The Citizen (Gauteng)

Borehole control ‘ridiculous’

While some experts have welcomed proposals to monitor and regulate borehole drilling and groundwater extraction by the department of water and sanitation, others have said they are ill-thought out and could be damaging to the economy. John Weaver, a...

All smiles as Jozi suffers

Mayor Dada Morero denies Joburg is on the brink of collapse and plays the political card for the broken city he ‘inherited’ from the DA. Though citing some successes in his address, a frantic Morero was behind the scenes trying to resolve Eskom’s debt...

FINE FYNBOS.

South Africa’s Leon Kluge and Tristan Woudberg yesterday won gold and best exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show with their Life After Fire, highlighting the renewal of the fynbos ecosystem once wildfires have swept over the Cape.

‘Fixer’ in a fix

Businessman and political fixer Brown Mogotsi in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday. He allegedly staged an attempt to take his own life in November last year, and will remain in custody as the case was postponed to Monday for a bail...

SA’s deadly need for speed

➜ Known for their ‘delinquent behaviour’ on roads, there’s a new scourge contributing to the fatal data: social media and the hunt for likes of viral videos of speedsters racing in excess of 200km/h. The risks of illegal street racing amplify the stark...

The big price rip-off

You are paying near double for groceries than you did five years ago: a 2.5kg sugar cost R36.99 in 2021 and now R63, coffee jumped from R89.99 to R169.99 – and that’s despite food inflation data suggesting far milder hikes. And did you know your...

Speak no evil

Suspended national police commissioner Fannie Masemola appears in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court yesterday on charges linked to an irregular police tender. The case against the top cop and suspected organised crime kingpin Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala was...

Missing billions leave tots stranded

R10bn to subsidise each toddler with R24 a day for food, over R200m for early childhood development infrastructure and R236m for a nutrition pilot – but it’s all just on paper with centres not receiving the funds and children going hungry.

Top cops up for graft

Durban businessman Tariq Downes, left, senior Crime Intelligence officer Feroz Khan and Gauteng Hawks head Ebrahim Kadwa appear at Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court in Ekurhuleni for corruption and defeating the ends of justice. Each was granted R20 000...

Phala Phala: end of GNU?

Following the Constitutional Court’s ruling, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s looming impeachment inquiry threatens to fracture the fragile government of national unity. With the DA refusing blind loyalty and the MK party pushing a no-confidence motion, the...

Virus takes wing in SA

Eight days it took SA authorities to start contact-tracing the 82 passengers and 6 crew on an Airlink flight that carried a hantavirus-infected tourist who later died in Joburg. Eight days in which the passengers went home or elsewhere, instead of...

Will the virus affect you?

Although Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi confirms the hantavirus strain that entered SA is the Andes that causes human-to-human transmission, he and the head of WHO say there is a low risk the outbreak will turn into a health emergency. So where does...

Africa’s peacock

Turning the human body into a canvas; a sculpture. The steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art transformed once again into a living gallery this year as the Met Gala 2026 embraced its evocative theme, Costume Art. It was not just about dressing up,...

May the fourth be with you

Silver linings

South Africa’s men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams celebrate with their silver medals on the second and final day of the World Athletics Relays at the Botswana National Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana, yesterday.

Full force

Protesters march through central Johannesburg yesterday in a demonstration against illegal migrants organised by the citizen-led ‘March and March’ movement, which calls for stronger immigration enforcement and the protection of job opportunities for...

Jozi’s vicious debt cycle

Instead of collecting revenue from its residents, the City of Joburg relies heavily on loans to survive and borrowed R5 billion from financial institutions in the past year to fund infrastructure projects. The city is spending just over R1 billion more...

Jumping for joy

NO WALLFLOWER.

Rapper Nadia is dressed to the nines for the presentation of designer Gert-Johan Coetzee’s creations at the South African Fashion Week in Rosebank, Johannesburg, on Wednesday. The premier fashion event exhibits women’s and menswear contemporary...

No bridge too far

President Cyril Ramaphosa and King Letsie III at the official opening of the Senqu Bridge in Mokhotlong, Lesotho, yesterday. It is a landmark achievement under phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and a testament to the partnership between...

Top cop’s day in court

The executive cannot wait for the next court date and should replace national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola urgently with someone who has not been “contaminated” by evidence at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, or the parliamentary ad...

Monday blues for top cop

Suspended EMPD acting chief commissioner Julius Mkhwanazi speaks to a police officer after his appearance with the Ekurhuleni city manager Kagiso Lerutla at the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Both are facing charges of fraud, corruption and...

Finally... the champs

The Blitzboks can finally call themselves champions of Hong Kong with a 35-7 win over Argentina in the final yesterday. ‘Special. We’ve been searching for this one,’ two-try final hero Selvyn Davids said after winning the first leg of the Sevens World...

What now for Malema?

His seat in parliament is safe and he’s not donning an orange prison jumpsuit – yet – but a defiant Julius has harsh words for the magistrate who sentenced him to five years in jail, with experts warning the EFF leader and his party they are at a...

‘Show is over’ for Juju

→ Those are the prosecution’s words as they pushed for a 15-year sentence for EFF leader Julius Malema, convicted of firing a rifle in public multiple times. His defence wants a fine, because at stake is not only his future as an MP, but also the...

#Not in our name

Nearly seven women are killed by an intimate partner every day, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2009, placing South Africa among the countries with the highest femicide rates in the world. At the same time, more than 100 000 girls between...

Living on the edge

A taxi lost control along Jan Smuts Avenue after heavy rain caused several accidents in Randburg yesterday. The weather bureau issued a yellow level 2 warning for storms in North West, the western parts of the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the...

SAA: brace for impact

The shock resignations of the CEO and three board members have left South African Airways rudderless. Pilots warn of ‘big headwinds’ as cadre deployment, poor governance and financial instability deepen fears of collapse, threatening the airline’s...

Kicking into overdrive

Miami – Prosecutors have requested medical records for all the prescription drugs Tiger Woods was taking when he crashed his car near his Florida home last month. The subpoena notice came as Woods was formally charged with driving under the influence...

Time for a snorkel?

Half of Johannesburg’s sewerage treatment plants are in a critical state, according to the 2025 Green Drop Report. The report, released last week by the department of water and sanitation, is the country’s primary regulatory assessment of wastewater...

Does parole work?

The data gives the answer: nearly 6 000 parolees have reoffended since June 2024, committing violent crimes from rape to murder. Complaints and legal challenges against parole boards expose systemic flaws, fuelling public distrust and intensifying...

Joburg writes off massive debt

Just days after it agreed to hike its wage bill by R10.3 billion, the Joburg city council has adopted a motion to write off its indigent residents’ debt, but hasn’t said how much it will cost. What is known is that overall debt owed to the city is...

The mad scramble

Motorists rush to fill up at the Shell garage near Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria yesterday, ahead of fuel price increases at midnight. Is the government’s R3 fuel levy cut enough? And at what cost, as 95-octane petrol may rise by R5.82 per litre,...

‘Cut fuel levies now’

With fuel prices tipped to go up by R5-R9 per litre from tomorrow, government is under pressure from, especially, farmers. A survey of over 1 000 producers shows daily restrictions ranging from 50l-500l per client, driven by panic buying and surging...

Suburb to slum

Residents of Ferndale in Randburg are battling ‘slumification’ as hijacked homes, shacks and crime overwhelm their suburb. Despite years of complaints, Joburg officials are turning a blind eye. Community leaders demand enforcement of bylaws and the...

‘Where’s our raise?’

SA Municipal Workers Union members march at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Johannesburg yesterday after the DA took legal action to block the City of Joburg’s R10 billion wage deal with municipal workers. The party claims it could plunge the city into a...

Do the Baartman

Proteas’ fast bowler Ottniel Baartman celebrates after taking the wicket of New Zealand’s Dane Cleaver during the fifth T20 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch yesterday. The Proteas won the game by 33 runs to clinch the five-match series 3-2.

Home today, gone tomorrow

Residents of Tladi Camp informal settlement in Soweto were celebrating yesterday after a property obstructing the installation of an electric transformer was demolished. The house was erected on a driveway between other structures in the ’80s. Joburg...

‘Stop, stop... Oh, I messed up’

Transcripts from the crash between an Air Canada jet and a runway fire truck at LaGuardia Airport reveal the air traffic controller saying he ‘messed up’ shortly after the tragic incident. Air traffic control had given permission for the truck to cross...

A quacking good time

Spectators dressed in duck attire at the rainy final day of LIV Golf South Africa at Steyn City yesterday. The Southern Guards, SA’s four-man team, finished second in the team event of the tournament staged on African soil for the first time.

‘Please cut off my hand!’

Meet 24-year-old Jonothan Gerds, a man in so much pain for eight months now he’s willing to walk out of hospital, find the nearest butchery and use a bandsaw to sever his left hand – and he blames it all on a doctor who gave him an unnecessary...

Me, Tarzan...

Poison Ivy, played by Cecilia Nahel, with Adrian van Niekerk as Tarzan, at Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg yesterday for the launch of Rand Show. A magical themed world for young adventurers features face painting, trampolines and interactive...

Rough road

Kent ‘weak on security – it’s a good thing he’s out.’ Asenior US counterterrorism official resigned yesterday to protest the US-Israeli war against Iran and said the Islamic Republic posed no imminent threat to the US. “I cannot in good conscience...

Simply the best

The Blitzboks celebrate after winning the New York leg of the World Sevens Series at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, on Sunday night. South Africa squeaked past Fiji 10-7 in the final, which also secured them the overall World...

This is what R90m gets you

Ovegrown with weeds, Kaalfontein’s promised hub in Ekurhuleni lies unfinished despite nearly R90 million being spent. Civil society demands answers as weeds replace opportunity, exposing budget excuses, incompetence and possible corruption in municipal...

SA wife tells of Dubai hell

A South African woman claims Dubai is not safe, ‘no matter what anyone says’, amid fears for her husband’s life. The damage to a building hit by a drone strike in Creek Harbour yesterday is clearly seen – but ‘you get fined if you tell...’

Sky’s birds of prey

Personnel check the wings of a B1 bomber at RAF Fairford in Fairford, England. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is allowing the US to use British bases, including RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia, to launch ‘defensive’ strikes against Iranian missile sites,...

Army crime fail?

This is what South Africans are not seeing on their streets, despite President Cyril Ramaphosa’s promise to deploy the SA National Defence Force nationwide to help police fight gangsters and illegal mining. Boots should’ve hit the ground already but...

Will we run out of fuel?

Long queues and even a ban on fuel sales may await South Africans as Iran yesterday targets Gulf energy installations and oil prices surge. One politician admits our supplies are ‘vulnerable’, with SA relying heavily on imported fuel from that region....

Holi and happy

People at a Holi festival with their faces covered in colourful powders at the Shree Radhe Shyam Mandir temple in Marlboro, Johannesburg, yesterday. Holi is a Hindu festival celebrating colours, joy and renewal. The event was organised by the India...

Toll of war on innocents

A boy plays with his sheep next to an unexploded missile that landed in an open field on the outskirts of Qamishli, eastern Syria, yesterday. Thousands of civilians across the Gulf are becoming displaced as the Iran war with the US and Israel...

Why, Proteas, why?

Proteas captain Aiden Markram will be left to wonder what went wrong as their unbeaten streak in the T20 World Cup came to grinding halt in the semifinals at the hands of New Zealand at Eden Gardens in Kolkata yesterday. The Black Caps won by nine...

‘We want water, not statues’

Residents wanting water in their dry taps protest at the unveiling of a statue of Oliver Tambo at North Beach in Durban yesterday. The statue celebrates the historic contribution made by former ANC president Tambo to SA’s liberation and democracy. Also...

Nothing left to steal

In tatters, like this forgotten grow tunnel – that is what’s left of the R30 million ‘vanity project’ of late Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza to polish his image. The agricultural hub, hailed to benefit large- and small-scale farmers, is stripped bare,...

Business as usual

After coasting into the semifinals of the T20 World Cup, captain Aiden Markram insisted the seemingly minimal effort displayed by the Proteas had been deceptive after they racked up their sixth straight victory of the tournament yesterday. Having...

It’s a give and take

No painful tax hikes, social grants are increased and tax inflation is adjusted for the first time in years... it’s a feel-good budget Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presented yesterday. But those who indulge in booze and smokes will cough up,...

All fired up over dry taps

It was not surprising when ActionSA unveiled Herman Mashaba as its Joburg mayoral candidate this past weekend. In truth, the party is inseparable from its leader: members of the selection committee report to Mashaba directly or indirectly, his family...

Three murdered every hour

This is the shocking statistic released by the SA Police Service, hailing a 10% year-on-year decrease in murder cases. Not good enough, say experts, calling the ‘absolute scale of violence devastating and unacceptable’. A lot of the victims are young...

Massive statement

Proteas speedster Marco Jansen celebrates after taking the wicket of India’s Tilak Varma during their T20 World Cup Super Eights match at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad yesterday. Jansen took 4/24 as South Africa won by 76 runs.

Bitter end to sweet life

As the fate of Tongaat Hulett, SA’s sugar producing giant founded over a century ago in KwaZulu-Natal, hangs in the balance, the ripple effects are unimaginable. This month, the group’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs) approached the KwaZulu-Natal...

R1.5trn to fix our towns

This massive bill to fix South Africa’s crumbling infrastructure is just the beginning. The SA Local Government Association says the state will also then have to chip in another R150 billion a year. The DA says if corruption is done away with, the...

Joburg bills: watch out

If you owe the council, do not sign any agreement to pay off your municipal debt. Amid the Joburg billing chaos, putting your signature on a debt acknowledgement form may just lock you into paying money you may not actually owe, especially if you are...

‘Help us bury our boy’

The family of slain Nigerian e-hailing driver Isaac Satlat have made an emotional plea for financial aid. ‘We need funds to take him back home so he can be laid to rest in his hometown,’ his uncle, Otila Onoja, told eNCA. The trio accused of strangling...

Can Cyril save our towns?

It seems the water crisis is a wake-up call for SA’s president: he is laying criminal charges left, right and centre against those that fail to serve residents and promises ‘a far-reaching overhaul’ of municipalities. But only those managed by his...

Will water pull plug on ANC?

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pre-Sona scramble by sending two ministers to help Jozi’s water crisis may be too little, too late to save his party as irate residents roast not only government, but also Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s ill-timed: ‘We also...

‘Don’t fiddle while SA is dry’

Water experts’ message to the president is clear: ‘Cyril, stop giving us wild promises about big projects saying this dam is being built because, on the ground, we don’t see it. Use your State of the Nation Address today to declare water a national...

‘I’m no agent’

‘There has been 10 attempts on my life’ committee hears. Fraud invstigator Paul O’Sullivan finally appeared before parliament’s ad hoc committee yesterday, where he denied claims that he is a foreign agent or former spy during a tense exchange over...

Man of the moment

Lowly Canada put up a brave fight, but the Proteas showed too much class. They had no real trouble sweeping aside minnows Canada, but Lungi Ngidi admitted the Proteas had been unsure of how to prepare for their opposition in their opening match of the...

On top of the world

Philip Snyman praised the Springbok Sevens squad for their effort and belief as they claimed the World Sevens Series Perth title yesterday, with a close, but well-deserved victory over Fiji at HBF Park. The 21-19 win in the final was a convincing...

In the spirit of the lion

People perform a lion dance during an event to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Cape Town on Sunday. The bustling Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town came alive with vibrant colours and lively performances, attracting hundreds of local residents...

Johnny the walker

He walked away from the DA leadership race, saying: ‘Simply, mission accomplished’ – but John Steenhuisen’s decision to not seek a third term has sparked a succession debate, with some citing capable contenders; others criticising the party for relying...

Mayor’s sweet rates deal

Residents of the upmarket suburb of Berg En Dal in Heidelberg are outraged that mayor Mluleki Nkosi’s house is valued at just R800 000 on the latest municipal valuation roll – four times under its market value of R3.5 million. The legality of the roll...

Tyla strikes gold again

South African singer Tyla won the Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance for her song Push 2 Start, at the 68th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. It marked her second win in that category, having first taken the award in 2024. The best in music...