The Witness (South Africa)
KZN Premier assures United Nations govt will protect foreign nationals
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli has assured the United Nations that the provincial government will protect foreign nationals living in the province, even as tensions over immigration continue to escalate in parts of KwaZulu-Natal. Ntuli’s remarks...
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Mystery deepens as missing church leader’s body found in shallow grave
The family of late eNyonini Church president Thami Nkonyane has filed an urgent court application to exhume human remains from a shallow grave discovered at the church’s pastors’ quarters, believing it could be the final resting place of the...
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Ramaphosa warns anti-immigration groups: Only the state may enforce the law
President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a strong warning against vigilantism, declaring that only authorised government officials have the power to enforce South Africa’s immigration laws amid growing tensions over illegal immigration. In a national...
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Cash-strapped Education Department hit with R955 million repayment bill
The cash-strapped KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has been dealt another major financial blow after the KZN Legislature resolved that R955 million in unauthorised expenditure incurred over several financial years must be repaid to the Provincial...
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Fuel price hikes squeeze businesses and households as food costs surge
Relentless fuel price increases are beginning to take a visible toll on Pietermaritzburg’s economy, with businesses, commuters and households feeling the impact. The price of 93-octane petrol is now R27,95 a litre, while 95-octane petrol costs R28,06....
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Tensions rise as Mozambique condemns attacks on its citizens
Mozambique has accused South Africa of failing to protect its citizens after five Mozambicans were reportedly killed in what it described as xenophobic attacks in Mossel Bay over the weekend. South Africa has, however, rebutted the claim that five...
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Msunduzi waste workers down tools over salary dispute
Refuse collection services across Msunduzi face further disruptions after municipal waste management workers blocked access to the city’s Havelock Road depot and vowed to continue protesting until long-standing salary grading disputes are...
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High-profile candidates emerge in race for Msunduzi mayoral position
Four high-profile names have emerged as front-runners in the race to become the next mayor of Msunduzi, as the ANC moves swiftly to finalise its mayoral candidates ahead of the November municipal elections. The candidates submitted by the ANC’s Moses...
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Baby clothes scam leaves PMB woman traumatised
What began as a simple request for help buying baby clothes at a Pietermaritzburg shopping centre ended in terror for a young woman who was allegedly targeted by criminals posing as police officers. The incident has sparked fresh fears over an...
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Tough questions for Msunduzi in Parliament
Msunduzi Municipality’s leadership faced tough questions in Parliament yesterday over how the municipality removed forensic investigations from the office of the chief internal audit executive and placed the function under the municipal manager. The...
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Ramaphosa bids to block impeachment process
President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a fierce legal counterattack against the controversial Phala Phala panel report, dismissing its findings as “hearsay” and accusing the independent panel of relying on untested and potentially unlawfully obtained...
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Family torn apart as woman appears in court over sister’s killing
What began as a simmering feud between two sisters has now ended in bloodshed, heartbreak and a family torn apart. A woman accused of plotting the murder of her own sister appeared briefly in the Camperdown Magistrate’s Court yesterday, alongside an...
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Ambassadors snub SA’s Africa Day celebrations
South Africa’s official Africa Day celebrations today have been overshadowed by a diplomatic snub from African diplomats skipping the event over safety concerns for foreign nationals, as a UKZN political analyst warns that rising hostility towards...
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Suspended Msunduzi officials’ salaries are bleeding City’s coffers
A Msunduzi municipal employee accused of murder is among four suspended officials who cost the cash-strapped municipality more than R300 000 in salaries in January alone, despite not fulfilling their duties. The suspended workers, including senior...
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U.S. to expand Afrikaner ‘refugee programme’
The Trump administration is preparing to dramatically expand its controversial refugee programme for Afrikaners, with reports indicating that a further 10 000 could be resettled in the United States under claims of an unfolding “humanitarian emergency”...
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Northdale Hospital billing dispute investigated
Questions are mounting over the fate of more than R17 million apparently paid by Northdale Hospital to the Msunduzi Municipality for electricity, after the municipality revealed that the payments do not appear on its billing system and launched a...
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ConCourt blocks govt powers to decide where doctors may work
The Constitutional Court has dealt a major blow to the rollout of the National Health Insurance (NHI) by striking down controversial provisions that would have given government sweeping powers to control where doctors, nurses and healthcare facilities...
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R1 trillion infrastructure plan must go hand in hand with municipal reform: Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced South Africa’s biggest infrastructure investment drive since the advent of democracy in 1994, with government set to spend R1 trillion over the next three years on energy, water, transport, and other major...
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Progress caucus turns Parliament into Phala Phala battleground
The National Assembly turned into a fresh political battleground on Thursday as parties aligned under the “progress caucus” banner staged a dramatic walkout during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s question-and-answer session over the Phala Phala...
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ICT dream shattered as thieves loot school lab days after launch
Just days after celebrating what many believed would be a turning point for Asibemunye High School, principal Thandi Makamu now finds herself trying to comfort devastated pupils after criminals looted a newly launched R1,4 million ICT lab, stealing 30...
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Drug syndicates accused of exploiting disabled people
Drug syndicates operating in Pietermaritzburg are allegedly exploiting people living with disabilities to transport and sell narcotics in Edendale and surrounding areas. Community leaders have warned that vulnerable individuals are being manipulated...
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Outcry over R17 million water tanker contract amid failing municipal fleet
Msunduzi Municipality is under fire for spending R17 million on hiring 12 private water tankers while nearly 10 of its own tankers remained broken down and parked at municipal workshops. Ratepayer organisations have accused the municipality of wasting...
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Shock as missing N3 engineer found dead in shallow grave
The body of missing civil engineer Willem Adriaan Len Du Toit (66) was found buried in a shallow grave on a farm near Crammond on Friday, ending days of desperate appeals for information about his disappearance. Du Toit, who worked as a subconsultant...
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Sadtu stands by Bragin amid fresh protests
The appointment of former Merchiston Preparatory School headmaster Llewellyn Bragin as principal of Nottingham Road Primary School has sparked outrage among parents and the wider Midlands community, despite the South African Democratic Teachers Union...
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KZN Transport dept mum on R84 mln border wall scandal
The numbers do not add up, and neither do the bricks. A border wall project meant to secure South Africa’s frontier with Mozambique is at the centre of a deepening scandal, with tens of millions spent, kilometres missing, and serious questions over how...
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Home Affairs intensifies corruption crackdown as arrests, dismissals mount
In the face of mounting pressure over undocumented migration — much of it linked to corruption within the Department of Home Affairs — the department has intensified a sweeping internal crackdown, with officials being arrested, dismissed and...
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Nigeria demands answers from SA amid growing protests targeting migrants
South Africa’s Acting High Commissioner to Nigeria, Bobby Moroe, will today face tough questions from the Nigerian government following a wave of protests and, in some cases, attacks on African foreign nationals living in South Africa. The meeting at...
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PMB businesses urged to get interdicts against civic organisation disruptions
Pietermaritzburg central police station acting station commander Nerashie Laalmohan has implored local businesses to obtain a mandatory interdict to prevent bodies claiming to be civic organisations from entering their premises and disrupting...
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Msinsi disputes pollution claims as Albert Falls fishing classic cancellation sparks concern
Msinsi Holdings has rejected claims that sewage inflow into the Albert Falls Dam is compromising water quality, following the cancellation of the annual Albert Falls Bass Classic last weekend after organisers raised concerns about possible effluent...
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Concern as vaping spreads among primary school pupils
South Africa’s growing vaping crisis among pupils has taken a troubling turn, with primary school children now being found in possession of e-cigarettes, raising fresh alarm among educators and parents. The development signals a shift in the spread of...
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Ramaphosa puts failing municipalities at centre of his Freedom Day message
President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed struggling municipalities at the centre of South Africa’s democratic project, warning that the durability of freedom now hinges on the state’s ability to deliver basic services. Speaking at the national Freedom Day...
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More arrests will follow, pledges Premier Ntuli at mass funeral
Seven coffins were carried onto the Stanger High School sports field on Sunday morning as hundreds gathered for the mass funeral of the Monswamy family. Relatives clung to one another, some overcome with emotion, while friends, neighbours and...
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Chilling details emerge as three held for Newark family massacre
As chilling details emerge from the abduction and brutal murder of seven members of a Newark family this week, a first responder has described how tracking a stolen cellphone led to the arrest of three suspects. The family — Allen Monswamy (52), his...
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‘Not your job’: Mkhwanazi slams rising vigilante crackdown on foreign nationals
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has warned that growing anti-foreigner protests risk turning dangerous and discriminatory, with marches increasingly targeting black African foreign nationals. Mkhwanazi said...
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Pressure mounts on Ramaphosa as Masemola faces serious PFMA charges
The criminal case against National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola has sent shockwaves through the public sector, reinforcing that accounting officers can be held criminally liable for breaches of the Public Finance Management Act...
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Mayor confronts driver accused of selling relief water to residents
A water tanker contracted by the municipality that was meant to bring relief to desperate communities has been caught at the centre of an alleged cashfor-water scheme, exposing how residents may have been exploited while taps ran dry. uMgungundlovu...
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New bill targets those who profit from land invasions
Those who organise land invasions, even where no money changes hands, could face fines of up to R2 million under a proposed bill aimed at curbing a growing problem that has increasingly burdened both government and private property owners. The...
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Pappas weighs uMngeni exit
Uncertainty over the political future of uMngeni Municipality Mayor Chris Pappas (pictured) has sparked concern among residents, with many fearing the municipality could lose momentum if he does not return for a second term. Pappas confirmed to The...
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Sassa queue spots sold for cash as desperate applicants wait for hours
Desperate grant applicants are being forced to pay for a place in line at the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) offices on Bombay Road in Pietermaritzburg, as opportunists cash in on long queues and failing systems. Residents say an...
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Msunduzi takes Laco leader to court over Facebook posts
Msunduzi Municipality has turned to the courts in a bid to force the removal of social media posts by a Labour and Civic Organisation (Laco) leader, arguing that the content unlawfully exposes the personal information of its employees and risks...
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Elandskop residents forced to drink rainwater as water crisis deepens
More than two months without running water has pushed a vulnerable community in Elandskop to the brink, with pensioners forced to walk long distances to fetch heavy buckets of water or drink unsafe rainwater. Taps in the area have run completely dry,...
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Change sweeps across DA federal leadership as KZN’s Sarupen rises
As sweeping changes reshape the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) federal leadership, Pietermaritzburg-born Deputy Minister of Finance Ashor Sarupen has emerged as one of the new faces at the top of the party, replacing Helen Zille as the party’s new federal...
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Nearly half of KZN drivers may have fraudulent licences
An investigation has been launched at the Mkondeni Driving Licence Testing Centre (DLTC) in Pietermaritzburg after the arrest of a learner driver and her driving instructor on Wednesday lifted the lid on an alleged fraud network operating at what was...
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Foreign nationals forced to flee after violent attacks near Howick
Tensions in Mpophomeni township, near Howick, boiled over into violence on Tuesday night as a group of residents looted a shop and stormed homes in what is believed to be a targeted effort to drive out foreign nationals. The unrest in the Kwa-Chief...
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Shock letter calls on Madlanga and Mkhwanazi to probe Meyiwa murder
A letter purportedly written by Longwe Twala to the mother of slain footballer Senzo Meyiwa has reignited questions around one of South Africa’s most contested murder cases, with calls for the involvement of the Madlanga Commission and KwaZulu-Natal...
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Crime and neglect deepen KZN’s water, sanitation crisis
Criminal activity and chronic under-resourcing of sewer infrastructure are compounding a growing water and sanitation crisis in KwaZulu-Natal. Nationally, nearly half of all treated drinking water is lost before it reaches consumers, while losses in...
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Surgeons battle extreme heat as Grey’s theatres fail
Operating conditions at Grey’s Hospital have deteriorated to the point where surgeons are struggling to prevent sweat from contaminating open wounds, as extreme heat and failing infrastructure disrupt critical procedures. Unreliable cooling systems...
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Tactical police unit swoops on armed bodyguards
Elite police units swooped on Mkhambathini Municipality in a dramatic raid yesterday, looking for illegal firearms and ammunition believed to be used by municipal bodyguards linked to controversial KZN security boss Calvin Mathibeli. The early-morning...
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Outpouring of grief after pregnant nurse stabbed to death in Northdale
An outpouring of grief has swept through Pietermaritzburg following the killing of a nurse who spent her days caring for critically ill patients and supporting families in their most vulnerable moments. Aleyka Shaik (34), a professional nurse in the...
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Northdale Hospital battles wave of abandoned patients
Northdale Hospital has been forced to step in and return patients to their families after a growing number — many medically fit for discharge — were abandoned in wards, occupying scarce beds and placing further strain on the already burdened public...
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Lives ruined in the rubble as illegal Thornville homes demolished
Desperation and disbelief filled Thornville yesterday as bulldozers tore through illegally built homes, some of them mansions, leaving families stranded in the open with nowhere to go. Tears, dust and broken belongings marked the scene as parents and...
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Senior SAPS officers in the dock as R360 million tender probe widens
A R360 million South African Police Service (SAPS) tender corruption case has drawn senior police officers into the dock and reached the highest levels of law enforcement, with National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola summoned to...
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Msunduzi deputy manager faces serious misconduct allegations
Allegations of misconduct against Msunduzi’s Deputy Municipal Manager for Corporate Services, Mosa Molapo, have triggered calls for an independent investigation and possible suspension. The claims are outlined in a special council report compiled by...
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Hulamin takes earnings hit but backs long-term growth plan
Despite a sharp decline in profitability, Pietermaritzburg-based aluminium products manufacturer Hulamin Limited says it remains well positioned to deliver sustainable growth. According to the company’s audited 2025 annual financial statements...
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Key stakeholders intensify drive to save Tongaat Hulett
With less than a month before the fate of Tongaat Hulett is argued in the Durban High Court, key stakeholders have intensified efforts to save KwaZulu-Natal’s sugar giant. The application to liquidate the sugar producer, brought by Tongaat Hulett’s...
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Nearly half of treated water lost before reaching consumers
Nearly half of all treated water in the city is lost before it reaches consumers, due to ageing infrastructure, leaks and years of underinvestment in municipal systems. Between July 2025 and the end of February 2026, municipal teams repaired more than...
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Mkhwanazi accuses Matlala of lying and smear campaign
KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told Parliament he was targeted in a plot to discredit him, accusing alleged criminal kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala of distorting the truth about their meeting at The Pearls in uMhlanga last...
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Armoury breach sparks concern as guns and ammo go missing
A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the Okhahlamba Local Municipality following the disappearance of several weapons from the armoury, including a pump-action shotgun and over 500 rounds of ammunition. Eight additional weapons that were reportedly...
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Civil servants struggle with rising GEMS contributions
Thousands of civil servants and retired public servants across the country who rely on the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) for healthcare say they are struggling to keep up with rising contributions after the scheme implemented a 9,8%...
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MEC calls for statue of Buthelezi alongside Mandela and Tambo
KwaZulu-Natal Cogta MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has called for the commissioning of a statue to honour the late IFP founder Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and promote a more inclusive history. The call follows the recent unveiling of two statues in...
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Businesses warn of surge in unemployed graduates in KZN
With youth unemployment having reached crisis proportions, KwaZulu-Natal Treasury MEC Francois Rodgers has pledged that funds earmarked for stimulating economic growth and job creation in the provincial budget will be used strictly for their intended...
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Diplomatic spat eases as SA and USA reset relations
The Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) and Leo Brent Bozell III, the new United States ambassador to South Africa, have ironed out differences over remarks made by the ambassador during a recent media engagement. During the...
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R168 bln KZN budget aims to boost jobs, rebuild confidence
KwaZulu-Natal’s finances are showing signs of recovery, with Treasury MEC Francois Rodgers (pictured) yesterday presenting a R168,2 billion provincial budget that the government says will support job creation, attract investment and strengthen service...
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Fuel shock warning as oil prices surge
South Africans could pay up to R4 more for a litre of fuel next month if the conflict in the Middle East does not cease soon, experts warn, as oil prices rocketed above $100 (R1 666,72) a barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in...
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R8,5 billion mining boost for KwaZulu-Natal economy
A R8,5 billion investment into KwaZulu-Natal’s mining sector is back on track after Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) lifted the suspension on its long-delayed Zulti South project. The project, halted six years ago due to escalating violence and instability...
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Father waves to son moments before fatal taxi accident
A father and his taxi driver son shared a brief greeting as they passed each other on Mbubu Road in Sweetwaters. Minutes later, the father arrived home to the devastating news that his son had died in an accident. “I didn’t know that was his last...
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Cloud of grief over Woodlands after double family murder
A dark cloud of grief has settled over the Woodlands community in Pietermaritzburg following the brutal murder of a 15-year-old pupil and her mother at their flat on Tuesday evening. The mother was stabbed multiple times and died shortly after...
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Ramaphosa orders intervention to stop Tongaat Hulett liquidation
President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed the national government to intervene to prevent the liquidation of Tongaat Hulett, with about R16 billion set to be mobilised in a bid to protect jobs and stabilise KwaZulu-Natal’s embattled sugar...
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Middle East war drives oil shock and fuels inflation fears for SA
A widening Middle East conflict that has struck key oil and gas infrastructure and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is sending shockwaves through global energy markets, pushing up fuel costs and raising fresh inflation risks for South...
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South Africans grounded as Middle East skies shut down
Thousands of South Africans have been affected by the Middle East conflict, with flights cancelled, holidays disrupted and travellers stranded in the Gulf and parts of Europe. Airports across the region, including Dubai, Bahrain, Doha and Riyadh, were...
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‘The Witness’ celebrates 180th anniversary with bold step into AI and global media alliances
• • Today, as turns 180, South Africa’s oldest daily newspaper has marked the milestone with a series of major announcements centred on global partnerships, digital expansion and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1846 in Pietermaritzburg, the...
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Mixed reaction to 2026 budget
There was a mixed reaction to the 2026 budget tabled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in Parliament yesterday, with business welcoming the speech while the youth decried the fact that it lacked tangible plans to create jobs. Youth employment and...
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15% of Grade 3 pupils can’t read a single word
About 15% of Grade 3 pupils in South Africa cannot read a single word after three years of schooling, while only 30% of pupils in Grades 1 to 3 are meeting their grade-level reading benchmarks in their home language. The stark figures, released by the...
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Samwu, MK Party dismiss sabotage allegations by Msunduzi leaders
MK Party has rejected allegations that it is behind suspected sabotage and targeted attacks on infrastructure at the Msunduzi Local Municipality, saying there is no proof linking the party to the incidents. The response follows accusations by the...
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Government lifeline offers hope for embattled Tongaat
Government has moved to avert the collapse of Tongaat Hulett, with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) pledging to oppose the company’s provisional liquidation and intensify efforts to secure a rescue plan for the embattled sugar...
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