The Weekend View

Five former executives linked to TRANSNET including former CEO Siyabonga Gama were arrested on Friday. The executives were charged with the contravention of the Public Finance Management Act, fraud, corruption and money laundering. They appeared in the Palm ridge Magistrate's Court and were granted bail.  They will be back in court in July. The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture recomme...

Zwelinzima Vavi was this week re-elected as General Secretary of SAFTU at its second national congress that ended in Boksburg, East of Johannesburg, on Thursday. Ahead of the election chaos erupted at the congress as Numsa's Irvin Jim threatened court action against the Vavi faction over the election of leaders. Vavi has led both COSATU and SAFTU for a combined 23 years and Jim has been at the hel...

As the country braces for yet another hefty fuel price increase next week, Russia's Minister of Industry, Denis Manturov, has called on BRICS member countries (namely-  Brazil, India, China and South Africa) to establish joint oil refineries with Russia. This as the United States is also pushing  for the 'Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act' meant to curtail Russian econom...

Earlier in the week residents of Umdloti took to the streets to hand over a memorandum, complaining about the alleged failure of developers in the area to follow protocol during construction. The area was among the hardest hit by the recent floods. Houses, roads and critical infrastructure like water, sanitation and electricity have also been heavily impacted. To find out what recourse is availabl...

Environmental group,The Green Connection launched its public awareness and information sharing campaign - which is part of a bigger initiative, called Who Stole Our Oceans - in a bid to stop further government investment in fossil fuels, particularly offshore oil, and gas. Joined by people involved in small-scale fishing and various other civil society organisations,  the Eco-justice organisa...

The Sport, Arts and Culture Department this week made a sudden and dramatic U-TURN when it announced that it will review its proposed flag project worth R22-million.  This comes after South Africans voiced their frustration regarding the amount proposed to be spent and the cause. The 100 metre flag pole was meant to be erected at Freedom Park in Pretoria in a move that was supposed to promote...

The Robben Island Museum says although the tourism industry is opening due the lifting of some Covid 19 restrictions, they are still not getting that much visitors.  Tourism was one of the sectors  that was hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.  The anticipated boom of tourists after lock-down has not materialized for Robben Island as people are not flocking to see Nels...

Sweden and Finland this week submitted their applications to be part of the Western defence alliance, NATO, marking a major shift in European geopolitics. Once-neutral Finland and Sweden are abandoning years of military non-alignment, driven to join NATO's mutual defense pact in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The enlargement of Nato was cited by Russian President Vladamir Putin as one o...

Orlando Pirates unlucky in  the CAF Confederations Cup 

This week's decision by the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates by 50 basis points, taking the repo rate to 4.75%, the biggest rate jump in six years, will further squeeze an already pressed consumer and economy.  But with a massive fuel price hike looming on the horizon, it can only get worse. Next month's fuel increase can potentially push prices to as high as R25 per litre at the pumps. So...

There are increasing reports of residents from various communities around the country being attacked by Pit Bulls. About five months ago, a three-year-old girl was mauled to death by a pit bull in Zwide, Cape Town. Neighbours intervened but it was too late to save the child. Recently, a six-year-old girl was also mauled to death by a neighbour's pit bull inside the house where they were playing at...

More than 160-million children are labourers and over 106 million of that figure are children out of school. This is according to the International Labour Organisation  (ILO). ILO says the number of children in child labour increased by 8.4 million children in the last four years. Now, The 5th Global Conference on the elimination of Child Labour takes place for the first time on the African c...

A number of homeless people living near the Castle of Good  Hope in Cape Town have been slapped with R 1000 fines by the city's law enforcement officials allegedly for various offenses including littering. Some of the homeless people say this is a waste of resources by the city because they never attend court or pay any fines. In fact, they allegedly destroy these receipts as soon as officers...

 Sri Lanka's main opposition party has joined anti-government protesters in rejecting the appointment of a new prime minister and is insisting the president must resign to take responsibility for the country's disastrous economic crisis. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed five-time prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, to his sixth term on Thursday, a move unlikely to resolve the politica...

 Israeli police yesterday clashed with Palestinian mourners packed around the coffin of killed AlJazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh at the start of her funeral procession in Jerusalem. Masked police officers faced scores of flag-waving and chanting Palestinians in east Jerusalem. The violent scenes underlined the growing anger over Abu Akleh's killing which has threatened to add further fuel...

The noose may finally be tightening on members of a 99 rand debit order syndicate as the Hawks THIS WEEK confirmed two more arrests. The latest suspects are a father-son duo running a call centre in Durban. Ravenda Singh and his son Andrew were arrested  last Wednesday in Johannesburg. According to the police the pair were involved in unauthorized debit order transactions where clients from d...

In just under 30 days, more than 100 areas in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro will be without water. Millions of people will be left without water to drink, cook or clean, unless they drastically reduce their water consumption. The opposition Democratic Alliance is claiming that due to the metro's ineffective awareness campaigns, residents continue using water normally instead of reducing their consu...

The cricket fraternity learnt with great sadness of the passing of one of South Africa's 6 greatest fast bowlers of all time, as identified by Cricket South Africa; Hoosain Ayob. Uncle Hoosain passed away surrounded by his family in Gqeberha on Friday. He was 81.    

There are growing concerns, confusion and some frustration among recipients of the R350 grants following the recent change in the eligibility criteria by SASSA. The Department of Social Development announced that recipients of the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant must reapply as it will now be paid out under a new legislative framework. The grant's new framework has new additional qu...

According to reports, South Africa is ranked as one of the world's 10 least attractive mining destinations. The 2022 Mining Indaba begins in Cape Town tomorrow  and will run till Thursday. This year's theme is Evolution of African Mining: Investing in the Energy Transition, ESG and the Economies. Various African heads of states including President Cyril Ramaphosa and other mining professional...

Do you have problems putting down your cell phone or feel anxious when you know you'll lose connection for a few hours? Do thoughts of being without your phone cause distress?  You could be one of millions of people who suffer from Nomophobia; an extreme fear of not having your phone or not being able to use it. Nomophobia is short for  "No Mobile Phone Phobia" and it is so severe in som...

Some District 6 families who were forcefully removed from the historic township can now finally return to their ancestral land. Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza will on Monday be giving some family members keys to their new homes. Didiza says this is a clear indication by all three spheres of government our commitment to restore the dignity of the people of...

Mangaung Metro Municipality on the spotlight. In conversation with Founder and Director of Step Up News Christopher Choane, Mangaung Concerned Residents Spokesperson, Themba Zweni and Cogta MEC in the Free State Mxolisi Dukwana. Concerned residents say the Mangaung Metro leadership is greedy and accountability is non existent. 

South African Red Cross Society in KZN says those who need funding assistance to rebuild their homes or for other basic needs following the KZN floods can contact: Siyabonga Hlatswayo:  031 563 2914 or 076 223 8425

The South African National Blood Service is calling on all South Africans that are willing and able to please come forward and donate a unit of blood. The service is sitting on 2.7 days of stock  following the Easter long weekend. We spoke to  South African National Blood Service spokesperson, Khensani Mahlangu.....