December’s highlights in print kicked off with a report on a tug-of-war at the municipality between two highly capable candidates considered for the chief finance officer’s job.
The CFO’s position had been vacant for months, following the unceremonious resignation of Mothiba Mogofe, following criminal complaints with the SAPS regarding financial irregularities around the Mhluzi substation.
Council recommended the appointment of Puselletso Melato as CFO, when a secret addendum was circulated among councillors during the sitting, discrediting the preferred candidate, George Mapheto.
Council decided against Mapheto because of the addendum, in which Mapheto’s non-disclosure of ‘involvement’ with Limpopo’s VBS Bank scandal, in which Mapheto turned state witness, was highlighted.
Mapheto said he was wrongly disregarded on the basis of malicious misrepresentations while he was cleared of all wrongdoing during his tenure as CFO at Elias Motsoaledi Municipality (Groblersdal).
He confirmed that he was weighing his legal options.
• Earlier this month, the Middelburg Observer confirmed that entries for the annual Loskop Marathon had opened.
The race will be run on April 27.
Next year, the 50km entry has been capped at 3 500 athletes, a total of 1 500 athletes for the 21km Wild Challenge, and a total of 500 athletes for the 10km Cedric Welman Fun Run.
The annual marathon draws thousands to the bank of the Loskop Dam.
The Loskop Marathon is the perfect preparation for the Comrades Marathon.
• December 2025 will also be characterised by both rain and tears in buckets.
Apart from above-average rainfall, resulting in floods, unstoppable tears also fell when three women drowned, having been swept away by a raging Klein Olifants River while they were praying under the railway bridge on the old Belfast road.
Police divers retrieved all three bodies from the river on December 8 following a flash flood on December 7.
Shortly after, the bodies of sisters Lizzy and Nomusa Thebethe and Ntombifuthi Sekwate were recovered from the river by police search and rescue teams. Another drowning was reported at Athlone Dam, marking the fourth drowning in just over 24 hours in Middelburg.
Mufaro Sande’s body was recovered minutes after police divers arrived at Athlone Dam, thanks to a group of teenagers who swam with Mufaro during the drowning, and pointed out the exact location Mufaro disappeared underwater.
His body will be repatriated to Zimbabwe. The drowning happened while Mufaro was visiting his uncle and nephew in South Africa for the Christmas holidays.
• Some happy news broke in the week of December 12, with the fifth baby saved by the Madison Baby Safe in Middelburg.
It brought the total of infants rescued to five in as many years.
In August, another baby was placed in the safe.
But with good news, there’s always an equal amount of bad news, and as we’ve grown to know, it involves the government.
New legislation to criminalise baby safes was opened for public comment, despite the undeniable success of baby safes.
Why does the government want to shut down baby safes? Because, as we know, the government cannot stand not having absolute power over issues they spectacularly fail to prevent themselves.
• In sports news, several Middelburg high-flyers have stolen the headlines.
Former Puma rugby player Leandro Cordier has taken the international arm-wrestling arena by storm after only two years of participation.
This follows a rugby injury that brought his professional rugby career to an end. Cordier is currently ranked as the third-best arm wrestler in South Africa after securing a third-place finish at the World Armwrestling Championships in Belgium.
Cordier is not the only sportsman making a name for himself.
Muller Jacobs (12) is currently in the United States for a trio of tennis tournaments.
Jacobs is South Africa’s number one-ranked tennis player in his age group. He had barely unpacked his bags from the African Junior Tennis Championships in Morocco before boarding a flight to the USA.
There, he is honing his skills in prestigious ‘Grand Slam’ style tournaments, including the Little Mo, the Orange Bowl, and the Casely International.
Additionally, Henk Wessels has returned to the Middelburg Rugby Club following a difficult two-year period for the organisation.
Fans can once again look forward to ‘tough-as-nails’ club rugby at Kees Taljaard Stadium.
