Update@Noon

The family of Gerco Van Deventer, a South African man kidnapped by the Al Qaeda terrorist group, has confirmed that the 48-year-old has safely returned home and spent Christmas with his loved ones. Van Deventer was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda while working in Libya. For six years he was held prisoner and sold from one group to another. Gift of the Givers helped secure his release earlier this month. His...

Johannesburg's Rea Vaya bus operator has been placed under business rescue. This comes after a creditor tried to seize its buses. Piotrans has been marred by problems, preventing the company from running optimally. Commutters have been complaining about unreliable service each month. For an update about the state of affairs at Piotrans, Elvis Presslin spoke to Senior Business rescue practitioner a...

The KwaZulu-Natal department of Cooperative Governance and traditional affairs says operations are underway to save 10 people who vanished during flash floods in the province. Earlier, the department confirmed that the death toll following the floods has risen to six. The missing individuals are believed to have been in a caravan park next to the riverbank along the Bellspruit that collapsed. For...

With the festive season in full swing, the Border Management Authority says operations are underway to facilitate and manage the movement of people and goods across 72 ports of entry across South Africa. The BMA and its partners have devised a plan with four phases to facilitate the movement of goods and people. To look at the national picture of the state of busyness of our borders, Elvis Pressli...

Two months ago, the Nelspruit Magistrate's court in Mpumalanga found that illegal mining was the primary cause of the collapse of the Lily Mine in 2016. The court also found that three workers who were trapped underground  - Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi, and Solomon Nyirenda - died instantly when the mine caved in. This comes after an inquest was established to determine if the three were indeed...

Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has called on citizens to stand up against war and the abuse of power. He was delivering his annual Christmas eve sermon at the St  Georges's Cathedral in Cape Town. Makgoba was critical of the Hamas-Israel war and the the conflict in Sudan. As Mercedes Besent reports, the Anglican Archbishop was also scathing on the current State of the Nation of South Africa.

The electoral commission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has released partial results that show incumbent, President Felix Tshisekedi in the lead. Moise Katumbi, one of the main opposition candidates in Democratic Republic of Congo's 20 presidential election has called for the vote to be annulled because of massive fraud. Delays during Wednesday's election led to an extension of voting, which...

The Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga says they have identified five priority provinces that contribute about 80% of road fatalities year-on- year- these provinces are KwaZulu Natal,  Gauteng, Limpopo, Western and Eastern Cape. Chikunga said this during a media briefing on the release of provisional festive season road statistics and an update on the mid-term update on the country's road s...

Firefighters are faced with extremely challenging conditions as they continue to fight a large fire that has been raging in Simons Town on the Cape Peninsula since Tuesday. About 97 households in Stonehaven were evacuated, as were residents of Scarborough. Several crews are continuing. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to City of Cape Town fire and emergency spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse.

The ANC says it has reached an out-of-court settlement with Ezulweni following liquidation threats in relation to money owed to the media company. Earlier this month ANC general secretary Fikile Mbalula said they were shocked by Ezulweni's R102 million legal claim for services rendered in 2019.

Vote counting has begun in the Democratic Republic of Congo after elections were extended by another day until yesterday amidst opposition protest. The elections across Africa's second-largest country were extended due to delays in delivering election kits in several places and malfunctioning equipment. Voters also struggled to find their names on registers, while violence caused chaos in other pl...

Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the electricity grid system has demonstrated good performance. However he's concerned about capacity loss factors, including unreliable units and partial load losses, hindering its performance. Despite these issues, the system showed signs of health, but maintaining consistency and addressing load shedding are crucial for achieving this. Ramokgopa...

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) says Solidarity is making false and spurious statements attempting to implicate it as being the perpetrator of the recent protest action at Gold One's Modder East operations and violence. AMCU was responding to accusations that the mine disregarded alleged atrocities suffered by the miners during the sit- in / hostage situation by AMCU m...

In August this year, one of the worst taxi strikes in the Western Cape started at short notice, leaving thousands of people stranded. Subsequently,  at least five people were killed, over a 100 people arrested and damages of tens of millions of rand were reported. The strike was called by the South African National Taxi Council, or SANTACO, following the City of Cape Town's implementation of the N...

The Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into the Usindiso Building Fire, Justice Sisi Khampempe, has recused Commissioner Advocate. Thulani Makhubela from the proceedings after a number of anti-foreign nationals and pro-Operation Dudula posts were found on his X account. The Commissioner was appointed to assist Justice Sisi Khampepe's investigation into the Usindiso building fire, which kille...

Some 44 million voters are registered to take part in the presidential, legislative, and regional votes today in the Democratic Republic of Congo as President Felix Tshisekedi seeks a second term. DRC voting commenced despite some calls for elections to be postponed amid fears about security in some areas. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to SABC International News Reporter, Ditaba Tsotetsi.

Three people are facing trial for the robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm in February 2020.  Whilst the co-accused siblings, Froliana and David Joseph were granted bail in November, the alleged mastermind behind the robbery, Imanuela David, has been denied bail. The trio is facing charges of house breaking and theft of more than $580 000 from President Ramaphosa's Limpopo farm....

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says they have been informed that some of their members are being held underground against their will by striking employee's at the Impala Bafokeng Platinum Mine in Rustenburg. Some of the miners who were part of the underground sit-in at the Impala Bafokeng Platinum Mine in Rustenburg in the North West, began resurfacing overnight. On Monday, over 2-thousan...

Continuing attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea have forced ships carrying vital goods to travel via the two-weeks long and more expensive Cape of Good Hope route around Africa. The attacks are reportedly perpetrated by Yemen's Houthi movement. The Iran-backed Houthi group has expressed that its attacking vessels in the Red Sea linked to Israel in protest against its military offensive in...

Labour Union, Solidarity is set to take legal action against AMCU and the Gold One Mine over recent events at the mine at the Modder East facility in Springs. The union accuses the company of failing to act in the best interests of its employees during the sit-in/hostage situation, which they say included alleged humiliation, torture, and violations suffered by its members. They demand that the mi...

Oil company, British Petroleum (BP) says it is temporarily halting the shipment of oil and gas through the Red Sea, between Africa and Asia, after a series of attacks by Houthi militants against commercial vessels transiting the route. Five shipping companies have already made a similar decision, but BP is the first oil company to make the call to avoid the international shipping choke point.  Tha...

MEC for Community Safety in the North West, Sello Lehari has engaged the community of Popo Molefe informal settlement after 9 people were killed in ongoing tensions between two groups over the alleged theft of stock. Lehari visited the families of the nine people killed at Popo Molefe informal settlement in Boitekong outside Rustenburg. The MEC is accompanied by the senior management of the depart...

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa has condemned Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan's refusal to hand over documents relating to the sale of South African Airways to Parliament. Numsa notes that the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises has unanimously agreed that it cannot provide unqualified support for the transaction for SAA to be sold to the Takatso Consortium.  L...

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says it is currently in negotiations with management of Impala Bafokeng Platinum Mine, in Rustenburg, in an attempt to resolve the striking workers issues. Operations at the mine have been brought to a standstill as more than 2000 workers stage an underground sit-in protest. The workers are frustrated over a number of issues including employee share schemes...

Twelve of the more than 2000 mineworkers who've embarked on an underground sit-in at Impala Bafokeng Platinum mine in Rusternburg in the North West - have resurfaced due to them having chronic medical conditions. The sit-in protest which began yesterday has since brought operations at the mine to a standstill. The workers are frustrated over a number of issues including employee share schemes and...