Publication
‘I have no knowledge’: Lebeya denies knowing Big Five Cartel
RETIRED Hawks head, Dr Godfrey Lebeya, has denied knowing about the alleged Big Five Cartel or its suspected members, including the late taxi boss, Jotham “King Mswazi” Msibi, despite evidence placing several prominent names under fire. Lebeya told...
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CRIME VICTIMS TURN AWAY FROM POLICE AS TRUST COLLAPSES
SOUTH Africans are increasingly taking their safety into their own hands, with new crime data revealing a gap between people’s experience of crime and their willingness to report it to police, raising fresh questions about public trust in law...
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Coalition turmoil puts SA municipal services at risk - study
SOUTH Africa’s growing reliance on coalition governments is increasingly being felt beyond council chambers, with political instability disrupting budgets, delaying projects, and threatening basic services such as water, sanitation, and waste...
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Major airports flagged as organised-crime hotspots
SOUTH Africa’s major international airports and associated air-cargo facilities have been flagged as strategic organised crime priority areas with dozens of narcotics-smuggling cases emanating from the country’s ports of entry. These high-traffic hubs...
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SOUTH AFRICANS MISSING AFTER NEPAL FLASH FLOODS
RESCUE teams waded through mud yesterday, searching for more than 1 400 people missing after flash floods and landslides struck the Nepal border, as the death toll rose sharply to at least 362, with entire villages swept away. A glacier collapse in...
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SA BRACES FOR POSSIBLE FOOD PRICE PRESSURE
SOUTH Africa’s record maize harvest and improved water reserves should protect against immediate food shortages, but a strengthening El Niño could reduce agricultural output and push food prices higher next year. El Niño is a climate pattern...
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TRUMP’S IRAN SANCTIONS TEST SA’S DIPLOMACY
SOUTH Africa faces a fresh diplomatic and economic balancing act after the Trump administration threatened countries doing business with Iran with secondary sanctions, with the fallout potentially extending far beyond its limited trade with...
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SOUTH AFRICA FACES GBV EPIDEMIC
SOUTH Africa’s fight against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) faces renewed scrutiny following the release of sobering police statistics for the 2025/26 financial year. Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia reported that 50 511 GBVF...
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SPIKE IN POLITICAL KILLINGS AHEAD OF ELECTIONS
AN INCREASE in the number of councillors being killed ahead of the November 4 Local Government Elections has raised fears that they are being targeted and killed due to fierce competition over access to municipal resources, state tenders, and wellpaid...
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SA’S DEADLY CONSTRUCTION FAILURES
THE deaths of 17 people in four building incidents have exposed serious cracks in the country’s building safety system, with investigations pointing to weak enforcement, inadequate oversight, and professional failures. Public Works and Infrastructure...
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SCOPA REVEALS 90% OF SIU REFERRALS FALL FLAT
THE briefing between Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Hawks triggered outcry over state corruption and collapsing ethical standards. The...
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ROADS UNDER ATTACK ROCKS. ROBBERIES. LIVES AT RISK
THE fatal rock-throwing attack on the R24 in Bedfordview, Ekurhuleni, has laid bare just how vulnerable motorists can be on South Africa’s roads, where a routine journey can turn deadly when drivers are confronted by rocks and bricks, smashand-grab...
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MATLALA’S TESTIMONY ROCKS SAPS
ALLEGED crime mastermind and tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala has told the Madlanga Commission that suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu allegedly wanted to remove Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo as Crime Intelligence head and replace him...
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BORDER CONTROL CHALLENGES
MORE than 4 200 undocumented foreign nationals were intercepted attempting to enter South Africa outside formal ports of entry between April and July, highlighting continued gaps in border control even as almost 90 000 people were repatriated. Border...
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SOUTH AFRICA’S DOCTOR DILEMMA
SOUTH Africa had 1 518 vacant medical posts at the end of March, but the National Department of Health says it does not know how many doctors who completed community service remain unemployed. The disclosure comes as medical organisations continue to...
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UNDERCOVER KILLERS?
LEN John, Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Deputy Director for Investigations in KwaZulu-Natal, has alleged that SAPS “hit squads” , operating under the guise of task teams, have been killing suspects linked to cash-in-transit (CIT)...
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SA’s doctor unemployment crisis deepens
NEWLY qualified doctors in South Africa are struggling to find permanent employment after completing compulsory community service, with medical organisations warning that funding constraints, frozen posts, and poor workforce planning are leaving...
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IDAC’s Sesoko reveals exclusion from Crime Intelligence probe into Khumalo
THE rift within the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) was laid bare yesterday when head of Investigations and Operations Matthew Sesoko told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that he was excluded from the high-profile probe involving...
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MURDER AND COVER-UP
MORE than four years after Brakpan businessman Emmanuel Mbense was murdered and his body dumped in a dam, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has made a breakthrough with the arrest of five suspects, including law enforcement...
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HOW DIESEL PRICE HIKE WILL HIT YOUR POCKET
WHILE petrol prices drop, South Africa's diesel costs surge, threatening to drive up food and transport prices, squeezing households and businesses already under pressure. South Africans may be paying less for petrol from today, but the sharp increase...
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MORITA FORESTRY LEAVES INVESTORS IN FINANCIAL RUINS
WHAT started as a R350 investment promising R12 a day has ended in heartbreak for thousands of South Africans after the alleged Morita Forestry investment scheme collapsed, leaving victims counting their losses and questioning how promises of easy...
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COURIER HIJACKINGS SPIKE IN GAUTENG
A GROWING wave of hijackings targeting courier vehicles has sparked concern in Gauteng, with authorities warning that organised criminal syndicates are increasingly targeting delivery drivers transporting valuable goods across the province. The...
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EXPLOSIVE CALL PUTS JOHNSON IN THE LIMELIGHT
PROCEEDINGS heard a cellphone recording where the former head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), Advocate Andrea Johnson, allegedly tells prosecutor Drushantha Ramsamy to leave the country if she is summoned to give evidence...
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JOHNSON DEEMS IDAC’S ARREST OF KHUMALO NEEDLESS
IT WAS unnecessary for the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) to arrest the head of Crime Intelligence, Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, and other senior police officials in connection with Brigadier Dineo Mokwele’s alleged irregular...
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Advocate Nicolette Bell poised to take the reigns at IDAC
ADVOCATE Nicolette Bell, the Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions (DNDPP), is expected to succeed former Advocate Andrea Johnson as the head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC). This comes after rumours that Bell will...
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MORE CALLS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AS JOHNSON STEPS DOWN
THE government has been called to take real disciplinary action against Advocate Andrea Johnson, who recently resigned as the head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), and ensure that she does not escape accountability by merely...
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Keeping Madlanga findings secret sparks concern
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the names and findings from the Madlanga Commission’s second interim report will remain under wraps until the inquiry concludes. This decision has sparked public concern and frustration, with many fearing...
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MCKENZIE ACCUSED OF ‘JOBS-FOR-PALS’ SCHEME
THE DA wants Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka to launch an investigation against Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie for allegedly breaching the Executive Ethics Code by operating a “jobs-for-pals” scheme and misappropriating...
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EXPERTS TELL HOW TO ROOT OUT THE ROT INSIDE SAPS
THE South African Police Service (SAPS) finds itself at a crossroads, as experts demand a sweeping transformation that tackles the root causes of its integrity and leadership crises, rather than settling for surface-level solutions. Policing analysts...
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CALLS FOR MAUMELA TO FACE JUSTICE IN CORRUPTION SCANDAL
THERE are growing calls for the government to ensure that businessman Hangwani Maumela, accused of looting over R2 billion from Tembisa Hospital, faces the same justice as any other citizen, regardless of his political ties. This is according to the...
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R326M SEIZED IN TEMBISA HOSPITAL CORRUPTION FIGHT
IN A significant development for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in its fight against corruption related to the Tembisa Hospital procurement scandal, the Johannesburg High Court has ordered the final forfeiture of assets valued at...
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MCHUNU'S APOLOGY TO MALEMA DOESN'T END COURT WAR
THE fight is far from over, even though social commentator Ngizwe Mchunu has apologised to EFF leader Julius Malema for making defamatory remarks. The court is now scheduled to hear oral testimony regarding the ongoing controversy. Malema now...
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COURT CONSIDERS RAMAPHOSA’S CASE
MAKASHULE Gana, Chairperson of the Impeachment Committee, has submitted the committee’s list of potential evidence leaders to Constitutional Legal Services to confirm the availability of senior counsel for the task. Gana was speaking outside of...
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GOVERNANCE CRISIS HITS PIC
AS INTERNAL power struggles continue to threaten the state asset manager, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is experiencing a worsening governance crisis. This is according to the Association for the Monitoring and Advocacy of Government...
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Nersa faces legal action over R54bn dispute
AFRIFORUM has applied to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria for an urgent court order against the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in a bid to obtain answers to the R54 billion Eskom revenue dispute. The application followed a lapse of...
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IDAC boss’s ‘useless’ sick note stalls Madlanga Inquiry
ADVOCATE Andrea Johnson, the head of the Investigative Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), called in sick yesterday when she was scheduled to testify, causing the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to lose a day of proceedings. The deadlines for the...
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Delays in SAPS re-vetting raise alarm over corruption
RISE Mzansi says it is alarmed by delays in re-vetting and lifestyle audits for senior SAPS management, warning that internal corruption has infiltrated the highest ranks far worse than anticipated. This was after acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia...
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Hawks asked to probe Dimpane over R360m contract
PUBLIC Interest SA has lodged a criminal complaint with the Hawks against acting SAPS National Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane over alleged contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) linked to the controversial R360...
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Crunch time as Joburg’s R3.6bn funds are frozen
THE City of Johannesburg is among 69 municipalities across the country that the National Treasury revealed it has temporarily withheld R13.5 billion in equitable share allocations from. Joburg alone has had R3.6bn frozen. The announcement was made by...
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WhatsApp links Malema to ‘plot’ to oust spy boss
THE Madlanga Commission of Inquiry heard evidence yesterday implicating EFF leader Julius Malema in an alleged plot with Major-General Feroz Khan and suspected tobacco smuggler Mohammed “Mo” Sayed to oust former Crime Intelligence Inspector-General...
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ATM CALLS FOR PATERNAL RIGHTS REFORM IN SA
THE African Transformation Movement (ATM) has urged the Portfolio Committee on Social Development of Parliament to look into the issue of fathers being denied meaningful access to their children, which it claims is a growing but mostly ignored...
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HOW MKHWANAZI’S BRIEFING SHOOK SA
IT IS exactly a year today, July 6, since KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s explosive media briefing where he accused top politicians and police officials, including suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and...
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PP asked to probe Tony Leon’s firm
IN A formal complaint to the Public Protector, ActionSA has asked that Resolve Communications, the PR company founded by former Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon, be investigated for allegedly interacting with ministers in the Government of...
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PULE’S RETURN SPARKS OUTRAGE
THE ANC congratulated President Cyril Ramaphosa for appointing controversial former communication minister Dina Pule back into the Cabinet, 13 years after then-president Jacob Zuma fired her for unethical behaviour. Ramaphosa announced Pule’s...
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MP testifies about R10 million bribe offer to shield Khan
VUSI Shongwe, an MP for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), testified before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry yesterday that he received an offer of R10 million during a virtual meeting in Durban with Major-General Feroz Khan, the suspended head of...
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‘Violence is never the answer’
AHEAD of the self-imposed June 30 deadline yesterday, a large number of hostel residents, including Izindunas and Amabutho, participated in the final Soweto protest, demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave South Africa. This occurred as...
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ANC denies fracas within party amid impeachment chaos
THE ANC has dismissed claims of a “fracas” or factional clash within the National Working Committee (NWC) after the party moved to join and then pull away from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s application to interdict the impeachment committee. It was...
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Curro takes aim at City Power’s R9.3m claims
CURRO has hit back at City Power’s claims that it owes more than R9.3 million. The school revealed that electricity to its Sagewood campus was restored within an hour after what it describes as an “unlawful” disconnection despite an ongoing court...
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Joburg writes off R918m as AG sends warning
THE Auditor-General’s report emphasises persistent governance issues in metros, as none achieve a clean audit. Although metros account for 54% of local government expenses and serve millions, Joburg is specifically noted as requiring continuous...
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CRACKDOWN LEAVES CHILDREN STRANDED IN SA
SOUTH Africa’s intensifying crackdown on illegal immigration is leaving a troubling human cost in its wake – undocumented children stranded in Gauteng schools after their parents fled the country to escape deportation. The alarming reality was...
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WhatsApp links Van Wyk, Matlala to cocaine trade
WHATSAPP chats, voice notes, and video clips shown to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry yesterday suggest allegations of drug dealing involving Medicare24 Holdings CEO Michael (Mike) van Wyk, tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat Matlala – who faces attempted...
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Ndhlela and Zuma-Sambudla set to take their expulsion fight to court
NHLAMULO Ndhlela and Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, expelled members of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), have described their expulsion as the result of internal party forces attempting to hijack the party and sideline its founder, Jacob Zuma. During a...
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MK Party expels Duduzile ZumaSambudla and Nhlamulo Ndhlela
UMKHONTO weSizwe Party (MKP) has formally expelled Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and former MP Nhlamulo Ndhlela. In a statement read by the party Secretary-General Sibonelo Nomvalo in front of party’s top leadership, including Jacob Zuma, Tony Yengeni, and...
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R1BN SPENT BUT 1 MILITARY HOSPITAL STILL UNFINISHED
AFTER more than R1 billion was spent trying to rescue South Africa’s flagship military hospital, the government is now considering building a new one. The proposal has ignited outrage in Parliament, where MPs are demanding answers over how a billion...
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Tributes pour in as jazz maestro Abdullah Ibrahim takes his final bow
THE world is singing the blues for Abdullah Ibrahim, as tributes pour in for the South African jazz giant who died at 91. Ibrahim died peacefully after battling a short illness in Germany, surrounded by family, on Monday. He will be buried in the...
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PHALA PHALA COURT BID SLATED
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has been accused of undermining his anti-corruption stance following his move to block the impeachment committee from proceeding with its inquiry. Activists and Citizens Forum spokesperson Dennis Bloem said Ramaphosa’s...
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ANC SILENT ON JOBURG SHAKE-UP
THE ANC Greater Johannesburg Region has refused to comment on reports that the deputy mayor, Loyiso Masuku, has been identified as the preferred mayoral candidate for the region, while the incumbent mayor, Dada Morero, was allegedly left out of the...
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‘HEARTLESS’ AND ‘BARBARIC’ CLEVELAND KILLINGS SLATED
IS GAUTENG slipping deeper into lawlessness linked to organised crime? This is the question facing the province following the deaths of 12 people killed in a mass shooting at Cleveland’s Jumpers informal settlement on Tuesday night. The incident has...
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Major-General Khan’s testimony crucial to SAPS inquiry
THE Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has confirmed that Major-General Feroz Khan will testify on July 1. His testimony is central to investigations regarding allegations against SAPS officers. Following a Regulation 10(6) notice issued by the Commission...
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ONLY STATE CAN ENFORCE IMMIGRATION LAWS
CITIZENS have legitimate concerns about migration and illegal immigration, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his address. “Many South Africans are asking difficult but legitimate questions ... They are concerned about safety, security and the rule of...
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HAWKS COP ADMITS HE ‘LIED’ ABOUT R200M DRUGS
SENIOR Hawks officer Colonel Gavin Jacob came under intense scrutiny during his testimony yesterday before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry when he was forced to admit that he “lied” about exhausting all options near Durban Harbour in his endeavour...
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Letsoalo faces criminal charges after Scopa snub
COLLINS Letsoalo, the former CEO of the Road Accident Fund (RAF), was subpoenaed to appear before the parliamentary inquiry, but yesterday the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) voted in favour of filing criminal charges against him after he...
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EFF’s Chirwa blasts March and March after teen’s murder
THE fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Nhlamulo Sambo in Mossel Bay has sparked a heated public exchange between Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Naledi Chirwa and March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, as debate intensifies over immigration,...
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AMAD PROBED OVER FUNERAL ‘GUNFIRE’
A VIRAL video allegedly showing Johannesburg MMC for Community Development and former Johannesburg mayor Thapelo Amad firing multiple shots into the air at a crowded funeral has triggered a growing political, legal and cultural storm, with mounting...
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Bafana’s visa blunder delays resolved as deputy minister calls for heads to roll
MINISTER of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has confirmed that Bafana Bafana will travel to the United States today. The team was due to depart from OR Tambo International Airport on a chartered flight to Mexico to represent South Africa at...
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NEARLY R1BN DRUG BUST AT BEITBRIDGE EXPOSES SYNDICATES
SOUTH African border authorities have intercepted a drug consignment worth nearly R1 billion at the Beitbridge Port of Entry, in what anti-crime activists and tax justice campaigners say exposes the frightening scale of organised criminal syndicates...
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Five key claims Ramaphosa made in court bid to scrap Phala Phala report
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has filed an application in the Western Cape High Court to have the Section 89 independent panel report on the Phala Phala scandal declared unlawful and set aside, arguing that the panel relied on hearsay in its findings and...
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Ramaphosa ‘evading accountability’ in Phala Phala scandal
THE African Transformation Movement (ATM) has accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of attempting to evade accountability, following his decision to seek a judicial review of the Section 89 independent panel report regarding the Phala Phala farm...
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Meet the MPs investigating Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala scandal
AS PARLIAMENT moves to establish the Section 89 impeachment committee to investigate President Cyril Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala scandal, the ANC and EFF have come under scrutiny for failing to name their MPs to the highstakes panel. National...
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Elderly siblings locked in bitter fight over Apartheid-era township home
APARTHEID laws came to the forefront during a legal dispute between two elderly siblings, who were at loggerheads over a family property left by their parents. Under those laws, their parents were never recognised as legal owners despite living on the...
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PARLIAMENT MUST NOT BECOME ‘PHALAMENT’
THE phrase “Parliament should not be turned into ‘Phalament’” has set the political landscape ablaze in South Africa. This coined term is a direct reference to the ongoing scandal surrounding President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm, where...
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Joburg’s headache of rising informal settlements
ALTHOUGH his administration has a plan to rebuild, Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero has cautioned that the city is finding it more and more difficult to meet the demands for housing, electricity, and basic services due to the fast expansion of informal...
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MADLANGA VS ZONDO: THE TWO TALES OF ACTION AND INACTION
SOUTH Africa is currently seeing a glaring disparity in accountability, as the Madlanga Commission investigating police corruption has yielded immediate, high-level arrests, while recommendations from the Zondo Commission into allegations remain...
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Cachalia defends Ramaphosa, ignites fierce backlash
ACTING Police Minister Firoz Cachalia’s objectivity has been questioned after he pleaded with the ANC and the parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) to protect President Cyril Ramaphosa against his possible removal from office. Cachalia,...
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GAUTENG SCHOOLS FACE R600M MUNICIPAL DEBT
THE education system in Gauteng is teetering on the brink of collapse. With municipal debt approaching a staggering R600 million, the repercussions for schools across the province are severe and escalating. Electricity and water disconnections are...
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Opposition walks out over Ramaphosa’s no-confidence motion
THE parties organised under the Progressive Alliance banner, including the MK Party and EFF, yesterday walked out of the sitting of the National Assembly when Speaker Thoko Didiza refused their request to debate the motion of no-confidence against...
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