“In February, Google AI referred to me as ‘the late Kwanele Asante’ — almost like a premonition,” says Asante, who developed abdominal pain in her right side a few weeks later, and was urgently admitted for surgery to remove an inflamed appendix.

“Then all these other things started happening. When I was finally discharged 19 days later it was April, the month (she first says “anniversary”, then shakes her head and says, “no, no, that’s not the word”) of my diagnosis with breast cancer 20 years ago.”

Asante, who has always rejected the designation “breast cancer survivor”, talks about her health in an all-encompassing way, to make a larger point: people don’t necessarily experience the health system as a series of separate diseases and specialist programmes. We are the sum of our ailments, not defined by any one illness.

“I am in chronic treatment for chemotherapy-induced congestive heart failure, bipolar mood disorder [a mental health disorder that causes mood swings], anxiety and now functional neurological [brain] disorder, which means the brain software is not functioning properly. The cancer survivor label doesn’t quite cover it,” she says.

Even in name, Asante refuses to remain static. She was born Anne Molebatsi Pooe but called herself Molebatsi Anne Pooe at university, and later Molebatsi Pooe-Shongwe, before legally changing her name to Kwanele Asante-Shongwe in 2012 (although she mostly goes by Kwanele Asante in her professional life).

Every change has been a waymarker in a life that began like an unwritten Zakes Mda novel, in a TB sanatorium in Soweto.

“My mother and father met in Charles Hurwitz [TB hospital], probably in the canteen from that famous Ephraim Ngatane painting. I was reflecting the other day that my entire life has been defined by health care,” says Asante, who was born in Meadowlands in 1969.

Her father, Aaron Sonnyboy Pooe, and mother, Lerato Nokoane (born Dikeledi Lydia Nokoane), were divorced before Asante turned five. She and her younger brother Lesele never saw their father again.

Her tone changes when she begins talking about her mother.

“She was a very tenacious woman,” Asante says, chuckling.

“My father was her second husband, and she had six children before my brother and I. We were very poor, and to provide for us after our father left she took a job as a teacher at Batswana Teacher’s Training (BAT) College in Mafeking (now Mahikeng), later becoming a live-in boarding master to supplement her salary.”

It was a solution that held until the 1976 Soweto Uprising, which triggered student protests across the country.

“We were kicked out of our little room because the kids felt we were leeching off them,” recalls Asante, who was in Grade 1 at the time, at Diphetogo Primary School.

“It was a difficult time because mum was reinventing — she went away to Baviaanspoort [Zonderwater Prison and Training College near Tshwane] for six months to train as a prison officer, leaving us with a relative we only met the day before she left,” says Asante, who wasn’t coping at school.

“One particular teacher used to split the class into ‘smart ones’ and ‘donkeys’. I was in the donkey group. I was unhappy. Then I met a woman who saved my life.”

Dineo Mpofu, a teacher at Diphetogo, saw something in the struggling seven-year-old.

“She told me, ‘You are actually smart. Come to me during break and we will work on your cursive writing.’ She was by my side until standard four, by which time I was a very strong student,” says Asante, who moved across to the new middle school that had been established at BAT.

The Bantustans

It was the early 1980s and Mafeking had just been incorporated in the recently proclaimed Republic of Bophuthatswana. To combat liberation ideologies in the Bantustans, the South African Defence Force had started sending conscripts with university degrees and teaching diplomas to teach in certain Bantustan schools, including the new Batswana high and middle schools. And so Asante’s teachers were mostly white servicemen.

“They saw it as a way of winning hearts and minds. We saw it as a sneaky way of getting a kind of private school education,” Asante recalls.

There were some civilian teachers, too, and Asante remembers one man with particular fondness — Denzil Fincham, her Standard 5 English teacher, who would go on to become the headmaster of Kingswood College in Makhanda.

“He used to say, ‘Anne, stand up, give us an unprepared speech. You need to learn to speak properly because you’re going to be an important person one day.’ At first I thought, ‘Oh no! This man is really irritating me,’ but it was actually really formative,” says Asante, whose polished elocution saw her through door after door later in life.

Before her world cracked open, however, it was unusually cloistered.

“Mum took a job at Rooigrond Maximum Security Prison [now Rooigrond Maximum Correctional Centre], and here we lived for years, on this prison base in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by prisoners.”

White prison officers, says Asante, “stayed in their own quite opulent section, literally called ko makgoweng [the white side]” whereas black families stayed in a row of tiny houses on “the black side — ko Batswaneng”. She can’t quite recall when this changed but change it did, and by this time her mother was a senior officer at the prison, so the family moved across into one of the nice houses.

If Rooigrond embodied the racism that was coded into South African society at the time, it also provided object lessons in what Asante refers to as “the inequality of power”.

“There was a lot of saluting. Even when mum was in civilian clothes, the other officers would strek [stand to attention], whereas the prisoners would drop to their knees and take off their hats. For me, as a teenager, this was like, ‘Joh, weird’.”

The prison nevertheless provided a form of stability, which ended when her mother transferred to Odi prison in Mabopane, north of Pretoria (she was later reposted to Rooigrond, and appointed inspector of prisons for the Republic of Bophuthatswana).

“I had attended six schools by the time I reached matric. It was very destabilising,” says Asante, who was taken in hand by the principal of Pelotona Middle School in Mabopane, ZK Mogodiri.

“He was a pan-Africanist: a short man who would stand in front of us at morning assembly and say, ‘African child, we are not going to be door mats of other nations.’ He was strict but he took a liking to me, and when he realised that we were about to move again he drove a 100 kilometres to Motswedi in Zeerust to find me a place at the boarding school there, so that I would have some stability,” says Asante, who matriculated in 1987. The following Easter she met Isaac Shongwe, whose family paid lobola for Asante in 1989.

“I was a fast-moving girl,” she chuckles, adding, “I didn’t change my surname, which is the only thing I have from my father.”

Shongwe — today a prominent South African business personality — had just graduated from Wesleyan University in the United States, and suggested Asante might want to apply.

“I had been fascinated with America most of my life until then. I needed no urging. We moved abroad in August 1989.”

Like her husband before her, Asante received a full scholarship. She studied sociology and psychology, and felt very at home in Wesleyan’s vocal liberal arts culture.

“I was the only black African woman there at the time, so naturally I was the most oppressed person on campus,” she says, with a wink.

From Anne to Molebatsi

“People would ask, ‘You’re African, yet your name is Anne. How?’ and so I switched it around, and became Molebatsi Anne.”

Shongwe, by this time a Rhodes Scholar, was at Oxford, and so the two travelled between England and America, with a trip home in 1991 for the birth of their first child, Sibusiso Mandla Shongwe, today a well-known film director and multimedia artist (better known by his alias Sibs Shongwe-La Mer). Their second child, Mbali-Pfeiffer Shongwe (today a notable young mental health advocate and gender-based violence activist), was born in 1999.

After graduating in 1994 Asante returned to South Africa for good. Her memories of the job market at the time have her smiling before she speaks.

“It was that time when everybody was looking for a black. The moment you accepted a role others would be knocking, looking to poach!”

From Pretoria Portland Cement, where Asante worked as an internal communications coordinator, she was employed by First National Bank as a group journalist, writing articles and booklets (including one on breast cancer) for the bank’s 36,000 employees, before being lured across to Anglovaal Minerals (since incorporated into African Rainbow Minerals) to oversee their internal communications.

“Women were only just being allowed underground at the time, and I remember I would get into my white things — boots, overalls, helmet — and at some point the men underground would see the curves and they would scream that the earth was gonna fall down,” says Asante, who witnessed firsthand the toll HIV was taking on mineworkers, and became frustrated with management’s apparent reluctance to “walk the talk” of safer sex practices in their own lives and professional spaces. (“There were no condoms in the head office or mining office bathrooms, even though it was well known that many of the metallurgists, geologists and mining engineers, 95% of whom were white men, practised unsafe sex!”). Faced with this hypocrisy, and seeing the sector’s stark social inequality on her daily commute to work, she felt increasingly conflicted about her high salary.

“I’m not sure that any of the corporations I worked for actually had a job for me, and that’s a heavy suspicion to live with, especially when you see things happening that you don’t agree with,” says Asante, who often complained to family friend (and former Constitutional Court judge) Edwin Cameron about her ethical conundrums.

“I think Edwin grew tired of hearing me complain, because one day he said, ‘Listen, when I first met you at 19, you said you wanted to become a lawyer. I think you’re a natural-born lawyer. I think you should go to law school.’”

Asante was 32 at the time. She thought about it, and remembered her mother’s uncle, the writer JB Leseyane (author of the classic Setswana novel Monageng), who lived in a village in Swartruggens. She, her brother and their cousins all called him Ntatemogolo [grandfather], and visited often.

“He would wash on the patio in the morning, and the rest of us ‘grandchildren’ would bathe in the same water in order of seniority. ‘It will make you smart like me,’ he used to say, and he was indeed a smart man. He would invite me to attend these kgotlas [traditional court sessions] under a distant tree, where people could come and report their issues — how somebody stole somebody else’s cow, or beat their wife, and so on — and I would be the only child at these things, but he kept taking me, until he was murdered when I was 10. Looking back, I realise this was my introduction to law.”

Asante decided to take Cameron’s advice, enrolling for an LLB at Wits University, and afterwards joining Deneys Reitz to do her articles.

“I hated it,” Asante bluntly says.

‘No health without mental health’

“Candidate attorneys were basically messengers, serving summonses and doing pagination. I was 35, from a campus activist background. I had worked three corporate jobs. I was like, ‘Guys, I’m not here to photocopy.’ I was a difficult candidate attorney, and in fact the experience just worsened from one rotation to the next.”

Asante had one champion during this lonely period, an institutional aviation law specialist called Pierre Naude, who treated her as a colleague, taking her out to crash sites and commending her written opinions. When she was not retained as an attorney after her two years’ candidature he walked across to her office.

“He closed the door, asked if he could sit, and said, ‘You are a very good lawyer — don’t let this make you forget that. I know that you love human rights, perhaps your future lies in this direction.’ He wrote me the most beautiful letter of recommendation as a lawyer and a thinker.”

Three months later, at 37, Asante was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“The lump had been in my breast for some time, and I knew from that booklet I wrote for FNB that it was more than likely a problem, but I was just hoping it would miraculously disappear.”

‘Kwanele, Baba. Asante.’

A breast biopsy confirmed breast cancer — Asante received the news on the way to fetch her daughter, then seven, from school.

“Suddenly, I was a very sick woman. I found my heart would be palpitating after chemo sessions, but when I reported this to my oncologist, he was dismissive.”

She read on the website of the American Society of Clinical Oncology that some of the chemotherapy medicines can cause heart damage, and immediately called her GP, who had a cardiologist meet her in a nearby emergency room.

“The cardiologist greeted me with, ‘I believe you are a Google self-diagnosed patient’, but the moment he listened to my heart he shouted, ‘Code Blue!’ and people descended on me.”

It was discovered that Asante had chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy, a disorder of the heart muscle. Three years later, during a routine check-up (and shortly after her divorce from Shongwe), her cardiologist told her she was at imminent risk of a fatal heart attack.

“He said I needed a machine implanted under my skin, called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which detects irregular heartbeats and gives an electric shock to restore it to normal. I had the procedure, and when the bill came to my apartment I saw how much it had cost, and I cried and cried. My medical aid had covered it. All I could think to say was, ‘Kwanele, Baba. Asante.’ Kwanele is isiZulu for ‘it is sufficient’. Asante is Kiswahili for ‘thank you’.”

In 2012, Asante formalised her gratitude by taking these words as her legal name, or what she calls her “healing name”. Her experience had left her with troubling questions, however.

A health rights approach to breast cancer

“In the Sandton Oncology Centre I was struck by how few black women there were in the waiting room — I only saw two the whole time, and they were from Botswana. I asked my oncologist, ‘Am I the first black woman to have breast cancer?’ and he said, ‘No, there are many. Most go to Helen Joseph, Charlotte Maxeke and Chris Hani Baragwanath hospitals. Some come here, but they come at odd hours because they don’t want people to know.’”

Asante decided to find out for herself.

“I visited Chris Hani [Baragwanath Hospital], and there were about 30 women sitting in a little room, all half-naked from the waist up with decaying breasts. It was before they had the breast clinic, and there were no gowns. It was a mess.”

Asante confronted the surgeons, one of whom countered that the patients were all women (so why would they mind?).

“I said, ‘Would Gogo traditionally be sitting like this with a woman half her age?’ and he got it. The next week — because the clinic was only held on Wednesdays then — everyone had gowns. My friends in the northern suburbs and I pooled together to buy some things but that doctor bought the first 20 gowns himself.”

Out of this experience came BreastSens, the NGO Asante founded to promote health rights, human rights and breast cancer education among indigent black women in Soweto.

“It was nothing new, I simply copied Edwin and others’ work on treatment access for people living with HIV, and I transposed it to breast cancer,” says Asante.

While it is true that South Africa’s HIV response is rich in transferable lessons, they are lessons that advocates for NCDs such as cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure have struggled to take up and apply with similar success. In Soweto, Asante demonstrated it was possible to take a health rights approach to breast cancer.

Her legal training proved invaluable (Asante never did work as a lawyer) although she acknowledges that it, and her relative privilege, were also barriers that needed to be overcome.

“I was coming at it with the self-importance of an activist lawyer. The women who let me into their lives were my saving grace. I spent six years working in Soweto’s communities. I met the families, and came to know their realities. Three of the women I knew developed cardiotoxicity [when the heart or cardiovascular system is damaged during or after cancer treatment], like I had, and died. They didn’t get defibrillators, like I did. They died, and they were all remarkable, single mothers of young children. They all died at 35. At that time, I was 44.”

Off pink

Asante says she did join the “pink ribbons” for a time, meaning the established network of breast cancer advocacy organisations, “but very quickly got to understand what they were: the commodification of a woman’s disease by marketing companies. So I stopped wearing the pink outfits,” she says, demonstrating the (at times acerbic) contrarianism that has been a hallmark of her advocacy. (Another hallmark has been her vivacious style: an orange polo neck sweater today, with pearl drop earrings.)

Her community-based approach saw her nominated by Soweto communities to join the inaugural ministerial advisory committee on the prevention and control of cancer, which she was later elected deputy chairperson of. She then served a second term, chairing the committee. In parallel, she decided to study again.

“I was often the loudest ‘lived-experience’ person in the room at the conferences I was attending at home, on the continent and abroad, and cancer researchers and cancer doctors would say, ‘What’s this lawyer doing in medicine?’ A very dear and faithful mentor and friend [the retired academic and education champion Gillian Godsell] advised me to do a master’s degree with the word medicine in it, and after some scouting around I enrolled for an MSc Medicine in bioethics and health law, health and human rights at Wits’ Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics,” says Asante, who was asked to stay on and lecture upon graduating in 2016.

“I loved my students but only lasted one year because teaching is very exhausting, and little paid!”

Asante returned to patient advocacy, deepening her commitment to the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer, which she had been involved with for some years, eventually serving as the secretary general in 2020.

In the same year she became a member of the World Health Organization’s civil society working group on NCDs. With her well-honed sense for inequality in health care, Asante became a fierce critic of the global health advocacy system she had joined. In a 2025 BMJ article, for example, she and her co-authors argued that global NGOs and health organisations are often guilty of advocating for patients, families and communities in generic and potentially extractive ways, while remaining stubbornly headquartered in Europe or North America.

She travelled back and forth from Geneva, but at some point experienced a crisis of conviction.

“I found I was reacting to these white women doing their higher degrees in global health and development, who would come and say” — and here Asante affects an American accent with extraordinary disdain — ‘I’m here to talk on behalf of my community in Ndola, or Lusikisiki’ — and I’m sitting there thinking ‘your community?’ And after I had reacted that way three or four times over the years, I was like, ‘Actually, who appointed you [Kwanele Asante] a spokesperson for Black women? How well do you know your community?’ I was born in Soweto, but … hmm.”

It’s a fittingly self-aware and self-questioning ending to our conversation about her protean life — a life that I suspect (based on her grumbling about private medical aid billing practices, after her recent hospital stay) has strident activism in it yet.

This story was produced by the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism. Sign up for the newsletter.

Join The Political Arena’s election series as it, in partnership with Wits University, facilitates a public dialogue that will bring together political parties and voters for a conversation about the CoJ’s future.

TimesLIVE

But Daniel Rada, director of My Wooden House, says this can lead to a common design mistake, with outdoor spaces planned around the few months when the weather is at its best rather than how the garden will actually be used for most of the year.

“It’s very easy to design a garden around the weather you wish you had all year, but that isn’t how most of the year is going to look.”

Beyond sunny weather

Rada says the first thing homeowners should consider is what they want the garden to be used for outside of summer. Rather than waiting until spring to discover what does and doesn’t work, she recommends paying attention to the garden as autumn arrives.

“Autumn is actually quite useful for looking at a garden because you start to see what you miss when summer disappears. You notice which areas are sheltered, where you lose the light and which parts you stop using altogether.”

Rada says this is particularly important when homeowners are considering a permanent addition to their garden. A structure should fit the space and its intended use, rather than being chosen first and then squeezed into whichever part of the garden is available. That could mean thinking carefully about:

• where people will sit;
• how they will get to the structure from the house; and
• whether the area remains comfortable when the weather changes.

When summer is over

Transitional months are also a useful time to think ahead, with gardening experts recommending the months for planning and preparing for the next spring while the soil remains warm and workable.

“If you’re thinking about making a bigger change next year, spend some time using the garden as it is now. You might find that the place you thought would be perfect for a seating area is actually the first part of the garden you avoid when the weather turns.”

The aim isn’t necessarily to make every part of the garden usable in every season. Instead, Rada says homeowners should think about whether the areas they invest in will still have a purpose once summer has finished.

That could influence everything from the position of an outdoor structure to the way different areas connect with the house.

With garden projects potentially representing a significant investment, considering the space properly before building can also help homeowners avoid having to rethink the layout later.

TimesLIVE

Story audio is generated using AI

The South African Rugby Union (Saru) is responsible for a group of men who have conquered the rugby universe and the Springboks are rightly revered around the world as the best in the business.

To many South Africans, the Siya Kolisi-captained and Rassie Erasmus-coached green and gold warriors are not only a symbol of success, they are a shining example and enforcers of a winning spirit that swells the pride of our troubled nation.

It is to Saru’s credit and the genius of Erasmus that the back-to-back world champions are 12 months away from attempting an unprecedented third successive World Cup crown in Australia next year.

But by not dealing with the André Esterhuizen elephant in the room with the diligence it deserves, Saru and Erasmus have dropped the ball big time.

By appointing Esterhuizen the 68th captain for last Saturday’s defeat to the Wallabies, Erasmus erred in that he overlooked an element of the player’s racist past that can neither be erased nor wished away. That incident was when Esterhuizen racially abused Potchefstroom Gymnasium coach Thabo Molete in 2012.

To plead ignorance of the incident is disingenuity and dishonesty by Saru. Not heeding the public outcry over the matter and treating the backlash as a mere irritation is a refusal to accept that tackling the demon of racism is an ongoing process to which we must remain alive across all aspects of our society.

Kicking this Esterhuizen matter into touch is poor form. Barring journalists from asking about the issue during the pre-match press conference in Perth is censorship that should not be tolerated in a democratic state.

His sympathisers argue that not only did the then 18-year-old apologise, he was also banned from rugby for a year, though half of that sentence was suspended.

An undeniable truth is that racism is a festering wound. It remains a lived reality decades after racist laws were repealed en route to a democratic dispensation.

They omit to mention that in 2017 he made a mockery of that apology when he denied using the racial slur against Molete.

There’s plenty of evidence of how Erasmus has contributed to help transform the Boks from an exclusive club of a select section of our population.

Confronting uncomfortable truths about our actions, past and present, should be part and parcel of the stronger together mantra embodied by all that embrace the Springboks, warts and all.

An undeniable truth is that racism is a festering wound. It remains a lived reality decades after racist laws were repealed en route to a democratic dispensation. Regrettably, there are some among us who still wear racism as a badge of honour and hanker for the days of white supremacy.

Sport in general and rugby in particular, has made a massive contribution to social cohesion. Where the Springbok emblem was once a source of hate, it is now a crest worn with pride in support of all Erasmus selects to represent the nation.

Accountability and transparency should be the cornerstones of our collective conscience. Though South Africa is bedevilled by a leadership crisis where those in authority get away with a myriad of misdemeanours and foul-mouthed tirades against the very public they purport to serve, we should never tire of holding people responsible for their actions.

From politicians to sportsmen, everyone must put in the work necessary to curb the scourge of racism whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head.

He faces charges of rape and sexual assault for allegedly raping an 18-year-old teenager and sexually grooming a 16-year-old girl. He is being held at the Kgosi Mampuru prison.

Video courtesy of SABC

TimesLIVE

This unique seasonal safari offering forges an intimate connection with the ecosystems in South Africa’s largest wildlife reserve, the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga.

Kruger Untamed comprises two low-impact “vanishing” camps that only operate from May to September each year:

• Tshokwane River Camp: an intimate 20-tent camp along the seasonal Ripape Riverbed, offering direct access to rich riverine biodiversity and peaceful walking routes.
• Satara Plains Camp: a 30-tent camp set in the predator-rich region of the Kruger National Park, renowned for its vast open horizons and abundant wildlife.

Both camps offer light-footprint canvas accommodations equipped with essential comforts, allowing guests to experience the wilderness closely without sacrificing simplicity or care.

Children over 12 are welcome to enjoy the experience too, making it the ideal ‘family reconnect’ holiday.

True to its eco-conscious philosophy, each camp is entirely dismantled at the end of the season, leaving nothing behind and ensuring that the delicate balance of the Kruger is preserved intact long after the season ends.

Let nature set the pace

A day at one of Kruger Untamed’s camps is guided not by the clock, but by the rhythms of nature.

At the heart of this novel safari experience are a team of passionate rangers and trackers, whose knowledge of the landscape has been shaped across generations.

Following animal tracks across dry riverbeds and reading the subtle signs of the bush, they bring nature to life through stories, sightings and the traditions of the local Shangaan people.

Their experience gives guests a deeper understanding of the land, its wildlife and the fleeting encounters that make every safari different.

The rhythm of life at Kruger Untamed is guided by the environment itself. Spanning the full spectrum of the ecosystem, guests have the opportunity to encounter Africa’s iconic Big Five — lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros, and African buffalo.

Not forgetting the lesser-known, equally fascinating ‘Small Five’: the antlion, buffalo weaver, elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, and rhino beetle.

Guided tracking walks bring these smaller creatures into sharp focus, showcasing how every inhabitant, large and small, sustains the natural harmony of the bush. Bushveld birding is another drawcard.

By offering guests a chance to slow down and tread lightly, Kruger Untamed continues to demonstrate how immersive travel and quiet environmental stewardship naturally come together in the heart of South Africa’s wilderness, guaranteeing guests a ‘one-of-a-kind experience’.

Kruger Untamed is part of the Motsamayi Tourism Group, South Africa’s oldest black-empowered tourism group, renowned for its expertise in creating, curating, and celebrating Africa’s iconic destinations.

For more information, visit the Kruger Untamed website or email reservations@krugeruntamed.com.

Win a stay at Tshokwane River Camp

Sunday Times, in partnership with Kruger Untamed, is giving away an unforgettable bush escape worth R31,800.

The prize includes:

• Two-nights’ accommodation for two adults in a luxury double/twin canvas suite in the Tshokwane River Camp;
• All meals, teas and coffees daily, as well as soft drinks, house wines, local brand spirits and beers; and
• Two game drives daily in an open safari vehicle or daily guided walking safari with a rifled ranger.

To enter, SMS the words Kruger Untamed, your full name, ID number, physical and email address to 48470.

Terms and conditions:

• SMSes charged at R1,50. Errors will be charged. Free bundle SMSes do not apply.
• No persons under the age of 18 may enter.
• Eligible participants may enter as many times as they like.
• The competition closes on Sunday October 11 2026 at 11pm. No late entries will be accepted.
• Winners will be notified by telephone and email. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
• All information relating to the competition and published on any promotional material will form part of the terms and conditions of entry.
• Neither TimesLIVE or any of its sponsors, affiliates and agencies, nor their employees accept any liability for any oversight.
• The prize is valid for 12 months from the date of issue.
• Kruger Untamed operates seasonally from May 1 to September 30; the prize must be redeemed during the operating season.
• The prize is non transferrable. It may not be sold, traded or exchanged for cash or any other consideration.
• The prize does not include park fees or transportation. Winners will be responsible for their own transport costs to Kruger Untamed inside the Kruger National Park.

This article was sponsored by Kruger Untamed.

Story audio is generated using AI

A public protector report released on Thursday, which relates to former Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi, succinctly and timeously highlights how vitally important it is to ensure that qualified, competent people run our municipalities.

Among a series of investigation reports released by public protector Kholeka Gcaleka was one that found Mashazi had committed improper conduct by appointing an official who did not qualify for a senior metro police post.

That official was Ndumiso Gcwabe, who was appointed deputy chief of Metro Police: Security and Loss Control despite not having the required qualifications.

It seems no one bothered to check that his national diploma was an NQF level 7 qualification. As the accounting officer at the time, Mashazi was found guilty of improper conduct.

Unfortunately, Mashazi, who we all came to know well for her disdainful demeanour at the Madlanga commission and her penchant for luxury private jets, is now retired and cannot be sanctioned for her carelessness. But the silver lining is that she is facing potentially far more serious censure: criminal charges of corruption and defeating the ends of justice, alongside other City of Ekurhuleni officials.

With the 2026 local government elections a month away, South Africans have a window of opportunity to vote for a party they are confident will prioritise clean, efficient service delivery by ensuring officials are suitably qualified and can capably do the jobs they are hired to do.

Gcaleka raises two similar issues at other municipalities, in which unqualified applicants were appointed to senior positions due to a lack of basic checks, and adds that her office has received multiple complaints following the same pattern.

With the 2026 local government elections a month away, South Africans have a window of opportunity to vote for a party they are confident will prioritise clean, efficient service delivery by ensuring officials are suitably qualified and can capably do the jobs they are hired to do.

The Madlanga commission exposed the Ekurhuleni metro as an incubator for corruption and incompetence. A few wrong people in key positions can have a wide-reaching impact on the financial and operational stability of a municipality. And the knock-on effect of that, as we all know, is a marked drop in service delivery levels.

So before you mark your cross on the ballot paper on November 4, do your homework. Research track records. Put your local candidate on the spot and make it clear that your vote comes with a condition: they will be consistently assessed and held to account.

No jobs for pals or tenders for party donations. Clean governance all the way. Only with this zero tolerance approach will we be able to regenerate our battered towns and cities.

Story audio is generated using AI

There’s an obvious contradiction in telling women that their worth has nothing to do with their appearance when you have spent most of your adult life in industries involving catwalks, evening gowns, judges and crowns. Joani Jacobs knows that. The former Mrs South Africa is now CEO of the organisation she once competed in, founder and CEO of Ace Models International, wife, mother, entrepreneur and, with the publication of Crowned in Confidence, author. Her central message is that women need to stop outsourcing their self-worth to other people. Easier said than done.

Modern humans now carry several million other people around in their phones specifically so we can all judge one another.

“I want to remind women of their worth,” Jacobs says when I meet her for a coffee. “We start tying our worth to external factors — validation, other people’s opinions, success, looks. But worth is something we already have within.”

Her authority on the subject comes partly from having spent two decades building businesses in precisely the territory where external validation flourishes. Jacobs founded Ace Models in 2005, won Mrs South Africa in 2009 and, when the then owner of the pageant emigrated, was offered the opportunity to take over. She didn’t, she says, think twice. “I made a plan and I made it happen.”

She carries around the confidence of which she writes. Beneath the talk of crowns and confidence is a formidable businesswoman. Ace Models has grown from one academy into an international operation with more than 30 franchises, while Mrs South Africa has been deliberately repositioned under Jacobs from conventional beauty pageant to commercial business and female development programme.

The crown, in other words, didn’t create the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur worked out what to do with her crown. Jacobs argues that pageantry taught her things university couldn’t: how to walk into a room when terrified, speak in public, deal with clients and sponsors, work with people and, crucially, project confidence before she had any.

“You fake it till you make it in the beginning,” she says. “Even though you don’t know what you’re doing or you’re scared, you have to show up. People respect that.”

“If you want to change something because of an insecurity, because you feel you need to fit a certain mould, then it’s coming from the wrong place.”

It’s produced results. Under her watch, South Africa has had two Mrs World winners: Candice Abrahams and, most recently, Tshego Gaelae, who became the first black woman to win the international title in its then 40-year history. Ace Models’ alumna Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, who started at the academy aged 12, went on to become Miss South Africa and Miss Universe.

But Jacobs immediately dismisses the notion that pageantry is just a collection of beautiful women smiling competitively at each other. She talks repeatedly about “sisterhood”: women she met through modelling and pageants who became mentors, friends and eventually bridesmaids. At Ace, modelling sits alongside public speaking, personal development and life skills. At Mrs South Africa, there are no height or weight restrictions, she says, and contestants come in different ages, shapes and sizes.

Still, it’s undeniable, beauty matters. Pretending otherwise doesn’t square with reality. Jacobs laughs when I tell her about an argument with my husband, who maintains women shouldn’t need make-up to feel good.

Her response? “Okay, well then tell him to leave the Porsche at home.”

It’s a good line because it neatly captures her philosophy. Wanting to look good and possessing substance aren’t mutually exclusive. The problem begins when enhancement comes from the conviction that the original product is defective.

“If you want to change something because of an insecurity, because you feel you need to fit a certain mould, then it’s coming from the wrong place,” she says. “It needs to come from confidence rather than insecurity.”

That distinction has become considerably harder for girls growing up in the age of Instagram faces, filters, fillers, likes and algorithmic approval. Jacobs sees it at close range with her teenage daughter, Jesse — the same adolescent negotiations around popularity, belonging and confidence that she remembers from growing up in Welkom, except now conducted before a potential audience of millions of strangers.

Her answer isn’t banning social media. “You can’t get away from it,” she says. Better to teach girls how to navigate it while repeatedly reinforcing who they are away from the screen.

Crowned in Confidence draws on Jacobs’s own experiences of bullying, motherhood, divorce, remarriage, faith and building businesses. It also makes a case for femininity in leadership — another word that’s become oddly contentious. She says she once believed female leaders needed to become harder to succeed in traditionally male environments. Age and experience changed her mind. “Femininity is a strength,” she says. “Vulnerability is a strength.”

There’s steel beneath the softness.

Her twenties started the businesses; her thirties, she says, were “building, building, building”. At 45, she’s written her first book and still intends doing an MBA, maybe at 50. “You’re never too old,” she says.

Jacobs’s book impresses me most on this topic. She doesn’t rather photogenically claim to have conquered insecurity. She admits that she hasn’t. There are wrinkles that weren’t there a few years ago, a changing body, perimenopause, days when she doesn’t feel her best. Confidence, she shares, doesn’t arrive with a tiara and remain permanently installed. Life keeps chipping away at it. The trick is knowing that what gets chipped is not your worth.

Jacobs has spent much of her life around women competing for crowns. Her book argues that the important one is the crown that isn’t an award — and that’s the crown no one gets to take away.

Jean-Paul Willemse, Kwela Books

Whether you love true-crime podcasts or are obsessed with the designer-clad gangsters on SA’s TV screens, gangsterism has been a subject discussed in many different forms. It’s also become synonymous with the townships of Cape Town, with a tendency for people to oversimplify this complex world and obsess over the crimes — the violent rape of women, the rags-to-riches tales and even dingy drug addictions. These become cautionary tales that are charged with moralistic codes that don’t seem to empathise with their characters or subjects.

But that is not the case with the debut novel from Jean-Paul Willemse. In Ashes of Euphoria, we get a window into the minds of youths trying to just see another day alive. Not necessarily to punish them or the gang-ridden Kraaifontein they call home in Cape Town, but to understand the psyche of township nihilism.

We follow three characters, Jameel, Zaid and Stacey. Each one goes through life-changing choices following the events of one fateful night.

Don’t get my summary of the story wrong — this is not some teen slop dripping with love triangles and neon-coloured eyeshadow. It is an immersive dive into the thick skin you need to develop when you live a life with so few options.

Rather than shame the need to resort to crime, it unpacks the decisions each character makes to have a better life or to simply keep scraps of food on the table. Something each thug at the top is trying to do in their own decrepit way.

The story is best understood through the eyes of Jameel: a people-pleaser who is too passive and, quite frankly, too high to grow a backbone. We get a great sense of gang-dominated Kraaifontein through his eyes — its dusty streets, the vibrant music from its humble homes and the loneliness left by his neglectful parents.

Jameel’s cousin, Zaid, is an OnlyFans star who sets off the events that change their lives forever. After filming a scene with Stacey (Jameel is a passive observer of the whole affair), their fame gets the attention of Vonkie, a local drug lord. This gets Jameel stuck in Vonkie’s gang while Stacey is human-trafficked.

It’s not a shack in an offshore country or a murky dockyard but rather a luxe mansion in Yzerfontein run by queenpin Abidemi. While she carries herself with the classiness of a British royal, she has the unyielding cruelty of Cersei Lannister and Griselda Blanco combined. It’s a trait many of the drug lords and corrupt officials operate with throughout the book. Vonkie’s Machiavellian plots used to trick Jameel into his gang showcase his lack of conscience.

Not a single page is wasted as events move quickly. The quiet town of Darling is the backdrop for the many shady deals and gunslinging fights the characters are embroiled in. And the speed at which it moves does not go without adverse effects on Stacey, Zaid and Jameel. Willemse unfurls the whiplash they feel as they try to adapt to unaccommodating circumstances, people and environments.

There’s a grossness that sticks to your skin as we learn about the fetishes of Abidemi’s sex-trafficking business and how Stacey plots her escape. But you quickly come to understand how to survive this dark corner of the world and how it’s really the consumer that seems to be the true monster, not just the suppliers.

It’s a faster pace compared with the spider’s web laid by Vonkie and the emotional chess expected of the cops and his lackeys. Jameel in particular struggles as a character who is often a bystander of his own life — the perfect victim to manipulative criminals who can pin him for murders he never committed and watch him as he normalises unwarranted violence. His arc best carries the book’s themes, while Stacey’s human trafficking ordeal quickly turns her into a John Wick-like character.

While we all have the opportunity to do the right thing and choose our destinies, what happens when those choices are unequal? Like any small town with poor services and cycles of poverty that are built to keep people stuck in a rat race to nowhere, Willemse’s Kraaifontein unfurls the difficulty of believing in better opportunities. It’s not the lack of money or education that makes the crime lord, but the systemic issues that are not resolved. A lawlessness that makes any young or old person normalise their resignation with no hope for positive outcomes.

Ashes of Euphoria adds to the literature with a fresh perspective on surviving a hard-knock life. It helps us sympathise and understand how these systems work, and that it’s not only up to those communities to push back but also to those engaged in the problem.

With spring in full swing and the summer season around the corner, we look at some of his best outfits for inspiration on how to put your best cleats forward.

Collegiate

A key element to building a closet like Mntambo’s is the preppy approach he takes. Throughout his looks there are elements of kofifi influences, with vintage flat caps and a vibrant vintage colour palette.

Give neutral shirts, shoes and trousers a splash of colour through accessories such as backpacks, glasses or neckties.

Short ’n sweet

If you don’t like the trendy kilts and bermuda shorts, you are going to have a hard time adjusting to this part of the soccer star’s limitless style. The appeal of this look is that it can accommodate any changes in your day. It can go formal with the addition of a blazer, yacht-ready with sandals or boat shoes, and even sunset drinks with a scarf and retro sunglasses. Just have fun.

Co-ord king

Matchy-matchy? Not necessarily. There is a playfulness to Mntambo’s style lingo, and co-ords are some of the best ways for him to embrace bold colours or striking prints. It’s also one of the best ways you can take notes on bold accessory choices, which he uses to finish a look. Other than his staple hats or glasses, look to complementary watches or rings to spice up an ensemble. Keep the silhouette relaxed, as these pieces often move between work and play.

On trend

Mntambo always has a finger on the pulse of menswear trends — and when he doesn’t, he’s already at the forefront of those starting to take over. Among these is a focus on the men’s waist. Whether you go for high-waisted trousers or cinched jackets, have fun with scarves as belts or layered pieces that bring attention to your silhoutte — regardless of your shape. It’s an inclusive approach to style and anyone can have fun with it.

TimesLIVE

LEN is near-perfect at preventing HIV for six months at a time.

That makes lenacapavir more than a test of HIV prevention. It is a test of South Africa’s ambition to manufacture more of the medicines Africa needs, while ensuring that access comes first.

South African researchers and trial participants helped generate the evidence showing that LEN can prevent HIV. The health department started rolling out the injection in June. Potential local manufacturers are also being assessed for a voluntary licence to produce generic versions in the country.

But wanting to manufacture a medicine locally and being able to make enough of it, at the right quality and price, are very different things.

If South Africa wants local production of LEN to improve access, we need to answer difficult questions now. Who will buy the locally made product? At what price? How much will manufacturers need to produce to make it viable? What technology and licensing will they need? And how quickly can this happen when lower-cost generics made elsewhere are expected from 2027?

Where the local manufacturing process stands

The process has started. In July deputy health minister Joe Phaahla announced that a committee convened by the South African National Aids Council (Sanac) and health department selected three South African manufacturers as potential candidates to make LEN and submitted the list to the injection’s developer, Gilead Sciences, for assessment and possible voluntary licensing. Sanac says that process will take between three and six months.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bhekisisa Health Journalism (@bhekisisa.health)

Any local arrangement will require technology transfer — giving manufacturers the knowledge and skills needed to make the product — as well as investment by the manufacturer and regulatory approval before locally made LEN can leave a production line.

A South African licence is also likely to differ from the six generic licences Gilead has already granted to manufacturers in Egypt, India and Pakistan. Those licences were designed to supply 120 low- and middle-income countries, including South Africa, from established generic manufacturing bases.

They require manufacturers to make LEN from start to finish, including its main ingredient, known as the active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API.

A South African licence would be more developmental: companies would not necessarily have to make the API themselves and could instead import it.

Local production would probably start with parts of the process that can be established fastest, such as making the finished product, producing the sterile injectable, packaging or quality control.

That can still be valuable.

But we need to be clear about what “local manufacturing” means, rather than confusing it with complete independence from global supply chains.

What must happen before a local injection is ready

A shortlist of manufacturers is only the beginning.

To make LEN locally, a manufacturer needs a licence with clear terms, access to the technical knowledge needed to make the product, reliable supplies of ingredients and materials, and strict quality systems for producing a long-acting injection. It also needs to meet the production and registration requirements of the country’s medicines regulator, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra).

Then come the practical steps: adapting a production line, testing and validating the manufacturing process, proving that the product remains safe and stable, training staff, passing inspections, registering the product and monitoring its safety once it is being used widely.

South Africa has regulatory experience, clinical trial expertise and a pharmaceutical manufacturing base. But none of this happens simply because local manufacturing is desirable.

The biggest risk is easy to predict: a manufacturer invests in the capacity to make LEN, but the market is too small or uncertain to produce it affordably.

If locally made LEN is produced in small volumes only for South Africa, it may struggle to compete on price with large generic manufacturers supplying many countries. If South African manufacturers can supply a regional market, particularly if countries combine their orders and buy together, the economics look very different.

Demand is the missing piece

The question, then, is not only whether South Africa can make LEN. It is whether enough of it will be bought, at a price that allows local production to survive.

South Africa’s HIV prevention needs are large; we have around 134 000 new infections per year.

But government budgets are under pressure, and prevention programmes already have to pay for a daily HIV prevention pill, condoms, HIV testing, sexually transmitted infection (STI) services, community outreach and treatment.

LEN should expand people’s choices; it should not drain resources from prevention methods people already use.

That is why guaranteed demand matters, which Unitaid has indicated it would be prepared to help with.

Governments can give manufacturers more certainty about demand through national roll-out plans and commitments to buy the product.

Donors and large buyers, including the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, can help by buying LEN made in Africa. African countries could also join forces to place larger orders, which could help bring down the price.

Without predictable demand, a local licence risks becoming a symbolic victory rather than a practical way to expand access.

Can local production happen quickly enough?

Timing is the hardest question.

Existing generic licence holders are expected to start supplying lower-cost LEN from 2027, subject to regulatory approval. If those products arrive quickly and cost around the projected $40 (around R650) per person per year, South Africa will have to ask where a locally made product fits.

The answer should not be defensive. The fastest route to access may be to import affordable generics while local production is being developed.

Access and manufacturing are related goals, but they are not the same goal. People at risk of HIV should not have to wait for local production if safe, affordable products are available sooner.

At the same time, relying only on imports leaves South Africa and the region vulnerable to the next supply shock, pricing dispute or new medicine that takes too long to reach us.

Local manufacturing is worth pursuing because learning to make LEN could help South Africa make other important medicines locally in future, including for HIV, TB, STIs and future pandemics.

What needs to happen now

South Africa shouldn’t have to choose between getting LEN to people quickly and making it locally. We need to do both — without allowing local manufacturing to slow down access.

First, government should publish a realistic plan for how much LEN it expects to need and buy. Manufacturers need to know likely volumes, timelines and price expectations.

Communities need to know that LEN will be introduced as part of a broader package of HIV prevention options, rather than replacing existing choices.

Second, Gilead and its licensing partners should be clear about what South Africa will gain from a licence, including the knowledge and technology that will be shared with local manufacturers. A licence that initially allows only some parts of LEN production to happen locally could still be valuable. But over time, South African companies should be allowed to learn to do more of the work themselves.

Third, donors and organisations that buy medicines for African countries should help make local manufacturing work. If LEN made in Africa is safe, works well and is affordable, they should be willing to buy it. If it costs more at first, donors and governments will have to decide whether it is worth paying a little extra for a limited time to help build a reliable supply of medicines made in Africa.

Finally, Sahpra must have the resources it needs to move quickly without lowering its standards. Speed matters, but public trust depends on quality.

The real test

LEN gives South Africa a rare HIV prevention opportunity. A twice-yearly injection could help people who struggle with daily pills because of stigma, privacy concerns, transport costs, relationship dynamics or simply the difficulty of taking a pill every day.

But having the product will not, by itself, reduce HIV infections. Access will depend on price, procurement, trained health workers, community trust and services that reach the people who need LEN most.

South Africa helped prove that LEN works. The next question is whether we can make it affordable and widely available, while also strengthening our ability to make medicines in Africa.

Local manufacturing should not be used as a reason to delay access. Nor should getting affordable LEN in the short term become a reason to give up on local manufacturing.

The task is to do both: import affordable LEN when that is the fastest way to protect people now, while building the licensing, demand, financing and regulatory conditions that will allow South Africa to manufacture it for the region in the future.

That is the real LEN test. Not whether South Africa can announce an ambition, but whether it can turn that ambition into injections in clinics, a reliable supply for the region and a stronger medicines manufacturing base for the next breakthrough.

• Prof Vinodh Aroon Edward is group chief operating officer at The Aurum Institute, where he helps to advance clinical research and health innovation across Africa. He has more than 20 years of experience in biotechnology and clinical research and has provided leadership in major international trials.

This story was produced by the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism. Sign up for the newsletter.

Video courtesy of SABC.

TimesLIVE

In a market where clients have more options and less patience for complexity, a good product or a sharp price will only take you so far.

What makes clients stay — and come back, and tell others — is how simple it feels to work with you: from the first enquiry through to payment, delivery and after-sales support.

A recent Capitec BizTalk explored how businesses can turn client experience into a competitive edge — watch the recording of the event below.

BizTalk is a business-focused platform launched by Capitec in partnership with Business Day and Arena Events. It brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders and financial experts for meaningful interactions that offer fresh perspectives and actionable insights to help South African businesses thrive.

A practical conversation for business owners

Real-world lessons from experienced entrepreneurs and financial experts

A slow response. A process with too many steps. Having to explain the same problem to three different people.

Each one feels like a minor inconvenience. But repeated across every client interaction, they quietly shape how people experience your whole business — and send them looking for someone easier to deal with.

The good news? You don’t have to fix everything at once. Often, the biggest gains come from finding one frustrating step and removing it. That’s where providing a better client experience becomes a genuine business strategy.

At the recent BizTalk event, Capitec’s Basani Maluleke, group executive for Personal Banking, and Riaan Klopper, executive head of Business Banking and the bank’s Business Support Centre, unpacked what it takes to turn everyday client interactions into a real competitive advantage.

This wasn’t a lecture on theory. It was a practical conversation about how to spot the friction in your business, simplify how you operate and use both people and technology to create experiences that keep clients coming back.

What you’ll gain from watching the recording of this Capitec BizTalk:

• How to spot the friction points that could be costing your business clients and revenue.
• How to turn client feedback into practical improvements.
• How to use simplicity and speed to set your business apart.
• How to build trust through consistent, effortless experiences.
• How better client experiences lead to loyalty, advocacy and sustainable growth.

Watch the recording above.

Why you should attend the next Capitec BizTalk

Each insight-driven BizTalk event is designed to help you navigate the challenges and opportunities of building and growing a sustainable business — and leave you with practical ideas you can act on immediately.

As an added bonus, one lucky business owner attending the event stands a chance to win an advertising package^* valued at R50,000, redeemable across leading Arena Holdings titles, including Business Day, Sunday Times or TimesLIVE.

As part of the prize, the winner will also be profiled in Business Day’s ‘Entrepreneurs with an edge’ series, helping to put their business in front of a wider audience.

Visit the Capitec BizTalk hub to catch up on highlights and key takeaways from previous events, and stay updated on upcoming events.

This article was sponsored by Capitec.

^{*Ts and Cs apply.}

In a market where clients have more options and less patience for complexity, a good product or a sharp price will only take you so far.

What makes clients stay — and come back, and tell others — is how simple it feels to work with you: from the first enquiry through to payment, delivery and after-sales support.

A recent Capitec BizTalk explored how businesses can turn client experience into a competitive edge — watch the recording of the event below.

BizTalk is a business-focused platform launched by Capitec in partnership with Business Day and Arena Events. It brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders and financial experts for meaningful interactions that offer fresh perspectives and actionable insights to help South African businesses thrive.

A practical conversation for business owners

Real-world lessons from experienced entrepreneurs and financial experts

A slow response. A process with too many steps. Having to explain the same problem to three different people.

Each one feels like a minor inconvenience. But repeated across every client interaction, they quietly shape how people experience your whole business — and send them looking for someone easier to deal with.

The good news? You don’t have to fix everything at once. Often, the biggest gains come from finding one frustrating step and removing it. That’s where providing a better client experience becomes a genuine business strategy.

At the recent BizTalk event, Capitec’s Basani Maluleke, group executive for Personal Banking, and Riaan Klopper, executive head of Business Banking and the bank’s Business Support Centre, unpacked what it takes to turn everyday client interactions into a real competitive advantage.

This wasn’t a lecture on theory. It was a practical conversation about how to spot the friction in your business, simplify how you operate and use both people and technology to create experiences that keep clients coming back.

What you’ll gain from watching the recording of this Capitec BizTalk:

• How to spot the friction points that could be costing your business clients and revenue.
• How to turn client feedback into practical improvements.
• How to use simplicity and speed to set your business apart.
• How to build trust through consistent, effortless experiences.
• How better client experiences lead to loyalty, advocacy and sustainable growth.

Watch the recording above.

Why you should attend the next Capitec BizTalk

Each insight-driven BizTalk event is designed to help you navigate the challenges and opportunities of building and growing a sustainable business — and leave you with practical ideas you can act on immediately.

As an added bonus, one lucky business owner attending the event stands a chance to win an advertising package^* valued at R50,000, redeemable across leading Arena Holdings titles, including Business Day, Sunday Times or TimesLIVE.

As part of the prize, the winner will also be profiled in Business Day’s ‘Entrepreneurs with an edge’ series, helping to put their business in front of a wider audience.

Visit the Capitec BizTalk hub to catch up on highlights and key takeaways from previous events, and stay updated on upcoming events.

This article was sponsored by Capitec.

^{*Ts and Cs apply.}

The awards, which are also handed out for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, literature and peace, come with a recently increased prize amount of 12-million krona (R19.9m) and bestow instant fame on the recipients that is unthinkable for most scientists.

Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel, who in his will dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund “prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.

Best known as the inventor of dynamite, Nobel was also a businessman, poet and linguist who could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect interests closest to his heart.

Nobel spent much of his career developing weapons technologies and made a fortune from them but later in life became a close friend of Austrian peace activist Bertha von Suttner. She went on to become the first woman to win the peace prize in 1905, and many believe it was her influence that made him include an award for that category.

Nobel died in 1896, but it took until 1901, after a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.

Who awards the Nobel prizes?

Nobel selected the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to award the prizes for chemistry and physics, the Swedish Academy for literature, the Swedish Karolinska Institute medical university for physiology or medicine, and the Norwegian parliament for peace. It is not known exactly why Nobel chose Norway to hand out the peace prize, though it could reflect that Norway and Sweden were linked in a political union at the time he penned his will.

In 1968, when Sweden’s central bank was celebrating its 300th anniversary, it established the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel with a donation to the Nobel Foundation. The prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, according to the same principles as the other prizes.

Famous and infamous laureates

Notable Nobel laureates include physicists Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, authors Ernest Hemingway and Albert Camus, and leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa.

The Curies were the most successful “Nobel Prize family”, with Marie Curie winning twice and her husband, daughter and son-in-law also among Nobel laureates.

Only five people have won multiple Nobel prizes, with American chemist and peace activist Linus Pauling the only person to have received two unshared Nobel prizes.

Some awards have aged poorly, such as Egas Moniz’s 1949 medicine prize for the now discredited practice of lobotomy.

Many peace prizes have also been criticised, including those for Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. Failure to give the prize to Mahatma Gandhi before his death in 1948 is also seen by many as a great oversight.

The festivities

The Nobel prizes are presented to the laureates on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death. The peace prize is handed out by the chairperson of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, while the other prizes are presented by the Swedish king in the Stockholm Concert Hall.

During the evening, about 1,300 guests are treated to a lavish banquet at Stockholm City Hall. The menu, meticulously planned for months by some of Sweden’s best chefs and sommeliers, is kept a secret until the food is served by 200 waiters.

The food has a Nordic theme, and last year’s menu featured porcini mushroom soup, turbot stuffed with scallops and sugar kelp, and blackthorn berry sorbet with baked fresh cheese cream and browned butter sponge.

Reuters

Story audio is generated using AI

The leaders of the ANC, DA, EFF, IFP and ActionSA clashed in a fiery debate over corruption, coalition politics, immigration and service delivery at a City of Johannesburg leaders debate on Thursday.

The debate, co-hosted by Business Day, Sowetan and Sunday Times in partnership with Wits University, repeatedly returned to the question of whether Johannesburg’s recent history of unstable coalitions could be overcome by a single-party administration or a different coalition configuration.

Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic powerhouse, is likely to see a fierce fight for the control of the metro in the November local government elections on November 4.

The city contributes between 15% and 16.5% of national GDP, making it the single largest metropolitan contributor to the economy. But it has been hit hard by unemployment, immigration issues, poor infrastructure, rising levels of violent crime and vandalism and a lack of service delivery.

With just over a month before voters go to the polls, the debate highlighted how the Johannesburg contest is likely to be fought over those issues.

DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis conceded the city had become a “failed state” over the past decade under the governance of the ANC and his party.

He said the DA would seek an outright majority to govern the city this time round. He said it would then appoint a capable city manager to run it. Taking a jab at the ANC’s “cadre deployment” policy, he said the person heading an administration of about 180,000 employees needed to be selected based on competence rather than as a political deployment.

“If there is any person in South Africa who is capable of turning around something as broken as the City of Joburg, it is Helen,” Hill-Lewis said, referring to former DA leader Helen Zille.

Still, he conceded that coalitions were now an established feature of South African politics and urged parties to find common ground.

“The desire ... for corruption is incompatible with coalition governments,” he said.

The EFF and the DA were constantly at each other’s throats throughout the debate, highlighting the divergence of the two parties’ ideologies.

EFF leader Julius Malema took exception to Hill-Lewis’s characterisation of his party as a source of “chaos” in coalition governments.

He also rejected allegations that the party had sought tenders from former DA councillor Herman Mashaba during Mashaba’s tenure as Johannesburg mayor.

Mashaba is now the leader of ActionSA and is contesting for the Joburg mayorship.

The exchange escalated when Hill-Lewis raised the VBS Mutual Bank scandal and the parliamentary findings against former EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu.

Hill-Lewis also cited the instability in Ekurhuleni as an example of what he described as coalition chaos involving the EFF. Malema rejected this, saying the dispute had been political and that there had been no finding of financial misconduct against the EFF MMCs involved.

The two leaders also clashed over the state of the national economy. Hill-Lewis defended the GNU and said economic reforms were starting to put the economy in a better position. Malema disputed that and pointed to weak economic growth as evidence that the GNU should not be presented as a success.

The debate also exposed differences over immigration and ethnic mobilisation.

Malema said political mobilisation based on ethnicity or race was unsustainable and argued that South Africa’s constitutional order required the country to unite its population. He also rejected xenophobic vigilantism, saying ordinary citizens should not be responsible for determining whether someone was legally in the country.

IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa agreed that ethnic mobilisation was dangerous, but maintained that the IFP remained opposed to undocumented foreign nationals remaining in South Africa.

Hlabisa also announced that the IFP would host a roundtable conference on femicide on October 9 and called on other political parties to participate.

Mashaba said illegal immigration was one of several major issues facing Johannesburg, but he rejected the idea that his political identity was defined solely by the issue.

Mashaba, who served as Johannesburg mayor from 2016 to 2019, attacked the DA for corruption. He said when he was DA mayor, he had fired three DA MMCs for corruption, but the party had refused to remove them as councillors.

Mashaba also accused the DA of political manoeuvring against him during his tenure as mayor and raised questions about a tender awarded during his administration.

Hill-Lewis did not substantively engage the historical allegations, instead arguing that Mashaba’s campaign had become excessively focused on Zille and urging him to concentrate on issues affecting Johannesburg residents.

“I think in a few weeks, in literally five weeks, we sincerely hope that the residents of Joburg will give us an outright majority,” Hill-Lewis said.

ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane used the debate to defend her party’s “renewal” project and its record in Johannesburg, while acknowledging the party’s previous shortcomings.

She said the city had been filling strategic vacancies, including bringing in engineers and other technical personnel, and was working with national government departments to strengthen revenue management.

Mokonyane said the ANC wanted revenue collected from water and electricity services to be ring-fenced so that it could be allocated to the entities responsible for providing those services. She also said the party wanted to strengthen Pikitup’s capacity, revive its Jozi@Work programme and restore an indigent policy.

She said youth employment and economic opportunities would be central to the ANC’s Johannesburg campaign, pointing to a recently adopted economic development strategy, youth enhancement programme and skills development facilitation programme.

Mokonyane said revenue collection in Johannesburg had increased to more than 90%. The city’s 2026/27 budget documents, however, show a revised revenue collection rate of 86%, down from 88.6%, with the city identifying illegal connections, billing inefficiencies and revenue leakages as continuing challenges.

Mokonyane also clashed with Hill-Lewis over housing and spatial inequality, particularly in Cape Town.

She questioned the DA’s approach to public land and access to housing for disadvantaged communities, while Hill-Lewis said national human settlements figures showed Cape Town had delivered more state-subsidised housing than any other metro over the previous five years.

Business Day

Mbalula and other ANC leaders have been on a charm offensive with royal houses and churches since the party launched its manifesto in August as it attempts to drum up its traditional support to save the limping party.

Mbalula, national chair Gwede Mantashe and President Cyril Ramaphosa have been criss-crossing the country meeting with traditional and church leaders. Mantashe has centred most of his campaign in the Eastern Cape while Ramaphosa has mostly been campaigning in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Mbalula has placed his focus squarely on Limpopo and this week received a glowing welcome by the Her Majesty Queen Leganabatho II Thulare of the Bapedi Nation. The Bapedi Nation has authority over 5-million people, about 10% of the country’s population.

This comes as the ANC is paying more attention to traditional leadership in this election to claw back lost support in the various municipalities.

In its 2026 local government elections manifesto, the ANC directs all its mayors where it governs to convene a mayor and traditional authority forums within 100 days after elections that will sign a compact to convene imbizos twice a year with communities.

During his courtesy visit this week, Mbalula, who was accompanied by ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji and provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe, gifted the queen five live cows as he had promised during her birthday celebration just over a month ago.

Mbalula went on a charm offensive telling Queen Thulare that he considered the Bapedi royal house as the home of the ANC, which since its inception in 1912 has always been an organisation of royal families.

“We thank you for welcoming us to deliver gifts from the ANC. I am here as a Jola [Mbalula clan name] but I am leaving as a Hlabirwa [clan name linked to Bapedi royalty],” said Mbalula to loud cheers and ululations.

“I come from royalty myself, our royal house is the Amampondomise. In that royal household it is us the Jolas that are representing the Amampondomise. I am not walking around as a normal person, I come from royalty.”

Mbalula said the ANC is an organisation of God and ancestors, emphasising that this explained the showers that blessed his visit.

Queen Thulare said she was excited to receive a courtesy visit from a high-ranking leader of the ANC.

“Have you ever thought that one day we would receive here at home a secretary-general? Have you ever witnessed that? Today we are overjoyed,” she said.

“You know God does miracles because the person who is here is not just a normal person and God blessed us with the rain that has been falling since yesterday and we wondered if he will be able to arrive and he did.”

Queen Thulare gifted Mbalula with the traditional regalia of leopard skin accorded to a warrior in recognition of honour, courage and distinguished service.

According to Bapedi Nation Prince Mampuru Sekwati, the regalia bestowed is traditionally worn by the senior regiments of the Bapedi people symbolising valour, dignity and standing within the nation.

“Accompanying the regalia is a ceremonial staff adorned with genuine leopard skin, a revered symbol of royalty, authority and noble distinction within Bapedi tradition. Together these symbols represent the honour of the warrior and the esteem in which the recipient is held,” said Prince Sekwati.

Prince Sekwati said the royal family was happy that Mbalula honoured his promise to present cattle to her as a birthday gift.

This, he said, was particularly important in maintaining a relationship with traditional leaders in the country.

“Keeping his word demonstrates genuine respect for traditional leadership. The ANC and traditional leaders share a long history and we are encouraged to see that relationship being strengthened. Political parties that respect and engage traditional and religious leaders will earn the confidence of the communities we serve,” said Prince Sekwati.

Mbalula’s visit is also seen as a way for the ANC to regain the trust of the Zulu Nation King Misuzulu Zulu ka Zwelithini, who enjoys close ties with the Bapedi Nation.

The two royal houses are working towards signing a memorandum of understanding that covers, among others, mineral resources in the areas covered by both Zulu and Bapedi nations as well as their land.

In the draft MOU, which the Sunday Times has seen, the two royal households have agreed that they will not compromise their position on how the minerals and the land in their areas are controlled.

The Zulu Kingdom is rich in gold while the Bapedi Kingdom is rich in chrome and platinum and both control vast amounts of land.

According to the MOU, to be signed later this month, the two kingdoms are expected to agree on tightening the control of their minerals and land, ensuring black people play a central role in mining activities as well as taking a non-negotiable stance on beneficiation.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Is Pitso Mosimane’s wish list now complete with his return to a Bafana Bafana job he once effectively vowed he might never return to?

Perhaps, if one is super-critical, the defending by Eritrea, also stretched out of shape by some incisive South African attacking in the 5-0 thrashing in Bafana’s second match on Wednesday night left so much to be desired that a smidgen more ruthlessness might have resulted in even more than five goals.

Some on social media are already on Mosimane’s back for it, claiming it might in some manner be similar to the supposed attempted ‘tiki-taka’ the coach attempted to employ in his first stint replacing Carlos Alberto Parreira after the 2010 World Cup. That would seem a grossly unfair assessment. It is spectacularly early days for any such nitpicking.

If anything, if there were a psychologist who could analyse a team’s mindset as imprinted by the approach of a coach, Bafana and Mosimane looked determined to make a start that shows intentions from the workaholic boss to leave no stone unturned — as increasingly became his trademark post-Bafana Part I — putting behind him a departure in 2012 that still stings following a string of draws.

⚽️ 𝔸𝔽ℂ𝕆ℕ𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟟 ℚ𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕤 ⚽️

ⒼⓄⒶⓁ : Relebohile Mofokeng gets an opener for Bafana Bafana!

🇪🇷 0⃣➖1⃣ 🇿🇦

🚨 LIVE
📺 SABC 2
🌐 https://t.co/xwuIAEVi1L#SABCSportFootball #AFCON2027Q pic.twitter.com/ZHDG3xjI8r

— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) September 30, 2026

“Of course, when you coach you are happy with five goals, we are happy with three points,” Mosimane said after following a 2-1 win in his first match at Orlando Stadium on Saturday against a tough Guinea with the Eritrea victory.

Most importantly, Mosimane said, the results leave Bafana in a strong position for what will be a crucial qualification for an Afcon.

The coach’s mission depends not just on positive results, he has a vision of taking Bafana higher than predecessor Hugo Broos’s rejuvenation in confidence of the long-ailing national team in the last five years.

Mosimane has dropped hints that, yes, the bronze medal the Belgian achieved in the Afcon in 2024, the best result for South Africa in 24 years, was promising, but the team, with some real talent emerging, should be aiming for a first victory in the tournament since their lone triumph in 1996, and to be more competitive at a World Cup than Broos’s combination were, going out in the last 32 to Canada in June.

Broos is 74, Mosimane is 62. To mirror that age difference, there seems to be a gap in freshness of ideas and determination, as Broos appeared to run out of ideas to some extent and some of his selections raised eyebrows in the build-up to and during the World Cup.

“Eritrea started well, they had a chance and hit the post,” Mosimane said. “Their No 10 [Ali Sulieman] is very strong, he scores a lot of goals and we had to look after him.

⚽️ 𝔸𝔽ℂ𝕆ℕ𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟟 ℚ𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕤 ⚽️

ⒼⓄⒶⓁ: More goals for Bafana Bafana!

🇪🇷 0⃣➖4⃣ 🇿🇦

🚨 LIVE
📺 SABC 2
🌐 https://t.co/xwuIAEVi1L#SABCSportFootball #AFCON2027Qualifiers pic.twitter.com/pJKHIRq1Rm

— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) September 30, 2026

“I’m happy we won, that’s the most important; six points from two games. A good performance from our boys, we showed respect and played proper football.”

Given Broos’s tenure and the last Nations Cup — Bafana were more disappointing going out in the last 16 in Morocco in January — and World Cup cycles ending, it was pleasing to see Mosimane injecting youth with a 30-player squad, casting his net wide to get to know the leading players close up, which had an average age of 24. It seemed a natural next move. Not all coaches are brave enough to do it facing must-win qualifiers with no warm-ups in their opening two fixtures.

He had clearly observed some of Broos’ late-tenure mistakes closely. Of course he had. That is what Mosimane does — his leading quality with his team of backroom boffins was thoroughness, transforming Mamelodi Sundowns from often under-performing huge spenders into trophy machines and adding two more Caf Champions Leagues at Al Ahly.

Olwethu Makhanya might have come in as a replacement for enforced injury Mbekezeli Mbokazi at centreback, but by how Mosimane spoke, it was clear he was itching to introduce a player setting Scotland’s Rangers alight anyway and was grateful the gap opened to make that move easier.

With Mbokazi, Bafana’s most promising player in years, back playing at Chicago Fire, Mosimane has probably two of the best centreback talents in Africa right now. Ime Okon — and some others on the bench like Khulumani Ndamane — also has major potential but will battle to get his place back now. It’s the kind of competition coaches drool at.

I’m happy one of the most experienced players, Themba Zwane, managed to get the chance [coming on as a 79^th-minute substitute in Cairo] because I would not like him to not play after the [hugely controversial] red card he got in the World Cup. So bring him back, give him the respect, the confidence.

Pitso Mosimane

Luther Singh repaid the coach for his recall from the wilderness, Mosimane spotting his form despite playing in remote Cyprus, with a goal as a substitute against Eritrea. Samukelo Kabini scored as a sub against Guinea and looks set for more than the squad role Broos seemed to have him down for.

Kamogelo Sebelebele took the opportunity presented by stalwart right-back Khuliso Mudau’s injury with both hands as man-of-the-match against Guinea. Mudau is getting on in years, so potential replacements are welcome and will eye their chance.

Relebohile Mofokeng, hidden to some extent to fans and many Bafana legends’ dismay by a cautious Broos at the World Cup, took the confidence he has gained, taking to European football with four goals in nine games at Belgium’s Royale Union Saint Gilloise, into Mosimane’s new spell. The former Buccaneer buzzed against Guinea then scored the opening brace — his first international goals — that broke Eritrea.

“From the team that came from the World Cup we had five players out injured and one who passed on, may his soul rest in peace, Jayden [Adams],” Mosimane said when asked by the Egyptian press — fans of the coach from before his time at Ahly — about the youthful nature of his team after the clash against Eritrea, played in Cairo due to that country’s lack of an approved venue.

“And we had to bring in five new players and had to bring young players, [some based in] Europe, give them the opportunity to play. That’s all we wanted, to bring the age down, but also don’t focus only on bringing the age down; experience also helps. So we have some experienced players.

⚽️ 𝔸𝔽ℂ𝕆ℕ𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟟 ℚ𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕤 ⚽️

ⒼⓄⒶⓁ : Siphephelo Sithole makes it three for Bafana Bafana!

🇪🇷 0⃣➖3⃣ 🇿🇦

🚨 LIVE
📺 SABC 2
🌐 https://t.co/xwuIAEVi1L#SABCSportFootball #AFCON2027Qualifiers pic.twitter.com/I48TfOn6Uu

— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) September 30, 2026

“I’m happy one of the most experienced players, Themba Zwane, managed to get the chance [coming on as a 79^th minute substitute in Cairo] because I would not like him to not play after the [hugely controversial] red card he got in the World Cup. So bring him back, give him the respect, the confidence.

“But ja, the foundation is good. It’s the team coming from the World Cup. But just improve it a little bit and let’s try to score more goals.

“You have to be happy with seven goals. Very good.”

Colourful quotes in Bafana press conferences to keep the South African press happy. Tick.

Welcome home, and back where you belong, Mr Mosimane.

This is what embattled suspended deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya is alleged to have said in a call to the father of a 16-year-old girl he is accused of sexually grooming.

This was revealed at the Randburg magistrate’s court during Sibiya’s bail application on Thursday.

Sibiya faces five charges including rape, trafficking in persons and the sexual grooming of the 16-year-old girl.

The state alleges that between July and August, Sibiya exchanged communication with the 16-year-old whose father is Sibiya’s bodyguard and is referred to as “Mr M” in court.

In the same chats, Sibiya allegedly requested explicit material from the teen.

Testifying in the bail application, investigating officer Sgt Nokukhanya Ndlovu told the court that there is likelihood that Sibiya would endanger the safety of others if released.

She told the court that Mr M is the 16-year-old complainant’s father who had opened the case.

According to Ndlovu, when Sibiya found that the father had opened a case, he called him and said: “What are you doing, do you know it can take a minute to wipe you and your family?”

Sibiya is also alleged to have told Mr Mr that he bought him food, supported him and that if there was a person to deal with, he (Mr M) is the easiest person to deal with, Ndlovu told the court.

Ndlovu testified that Mr M inferred that Sibiya was threatening him with that statement.

The court also heard that an unknown person also called “Mr M” pretended to be the investigating officer on September 19, a day after the inquiry into the matter became a criminal investigation.

The person allegedly inquired if Mr M had opened the case against Sibiya.

Ndlovu also revealed that Mr M received a call from a police officer close to Sibiya, who asked him: “Are you going to stand for what you have started?”

Other events that the state used to demonstrate that Sibiya is likely to interfere with the case is a telephonic call that Sibiya’s ally, “Bishop” Azwihangwi Maumela, made to Mr M after Sibiya was arrested.

The recording was played in court.

In it, Maumela is heard telling Mr M that he has been told that when Sibiya allegedly raped a second victim, an 18-year-old, he − Mr M − was present.

“The reason I called is because I thought you know the girl and we could sit down with her,” Maumela said in the call.

Ndlovu further said that the 18-year-old was scared to open a case of rape because of Sibiya’s status and was also scared of informing her parents.

The state also flagged in court as a form of threat or intimidation the utterances Maumela made during interviews with the media on Sibiya’s first appearance in court when he said: “We will retaliate.”

Maumela later withdrew the statement. Sibiya has also since distanced himself from Maumela.

Sibiya has denied the allegations levelled against him, describing them as unfounded.

In explaining how he came into possession of explicit material involving the 16-year-old, Sibiya told the court that Mr M had sent it to him. He further claimed that Mr M had told him that his daughter had a crush on him.

Regarding the rape allegation, Sibiya told the court that he had met the 18-year-old at a hotel while she was in the company of her friends. He claimed that the group was highly intoxicated and that he left the hotel.

He said Mr M invited him back the following day, telling him that the women wanted to see him again and were unhappy that he had left early the previous evening.

Sowetan

Carlson first mainstreamed the false claim in 2018, when he suggested to Ernst Roets, then a leader of AfriForum, that there was “a disorganised but in some sense intentional campaign to crush a racial minority within your country, and the government seems onboard with it”, a fiction that Roets did not attempt to correct.

Many others, though, have subsequently rejected and refuted the false claim of genocide, not least Roets’ former colleague, Kallie Kriel. The refutations continue to this day: last weekend, AgriSA CEO Johann Kotzé, himself a white Afrikaner who works closely with farmers, many of whom are white, wrote an op-ed for News24, stating that “South Africa does not have a genocide of white communities”.

Instead, wrote Kotzé, echoing the overwhelming evidence of many years of data, South Africa has a violent crime problem. Nobody is denying that farm attacks happen, or that they can be shockingly brutal. But there is simply no evidence to support Carlson’s claim that there is an orchestrated campaign of ethnic cleansing being carried out against whites in this country.

None of this, however, seems to have changed Carlson’s mind, or at least the minds of the people paying him to double down on his claims; and on Thursday he released a new video, almost two hours long, in which he interviewed a traumatised Afrikaner farmer who experienced extreme violence during an attack in 2010.

The interview was marketed on X with a bloody hook: “They’ve told us that ethnic cleansing against whites in South Africa isn’t happening. They say it’s a racist conspiracy theory. Leon Lotz knows they’re lying. He’s a South African farmer. His story will shock and sicken you.”

The dishonesty was familiar, as Carlson once again used a real violent crime to sell a fictional genocide, but what felt new was the clarity and brazenness of his claim. Without hedging or using euphemism, Carlson told that world that when people like Kriel and Kotzé tell us that there is no ethnic cleansing of whites in South Africa, they are lying.

We can debate why Carlson is sticking to his lie. Until recently, many believed that the “white genocide” myth was being punted by MAGA as a way to rally Donald Trump’s white supremacist base while simultaneously punishing South Africa for accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. Recently, however, Carlson has turned on both Trump and Israel, making this latest move a strange one.

What is clear, though, is that a dangerous lie is being told in the name of white South Africans, which means it’s time for them to push back.

Pointing out that Tucker Carlson is lying or that Ernst Roets is presenting a cynically skewed picture of South African crime to his American donors is not a denial that farmers have been attacked. Denouncing the lie of white genocide doesn’t mean that you are supporting the ANC.

It’s not just a matter of personal dignity. We don’t yet know why people like Carlson are pushing this lie, but they clearly have plans for us, almost certainly designed to make us angrier, more partisan, less unified and therefore weaker and easier to manipulate. Lord knows, we’ve already experienced one Bell Pottinger.

Whether this is about Afrikaner secession and the possible breakup of the republic, or something far darker — we’ve all read the conspiracy theory that the US is after our rare earth minerals — the fact remains that no country in history has got stronger by splitting into small, ethnic homelands. And speaking of history: whatever you believe about the rare earth story, it is also true that both Hitler and Putin used the justification of rescuing an allegedly persecuted ethnic minority to invade and occupy sovereign states.

Second, tolerating the lie that white people have it worse in South Africa than their black compatriots, and are therefore worthy of “refugee” status in the US, is an insult both to those who fought to overthrow apartheid and to those millions of black people who still live in poverty and in the constant presence of violence because of the legacy of that racist history.

Whites are safer and richer than any other group in this country, and trying to cast them as victims of the democratic dispensation is a clear attempt to discredit and undermine the freedoms we achieved only a generation ago.

Of course, those whites who do push back against this can expect some noisy responses: whenever I write on this topic my DMs quickly fill up with rebuttals from white people telling me that I should try to spend a night on their smallholding without a weapon; that I wouldn’t be so dismissive of Roets if I’d ever witnessed my loved ones tortured; that I am clearly a shill for the ANC. Besides, they point out, I live in the Cape Town bubble, so what could I possibly know about the war zone that is the rest of South Africa?

I know that people are angry. I know that angry people are particularly vulnerable to manipulation by disinformation pumped out by foreign players. But, with all due respect, these responses are missing the point entirely and perhaps deliberately.

Pointing out that Tucker Carlson is lying or that Ernst Roets is presenting a cynically skewed picture of South African crime to his American donors is not a denial that farmers have been attacked. Denouncing the lie of white genocide doesn’t mean that you are supporting the ANC.

As for Cape Town, well, the statistics are clear: there are parts of my city that are vastly more dangerous than any farming district in the rest of the country. And the people who are suffering in those neighbourhoods or townships are not white.

Carlson is clearly not going to stop. A machine has targeted our country for reasons we don’t yet fully understand, and that machine is now running.

But white South Africans still live in a constitutional democracy with freedom of speech. We can still tell the truth and call out lies. We can declare, with hands on heart, that we love this country and hate how it’s being run. We can state, truthfully, that crime is out of control, and that the ANC is too wretched and corrupt to do anything meaningful about it. We can confirm that farmers feed this country and are vital to all our futures.

And now we must also state, as loudly and with as much conviction as we state the others, that there is no violent state oppression of white people in this country.

There is no ethnic cleaning.

There is no genocide.

And anyone who says there is is lying for money.

The model was developed by University of Johannesburg department of nursing researchers Dr Catherine Mngomezulu and Prof Charlene Downing after they found that cultural misunderstandings between nurses and families can create tension around the care of sick children.

The research, published in Curationis in August, focuses on the experiences of professional nurses and mothers of children admitted to a children’s hospital in Gauteng.

The researchers say children’s healthcare experiences can be influenced by their cultural beliefs, family practices and developmental needs.

They argue that while nurses are expected to provide culturally sensitive care, they may not always have clear guidelines to help them navigate cultural differences in clinical settings.

“This is not about doing things differently for the sake of culture,” the study’s approach suggests. Instead, it is about creating a process in which nurses and families can communicate about cultural expectations while ensuring that the child receives appropriate medical care.

One of the examples used by Mngomezulu illustrates how a seemingly routine medical intervention can become a source of distress for a family.

A newborn admitted to a neonatal unit with jaundice may require an intravenous drip. If the baby is dehydrated and the veins in the arms have collapsed, the only accessible vein may be on the baby’s head.

In such a situation, the baby’s head may need to be shaved to allow the drip to be inserted. For a mother from a culture in which a baby’s first hair carries cultural or spiritual significance, however, finding her baby’s head shaved and the hair discarded could be deeply upsetting if she had not been told beforehand.

The researchers use the example to highlight the importance of communication rather than to suggest that necessary medical treatment should be withheld.

Mngomezulu and Downing say culturally sensitive nursing requires healthcare workers to consider the child within the context of their family and community.

The study is grounded partly in the philosophy of Ubuntu, which the researchers describe as emphasising shared humanity, respect, dignity and interconnectedness.

“Caring” is therefore presented as more than addressing a patient’s physical condition.

The model places the child at the centre of care, while recognising the mother or family as an important part of the child’s healthcare journey.

The researchers interviewed 12 professional nurses and seven mothers of children admitted to the children’s hospital. The participants came from different cultural backgrounds.

The interviews explored their experiences of culturally sensitive nursing care and their understanding of culture.

The nurses identified three main issues: tension between professional responsibility and cultural sensitivity, misunderstood expectations and the need for greater awareness and formal guidelines on acceptable cultural practices.

Two main issues

The mothers identified two main issues: the disregard of certain cultural practices and cultural misunderstandings.

One mother said she felt that the way some practices were handled took away her right to care for her child in the way she believed was appropriate.

Another participant described situations in which she felt healthcare workers did not take her religious beliefs seriously, even when they did not directly act against her wishes.

The researchers also found that nurses themselves experienced uncertainty. One nurse said healthcare workers needed to understand that their cultural beliefs were not necessarily the same as those of the parents they were treating.

Another said there was a need for education because nurses, managers and doctors might not understand certain cultural practices.

The proposed model is designed to provide a structure for navigating that uncertainty.

It divides the child’s hospital journey into three phases: the relationship phase, the working phase and the termination phase.

The relationship phase corresponds with admission. At this stage, the nurse initiates communication with the child and mother or primary caregiver, establishes trust and asks about cultural care expectations.

The researchers say nurses should also reflect on their own cultural values and beliefs to become aware of possible biases that could affect the care they provide.

The working phase corresponds with the child’s hospital stay. During this period, the nurse is expected to engage more deeply with the child and mother, learn about their cultural beliefs and healthcare expectations and incorporate relevant information into the care plan.

The model also calls for nurses to use available resources, including institutional policies and guidelines, seek additional training and involve other members of the multidisciplinary team when necessary.

The final stage is the termination phase, which corresponds with discharge. The child and mother reflect on the care they received and provide feedback, while the nurse reflects on their confidence and ability to provide culturally sensitive care.

The model was evaluated by seven nursing theory experts with experience in qualitative research and knowledge generation.

The experts assessed it according to five areas: clarity, simplicity, generality, accessibility and importance.

The researchers said the feedback indicated high levels of clarity and perceived importance, while suggestions were made to improve its accessibility and universality.

The researchers say the model could potentially be applied beyond South Africa, although its effectiveness in other settings would still need to be established.

For now, however, the model has not been implemented in hospitals.

Guidelines

Mngomezulu and Downing said the guidelines for implementation had been developed, but further research was needed to test the model in practice.

The study also has limitations. It was conducted at only one children’s hospital and included professional nurses but excluded enrolled nurses and enrolled nursing assistants.

The researchers say the experiences of these other nursing categories have not yet been explored.

They also acknowledge that the experiences of nurses and mothers at other hospitals with paediatric units were not included.

The researchers recommend future studies involving other categories of nurses, more hospitals and the practical implementation of the model.

The researchers ultimately argue that culturally sensitive care could help build greater trust between healthcare workers and families.

The study concludes that misunderstood and unmet cultural expectations remain a challenge in caring for hospitalised children and that the proposed model offers a practical framework for addressing those challenges.

Story audio is generated using AI

Safair has launched a R21m damages claim against SAA Technical over a bizarre aircraft collision at OR Tambo International Airport that left one of its Boeing 737-800s grounded and the airline facing millions of rand in lost profits.

The dispute stems from an incident on November 11 2022 involving an Airbus A320 which allegedly broke free from the tug vehicle while it was being towed by SAA Technical employees, and veered from its towing path, colliding with the Safair aircraft which was parked in its bay.

The summons, lodged in the Johannesburg high court on September 2, identifies Y Rocker as the employee operating the tug and L Gumede as the employee in the cockpit of the Airbus, where he was “riding brakes”.

According to Safair’s version, Rocker managed to move the tug out of the path of the Airbus after the shear pin broke and attempted to get Gumede’s attention.

“Gumede failed to notice or respond to Rocker’s attempts and only became aware that something was wrong after the A320 collided with the 737-800.”

The impact caused physical damage to the Boeing and it had to be taken out of commercial service while repairs were carried out.

The airline’s case is that the incident was not simply an unavoidable mechanical mishap, but that Gumede failed to take a series of precautions that a reasonable person in his position would have taken.

Safair alleges that he failed to maintain a proper lookout for nearby aircraft, failed to remain alert to the progress of the tow and the possibility that the tug could lose control of the Airbus, and failed to maintain communication with the employee operating the tug.

“Gumede failed to notice, or respond to, Rocker’s attempts to attract his attention after the shear pin sheared off, keep proper control of the A320; and/or apply the A320’s brakes, either timeously or at all.”

Safair alleges that the Boeing’s absence from its fleet during the repair period disrupted flights that had already been scheduled for December 2022.

It says the aircraft would have been used on domestic flights between December 1 and December 22, but its unavailability forced the airline to cancel planned flights and the corresponding reserved or intended airport slots.

The airline has calculated the resulting loss of profit at R21.1m.

Its claim breaks down the alleged lost opportunity into 132 flight sectors over the December period, based on an assumption that the Boeing would have flown six sectors a day.

Gumede, as an employee of SAA Technical, owed a duty of care to Safair to avoid causing physical damage to nearby stationary Safair aircraft while towing SAA aircraft during the course and scope of his employment.

Safair

The aircraft had a capacity of 189 passengers per sector, giving Safair a potential 24,948 seats across the 132 sectors.

Safair says it would have sold an estimated 24,070 of those seats based on its actual average load factors for the period.

The airline is holding SAA Technical responsible for the alleged negligence of its employees.

“Gumede, as an employee of SAA Technical, owed a duty of care to Safair to avoid causing physical damage to nearby stationary Safair aircraft while towing SAA aircraft during the course and scope of his employment.”

It said Gumede foresaw, or ought reasonably to have foreseen, that his conduct or alternatively omissions would cause the collision, physical damage to the 737-800 and Safair’s consequential loss of profit.

The airline is asking the high court to order SAA Technical to pay the R21m damages claim, together with interest and legal costs.

But despite taking the matter to court, Safair has indicated that it remains open to resolving the dispute without a trial.

In its Rule 41A notice, filed alongside the summons, Safair said it believed the matter could be settled through mediation. This follows earlier settlement discussions between the parties, which failed to produce an agreement.

SAA Technical had not pleaded to Safair’s action when the mediation notice was filed, meaning the issues in dispute had not yet been crystallised in its formal response.

SAA Technical will have an opportunity to respond to the allegations in its plea.

1988 — David Frost captures the first of his 10 PGA Tour wins, draining two birdie putts on his last two holes to clinch the Southern Open in Columbus, Georgia. First he sank a 1.8m putt on the final hole of regulation play to draw level with American Bob Tway on 10-under-par 280, then he knocked in a 1.5m putt on the first hole of the sudden death. He was also the first South African to win in the US since Gary Player in 1978.

2012 — Faf du Plessis hits 65 off 38 balls to give the Proteas a chance of chasing down the 153 target set by India in their World T20 match in Colombo. But South Africa’s last five wickets fall for 24 runs as they lose the match by one run. Both teams were eliminated from the tournament.

2015 — JP Duminy clubs an unbeaten 68 from 34 balls and AB de Villiers 51 off 32 as the Proteas chase down 200 to beat India by seven wickets in the first T20 in Dharamsala.

2016 — Faf du Plessis scores 111 off 93 balls as the Proteas beat world champions Australia by 142 runs at the Wanderers in the second ODI for a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. The home side scored 361/6 in their 50 overs, with JP Duminy making 82 and Rilee Rossouw 75. The Aussies were bowled out for 219, with Wayne Parnell taking three wickets and Kagiso Rabada and Andile Phehlukwayo two each.

2017 — Keshav Maharaj takes 4/25 as South Africa bowl out Bangladesh for 90 to win the first test in Potchefstroom by 333 runs.

2021 — Damian de Allende and Makazole Mapimpi score tries as the Springboks edge the All Blacks 31-29 in their final Rugby Championship match in the Gold Coast

2022 — Andy Birkett wins a sprint finish to claim his second world marathon K1 crown at Ponte de Lima in Portugal. He edged home favourite Jose Ramalho by 1.1sec with defending champion Mads Pedersen of Denmark third just 0.32sec further back.

2022 — David Miller scores an unbeaten 106 from 47 deliveries but the Proteas, needing 238, lose the second T20 against India in Guwahati by 16 runs to go down 0-2 in the three-match series. Quinton de Kock made 60 off 48 balls.

2024 — Ryan Rickelton scores 91 to help the Proteas amass 271/9 on their way to beating Ireland by 139 runs in the first ODI in Abu Dhabi.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, high court judge Stuart Wilson ordered the absolute rescission of a 2021 default judgment that had previously declared the family’s primary residence specially executable, in a ruling that chalks up a victory for consumer rights under the National Credit Act (NCA).

The applicants, mother Karabo Nobuhle Modibedi and her daughter Cecilia Mamoabi Modibedi, took out a bond of just over R270,000 in 2008. For a decade they diligently paid it off, making regular deposits and complying with their bond obligations.

But in 2018 they were hit with financial difficulties and their payment performance deteriorated. The account eventually accumulated just over R310,000 in arrears, meaning that in just over two years they still owed more than the original loan amount.

When Nedbank initiated standard pre-litigation steps by issuing a section 129 notice under the NCA, the Modibedi family did exactly what the law instructs as the correct course of action. On October 5 2020, through a local paralegal organisation, they formally responded to the bank in writing. They asked to restructure their monthly bond payments to bring the account up to date.

The absolute best that can be said for Nedbank’s call log is that it records a series of automated or semi-automated telephonic interactions that took place in a parallel universe to the one in which the applicants’ letter was received. The letter itself was met with deafening silence.

Judge bStuart Wilson

What followed was what the court described as “a total failure of corporate responsibility”.

Nedbank completely ignored the letter, rushed to court and quietly obtained a default judgment against the family in October 2021, a year after they had pleaded for understanding.

During court proceedings, Wilson scrutinised the bank’s premature rush to take legal action. He granted Nedbank a two-month postponement to search its own records for any kind of interaction with the Modibedis. Despite the generous time given, Nedbank was unable to produce a single shred of evidence that anyone had ever responded to, or even read, the family’s plea for debt restructuring.

Nedbank said they had not been willing to enter into debt restructuring because both mother and daughter were unemployed. However, the Modibedis claimed that they had a tenant staying with them at their home, and were therefore able to pay something.

However, it could not be shown that the bank had entered into any discussions with the Modibedis in this regard. Instead, Nedbank attempted to hand the judge a generic call log detailing random telephone chats between the family and call centre agents, attempting to pass it off as “meaningful engagement”.

Wilson was unimpressed.

“The absolute best that can be said for Nedbank’s call log is that it records a series of automated or semi-automated telephonic interactions that took place in a parallel universe to the one in which the applicants’ letter was received. The letter itself was met with deafening silence,” he said as he rejected the efforts.

The judge found that the National Credit Act strictly bars credit providers from approaching a court if the consumer has responded to a section 129 notice and is attempting to resolve the debt. By moving forward anyway, Nedbank acted illegally.

“Because Nedbank had not responded to the applicants’ letter, it was not entitled to approach a court to enforce the agreement,” Wilson stated. “It follows that the default judgment was erroneously sought and erroneously granted.”

Wilson concluded his hard-hitting judgment by ordering that the 2021 order be entirely set aside and slapped Nedbank with the full legal bill, directing the bank to pay all the Modibedis’ legal costs.

Story audio is generated using AI

When about 3-million Barn Swallows come home to roost in KwaZulu-Natal from this month they can do so more safely now thanks to a pioneering bird radar programme.

Home is Mount Moreland near King Shaka International Airport (KSIA), the construction of which was met with concern from ornithologists and birders over the future of the feathered species which migrates from Eastern Europe to settle in the reed bed area at the Lake Victoria Conservancy from October to June.

In approving the R7.2bn airport and trade zone in 2006, the department of environmental affairs and tourism then set as one of the more than 80 conditions that “flight schedules must be planned around the flight times of the swallows” because of the risk of bird strikes.

At dawn and dusk the little birds form massive airborne flocks and pose potential danger as their flight paths intersect with aircraft operations around the airport.

Now a pioneering project between King Shaka International Airport and the University of KwaZulu-Natal will help scientists understand migratory movement of several bird species and over a larger flight path.

To address the bird strikes, KSIA has upgraded to a Robin Radar Systems MAX bird detection radar, a full 3D avian radar system capable of monitoring bird movements in real time.

The radar can track more than 3,000 birds simultaneously within a 15km radius, providing detailed information on flight paths, altitude, speed and flock behaviour.

Bird strikes are increasingly becoming a challenge to operational continuity. Recent data from the US Federal Aviation Administration recorded more than 22,000 wildlife strike incidents in 2024, a year-on-year increase that outpaced growth in aircraft movements.

Nkosinathi Myataza, Airports Company South Africa regional general manager

Nkosinathi Myataza, Airports Company South Africa regional general manager, said: “Bird strikes are increasingly becoming a challenge to operational continuity. Recent data from the US Federal Aviation Administration recorded more than 22,000 wildlife strike incidents in 2024, a year-on-year increase that outpaced growth in aircraft movements.”

He said birds accounted for the overwhelming majority of these events.

“While most do not result in catastrophic outcomes, their operational consequences extend far beyond the safety incident itself.”

He said a single strike can trigger unscheduled maintenance, aircraft inspections, flight delays, diversions, and, in some cases, aircraft-on-ground events.

“These disruptions are often short in duration but high in cumulative cost, affecting airline reliability, network efficiency and passenger experience across tightly interconnected aviation systems.”

He said the technology provides wildlife management teams “unprecedented visibility of bird activity around the airport, enabling proactive decision-making that strengthens aviation safety while protecting local biodiversity”.

The new technology replaces the DeTect Merlin Bird Detection Radar system installed at KSIA about 15 years ago to monitor the Barn Swallows.

For UKZN researchers the technology offers far more than an aviation safety solution.

The university’s Discipline of Biological Sciences is an integral part of the programme through a dedicated research partnership aimed at advancing scientific understanding of bird movements around the airport, migration arrival and departure patterns and habitat use in the vicinity.

The research team is led by Prof Colleen Downs, National Research Foundation South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) chair in ecosystem and biodiversity in KZN and the Eastern Cape.

Working alongside Downs are Dr Cameron Cormac, a Postdoctoral Fellow, and MSc candidate Matthew Wilkinson, who are actively contributing to the project by gathering field data, identifying bird species and correlating field observations with radar detections.

The team is also responsible for populating the radar system’s species database, enabling researchers and airport officials to better understand which bird species are being detected and how they move through the surrounding environment.

Cormac said the previous system only tracked Barn Swallows while this new technology has a much wider range and is able to track a wider variety of birds.

“The information will help us better understand changing migratory patterns for example we are seeing a trend of the Barn Swallows leaving slightly earlier.”

He said this is a pioneering study and would help understand the impact of linear infrastructure on birds and their flight patterns.

Traditional bird monitoring methods have relied heavily on human observations and occasional Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking studies. While these approaches provide valuable insights, they are often limited by daylight hours, weather conditions and the relatively small number of birds that can be monitored at any one time.

“The new radar technology offers a transformative opportunity for ecological research by continuously monitoring birds active in the vicinity of the airport simultaneously, day and night, throughout the year,” said Downs.

Story audio is generated using AI

eThekwini ratepayers have lost two unrelated legal battles — one a challenge to the development of the Beachwood Golf Course and another seeking to compel the city to sort out the taxi parking mess in Umhlanga.

Both judgments were handed down this week in the Durban high court.

In the Beachwood matter, judge Peter Olsen ruled against an organisation “Friends of Beachwood” and a neighbouring property owner, James Te Riele, in their bid to review and set aside decisions taken by the province and the city to allow for a residential development on part of the property.

The 42ha property, bounded by Virginia Airport, the ecologically sensitive Mangrove Nature Reserve and the sea, has been used as a golf course since the 1930s.

Beachwood Investments bought it in 2017 for R108m but its development potential was restricted, essentially because it was zoned as a private open space with special conditions attached.

Ultimately, environmental approval was given by the province and planning approval by the city.

On the issue of the provincial environmental approvals, Olsen said the aggrieved ratepayers had launched their legal action out of time, had not given any reasonable explanation for this, thus those complaints could not be dealt with by the court.

On the municipal decisions, Olsen said the developer had submitted a “combined land development application” in October 2022.

This led to the city introducing a new zone called “Special Zone: Beachwood Coastal Estate”.

The municipal planning tribunal then approved 38 sub-divisions, creating a coastal estate.

Olsen said the applicants’ case had been presented as a “series of assertions or conclusions which would ordinarily be expected to have been drawn from facts placed before the court on affidavit”.

Turning to the historic restrictive conditions on the site, he said they were extensive, effectively meaning that it could not be used for anything but a golf course or other recreational activities.

The applicants had contended that it was an “open space” asset which has immeasurable community value.

But the judge said that issue had been taken into consideration by the province when it confined development, at least for the time being, to the northern portion of the property, leaving 77% of it as open space.

Regarding the applicants’ contention that the municipality had not taken into account the impact on sewerage, stormwater and road infrastructure, he said they had not made any references to those assessment reports and had “simply failed to make out a case”.

He dismissed the application, making no order as to costs.

In the Umhlanga taxi dispute, acting judge Mvuzo Notyesi dismissed an application by the Body Corporate of Beacon Rock to force the municipality to relocate what was intended to be a temporary public transport facility, to a permanent one.

The historical taxi/bus rank in the once small seaside village was displaced by the development of the Oceans Umhlanga complex.

While initial plans were that the developers were to build a new underground facility within their own precinct and at their own cost, this did not happen. Instead the city set up a temporary rank in Ridge Road, near Beacon Rock.

The residents complained that it had caused increasing congestion, was blocking access and the municipality must provide a permanent solution within three months.

The municipality, in opposing the application, said since March 2021 it had engaged with the Oceans developers, the taxi industry and neighbouring property owners to identify a suitable permanent facility but none could be found because of “competing interests”.

It accepted that the permanent facility ultimately selected would differ from the underground facility contemplated in the approval for the Oceans development and that an amendment to the relevant condition would, eventually, be required.

That could only be done when there was agreement on a suitable alternative site.

The judge found that the body corporate had no legal standing to bring the application because it was a corporate entity which did not, itself, own any property in Umhlanga.

Further, he said, Oceans should have been joined as a party to the litigation.

On the merits, he said it was not open to the court to “simply relocate” the temporary transport facility, given that the decision to establish it was still valid, and that decision had not been challenged.

He said the municipality had to weigh and balance the interest of the business owners, property owners, the taxis, commuters and all relevant stakeholders.

There was evidence that it had, and was involved in ongoing consultations.

He dismissed the application, ordering that each party must pay its own costs.

The first national GBV survey found that one in three women aged 18 or older had experienced physical violence in their lifetime. In the final three months of 2024 alone, more than 11,800 rapes were recorded — about 128 a day — according to the GBVF Response Fund’s 2024/25 annual report.

These figures are horrifying, but statistics must not replace action. South Africa now sits at 13 women’s bodies found in Gauteng, 19 in KwaZulu-Natal, and several others nationally.

The crisis persists because warnings are ignored, institutions fail to coordinate, and accountability dissolves after each statement of outrage.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s September 29 address must be judged against this record of ignored warnings and dissolved accountability. The address exposed the exhausted ritual through which government now performs concern without accepting culpability.

After seven years of acknowledged failure, another review of stalled cases, another deadline on forensic backlogs and another round of municipal safety audits cannot be presented as leadership. These are basic duties the state should already have discharged.

The address named no office-bearer responsible for past failure, offered no credible enforcement mechanism, and did not explain what consequences would follow when the new directives were ignored. By leaving institutional responsibility undefined, it shifted attention from the state’s obligations to the moral conduct of individual citizens.

That displacement was most evident in the appeal to “good men”, which shifted the centre of gravity from state accountability to private morality, as though femicide persists because decent citizens have not spoken loudly enough rather than because institutions repeatedly abandon women.

The appeal thus became compassion as political theatre: solemn words masking a government still reluctant to attach names, budgets, deadlines and sanctions to its promises. Leadership begins where sympathy ends — with responsibility that can be measured and failure that carries consequences.

The cost of that displacement is clearest in the warnings that precede femicide. Coercion, threats and abuse often escalate before violence becomes fatal, and victims may alert relatives, friends or the police. These are opportunities for public institutions to intervene. When they do not trigger protection, investigation and consequences, it is a failure to turn knowledge into coordinated state action.

Closing that gap between warning and intervention makes effective policing indispensable, but policing cannot rest on slogans or periodic operations.

The institutions that protect such masks are further weakened by a political economy that leaves many young people outside work, property, productive networks and meaningful recognition. Exclusion does not mechanically produce GBV, but it creates fertile ground for wounded masculinity and the desire to recover power through domination.

A victim-centred police service must respond promptly, recognise escalating abuse, protect survivors and investigate thoroughly. Prosecutors, courts, health services and communities must form an unbroken chain of responsibility in which no warning, docket or protection request disappears.

Constitutional policing and decisive policing are not opposites: due process protects legitimacy, while institutional passivity protects perpetrators.

But even an unbroken criminal justice chain addresses violence only after social permission for it has taken root. Policing alone cannot repair a society in which violence against women is concealed, excused or normalised.

When public authority evades responsibility, private domination gains social permission. GBV is therefore more than criminality: it is an intimate expression of civic disintegration, the collapse of restraint, reciprocity and respect for the equal personhood of others.

That civic breakdown does not stop at the household door. Political assassinations, intimidation and the maiming of civilians reveal in public life the same disorder that coercion, assault and femicide reveal in private life. Both flourish when power is detached from service and accountability. An elite that treats office as an enterprise of accumulation teaches society that authority is an entitlement to possess, command and punish. Domination then travels easily from the state and the party into the household.

Yet domination survives not only through open force; it also survives through disguise. Perpetrators rarely present themselves truthfully. Many wear masks of compassion, speaking the language of love, protection, provision, religious virtue or political service to secure trust and silence. In public they appear attentive and generous; in private care becomes surveillance, protection becomes possession and generosity becomes indebtedness.

Families, congregations, parties and workplaces then defend reputation over testimony. Leadership fails when it protects the mask rather than the person harmed behind it.

The institutions that protect such masks are further weakened by a political economy that leaves many young people outside work, property, productive networks and meaningful recognition. Exclusion does not mechanically produce GBV, but it creates fertile ground for wounded masculinity and the desire to recover power through domination. Where youth organisations are hollowed out, schools fail to lead to livelihoods, and party branches become factional machines, anger becomes politically homeless. It can become democratic and transformative — or criminal, xenophobic, militarised and patriarchal.

That is why the argument must move from anger in the abstract to the local institutions that can give it democratic form. Municipalities shape public lighting, transport nodes, shelters, clinics, community safety forums and the public spaces in which women must move without fear. They are also closest to contracts, housing lists, jobs and ward influence. When a council seat or tender becomes the nearest available economy, violent political competition and women’s everyday insecurity draw sustenance from the same institutional decay.

The coming local elections must therefore test whether parties and coalitions can govern, whether protest can become accountability and whether candidates have credible plans to make communities safer for women.

These elections will ultimately test whether democratic institutions can give legitimate anger an ethical and constructive architecture. A republic serious about GBV must do more than pacify youth or urge constitutional patience. It must organise people into work, service, learning, local reconstruction and democratic authorship, while directly challenging the patriarchal norms that turn frustration into violence against women.

More than an awareness campaign, prevention is the daily work of rebuilding institutions, opportunity and ethical citizenship. That work, however, will remain rhetoric unless authority is tied to clear responsibility.

This is the leadership for which the GBV crisis is searching: authority made answerable through named duties and enforceable consequences. A station commander must answer for a neglected complaint, an investigator for a mishandled docket, a prosecutor for avoidable delay, a minister for inadequate capacity and a mayor for unsafe public spaces and broken referral systems.

Parties, workplaces, congregations and communities must likewise refuse to shelter perpetrators behind status or staged compassion. South Africa does not lack declarations against GBV; it lacks leaders willing to make responsibility visible and failure consequential. Until that changes, masked perpetrators will keep occupying the space where moral authority should stand.

The regulator said on Thursday that the withdrawal would allow it to address “administrative and procedural matters” and ensure better regulatory alignment.

Icasa said the telecommunications affordability inquiry notice would be republished together with a draft questionnaire for public comment. Stakeholders who have already submitted comments will be able to resubmit or supplement them once the revised notice is published.

The OTT inquiry notice will also be republished at a later date, with the revised version expected to provide greater context and clearer guidance on public participation.

Icasa did not indicate when either of the revised notices would be published.

The decision comes only weeks after the regulator gazetted the two inquiries, which were aimed at examining the affordability of telecommunications services and the growing impact of OTT platforms on traditional broadcasting and telecommunications sectors.

The affordability inquiry was intended to investigate the cost of telecommunications services and explore possible regulatory or market interventions. In its original notice, Icasa said affordable access to telecommunications services was critical for digital inclusion, economic participation, education and service delivery.

The regulator highlighted ongoing concerns about the affordability of voice and broadband services, particularly for low-income households, rural communities, young people and informal sector workers.

The OTT inquiry was expected to examine the impact of internet-based services, including streaming, messaging and calling platforms such as Netflix and WhatsApp, on local broadcasters and network operators.

Icasa said OTT services had disrupted the broadcasting landscape, forcing regulated linear broadcasters to compete for audiences and advertising revenue. The regulator also argued that the growing adoption of OTT platforms was changing how conventional broadcasting infrastructure and networks are used.

In a statement announcing the withdrawal, Icasa said stakeholders would be informed of the republication of the notices through its normal communication channels to ensure they are given a full opportunity to participate in the inquiries.

TimesLIVE

He faces charges of rape and sexual assault for allegedly raping an 18-year-old teenager and sexually grooming a 16-year-old girl. He is being held at the Kgosi Mampuru prison.

Video courtesy of SABC

TimesLIVE

WATCH ALL EPISODES

Click here to find previous episodes of Spotlight with all the movie news you need, and follow the show on Facebook for all the latest news and giveaways.

There is something for everyone this week with Spotlight, from complicated love and deadly secrets to the wildest corners of Africa and all the action from Comic Con Africa 2026.

Love collides with real life in the romantic drama Charlie Harper, now at cinemas. A young couple tries to hold onto their relationship as ambition, identity and growing apart begin to pull them in different directions. Directed by Mac Eldridge and Tom Dean, the film stars Emilia Jones and Nick Robinson. With Charlie Harper asking big questions about love and relationships, Spotlight decided to ask a few questions of our own.

Secrets turn deadly in Verity, the psychological thriller adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel. A struggling writer moves into the home of a famous author to complete her books, only to discover a hidden manuscript filled with disturbing confessions. As she digs deeper, she quickly realises that nothing is quite what it seems. Directed by Michael Showalter, known for The Big Sick and Hello, My Name Is Doris, Verity stars Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett and Anne Hathaway. This film marks Hathaway’s fifth release of 2026. The closer you look, the less you know. Verity is showing at cinemas nationwide.

From dark secrets to the wildest corners of our continent, National Geographic takes us deep into the African wilderness in Africa Earth’s Wild Home. The new series explores some of Africa’s most remote landscapes, revealing extraordinary animals and even creatures new to science. Premiering on National Geographic, DStv channel 181 and Disney+ on October 3 and 4. One expedition heads deep into the forests of Gabon in search of the elusive dwarf crocodile. Spotlight caught up with crocodile conservationist Matt Shirley to learn more about these fascinating reptiles and the work being done to protect them.

Johannesburg came alive as Comic Con Africa 2026 brought four days of pop culture, gaming and fandom to life. Fans of all ages came out for gaming, cosplay, food and plenty more, with this year’s local and international lineup including Jazzara Jaslyn, Alexander Maniatis, Richard T Jones and Spencer Grammer. Spotlight was there to meet the stars, catch up with fans and jump straight into the action. Catch what went down at Comic Con Africa 2026.

For full interviews, breaking news, trailers and clips, visit our Spotlight Facebook page. See you at the movies.

Presenter Collette Prince is styled and dressed by Claris by Gerrit Pienaar when attending premieres and special events.

Facebook @Claris by Gerrit Pienaar/Instagram: gerritpienaardesigns.

Competitions and giveaways

Uncover the secrets beneath the pages and stand a chance to win a Verity movie merchandise hamper.

For full competition details and the question, go to the Spotlight SA Facebook page and DM your answers and contact details by October 9 2026.

Terms and conditions apply.

Winners will be drawn randomly and notified by SMS after the competition has closed. Entrants’ personal details will not be retained for marketing purposes. Winners have to provide proof of age (ID/driving licence) and cover their own travel and accommodation expenses. By entering, participants agree to have their names published on TimesLIVE, SowetanLIVE and Spotlight SA on Facebook. Employees of Arena Holdings and their family members are not eligible to enter.

TimesLIVE

Every year, Checkers launches a special mince and wors from their annual Championship Boerewors competition. The live event includes professional chefs and braai masters who assist the hopefuls to cook it perfectly and present it to judges. This year’s panel included content creator Nick Hammond, professional chef Nti Ramaboa, Springbok alumnus Courtnall Skosan among others.

De Sousa took the trophy for the competition’s 34th anniversary, a feat earned thanks to watching his master butcher father enter the competition in his younger years.

“You’d be sitting outside Checkers at six years old with a cold truck playing music and there’s the Oros man giving you juice or chips or sweets. Of course, you’d be tasting all the boerewors,” he said.

Far from a helicopter parent, De Sousa said his dad’s wisdom was imparted supportively. With 40 years of experience, De Sousa was raised for the big win even though he is a numbers guy with a nine-to-five as an investment portfolio manager.

After studying actuarial science and working in the space for two years, he moved on to investment, where his day involves market research, handling clients’ financials and making sure they have the right mix of assets and securities.

“Internally our guys joked about how it’s not too far from how you have to arrive at the perfect boerewors. You have to get the right mix of meats and blend of spices to get the optimum product. It’s making sure you get the numbers right. The ratio and what 10% fat vs 20% fat will do. It all helped.”

What has also struck a chord with De Sousa is how the competition makes celebrities out of its winners. He doesn’t only have bragging rights in his personal and professional circles but recognition from those who knew little about Championship Boerwewors. Ultimately it’s all been about heritage and how South Africans view the culture of a braai and the must-have wors that goes with it.

Italy has pizza and Japan has sushi, and De Sousa sees wors as truly authentic to Mzansi. Two factors come to mind for him, and one of them lies in the taste.

“If you’ve had a beef banger or a pork sausage, they’re very tightly packed in certain instances. You can’t quite taste the texture of the meat or the juiciness of the fat,” he said. “You get that salt, pepper and coriander blend, with coriander one of the key spices.”

The second important factor for De Sousa is how we make it worth every bite. Not many places in the world see it as a staple, and it has been key to bringing people together at celebrations and weekend gatherings.

TimesLIVE

Celebrate the day with something sweet.

ESPRESSO WALNUT CUPCAKES

Ingredients

Makes about 24 cupcakes

• 200g flour. Additional flour is needed to coat the walnuts
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 200g sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 100g soft butter
• 3 eggs
• 150ml milk
• 1 cup brewed, and cooled Jacobs Roast and Ground coffee
• 100g walnuts

For the topping

• 200g of powdered sugar
• 100g soft butter
• 1tsp of vanilla extract

Methods and steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl.
2. Add sugar, salt and butter. Mix everything to a crumbly mixture. Mix the eggs with the milk in a second bowl.
3. Pour the egg milk mixture and half of the coffee into the crumbly mixture while stirring. Stir until a smooth dough has formed.
4. Chop the nuts roughly and mix in a bowl with some flour, then fold under the dough.
5. Line the muffin trays with paper cups and fill them to half the height with dough.
6. Bake in a hot oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the cupcakes spring back to the touch of a finger.
7. Remove and allow to cool completely.
8. For the icing, mix the icing sugar, butter, vanilla extract and the remaining coffee until creamy. Add the icing on to the cupcakes.
9. Put half a walnut on each cupcake for decoration.

TimesLIVE

Story audio is generated using AI

Suspended deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya’s lawyer says they “acted out of caution” when they wrote to the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) amid speculation that Sibiya could face criminal charges.

Sibiya’s attorney, Rashad Moosa, made the remarks during cross-examination at Sibiya’s bail application in the Randburg magistrate’s court on Thursday.

Well, it’s quite clear — Mr Sibiya is entitled to his freedom.

Sibiya’s attorney, Rashad Moosa,

Moosa told the court that the correspondence with the NDPP was initially an inquiry aimed at establishing whether there were criminal investigations involving Sibiya and protecting his rights.

“We acted out of caution,” said Moosa.

He said the letter was “an inquiry, firstly”, but the legal team also wanted to enforce and preserve Sibiya’s rights and avoid circumstances that could adversely affect him.

Prosecutor Velile Makasana questioned which specific rights the legal team believed needed protection at the time, particularly as Moosa had testified that there had been speculation on social media.

“At that stage you say that there was speculation on social media about things, and yet you’re talking about approaching the NDPP, you’re talking about enforcing the rights. He’s an ordinary citizen at that stage. I’m interested to know which rights you were specifically referring to that you wanted to enforce at that particular point in time,” said Makasana.

Moosa responded, “Well, it’s quite clear — Mr Sibiya is entitled to his freedom.”

Makasana then put it to Moosa that the correspondence appeared to have been precautionary rather than prompted by a specific right being under threat.

“So you acted out of caution. Okay, so we can put it aside and say we can agree that there was no right at stake at that point in time, but we’re just being cautious because of the speculation that was taking place in social media,” Makasana said.

Moosa maintained that Sibiya’s rights remained relevant, saying, “Rights are entrenched, and rights can be taken away.”

The court proceedings come as Sibiya faces further legal and disciplinary challenges. An additional charge of negligent handling of a firearm was added to his charges on Thursday.

Two additional South African Police Service (SAPS) disciplinary notices have also been served on him while he remains in custody.

At that stage you say that there was speculation on social media about things, and yet you’re talking about approaching the NDPP, you’re talking about enforcing the rights. He’s an ordinary citizen at that stage. I’m interested to know which rights you were specifically referring to that you wanted to enforce at that particular point in time.

Prosecutor Velile Makasana

Moosa told the court that Sibiya had been served with an expedited SAPS disciplinary notice during his previous court appearance. His legal team said its original mandate related to the disciplinary proceedings, but there had subsequently been an overlap with the criminal matter.

Sibiya remains detained at Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre while his bail application continues.

Proceedings were temporarily adjourned on Thursday after the court experienced a technical problem with its recording equipment.

TimesLIVE

Ruch is a senior economist in the World Bank’s economic policy division and previously at the Prospects Group. His appointment brings the membership of the bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) to seven.

His arrival at the Sarb and the MPC comes as the central bank navigates a tough time of elevated inflation levels triggered by geopolitical tensions globally, trade fragmentation and stubborn energy costs.

“As part of his appointment, Ruch becomes the seventh member of the Sarb’s MPC. A seasoned economist, Ruch brings his vast monetary policy expertise to the position,” the central bank said.

It said Ruch joins the bank from the World Bank, where he served as a senior economist leading research and technical analysis and writing for publications.

“Before the World Bank, Ruch worked in the Sarb’s economic research department, where he developed and operated economic models and contributed to the monetary policy review.”

Ruch has a PhD from the University of Stellenbosch and a Master’s degree from Oxford University.

He also helped compile the “Global Economic Prospects” report released in June. The report said the impact of the conflict in the Middle East has led to downward revisions, especially in Nigeria and South Africa, where structural constraints continue to limit growth.

“Non-resource-rich economies are expected to see growth slow from 6.4% in 2025 to 5.7% in 2026, and then average 6.2% over 2027–28, though still outpacing commodity exporters. Ethiopia’s growth is expected to be driven by reforms in monetary policy and the financial sector, despite external challenges.”

The report said growth forecasts have been lowered for Uganda as a result of oil project delays, for Senegal amid revelations of hidden debt and the subsequent freezing of funding from the International Monetary Fund, and for Côte d’Ivoire on account of falling cocoa prices.

TimesLIVE

In a video shown before the commission, Sibanyoni can be heard telling Ramaphosa and mineral & petroleum resources minister Gwede Mantashe that business organisations wanted a 30% stake in Putco’s business operation in KwaNdebele.

“Putco has been operating here for 43 years. Please assist us. When you find someone wanting to interfere with the Putco business, you must know it is us,” Sibanyoni can be heard saying in the video.

A year later, in January 2025, 51 buses were burnt at three Putco depots leaving a trail of costly damage in Nkangala district, Mpumalanga. The bus company transports about 20,000 commuters in the district.

During cross-examination, Sibanyoni said he meant “engaging” with Putco when he said “interfere” in the conversation with Ramaphosa.

He said he was in talks with Putco on behalf of Gauteng Central Bus Services (GCBS), an organisation that wanted to work with Putco.

“I have mentioned that I was speaking on behalf of the community. There you see the community burning buses; it’s not me. You see the video; it is not me. Can we not personalise this matter?” Sibanyoni said, referring to the video of buses burning.

He denied any involvement in the burning of buses.

Evidence before the Madlanga commission suggests that a month after Putco buses were reduced to ashes, Taxi Choice, the business wing of the South African National Taxi Council headed by Sibanyoni, made an unsolicited offer to Putco to buy their entire business operation in KwaNdebele.

“Two days after the buses had been burnt, you are in communication with Mr [Oupa] Sindane about buying buses and a month later Taxi Choice makes an unsolicited offer to purchase the whole fleet,” evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson said to Sibanyoni.

He added that the “interfere” speech Sibanyoni made to Ramaphosa and the unsolicited offer “seem to me to point to a single process where Putco is being placed under pressure to sell … to Taxi Choice”.

Sibanyoni is listed as a chair of Taxi Choice and James Chapman as MD.

Sibanyoni denied being responsible for the attack on Putco.

While Sibanyoni told the commission that before making the unsolicited offer to Putco he and Putco MD Franco Pisapia had engaged about the proposed deal, Chaskalson said Putco denied there were ever such talks.

Pisapia, in a scathing letter to Taxi Choice, said the company found the offer to be “calculated” as it was made a month after an attack on its business.

“The timing and content of your letter appear to be disturbingly calculated in light of the recent carefully orchestrated and heinous attacks on both Putco’s employees and fleet of buses. At the outset, Putco is not on the market,” the letter reads.

Sibanyoni said the offer made to Putco was not an isolated proposal. He said Taxi Choice had made similar proposals to other companies.

This included FlySafair for a stake in aviation, Traxtion Services for a stake in rail services, bus company Autopax for a stake in or the whole of Autopax as a going concern and North West Transport Investment (NTI) for a stake in or the whole of NTI as a going concern.

Sibanyoni, president of the South African Local and Long-Distance Taxi and Bus Organisation, is in court facing a criminal charge of extorting money from Tengane Thomas Ntuli, who owns a company that supplied aggregate stone to the R573 project of the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) in Mpumalanga.

Sibanyoni, an alleged extortion cartel leader, in that case also raised the issue of the “30% local content” requirement.

On criminal infiltration of law enforcement, Sibanyoni told the commission he “knew” that suspended police deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya “reported” to his (Sibanyoni’s) former boss Jotham Msibi.

“We knew at the time that he was reporting at the farm. Whoever was reporting at the farm I take it they were carrying out Mr Msibi’s instructions,” he said.

He said if a senior police officer was reporting to Msibi it was “dangerous”.

Sibanyoni’s right-hand man, Oupa “Bafana” Sindane, has been subpoenaed to appear before the commission investigating allegations of criminal infiltration in law enforcement.

Sindane is expected to answer questions on his talks with police officers in facilitating police to escort Sibanyoni.

BusinessDay

When a bird lunges at a butterfly in mid-flight, it may see something that is not there — the insect’s wings flashing beneath may not be moving where they appear to be moving. By the time the predator realises the illusion, the butterfly already may have escaped.

Researchers studying this natural defence have found that contrasting wing patterns can work together with wing movements to create misleading motion signals, making it harder for predators to judge a butterfly’s speed and direction during flight.

“The patterns on butterfly wings combine with their wingbeats to create optical illusions, making it look like the butterfly is moving in a different direction to its actual course,” said Jolyon Troscianko, a professor at the University of Exeter in England and a leader of the study published in the journal Nature. “This is likely enough to save a butterfly from the split-second moment when a bird would try to catch it.”

The idea that stripes and other bold markings can create “motion dazzle” has long been proposed by scientists. But experiments involving animals including zebras, snakes and lizards have produced mixed evidence, and many studies did not account for the movements of wings or limbs.

“Butterfly wings are flexible surfaces that clap together and fling apart, and also pivot forwards and backwards in a figure-of-eight as they fly. This movement means that a stripe across the forewings can be visibly and slowly moving down on the down-stroke,” Troscianko said.

“But on the up-stroke, this stripe is rapidly folded away and twisted in line with upwards flight direction. Together these make the downwards motion of the butterfly much more visible than its upwards motion, even though it is flying up,” Troscianko added.

This increased ‘confusion’ effect would be almost impossible to overcome without evolving a fundamentally different visual system.

Jolyon Troscianko, professor at the University of Exeter

To investigate the idea, the researchers combined high-speed filming of real butterflies, computer modelling, simulated evolution and touchscreen experiments.

“Stripes are particularly good at interfering with the circuits that detect motion,” Troscianko said. “The barber pole illusion is a good example — stripes moving sideways can look like they’re moving up or down instead.”

The patterns also appear to increase uncertainty about a butterfly’s position during an attack.

“This increased ‘confusion’ effect would be almost impossible to overcome without evolving a fundamentally different visual system,” Troscianko said, suggesting it may have been pivotal to the success of the butterflies as a group.

Not all butterflies appear to use this strategy, however.

“The least motion-confusing butterflies are typically brown or red,” Troscianko said, suggesting that some species may rely more on camouflage or on warning colours that may signal to predators that the insect is toxic, poisonous or has a bad taste.

To test whether the effects could influence attacks, the researchers recruited 100 human volunteers and carried out 3,000 virtual butterfly-catching experiments. Participants watched videos and attempted to catch butterflies by tapping a screen. Butterflies that were predicted to produce stronger visual confusion caused people to aim farther behind them.

“Predation experiments with live birds and butterflies would have been ideal in many ways, but likely impossible and unethical in practice,” Troscianko said.

Because the neural circuits involved in motion vision are quite fundamental in vertebrates, Troscianko said, the researchers hope the findings can translate between different species.

Butterflies face multiple predators, and motion confusion may not fool them all equally.

“For now, we’ve only looked at bird vision,” Troscianko said. “In principle, similar effects could happen in predatory insects like dragonflies and robber flies. However, they have much faster vision than birds, so the illusions might not work for them. Indeed, dragonflies and robber flies do successfully hunt butterflies quite often.”

Beyond biology, the team’s motion-vision tools could have practical applications, from improving how movement is displayed in flight or combat simulators to developing patterning that protects personnel, vehicles, drones or robots in motion when being targeted visually.

“I’m most excited to explore how useful our models could be for improving road safety and reducing discomfort and stress in the built environment, where flashing, moving and striped objects can cause harm or danger,” Troscianko said.

Reuters

Story audio is generated using AI

In the era where prima donnas have an insatiable appetite for validation and exposure, South Africa’s Under-20 and U-23 coach Raymond Mdaka prefers to fly under the radar.

In recent years Mdaka has done commendable work by winning back-to-back Cosafa Under-20 titles and the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) trophy, the first youth continental title lifted by a South African team.

He also coached South Africa at the 2025 Fifa U-20 World Cup in Chile last year where Amajita lost to Colombia in the last 16. Mdaka, just 56, is acknowledged as one of the best young coaches and coaches of youth in the country.

After lifting their second consecutive Cosafa U-20 Cup with their final win against hosts Mozambique in Maputo on Sunday, Amajita will travel to the Afcon in Ghana next year as defending champions where Mdaka and his current crop of players will be looking to make it two out of two in that competition too.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧.𝗔.𝗚𝗢𝗔𝗟!!!

Emile Witbooi's goal for #Amajita in 4-2 win over Zambia. #CosafaU20 pic.twitter.com/81bf6v8uSw

— #UNPLAYABLE (@UnplayableZA) September 25, 2026

With all the good work he has done, there are those who feel Mdaka should be celebrated more in South African football. The coach, though, says he is happy to make a quiet contribution.

“If I am looking for people to be praising and saying things about me, I may lose focus,” he said as the U-23s prepared to face Algeria in two friendly matches on Thursday and Sunday in Bloemfontein, which serve as preparation for a 2027 U-23 Afcon qualifier in November.

“Sometimes you need to do what you can do best wherever you are in that particular moment. Life will always change, things will always come around, but if you are looking far ahead instead of doing good in what you have to for now, you might miss direction.”

To show his commitment to the course, Mdaka arrived back in the country from Cosafa with the U-20s on Monday and went straight into camp with the U-23s.

“It is a challenge [to be coaching two different teams] but it is something we knew about. It was in our programme that we will go to Cosafa U-20 and immediately come back and go to U-23.

🎥 | 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗔𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗜 𝗠𝗔𝗭𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗔!!!

𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧?! 😭🧤

YOOOOH, WATCH THAT SECOND SAVE!!! 😭😭

An absolutely SENSATIONAL double save from the Kaizer Chiefs youngster to keep Amajita ahead against Mozambique in the COSAFA U20 final!

HE HAD… pic.twitter.com/paeDiLt5Gg

— CHIEFS CENTRAL (@ChiefsCentralZA) September 27, 2026

“It’s only me and coach Karabo [Mogodi, Mdaka’s assistant] and the analyst who were in Mozambique with the U-20s. You go there and work for almost 14 days and then come back to work with another team.”

The current U-23 team is brimming with talented players who have made a mark at younger levels, including in the 2025 U-20 Afcon triumph and at the U-20 World Cup. These include the likes of Fletcher Smythe-Lowe, Asekho Tiwani, Neo Rapoo, Camren Dansin, Mfundo Vilakazi, Kutlwano Letlhaku, Emile Witbooi, Mpho Padime and Luke Baartman.

“People will always say it’s a good headache [to have this many talented players available] but it’s one of the difficult challenges we are facing. You have to do what we call squad composition and balance it.

“You will find that in one area, you have more than four players and you cannot take all of them on the basis that you want to balance the team. So we go deep into profiling and say, ‘Who can do best in that particular spot in terms of how we want to play?’

You will find that in one area, you have more than four players and you cannot take all of them on the basis that you want to balance the team.

Amajita coach Raymond Mdaka

“It is a good and bad challenge but it’s something we will always work on and get the best combination that will give us good results.”

For this camp and matches against Algeria, Mdaka wants his youngsters to spend time together and get more match minutes ahead of the Olympic qualifiers.

“Even now when we are in camp, we are already making proposals because honestly without preparation there is nothing that can happen. We can have the best players, but if we cannot be given the support it won’t work. We will put a proposal and we always remain positive that we will get something that will help us.”

Even if the U-23s beat a strong Algeria side, don’t expect to see Mdaka fighting for attention because he enjoys flying under the radar.

Residents, business and civic organisations say they are sick and tired of breathing in coal dust and sludge which covers their homes, cars and yards, causes respiratory problems, and has ruined roads and highways.

They are determined to push port authorities and municipal managers to get trucks carrying cargo which create dust or cause environmental contamination off the roads and onto the railways.

TNPA’s acting port manager Winnie Mpanza recently issued a directive stopping coal-laden trucks from entering or exiting the Port of Richards Bay’s east gate via Medway Road, following numerous complaints regarding infrastructure damage and environmental pollution.

“In the interest of the surrounding community, neighbouring businesses and port users at large, immediate intervention had to be adopted to mitigate and alleviate the issues at hand,” Mpanza said.

“This decision prioritises the interest of the surrounding community and neighbouring businesses for a clean environment.”

The directive comes after a complaint to the municipality by the Richards Bay Clean Air Association (RBCAA), a non-profit which operates a real-time ambient monitoring network that measures various pollutants including particulate matter (dust). The data is collated into monthly and annual reports and reported against not only South African standards but also World Health Organization guidelines.

“RBCAA was established in 1997 as a direct result of air quality concerns. Our monitoring data is available to the regulatory authorities who are legally mandated to enforce compliance. The data is also used to guide industry in taking corrective actions and implementing of mitigation measures should ambient guidelines be exceeded,” said Sandy Camminga from RBCAA.

She said there are well-documented health effects from the community as a result of dust issues in Richards Bay, which are not only confined to coal dust. Coal dust complaints started around 2020 when the parastatal started handling coal.

“Black dust became an issue and started impacting on the community when Transnet Port Terminals started handling coal, and with that came the influx of trucks due to Transnet’s inability to handle the coal via rail. While the trucks have destroyed our roads and contribute significantly to the coal dust pollution there is a greater cumulative issue when it comes to the black dust, which includes Back-of-Port facilities handling coal in open stockpiles.”

The sludge along the roads is ankle deep and heavy metal toxins cover everything around us from the grass to the trees and inside our homes. I have to clean multiple times a day, and you should see our pools when the wind blows in a certain direction.

Teri Nel, Arboretum resident

Camminga said in addition to the significant health impacts, coal dust contributes to environmental degradation as it settles on vegetation and enters wetlands and water systems in addition to “tearing up” our road infrastructure.

“This has been allowed to continue with no corrective actions being taken by any party until recently when the RBCAA submitted a formal complaint. The action that has subsequently been taken with regards to the Medway cleanup and closure to dirty cargo trucks is a small step in the right direction. We need to see the same collaborative efforts to address the cumulative issues.”

Arboretum resident Teri Nel, who has lived in Richard’s Bay for over 30 years and who initiated a petition, said the medical impact of chronic exposure to airborne coal dust has been well known and felt by residents over the years.

“The sludge along the roads is ankle deep and heavy metal toxins cover everything around us from the grass to the trees and inside our homes. I have to clean multiple times a day, and you should see our pools when the wind blows in a certain direction. It’s not only Alton which is the immediate suburb next to the port, it’s in every suburb.”

Nel said concerned ratepayers and business met with the uMhlathuze municipality officials and port authorities over law enforcement in this matter in July and a follow-up meeting was scheduled.

“There are wash bays in the port for the trucks but they choose not to use them. This wasn’t a problem when coal was transported by rail, which was ideal. But now with the trucks it is will be an issue of logistics companies losing out on millions. That’s money from someone’s pocket and corruption in how this sector works, but we are determined to push for this.”

Sheldon Cramer, who is part of a residents’ action committee, said they are frustrated by the municipality’s inaction and their constant fight with Transnet over the coal dust issue.

“We are aware the fight to go back to the rail is not without challenges given the millions that would be lost by logistics companies who have capitalised on the sabotage to rail resulting in trucks being used in the first place.

“There are unscrupulous role players involved here, but if there is continued pressure from ratepayers and business, governance and monitoring from the various state departments in ensuring health and environmental compliance is priority, then there is a chance of winning this war.”

TNPA said it redirected the trucks following complaints and, through collaborative efforts with uMhlathuze, embarked on a clean-up intervention at the port.

The parastatal said as part of its integrated logistics strategy to move cargo from road to rail, it has approved infrastructure projects ― one in final stages of execution and the second in the design phase ― aimed at improving rail capacity and efficiency within the Bayvue Railyard.

uMhlathuze deputy mayor Muzi Mtshali said: “Law enforcement must play its role in holding accountable those who break the law, particularly truck operators who transport coal without covering their loads and who park illegally on public roads.”

1977 — Club rugby is broadcast on South African TV for the first time, but the season-ending Grand Challenge contest between Maties and Villagers is marred by foul play with three players, including Springbok skipper Morne du Plessis, being ordered off the field. Maties forwards Schalk Burger and Flip van der Merwe were also given their marching orders by referee Mike Kessel. The Stellenbosch students were reduced to 13 players and Villagers 14, but Maties still won the match. All three players were suspended for two weeks, the bans kicking in at the start of the 1978 season. School headmaster Kessel, who had blown Currie Cup matches as well, retired after the match, although it was a decision he’d made months before.

1996 — Daryll Cullinan top-scores with 51 as the Proteas, bowled out for 169, falter against world champions Sri Lanka in a four-nations ODI tournament in Nairobi. Sanath Jayasuriya scored 45 off 30 balls to steer his team to victory by two wickets.

2007 — Jacques Kallis scores an unbeaten 118 on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan in Karachi. He was out for 155 the next day.

2016 — Flyhalf Morne Steyn kicks four penalties and two drops to give the Springboks an 18-10 victory over Australia in a Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld. The visitors scored the only try of the match through prop Scott Sio.

2016 — Johannesburg-born Jason Johannisen is awarded the Norm Smith medal for his role in the Western Bulldogs’ 89-67 victory over the Sydney Swans in the Aussie Rules grand final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, watched by a crowd of nearly 100,000. Johannisen emigrated to Australia with his family when he was eight.

2019 — Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits are the only batters to make double figures as the South African women are restricted to 89/7 to lose the fourth T20 against India in Surat by 51 runs.

2023 — The Springboks score seven tries as they beat Tonga 49-18 in their final World Cup group match in Marseille. Flyhalf Handré Pollard, making his return after a lengthy injury, converted the first four tries by Cobus Reinach, Canan Moodie, Deon Fourie and Jessie Kriel. Manie Libbok converted the last three tries by Willie le Roux, Marco van Staden and Kwagga Smith.

2023 — Marizanne Kapp scores 72 as the South African women, bowled out for 209, lose the third and final ODI against New Zealand at Kingsmead by six wickets.

2023 — Jaco Ahlers wins on the Asian Tour for the first time, carding a four-under-par 284 to take the Taiwan Masters by two shots.

Story audio is generated using AI

The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) suggests that creating a Municipal Manager’s Professional Council of South Africa could help cities like Johannesburg reduce poor administration.

According to a report from the think tank, the council would assess people who want to become municipal managers and hold them accountable if they do something wrong.

“This statutory body will be responsible for registering, certifying and disciplining of municipal administrative executives and for vetting candidates for senior municipal positions, while retaining the formal appointment role of elected councils,” reads the report.

The report said for cities like Johannesburg, there should be a clearer division in the institution, distinguishing between council, the political executive and the municipal administration.

It recommends a more stringent process for the appointment of a city manager, which must be transparent and merit based.

“We recommend a stronger delegated authority for the city manager over staffing and administrative decisions, restrictions on political office-bearers issuing operational instructions to officials and renewed five-year terms for appropriately qualified boards of municipal entities.”

The report was commissioned by the CDE to inform its policy series, Johannesburg Matters: Fixing South Africa’s Growth Engine.

Johannesburg Matters is a series of reports from CDE that sets out to provide analysis and recommendations that a reformed Johannesburg administration could implement after the November 4 local government elections.

The report sets the scene, describing Johannesburg as in crisis. It details failing infrastructure, unreliable water and electricity supply, a mounting maintenance backlog, deteriorating financial controls, a swelling wage bill, unstable coalitions and rapid mayoral turnover which it says has altogether eroded public confidence in the city’s ability to perform even its most basic functions.

We recommend a stronger delegated authority for the city manager over staffing and administrative decisions, restrictions on political office-bearers issuing operational instructions to officials and renewed five-year terms for appropriately qualified boards of municipal entities.

Centre for Development and Enterprise report

Penned by Ivor Chipkin, the report refers to accounts of the state of the city, including the mayor’s own 2026 state of the city address, which, he says, detail and register these symptoms.

“This working paper argues that the conventional diagnosis — that Johannesburg’s crisis is simply one of poor governance and weak leadership — is insufficient.”

He argues that the actual deeper problem is institutional and legal.

“The Municipal Systems Act vests the power to appoint the municipal manager and senior managers in the council, rather than in the administration itself, and permits the council to instruct any political office-bearer, councillor or staff member to perform municipal duties.

“The effect is that a genuinely autonomous, professional municipal administration which is insulated from party political control has rarely been able to emerge in Johannesburg.”

He argues that where it has existed, its autonomy has been discretionary and performative, present only for as long as the governing party chooses to act as though it exists.

“Since the onset of coalition governments in 2016, this fragile arrangement has been steadily hollowed out. Municipal utilities and departments have become the spoils of coalition bargaining, driving high turnover among boards and executives, a marked decline in technical skills, and, directly, Johannesburg’s chronic billing failures and deepening fiscal distress.”

Chipkin believes that the crisis of the City of Johannesburg relates institutionally to the failure to allow the sphere of administration to emerge in its own right.

“This is both a legal and political issue, which itself speaks to how local government policymakers in the 1990s, like those developing the Public Service Act of 1994, were deeply suspicious of administrations inherited from the apartheid government, and how they deliberately blurred the lines between political and administrative roles.”

In the report, the CDE examines the legal foundations of what Chipkin calls a metropolitan patronage system.

“It shows how the Municipal Systems Act (MSA) gives municipal councils decisive influence over the appointment of the municipal manager and senior managers directly accountable to that office.

“The law, moreover, blurs the boundary between political authority and administrative execution by allowing councils to define roles, allocate responsibilities and instruct political office-bearers, councillors or staff members to perform municipal duties. The result is not the disappearance of administration as a legal category, but its weakening as a distinct sphere governed by professional norms.”

Chipkin explains that a defining feature of a civil service system is that appointments are governed by objective rules rather than by the discretionary authority of politicians or political parties.

“Where public employment, promotion and associated benefits are allocated through political or personal discretion, the administration is more accurately described as a patronage system.

“In such systems, access to office is mediated by actors such as legislatures, political parties, unions, or economic and social elites, rather than by merit-based procedures.”

The establishment of the CDE proposed Municipal Managers’ Professional Council of South Africa would be a statutory professional council with SAQA-recognised professional designations.

Story audio is generated using AI

A month after 51 Putco buses were torched at three depots in KwaNdebele, Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni approached the bus company with an unsolicited offer to buy its whole fleet.

The timing of the interest came under intense scrutiny at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday, as Sibanyoni faced questions about his dealings with the taxi industry and Putco in the area.

Sibanyoni, who has been accused of extorting businesses operating in Kwaggafontein, denied any involvement in the attacks on Putco.

The commission heard that the torching of the buses on January 27 2025 came about a year after Sibanyoni had met President Cyril Ramaphosa and minerals and energy minister Gwede Mantashe. During that meeting in January 2024, Sibanyoni raised concerns about the red tape he said was preventing local businesses from getting opportunities to work with the bus company.

“When you find someone wanting to interfere with Putco business, you must know it is us. Don’t put red tapes [sic],” Sibanyoni told the meeting.

On Wednesday, he told the commission that at the time they were “engaging” Putco over a proposal that would see 30% of the work going to local businesses.

The 30% local procurement requirement formed part of the government’s preferential procurement framework aimed at creating opportunities for local and designated groups through subcontracting.

For nine months, the bus company operations in KwaNdebele came under sustained pressure.

The commission heard that Putco recorded more than 350 incidents between October 2024 and January 2025, in which its buses were allegedly blocked from operating by taxi operators. Bus drivers were subjected to constant intimidation.

Sibanyoni distanced himself from the attacks, pointing to the registration numbers of the taxis captured in video footage presented to the commission. He said the taxis in the footage were registered in Mpumalanga, while his taxis carried Gauteng and Limpopo registration numbers.

Then on January 27 2025, Putco suffered a major blow when 51 buses were torched at three of its KwaNdebele depots in one night.

A video flighted at the commission showed that it took the criminals less than 10 minutes to hold security guards at gunpoint at Putco’s Moloto depot in Mpumalanga and torch 16 buses.

One of the attackers is seen carrying a can of flammable liquid, which is then sprayed over the buses before they are set alight. The liquid was sprayed from about 11.38pm, with smoke becoming visible by 11.41pm. Seven minutes later, the CCTV camera was engulfed in smoke, obscuring the scene.

In the minutes that followed, several people were seen desperately pushing cars parked inside the depot towards the street in an effort to save them.

Again, Sibanyoni denied any involvement.

But just 36 hours after fire attacks, Sibanyoni sent a text message to his associate, Bafana Sindane, saying he wanted to purchase Putco buses via bank financing.

In his supplementary statement, Sibanyoni went further, suggesting that the possibility that Putco had torched its own buses should be investigated.

“It is a distinct possibility, and indeed, a matter that should be formally investigated and interrogated with serious precision,” he said.

Sibanyoni claimed there was a prevailing theory that Putco had torched its own buses in connection with labour and industry disputes at the time. But chief evidence leader Adv Matthew Chaskalson dismissed this suggestion, saying there was no recorded labour dispute prior to the incident.

A month after the fire attacks, Taxichoice, whose executives included Sibanyoni and directors of several taxi organisations, approached Putco with a written offer to buy the bus company. They also intended a buy-in into Putco contracts with other companies.

Sibanyoni was appointed as a director of Taxichoice in the same month of operators approaching Putco.

I differ with your findings, and if you understand it differently, it’s unfortunate.

Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni

Putco, however, raised concerns about the timing of the approach, telling the taxi operators that the company was not on the market.

However, it said any bona fide interested party would have to meet stringent financial conditions before any further discussions could take place. These included a non-refundable R100m deposit to Putco shareholders and a minimum R2bn cash guarantee from a reputable finance house accredited by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.

Putco said only once these conditions had been met, would any further process be considered.

The chronology of events prompted Chaskalson to question whether the attacks on Putco had followed difficulties in securing the proposed 30% local stake and whether they were intended to pressure the company into selling.

Sibanyoni rejected the suggestion.

“I differ with your findings, and if you understand it differently, it’s unfortunate,” he said.

The sale never materialised.

The commission also heard about a separate exchange between Sibanyoni and his associate Sindane involving an internal SAPS report into the murder of Sgt MM Lekalakala near the Mabopane Putco depot.

Sibanyoni was questioned about why Sindane would have sent him the internal police report, which was headlined, “Organised crime investigation unit under Lekalakala”. He said he didn’t know why Sindane had done so, and that there were lots of messages being circulated among taxi operators.

Story audio is generated using AI

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address on the murders of women has raised varied reactions from experts as they welcomed the address but also warned that government must now move beyond promises and show measurable action.

Women for Change founder and GBV activist Sabrina Walter said government needs to provide clear funding, timelines and measurable outcomes for the interventions announced by the president.

Walter welcomed the president’s acknowledgement that government had not done enough in recent years, but said women could not be protected by speeches alone.

She questioned why it has taken months for Ramaphosa to address the country with urgency on GBV after it was declared a national disaster in November 2025.

Walter also questioned whether measures such as cutting grass and repairing streetlights would protect women who face violence inside their own homes.

She said survivors need to be able to report domestic violence without being dismissed or turned away, while high-risk accused perpetrators should be subjected to proper risk assessments.

Walter also raised concerns about South Africa’s DNA backlog and called for government to publish current and detailed crime statistics relating to women and children.

“Without reliable data, where does the government’s response even begin?” she said.

She called for quarterly public reports showing arrests, prosecutions, convictions, forensic turnaround times and the number of stalled cases that had progressed.

Walter said prevention also needs to start much earlier, including education in schools about consent, equality and healthy relationships.

“Boys and men must be actively included in prevention programmes and harmful attitudes must be addressed before they escalate into violence,” she said.

Sonke Gender Justice welcomed Ramaphosa’s acknowledgement that measures taken over the past seven years had not been enough.

The organisation also welcomed his rejection of approaches that restrict women’s freedom or place responsibility for male violence on women.

Sonke Gender Justice said its response was one of cautious concern, as many of the issues raised by Ramaphosa were not new.

Investigating cases, processing forensic evidence and repairing unsafe public spaces are necessary, but they do not constitute a comprehensive prevention strategy.

Sonke Gender Justice

The organisation said the measures announced could make a difference if they were implemented urgently, properly resourced and backed by clear accountability.

But it warned that the response remained heavily focused on what happens after violence has already occurred.

“Investigating cases, processing forensic evidence and repairing unsafe public spaces are necessary, but they do not constitute a comprehensive prevention strategy,” the organisation said.

GBVF expert and media advocate Cameron Kasambala said the president’s address showed that government was considering a range of interventions, including strengthening the police response and dealing with cold cases.

However, she questioned how government would measure whether each intervention was working.

She said the scale of the GBV crisis meant government could not simply introduce several initiatives without ensuring that each one was properly implemented.

Kasambala said poor follow-through, a lack of analysis and inadequate auditing could contribute to backlogs and discrepancies.

She said government needed to show the public how it would track and analyse progress.

“So while the plan is great and the initiatives sound fantastic and we are hearing good things in words, how are we going to track and analyse it?” she asked.

Institute for Security Studies consultant Willem Els said reopening cold cases could lead to breakthroughs as police make use of improved forensic technology.

“Every case is unique and some cases you get an early break depending on the evidence gathered and the dynamics around the case,” he said.

Els also warned that an arrest should not be seen as the end of an investigation.

Els said the number of arrests should not be the only measure of police success. He raised concerns about suspects being released shortly after arrest because investigators lacked the capacity to build strong cases.

“A very big percentage of those people are walking free within 48 hours because the police just don’t have the capacity to successfully investigate it,” he said.

He said criminals and gangs watch how police operate and could take advantage of weaknesses.

Els said advances in forensic technology could give police another opportunity to examine evidence that was collected years ago.

“The technology that we have today in forensics are way, way, way better than the technology we had 10 or 15 years ago,” he said.

Els also called for experienced retired detectives to be brought back on contract to help current investigators. He said senior detectives should mentor and guide investigators dealing with complex cases.

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) National Gender Structure also welcomed Ramaphosa’s four-point plan and urged community members, including nurses, to participate in municipal safety audits within 60 days.

The organisation said the audits should identify unsafe areas, broken streetlights, unsafe routes and poorly secured parks and cemeteries.

It said prioritising forensic cases and removing bottlenecks could help speed up cases going to court.

Amnesty International South Africa executive director Shenilla Mohamed said women and communities were still dealing with a lack of trust in the police.

“Improving the quality and efficiency of investigations is crucial for ensuring successful prosecutions.”

Mohamed said police also need to treat survivors with respect and dignity when they report cases.

She called for adequate resources, investigator training, stronger forensic capacity and action to address the DNA backlog.

Mohamed said Amnesty had taken note of Ramaphosa’s announcement but believed the measures came too late.

“These are not new issues and as a country we have been talking about ways to tackle the high numbers of GBVF, especially since 2019 when women took to the streets to protest, and yet here we are again in the face of continued attacks against women,” she said.

She said the timelines announced by Ramaphosa would only matter if they resulted in action and consequences for those who failed to act.

Mohamed said municipal safety audits should be made public.

“Municipalities cannot be allowed to ignore their obligations to make public spaces safer for women, and there must be consequences where they fail to do so,” she said.

She also called for femicide to be recognised as a specific crime in South African law.

“Femicide constitutes the most extreme form of violence against women and the most violent manifestation of the discrimination and inequality women face,” Mohamed said.

She said criminalising femicide alone would not stop the killings, but could provide another tool to hold the state accountable.

Public finance expert Matshidiso Lencoasa said South Africa’s strong laws and policies on GBV meant little if government did not provide enough money to implement them.

“Some of these policies seem like promises to our country, but to the people and women in our country, they are set up to fail because they’re not invested in. There are no resources to back them,” Lencoasa said.

She said shelters for survivors were among the programmes being affected by funding constraints and called for GBV to be treated as a whole-of-government response, with departments such as health, justice and police receiving dedicated allocations.

Lencoasa said the upcoming medium-term budget would be an important test, with the public needing to see where the money was going and whether parliament and communities would be able to monitor how it was spent.

That confusion matters because it changes the function of a trade union federation. A federation exists to organise workers as workers: across party, workplace, sector, region and ideological difference. Once party loyalty becomes the implied measure of class authenticity, the union ceases to be a broad instrument of worker power and risks becoming an auxiliary of factional politics.

This is not academic hair-splitting. Cosatu was born in December 1985 out of difficult unity talks among anti-apartheid unions. Its founding principles — non-racialism, worker control, trade union democracy, industrial unionism, organisational independence and international solidarity — were practical answers to apartheid’s fragmentation of workers. Its organising slogan, “one union, one industry; one country, one federation”, was a strategy for unity, not a demand for ideological sameness.

Contemporary attempts to define the “real” worker by party preference should therefore be resisted. They do not sharpen class politics; they impoverish it. They move debate from material conditions to political belonging, from organisation to suspicion, and from persuasion to discipline.

The labour movement has always contained workers of different political persuasions. What unites them is not the colour of a party T-shirt, but a common condition: dependence on wages, exposure to exploitation and the need for collective power to defend dignity at work and in society.

What Cosatu’s founding tradition actually demands

The Cosatu constitution commits the federation to a unified, democratic South Africa free from oppression and economic exploitation. It speaks of a united working class — not a politically identical one, and not one belonging to a single party. The word is united.

That unity was forged against a system that divided workers by race, geography, skill, workplace and legal status. To reproduce division through ideological tests betrays the organisational wisdom that built the federation.

This does not mean Cosatu has been ideologically empty, far from it. The federation has carried a powerful socialist impulse, rooted in workers’ lived experience and in the struggle against capitalism and apartheid. But there is a difference between being influenced by socialist thought and constitutionally imposing Marxism-Leninism as a membership test.

A trade union federation must be broad enough to organise every worker who is exploited, underpaid, casualised, retrenched, victimised or denied a voice at work. If it is reduced to those who accept a particular ideological label, collective bargaining weakens, workplace unity fractures, and employers receive the greatest gift of all: divided workers.

Class is not a ballot paper

Class is not a ballot paper or a party card. It refers to a person’s relationship to production, ownership and labour. Workers are workers because they sell their labour power and depend on wages for survival. Their location in the economy does not change with each election cycle.

A teacher who supports the ANC remains a worker. A mineworker who supports the SACP remains a worker. A nurse, farmworker, security guard or municipal employee who votes for another formation remains a worker. Wages, debts, school fees, working conditions and exposure to exploitation do not disappear because of an electoral choice.

Cosatu has every right to take political positions. A federation that refuses to speak about power, unemployment, austerity, public services, industrialisation and the political direction of the country would be failing workers. Neutrality in the face of exploitation is not independence; it is surrender.

Of course, workers can make choices that do not advance their long-term interests. That is precisely why political education matters. But there is a difference between analysing political choices and declaring workers outside the class because they disagree with a preferred party line. The first is education. The second is intimidation.

No serious union leader should accept this. Our task is not to declassify workers who disagree with us politically. It is to organise, educate, persuade and unite them around shared material interests.

Political education must persuade, not police

Political education is one of the labour movement’s finest traditions. At its best, it helps workers understand power, exploitation, history and the economy. It gives language to what workers already experience at work and in their communities. But it must persuade; it must not police.

Marx’s famous call was not “workers of my faction, unite”. It was “workers of all countries, unite”. Its enduring power lies precisely in its breadth. It appeals to workers as a class, not as members of a particular political organisation.

This distinction is vital. Serious political education connects lived experience to the economy, the state, capital accumulation and public policy. It asks why wages stagnate, why public services deteriorate, why municipalities collapse, why unemployment remains high and why workers carry the burden of fiscal and economic failure. It does not begin by demanding party loyalty.

A union leader must therefore resist the temptation to use ideology as a stick. The task is to build disciplined, democratic and class-conscious organisations that can bargain, mobilise, defend rights and shape public policy. That requires political clarity, but also patience, democratic debate and respect for the agency of workers.

The South African tradition was always broad

Socialist currents, national liberation struggles, community struggles, civic movements, churches, student organisations and workplace battles shaped the South African labour movement. It was never a narrow procession of ideologically identical people marching behind a single text. Its strength came from its ability to unite diverse social forces around a common struggle against apartheid, exploitation and oppression.

Joe Slovo understood this danger. His reflections on socialism, democracy and dogmatism did not shrink the working class into a sect. They insisted that socialist politics must be rooted in democratic practice, mass participation and broad popular organisation.

That lesson matters now. When worker unity is reduced to party loyalty, socialism is not strengthened; its organising base is weakened. Employers do not ask which party a worker supports before retrenching them. Inflation does not require a membership card before eroding wages. A collapsing municipality does not distinguish between ANC, SACP, or non-aligned workers when services fail, transport breaks down and households struggle to survive.

Cosatu’s alliance politics must not become membership exclusion

Cosatu has every right to take political positions. A federation that refuses to speak about power, unemployment, austerity, public services, industrialisation and the political direction of the country would be failing workers. Neutrality in the face of exploitation is not independence; it is surrender.

But a political position is not a membership filter. The alliance tradition, at its best, requires debate, contestation and principled engagement. It should not become an instruction that workers must think, vote and speak alike before their class identity is recognised. Such a move would weaken Cosatu’s organisational independence and its credibility among workers who experience exploitation directly, even when they express their politics differently.

The real test is whether we can organise the whole class

The future of organised labour will not be secured by ideological gatekeeping. It will depend on whether unions can organise precarious workers, defend public services, rebuild workplace democracy, protect collective bargaining, confront unemployment, resist corruption and insist that economic policy serve the many rather than the few. These are the conditions for restoring labour’s social weight in a fragmented economy.

That work demands a Cosatu that is politically conscious but organisationally broad; principled but democratic; historically grounded but not confined by factional certainties. It requires a federation able to argue for its politics with confidence while embracing workers at different points of political development, including those who make different electoral choices.

A union movement worthy of its history must be confident enough to debate workers, not fear their views. It must trust that workers can be persuaded through struggle, evidence and experience. It must never tell ordinary members that their pain is real only if their vote is correct.

Cosatu’s historic mission is to unite workers in their diversity. Teachers, nurses, mineworkers, municipal employees, security guards, farmworkers, retail workers and all wage earners need a federation that recognises their common condition and builds their collective power. They do not need a federation that first asks them to pass a partisan examination.

Cosatu’s enduring test is whether it can remain the broad house of labour in an era of political volatility, social fragmentation and economic insecurity. Its task is not to narrow that house through partisan suspicion. It is to keep its doors open, its politics honest, its democracy alive and its unity anchored in the lived realities of workers. That is not political weakness. It is the condition for rebuilding working-class power.

Dr Mugwena Maluleke is the president of Education International and the general secretary of Sadtu

Story audio is generated using AI

After years of progress in reducing HIV among farm workers in Hoedspruit, health workers are raising concerns about the number of young jobseekers testing positive for the virus during the agricultural recruitment season.

The concerns come as South Africa continues to carry the world’s largest HIV burden. UNAIDS estimates that about 7.8-million people were living with HIV in South Africa in 2024, with about 6-million receiving antiretroviral treatment.

Despite the scale of the epidemic, the country has made significant progress. The Human Sciences Research Council’s latest national household HIV survey found that HIV prevalence across all ages declined from 14% in 2017 to 12.7% in 2022. However, the survey estimated that about 232,400 people acquired HIV in 2022, showing that transmission remains a major public health challenge.

At Hlokomela Clinic, which serves farm workers, seasonal labourers and surrounding communities in the Limpopo farming town, staff say some of the new HIV diagnoses are among young people aged between 20 and 35 who arrive looking for seasonal work, including workers travelling from neighbouring Mpumalanga.

Speaking to the Sunday Times during a visit to the clinic on Wednesday, Hlokomela operations manager Antoinette Ngwenya said the trend was particularly noticeable when farms began recruiting hundreds of seasonal workers.

“Towards the end of October, the farmers start telling us that they need us to do medical pre-employment examinations for the new employees who are coming in. Most of them are young people between the ages of 20 and 35,” Ngwenya said.

She said many of the young people testing positive came from Mpumalanga.

“During the farming season, you find that with the pre-employment [screening] of 200 or 300 people, by the end of the week you find that 15 are HIV-positive. So it feels like we are going back to what was happening 20 years ago,” she said.

Ngwenya said unemployment, alcohol and substance abuse were among the social factors the organisation believed could increase vulnerability among some young people.

The concern comes despite significant progress in reducing the burden of HIV among farm workers in the area.

During the farming season, you find that with the pre-employment [screening] of 200 or 300 people, by the end of the week you find that 15 are HIV-positive. So it feels like we are going back to what was happening 20 years ago.

Hlokomela operations manager Antoinette Ngwenya

Hlokomela was established in 2005 in response to research highlighting a critical need for healthcare among farm workers and other vulnerable communities in the Hoedspruit area. It started with four employees and about 50 patients living with HIV.

Research conducted in Hoedspruit in 2008 found an HIV prevalence of 29% among farm workers. A subsequent evaluation conducted in 2018 found prevalence had fallen to 6.3%. Hlokomela says the earlier research also identified young farm workers, particularly unmarried women, as especially vulnerable to HIV infection.

Today, the clinic conducts about 1,700 HIV tests a month and provides treatment to about 2,000 people living with HIV, according to Ngwenya.

She said the situation was vastly different when Hlokomela began its work two decades ago, when HIV prevalence among farm workers was high and many people did not know their status.

“Back then farm workers had multiple partners. We discovered that supervisors were hiring people through transactional sex. Most of them passed on as they were HIV-positive and in denial,” Ngwenya said.

Hlokomela subsequently introduced HIV education, testing, prevention and treatment programmes aimed at farm workers and other vulnerable communities.

The concerns about young workers arriving from Mpumalanga are significant against the backdrop of the province’s HIV burden.

The Human Sciences Research Council’s Sixth South African HIV Prevalence, Incidence and Behaviour Survey found that Mpumalanga had the highest provincial HIV prevalence in the country in 2022, at 17.4%, representing an estimated 890,000 people living with HIV.

Among young people aged 15 to 24 in Mpumalanga, prevalence was 7.8%. In an unusual pattern, prevalence among young men in this age group was 9.8%, compared with 6.3% among young women. Among adults aged 25 to 49, prevalence stood at 26.4%.

The survey also found HIV prevalence of 21.1% among people living in rural formal or farm areas in Mpumalanga, compared with 18.4% in rural informal areas and 15.5% in urban areas, although the HSRC said the differences by locality were not statistically significant.

While Mpumalanga has made progress in treatment —antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage increased from 65.4% in 2017 to 81.8% in 2022 — younger people continued to lag behind. ART use among people living with HIV aged 15 to 24 stood at 56.4%, compared with 83.9% among those aged 25 to 49.

Kgopotso Manamela, one of Hlokomela’s managers, said another challenge was getting some migrant workers diagnosed with HIV to start or remain on treatment.

She said staff sometimes encountered resistance from people from neighbouring countries, including Zimbabwe and Zambia.

“Some will tell you to go open a case against them, but they won’t take any HIV treatment,” Manamela said.

She said religious and cultural beliefs could also become barriers to treatment.

“Another challenge is people hiding behind their religion or beliefs when they don’t want to take HIV medication,” she said.

The supercar was in the process of being sold by Special Investigating Unit (SIU)-appointed curator Jacobus Gideon Louw van Wyk, who was granted an order by the Special Tribunal last month to sell the car. The vehicle formed part of properties attached in the probe into the alleged looting of Tembisa Hospital.

Now Maumela has approached the high court in Pretoria in an urgent application to stop the sale from going ahead.

In his founding affidavit, Maumela, in his capacity as a trustee of the MHR Maumela Family Trust, argued that the curator was in process of selling the vehicle, ignoring the trust’s leave to appeal the Special Tribunal’s August ruling.

“It was after the Notice of Appeal had been lodged and served that the applicant’s [trust] attorneys were, for the first time, informed by the first respondent’s [curator’s] attorneys on 18 August 2026 at 17h03 that the vehicle had already been sold ... for R9.6m,” Maumela stated.

He is appealing to the high court to slam the brakes on the sale and the process to transfer the blue supercar.

Maumela also stated that he had immediately indicated his intention to appeal the tribunal’s decision which allowed the sale “before the ink could dry” on the order.

Maumela accused the curator of having acted in bad faith “by giving an undertaking” to sell the vehicle while the appeal was still pending.

The matter was orally argued on Tuesday and the court was expected to make its decision soon.

The Ferrari was bought for R11.1m in April 2022 but has lost more than R1m in value.

The Special Tribunal in Johannesburg authorised the curator to sell the vehicle for no less than R9.5m. The proceeds must be kept in a trust account and may be used only with the approval of the SIU.

Judge Bernard Ngoepe of the Special Tribunal had ruled the sale was justified because the vehicle was incurring significant insurance, storage and maintenance costs while continuing to depreciate.

“There’s no question of the vehicle appreciating to sufficiently cover insurance and storage costs,” the August judgment said, noting that insurance costs were about R100,000 a year and storage was R5,000 a month. The vehicle would also require the reinstatement of its warranty at a cost of about R408,000.

The tribunal had also noted that two valuations had been obtained, placing the Ferrari’s value at R10.2m and R10.15m respectively. There was also already a R10.9m offer from a Gauteng motor dealership to buy the car.

The Ferrari is among a fleet of high-value vehicles attached as part of the SIU’s investigation into alleged corruption and the looting of about R2bn at Tembisa Hospital.

Maumela is an alleged mastermind and chief beneficiary in the tender scam that saw the hospital looted through tender fraud.

Other supercars attached in the investigation include:

• a Lamborghini Huracan STO, valued at about R8.1m;
• a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, worth about R8.8m;
• a Lamborghini Urus, valued at about R5m; and
• a Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae Coupé, worth about R9m.

Several Aston Martins, Ferraris and a Bentley are also subject to the preservation order, which was granted in October last year.

The SIU has also attached eight properties with a combined estimated value of around R175m.

Business Day reported in August that the South African Revenue Service had slapped Maumela’s mother, Mboneni Benedicta Maumela, with R39.9m in new assessments, including penalties and interest, regarding the 2017 to 2023 tax years.