Boy beaten to a pulp gets wheelchair
ALEXANDRA - Alexandra philanthropist Linda Twala has come to the rescue of a 22-year-old man who was beaten to a pulp by a security guard and left paralysed.
Alexandra philanthropist Linda Twala has come to the rescue of a 22-year-old man who was assaulted by a security guard and left paralysed.
Twala, a community worker who runs the Twala Ama-Afrika funeral parlour in Alex and the Phuthaditjaba Community Centre, donated a wheelchair to enhance Tumelo Matsimela’s mobility.
On 27 August, Matsimela was beaten and left for dead by a man who claimed to be a security guard at the Oliver Tambo Centre in Wynberg. On that fateful evening, Matsimela, a computer programming student had gone to the centre to pick up house keys from his mother, Ngwanaboroka.
He knocked on the door of his mother’s dress-making business and as there was no answer he started to head home. On his way out, Matsimela was confronted by the security guard who claimed to have mistaken him for a thief. The security guard assaulted Matsimela using a metal rod without allegedly asking any questions.
Matsimela’s mother was only called the following morning to identify her son who was lying in a pool of blood. “For sometime, I kept thinking I was having a nightmare and that I was still fast asleep,” Ngwanaboroka said when she saw her son.
The guard was subsequently arrested and released on R1 000 bail. The case has been remanded on numerous occasions at the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court where the guard was initially charged with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The charge was then changed to attempted murder in view of the severity of Matsimela’s injuries.
WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON INFORMAL TRADING AND INFLATION?
Kabelo Kehalotse (Financial mail and Alexfm Talk 89.1 Journalist)
South Africa is one of the countries that promote the free market enterprise business participation. But the question is, are supermarkets aware that they receive the money borrowed by consumers from banks through Unsecured Loans? Banks find themselves with pants down on the consumer behavior spending money on hawkers than on supermarkets, while on other hand Reserve Bank continues to record the performance of supermarkets. What about the hawkers? In a dramatic twist following consumer behavior in South Africa, Supermarkets now grant mini franchises through SHOPRITE USAVE and JWAELANI. Is this another form of competition between supermarkets and hawkers? A public opinion says the latter cannot be regarded as a healthy competition. Another question hitting the economists and the unionist is the one that says, should South Africa drop the inflation rate? While the unions keep their eye on inflation, the Reserve Bank policies continue to be the problem as the inflation target is not prioritized and that delays the improvement of living standards. The problem with living standards is that the banks continue to record the spending in supermarkets as a way of showing the affordability of consumers. The inflation hike continues to haunt vulnerable consumers with fewer living standards (PDC – Previously Disadvantaged Communities scared to borrow money from banks. The public opinion continues to ask, Are hawkers responsible for dropping the inflation as the supermarkets contribute to a rise in inflation rate as consumers spend the money borrowed from banks through Unsecured Loans? It goes without saying that finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene and the newly appointed Reserve Bank governor, Lesetja Kganyago have much in their plate to deal with, particularly the consumer spending of South Africans for the festive season. The inequality in South Africa continues to be another horse without saddle roll and laurels.