November 28, 2023
South Africa: Western Cape Declares Intergovernmental Dispute With Treasury Over Rising Public Sector Wage Bill
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has warned that a shortfall of R1.1bn to pay public servants could hamstring healthcare, schools and infrastructure in the province. Read more »
November 27, 2023
South Africa: Power Utility Forecasts More Crippling Blackouts Over the Coming Months
Eskom officials have forecast that there will be rolling blackouts (between stages 1 and 3) every day during December and January -- except for six days. And that is the best-case… Read more »
Equatorial Guinea: Families of SA Engineers 'Wrongfully' Jailed in Equatorial Guinea Urge Pretoria to Get Them Home for Christmas
The families of Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham believe they were jailed because a Cape Town court seized a superyacht and two mansions owned by Equatorial Guinea's vice-president. Read more »
South Africa: Judgment Reveals Extensive Network Around Cape Town Extortion Gangs
Two rival gangs of extortionists, with strongholds in Khayelitsha, operate across the Western Cape. They have such expansive networks that their influence extends beyond the… Read more »
South Africa: Limpopo Villagers Along the D3810 Say No to Voter Registration
The #NoRoadNoVote campaign is gaining momentum, which is more than can be said for vehicles on the D3810 road linking the villages of Khakhala, Gawula, Mahlathi, Ndindani and… Read more »
South Africa: Western Cape Braced for Worst Fire Season in Eight Years
A fire on Saturday night in Peck's Valley above Muizenberg, Cape Town, burnt about 60-100 hectares of mountainside, heralding the beginning of the fire season in the Western Cape,… Read more »
South Africa: Banks and National Treasury Challenge Claims of Currency Manipulation and Market Collusion
National Treasury has argued that the alleged actions of banks to manipulate the dollar-rand exchange pair from 2007 to 2013 were not the main cause of the local currency… Read more »
South Africa: Police Snitched to 'The Guptas' Gang, Endangering Mass Shooting Witness - Judge Sounds Corruption Alarm Again
In March 2020, seven people were murdered in a mass shooting in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. A Western Cape High Court judgment now reveals that a witness said cops endangered his life… Read more »
November 26, 2023
South Africa: Crime Rate Exacts a Huge Toll On the Economy, Says World Bank
The bank's findings reveal the price extracted from the public and private sectors -- and ordinary citizens -- by the country's high crime rate. Essentially, it's yet another tax. Read more »
South Africa: Johannesburg Council's New Speaker Signals What's in Store for the City's 6 Million Residents
The City of Johannesburg's new Speaker, Margaret Arnolds, grew up in Eldorado Park and is no stranger to politics, with a string of past political allegiances that include the… Read more »
South Africa: Inquiry to Investigate Under-19 Cricket Captain's Pro-Israel Comments At Awards Ceremony
David Teeger, who was set to captain South Africa's under-19 cricket team at next year's junior World Cup, could have that honour taken away following comments he made at the… Read more »
South Africa: SA Post Office Set to Relinquish Social Grants Paymaster Role
The dysfunction of SA Post Office branches, whose systems are often offline and unreliable, has meant that social grant beneficiaries have relied more on grocery retailers and ATMs… Read more »
South Africa: ANC Veterans in Limpopo Accuse Provincial Leaders of 'Incessant Interference' in Candidate List Process
While the ANC's list nomination process has raised concerns ahead of the 2024 elections, in Limpopo its Veterans' League claims provincial officials are interfering in the… Read more »
South Africa: Durban Tries to Hide Crappy Sea Water Quality Results As Holiday Season Beckons
The latest transparency blunder, which involves dangerously high E. coli levels, is not the first time the eThekwini Municipality has sought to conceal poor results. Read more »
November 23, 2023
South Africa: Former Coal Miners From Limpopo Launch Class Action Against Exxaro
'There are occupational exposure limits that the mines are obligated to comply with, but we have seen across the board that these limits have not been complied with,' says an… Read more »
South Africa: Lawmaking Behind Closed Doors a Possibility As New Intelligence Bill Processed
Secret lawmaking is a possibility for the first time in democratic South Africa in the parliamentary ad hoc committee's three-month dash to process the controversial General… Read more »
South Africa: Banyana Defender Janine Van Wyk Has Another Chance to Become Most Capped African Soccer Player
Veteran Banyana Banyana defender Janine van Wyk was one of the names in Desiree Ellis' squad for the upcoming Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burkina Faso. Read more »
South Africa: 'Spending Exceeds Revenue,' Says Eastern Cape MEC As Conditional Grants Slashed
The departments of human settlements, education, health and transport lost the most as conditional grants were slashed in the medium-term budget presented on Thursday by Eastern… Read more »
South Africa: Chief Justice's Frustration With Govt's Non-Implementation Is Lasting and Real
It is apparent that Chief Justice Raymond Zondo is frustrated at how the government is dealing with the findings of his commission of inquiry into State Capture. His public… Read more »
November 22, 2023
South Africa: Pretoria Ponders Implementing ANC Vote to Cut Ties With Israel
Officials point out that any decision on severing relations with Israel would have to be made by the Cabinet, which meets again on 29 November. Read more »
South Africa: CPI Races to 5.9 Percent, Posing a Fresh Dilemma for Reserve Bank Ahead of Rate Decision
Stoked by rising food prices, South Africa's Consumer Price Index (CPI) accelerated to 5.9% in October from 5.4% in September. This outpaced market expectations and brings CPI to… Read more »
South Africa: The Anomaly in Crime Stats That Results in High Murder Areas Getting Fewer Police Officers
A process has finally commenced within SAPS, which, it is hoped, will see places like Nyanga get at least an average share of policing -- rather than a lower share. Read more »
South Africa: Call It What It Is - The Education System Is in Complete Ruins
Reforming the education system is a bit like providing cough syrup for severe Covid-19. Hope, I am afraid, will not come from reform. We will only find it in total and complete… Read more »
South Africa: Justice Committee Recommends Removal From Office of Judge President Hlophe and Retired Judge Motata
Suspended Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and Judge Nkola Motata should be removed from office, the parliamentary justice committee recommended on Wednesday. Read more »
South Africa: What South Africa Will Tell the World At COP28
Briefing the portfolio committee on forestry, fisheries and the environment, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy and deputy director-general of climate change and air quality… Read more »