The Weekend View

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, NATJOINTS, says heightened police deployments will remain in place at hotspots in Durban and Johannesburg, where violent protests erupted over the last few days. Chaos broke out in the Durban CBD as well as Soweto and Johannesburg, earlier this week, following violent anti-undocumented immigration protests. Thirty people have been arrested...

14-year-old twin brothers, Bonolo and Bohlale Makena were laid to rest yesterday. Their funeral service took place at the Ethiopian Catholic Church in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria. The twins' lifeless bodies were reportedly found with multiple stab wounds at their home by their mother when she returned from work last week Friday. The motive for their killing remains unknown. Thabiso Radebe has the d...

This week, civil society organisations including HEALA ( Healthy Living Alliance) launched their  "90 Days to Protect Our Health" campaign. According to the group , this is an intense public accountability campaign demanding that the Government and Department of Health , Minister of Health, immediately finalise and ratify South Africa's stalled Front-of-Pack Warning Label regulations (Regulat...

South African households are in an affordability crisis according to the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD). This as rising fuel prices and interest rates put further pressure on already stretched budgets. The group says the crisis is forcing households to make a trade-off between the cost of food and its nutritional value, and this can also be seen in the choices househo...

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he hopes that there is no loss of life during the violent protests that have taken place in both KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Tensions once again escalated in Durban, where hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of the CBD destroying buildings and property. The demonstrators were marching against the Constitutional Court's ruling on asylum seekers. The same...

Most of us think of debt as a today problem: the instalment that leaves on the 25th, the card balance that never quite clears. Few of us think about what happens to it when we're no longer here. Debt doesn't disappear when you die but becomes an issue your family has to resolve, often at the worst possible time. To unpack what happens to your debt when you die Bongiwe Zwane spoke to  Cebile Z...

The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) condemns the fuel price increase that took effect on 7 October, which pushed petrol and diesel to the highest prices South Africans have ever paid. Early data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) signals a further rise of up to R4.58 a litre for petrol in November. Adding insult to injury is the Road Accident Fund (RAF), publishing its annual report fo...

The South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP), has expressed concern regarding the proposed Council for the Built Environment Bill. The Bill is aimed at giving the Council stronger investigative powers, consolidating regulatory functions, and establishing it as a single, more effective regulator for South Africa's built environment. The proposed bill was announced following th...

As the country marks Mental Health Awareness month, we are encouraged to talk more openly about mental illness, but what happens when someone actually tells you they have a diagnosis? For Mental health advocate, Yael Geffen this is a question she has taken up her strides by challenging the stigma that can follow disclosure. Drawing on her own experience of living openly with a mental health condit...

Public outcry continues to pour over reports that the e‑Panic Button App, a tool residents rely on in moments of danger, exposed their most sensitive personal information. University computer science students discovered the flaws while analysing the app's code last week. The Gauteng Legislature's Portfolio Committee on e‑Government, Research & Development has described the breach as larming an...

Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) says years of underfunding have undermined South Africa's fight against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). AIDC says government cannot keep acknowledging gender-based violence as a national crisis while treating its funding as optional. For more Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Suraya Jawoodeen,  Economic Justice Programme Coordinator at Alt...

The CEO of the SABC, Nomsa Chabeli, has assured MPs that the public broadcaster will cover the November 4 local government election, to the extent its finances will allow. The SABC and ICASA appeared before the Porfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, to brief MPs on its state of readiness to cover the election. In previous meetings the SABC has made the committee aware of it...

Long before children can confidently explain their ideas, they find other ways to show us what they are thinking. A drawing, a sculpture made from clay, an imaginary game or a joyful dance can communicate things they may not yet have the words to express. For young children, creativity is not simply an enjoyable activity to fill the day. It is one of the most important ways they explore, understan...

The current murder rate and the mass killing of women are serious events that do not warrant side-show commentary from the government and the president. This is according to Senior Researcher at Africa Asia Dialogues,  Thembisa Fakude. He furtehr adds that these uncertain times require a different measure of intervention as the country is in state of terrorism.  For more Bongiwe Zwane sp...

Calls are intensifying for the deployment of soldiers to Mashobote in Mpumalanga. This follows deadly gun battles allegedly involving rival groups of illegal miners in the area, along the N4 Schoemanskloof toll road. Two bodies with multiple gunshot wounds, believed to be those of suspected illegal miners, were found near the road on *Wednesday and Thursday*. For the latest Bongiwe Zwane spoke to...

A recent regulatory and legal action against pharmacies illegally compounding GLP-1 weight-loss medicines has affected up to 300,000 South Africans.  Obiflex , a doctor-led health management programme says with the compounded route now closed, and with an appetite for weight-loss GLP-1s in South Africa estimated at R3 billion, affected patients face a tough choice, seek out other unregulated...

Non-governmental organisation, My Vote Counts has written to political parties asking that they outline their plans for coalition negotiations before the local government elections on November the 4th. They argue that voters should have this information before casting their ballot. Meanwhile, Africa Check, another non-governmental organisation says after it has extensively followed political party...

Participants at the National Alcohol Summit argue that excessive alcohol consumption is increasingly causing harm in society in the form of gender-based violence, road fatalities, health problems and the breakdown of family structures. The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa (SAAPA SA) - which is hosting the summit - is calling for tighter measures to restrict excessive alcoho...

What does it really take to build wealth in South Africa?  That is the question at the heart of Welvaartskeppers, South African financial television series and book project focused on wealth creation and financial strategies. The series is hosted by financial advisers and brothers PJ and Geo Botha. The series swaps financial theory for real stories, unpacking not only how people built wealth,...

As South Africa observes Heritage Month , the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) calls on all South Africans to recognise language as one of the most important and enduring expressions of cultural heritage and to recognise that our languages are not merely tools of communication, but are living repositories of our traditions, histories, identities and knowledge. For more Bongiwe Zwane spok...

The City of Johannesburg is warning residents about sophisticated scams involving people posing as City officials and contractors. Criminals are allegedly visiting properties with forged job cards, threatening immediate disconnections of water or electricity and demanding payment. The City says reported losses range from three-thousand five hundred to a 120-thousand rands. Residents are urged neve...

As the country observes Anti-Suicide Month, there are concerns about escalating bullying incidents involving school children, which sometimes lead to suicides. In Mpumalanga, several assault cases stemming from bullying incidents have been reported to the police. Meanwhile, a number of videos of girls in schools reportedly assaulting each other have recently been circulated on social media. Mthobi...

Durban mother Linda Govender has returned to South Africa after spending two weeks in Nepal searching for her missing daughter, Terricia. Terricia was in Nepal when floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26. Linda says returning home does not mean giving up the search. The natural disaster left more than a thousand four-hundred people dead, while over six thousand remain missing. Linda Gov...

The Standing Committee on Appropriations in Parliament says it will be  taking a proactive role in examining government funding to address gender-based violence (GBV). This follows the tragic recent discovery of the bodies of nine women in Kempton Park and other parts of Ekurhuleni in Gauteng. Chairperson of the Standing Committee on AppropriationS, Dr Mmusi Maimane says the committee will ex...

Colombia's new government has withdrawn its intervention in South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. South Africa accused Israel of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention with its military operations in Gaza, allegations Israel, rejects. As Khayelihle Khumalo reports, Colombia informed the World Court about its decision...