Polokwane

African National Congress (ANC) president Thabo Mbeki has hit out against party members who use lies and dishonesty to achieve their goals. Presenting his political report on the first day of the ANC’s 52nd national conference in Polokwane, he said the conference had to confront ”the virus at the core of the disease”.

The Polokwane municipality in Limpopo has confirmed the building of an R800-million stadium to be used in the 2010 World Cup, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday. The stadium, which will be named the Peter Mokaba Complex, will be built next to the existing Peter Mokaba stadium.

The suggested scrapping of the floor-crossing law must be expanded to accommodate other electoral changes that will give voters a greater say in who their president will be, says United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa. Even the poorest countries in the world have done away with the system applied in South Africa, he said.

A 1-0 victory for Supersport United over Silver Stars at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday evening saw them end their Castle Premier Soccer League campaign in fourth place. Their victory saw United leapfrog Moroka Swallows on the table to end off in fourth position behind Kaizer Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns.

Silver Stars hammered struggling Manning Rangers 4-1 in their Premier Soccer League match played at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday. There was no score at half-time. Stars took control from the first whistle but failed to find a way past Rangers goalkeeper Chad Harper in the first stanza.

Dynamos dropped two valuable points when they drew 0-0 against the relegation-threatened Manning Rangers in their Castle Premiership match played at Giyani Stadium on Wednesday night. Dynamos demonstrated some elements of character from the opening minutes of the encounter but the Durbanites were equal to the task.

Ninety youths have been arrested in Giyani and one boy is dead after 39 houses were torched in what appeared to be a witch-hunt, Limpopo police said. ”The 39 houses were burnt to ashes,” said Superintendent Moatshe Ngoepe. ”Those people lost everything — food, blankets, their children’s school uniforms and school books — everything,” he said.

Silver Stars caused an upset at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane where they held defending champions Kaizer Chiefs to a 0-0 draw in a hard-fought Castle Premiership clash played on Sunday. There was little excitement in the opening 45 minutes. Chiefs had two opportunities to score and Stars had one during a dull opening period.

Silver Stars moved up to seventh spot of the Castle Premier Soccer League log on Wednesday afternoon courtesy of a late strike from Dingane Masanabo. His goal in the 82nd minute gave the home team a 1-0 victory over Ajax Cape Town at the Seshego Stadium. A number of opportunities were missed by both teams.

Limpopo police have opened an inquest docket following the death of a 26-year-old border police officer who killed himself just minutes before he was to be arrested for corruption. The officer had been under investigation for allegedly accepting a R100 bribe from a Zimbabwean illegal immigrant.

A member of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) delegation to Zimbabwe, which was thrown out of the country on Tuesday night, has talked of the group’s seven-hour ordeal at Harare International airport. ”They [Zimbabwean police] attempted to beat us when we asked for food,” Simon Boshielo said.