When she started selling sweet potatoes and peanuts next to the busy Makonde road in 2002, Shumani Juliet Makungo’s eldest son was only three months old. Twenty years down the line, Shumani is still going strong, doing what she loves most, and making arrangements to enrol her son at an institution of higher learning next year. His tuition fees will be paid from the proceeds she earns from her small business.

It's midday on Friday, 4 June. Tawanda Chipfuyo sits on two bricks while crushing empty soda cans for recycling before he trolleys the recyclables to a scrapyard some kilometres from Louis Trichardt’s central business district (CBD).

A senior traditional leader, Thovhele Vho-Nthumeni Masia, warned the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) that, as custodians of the communities, they were tired of hearing stories about water shortages around the district. He made an appeal to the municipality to work with traditional leaders to resolve water-related issues.

The search continues for the two gunmen who shot and killed a tavern assistant in cold blood in the early hours of Saturday, 18 June, at Tshiozwi village.

Valdezia residents barricaded roads leading from Elim to Vuwani early on Monday morning (20 June) in protest against poor service delivery. The protesters demanded regular clean water and an end to power outages at their village. They also took issue with the poor condition of roads and infrastructure.

The Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) launched the gender-based violence (GBV) campaign last Saturday (18 June). The project, which is the brainchild of DC Academy founder Ms Azwidalingani Matodzi, is aimed at assisting victims of abuse and will be rolled out over the whole of Limpopo and the Northwest.

The recent fuel hike that saw a litre of petrol rise to an all-time high of more than R24, and another increase expected around July 2022, has evoked a general feeling of panic among South Africans. The continuing fuel increases up until now have already severely wounded the economy as food prices and transportation fees escalate with them, and more and more South Africans struggle to keep afloat.

Magesi FC will be campaigning in the GladAfrica Championship League when activities for the new season start in about two months’ time. This follows the team’s superb performance in the national playoffs at the Olën Park Stadium in Potchefstroom last week.

More than R200 000 in prize money was distributed to the various netball, ladies soccer and U/17 soccer teams that participated in the Thovhele Vho-NTL Mashamba youth tournament that ended on Sunday at the Mashamba Grounds.

After playing to a 1-1 draw with Sisters FC in their Sasol Women’s League match at the Muziafera Grounds outside Vuwani last Saturday, Rodadau FC will play another league match in front of their home crowd this weekend. They will host Real Mighty Ladies at the same venue on Saturday afternoon.

The opening matches for the annual Masawe Tournament will be played at the Vhufuli Goldville Grounds next Monday (27^th).

United Artists are gearing up for the provincial promotional playoffs for the SAB League after they were crowned the champions of the Safa Vhembe Regional Association at the Thohoyandou Stadium last Sunday.