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• A stash of firearms and ammunition was found in a dam near Oudtshoorn. 
• The ammo was discovered during a routine dam inspection by a municipal worker. 
• More ammunition and also weapons were found when the water level dropped. 

A stash of firearms and ammunition was discovered at the Raubenheimer Dam near Oudtshoorn following a routine inspection by a municipal worker.

Police spokesperson Malcolm Poje said the municipal worker reported the discovery and when he returned on Thursday, water levels had dropped and more ammunition was visible in the dam better known as a picturesque fishing spot. 

A team of experienced investigators, the K9 unit, police divers and Crime Intelligence members were sent to the deep, rocky dam in the Little Karoo and the firearms, firearms parts, and ammunition were recovered from the water.

Some of the items’ patina suggested it had been in the water for a while, said Poje.

The items they found included:  

• Three Martini-Henry rifles
• A BSA rifle
• An antique shotgun
• Two revolvers
• A 303 Rifle        
• 8 820 rounds of ammunition of various calibres

Poje said Garden Route district commissioner, Major General Oswald Reddy, visited the scene in person and had “nothing but praise” for those involved in the find and for the retrieving of the cache from the water. 

“Investigation into this discovery continues and is expected that more ammunition could be retrieved,” said Poje. 

Police are appealing for help in tracing the person who dumped the items. Information can be passed on in confidence to the Oudtshoorn police at 044 203 9000 or Crime Stop at 0860 10111 or via the MySAPS app. 

By Travel Reporter Jan 5, 2021

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To outsiders the Karoo may look like a dense landscape with scatterings of people who dare to make a life of it.

But for those who call it home, the semi-desert natural region of South Africa is an oasis with its cloudless skies that sometimes reveals its gems to those who are patient enough to hang around for long.

New kykNET series ’Karoobewoners’ hopes to uncover the magic of the Karoo. After all, it’s a place that inspires poets and artists, and a place that visitor return to again and again.

’Karoobewoners’ shares personal stories about a place that appears to have remain unchanged over the years.

There will be visits to some of the Karoo’s lifelong inhabitants, and its newer residents. Viewers can find out more about the loves, passions and everyday existence of these people in the arid, wide open spaces of the Karoo.

The series kicks off in Montagu where Petrus and Liana are living the dream, raising their family at Kogman Keisie. Jacques and Hein share how they have lovingly restored a 1854 Cape Dutch house.

In the second programme, viewers are given a look inside the Magpie Collective in Barrydale where artists have a passion for the environment and restoration.

Rosheen Kriegler swapped the buzz of the big city for a more peaceful existence on a farm outside Calitzdorp. We learn more about her experiences in the third programme, before stopping over in Zoar to meet tour guide and storyteller, Alistair Reizenberg, who shares his love of language and history with us.

Other episodes in the series will feature the world-renowned ceramic artist, Hylton Nel, the Prince Albert Reeldancers, Lizzy Snoek and her traditional food, as well as a couple who have transformed an abandoned house into an oasis for artists.

South Africans seem to have an immense capacity for change; for spotting its opportunities and embracing fresh ways of thinking and being,“ said BrightRock’s deputy CEO, Suzanne Stevens.

The financial services company is the producer and partner to the series.

“Karoobewoners showcases the stories of some of its diverse people, who are doing new and interesting things. It explores their journeys, their ability to adapt to change, why they’ve made the Karoo their home, and even how some of them have achieved global recognition from the apparent stillness and desolation of the Karoo. We hope viewers will find their stories as compelling and inspiring as we do,” concluded Stevens.

’Karoobewoners’ airs from January 5, 2021 at 9pm on kykNET (DStv-channel 144)

Police have arrested a suspected drug dealer for travelling on a taxi with 160kg of dagga.

The suspect had six bags of dagga, worth about R320,000, concealed in tog bags and stashed in the taxi trailer, police said in a statement on Saturday. He was undone by a police vehicle checkpoint outside Beaufort West in the Karoo.

Police said the suspect would appear in the Beaufort West magistrate’s court on Monday on drug dealing charges.

TimesLIVE

One of the country’s poorest municipalities is planning to outsource the provision of electricity and water services at a cost of R735m, the Western Cape government said on Monday.

However, the province is mounting a legal challenge to stop the Kannaland municipality in the central Karoo from “incurring massive liabilities that it simply cannot afford”, the provincial government said.

“There are ongoing efforts to push through a contract with a private entity for the provision of electricity and water services and infrastructure at a cost of hundreds of millions of rand that would bind the municipality for more than 25 years,” said Anton Bredell, Western Cape minister for local government, environmental affairs and development planning.

“This when the national and provincial treasuries have advised the municipality that they have not followed due process nor ensured the process followed was fair, transparent, competitive and cost-effective,” Bredell said.

“It appears the project will come at a cost of R735m, which is clearly not affordable when the municipality’s entire available operating budget for 2020/21 is R174m,” he said.

One of the country’s poorest municipalities is planning to outsource the provision of electricity and water services at a cost of R735m, the Western Cape government said on Monday.

However, the province is mounting a legal challenge to stop the Kannaland municipality in the central Karoo from “incurring massive liabilities that it simply cannot afford”, the provincial government said.

“There are ongoing efforts to push through a contract with a private entity for the provision of electricity and water services and infrastructure at a cost of hundreds of millions of rand that would bind the municipality for more than 25 years,” said Anton Bredell, Western Cape minister for local government, environmental affairs and development planning.

“This when the national and provincial treasuries have advised the municipality that they have not followed due process nor ensured the process followed was fair, transparent, competitive and cost-effective,” Bredell said.

“It appears the project will come at a cost of R735m, which is clearly not affordable when the municipality’s entire available operating budget for 2020/21 is R174m,” he said.

A team of investigators has been assembled to probe the discovery of an arms cache recovered by police from the Raubenheimer Dam, outside Oudtshoorn, in the Little Karoo, over the past two days, Western Cape police said.

“Members attached to the Attaqua K9, police divers and Crime Intelligence were dispatched to the scene where the cache of firearms, firearm parts as well as ammunition were recovered from the water,” police said.

They said the investigation into the find was continuing and it was expected that more ammunition could be retrieved.

No further details were immediately available.

“We appeal to the any person that could assist to trace the person responsible for dumping these items to please come forward. All information will be treated with utmost confidentiality and any person with information may contact the Oudtshoorn Police at 044 2039000 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111. Information could also be shared on the MySAPS app,” police said.

TimesLIVE

• Ottneil Baartman is the latest from the Klein Karoo region that’s starting to churn out quick bowlers
• He’s a steady operator who’s moved from the Knights to the Dolphins
• From a depth building perspective, he’s become part of SA’s fast-bowling rebuilding project.

If the South-Western Districts and Oudtshoorn have been firmly looked at as Ostrich and Cango Caves country, this may need to change a bit, especially with the pacemen the region is unobtrusively producing.

While Glenton Stuurman unfortunately having to cool his heels for the better part of the home international summer before injury got in the way, there’s the small consolation of his slightly younger homeboy Ottneil Emile Graham Baartman breaking into the Test squad for the Pakistan tour later this month.

Should the 27-year-old be fortunate enough to get a crack into the match-day 11 for the first Test in Karachi on January 26, which looks unlikely considering how the Test bowling attack fared in the Sri Lanka series despite the glaring lack of Test experience, he will have completed a round six years of first-class cricket since he made his bow for SWD against North-West in Potchefstroom.

Like most debuts, he was unremarkable, returning match figures of 1-107 in 29 overs in a high scoring draw.

However, it’s been the bulk of the work he’s done at the Knights and the Dolphins as a highly calibrated opening fast medium bowler that’s caught the eye of the selectors.

While squads have to be justifiably big to combat Covid-19 outbreaks as bio-secure environments and isolation periods on arrival means the jetting in and out of players becomes a problem, it also affords fringe players an opportunity to gel with senior squad members.

Fast bowling and its mechanics are intensive and impactful on the body, meaning the opportunity for play can always be created by injury.

The ongoing Test series between India and Australia is just one example, with the former burning through its fast bowling resources with one more match to play in what has become an engrossing series.

Back to Baartman, 28 First-Class matches over five years doesn’t sound like a lot, but he has featured regularly in franchise matches.

His last outing was the Covid-19 curtailed Titans/Dolphins game at SuperSport Park where he took 1/56 in 15 overs.

One profitable season for him was the 2018/19 campaign where he collected 17 scalps at 22.76 in five matches for the Knights

82 wickets at 26.84 with an economy rate of 3.18 speak of an ability to attack and defend assuredly.

It’s a necessity on the sub-continent; especially against a Pakistan side who’s batting misfired badly in New Zealand.

Mount Maunganui and Christchurch are moons and mountains apart from Karachi and Rawalpindi and it’s still winter in Pakistan.

It’s a time where fast bowling can, for some stretches of the game, still have a say.

Pakistan’s batting group was shorn of Babar Azam’s batting talents, but with less bounce and lateral movement, they become a different breed at home where inexperienced fast bowlers become cannon-fodder.

The depth-building in South African fast-bowling is continuing at good speed and once South Africa A get an opportunity to play, the competition for places will be very healthy.

Players like Baartman, who give their all week in and out for their franchises, will be the biggest winners of these tour experiences.

A fairly cool to warm Thursday is expected, says the South African Weather Service, with impact-based rain leading to localised flooding expected in Limpopo.

Impact-based warning

Yellow (Level 2) warning for heavy rainfall leading to localised flooding of formal and informal roads or settlements, low-lying areas and bridges and difficult driving conditions is expected over the western and south-western parts of Limpopo.

The weather in your province

Gauteng will be cloudy and cool to warm with widespread showers and thundershowers. The expected UVB sunburn index is low.

Mpumalanga will be cloudy and cool with scattered showers and thundershowers, but widespread in the west.

In Limpopo, it will be cloudy and warm with scattered showers and thundershowers, but widespread in the west and south.

The North West will be partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers and thundershowers, but scattered in the east.

Conditions in the Free State will be partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers and thundershowers, except in the west. Scattered showers and thundershowers are expected in the north-east.

In the Northern Cape, it will be fine in the south at first, otherwise partly cloudy and warm to hot, but very hot in the north, becoming fine in the afternoon.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly to south-easterly.

The Western Cape will be cloudy over the Overberg District in the morning, otherwise fine and warm to hot, but very hot over the Little and Central Karoo where it will become partly cloudy in the afternoon. 

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly to south-easterly, but strong along the West Coast in the afternoon.

The expected UVB sunburn index is extreme.

The western half of the Eastern Cape will be partly cloudy in places in the morning, otherwise fine and hot.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-easterly.

In the eastern half of the Eastern Cape, it will be cloudy along the coast, otherwise partly cloudy and warm, but fine and hot in the west with fog patches south of the escarpment in the morning.

Isolated showers and thundershowers can be expected along the eastern escarpment in the afternoon.

The wind along the coast will be light to moderate north-easterly, freshening from late morning.

KwaZulu-Natal can expect morning fog over the interior, otherwise cloudy and cool, but warm in places in the north. Isolated showers and thundershowers are expected in the south-western and western parts.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-westerly, becoming easterly north-easterly in the south in the afternoon

The expected UVB sunburn index is very high.

Click here to see the specific forecast for your city over the next few days.

– Compiled by Kamva Somdyala

By Travel Reporter 11h ago

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To outsiders the Karoo may look like a dense landscape with scatterings of people who dare to make a life of it.

But for those who call it home, the semi-desert natural region of South Africa is an oasis with its cloudless skies that sometimes reveals its gems to those who are patient enough to hang around for long.

New kykNET series ’Karoobewoners’ hopes to uncover the magic of the Karoo. After all, it’s a place that inspires poets and artists, and a place that visitor return to again and again.

’Karoobewoners’ shares personal stories about a place that appears to have remain unchanged over the years.

There will be visits to some of the Karoo’s lifelong inhabitants, and its newer residents. Viewers can find out more about the loves, passions and everyday existence of these people in the arid, wide open spaces of the Karoo.

The series kicks off in Montagu where Petrus and Liana are living the dream, raising their family at Kogman Keisie. Jacques and Hein share how they have lovingly restored a 1854 Cape Dutch house.

In the second programme, viewers are given a look inside the Magpie Collective in Barrydale where artists have a passion for the environment and restoration.

Rosheen Kriegler swapped the buzz of the big city for a more peaceful existence on a farm outside Calitzdorp. We learn more about her experiences in the third programme, before stopping over in Zoar to meet tour guide and storyteller, Alistair Reizenberg, who shares his love of language and history with us.

Other episodes in the series will feature the world-renowned ceramic artist, Hylton Nel, the Prince Albert Reeldancers, Lizzy Snoek and her traditional food, as well as a couple who have transformed an abandoned house into an oasis for artists.

South Africans seem to have an immense capacity for change; for spotting its opportunities and embracing fresh ways of thinking and being,“ said BrightRock’s deputy CEO, Suzanne Stevens.

The financial services company is the producer and partner to the series.

“Karoobewoners showcases the stories of some of its diverse people, who are doing new and interesting things. It explores their journeys, their ability to adapt to change, why they’ve made the Karoo their home, and even how some of them have achieved global recognition from the apparent stillness and desolation of the Karoo. We hope viewers will find their stories as compelling and inspiring as we do,” concluded Stevens.

’Karoobewoners’ airs from January 5, 2021 at 9pm on kykNET (DStv-channel 144)

The South African Weather Service predicts a rainy day for most of the country on Monday.

Impact-based warnings:

A yellow (level 2) warning for thunderstorms with possible impacts – including localised damage to infrastructure, property as well as livestock – is expected in places over the Namakwa District of the Northern Cape and Central Karoo District of the Western Cape as well as in places over the interior of the Eastern Cape.

The weather in your region:

Gauteng will be partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.

The expected UVB sunburn index is extreme.

Mpumalanga will be cloudy in the east in the morning with fog patches in the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered on the Highveld.

Limpopo will be cloudy in the east in the morning with fog patches in the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers and thundershowers, except in the west.

The North West will be partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.

The Free State will be cloudy and cool with scattered showers and thundershowers.

The Northern Cape will be cloudy and cool to warm with widespread to scattered showers and thundershowers, but isolated along the coast. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate southerly to south-easterly.

The Western Cape will be fine and hot to extremely hot over the western parts, becoming cloudy along the south coast with fog patches in the evening. Isolated to scattered thundershowers are expected in places in the afternoon.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh easterly to south-easterly, becoming strong southerly off Cape Columbine in the afternoon.

The expected UVB sunburn index is extreme.

The western half of the Eastern Cape will be partly cloudy to cloudy and warm to hot, with scattered showers and thundershowers, but isolated along the coast. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate westerly east of Algoa Bay at first, otherwise light to moderate easterly, becoming south-easterly in the afternoon.

The eastern half of the Eastern Cape will be fine in places at first, otherwise partly cloudy to cloudy and warm to hot, with scattered showers and thundershowers, but isolated along the coast.

The wind along the coast will be light to moderate westerly in the morning, otherwise light to moderate easterly, becoming fresh north-easterly in the afternoon.

KwaZulu-Natal will see morning fog over the interior, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers but scattered over the interior.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh north-easterly.

The expected UVB sunburn index is extreme.