The Weekend View

Hamas is TODAY expected to release three captives from Gaza as scheduled following talks with ceasefire mediators, Egypt and Qatar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier THIS WEEK threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire deal with Hamas if the hostages were not released by midday TODAY, raising fears of a return to full scale war. Hamas was accusing Israel of violating terms of th...

Divisions in Umkhonto we-Sizwe Party - MKP - in Mpumalanga continue to deepen with two rallies from opposite camps set to take place TODAY. MKP convener in the province, Busisiwe Mkhwebane is expected to hold a meeting in Nkomazi Municipality later today while the expelled MKP provincial leader, Mary Phadi, is also slotted to address a rally in Volksrust where she is expected to welcome new member...

Are you still feeling the butterflies from YESTERDAY's Valentine's Day date? Beware of romance scammers who pretend to love you, but what they really love is only your money, and they want lots of it. No matter how great you spent your Valentine's Day, it's important to recognise the warning signs of romance scams — and find out quickly if you should be walking away from potential love inter...

INTRO: Members of the five-fold ministries affiliated to the Mahikeng Ministers Fellowship will THIS WEEKEND celebrate the 24th anniversary of the interdenominational association of church leaders. Among those in attendance will be the President of South African Community of Faith Based Fraternals - SACOFF - which recently hosted a conference of faith leaders, government and political parties to e...

A summit of African leaders to address the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has directed army chiefs to meet within five days and "provide technical direction on an immediate and unconditional ceasefire". The meeting, which came to a close in Tanzania YESTERDAY, brought together the leaders of the eight-nation East African Community (EAC) and 16-member Southern African Development...

Namibia's founding president Sam Nujoma has died. Nujoma who passed away on Saturday night aged 95, was revered for leading his country to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. A towering figure, Nujoma headed the South West Peoples' Organisation (SWAPO) that led the liberation struggle since its inception in 1960.  

A summit of African leaders to address the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has directed army chiefs to meet within five days and "provide technical direction on an immediate and unconditional ceasefire". The meeting, which came to a close in Tanzania YESTERDAY, brought together the leaders of the eight-nation East African Community (EAC) and 16-member Southern African Development...

The International Criminal Court - ICC - has condemned US sanctions on it's staff and has vowed to continue its judicial work. This after US President Donald Trump signed an order to impose sanctions on ICC staff accusing the international court of what he termed  "illegitimate and baseless actions", following the ICC's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya...

President Cyril Ramaphosa will be among SADC leaders who are due to meet in Tanzania TODAY in a special joint summit with East African heads of state to address the Democtratic Republic of Congo crisis. Bitter rivals DRC President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame are both expected to attend. The summit comes as Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered his military...

President Cyril Ramaphosa  delivered his first State of the nation address under the government of national unity (GNU) on Thursday and promised more support and reforms to turn around the embattled local government sector. Some municipalities across the country are in a state of dysfunction. Some of the issues contributing to the problems plaguing municipalities include lack of service deliv...

Volvo South Africa has issued a safety recall for three of its models launched into the domestic vehicle market between January 2023 and October 2024.The National Consumer Commission (NCC) said Volvo Car SA had notified the commission about the recall of the three models. To find out more Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Prudence Moilwa ,Head of Complaints at the National Consumer Commission 

The South African National Defence Force - SANDF- has announced the names of the   soldiers killed in Eastern DRC during the recent battle with M23 rebels who had attacked their base in Sake. In a statement released LAST NIGHT, the number of soldiers who died has now risen from 13 to 14 after one more succumbed to injuries in hospital.

The rebel leader whose fighters have captured Goma, the biggest city in eastern DRC, has vowed to continue their offensive all the way to the capital, Kinshasa. Corneille Nangaa, who heads an alliance of rebel groups that includes the M23, has announced that their ultimate aim is to topple President Félix Tshisekedi's government. Both the UN and the southern African regional bloc SADC have...

Bus operator PUTCO expects to fully resume operations TOMORROW morning (MONDAY) following the torching of 51 of their buses in Mpumalanga last Monday. The arson threatened to disrupt the company's over 20 thousand commuters. The torched buses represent 10% of the nearly 500-strong fleet operating in the area. Police earlier this week announced the arrest of two suspects linked to the fiery attack....

North West police YESTERDAY announced the arrest of four police officers, believed to have aided the so-called Stilfontein illegal mining kingpin Neo Tshoaeli. Tshoaeli who is popularly known as Tiger, escaped after being retrieved from underground at shaft 11, during the government led retrieval operation. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to North West SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone 

81% of cyber breaches in 2022 were due to weak, reused, or stolen passwords. Experts say  78% of the world's most common passwords can be cracked in less than a second. Even more worrying is that the most common password in South Africa is 123456. To unpack how weak passwords leave South Africans vulnerable to cyberattacks, Bongiwe Zwane spoke to  Yaron Assabi, Founder and CEO of Digital...

Power utility Eskom has announced the start of stage three loadshedding. The rolling blackouts started on FRIDAY at five in the evening and will be implemented until Sunday at midnight. Eskom cites unexpected breakdowns due to boiler tube failures at some of its power stations. The power cuts follow 10- months of uninterrupted power supply. For the latest Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Daphne Mokwena, Esk...

The Southern African Development Community - SADC - has resolved to seek further dialogue with East African to deliberate on the way forward regarding the security situation in the DRC. This came at the end end of a one day SADC summit held in Harare, Zimbabwe YESTERDAY. The leaders of the region, including President Cyril Ramaphosa also called for the immediate dispatch of ministers of defence, C...

The Soul City Institute for Social Justice is deeply alarmed by the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule and the pause of foreign aid funding under the new Trump administration. The decision by the world's single largest donor has sent shockwaves across the world.  The Gag Rule prohibits U.S. federal funding to foreign organisations that provide, promote, or even discuss abortion services as...

Gauteng residents have been complaining about experiencing too many flies in their homes, leaving many frustrated people searching for solutions. ..According to Pest control experts at Rentokil , flies such as fruit flies, drain flies and ever-present house flies can transmit a multitude of different pathogens.  They pose a health risk to humans, pets and livestock and can infest your homes a...

With just  a week before the 2025 academic year starts, the country's universities are at an advanced stage of preparedness following record applications that were, in some cases, reported to be 30 times higher than they can accommodate. Some reports say more than 100 000 recent matriculants cannot be placed at South Africa's public universities as the number of bachelor passes exceed the spa...

DA  leader John Steenhuisen says the party has invoked section 19-3 of the statement of intent of the Government of National Unity agreement that regulates the relations in the GNU amid differences over the Expropriation Act and other legislation. At a media briefing yesterday he added that the DA will not be reduced to being mere spectators and it will have to seriously consider their next s...

While some political parties have welcomed the enactment of the Expropriation Bill, some including those in the GNU, have voiced strong opposition with the DA threatening legal action against the government it is a part of. This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa's signing of the contentious Expropriation Bill into law on Thursday. The DA's very own Dean Macpherson will be responsible for enforcing...

After going unrecognised for more than a century, hundreds of South African servicemen, mostly black, who died during World War One, have been honoured with a new memorial unveiled in Cape Town THIS WEEK. The 1,772 men worked in dangerous non-combatant roles in East Africa but until now, they had no known grave or commemoration. Individually engraved timber posts now bear each serviceman's name at...

As South Africa continues to celebrate 2024's record-breaking matric results and starts the new school year, the Zero Dropout Campaign says the country still needs to interrogate the progress of the education system not just over the past year, but the past 30 years. Despite this improvement and South Africa's large investment in basic education, an estimated four in ten learners who enrol in Grad...