dis egter nie heeltemal waar nie. My vriend, jy wat dink dat die donker bedrieg, kom dat ek jou wys hoe die lig kan lieg, sing Coenie de Villiers in die lied Donkerlieg.
So ‘n klompie jaar gelede het ek my dogter gaan haal toe sy nog in Bethal op skool was. Toe ons by die skoolterrein uitry, hoor ek skote klap. Soos toeval dit wou hê, ry ek by die polisiestasie verby op daardie presiese oomblik. Die een persoon in die motor links van ons was reeds gewond, die bejaarde boer, baie bekend in die Bethal omgewing, en sy vrou in hulle bakkie regs van ons albei gewond. Die skieter het na ons gedraai, en skote op ons in my motor afgevuur, en toe, ‘n paar meter van ons af, homself deur die kop geskiet terwyl ons met afgryse toekyk.
Ek het my grootste fout ooit gemaak: ek het my dogter net daar in die middel van die straat gelos in die motor, en met die gewonde man en sy vrou Bethalhospitaal toe gejaag in sy bakkie. Hulle, sowel as ek, was sopnat van die bloed toe ons by ongevalle gestop het. Die man in die motor links van ons is oorlede in ongevalle, en so ook die bejaarde boer so paar dae daarna. Sy vrou het oorleef.
Ek, as oud-beroepsoldaat, het dit baie in my loopbaan beleef. Toe ons by die huis stop ure later, en my vrou my bebloede klere sien, het ek dit skouerophalend afgemaak: “Ag, dis sommer ‘n insident gewees langs die pad. Ek het nie seergekry nie.” My dogter het baie seergekry. Emosioneel. Ek weet dat dit ‘n massiewe impak gehad het op haar hele lewe.
Alhoewel die skool gereël het vir berading, is dit nie so eenvoudige oplossing soos om twee aspirienetablette te drink, en Voila!, my hoofpyn is weg nie. Tydens die man se begrafnis het ek in die stampvol kerk gesit en ‘n diep hartseer het my oorval. Ek het gehuil soos ‘n baba, sommer oor alles wat ek gedink het ek het vergeet uit die verlede.
Ek het ook vir daardie skietinsident betaal, later. Op ‘n ingrypende manier. Nie net oor daardie een insident nie, maar oor baie lyke en bloed en skote en selfmoorde oor baie jare. Ek was toe nie so bulletjie as wat ek gedog het ek was nie.
As een persoon deur misdadigers en kapers doodgeskiet word, word almal rondom hom of haar ook diep gewond. Al is dit nie fisies sigbaar nie. ‘n Hele gemeenskap raak gekwes deur ‘n plaasaanval of skietinsident tydens winkelsentrumrooftogte of motorkapings. Baie van daardie wonde is emosioneel fataal, dit vermink emosioneel lewenslank.
Laat ons bid vir hierdie “wye en droewe land, waar die aasvoëls lank reeds die gedoemde waarheid dra”, soos NP van Wyk Louw geskryf het.
SAPROMO statement on state of services in Govan Mbeki Municipality
The Bulletin spoke to Sakhisizwe Progressive Movement (Sapromo) Councillor Sibusiso Hlolweni after the last Govan Mbeki Municipality council meeting.
Sibusiso lashed out at the ANC leadership during the meeting stating that the leadership of Govan Mbeki Municipality are failing in their services to the residents of GMM.
“SAPROMO would like to warn the leadership of Govan Mbeki Municipality against the misuse of power and ignorance that derail services in the municipal council. The misuse of power and failure to use leadership authority to bring changes in this Municipality is one of the causes of the continuous decline of Quality of services in Govan Mbeki Municipality.” Said Sibusiso.
Sapromo President, Sibusiso Hlolweni
“ESKOM and rand water debts should not be used as an excuse to the failure of the Municipality to deliver adequate services to the communities. Both administrative and political leadership has ignored all warnings and advice given by SAPROMO to improve the quality of services delivered by the Municipality. The behaviour of the leaders of Govan Mbeki Municipality is very puzzling and raise questions as to whether they care about the lives of the residents within jurisdictions of this Municipality because they fail to implement all suggestions with potential to improve services in the area.”
Recently SAPROMO proposed that all the Municipality embarks on the campaign to install electricity meters to every customer, take back all electricity meters that were repossessed from customers and to unblock all those who are blocked from buying electricity.
SAPROMO suggested that customers be given a period of about 8 months to pay a certain percentage of their old debts to keep them connected to the power grid. This will have a positive impact on electricity loses, since most customers will be paying for electricity, which will help the Municipality in servicing both the current and old ESKOM debt. It will also improve revenue collection since residents will be trying to service the old debt in time before the cut-off date to pay a certain percentage of their old debts.
SAPROMO further suggested that a public-private partnership with Sasol be proposed by the Municipality to establish a separate entity in line with municipal finance management act to independently generate and supply electricity in Govan Mbeki Municipality.
This suggestion will see the Municipality supplying consistent electricity service within its jurisdiction even during ESKOM load shedding without any interruption. Govan Mbeki Municipality might be the first municipal area that will never be affected by load shedding which might cause investors to consider relocating their firms and offices to the area. Therefore, more jobs might be created which may improve a lot of people’s lives.
Another important suggestion that was presented by SAPROMO is a Quality Assurance and Compliance Committee of the council that could help in determining the Quality of municipal services within the Municipality. It would also assure the council that quality transformers are procured as well as other electronic components from credible suppliers, at reasonable prices.
However, due to the fact that these ideas are not coming from the ruling party and for the fact that there’s nothing the leadership of this Municipality will personally gain from the ideas, they will never be implemented.
SAPROMO also proposed competitions and incentives for those who constantly pay for their services. For instance, we proposed that if the ratepayer pays his or her current account for 6 months consecutively, the Municipality reduce old debt by at least 10%. SAPROMO further proposed that there must also be competitions where the residents would win prices like electric appliances and cash prices for consistently paying their accounts.
Sakhisizwe Progressive Movement ( SAPROMO) was established as a community concern group in 2013, by Sibusiso Hlolweni to address issues of service delivery and youth unemployment in Mpumalanga. The group was formed in Mbombela Municipality and later spread to all the 3 regions of Mpumalanga.
After Sibisiso’s 300km walk to Nelspruit, fighting against the abuse of elderly persons by both the government and individual members of the community in February 2015, members of the community of Govan Mbeki Municipality started to request that the Movement be registered as a political party.
the first meeting was held in eMzinoni where the assessment was conducted to see if the group can fit to become a political party. Lindiwe Nkosi from eMzinoni was then nominated as a coordinator of eMzinoni Bethal area. It was then followed by a meeting that declared the group as a political party, on 20 March 2016 when signatures were taken and submitted to the IEC.
The meeting was held at ext 18 (gate 2, Wellas). On that meeting, Sibusiso Hlolweni was elected as the first president of the party, deputized by Masobode Kubheka (in absentia). Dorah Magudulela was elected as a chairperson and Noncedo Vumani as the Secretary of the party.
It was then officially registered as a political party on 18 May 2016, a few months before the elections. Another important meeting was held again in Bethal where Noncedo was replaced by King Mhlangu as the Secretary-general of the Movement, just after it was officially registered with the IEC. Johannes van Ballen was also co-opted into the structure as the COORDINATOR of Bethal eMzinoni region.
The Movement entered elections with no experience and within a short space of time since it was established as a party and was able to win a seat in Govan Mbeki Municipality with more support coming from eMbalenhle, Leslie and eMzinoni.
To date the leadership of this party comprises of:
Sibusiso Hlolweni as the president
Sandile Mfunda as the chairperson
Mike Skhosana as the Secretary general
Gregory Baloyi (Brian Baloyi’s brother) as the deputy secretary
Gugu Masilela as the treasure
Noncedo Vumani as the head of elections and Vuyisani Sovendle as the organizer. This leadership were elected in a conference that was held on 18 May 2019 at eMbalenhle Sasol club.
The following on SAPROMO’s Vision and their mission was supplied to the Bulletin by Cllr Hlolweni.
OUR VISION
To establish an educated, noble, just, working and economically progressive society where members of the community partake in decision making and governance of the country and community they are living in.
OUR MISSION
To place the best equipped public representatives in every community, to best address the challenges that the people on the grass-root level face on daily bases, and to spread information to every person in the language he/she understands in order to have a transparent and effective government.
Sakhisizwe Progressive Movement means a bargaining collective and our leaders are mediators between different community organizations, role players and members of the community. We give individuals and collectives a platform for engagement as well as exercising their abilities and rights, in order to benefit the country and the communities they are coming from.
THE VISION INTERPRETATION
I) To establish an educated society…
Education is a tool for the success of the nation; therefore it is something that should be taken seriously and be prioritized. It should be enjoyable to learners and be cherished by the communities, therefore it is vitally important to give the society a free, quality and compulsory education to every member of the society so that every single person in the country should be able to read and write. For the reason that the majority of the citizens are unemployed and have no income, it becomes a struggle to get a tertiary qualification, that is why we emphasize that education should be also free even in universities and colleges.
To express our seriousness about the issue of education, we are willing to build community centre’s that are going to train people in different skills and empower them with life skills to be able to get employed or to employ themselves and others using skills that we give them.
II) … Noble society means moral principle environment where the spirit of unity and ubuntu is governing. No one deserves to sleep on an empty stomach, no one deserves to be mistreated by either the government or private sector. This means the moral regeneration is one of the vitally important elements that we so determine to promote. Every individual comes from a family, every family comes from a community and every community is a member of the country. Therefore, we want to build an environment where individuals are noble to create a noble society.
III) An economically progressive society, we mean that every member of the community contribute his or her skills and finances to the economy. The state and the public sector should invest in our township and rural areas to make sure that every community participate in the growth of our economy. If the economy grows, no one should tell but everyone should feel it in his/her pocket. We intend to provide the society with skills and help them step by step in creating their own businesses. We want to help people mostly from rural areas with tractors and other agricultural equipment to help the country in stabilizing food security.
We believe that food should be affordable and be accessible in every part of the country, therefore the government should address it by improving agricultural policies and to make sure that food production increases so that the prices may decrease.
This includes protecting farmers from being butchered by criminals with no mercy
We believe that the issue of people being in credit bureaus is one of the contributing factors to the collapsing of our economy, therefore there should be a period of credit amnesty where people will be cleared on credit bureaus in order to start on a clean slate because people are not informed about credit policies and they don’t even have a knowledge of how to handle their finances.
For instance, if a person buys something on credit and loses a job, the interests should not increase while a person is still looking for another job. This is a serious matter that should be prioritized by the state and the organization itself.
IV) We believe that nothing should be decided for the community without them. They should be the ones that decide the service delivery in their localities and they must also participate in the development that occurs in their areas. For example, if the roads are being built on their areas they should be grouped in cooperatives and be involved in building their roads, schools and whatever development is taking place.
We believe in equal distribution of wealth, opportunity to work at a fair wage; a constitution that allows an effective voice of the community in deciding the conditions in which they are living in; to create a conducive environment for consumers real freedom of choice and protection against monopoly from both private and public.
MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT AND PARTICIPATION
Members of SAPROMO are vigilant, progressive and hardworking individuals coming from different backgrounds and walks of life. We intend to attract young and old from sports teams, arts (music, visual and dance), intellectuals, activists and all creative individuals in our society to form part of our team that will pursue success and justice through our available resources.
We also intend to attract people from our communities who share the same vision and fate with us throughout the country and the African continent. People who have been abused by the current government, people who believe that communities should be safe, with better roads, decent houses, fair, transparent and corruption-free government. People who believe that the environment they are living in should support them and their talents, who believe that food should be affordable and easily accessible.
In this Post our Ralph Jacobs author Lize Van Niekerk has a look at 30 of the most “Jaw-Dropping” celebrity engagement rings.
From emerald, to square to round-cut, these celebrity engagement rings will surely be a priority pin on your “engagement ring Pinterest dream board.” Any lady will swoon over these stunning celebrity engagement rings and definitely proves that a diamond is forever.
Before we start drooling over these sparkling engagement rings, we have to go a few years back.
Let’s backtrack to Europe in the 1700’s. In Rome brides were simply ecstatic receiving their gold ring to wear in public and an iron ring to wear at home.
In the 1700s, simple poesy rings were popular in Europe, while in New England, Puritan men—shunning frivolous rings—were thought to have given thimbles to their betrothed.
Fast-forward to 1947 and De Beers’s famous slogan, “A diamond is forever.” And just like that engagement history was made.
Today, celebrities have everything from 33-carat diamond to our favorite Kardashian, Kim Kardashian West’s 15-carat diamond from Kanye and Olivia Wilde’s brilliant emerald from Jason Sudeikis—ring inspiration galore from some of the dazzling gems sported by stars.
Below you will find 30 of the most jaw-dropping celebrity engagement rings:
Table of Contents
Gisele Bundchen
This former Victoria Secret angel’s engagement ring is worth a whopping $145,000 and has a large diamond set in platinum and offset by two tapered baguettes.
Hollywood’s favorite southern belle rocks a unique 4-carat Ashoka-cut diamond engagement ring, worth an estimate of $ 450,000. This diamond was named in honor of one of the most powerful rulers the world has ever known. Inspired by the original Ashoka Diamond, William Goldberg created a cut so unique, it was granted its very own patent.
The infamous Joe DiMaggio proposed to the iconic blonde in 1954, with a platinum eternity band sporting 35 baguette-cut diamonds. Even though the marriage only lasted a year, any engagement ring worn by the blonde bombshell would have been jaw-dropping.
The Goop founder received one of the most talked about engagement rings in Hollywood from ex-husband Chris Martin. Her asscher-cut diamond engagement ring is sure to turn heads with an estimate worth of $ 100,000.
As far as celebrity engagement rings go this is definitely something different than the rest. Hurley rocks an enormous blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. The proposal only lasted two years, but that engagement ring made it worth the while.
This radiant beauty’s engagement ring is alright, alright, alright by us. Matthew McConaughey certainly knows how to treat his lady. This celebrity engagement ring is a rose-cut diamond with smaller diamonds on either side.
This celebrity engagement ring brings it on! Worth an estimate of $1 million, this engagement ring is an 8.5-carat cushion cut diamond. A very simple, yet classy floating diamond on a thin band.
The British model’s engagement ring from former husband Jaimie Hince is breath-taking! Surely, a jaw-dropping celebrity engagement ring. It is a custom creation inspired by sketches of the ring F. Scott Fitzgerald gave to his wife Zelda.
Victoria Secret Angel with an engagement ring that features in every girls engagement ring dreams. Her engagement ring is a 10-carat canary yellow center diamond set in a gold band of pave diamonds. It is unfortunate that an engagement ring of that standards couldn’t Seal the deal for those two.
One of the worlds most known women had one of the worlds biggest diamond engagement rings. Justin Theroux spoiled his ex-wife with a 8-carat radiant-cut diamond. Everyone rooted for Aniston’s second marriage, but supposedly, diamonds – not marriages – are forever.
The New York Minute actress received a Cartier engagement ring from her ex-husband and it is estimated worth is $81,000. This enormous European-cut 4-carat diamond engagement ring surrounded by 16 sapphires is almost the only thing visible on the frail celebrity’s body.
Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor settled down with a lawyer in this fairy tale story, and proposed with an ethically mined emerald-cut 7-carat diamond engagement ring. George Clooney knew how to get his wife on the list of most jaw-dropping celebrity engagement rings.
Brad Pitt and jeweler Robert Procop, took a year to design this celebrity engagement ring. Jolie’s oblong-shaped rock is inset into a thick ribbed band. Rumors has it Jolie never really liked this big ring and called it tacky. Taste differs, but this celebrity engagement ring is far from tacky, and most women would give a kidney for this jaw-dropping engagement ring.
Sadly, this celebrity engagement ring was only showed off for about 8 months, but it was a good and shiny 8 months. Carey received this ring from ex-fiance James Packer and it is a 35-carat emerald-cut diamond set in platinum.
The queen B’s engagement ring is worth a whopping $5 million, and is a source of jealousy for all single ladies. Her 18-carat center diamond is set on a split shank.
One of the few oval shaped celebrity engagement rings. Dear reader, Blake looks ravishing with her 12-carat oval-cut diamond with a micro-pave band xoxo.
Naturally, celebrity royalty has to feature on our list of jaw-dropping celebrity engagement rings. Prince William spoiled his lady with an 18-carat oval sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds, which lady Diana wore when she was engaged to Prince Charles.
Nobody is surprised that this celebrity engagement ring is completely different than the rest. Mother monster opted for a heart-shaped diamond engagement ring from jeweler Lorraine Schwartz.
This bountiful, blonde model’s engagement ring is worth an estimate of $350,000, and has a classic large center stone flanked by micro-pave-set diamonds.
This celebrity engagement ring is worth $2 million and is a 15-carat D, flawless cushion-cut diamond from Lorraine Schwartz. The Skims founder sadly lost this beauty during a robbery in Paris in 2016.
The celebrity famous for her abs has another asset making her quite well-known. The model designed her own engagement ring, and it is definitely a jaw-dropper. This celebrity engagement ring has two diamonds on a gold band shaped as a pear and a square.
The Simple Life heiress received a 20-carat tear-drop diamond engagement ring which was designed by jeweler Michael Greene. The engagement was called off a mere 10 months later, but that beauty of a celebrity engagement ring will forever be in our memories.
The Black Widow star is one of the most awe-inspiring engagement rings. Colin Jost proposed to his leading lady with a pear-shaped diamond gem designed by James de Givenchy. The ring is a light brown color composed of 11-carats on a unique black enameled band. The diamond gem looks like it is resting on the actress’ finger rather than on the band.
Oh baby, baby, baby that ring is absolutely stunning! The Calvin Klein model’s ring is a 6 – 10 carat oval diamond by Solow & Co. Justin Bieber supposedly looked into the diamond and said he saw Hailey’s face, now if that’s not enough of a reason to purchase that engagement ring what is?
This celebrity engagement ring will definitely not make you say “thank you, next.” Grande received a 3-carat pear-shaped diamond from ex-fiance Pete Davidson.
The former child star received a 4-carat radiant-cut diamond from her ex-husband Will Kopelman. The square-shaped diamond is centered on a band with multiple smaller diamonds.
Another celebrity engagement ring that is ethically sourced. Portman’s conflict-free diamond ring set in recycled platinum received from husband Benjamin Millepied was designed by jeweler Jamie Wolf.
A Rod not only knows how to hit a home-run, but also how to choose an astonishing engagement ring. J-Lo’s ring is far from her Jenny from the block days, and is a startling 16-carat emerald diamond.
In the morning of the 3rd September 2018, deceased Nokuphila Nkumane, 23-years-old with her baby of 2-years-old was visiting her niece in ext 13 in Emzinoni, Bethal when she was brutally murdered.
An unknown suspect entered the niece’s house and stabbed the deceased several times with a knife in the presence of the child. The suspect slit the deceased’s throat and ended her life.
Nomkhosi Nkumane, owner of the house, had suspicions that there might be something wrong at the house as she was calling the deceased on her cell phone several times without the phone being answered.
She rushed to the house and upon arrival she noticed blood all over her house, from the kitchen entrance to the dining room where the deceased was found and murdered.
The 2-year-old child was on top of her mother crying and was covered in her mother’s blood.
Police were summoned to attend the crime scene including the Cluster Commander of the time, Brigadier Cele.
The investigation became very crucial and complicated which resulted that Brigadier Cele requested Captain Mlotshwa to assist in the investigation.
Between 2018 – 2020 the matter was still under investigation (Cas :13/ 09/2018) and on 05/08/2020 the investigation revealed that the deceased’s boyfriend, the biological father of the deceased’s child is the suspect who murdered the deceased.
The suspect, Never Mashele (28) was arrested and during the interview, the suspect admitted to all that happened all those years ago. This resulted in him to make a confession and pointing out the scene of the crime.
The accused’s first appearance before Bethal Magistrate’s Court is today.
