North West Public Works and Roads MEC Gaoage Molapisi has been accused of orchestrating a plot to white-wash the R134 million Ndhuna Civil Engineering Service report and clear the contractor and officials at the centre of the alleged tender fraud and corruption.  Sources, including civil servants, engineers and businessmen, said Molapisi’s decision to order an internal probe rather than an independent one was part of a strategy to clear Ndhuna’s Oberon Matsuvuki, head of the department Moss Kgantsi and chief…

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with visiting Prime Minister of Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare in Beijing on Monday afternoon. The two sides jointly announced the official establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership featuring mutual respect and common development for a new era. Xi noted that China and Solomon Islands are trustworthy friends and dependable partners to each other. He said that since the two countries established diplomatic relations, their friendly cooperation has become a pacesetter for the relations between China…

The upcoming BRICS Summit in Johannesburg next month is important for South Africa, the African continent and the global south. The gathering of the world’s major developing countries is expected to discuss a common currency and admit or agree on criteria to admit new members.  Countries which have either applied or lined up to join the global South economic alliance include regional powers such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Argentina, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Pakistan, Mexico, Algeria and Senegal. Formed…

North West Public Works and Roads head of department (HOD), Moses Ikgopopeng Kgantsi, has refused to comment on allegations he and Chief Financial Officer Peter Moyakhayakha Modika demanded kickbacks from a company which scored a R134 million contract even though it abandoned projects in 2021.  Kgantsi and Modika have been accused of privately meeting Ndhuna Civil Engineering Services managing director, Oberon Matsuvuki, in Mahikeng and demanding a five percent bribe in exchange for signing off on the Khunotswana road refurbishment…

North-West Public Works and Roads MEC Gaoage Oageng Molapisi has ordered an internal investigation into a R134 million tender awarded to a contractor who previously abandoned two projects.  In a statement released earlier today, Molapisi said he had instructed the head of department (HOD), Moses Ikgopoleng Kgantsi, to immediately ensure a probe was conducted and a report was submitted to him by no later than Tuesday (July 11, 2023) next week.  African Times reported this week that the provincial Department…

A North West politician has called for the suspension of the head of the Department of Roads and Public Works, Moses Ikgopoleng Kgantsi, for his role in the awarding of a R134 million contract to a contractor who previously abandoned two projects.  James Gadinabokao, the president of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) GATVOL, said Kgantsi should be suspended, and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) be cleared by President Cyril Ramaphosa to get to the bottom of tender irregularities, fraud and corruption…

A company which abandoned two projects in North-West and had its contracts terminated for poor workmanship has scored a R134 million tender from the same provincial Department of Roads and Public Works.  African Times can today reveal that Ndhuna Civil Engineering Services left two incomplete road projects in Rustenburg and Brits in 2021, after pocketing R25 million, claiming cash flow problems and community disruptions.  According to official documents seen by African Times, Ndhuna Civils abandoned the project for the construction…

RELIGIOUS tensions have returned to haunt Nigeria, this time sparked by the trigger-happiness of the new president, Bola Tinubu. His administration, at the helm of Africa’s largest nation, exactly a month now has gotten off to a crackdown against individuals of the previous government of Muhammadu Buhari. The security chiefs are the latest casualties, which has again brought to the fore the testy relations between Christians and Muslims in the West African country divided roughly in half between the two…

THERE are mixed reactions to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruling against South African Home Affairs’ decision to terminate the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP). The ruling allows 178 000 Zimbabweans to live and work in the neighbouring country after the court ruled the termination as “unlawful” and “unconstitutional.” The ruling was met with varied feelings. Others concurred with the high court ruling that Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi acted unjustly, improperly, unlawfully, illegally and illegitimately. Some accused the…

THE ruling by South African courts against the termination of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEPs) is a victory for Zimbabweans staying legally in the neighbouring country and a setback for the host country’s Home Affairs department. The High Court on Wednesday ruled the decision by Minister Aaron Motsoaledi as “unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.” The court ruled in favour of the Helen Suzman Foundation that holders of the permits first introduced in 2009 were not consulted prior to the termination of…