Bokang Makgolane of TUT Juniors passes the ball while Juju Mama FC midfielder watches on.

                            TUT Juniors and Juju Mama FC share the spoils

By Tebogo Senosha

The Soshanguve Local Football Association(SOLFA)'s Under 17 SAFA Tshwane Regional League action continued at the Extension 10 Sporting Ground where Juju Mama FC hosted TUT Juniors recently.

The encounter started off slowly and cagey as both teams were cautiously feeling each other out while enjoying sitting back and knocking the ball in their own halves in the opening minutes of the game. The two sides did not really pose any threat to each other for the better part of the first half.

It was only on the stroke of half-time that the home side drew the first blood through striker, Jabulani Mahlangu who fired the home side into the lead with a well-composed finish, after a defensive error by Kearabile Morudu who failed to clear the ball, gifting it to Juju Mama's tallies man who made no mistake.

The match went into the half-time interval with Juju Mama leading TUT  Juniors by a slender 1-0.

The second-half got underway and TUT Juniors looked revitalized after the introduction of one of their defenders . The visitors continued to push numbers forward in search of an equaliser, and their continued pressure finally proved fruitful in the 60th minute when Keabetswe Chauke levelled matters for the visitors after capitalising on a blunder by Juju Mama shot-stopper, Keletso Modisane.

With the scoreline at one-all, TUT Juniors continued to pressurize the home side, who opted to sitting back and defending with lives as the visitors applied an attacking display. Juju Mama's solid-as-a-rock defence was finally broken down in the 75th minute by TUT Juniors Captain, Blessing Dlamini who slotted his free-kick into the corner, doubling the visitors lead.

With time running out, the home side did some tactical changes which revived and refreshed Juju Mama's attack in their quest to grab an equaliser. With less than five minutes left on the clock, Juju Mama's George Mohlala saved the home side's blushes when he scored a late equaliser with a first-time volley which pierced into the top corner.

The match ended with both teams playing to a 2-2 draw, sharing a point each.

TUT Juniors interim coach, Mahlatse Masha, did not shy away from putting the blame on his players, emphasizing that they lack discipline and commitment.

"This is one of the games that we should have won, but our players are not disciplined enough. They change positions whenever they want in the field and that cost us a lot," said the fuming Masha.

Tieho Letsoalo, who is Juju Mama FC coach, hailed his players' never-say-die attitude which saw them coming from behind to salvage a draw from a game which was dominated by TUT Juniors.

"I am glad that my boys managed to salvage a draw in this game, considering that they played without having trained together as a team. They did not jell well in this game, but we are going to start training together next week and that will improve our standard of football as a team going forward," said Letsoalo.

Batsofe ba ga Zone 14 gola Ga-Rankuwa pulong ya mokgahlo wa bona o moswa.

                                Batšofe ba bula mokgahlo wa bona o moswa

Ka Tebogo Senosha

Batšofe ba kgobokane Ga-Rankuwa Zone 14 go bula lekala la bona le leswa la mokgahlo wo o bitšwago New Settlement Pensioners Association wo o thomilwego ke Mohlomphegi Alfred Nkomo go la Winterveldt ka ngwaga wa 2003 pele a hudugela motseng wa Ga-Rankuwa ngwageng wa go feta. Maikemišetšo magolo a go hlangwa ga lekala le le leswa go la Ga-Rankuwa ke go leka go thuša batšofadi ka dilo tše bohlokwa bjale ka go ba fa dijo le go ba thuša ka dinamelwa ge ba ya go gola mphiwafela wa bona kgwedi ka kgwedi mafelong ao a fapanego.

Mokgahlo wo o moswa go la Ga-Rankuwa o ikana go thuša batšofe ba ga Zone 1 le ba dinaga mabapi, ebile o ikemišeditše go šoma ka ditaelo le melawana ya lekala-legolo la kua Winterveldt.

Moketeko wa pulo ya lekala le leswa go la Ga-Rankuwa e bile wa katlego e kgolo kudu, ka ge o ile wa gokagoketša batšofe ba bantši le maloko a mokgahlo-mogolo wa kua Winterveldt. Go batho bao ba bego ba tlile moketekong wo, bontši e be ele bakgekolo. Mothuša modula setulo wa Democratic Alliance(DA) go la Zone 14 le yena o be a le gona go bao ba tlilego moketekong wa pulo ya mokgahlo.

Mohlami wa mokgahlo, Mohlomphegi Alfred Nkomo wa megwaga ye masome senyane tee o lebogile batho ka moka ba o ba kgonnego go tšea nako ya bona go tla go ba ema nokeng moketekong wa bona.

"Ke rata go tšea sebaka se ke leboge batho ka moka go re thekga ka dinako ka moka kudu kudu babegi ba ditaba ka ge ba re thuša go phatlalatša moketeko wa  rena gore batho ba tsebe ka ga wona. Kena le mengwaga ye masome senyane tee lehono ebile le ge nka hlokofala lehono, ke rata gore le tšweIe pele go thuša batšofe ba rena mo motseng,” a realo Nkomo.

"Le ge ele gore ke tšofetše ebile ga ke sa kgona go bona ka mahlo, ke le kgopela gore le seke la ikgogela morago ge le nyaka tshedimošo ka se sengwe seo se ka kaonafatšago le go iša mokgahlo pele, le ge e ele gore le nyaka gore ke sepele le lena re ye go bolele le baetapele ba Mmasepala, nka ya le lena gobane ke na le taba le batšofe ba rena mo motseng ebile ke rata go bona ba hlokometšwe,” a tšwela pele.

Mohlomphegi Nkomo o tšwetše pele ka go kgalema ka bogale mmušo wa ANC wa mo gae mabapi le go se hlokomele batšofe mo motseng.

"Ge pula di ena mo Zone 14, re gapeletšega go ikhupetša maoto ka dipolasitiki ka lebaka la gore ditsela di a thedimoša ebile di na le seloko. Ga rena ditsela tša maleba ebile ge gona le mahu mo motseng, dikoloi di šitwa ke go fihla mabitleng ka lebaka la ditsela tšeo e sego tša maleba,” a ruma ka go realo Nkomo.

Mohumagadi Eva Makhubela yo elego mosepediši wa mokgahlo wa New Settlement Pensioners Association o lebogile batšofe ba mokgahlo ka tshwaragano mmogo ya bona le go thušana ka dikgopolo tša go roka diaparo tša setšo gore ba di rekiše gomme ba ihweletše letseno.

Mohumagadi Makhubela o rile, "Ke bona tšwelopele ye kgolo go batšofe ba rena ge ke ba bapetša le nakong yela mokgahlo o sa thoma go la Winterveldt mengwageng ye mmalwa ya go feta. Batho ba go swana le Morena Nkomo ke batho ba bohlokwa kudu mo setšhabeng ebile ba swanelwa ke go hlokomelwa le go hlomphigwa".

"Go tloga mola ke bago leloko la mokgahlo wo ngwageng wa go feta, ke ikwa ke thabile kudu ka dinako tse dintši gobane mokgahlo wo o re thuša go fokotša kgatelelo ya monagano ka ge re kgona go bolela le batšofe ka rena mabapi le se sengwe le se sengwe seo se re tshwenyago maikutlo. Ke duma okare le bao ba tlago ka morago ga rena ba ka tšwetša mokgahlo wo pele ge rena re šetše re tlogile mo lefaseng le,” a realo Mohumagadi Betty Mokgobati, o mongwe wa leloko la New Settlement Pensioners Association.

Sehlopha sa mmino sa New Settlement Pensioners Association se ile sa namela sefala sa opela dikoša tša bona tšeo di ilego tša emiša batho ka maoto gomme ba hlaba mekgoši le go bina ka lethabo le legolo.

Moretele Gunners salvages top five finish

By Tebogo Senosha

Hammanskraal-based side Moretele Gunners finished fourth in the ABC Motsepe North West League for the 2016/17 season after suffering a 3-1 defeat to Phatsima All Star in their last match of the season recently.

Gunners started the season on a rather bad foot after being dumped out of the Nedbank Cup qualification by Palmaros FC which meant they could set sights on the league only.

Gunners manager, Mr. Elias "Papas" Tlhatlha said that the 2016/17 season was a bad one for them because they really wanted to go to the promotions and he felt like they had strong and capable players to achieve that feat.

"This is one of the seasons I just want to forget. It was a very poor one for us as a team," said Tlhatlha.

Tlhatlha also hinted that the league had not being entirely fair on them hence they finished fourth and could not achieve their goal of going to the promotions.

"There are many things that happened within the structures of the league that hindered our progress. Things I cannot divulge in the media for my team's sake. So to avoid a straight relegation next season, I am just going to keep quiet for now," he added.

Asked whether he thinks not divulging those details will do good to his side in the coming seasons in the league, Tlhatlha said," This is our fifth season in this league, and we spend a lot of money running this team, but when the time is right for me to speak out, I will do so".

The team plans to hold a management meeting where amongst other reports, the chairperson's report would be produced and ideas would be shared on whether new players should be signed for next season or not.

Despite all the football politics, Tlhatlha is hopeful that one day the league will be run in a proper and fair manner, but he is doubtful whether his team would still be campaigning in the league at that time.

"By the time our league is run fairly, we might have perhaps sold the status already because we cannot afford to continue spending so much money without seeing any progress in the team," he concluded.

Hundreds of participants gather at the Starting point to take part in the 2017 PnP Sosh Morula Marathon at Giants Stadium.

                      PnP Sosh Morula Marathon attracts thousands of runners

By Tebogo Senosha

The streets of Soshanguve came alive when approximately 5000 runners took part in the 2017 PnP Soshanguve in partnership with Setshaba Research Centre and Soshanguve Community Radio Station's fifth (5th) Annual Morula Marathon held at Giants Stadium recently.

Runners of different age, gender and race lined up at the starting points at Giants Stadium across the 5 Km, 10 Km and 21 Km races at 6h00 in the morning to take part in this year's marathon. The 5 Km race kicked off at 6h00, followed half an hour later by the start of the 10 Km at 6h30 and finally the main 21 Km race at 7h00.

The much anticipated 21 Km race kicked off, and there was no clear favourite after the halfway mark, as more than 10 men were in the chase all looking to clinch the R1000 prize money for that position one spot.

However Gino Nkoe broke away with less than 10 Km to go, leaving Sandile Skosana and Motsamai Rantho in his wake. The pair tried their best to catch up with him, but he powered through and crossed the line first becoming the 2017 5th Annual Morula Marathon 21 Km race champion and pocketed a prize cash of R1000 and a gold medal. Skosana came second and bagged a silver medal and R500 while Rantho won himself a bronze medal and R250 after finishing third respectively.

Former Soweto marathon winner and Athletics South Africa (ASA) runner, Michael Mazibuko, won himself a gold medal and a prize money of R600 after crossing the line first in the 10 Km race, and Bafana Dube finished second, winning a silver medal and R300 while Kenyan national, Paul Nyairo, finished third and won himself a bronze medal and R150 prize cash.

In the women's race, Glory Madivhadzi won herself a gold medal while Portia Nkwane bagged silver followed by Thando Dlamini with a bronze medal at third position.

Speaking after collecting his gold medal and the R1000 cash prize, the 2017 Morula Marathon 21 Km champion, Nkoe said that he was happy and proud of his achievement, calling it the best moment of his life.

"I trained very hard for this marathon, and I am happy that all the training paid off today. It was a very difficult race because we were running mostly on steep slopes but I just kept going", said Nkoe, adding that he will be shifting his sights to the upcoming marathons where he would be hoping to continue with his winning momentum.

While most ecstatic runners commended the organisers for a well-organised event, the 10 Km race champion, Michael Mazibuko, bemoaned traffic incidents which slowed down the runners near Mabopane station and suggested that there must be a complete road closure during the marathon in the future to prevent traffic from disturbing the races.

"It becomes frustrating for us runners when we have to slow down or make way for cars during the race. It also tempers with our concentration, hopefully next year they will block the roads completely so that we run freely," added Mazibuko.

One of the co-organisers of the marathon, Mrs. Mapule Raborife, acknowledged everybody for participating in a disciplined manner throughout the event and hailed the marathon as a huge success as compared to the previous marathons that they have hosted.

Raborife said, " The results of this year's marathon shows that we were highly rated by the referees compared to the previous events, and that is a huge achievement for us. We are now aiming to have a 42 Km race in the township which will be similar to the Soweto marathon".

She further explained that they will sit down as the committee and decide on which organisation they are going to help this year from the proceeds made during the marathon.

Last year's marathon proceeds were used to buy school uniform for the children of Boepathutse Secondary School in Ward 88.

         Photo: Madiba Cosmos players line up for a photo after routing Glamour Boys 4-1.

Madiba Cosmos rampant over Glamour Boys

By Tebogo Senosha

A Tshepiso Maropola-inspired Madiba Cosmos, walloped Glamour Boys 4-1 in their SAFA Tshwane Super League contest recently at the Extension 2 Sporting Ground.

Cosmos came into the match targeting their third consecutive league victory while Glamour Boys were looking to rectify their errors from their 1-1 draw against Thiba Home Stars.

The home side threatened first when Bongani Seroke connected well with captain, Tshepang Mathiba’s corner-kick which forced a decent save from the visitors’ shot-stopper, Abram Kotsane, 15 minutes into the match.

The visitors looked disorganized especially in the middle of the park and as a result, defended deeply for the better part of the first half.

Cosmos’ midfield maestro, Kagiso “Fire” Msiza tried his luck from range in the 35^th minute but his shot narrowly missed the target as the home side pressed on for the opening goal.

Bongani Mnguni should have opened the scoring for the home side on the stroke of half time, but his shot went inches wide of the target following a great pass from Mathiba.

The match went into the half-time interval still locked at 0-0 stalemate.

An electrifying second-stanza followed as both teams pushed numbers forward in search of an opener and the visitors were unlucky not to open the scoring 10 minutes after the restart when Lebogang Selokana fired his shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.

It was the home side that drew the first blood in the 63^rd minute through their play-maker Tshepiso “Scara” Maropola who did well to bury his effort after showing some great individual display to make it 1-0 to Cosmos.

Bongani Seroke extended the home side’s lead 10 minutes later with a cheeky chip over the goalkeeper after getting on the end of a defence-splitting pass from Msiza to go 2-0 up.

With time running out, Glamour Boys pushed numbers forward looking to half Cosmos’ lead and as a result they opened at the back, suffering from successive counter-attacks from the home side.

As a result of their continuous pressure on the visitors, Cosmos were awarded a free-kick in a promising area in the 75^th minute and Maropola stepped up to complete his brace with a well-placed shot to make it 3-0 to Cosmos.

The visitors soon pulled one back through Lebogang Selokana in the 77^th minute, however Cosmos’ second-half substitute, Khutso Boshomane, sealed the home side’s victory with a thunderous shot from range to put the final score at 4-1, giving Madiba Cosmos a well-deserved victory over Glamour Boys.

The all smiles Cosmos coach, Ronny Ramaru, praised his charges for converting most of their chances.

“I am happy with my boys today; they worked very hard for one another as a team. Our main focus is now on collecting maximum points in our upcoming game,” said Ramaru.

The visibly disappointed Glamour Boys coach, Simon Matseni, rued his team’s costly defensive errors especially in the second half.

Matseni said, “The boys looked rather unconvincing in their defence today and that cost us a lot. We will try to rectify our errors and get the team back to winning ways as soon as possible”.

Cosmos would be looking for their fourth consecutive league victory when they go away to log-leaders, The Movers, on Sunday afternoon, while Glamour Boys would be hoping for positive results when they host Mike One Stars on the same afternoon at Giants Stadium.

Thugs terrorise Winterveldt residents

By Tebogo Senosha

Residents of Mathe  area in Ward 24 in Winterveldt, north of Pretoria, have recorded countless incidents of house breaking, robbery and hijacking  from last year but are dismayed that the culprits remain on the loose in the community, free to strike any time.

These thugs target homes that have no one during the day and break in. A community meeting was held in the area on Sunday to discuss possible solutions to crime in the community. Police Forum as well as Community Street Forum were expected to attend the meeting, but did not pitch.

The meeting went on as planned, despite members of the Police Forum and Community Street Forum's absence, and among other suggestions, the residents agreed on buying whistles for each home to be blown every time a crime takes place in the area.

Speaking to Sosh Times, Community Street Forum chairperson, Mr. Jonas Phahlane, emphasised that crime have escalated in the area recently and residents live in fear in the community because of these thugs.

According to Phahlane, few thugs that they have caught in the area were released by the police just days after  being arrested and are now walking freely in the streets.

He also said that they need the police to impose harsh punishments on the culprits before the residents resort to taking the law into their own hands.

"The sad truth is that families of these thugs refuse to disclose them to us and this makes it even harder to get rid of this problem," said Phahlane, adding that all the victims of these crime must come forward with their case numbers in the next meeting so that they could be able to track the progress of their cases.

Several homes in the area were broken into since last year. One of the victims of these crimes, Mr. Tebogo Modiba, said that thugs broke into his home in November last year when he was at work and helped themselves with his laptop and some of the electrical devices.

Mathe area resident, Mr. Jimmy Mokoka, urged community members to attend the meetings and to voice out their grievances.

Mokoka said, "The issue of crime is totally out of control in our area, and the police do not seem to do much about it because we report these crimes to them, but  never get to know how these cases end up".

The residents are hopeful that the Police Forum and the members of the Community Street Forum will attend the next meeting scheduled for March 8, to figure out solutions to the community's woes.

                     Photo: Participants at last year's event pose for a photo before take off.



 The Color Me Run event countdown

By Tebogo Senosha

Community Health Living in partnership with Hashtag Meat Café and Mighty Media will host the Color Me Run event in Ga-Rankuwa Stadium on the 29th April 2017, with its objective being to bring local communities together in the name of sports mainly running and walking.

The event consists of all sorts of fun activities such as participants painting one another in different paints and colours, aerobics, as well as walking and running for 5kms and 10kms.

The event was held last year in May and was nothing but a success and the number of participants increased from last year’s 850 to over 1500 this year

To enter to compete in this year's event, people can buy tickets which are available at Computicket, Shoprite, Checkers and House and Homes. Each participant will get a T-shirt, colouring powders and a Bandana (Kerchief). And winners will walk away with medals.

The event organiser and Chief Executive Officer of Community Health Living Cooperative, Mr. Obakeng Moagi, said that many people loved the theme and the number of potential participants in this year's event has grown hugely in terms of their Facebook Events Page's response, also adding that, securing sponsorship is still a challenge for them at this stage.

"Our main aim is to get more sponsors on board for the event to be as professional as possible, and for it to match the standard of other events that happen in the suburbs," said Moagi.

The safety of participants is in check, as emergency services are set to be on site during the event to ensure maximum precaution for all participants. Late registrations will also be conducted on the day from 5am to 6:30am.

For any queries pertaining to the event, people can contact Mr. Obakeng Moagi on: 083 862 9404, Tukza on: 078 518 4395, or Grace on: 072 474 7270.