The newly elected board members of the Barberton Community Tourism (BCT) company recently held their first meeting. 
“To make a positive difference in the life of all stakeholders in tourism in the first year,” was the desire expressed by all.

The primary focus was on sound corporate and financial governance and systems that needed to be put into place. 

According to Nico Oosthuizen, chairman, all board members signed a code of conduct. 
“Barberton Community Tourism company is a section 21 company. All legal and other matters be transparent and correctly executed and we must show all stakeholders how we will conduct ourselves in pursuing the goals that they have set,” he said. 
The code of conduct is a public document that creates a set of core values that will inform how the Board conducts its business. 
It flows from the guiding principles for the new company as laid down at the workshop that was held in November 2004. It covers such subjects as inclusivity, ethical and moral standards, independence and impartiality and accountability. 

Nico was unanimously elected as first chairperson of the Board with Scola Wankya as the vice-chairperson. 
Until the appointment of the full time staff Sandra Du Preez will be responsible for the secretariat. 

The panel that was responsible for selecting the Board was widely praised by leaders in the tourism industry for conducting a transparent and professional process where board members were elected for experience and expertise rather than the customary popularity basis.

“We want to make a difference,” was the overall feeling. They agreed that tourism stakeholders in Barberton had to experience a real difference in the first year and will work towards achieving this goal.

Following the council notification to the Single Quarters’ residents to vacate the premises by Monday, February 28, they woke up last Tuesday morning to the sound of the bulldozers demolishing their structures.

Some were forced to spend the night on the street. More than 50 rondavels and squatter structures were demolished.

According to S’bongile Mnisi, Umjindi municipality manager, this was not a forceful eviction as they consulted with the residents beforehand and allocated formal stands to them. She said they were only demolishing structures that were already vacated. 

Residents said they were evicted forcefully as they were still occupying their houses. They confirmed that it was agreed with the council that it would only destroy vacated structures. They were surprised when they were forced to remove their items from their homes. Some of the residents said that they were not allocated formal stands while others claimed that they were only given theirs the week before. 

Mnisi said people misunderstood the procedures of formal allocation. “People who benefited from these stands were those who had a lease agreement with the municipality, inherited them or those who appeared on the waiting list. Those residents who don’t fall in any of these categories were supposed to relocate to a transitional camp,” Mnisi said.

A young woman was allegedly rape, her wrists slit with a pocketknife and left for dead by her assailant in the early hours of Saturday. 

The SAPS and staff from SuperPro arrested a 28-year-old suspect, Quitin de Witt, a few hours after the incident. 

According to Insp. Heidé Carey the woman was alone and working late in an office. A man knocked on the door which she opened for him. He then told her that there was something wrong with a vehicle that was parked outside the building. Carey said when the woman walked out with him, he hit her and forced her into his car. He drove to the veld at the quarry on the way to Fairview mine where he allegedly raped her. 

According to the police he slit her wrists with his pocketknife. Bleeding profusely, she managed to walk to the road where Dolf Jansen from Protea Security pick her up and took her to hospital. On the description that she gave the police of the suspect and his car, they managed to track him down and he was arrested by 05:30. 

De Witt appeared in court on Monday and pleaded not guilty. He was not granted bail and is still in custody. He will appear in court again on March 14.

The ANC women’s league marched to the Barberton police station last Thursday and urged them to find a woman constable who went missing six months ago. 
The protest march, held by the Regional Ehlanzeni Committee was part of a national campaign to “Find Constable Rasuge”.

Rasuge is a young woman who worked for the police services and had been missing since August 2004 after being seen with her boyfriend outside a salon in Tembisa.

The ANC’s women’s league, religious women’s organizations, political parties, businesswomen, community based organizations and non-governmental organizations joined hands with the police in an effort to find Rasuge.

They call on those who have information on her whereabouts to speak out. 
In the memorandum handed over to Capt. Doris Jele, acting station commander, the protestors called on all law enforcement agencies to ensure that justice is done. 

The petitioners again urged that abuse against women should stop and that perpetrators should not be released on bail.