Polity Audio Articles

Joburg Water depot upgrade to strengthen service delivery The Johannesburg Water Depot upgrade in Randburg, being undertaken by the City of Johannesburg's infrastructure implementing agency, the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), is nearing completion, as it enters its final close-out phase. The project, located in Region C, will strengthen the operational capacity required to support reliable...

Zuma released from hospital – reports Former South African President Jacob Zuma was discharged from hospital after being admitted last week, eNCA reported on its website on Tuesday. Zuma, who leads the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, was taken to hospital by ambulance on October 6 for what the party said was a routine medical check-up, local media reported last week. ENCA said that he was discharged on Mo...

SA's record Class of 2026 begins final exams amid calls for systemic reform The Class of 2026 officially commenced the final National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations on Tuesday, with a record-breaking 962 832 candidates registered nationwide, and the exams are scheduled to conclude on November 26. Political parties and government officials united in wishing the learners well while simultaneo...

Former Home Affairs officials arrested for issuing fraudulent passports to non-nationals Two former Home Affairs officials have been arrested for fraudulently issuing South African passports to foreign nationals for up to R100 000 each. In a statement issued on Monday, the department said the syndicate exploited weaknesses in the manual passport process for "photo swapping". "The arrests follow a...

Sibiya 'dishonourably discharged' from SAPS The South Africa Police Service (SAPS) on Monday confirmed that Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya has been dishonourably discharged, following a disciplinary hearing, during which his lawyer tendered Sibiya's resignation. This comes as Sibiya faces a case of rape, sexual grooming and trafficking. The SAPS said in a statement that Sibiya is no longer an...

Expanding, transforming South Africa's agricultural base a must – Ramaphosa South Africa's population continues to grow and with it, so does the demand for food. Being reliant on the productive capacity of a relatively small segment of the population to meet the country's food needs is unsustainable, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. In his latest weekly newsletter, he says that, despite a flourishi...

South Africa blames disinformation as anti-migrant protests turn violent Anti-migrant protests in two South African cities including Johannesburg's Soweto township turned violent on Thursday, with the government blaming disinformation over a court ruling on asylum seekers. In coastal Durban, the second city hit by protests, a Reuters reporter saw five torched cars in the urban centre, where foreig...

Home Affairs backtracks from attempt to comply with ConCourt refugee ruling, amid public safety concerns Following violent anti-migrant protests that rocked Durban and Soweto this week, Home Affairs director-general Livhuwani Makhode has withdrawn the directive relating to the intake of asylum seekers, citing public safety concerns. Government blamed the violence on the deliberate spread of misinf...

South African Navanethem "Navi" Pillay wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize South African judge Navanethem "Navi" Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday "for her efforts to promote peace and international law," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. "A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key inte...

ANC seeks to correct 'false narratives' over immigration ruling, pending labour Bill The ANC has called on South Africans to reject "false narratives" surrounding the country's immigration policies, clarifying that a recent apex court ruling does not open the floodgates for irregular migration, nor has a pending labour Bill already become law. ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu stated that...

Ministerial Committee warns of fake news as ConCourt ruling triggers influx at refugee centres The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration (IMCM) has expressed concerns over what it says is the deliberate spread of misinformation and disinformation on social media, warning that false narratives are being designed to create panic, fuel social tensions and undermine public confidence in government...

High Court overturns government's Black empowerment code for legal sector A South African court has overturned a Black economic empowerment code for the legal sector, ruling the government failed to properly exercise its powers when approving measures designed to tackle persistent racial disparities in the sector. The Gauteng High Court did not rule on the code's constitutionality or racial transf...

Mashatile urges National Dialogue committee to resolve governance issues ahead of elections Deputy President Paul Mashatile has emphasised that the immediate priority of the National Dialogue steering committee must be to conclude all outstanding governance and participation issues, ahead of the upcoming local government elections. Mashatile stressed that these foundational matters must be resolve...

Mistra warns fragmentation will make 2026 coalition talks complex The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (Mistra) released the third edition of its Coalitions Barometer, on Wednesday, revealing a surprising decoupling between local political instability and municipal audit outcomes. Despite a chaotic political landscape with routine Motions of No Confidence (MONCs) and shifting alliance...

South Africa to establish new Commission to oversee State firms South Africa intends establishing a commission chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa to coordinate the work of its State-owned firms after shelving plans to place them under the auspices of a holding company. The new panel will review a national strategy that outlines what role the firms should play and ensure the government exercises...

South Africa drops to 87 in global economic freedom ranking South Africa has ranked eighty-seventh out of 165 countries and territories in the 'Economic Freedom of the World: 2026 Annual Report' (EFW), published by the Free Market Foundation (FMF) in conjunction with Canada's Fraser Institute. The latest ranking reflects a further decline for South Africa, which previously hovered at eighty-third...

Parties, union demand fuel price relief ahead of Budget The unprecedented hikes in fuel prices have triggered widespread outrage, prompting political parties, civil society organisations, and trade unions to launch a unified call for immediate government intervention. According to official data released by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, 93 octane petrol will surge by R3.12 a li...

Voters urged to 'rescue' Joburg from 'corrupt crime-council ecosystem' Voters must use the upcoming local government elections to rescue Johannesburg from a "devastating crime-council ecosystem" that thrives on the city's decay, Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) executive director Ann Bernstein urged on Tuesday. Launching the CDE's latest report, 'Time for Action – Corruption in Joburg',...

NGO critiques local govt failures ahead of elections, launches voter tool As South Africa approaches its local government elections, non-governmental organisation My Vote Counts (MVC) has launched a scathing critique of municipal service delivery, warning that decades of documented failures have allowed "local government rot" to fester despite a robust legislative framework. In response to these p...

DA launches relentless final campaign push following surge in latest polls The DA has announced it will work relentlessly over the next month to secure outright majorities in the City of Tshwane, City of Johannesburg, and the City of Cape Town municipalities, in its aim to "rescue" these key metros from what it terms the "chaos of unstable coalitions". This aggressive campaign strategy comes in re...

Court orders oral evidence over Dlamini-Zuma's ANC vote-buying claims In a major legal development shaking the ANC, the High Court has directed that the defamation dispute between party veteran Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula must be resolved through oral evidence. Following the decision, Mbalula clarified that the judgment does not validate the allegations made...

Developing countries hit by overlapping crises, UNDP chief warns Rising energy costs, a super El Nino and soaring borrowing costs are increasing pressure on developing countries, with conditions nearing those of the pandemic when the G20 suspended debt payments for the poorest nations, the United Nations Development Programme said on Friday. Global policymakers are expected to discuss the huge cha...

Fuel subsidies may top $1tr as Iran war drags, UN says Governments around the world are running out of room to shield consumers from higher energy prices resulting from the Iran war and other crises, with fuel subsidies potentially costing more than $1 trillion this year, a United Nations study found. Global policy interventions to cushion the impact of rising food and energy prices will become mo...

Mass shootings show the face of South African murder is changing On a recent Saturday night, a minibus taxi drew up to a tavern in the gold-mining town of Carletonville west of Johannesburg. Eight men armed with AK-47 rifles alighted from the vehicle before gunning down patrons. Eighteen people died. "They entered the main entrance of the tavern and started shooting randomly," said Mfuneko Dyosini...

Franz Ruch appointed seventh MPC member Economist Franz Ruch has been appointed as an adviser to the governors of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), effective October 1. As part of the appointment, he will serve as the seventh member of the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Ruch joins the SARB from global financial institution the World Bank, where he served as a senior economist...