See the news highlights for May 2013
In May, the so-called Valencia bomber was found guilty and sentenced and a giant mining company promises a small community that it would repair their road.
• May 3: ANC deputy secretary-general, Ms Jessie Duarte went on an anti-media rampage at a local Worker’s Day celebration, calling the local media “corrupt and arrogant”. The national press club indicated that it would take up the matter with her directly. The DA condemned the threatening of newly elected councillors to boycott local media and said that they would not be dictated to by the ANC.
• May 7: Groot gedeeltes van Hippo Water Front het verlede week afgebrand terwyl werknemers en gaste net verslae kon toekyk. Die oorsaak of waar dit ontstaan het was op daardie stadium nog nie bekend nie. Die bestuurder was vol lof vir die blitsige optrede deur die Nelspruit brandweer.
• May 10: Public transport in the Lowveld has been a nightmare, ever since bus drivers embarked on a national strike three weeks ago. The strike has had a huge impact on both employers and employees’ pockets. Economist Dawie Roodt said the impact on the economy became less due to commuters making other arrangements and that the strike would soon be over.
• May 14: Police were sluggish in confiscating a Bell logger built from suspected stolen parts. Two weeks after the case was reported, it was still being used by a contracted despite one of the parts clearly marked with a prominent timber company’s name. Two officers were deployed to the scene and inspected the logger. At the time of going to print it had still not been confiscated.
• May 17: Only a third of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency’s (MTPA) R319,4 million budget will be made available for the tourism market in the next financial year. It was divulged that the rest will be going to salaries and stipends, during a draft budget presentation. At the time of going to print no comments or confirmation of the figures stated was received.
• May 21: The mastermind behind the hand-grenade attack in Valencia in 2006, was found guilty. Yegen Naidoo ordered the hit on Ms Patricia Pillay and her granddaughter, Yetska, who died in the attack. Naidoo was arrested in June in Durban after a manhunt lasting two years.
• May 24: Daar is die afgelope vyf dae twaalf wapens gebuit tydens twee afsonderlike rooftogte. Twee paartjies is in hulle huise aangerand, waarna die rowers met selfone, ‘n kamera, juwele en vuurwapens vort is. Een van die slagoffers is Mediclinic Nelspruit toe geneem om behandel te word, terwyl die ander slegs lig beseer is. Niemand is nog in verband met die voorval aangekeer nie.
• May 28: A Letaba section ranger, Mr Andrew Desmet, was shot in the stomach on Friday night in the Kruger National Park, when rangers and soldiers of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) came into contact with a group of suspected rhino poachers. Lowvelder was confidentially informed that he had accidentally been shot by a SANDF soldier. The KNP spokesperson would not confirm or deny this.
• Residents along the R538/Plaston Road are expecting a new road by Christmas, after successful meeting with the Palabora Mining Company (PMC). The road has been extensively damaged due to heavy magnetite haulers contracted by PMC to travel between Phalaborwa and Maputo Harbour. At the meeting, PMC announced that they would be investing in the upgrade and reconstruction of the road.
• May 31: The murderer of Ms Patricia Pillay and her granddaughter, Yetska, will be serving two life sentences. Yegen Naidoo ordered the hit on the two, who were then killed in a hand-granade attack at their Valencia home two days before Christmas.
