Update@Noon

The Democratic Alliance has defended its latest election's advert which depicts the burning of the South African flag into ashes. The DA unveiled the advert at the weekend with the aim of gaining more votes ahead of the national and provincial elections. In the advert, a South African flag is burnt to ashes with a background voice narrating how the DA would save the country from the fire. The part...

The death toll in the the collapse of a multi-story building collapsed in George in the Western Cape now stands at six. Twenty-seven people have been removed from the rubble but 48 others are still unaccounted for. About 75 workers were on site when the building collapsed yesterday afternoon. President Cyril Ramaphosa has conveyed his condolences to the families and friends of people who have died...

It remained unclear if the IEC has received a letter that the uMkhoto weSizwe Party founder Jabulani Khumalo says he has written to the commission. In the letter dated the fifth of this month, Khumalo has requested the commission to urgently remove Jacob Zuma as the face of the party. Khumalo has also placed Zuma on precautionary suspension, citing bringing the party into disrepute. Khumalo's lett...

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime says gangs in certain parts of Cape Town now make as much money from extortion as they do selling drugs. In its report, the organisation identified four main extortion economies, the central business district night-time extortion economy, Cape Town's construction mafia, the transport extortion economy, and the township enterprise extortio...

Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, says the provincial government and the City of Johannesburg will establish a joint committee to ensure the implementation of the recommendations of the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry. The inquiry into the Usindiso building fire released its report yesterday following months of hearings. The commission's findings include the liability of the City of Johannesburg and...

The South Africa Police Service's top brass says over 600-thousand suspects have been nabbed since the inception of its Operation Shanela initiative. The initiative was launched last May in order to address crime in high-density areas and has resulted in the completion of 71-thousand operations to date. Speaking to members of the media earlier this morning, the SAPS's Major General Mashadi Selepe...

The Competition Commission has released the latest Essential Food Pricing Monitoring Report, which monitors the price of essential food items identified by the public; including sunflower oil, brown bread, eggs, IQF chicken and maize meal. Last year, the report found that South Africans are overpaying for specific food items, despite a significant decrease in inflation. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Econ...

The ANC seems undecided on the course of action that ought to be employed in relation to former ANC President, Jacob Zuma. The party has oscillated between deciding that there would be a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, holding it off, then announcing that it would be held virtually, and then calling for it to be held in abeyance until after the elections. The party has, on various occasions, said...

Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, says the stability of the Eskom grid in recent times is not an elections gimmick. Ramokgopa has attributed the stability of the national grid to concerted efforts by both the Eskom board and its workforce. The Minister was addressing the media earlier from Pretoria in his weekly update to the nation

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union - AMCU - says investigations into mining fatalities must be sped up, especially in incidents that resulted in multiple fatalities. This is as the Department of Mineral Resources revealed that investigation reports on the findings, recommendations and any remedial steps have not been finalized with regard to the accident that claimed 13 lives at...

City Power security guards had an exchange of gun fire with suspected criminal gangs which attempted to steal copper cables from the tunnels where a fire broke out on the M1 highway in the Johannesburg's CBD on Tuesday. The fire which caused traffic disruptions in the area has been contained but black thick smoke remains visible. Surrounding areas such as Braamfontein are without power as City Pow...

Statistics produced by the police and mortuary surveillance systems in South Africa have consistently shown that firearms are the most commonly used weapons to commit murder and other violent crimes, such as carjacking and house robberies. The is an urgent need for stronger gun control measures in South Africa, this is according to Dr Guy Lamb of Stellenbosch University. The proposed amendments ha...

The South African workforce says, the rising cost of living expenses has placed increased financial stress on their shoulders, as many families battle to pay for basic needs. As the country commemorates Workers Day, workers say, there is little to celebrate as many face escalating financial pressures due to increased cost of housing, transportation, food and electricity. For this Workers Day, Prab...

Traffic has been disrupted in some of the major roads in the Eastern Cape due to a shutdown by scholar transport operators, making nearly impossible for commuters, goods and services to move around the province. The Provincial Transport Department Spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, says the Buffalo City Metro is proving to be the epicentre of this protest action, with blockades in some of the major rou...

The Senzo Meyiwa trial has adjourned till Monday at the High Court in Pretoria. Five men are on trial for the 2014 murder of Meyiwa who was shot and killed while at Kelly Khumalo's home in Vosloorus on Gauteng's East Rand. SABC reporter Peal Magubane filed this report

African National Congress President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has applauded South African workers for continuing to contribute to the country's economy. Ramaphosa was speaking at the COSATU's Workers' Day rally in Athlone Stadium, in Cape Town. He was among the federation's leadership including COSATU president, Zingiswa Losi, as well as SACP's General Secretary Solly Mapaila, who all delivered messages o...

Retrenchments of about 5000 Post Office workers is still continuing. The South African Post Office's (SAPO's) joint business rescue practitioners have announced that attempts to secure funding from the Temporary Employment Relief Scheme (TERS) have failed. They lodged an application with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration (CCMA) following discussions with unions in the ho...

Motorists in Johannesburg have been urged to avoid the M1 North double-decker highway near the CBD. This follows a fire earlier today which is believed to have been caused by under underground cables which supply electricity to surrounding areas such as Braamfontein. Joburg's emergency services have been on site in collaboration with City Fire technicians in an attempt to open up the underground t...

Some workers with disabilities in Mahikeng in the North West say it is disheartening to see certain challenges affecting people with disabilities continuing, despite numerous calls to workplace conditions to better accommodate them. The challenges include buildings or offices structured in a manner that does not accommodate wheelchair-bound employees, conditions that do not meet the occupational h...

Speculation around a possible imminent move by the Prosecutor of International Criminal Court against senior Israeli leadership is growing with several Israeli media now reporting that officials there believe the Court could issue warrants of arrest soon. I.C.C. Prosecutor Karim Khan has not commented, but media reports suggest potential warrants could be issued in relation to the blocking of huma...

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has called on authorities to urgently investigate allegations that the newly-formed Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party reportedly falsified signatures it submitted to the commission for consideration ahead of next month's elections. This comes after the party recently dismissed one of its senior members, Jabulani Khumalo. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to National Sp...

As South Africa marks 30 years of Democracy, SABC News has launched a new programme dedicated to marking this important milestone. Join Update@Noon every Tuesday, from today, as we zoom in on some of the people and events that laid the ground work for South Africa as we know it today. In the build up to the country's historic 1994 democratic elections, bloodshed, gunshots, looting and overall unre...

Section 27, the Cancer Alliance and the Treatment Action Campaign, together with patients waiting for cancer treatment  have embarked on a march to the offices of the Gauteng Department of Health. The group is calling for the department to spend the R784 million set aside by provincial Treasury in March 2023, for the purpose of outsourcing radiation oncology services for over 3-thousand patients w...

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya on a number of issues including reports that SABC head of news Meshoeshoe Monare is being targeted ahead of the 29th May general elections. Magwenya's comments follow a News24 article that Monare is under scrutiny for the negative publicity against the ANC leading up to the elections. This was reportedly after what's purported to be a leaked audio recording...

According to the White House, the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "reiterated his clear position" on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah. Washington says it cannot not support a Rafah operation without an appropriate and credible humanitarian plan. Here is the latest report by the Reuters News...