Latest news with #Gwala
Hindustan Times
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Fake FIR, says Jitu Patwari after Indore cops book his kin in land grab case
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress leaders on Friday mounted a sharp attack on the state government after the Indore police registered a land-grabbing case against state unit president Jitu Patwari's brother and others. 'The FIR has been registered to harass my family but we will go to court to prove our innocence,' said Jitu Patwari, describing the first information report (FIR) registered by the police as 'fake'. The FIR names Jitu's brother Bharat Patwari, a relative Nana Patwari, and Congress district president Sadashiv Yadav. Police said the FIR was registered on Thursday by the Tejaji Nagar police based on a complaint by Narendra Mehta (74), a resident of Mahavir Bagh in Indore. Mehta has alleged that Nana, Bharat, and Yadav forcibly grabbed his 6.5-acre plot of land in Umri Khedi and started construction of a residential complex. In the complaint, Mehta said his father had purchased the land parcel from Narayan Palsikar in 1950 who had received it from the erstwhile Holkar royal family. 'Police are investigating the matter and will soon arrest the accused,' police station in-charge of Tejaji Nagar Devendra Markam said. He said the FIR was registered under sections 318 (cheating), 336 (forgery), 337 (forging documents), and 338 (forging of valuable securities) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh staged a protest against the FIR, saying it was a politically motivated case. 'This was government land and was handed over to the Yadav community to develop a Gwala colony in 1994 during my tenure. Later, the community formed a trust to develop a cow shelter and a temple. In the land record, there was no mention of the complainant's name,' said Singh.
TimesLIVE
28-05-2025
- TimesLIVE
KZN traditional leader wounded in assassination attempt
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for co-operative governance and traditional affairs Thulasizwe Buthelezi has condemned an assassination attempt on Inkosi Simphiwe Cele of the Vukuzithathe traditional authority in eZinqoleni on the South Coast on Tuesday. 'It is very concerning as it paints a picture of a growing trend of violence targeting amakhosi and other figures within the institution of traditional leadership,' said Buthelezi. According to reports received by the department, Cele was travelling with two people when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle. One person was killed, while Cele and the other passenger sustained injuries. Buthelezi has called on law enforcement agencies to deploy all necessary resources to apprehend those responsible. He said he believes the attack on Cele and his companions is an affront to peace and stability by 'forces hell-bent on creating instability' in the province and the institution of traditional leadership. He extended his condolences to the family of the deceased and wished Cele and his aide a full recovery. Buthelezi has tasked the department to conduct a full review of the safety of amakhosi in conjunction with other line function departments and law enforcement agencies. Last month, Induna Gwala, of the Gwala traditional authority in eThekwini, was fatally shot at his home. Buthelezi called on community members to come forward with any information that will assist law enforcement agencies in apprehending those responsible.
The Citizen
06-05-2025
- The Citizen
Local organisation demands action against GBV
Helping Hand Foundation mobilised its members to address the rise in gender-based violence and demanded that Mamelodi East police prioritise GBV cases on Thursday. Together with the community of Mamelodi, they marched from Balebogeng Primary School to hand over a memorandum of grievances at the Mamelodi East police station. The memorandum was received by Colonel Moses Mokwana of the Visible Policing unit. Ntombifuthi Gwala from the foundation said it demands change and increased support from the police regarding GBV. Gwala said the police must prioritise GBV cases and immediately attend to calls from the community regarding GBV. 'There are a lot of cases reported in Mamelodi about issues related to GBV, and therefore we demand more support for GBV survivors and families who have lost their loved ones due to GBV,' said Gwala. She said the community had been complaining about the police officers who are not taking their job seriously, especially when it comes to GBV cases. She said the march comes after numerous complaints regarding GBV in the community and victims being afraid to come out in the open about their plight. The foundation pleaded with the community and victims of GBV to break the silence and start reporting these cases. She said it is there to help victims come forward with their complaints, and police must take action by protecting the victims. Among the issues they raised was the need for police to work with the community to implement community-based programmes to prevent GBV, promote awareness and challenge harmful gender stereotypes. In his response, Mokwana said GBV is taken seriously at the Mamelodi East police station. Mokwana said, 'We are working closely with the court of law by making sure that the perpetrators of GBV are served with protection orders as soon as possible. 'We always make sure that suspects known to the victims get arrested and make sure they are denied bail,' said Mokwana. 'Gender-based violence and contact crimes are a very big problem in Mamelodi East, hence we have gender-based violence gates which can be used by victims,' he said. He said the police were committed and would attend to the memorandum. The police advised the community to work closely with the social crime prevention officers to raise more awareness. Mokwana added that the station has a victim empowerment office that operates 24 hours. Gwala added that the foundation will be working together with the South African Police Service to end GBV and would therefore be taking part in programmes arranged by the police in the fight against GBV. She said Helping Hand Foundation is a student-led organisation that fights inequality and works with those going through poverty. The foundation has given the police station seven days to respond to its demands. ALSO READ: Ga-Rankuwa residents march to demand jobs Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@ or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Eyewitness News
22-04-2025
- General
- Eyewitness News
Turning trash from the Jukskei River into art
Jabulile Mbatha 22 April 2025 | 8:23 An Alexandra resident collects waste from litter traps in the Jukskei River that be transformed into art. Picture: Simphiwe Nkosi/EWN JOHANNESBURG - One of the fondest memories Sipho Gwala has of growing up in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, is playing by the Jukskei River searching for crabs. As a child, he was told crabs had money inside of them, a myth that motivated him and his friends to fish for the fable he was told as a child led to his interest as an adult when he learnt that crabs were indeed known for "consuming trash found in water" and being the "sea cleaning creatures", scientifically known as scavengers for their ability to consume dead organisms and said he worried that crabs could not be the only ones cleaning this river when he partnered with the Alexandra Water Warriors, a community-run environmental organisation focused on cleaning the Jukskei River, among other Jukskei River is the longest river in Johannesburg, spanning over 300km from the city into the Crocodile River, which then drains into the Limpopo River and ultimately the Indian the community of Alexandra, it was once a stop on a tour-guided route but with the deterioration from the pollution, it has become an eyesore. CEO of Alex Water Warriors, Semadi Manganye, said: "We live in an area where water is scarce and our river suffers too, with all the dilapidated infrastructure, sewage ends up in the river which is where we come in; we want to clean these spaces make sure we preserve them for future generations." The Alex Water Warriors found a unique way to clean the Jukskei River by incorporating the use of litter traps, handwoven by members of the Kula Marolen Foundation, another Alex-based organisation. The traps are made from plastic materials that are found in the river, recycled and reused. By profession, Gwala is an artist and his part in the project is making art to exhibit alongside the river. Gwala is part of a group of other Alex-based artists who use the recycled materials found in the river to create art, like sculptures. One of those artists is Rejoice Malete, who sculpted a human-sized rodent and mongoose from tyres thrown away in the river. She was also part of the team that made a mosaic, something she said she did not know she could has only been a resident of Alex for two years, forced to move after the loss of a family member. She said: "When I moved, I could not find a school for my child who has special needs, so I've been involving him in my projects which require handwork and it's been fulfilling knowing he is learning new skills."Yesterday the launch of a partnership led by environmental artist and scientist, Hennelie Coetzee, who works with Alex Water Warriors and the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership (JICP). JICP CEO, David van Niekerk said: "The three-year initiative is aimed at revitalising the Upper Jukskei River catchment through nature-based solutions that address flooding, erosion, manage urban heat, improve water security and enhance biodiversity protection, ultimately increasing climate resilience for over a million people." Researcher at Gauteng City Region Observatory, Dr Samikhsha Singh, said this recycling could offer the manufacturing industry the solutions of biodegradable material to use to avert a pollution crisis. She said: "If we are finding a lot of polystyrene in the river system, they come from food packaging and they very easily break down into smaller pieces, so what can we do to manage this, should we do something like swapping out polystyrene packing for more biodegradable stuff."Manganye said they hoped to get more partnerships of this nature. "We are trying to build that bridge between the ones that want, the ones that need with the ones that have."
