TRAFFIC OFFICERS AND TWO OTHERS UP FOR THEFT AND CORRUPTION

TRAFFIC OFFICERS AND TWO OTHERS UP FOR THEFT AND CORRUPTION
By MUSHAKABVU
The law abiding officials found on the wrong side of the law on Wednesday 23 December 2013, at approximately 20:00.
Two provincial traffic officials together with two men driving a delivery truck belonging to Cold Chain arrested on charges of theft and corruption.
The incident unfolded when police in Machadodorp executing operational duties on the N4 national road between Machadodorp and  Belfast, noticed a  Cold Chain refrigerated truck alongside the road with the two traffic officials who on duty.
They noticed a transaction between the traffic officials and the truck drivers in which an unknown box handed to the traffic officials.
It’s alleged that the cops punctually probe the transaction and found a box containing refrigerated chicken meat.
“When questioned by the police, the officials failed to give a satisfactory reason as to how did they get the loot and were arrested.” Brigadier Selby Mohlala said.
The driver and his crew were also arrested, all the suspects aged between 27 and 39 were warned to appear before the Machadodorp Periodical Court on 08 January 2014.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Meshack Nogwanya, said “It is very sad that people who are tasked to uphold the law are the ones found to be labelled with such allegations.”

TAKE CARE OVER FESTIVE SEASON

FESTIVE MESSAGE BY MAJ GEN NOGWANYA, ACTING PROVINCIAL COMMISSIONER.
By BBRIAN KAJENGO
As the Acting Provincial Commissioner of Mpumalanga, I would like to wish the Provincial leadership; the Cluster and Station Commanders; all commanders; all members of the South African Police Service (SAPS); all members of the Community Policing Forum (CPF) and all other stakeholders a merry Christmas and a prosperous new year ahead. 
“It has not been easy dealing with hard core criminals who would not hesitate to take off your life.
 “It has not easy for our members to loose their colleagues in line of duty. It has not been easy to loose our members through sickness. It has not been easy to all of us, however we stood firm continue to work harder and harder.” Maj. Gen. Nogwanya said.
Nogwanya went on to say both the management and the community we serve have noticed the sterling work and professionalism displayed by most of our members.
“We managed to arrest the suspects that were terrorising our communities every day.  You will recall the arrest(s) of Douglas Mogakane and Spykos to mention a few. Our success is devoted to our members, working side by side with our CPFs and communities.” Major General Nogwanya said.
Nogwanya extended his best wishes to the media houses in the province for the sterling job they have done throughout the year.
He recommends the hard work and dedication towards conveying messages to beautiful province noticed.
“You covered both good and bad news to all of us without fear or favour. You ensured that you bring our province to everybody’s attention and thus made it known. You need not get tired but continue to feed our nation with knowledge.” He said.
Major General Nogwanya urgued the motorists to drive safe and take serious precautions.
“As an advice for this festive season, I urge you to always be alert and take note of the following: have your nearest SAPS station telephone number at hand; hever trust strangers; do not take gifts / food / drinks from them as they might  poisoned or spiked;
·        Do not hitch-hike as it might also be dangerous;
·        Do not purchase second hand goods from an unregistered retailer;
·        Avoid walking alone in the evening or on secluded areas;
·        Do not drink and drive;
·        Avoid physical confrontations / fights;
·        Be aware of scams / fraudulent activities;
·        Do not leave your valuables unattended;
·        Report any strange behaviour to the police.
We also wish that our liquor outlets and taverns in our province comply with the Liquor Act. This will assist us with the challenge of drinking in public and driving under the influence of alcohol.
“You should assist us in the fight against the abuse of liquor more especially to women, which often leads to rapes and sexual assaults, burglaries and robberies. Ordinary people are also being attack and robbed on the streets when walking from taverns and shabeens.
“As we celebrate this festive season, let us be patriotic and responsible citizens. I wish you a merry Christmas and a prosperous 2014 ahead.” He said.

DEPUTY Minister Thabethe to seal the deal with USA

DEPUTY Minister Thabethe to seal the deal with USA

 by Mushakabvu

DEPUTY MINISTER THABETHE TO LAUNCH A PERMANENT SHOWROOM FOR SOUTH AFRICAN CRAFTS AND LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS IN AMERICA

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe will launch a permanent South African showroom in Atlanta, in the United States of America on 7 January 2014.

The showroom will provide small and medium enterprises with an export platform by addressing the significant market entry costs faced by the Small Medium, Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa.

The showroom is a joint initiative of   the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and its agency, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (seda).

Thabethe says the main objectives of the showroom are to promote trade between the two countries, promote business cooperation between South African and Atlanta industries, and to make the Atlanta business community aware of business opportunities that exist in the USA.

“South Africa and Atlanta are two countries racing in the same group to attract foreign capital, even though they are on different continents. We have utmost confidence in the showroom’s capacity to create economic opportunities for South African businesses in the clothing, textile and life-style products and consequently propelling them to trade internationally.” she adds.

Thabethe also states that it is imperative for South Africa to take advantage of these favourable conditions in order to assist the companies to explore the Atlanta trade market and its offerings.

According to Deputy Minister Thabethe, the Atlanta trade market will have positive economic spin-offs for the country and the empowerment of women.

The showcasing of the South African products in Atlanta showroom will further contribute towards the positive growth of the economy by increasing locally manufactured products whilst upgrading the skills, the expertise and the entrepreneurial capacity of women. It will further provide opportunities to fast track women’s economic empowerment, which is critical for achieving the overall economic development strategy of the country,” says Thabethe.

SOUTH AFRICAN ROSES ON WAY TO RUSSIA

SOUTH AFRICAN ROSES ON WAY TO RUSSIA

 By Mushakabvu Kajengo

African Floralush, a Mogale City-based company, which employs 110 permanent staff, is coming home from the Investment and Trade Initiative (ITI) that took place in Vladivostok, Russia with half-a-million rand order of their preserved roses.

Mr Stephanus Viljoen, who represented the company in the ITI, says he managed to secure an order for the 2014 International Women’s Day celebrations in Vladivostok. He adds that the order is going to save jobs.

African Floralush has commercialised a new process for the preservation of roses. The company attended the ITI undertaken by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) to increase trade and investment between South Africa and Russia.

Viljoen says the company has previously received support and funding from the Industrial Development Corporation, and says this was the fourth ITI that the company is attending and best so far, as they came back with tangible results.

“We are a distributor to the South African and few overseas markets. Large orders shipped to Europe, Japan and Canada. We are excited about this opportunity to penetrate the Russian market too. The company that placed this order wants to be our exclusive distributor for Premosky region in Vladivostok and if we do well we will create five more jobs.” Viljoen said.

According to Viljoen, a big customer dropped them recently, and they were in a process of letting some of the staff go, but with this big order, Viljoen says they will definitely save jobs.

He adds that his company selects and preserves only premium fresh cut flowers to ensure that their products are of the highest quality. The unique, environmentally-friendly, patented treatment process allows cut roses and foliage to look and feel fresh for at least six months and to retain their fragrance for extended periods, with no maintenance and no watering.

The activities for the ITI included a trade and investment seminar which addressed by the Ambassador of South Africa to Russia, Mr Mandisi Mpahlwa, business-to-business meetings, round table discussions and site visits to the Russian companies.

MISSION TO NIGERIA HAILED A SUCCESS

MISSION TO NIGERIA HAILED A SUCCESS

Mushakabvu Kajengo

Deputy Minister of dti has reasons to smiles to her effort because all her work of securing out side opportunities for business bears fruits.  

The Outward Selling and Investment Mission which took place for the first time in Nigerian soil over the past week, was hailed a success by the members of the South African business delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe.

The mission, which ended on Saturday 14 December 2013 resulted in some businesspeople coming home with very good deals.

One such businessperson is Teboho Price Monahadi of Archi M Studio from Gauteng, who was delighted to come home with a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jacob Esan PLC, a public-listed company in Nigeria.

“We are now in a process of registering a joint venture through our lawyers and we intend to invest in a development of a hotel in Nigeria. We also intend to propose a new airport to the Nigerian government, which will be our next big operation.” Monahadi said.

Monahadi said he was grateful to the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) for the opportunity as it paved a way to such big opportunities.

“The Nigerian market is huge and full of opportunities, and we intend to utilise it to the best of our ability.” he added.

He said his newly found partner, who is a billionaire in Nigeria and has businesses in various industries, also intends extending his operations into South Africa.

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe said the mission was a great success, considering that it was the first time that it taken to Nigeria.

“You could see that the country and businesspeople in Nigeria are hungry to do business with South Africans because of the expertise that South Africans possess. We are happy for those businesspeople who came out with something and wish them well,  but also encourage those who did not get tangible results to keep following up on the relationships that were established,” she added. 

 

During the mission, Thabethe also met with South African companies operating in Nigeria and encouraged them to keep up the good work and making South Africa proud.

ENTER YOUR BUSINESS AND BE AWARDED

ENTER YOUR BUSINESS AND BE AWARDED

BY BRIAN KAJENGO

Dti makes a call for entries to the 2^nd annual SA premier Business award.

The second annual “SA Premier Business Awards” – to be held on 19 March 2014 at the Sandton Convention Centre - is open for entries.

The event, which recognises business excellence in South Africa, is organised by the Department of Trade and Industry, Proudly South African and Brand SA.

The Awards aim to honour enterprises that promote innovation and competitiveness – as well as job creation, good business ethics and quality.

The “SA Premier Business Awards” are South Africa’s apex business awards which combine all single sectored awards into one big, national business awards. The Awards represent and acknowledge all South African business sectors.

South African enterprises, international and global companies as well as members of the media who/which adhere to the various criteria per category and achieved success in their various fields, qualify to enter.

Categories for the awards include: Exporter Award, Manufacturer Award, Rural Development Award, Technology Award, Young Entrepreneur Award, Women Owned Enterprise Award, Proudly South African Enterprise Award, Media Award, Quality Award, Green Award, Most Empowered Enterprise Award, SMME Award and Investor Award.

A Lifetime Achievement Award be presented – and will be a discretionary award.

South African entrepreneur and property developer, Dr Richard Maponya, honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural Awards in March 2013.

Dr Maponya recognised for his significant contribution to the development of South African business and his contribution to the community during his lifetime.

Madiba highly honored in Mpumalanga

Madiba highly honored in Mpumalanga

Bvunzamutupo Reporter

Mpumalanga Premier Mr David Mabuza has conveyed his sincere gratitude to the people of Mpumalanga for the overwhelming support in honouring the late former President Nelson Mandela during the mourning period.

Premier further expressed his appreciation to the planning committee and all stakeholders that delivered the project successfully.

 "Mpumalanga offered  a highly respectable, dignified  and proudly South African send off to Madiba, this will remain a lasting memory in the hearts and minds of all who witnessed and experienced the period of passing of the late former state president Nelson Mandela."  Mabuza said.

Mpumalanga Provincial Government recorded over 80 000 people who attended the memorial services and prayer sessions held at the province to pay tribute to the late Former State President Nelson Mandela.

The province has indeed contributed positively towards the historic episode of humankind ever to stage in South Africa and the world.

All five memorial services and prayer sessions conducted with utmost humility and respect. The political leadership attended the gatherings from national, provincial and local spheres of government, people from all walks of life, all races, all age groups and all religions.

Premier Mabuza wishes the people of Mpumalanga a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

"As the province prepares for the commemoration and celebration 20 years of democracy in 2014, let us all contribute positively towards service delivery in honouring the legacy of Madiba" Mabuza added.

Premier further urged the people of Mpumalanga to obey all the rules of the road during the festive season and arrive alive in their destinations.