World News On Line Site

SOUTHAFRICA

Plot to kill President Ramaphosa unearthed, Fake soldier wanted to kill him at his inauguration
An investigation at the highest level of government is now underway, after security officials suggested that there have been “one or two plots” to assassinate President Cyril Ramaphosa.
That’s according to report from Rapport, who say that South Africa’s top brass are now looking into potential security issues within the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
PLANS TO ASSASSINATE CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, PLUS SECURITY ISSUES REVEALED
It’s understood that a “ghost soldier” tried to infiltrate Ramaphosa’s inauguration last weekend. He pretended to be a member of SANDF and allegedly attempted to con his way into the event, which would have given the suspicious stranger top-level access to the president. During his arrest, he was found with live ammunition in his pocket.
However, it would seem that this incident is isolated from the assassination plots – but with this being such a big security scare, the investigation into ensuring the president’s safety has been dramatically ramped up.
JUST HOW SAFE IS CYRIL RAMAPHOSA?
The ANC is a deeply divided party at the moment, despite members’ claims to the contrary. The factions of Cyril Ramaphosa and Jacob Zuma are currently at odds with each other. Political killings are all too frequent in KwaZulu-Natal, JZ’s favoured stomping ground. But Ramaphosa himself has faced little in the way of security threats up until this point.
Last year, there were rumours circulating that Ace Magashule and Jacob Zuma were plotting to oust Ramaphosa from government. However, these accusations have been denied by the pair. The current president has faced more threats over his political future, rather than his life.
SANDF TOLD TO “GET IT TOGETHER”
Meanwhile, SANDF are again making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The South African army have been involved in a number of calamitous incidents recently, ranging from rogue soldiers shooting at civilians in Durban to having an alleged hand in a coup in Botswana.
The report also claims there will be a major operation to get SANDF’s house back in order. They will be expected to tighten up their security protocol and ensure that a proper ethos to “serve and protect” is followed by all members.

Mamelodi Sundowns defeated EC Bees 2-1 in a Nedbank Cup last-16 clash played at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Pretoria team won through to the quarter-finals of the competition, but they never had it all their own way as they were made to sweat for victory by the plucky Eastern Cape ABC Motsepe League side.
Sundowns were expected to dominate possession and territory against their lower division opponents, and that was the way it turned out. They were in their stride early on, with Jeremie Brockie going close with a header.
But, Sundowns soon discovered the difficulty of playing against teams who sit back and soak up the pressure – they are always very dangerous on the counter. And it was on one such break that Bees took a surprise lead with a goal by Joseph Chikila.
Stunned, Sundowns had no choice but to inject greater urgency into their game. They created numerous scoring opportunities, with Thokozani Sekotloung, Brockie and George Lebese all failing to make the most of their chances.
The Pretoria club was then forced into an early change when Anele Ngcongca picked up an injury and was replaced by Thapelo Morena in the 32nd minute.
It's all over from Loftus Versfeld Stadium, the Brazilians come from behind to march into the next round of the Nedbank Cup.
Bees, though, hung in with great determination and showed fantastic resolve in defence in the face of relentless pressure. Just before the break, Sundowns had two more inviting opportunities for Anthony Laffor and Lebese, but, on both occasions, they were denied by fine saves from Bees goalkeeper Khanya Mini.
But it was only a matter of time before Sundowns’ dominance paid dividends. Seconds into the second half it was 1-1 when Hlompho Kekana unleashed a trademark long-range effort that cannoned into the net.
With parity restored, Sundowns went all out in search of a winner – Kekana tried his luck from range again, Laffor skewed a shot wide and Brockie was denied by a good tackle in the penalty area.
The goal had to come, however, and Sundowns duly netted the winner in the 75th minute when Brockie produced a superb pass for Morena to steer the ball into the net.

Higher Education Minister Naledi Pandor has paid tribute to British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking who died early on Wednesday morning at the age of 76.
Hawking became one of the world’s most famous scientists after the publication of his book “A brief history of time” in the 1980s, which sold more than 10 million copies.
He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963.
Pandor says Hawking’s passing is a great loss to the science community.
She says, “It’s a very sad day and a great loss to humanity and particularly to the science community. I think for me what he represented was an example of the ingenuity of human beings and also he managed to tell us to get rid of the many prejudices that we have about persons who have disabilities.”
“He proved beyond doubt that talent exists everywhere,” adds Pandor.
Pandor was recently placed at the helm of the department at a crucial time where she has to oversee the implementation of fee free higher education for poor and deserving students as announced by the former President Jacob Zuma in December 2017.
The department has been allocated a total of R324 billion over the next three years including R57 billion to cover fee-free higher education.