The Weekend View

The festive season is a time for celebration, but for current students, and Matrics preparing to start their studies next year, it's also a time to prepare for the year ahead. This includes registering with a higher education institution or college, securing accommodation and transport, sourcing textbooks, purchasing educational tech such as laptops, and more. Unfortunately, the student journey sp...

Black Muslims from different countries across Africa have gathered at the first mosque in Soweto to talk about the different challenges their communities face. The weekend meeting also witnessed the inaugural South African Townships Madrasah Competition, an event that celebrates the rich diversity and Islamic education within township communities. For more Bongiwe Zwane spoke to  Soweto Muslims As...

Former SACP leader Chris Hani's killer Janusz Walus has been deported back to his home country, in Poland. In November 2022, the Constitutional Court found that then Justice minister Ronald Lamola's decision at the time , to refuse to grant Walus parole in 2020 had been irrational. The court then set the decision aside paving the way for the release of  Walus from prison, after 28 years in prison....

Syria's armed opposition is THIS MORNING saying they have captured the capital, Damascus, and that President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country. The announcement comes after rebels seized the city of Homs in a lightning offensive hours earlier. Before that rebels announced they had gained full control of the key city of Homs after only a day of fighting, leaving Assad's 24-year rule dangling by...

Close to 19 million voters in Ghana are TODAY heading to the polls to elect a new president. The current vice-president, Mahamudu Bawumia, and a former head of state, John Mahama, are the two leading candidates in contention to win the poll. Economic issues have topped people's concerns in the build-up to the election, especially the rising cost of living. At the end of 2022, the annual inflation...

Police say they will collect evidence from an abandoned mine in Sabie, Mpumalanga, before its closure. All the illegal miners who were underground have been brought to the surface, with the last one brought out last night. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Motsebi Monareng

Its is still not yet known how many illegal miners remain underground in Stilfontein. But calls are being made to accelerate the retrieval operations. On Friday morning six illegal miners from Mozambique resurfaced from Shaft 10 of the old, abandoned Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein and seven bodies have been recovered from the mine this week. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to North West police spokes...

Chris Hani's convicted murderer Janusz Walus is expected to arrive in his country of origin, Poland, this morning. He left South Africa on a flight from the O.R. Tambo International Airport last night following government's announcement of his deportation. Hani's 1993 murder shook the country, with fears that his death would plunge South Africa into civil war.  At the time of his assassination Han...

The National Consumer Commission - NCC - has withdrawn it's precautionary product safety recall for Top Score instant porridge  after laboratory test results revealed no observable contamination of the batches tested. In October, the Commission advised South African consumers who purchased Top Score instant porridge to stop consuming the product and immediately return it to their retailer for a fu...

Despite high levels of poverty, 10 million tonnes of food is wasted in South Africa each year. As a way of taking a stand against this waste, students at the University of Pretoria have demonstrated their ability to shape the future and promote a more sustainable food system. Final-year students from the Department of Consumer and Food Sciences recently transformed rescued food ingredients into hi...

South Africa TODAY assumes the presidency of the G20. This is seen as a historic opportunity for South Africa to reshape global governance in a way that reflects the aspirations and challenges of the Global South. The Group of Twenty or G20 is an intergovernmental economic forum comprising Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Tu...

Leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe Party, former President Jacob Zuma says they have evidence as to who stole their votes during the May general elections. Post the elections, the party reported its vote rigging claims to the Electoral Commission. The party has since resuscitated its legal challenge of the outcomes of the May 29 polls. Last month, it served notice of the application to the IEC's CEO, Sy...

Several Swazi pro democracy organisations are, THIS coming WEEK, planning to take to the streets of Pretoria to press for their demands for more political freedom and reform in their country. Under the banner Justice 4 Swaziland March, over 10 pressure groups will on Thursday march from the Union Building Grounds to the High Commission of the Kingdom of Eswatini, demanding among others, the releas...

Freedom Park recently hosted a  cultural event aimed at reviving African knowledge systems and celebrating African heritage. Participants deliberated on the understanding and practicing of the African Calendar – Inzalo y'Langa. Led by historian Mkhulu Nsingiza and other esteemed speakers, the program sought to highlight the historical and spiritual importance of the African calendar, creating a pl...

South Africa-based global corporate responsibility watchdog, Benchmark Foundation, has welcomed what it calls the government's change of tact following a meeting between the national police ministry and mine rescue experts. At the conclusion of Friday's stakeholder-meeting, Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, told members of the media that the now-controversial Operation Val' Umgodi had serious shortco...

The conclusion of lobola negotiations symbolises the formal union of two families, and once the negotiations are concluded the couple is considered as married under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act (1998). This also means, unless otherwise stated in an antenuptial contract, couples are in fact married in community of property, and that assets – like a home or car –and liabilities – like...

Each year, on the 1st of  December, the world commemorates World AIDS Day. The aim is to remind society of the need for global solidarity in the ongoing fight against HIV/Aids. According to the results from South Africa's latest HIV prevalence survey there's been a decrease in new HIV infections from 249 000 in 2017 to 232 400 in 2022. The number of people living with HIV has gone down from 7.9 mi...

Today is Eskom's deadline to update electricity meters across the country. This entails the introduction of a new series of electricity vending codes to all meters in South Africa. The aim of the change is to  ensure that the meters' key change code does not expire. Eskoms says Zero buyers can still go to their legal vending sites with their meter numbers to buy electricity. They will then be issu...

This week marked Global Entrepreneurship Week which comes to an end TODAY. The week celebrates entrepreneurs who create solutions for world wide economic growth.  But according to the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor South Africa Report , entrepreneurship in the country is on the decline. The report noted that fewer people than ever before are considering starting new businesses. To find out...

A piece of conceptual art made up of a simple banana, duct-taped to a wall, THIS WEEK sold for over 110 million rands at an auction in New York. The work by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan titled Comedian, which  features a banana costing a few cents, was sold at an auction on Wednesday for 6.5 million US dollars. The piece attracted heavy attention at the busy auction as many people tried to fig...

In soccer, giant slayers Magesi FC were last night crowned Carling Knockout champions  after thumping Mamelodi Sundowns 2 -1..In a match billed as the "David and Goliath" clash, Magesi produced one of the biggest shocks in South African football history... Meanwhile in rugby, it was a clean sweep for the Springboks as they walloped Wales 45 -12 in Cardiff last night. The resounding victory means t...

Food fraud or the deliberate misrepresentation or adulteration of food products for financial gain, is a growing problem in South Africa. This is according to a report titled Unlocking food safety: a comprehensive review of South Africa's food control and safety landscape from an environmental health perspective. Authors of the report say the recent public outcry against food fraud practices espec...

 Voters in Namibia will go to the polls on WEDNESDAY (27 November) to choose their next president and parliamentary representatives. The elections come after President Hage Geingob died in February and was replaced on a interim basis by his deputy, Nangolo Mbumba. The election could mark a historic shift in the country's political landscape if the ruling SWAPO party, in power since independence in...

Mamelodi Sundowns and Magesi FC will be aiming to become Carling Knockout cup Champions TODAY. The two top-flight teams will lock horns in the second cup final of the season at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein...  MEANWHILE in Rugby...The Springboks say they are determined to deliver a complete 80-minute performance and finish the season on a high note against Wales in Cardiff TODAY. The test, w...

The ANC's National Disciplinary Committee of Appeal (NCDA) has upheld the decision of the Disciplinary Committee to expel former party President, Jacob Zuma. In a statement, the ANC welcomed the decision, adding that Zuma's conduct exemplifies ill-discipline and the lack of respect for collective decisions. Zuma was expelled from the ANC in July this year after he was found guilty of bringing the...