Prasa's new locomotives arrive in SA. This is a sample of what will be transporting commuters from as of 01 October 2016. This was according to PRASA boss Molefe that commuters wont have to complain of the ancient pallots that transport them to andfrom work recently.

Elandsfontein railway station a threat to lives.

By Ramushu “Msiro” Serious

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eatness and tidiness have always been communicated to us from an early age as the prime principles of good life. Cleanliness is perceived as something of great honour, meaning if you look clean you are most likely to be viewed form a certain perspective. However this does not and it’s not of concern to the people around and commuters in Elandsfontein station. Known for its origin as the heart of employment with its multiple of firms and companies in the surroundings. The health of commuters and passer-by is gravely of much concern and are in danger. The picture above shows a grimy railway filled with rubbish yet it is expected that a train carrying thousands of lives has to pass right there.

It is not clear what causes or what caused this mess, however it is believed that there are or used to be cleaners around whose duty was to keep the railway as clean to such an extent that you can even see a lost earing from a distant. But now that is something of the past. No one cleans the railway. Prasa which is responsible for this mess, seem not to care-enough about its customers. Although it is said that customers’ needs come first, that appears not to be a case with the passenger railway agency of South Africa. The station in Elandsfontein has limited if not no dustbins which might be the reason for the railway to be used as a dumping zone. Commuters were heard complaining of the bad smell emanating from the mess/rubbish. This station is indeed detrimental to commuter’s health. When asked one of the prasa employees about the situation, he responded that “these happens because a contract with the cleaning company was terminated” but he seemed not to have an idea why since the company was doing a great job for commuters. Another young lady was heard from a distance saying “we are gatvol of mickey-mouse management”

Who actually do this dumping?

Commuters themselves are blamed to be the one polluting the railway, yet some say that people (community members) do also dump here at night. A joined force could be a solution to this problem. People should come together and agree to do what is best for themselves in the absence of careless and irresponsible prasa management. Prasa does not uphold the South African constitution Section 24 which states “Everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being” but that is not the case in this regard.

Staging a victory

Inspirational: Learners of Madile primary school presenting at the WED and WDCD in Bushbuckridge on Friday.

By Ramushu Msiro Serious

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has been a great day for the people of Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga with the presence of environmental affairs minister Mrs Edna Molewa within their territory. The gathering was a two in one celebration as was a combination of both the World Environment Day and World Day to Combat Desertification and subsequently a hand over of tourism infrastructure at Andover Game Reserve. In addition to that, there was a school awareness competition taking place as well. The event took place in Cottondale, Arconhoek under Bushbuckridge municipality. A lot was learnt about WED and WDCD. There was an awareness competition taking place too by different schools, but however the crowd was cheered by the exceptional performance of pupils from Madile primary school. The school was part of the 10 selected schools which took part in the school awareness campaign. The campaign is aimed at educating the young creatures about environmental issues. Led by Ms Morwesi Ramotse, the school awareness campaign has a unique way of showing and bringing out talent and knowledge from the kids in primary school. It also aim to encourage children participation in events to have their inputs to problems facing the country but from an environmental perspective. Learners are usually given a topic on which to prepare a presentation on. On Saturday a group of precociously gifted and talented young kids of Madile primary won the competition. They gave a very impressive-educating presentation which resulted with them really deserved it. When asked of their secret behind their victory, the group leader seated, emitted a smile unsure where to begin. He giggles and grins with delight for almost a minute, seemingly happy for the victory and later sighed and said “sufficient preparation is the key behind everything” and continued that one needs also motivation from peers and educators as well as to have confidence. We only had five days to prepare and here we are as champions…he said (smiling). The competition saw these learners walking away with a R15 000.00 voucher to purchase environmental related materials. The topic was “Impacts of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought on our livelihood and impact of illegal wildlife trade on our economy”

Minister handing over uniform to penurious pupils of Sicelokuhle high school.

By Ramushu ‘Msiro’ Serious

            Generosity: Minister of Environmental Affairs, Ms Edna Molewa to hand   school uniform to learners at Sicelokuhle high school in Ladysmith.

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N action is the government of South Africa. On Saturday the minister of Environmental Affairs Ms Edna Molewa visited the Peacetown in Ladysmith to hand over school uniforms to the learners. Although it was in a very cold day, the people did attend. She (the minister) contributed about 100 school uniform (which included a t-shirt, a trouser, a skirt, a tie, a pull-over, socks and school shoes) to the learners of Sicelokuhle high school resulting in 50 for both boys and girls, and in addition to that 1000 school bags, 150 scientific calculators and a projector and screen were also given to the school. Addressing the community which was more dominated by youth, the minister reiterated that “it is a good thing that we lay foundation that is firm and strong for our country by educating our youth”. The minister who adopted one of Madiba’s quote that “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart”. This was witnessed from the beginning of her speech as she spoke in isiZulu for almost all of her speech and everyone seemed to understand. I want to see Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers and Environmentalists from Sicelokuhle high school. Cheerful and thrilled learners promised the minister that come final examination, a 100% pass rate was on the way.

She made an emphasis that the department of Environmental Affairs in collaboration with Dept. of Education will work hard together to ensure that no child is deprived his/her right to education as a result of not having uniform. Minister also made it clear that they will work hand in hand with other departments, like the department of Health so they can too hand in something such as sanitary pads for our young sisters in schools. As we commemorating Environment month “it is your responsibility as a community to take good care of your environment because without environment there is no life”…she said. She said that giving reference that almost everything we have, utilise and eat comes from the very same environment. Without it, we won’t be able to build schools and houses, so take care of it. By taking care of everything, the minister insisted also that the community assist in protecting and conserving the natural resources. “The government alone cannot do enough to fight against the poachers, the illegal mining and deforestation, it is only if we join hands and that together we will conquer these fights”…she assured. As she was to conclude her speech, she reminded everyone that it was not herself per se who was giving all of that but the government which is led by the ANC. Lastly she requested that if they want to see more of the goodies like that (referring to what she was handing over) they must not forget to do the right thing on the 3^rd of August. Don’t give away your government to the greediest because they will leave your government with nothing, you won’t be getting any of school uniforms anymore, so just go and do the right thing and help move the government led by ANC move forward…she insisted.

ANC IN A HOT SEAT

By Ramushu Msiro Serious

Yesterday in the so called a democratic South Africa, millions of the citizens flocked in numbers to exercise their democratic rights by doing what is considered right-voting. People did come out in numbers to go and cast their votes for the party of their choices. Those who voted for the first time seemed thrilled and find it a good experience to exercise their constituent’s right. According to some of the experts and analysts, these elections were the most competitive ever in the history of elections in South Africa, and placed a high volume of political parties and a subsidiary number of independent leaders. Today counting is still in progress in different electoral stations and many people are waiting eagerly for the results to hear which party has won the 2016 municipal elections. What s  eems to have been transpired before and said to have been a myth have a possibility of becoming a reality this year. There used to be a saying of “ANC will rule until Jesus come back” of which perhaps South Africa might be lucky to have the Holly man in their territory as DA seems to progress very well in most of the Metro municipalities which were led by ANC. So far there’s a huge difference in percentages as the counting continues and the ANC is not doing very well.

ALL WE NEED IN SOUTH AFRICA IS A PARTY THAT CAN MOVE OUR COUNTRY FORWARD. MAY THE BEST PARTY WIN.

Zuma presenting his report on the operation phakisa ocean economy

By Ramushu ‘Msiro’ Serious

Government in action: The state put constituent’s interests first at heart, aiming to deliver!

President Jacob Zuma gave an exciting report on operation phakisa in Eastern Cape, the birth place of former president Nelson Mandela. The ocean economy based programme is aimed at eradicating poverty by creating numerous job opportunities for the poor. Operation phakisa launched by president in 2014 seems to progress exceptionally well as reported by his Excellency. Operation phakisa (ocean economy) focuses on inter alia marine transport, coastal and marine tourism, small harbour developments and aquaculture.

The operation was successful in generating R17 billion since its implementation in the ocean economy. “Since the inception, over 4500 jobs have been created in various sectors” Zuma said. These job creation is believed to reflect on a positive impact on the country’s limping economy. Addressing the community members Zuma stated that the government working together with all stakeholders concerned can make greater and fruitful decisions which can help move SA forward. Although he (Mr President) survived his impeachment in parliament, he seemed quite relaxed in Port Elizabeth while presenting his report. Zuma has received an outcry from the public calling for his recall as head of the state after failing to uphold the constitution. This was as a result of the findings revealed by the public protector that Zuma has benefited unduly during the upgrades at his homestead in Nkandla.