Daily Dispatch
Finance minister throws fuel levy lifeline to cash-strapped consumers
Motorists, farmers and businesses are set to get significant temporary relief from soaring fuel costs after finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced a reduction in the fuel levy, starting on November 4. The measure, announced in Wednesday’s...
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Horrified onlookers describe Orient Beach shark attack
A 65-year-old woman has died after being attacked by a shark while swimming off Orient Beach in Kugompo City on Tuesday morning. Janine Lochrenberg, a recently retired nuclear physicist who worked in radiology at Frere Hospital, suffered severe bites...
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R54m still needed to complete stalled Water World project
Eighteen months and R54m — that is all the Buffalo City Metro Development Agency needs to finally open the doors to the Water World Fun Park. The park, which has already had more than R120m pumped into it, is just one of the multimillion-rand projects...
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Big advance in fight against new HIV infections
People in the Eastern Cape can now walk into designated public health facilities to access a jab that offers up to six months protection against HIV, with the provincial rollout of the long-acting prevention drug opening up another option in the fight...
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Scramble for tickets ahead of World Cup games
More than half a million cricket fans are already waiting on the sidelines for a chance to score some of the most sought-after tickets to watch the world’s biggest cricketing names in Kugompo City as the Buffalo City Metro prepares to host the 2027 ICC...
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Smooth sailing as class of 2026 starts final exams
National Senior Certificate examinations got off to a smooth start in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday as matric pupils from across the province sat for their computer applications technology exam. No glitches or disruptions were reported at any of the...
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Sports administrator ‘receives death threats’ over opposition to mall plan
One of the voices speaking out against the planned demolition of the historic Victoria Sports Grounds in Qonce in favour of a shopping mall says he is living in fear for his life. He says he has received death threats associated with his stance on the...
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Matric pass rate target under threat
The Eastern Cape education department is targeting an 85% matric pass rate this year despite a decline in grade 12 performance, an increase in progressed pupils and staffing shortages that have disrupted teaching at some schools. Education MEC Fundile...
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Government looking to ease pain of fuel hike, says Ramaphosa
The South African government is considering measures to ease pressure on motorists in the wake of yet another fuel hike this week, which pushed the price of a petrol to over R30 a litre. Speaking in Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape on Thursday,...
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HELP US, MR PRESIDENT!
Please help us, Mr President! This is the desperate plea of pupils at a badly dilapidated high school in the small Eastern Cape town of Stutterheim. For years now, children at Siyakhula Public School have been studying in crumbling, broken...
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Record fuel prices to hit consumers hard
Eastern Cape households are facing tougher times as a sharp fuel price increase took effect today, piling pressure on consumers already struggling with the rising cost of putting food on the table. The price of 95-octane petrol rose by R3.33 a litre...
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R15m birth injury payout could put E Cape health finances under strain
The Eastern Cape health department says it will seek to negotiate a payment arrangement after the Bhisho High Court ordered it to pay more than R15m in damages to a patient left disabled during birth, saying the huge amount could affect its ability to...
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Family distraught after golf club worker crushed to death
Forty-nine-year-old Nkosinathi “Marks” Zenani, who died as a result of a freak accident while at work on Friday, was an employee of the East London Golf Club in Kugompo City for more than two decades. He was the father of three and the sole...
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Buffalo Park to host four blockbuster fixtures
The Buffalo Park Stadium will host four high-profile matches during the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, including a showdown featuring defending champions Australia. The allocation is an increase from the three matches the venue hosted during...
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Eastern Cape freedom fighters to come home for reburial
Zazazakhe Bottoman was barely five years old when her father, Songezo, left his Mdantsane home to join the now defunct ANC military wing, umkhonto wesizwe (MK) in exile in early 1982. Though Bottoman and her late grandmother eventually located...
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Kuse still waiting for promised home and R100,000
Four months after WBC miniflyweight champion Siyakholwa Kuse received a R100,000 presentation cheque from the Buffalo City Metro and was promised a new home, the Mdantsane boxer is still waiting for the municipality to fulfil its commitments. The...
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Packs of hunting dogs put reserve wildlife, pets at risk
Hunting packs blamed for killing wildlife in the Nahoon Point Nature Reserve are spilling into surrounding suburbs, where residents say stray and hunting dogs are attacking pets and raising concerns about the safety of people in the area. Residents...
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Eastern Cape rural region earmarked for R2.5bn green energy investment
One of the Eastern Cape’s most deeply rural districts is positioning itself to become a major player in the green energy sector, with three investors lining up projects worth more than R2.5bn over the next three years. The Mthatha-based OR Tambo...
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Many Eastern Cape heritage sites in tatters
As Heritage Month puts the spotlight on the Eastern Cape’s rich history, the state of heritage sites in the province’s two metros has come under scrutiny, with vandalism, poor maintenance and limited community involvement threatening some of the places...
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Municipalities losing battle against theft and vandalism
Eastern Cape municipalities are struggling to stop the relentless theft and vandalism of infrastructure, with officials warning that the destruction was increasingly putting basic services at risk. The problem has persisted despite municipalities...
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‘Assassination plot’ uncovered amid Sassa fraud crackdown
The South African Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) intensified crackdown on fraud and corruption within its own ranks has resulted in an alleged assassination plot against a senior Eastern Cape official, as the agency looks to recover more than R10m...
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SIU to probe stalled ‘money pool’, Water World projects
A number of controversial and costly Buffalo City Metro projects, including the stalled Mdantsane NU2 swimming pool complex and Water World, are to come under the scrutiny of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). President Cyril Ramaphosa has...
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Twenty-nine parties lock horns in BCM
Twenty-nine political parties and five independent candidates will contest the November 4 local government elections in Buffalo City Metro, vying for representation in the 100-seat council. The final candidate list released by the Electoral Commission...
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Mandela’s mayoral bid hits election-list snag
Nkosi Mandla Zwelivelile Mandela’s ambition of becoming the next mayor of the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality has hit a snag. Despite being touted as the ANC’S favourite to take over the reins as the new KSD mayor, Mandela will be unable to...
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Pupil stabbed to death in classroom
Just over a year after an Eastern Cape family transferred their 16-year-old grandson to another school in the hope of shielding him from violence, he was stabbed to death, allegedly by another pupil, in a classroom at his new school. The incident,...
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Metro’s running community remembers slain jogger and highlights safety concerns
For many women in SA, the decision to go for a run is no longer simply about finding time to exercise. It can also mean considering who else will be on the road, how isolated the route is and whether they will make it home safely. Against that...
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Detectives hunt possible third Tete shooter
Investigators are hunting for a possible third shooter and another firearm believed to have been used in the executionstyle killing of former world boxing champion Zolani Tete. Police insiders believe the missing gun could be in the hands of a suspect...
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Zwelitsha courthouse: broken toilets, leaking roof, growing frustration
Broken toilets at Zwelitsha magistrate’s court in Qonce leave female court officials sharing a restroom with their male counterparts. They hate it, complaining it places them at risk of sexual harassment. Most of the toilets in the sizeable and busy...
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Double threat for casino: job cuts, licence uncertainty
The jobs of 277 Hemingways Casino employees are under threat, with the casino warning that it could be forced to close if its operating licence is not extended or renewed before September 25. Even if the licence is secured, however, 74 workers could...
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Metro ordered to pay Transnet R12.5m after defaulting on debt
Buffalo City Metro has been ordered to pay Transnet more than R12.5m after defaulting on an acknowledged debt over unpaid rent for the Orient Theatre Complex in Kugompo City, forcing the parastatal to take the cashstrapped metro to court. The high...
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Threats and defections as UDM takes fight to Buffalo City Metro
As the race for control of Buffalo City Metro intensifies ahead of the November 4 local government elections, claims of intimidation have emerged. The UDM said it opened a case with police in Kugompo City after threats directed at its mayoral...
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Rhoode in spotlight again over Mfazi and Phala Phala
Presidential Protection Unit head Maj-gen Wally Rhoode may face further scrutiny after former Crime Intelligence analyst Pilasande Dotyeni laid a perjury complaint against him. Dotyeni opened the perjury case at the Rosebank police station on Monday...
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Eastern Cape tapestry that carried climate story to the world goes under hammer
A giant tapestry stitched by 43 artists in the small Eastern Cape coastal village of Hamburg, and later admired by President Cyril Ramaphosa at a global climate summit, is going under the hammer. The 5m x 2m artwork, Umlibo, will be auctioned by...
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ANC launches two-pronged strategy over Eastern Cape candidate lists debacle
The ANC is launching an investigation into the alleged manipulation of its Eastern Cape candidate lists after discovering that the names of several prominent candidates were removed shortly before the party submitted its lists to the Electoral...
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Tete murder accused claims boxer was behind shooting that paralysed him
The 22-year-old man accused of masterminding the murder of former world boxing champion Zolani Tete has claimed the slain boxer was behind the 2025 shooting that left him paralysed. Uzuzole Goqwana made the allegation in his formal bail application...
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Sardine die-off spreads to BCM and Wild Coast
Thousands of dead sardines are washing ashore in Buffalo City and along the Wild Coast as a mass die-off that reached the Eastern Cape last week spreads further east along SA’S coastline. The latest reports follow thousands of sardines washing ashore...
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Panic after claims ANC failed to register candidates in four municipalities
Confusion and uncertainty gripped the ANC in the Eastern Cape over the weekend amid claims that the party failed to register its councillor candidate lists on time in four municipalities ahead of the November 4 local government elections. The claims...
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South African tourists among missing as Nepal death toll rises
Six South African tourists are believed to be among the more than 1,000 people who are missing after devastating floods and landslides at the Nepal-tibet border. At time of writing on Thursday, 362 people were confirmed dead and more than 1,300...
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No SA boxing pro will fight for less than R20,000 —Mckenzie
As from next year, no South African professional boxer will be “exploited” and fight for purse money of less than R20,000. The undertaking was made on Wednesday by sport, arts & culture minister Gayton Mckenzie, while addressing a packed Orient...
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Cops zero in on fifth suspect in Tete murder
Police are closing in on a fifth suspect linked to the murder of former two-time world champion boxer Zolani Tete, with detectives now hunting a man believed to have driven the getaway car after the shooting. The suspect is believed to have fled the...
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President deciding on boxing hero Tete’s funeral, Mabuyane says
The Eastern Cape is waiting for President Cyril Ramaphosa to decide whether slain former two-time world boxing champion Zolani Tete will be accorded a state funeral, as the province mourns one of its most celebrated sporting figures. That is according...
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Tete received death threats for two years
Numerous threatening texts sent to slain two-time world champ and his manager SIVENATHI GOSA, MESULI ZIFO and MPUMZI MSHWESHWE For the past two years, slain two-time world boxing champion Zolani Tete allegedly feared for his life because of numerous...
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Young designer takes fashion dreams to runway
Nine-year-old Malkia Kogo has gone from sketching dresses in design books to seeing her own creations on the runway. Malkia officially launched her debut 23-look children’s fashion collection, Princess Malkia Couture, at the South Africa Kids Fashion...
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Golf club secures decade-long lease
The East London Golf Club has finally put pen to paper and signed a 10-year lease with Buffalo City Metro, allowing the club to continue operating from its Bunkers Hill grounds in Kugompo City. The agreement, which is effective from August 1, follows...
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E Cape pilots online school admissions
The Eastern Cape government is piloting an online pupil admissions system in four districts — while acknowledging that parents may face obstacles similar to those experienced in Gauteng and the Western Cape. The department has begun piloting an Online...
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Parties poised to roll out big guns in mayoral race
The race for the Buffalo City Metro mayoral chain is heating up ahead of the November 4 local government elections as political parties prepare to unleash their big guns to battle it out for control of the city. A number of prominent leaders in the...
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Brain drain bleeds E Cape dry
Malungisa Soga* dreamed of becoming a successful entrepreneur and job creator in the Eastern Cape when he registered his company in 2014. Starting out as a supplier of goods and services to provincial government departments and municipalities, he...
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Teachers blocked from posts as qualifications not recognised
Hundreds of Eastern Cape grade R teachers have been blocked from securing permanent government jobs after qualifications they obtained through a state-funded training programme nearly two decades ago were allegedly never properly accredited, prompting...
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Buffalo City throws lifeline to cash-strapped pensioners
Thousands of pensioners in Buffalo City will receive relief from the metro’s controversial monthly basic electricity charge after it officially rolled out a new tariff that exempts qualifying senior citizens from paying the fixed fee. The National...
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Hawks zero in on fake Madiba shirts
A crackdown by the Hawks on counterfeit designer clothing has reignited calls for tougher laws against fake goods after investigators raided a company allegedly selling counterfeit Madiba shirts worth about R150,000 in Kugompo City and Mthatha. The...
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Rights watchdog lashes BCM over decaying sewer system
The Buffalo City Metro has come under fire from the SA Human Rights Commission, which accused the municipality of violating residents’ constitutional rights by failing to address wastewater pollution and deteriorating sanitation infrastructure dating...
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From long queues to locked gates: EC probes clinic claims
The Eastern Cape government will investigate claims that some clinics in BCM are closing early and turning patients away without assisting them. The probe has been initiated in response to inquiries by the Daily Dispatch whose reporters have been...
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New hope sparks for GBV survivors and families with landmark inquiry
On paper, South Africa has laws, policies and institutions to protect survivors of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). In reality, too many people are still waiting for justice and support. Survivors and their families in the Eastern Cape have...
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Breakthrough in fight against EC rail infrastructure looting
The arrest of two men and recovery of suspected stolen Transnet railway infrastructure worth about R10m at a scrap metal yard in Qonce have shone a spotlight on how vandalism cripples rail services. The arrests come as the Passenger Rail Agency of SA...
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Legal battles loom over Graaff-reinet, EL renaming
Major legal battles over recent decisions to change the names of East London and Graaff-reinet are on the cards. Sport, arts & culture minister Gayton Mckenzie indicated this week that he would oppose Afriforum’s bid to overturn the recent renaming of...
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EC villagers still waiting for bridge over troubled waters
Four years ago, South Africans were shocked by video footage of Zoliswa Mfanekiso being ferried across the raging Mzintlava River inside a large blue plastic container. Today, little has changed for the residents of Dikidikini village, in...
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Future of grand prix circuit hangs by a thread
The future of the iconic East London Grand Prix Circuit is hanging by a thread — even as the city explores ambitions of attracting a major international racing event. The Border Motorsport Club has accused the Buffalo City Metropolitan Development...
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Kugompo City’s homelessness crisis sparks fresh calls for action
The growing number of homeless people sleeping on pavements, under bridges and in public spaces across Kugompo City has prompted renewed calls for the government to develop a co-ordinated strategy to tackle homelessness, as community organisations warn...
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Senior officials ‘resist’ efforts to turn metro around — MEC
An intervention team sent by the national government late last year to help turn around the state of affairs at the troubled Buffalo City Metro was met with so much “resistance”that the team had since reported the challenges to provincial and national...
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Brazen hijacking gangs staying one step ahead of the law
Armed men using a vehicle fitted with blue lights ambushed a Kugompo City’s family’s white Mitsubishi people carrier in the early hours of July 8, forcing the driver and his wife out before speeding off in the vehicle that provided the family’s only...
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Withheld Treasury funds released to Buffalo City
Buffalo City Metro has been given the green light by the National Treasury to access its annual R1.29bn equitable share allocation after the grants were initially withheld over the city’s persistent failure to deal with unauthorised, irregular,...
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Foreign nationals say fear has turned them into fugitives
Fear has spread through parts of the Eastern Cape as undocumented foreign nationals abandon their homes, leave their jobs and, in some cases, pay thousands of rands to return to their home countries amid escalating anti-illegal immigration...
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Shocking: 1,287 mob killings, 606 injuries, 10 convictions
Vigilante attacks have claimed the lives of nearly 1,300 people in the Eastern Cape in four years, with hundreds of others surviving brutal assaults that often left permanent injuries. This is revealed in a report tabled in the Bhisho...
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Metro misses Treasury deadline on R50m Duncan Village project
Buffalo City Metro has failed to meet a National Treasury deadline to formally conclude a R49.7m European Union-funded development project in Duncan Village. Its flagship buyback centre remains unfinished. The city, however, insists that the project,...
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R154m police civil claims blow for EC
Eastern Cape police have cost taxpayers more than R154m in successful civil claims over the past four years, with nearly 6,000 more lawsuits still pending, according to a report tabled in the Bhisho legislature. The claims, ranging from unlawful...
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Traditional leaders plan Zim trip to tackle migration tensions
King of Amampondo asemnyandeni Ndamase Ndamase is due to lead a regional diplomatic drive to tackle growing tensions over migration, with Zimbabwe becoming the first stop in an effort by South African monarchs to engage SADC heads of state and fellow...
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Metro not ready to roll out new traffic offences system
Buffalo City Metro says it is not yet ready to implement SA’S sweeping new Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) system, despite the national rollout beginning this month after a high court ruling cleared the way for its...
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Action demanded on ‘shocking state’ of E Cape police stations
Dozens of police stations in the Eastern Cape are facing an operational crisis, with nearly 40 running the risk of possible closure over deteriorating infrastructure and unsafe working conditions. The looming threat follows a campaign by the Police...
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US tech giant’s R1.5bn green investment to create 11000 jobs
US technology giant Amazon has backed a R1.5bn environmental restoration project in the Eastern Cape expected to create more than 11,000 sustainable long-term jobs over the next decade while helping revive one of SA’S most threatened ecosystems. This...
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SAHRC report lifts lid on how sex-pest teachers continue to escape detection
Nearly 1,000 complaints of alleged sexual abuse were reported in Eastern Cape schools during the 2024/2025 financial year, but only two teachers were removed from the profession during this period. This is according to a South African Human Rights...
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