By Mzwandile Bhefile

RESIDENTS woke up on Monday to find dogs feasting on slaughtered cows’ remains.
Three cows were stolen and slaughtered in the open veld in Holomisa,near Uitenhage.

Ndodomzi Stokwe (67), the owner of the cows, said he left his 24 cows to graze in the veld on Sunday and planned to pick them up the next morning

“We got there and realised they were my cows.”

A resident told the DkTeam it was tense in the area after the discovery.

He said there was a problem with cattle theft three years ago, but it had stopped.

“Cows roam on their own. In the morning they leave their homes and go to the veld and return in the night,” he said.

He said thugs took advantage of people’s trust.

“We suspect those responsible are people from the area feared by everyone. They slaughter the cows, put them into their van and drive away.”

He said even goats were not safe.

Colonel Thembeka Mbele said residents found the remains of three slaughtered cows in a forest.

“It’s believed the cattle were stolen. A case of stock theft was opened and the Uitenhage stock theft unit is investigating,” she said.

The remains of the cows that were found in the veld in Holomisa after thugs had slaughtered them. INSET: Dogs feast on some of the meat that was left behind after thugs slaughtered the three cows.

By Phumlani Saul and Mzwandile Bhefile

SOME people claim to be rescued from certain death by divine intervention . . . or even superhuman strength.

But Phunyezwa Mate (38) from Khayelitsha, Uitenhage believes making lunch for her family was what saved her from the jaws of death.

She had barely left the lounge of her RDP when a taxi crashed into the house on Tuesday afternoon, causing the wall to collapse on the spot where she had been sitting just minutes before!

A taxi driver allegedly lost control when he avoided a collision with a donkey and crashed into her house.

Neighbours ran to her rescue thinking that she was trapped in the house – but luckily, at the time Phunyezwa was busy cooking in the kitchen.

Phunyezwa told Daily kasi news: “About 20 minutes earlier I had left my bedroom to sit in the lounge, but I got restless and decided to start preparing lunch.

“A few minutes later I heard a loud bang and the house was covered in dust. Then I saw people running towards my house, screaming. I was confused and didn’t know what was going on. But when I looked towards my bedroom I saw a Toyota Venture parked inside.

“The wall that separated it from the lounge had collapsed! I thank God for saving my life. If I had not gone to the kitchen to prepar lunch maybe I would be dead by now. Luckily my kitchen was extended with zinc and I was not hurt.”

House owner Thandeka Fate (51) said: “The taxi driver tried to avoid a donkey in Lorence Vinqi Street, lost control and crashed into the house. When we saw how badly the house was damaged we thought Phunyezwa was dead. But she emerged from the dust without injuries.”

Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Gerda Swart said a case of malicious damage to property was made but no arrest has yet been made.

By Lolwethu Leeu
FURIOUS Thandolwethu stofile (23) threatened to stop anyone from buying tickets from Eagle Liner.

That’s because the company services was poor this comes after he booked a ticket for his cousin Asive dyosopu (18) the bus were delayed for 6 hours.

About 25 passengers who were of to Cape Town gathered at the bus company’s offices near the total garage in Uitenhage.

Thandolwethu said they weren’t given an explanation of what caused the delay.

“They hung up on me when I phoned their call centre,” said Thandolwethu.

Asive Dyosopu told Daily kasi news : “ I was so disappointed with their service it was my first time on board I will never again”said angry Asive

When the DKTeam arrived at the scene, angry Asive and Thandolwethu were only one who were sitted outside on the cold pavement near the Total garage others were gone already.

Sivesh Pillay from Eagle Liner’s customer care department said: “We sent SMSes to passengers to inform them of the delay. We are not authorised to give any refunds to those who panicked.

“We can only give refunds if our service has been cancelled.”

Asive dyosopu stranded because of Eagle Liner bus delayed in Uitenhage.

By Phumlani Saul

Bloemfontein Celtic and Chippa United shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in the Absa Premiership on Sunday afternoon.

William Twala returned from suspension and immediately went into the visitors starting line-up, as Ryan De Jongh made his first start of the season for Celtic with Victor Letsoalo dropped.

Played in the Port Elizabeth city, Celtic looked to return to winning ways after an entertaining 3-2 loss away to Bidvest Wits in midweek as Chippa seeked to continue their fine run of form.

Following a tight opening, the first shot in anger came from the home side as Silas Maziya put Jackson Mabokgwane to the test though the latter responded with a fine tip on 22 minutes.

Chippa continued probing, but Mabokgwane once again thwarted the danger from Sandile Mthethwa amongst others.

Siwelele hit the front two minutes from halftime courtesy of star player Ndumiso Mabena who finished off a decent chance near the danger area.

The lead though lasted only four minutes as the Chilli Boys drew level from the penalty spot with Twala getting the better of Mabokgwane following a coming-together in the area.

Both sides looked for the winner as the half went by, but chances from either side flew astray with neither goalkeeper put to the test.

Celtic made an attacking double change following the final quarter in Letsoalo and Neo Maema who came on for Siphelele Luthuli and Andile Fikizolo respectively.

The change didn’t inspire any confidence as the two sides settled for a point apiece that leave both in seventh and tenth spot respectively

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By Zwadile Bhefile

Port Elizabeth police have arrested a 23-year-old gang member for murder and attempted murder following a shooting incident at the Life Mercantile Hospital on Friday afternoon, in which a man was shot and killed and two others wounded.

Spokesperson, Colonel Pricilla Naidu says it is alleged that 28-year-old Jimmy Valentine and two other men were standing at the corner of Durban and Cottrel Streets, waiting for a taxi when three men fired shots at them.

Valentine sustained several gunshot wounds and died at the scene.

Two bystanders at a nearby barbershop were hit by stray bullets.

She says one suspect fled on foot, while the other two threatened the driver of a bakkie at gunpoint, got into the vehicle and ordered him to drive off.

The 23-year-old suspect was found at his mother’s house in Gelvandale on Friday evening.

Naidu says he was out on bail for an attempted murder case, but was in violation of his bail conditions.

He will appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

The search for the other two suspects is continuing.

By Lolwethu Leeu and Nomathamsanqa Magwa

FOR many this day is terrifying, as they have to leave their parents at home and get to experience school life for the first time.

Tumello Vena (5) could not hold back her tears of fear in the new environment at Kama Primary School on the first day.

Alupheli Zinto (6) was over the moon and walked like a modeler on her way to Magqabi Primary School in Magqabi kasi, in KwaNobuhle, near Uitenhage on Wednesday.

Amo Mondike (5) cried on his first day at school at Magqabi Primary School in Khayelitsha kasi,Uitenhage.

Meanwhile for Ozalise Cindi (5) and Thembile Mati (5) it was friendship at first sight when the trio met on their first day at school at kama Primary School in New Brighton Port Elizabeth

By Phumlani Saul

By Phumlani Saul

Eastern Cape ambulance drivers and their assistants refused to work on Friday. They staged sit-ins at their places of work.

The affected regions are Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Amathole Municipality and Buffalo City Municipality. Ambulances remained parked the whole day outside the Emergency Medical Services provincial headquarters at Dora Nginza hospital in Port Elizabeth.

At issue is that the drivers have not received back-pay owed to them. Employees said they would only start working after the money is paid. They said they would keep presenting themselves at work but not perform any duties.

A worker who spoke on condition of anonymity said the health department had promised their excess allowances, a form of overtime pay, by 6 January but had failed to meet the commitment. The back-pay has accumulated since September last year, he said.

Another employee said some workers were sinking into debt. She said: “We had a black Christmas because we expected the department to meet its end of the deal. Schools are opening next week. Our children will struggle to have uniforms.”

Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesperson Siyanda Manana said his department has been assured by the provincial treasurer that payment would be made on 13 January.

Manana said that in the meanwhile the department has enlisted the services of private ambulances to deal with critical cases only. “We also encourage our patients to phone our call centre number for assistance which is 0800032364.”

By Joseph Chirume

The death of these children highlights government’s failure to deliver quality services to its citizens,” said primary school teacher Nomsa Faku. She was speaking at the funeral of five-year-old Alizwa Rhwayibana and his sister Asive aged 11.

Alizwa and Asive were two of four children who died last week after apparently eating toxic food from a nearby dump site in NU30 in Motherwell. The families say they are considering legal action against the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality for failing to collect refuse regularly. The funeral of the other two children, Alunamda and Zintle Mqawu, was held on Friday. Another child, Asiphile Grootboom, 7, was briefly admitted to the clinic and discharged.

On Sunday, scores of relatives and community members paid their last respects to Alizwa and Asive who were buried at the KwaNoxolo cemetery.

Faku said the municipality was to blame for not regularly cleaning dump sites. She described Asive as a passionate learner with good leadership skills.

The children’s uncle Siphosethu said that Mayor Thsonono Buyeye and ward 54 councillor Morgan Tshaka had initially promised to assist the family with funeral costs. The family had not heard back from officials and no one from the municipality attended the funeral.

Family spokesperson Ayanda Poni said, “The cause of our children’s death was negligence on the part of the municipality. If the municipality had provided us with refuse bags or if the dumping site had been secured, this would not have happened. We will definitely seek legal advice on the case.”

Elufefeni Primary School Principal, Lumka Ntsumpa, also urged the community not to dispose of expired food in open places. “This is a wake up call to the community and the municipality.”

Calls and messages to councillor Tshaka had not been answered by the time of publication.

By Daily Kasi Reporter

The Eastern Cape recorded a matric pass rate of 76.5% in 2019 an improvement of 5.9% on 2018.

This was announced on Tuesday night by Basic Education Minister, who said the overall matric pass rate was 81.3%.

She said the Free State was the best performing province with a matric pass rate of 88.4% followed by Gauteng at 87.2% and North West Province rounding off the top three at 86.8%

The Western Cape recorded a pass rate of 82.3%, KwaZulu Natal 81.3%, and Mpumalanga at 80.3%

Limpopo was the worst-performing province at 73.2%

Democratic Alliance MPL, Yusuf Cassim, congratulated all the Eastern Cape Grade 12 learners who passed “and contributed to a massive increase in the province’s pass rate”.

However, he said the DA was still very concerned about the low learner-retention rate and high drop-out rates in the Eastern Cape.

Cassim said this number is set to grow as the Department of Basic Education “phases out the Multiple Examination Opportunity (MEO) to learners which artificially inflates the matric pass rate.”