Sihle Mavuso presents the latest news from KwaZulu-Natal.
Pietermaritzburg – A 34-year-old foreigner has appeared in court after the Hawks arrested him following a tip-off about his drug-dealing activities at his home in Pietermaritzburg. Chinotso Okafor was found with cocaine worth R88,500 and appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court. He is in custody awaiting his next court appearance on 11 July to apply for bail.
Mt Edgecombe – The South African Farmers Development Association has successfully resolved the recent stalemate with the SA Canegrowers Association. This was over the funding of delivery-based transformation interventions. It said the agreement reached means the South African Sugar Association (Sasa) will go ahead and finalise the delayed disbursements of R238,987 set aside for the current season, while allowing industry leaders time to engage in discussions about future transformation initiatives in the industry. Sasa, which called the meeting between the warring parties, confirmed the settlement.
Pietermaritzburg – The KZN National School Nutrition Business Forum has criticised the KZN education department for failing to pay for water and electricity in some of its district offices. The forum says this affects the processing of payments once the concerned municipalities resort to cutting off essential services. This was one of the many issues the forum raised when it marched to the provincial headquarters in Pietermaritzburg on Friday to voice its anger over payment delays. Yet, they are expected to deliver food next week when schools reopen.
Durban – An internal document regarding the pending retrenchments at the Durban University of Technology shows that the institution only intends to trim staff in non-academic departments. According to documents obtained by Scrolla.Africa, the retrenchments will affect the human resources, information technology systems, real estate management, and finance departments. The university intends to complete the retrenchment process by July 30 this year. It said this process is part of its Envision 2030 strategy.
Nongoma – The senior staff and councillors of the cash-strapped Nongoma local municipality, run by an ANC-EFF-NFP coalition, have finally been paid their salaries. This was after the municipality negotiated an overdraft with a local bank. The municipality recently told the KZN cooperative governance and traditional affairs department that it was facing financial challenges and will end this year with a shortfall of R58-million.
Pictured above: Some of the cocaine found at Chinotso Okafor’s home
Source: The Hawks
