The Weekend View

South Africa is facing a potential electricity pre-paid meter crisis.  The meters may stop vending electricity next year if they are not updated. Experts say the meters rely on a timer that started counting from 1 January 1993 but will run out of digits sometime during November 2024. It has been reported that South Africa has 10 million such meters that may be affected. For a better understanding...

Less than a week after Palestinians, marked the annual day of commemoration of their displacement that preceded and followed Israel's establishment, thousands of Israeli nationalists on Thursday marched into the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, for the flag parade, which is part of Israel's Jerusalem Day, marking Israel's capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. The march has increasingly...

 A five year old learner, Masonwabe Mapolisa last weekend survived the coldest weekend of the year locked in a classroom at JA Ncaca Primary School in Lingelihle, Cradock in the Eastern Cape. When the learner didn't return home on Friday afternoon, his family then went to the police station and reported him missing. He was later found on Monday in one of the school classrooms. He is allegedly reco...

The  Durban High Court yesterday found brothers - Dylan and Ned Govender - not guilty for the murder of Mondli Majola during the civil unrest in Phoenix in KwaZulu-Natal in 2021. They were however found guilty on a charge of attempted murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Majola was among at least 30 people who were killed in Phoenix, north of Durban during that time. The area...

My Vote Counts, which campaigns to reform South Africa's electoral system, has launched a court application in the Western Cape High Court to reform disclosure of political party financing. In papers filed this week, the group said it wants the act changed so that it makes available information on all private donations, not only those above R100 000. It also wants the annual limit of R15m a party...

The ANC's top brass will today continue visiting its structures in KwaZulu-Natal to discuss issues including the school feeding scheme scandal, eThekwini being placed under section 154 and the party's apparent decline in popularity in the province. Yesterday ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa engaged with party members from the eThekwini region in Durban. Other party National Working Committee members,...

VaTsonga Royal Leaders have joined the outcry from some members of the Xitsonga community who raised concerns about the spelling on the new R100 banknotes. The text on the new note reads Bangikulu, dropping the "n" on the old currency that read Banginkulu.  Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago ealier this week defended the new spelling saying the changes are in line with the new guidelines issue...

Heavy fighting between warring parties has continued in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other cities ahead of the ceasefire talks today. Air strikes and artillery continue to pound Khartoum after Sudan's warring army and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary failed to agree to a ceasefire despite committing to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access. A so-called declaration of principles w...

The International Relations Department has confirmed that the US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety has apologized for alleging that the country sold weapons to Russia to use in the war against Ukraine. On Thursday Brigety told local media that US intelligence was confident that arms and ammunition had been loaded onto a Russian ship near Cape Town in December last year. Dirco spokesperson,...

The Competition Commission has approved the majority sale of SAA to Takatso Consortium. The announcement follows the Commission's investigation into the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in SAA by Takatso Consortium. The Competition Commission says it approved the deal on condition that Takatso agrees to retain a minimum number of employees. Another condition includes starting a process to allow s...

The South African chapter of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign will today hold a rally to mark 75 years of Palestine's ongoing struggle for liberation. The gathering is part of global events taking place in Europe, Australia and North and South America demanding justice and supporting Palestinian resistance. The rally in South Africa, to be held this afternoon at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape To...

There is a shortage of qualified South African cellphone repairers or mobile device repair technicians in the country, and soon; scores of young South Africans in Gauteng will soon be trained to become skilled distributors and repairers of devices such as cellphones, laptops, tablets and wearables. The project is led by the SA Mobile Devices Distributors and Repairers Association (Samddra), with f...

Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom will spend about R30bn in the current financial year as it tries to mitigate the severity of load-shedding. During a media briefing on Friday, Ramokgopa said the demand is expected to increase by between 32,000MW to 37,000MW in winter. Meanwhile, the North Gauteng High Court made a ruling that all hospitals, clinics, schools, and police station...

The three metros in Gauteng, have had a revolving door for mayors. Since the local government elections in November 2021- the city of Johannesburg has had four mayors (Democratic Alliance's Mpho Phalatse, ANC's Dada Morero, Al-Jamah's Thapelo Amad and now Al- Jamah's Kabelo Gwamanda has taken over the position of executive mayor) - Ekurhuleni has two mayors (Tanya Campbell and currently AIC's Sivu...

Today, King Charles the Third will be formally crowned. The 74-year-old will be crowned in front of 2,200 invited guests from across the political, royal, and celebrity worlds. It is eight months since he ascended to the throne, following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September last year. The ceremony will be held at Westminster Abbey in London, the setting for every coronation s...

Today, King Charles the Third will be formally crowned. The 74-year-old will be crowned in front of 2,200 invited guests from across the political, royal, and celebrity worlds. It is eight months since he ascended to the throne, following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September last year. The ceremony will be held at Westminster Abbey in London, the setting for every coronation s...

Al-Jama-ah councillor Kabelo Gwamanda has been voted in as the new executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg. Gwamanda garnered the majority of the votes, he got 139, followed by the DA's Mpho Phalatse with 68 and ActionSA's Funzi Ngobeni with 59.  The city has been without a mayor for over a week following the resignation of former mayor Thapelo Amad, also of Al-Jama-ah. He resigned a day befor...

Al-Jama-ah councillor Kabelo Gwamanda has been voted in as the new executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg. Gwamanda garnered the majority of the votes, he got 139, followed by the DA's Mpho Phalatse with 68 and ActionSA's Funzi Ngobeni with 59.  The city has been without a mayor for over a week following the resignation of former mayor Thapelo Amad, also of Al-Jama-ah. He resigned a day befor...

Sign Language is soon set to become an official language in South Africa. This after the National Assembly, THIS WEEK, passed the Constitutional Eighteenth Amendment Bill, which will make the necessary changes to the Constitution to make room for a 12th official language. The bill still needs to be sent to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence and then sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa...

Tomorrow is Workers Day, a day when worker issues are brought into sharp focus. South Africa's 225 registered trade unions represent approximately three million workers, but changing employment contracts, including outsourcing, informatisation of jobs, and remote working, have led to diminishing membership numbers. In addition to declining membership leading to reduced income for trade unions, the...

It's a story of capture, massive deception, and devastating human consequences that are still felt today. And despite a litany of evidence of dishonesty, little has been done to bring the perpetrators to book. It's the story of Aurora Empowerment Systems - a black-owned, politically connected business - that in October 2009, made a bid to rescue the liquidated Pamodzi Gold mines. Former President...

The company at the centre of the storm of KZN's National School Nutrition Programme and its failure to provide food to schools says since the 14th of April 2023, it has continued to deliver food to schools at the agreed collection points of all twelve districts of the province. Despite reports that the contract has been invalidated by the ANC in the province, service provider, Pacina Pty Ltd is cl...

The government has insisted that the private visit to South Africa by United Arab Emirates (UAE) President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his 500-member entourage, is above board and that no immigration or other laws were flouted.  Addressing a media briefing in Pretoria, Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said that government can account for all the people that are part of...

Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, announced that he had instructed the province's Law Enforcement Advancement Plan - LEAP - officers to arrest Russia's President, Vladimir Putin if he should set foot in the province in August. Putin is expected to attend the BRICS Annual Heads of State Summit in Gauteng. This is despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an arrest warrant for Putin for...

With the stresses of the economic downturn and financial strain often linked with the inability to meet repayment obligations to creditors, the need for trust within the banking sector has never been more important. More than ever before, there is a general feeling that consumers need banks that they can rely on, banks that are approachable and that are amenable to assist them in times of economic...