Update@Noon

The Western Cape has been plunged into chaos as severe weather conditions hit the province .  Thousands of people have been displaced following the heavy rain and damaging winds. The N2 highway at Botrivier has been cut off, making travelling to and from Cape Town impossible. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to City of Cape Town Disaster Management spokesperson, Charlotte Powell.

 Following events of strong winds and persistent rain causing havoc in the Western Cape, SA science writer Leonie Joubert and Wits climatologist Professor Coleen Vogel have warned that SA cities need to prepare for the worst. They say that cities and the countryside are vulnerable to rain bombs and devastating flooding. Leonie was speaking during  journalism webinar with a special focus on El Nino...

The South African Weather Services says the Western Cape and Eastern Cape  are expected to bear the brunt of the predicted extreme weather conditions. he Disaster Management Centre is on high alert for the incoming cut-off low weather system making landfall on Sunday into Monday. Damaging waves, strong winds and severe thunderstorms are also expected in certain parts of the Western Cape. Sebenzile...

Parliament is to clamp down on members of parliament who don't show up for public hearings and oversight visits that have already been paid for. According to the National Assembly House Chairperson Cedric Frolick, this cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of rands. Frolick, says fruitless and wasteful expenditure can never be tolerated.  Public hearings are a crucial step in the parliamentary legi...

The ANC has defeated the Democratic Alliance private member's bill that sought to stop cadre deployment in the public sector. The bill, which was proposed by DA MP Leon Schreiber and reviewed by the Public Service and Administration portfolio committee, was supported by all opposition parties present, with the exception of one the PAC. The end cadre deployment bill sought to outlaw the employment...

Renowned economist Dawie Roodt warned that South Africans should expect another big petrol price increase next month. His warning comes amidst a weaker currency and a significant increase in the Brent crude oil price. The rand has been trading within a narrow range of R18.80 to R19.10 per US dollar for most of the week.     

The poultry industry continues to bear the brunt of the high-pathogenic avian influenza or avian flu which has led to the loss of almost Four Million chickens since June this year. The current outbreak of the deadly HPAI equates to about a third of egg-laying chickens and a quarter of broiler-breeding chickens dying from the virus or being culled. The bout was first detected in early June in Mpuma...

There's a growing concern from the legal fraternity about the the Road Accident Fund Amendment Bill. The Department of Transport gazetted the draft RAF Amendment Bill, 2023, last month. It proposed changes to how the RAF will operate in South Africa in future. Legal experts claim this move will see the fund severely cut down on the support offered to road accident victims.  Bongiwe Zwane spoke to...

 Gauteng police have arrested seven suspects in relation to the kidnap of an 18 year old student from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The male student was reported missing by his roommate yesterday after being lured through a dating site called Grindr. His alleged kidnappers demanded a 30-thousand ransom from his family in order to secure his safe release. A quick sting operat...

The public has until the 13th of next month to give commentary on the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill together with the National Nuclear Regulator Amendment Bill. Both bills are expected to be game changers if passed, in the country's transition from a centralised electricity market to a more open and competitive model. If the ERA bill for instance is not passed by the end of term for this p...

The Western Cape government has condemned the destruction of public infrastructure at Swellendam in the Overberg region.  Protesters blockaded the N2 and allegedly burnt down another municipal building as well as a fire service vehicle. Swellendam township and informal settlement residents are fuming over the indigent subsidy policy. This means residents will have to apply for indigent benefits fo...

The personal injury plaintiff lawyer association, together with the other six legal associations, have strongly opposed the proposed changes to the Road Accident Fund, which will severely cut down on the support offered to road accident victims and negate compensation in some cases entirely. Advocate Justin Erasmus, Chairperson of the Personal Injury Plaintiff Lawyers Association, has described th...

The Consumer Price Index has increased slightly from four-point-seven per cent in July to four-point-eight per cent in August 2023.  Statistics South Africa released the data earlier today, with an increase that is in line with analysts' expectations. Contributions to the increase came from food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing and utilities, as well as miscellaneous goods and services. Bongiw...

Corruption Watch says there is an increase in the number of reported deviations in 2023. The data shows a massive increase of 247% from 2021 to 2023. The anti-corruption organisation says this represent a cause for serious concern when set against the backdrop of generally decreasing deviation numbers since 2017. It says this analysis is purely based on reported data and the increase in the deviat...

 Residents of Eldorado Park, Westbury and Riverlea are complaining that police are not doing enough to keep gangsters off the streets and to ensure their safety. This follows a spate of alleged gang-related shooting incidents over the weekend that claimed the lives of six people in Westbury and Eldorado Park. Today, the city of Johannesburg speaker Colleen Makhubele visited the areas. Bongiwe Zwan...

The Children's Institute at the University of Cape Town is in court today as a friend of a court, in a case against the Department of Home Affair's practice of blocking Identity Documents. The institute wants the practice to be declared unconstitutional as it accuses the department of illegally blocking over a million IDs, leaving the children of those ID holders desperate. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to...

On Monday, Update@Noon continued to put the spotlight on the crisis in Nkomazi local Municipality on the high rate of young girls being impregnated by older men and the practice of Fulelani Nganeno also known as ukuthwala.  Concerned resident ,  Innocent Madonsela says he has been recieving a number of complaints from concerned parents. Today he delivered a petition signed by over 10 000 people to...

SATAWU Transport Union has joined the chorus as calls mount for the axing of Transnet's CEO. This comes as the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the other five business chambers have written letters to the minister of public enterprise, Pravin Gordon, calling for the axing of Transnet's top executives, including CEO Portia Derby, citing the continued deterioration of port and rail servic...

Services within the City of Tshwane continue to be disrupted as the strike action by South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) continues. On Tuesday, the city reported an alleged  vandalism of the Heatherley Substation which saw power outages  in parts of Pretoria East.  Meanwhile, refuse collection continues to pile up in many parts the capital with SAMWU members continuing with their strike...

Johannesburg's power utility, City Power is currently conducting cut-off operations in Naturena, south of Johannesburg. The utility has switched off electricity to defaulting customers & those connected illegally. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena.

The City of Ekurhuleni says it is working with Rand Water to try and address the water supply challenges facing residents of Tsakane, Daveyton and Kwa-Thema. Residents from these townships have taken to the streets in protest over lack of water supply in the areas.  Ekurhuleni Metro police have been deployed to the areas to quell the situation. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to SABC reporter, Prabashni Naido...

Police have noted multiple gun related deaths in South Africa over weekend. In one incident, police in the Eastern Cape are investigating a case of murder after five people were shot dead in a mass shooting at a house in Gelvandale in the Nelson Mandela Bay late Sunday night. In Gauteng, five people were left in Westbury and Eldorado Park in an alleged gang related shooting incidents.  Whilst in M...

 The Department of Home Affairs is challenging a court finding that the termination of government's Zimbabwean exemption permit (ZEP) programme is unlawful in Pretoria High Court. The Pretoria High court in June criticised the department and its minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, for not following proper procedure in terminating the regime, which allows more than 178,000 Zimbabweans to stay and work in S...

The Nkomazi Local Municipality in Mpumalanga says it has noted with concern the high rate of young girls being impregnated by older men. This follows, reports of cases of girls as young as 10-years-old falling pregnant by older men in Mjejane village on the border with Mozambique. A concerned resident,  Innocent Madonsela has been receiving a number of complaints and submitted a signed petition by...

The tradition of Ukuthwala is reportedly on the rise in Nkomazi, more especially in Mjejane village in Mpumalanga. Innocent Madonsela , runs a campaign against the practice on Change.org and is trying to put an end to the practice. Young girls as young as 10-years-old are reportedly impregnated by older men, who then pay what is known as  "funelani nganeno' as a way of apologising to the family of...