News

Heavy rain a few weeks ago in some areas of the Little Karoo and across the Gouritz catchment has helped boost dam levels. Some areas surrounding the water stressed town of Ladismith in the Western Cape saw dramatic improvements almost overnight. Gerhard Otto is the Head of Disaster Management at the Garden Route District Municipality. “We really didn’t expect the …

Felista Njoki hasn’t heard from her husband since last October. Samuel Mwaura is one of more than 1,000 Kenyans – according to an intelligence report – recruited to fight for Russia in its war on Ukraine. “He’s a family man, he likes to call.” Njoki said Mwaura used to call four or five times a day to speak to her …

South African National Defence Force  (SANDF) Major General Siphiwe Sangweni says the behaviour of soldiers during their deployment inside South African borders to assist police is guided by the code of conduct. He was briefing the Joint Standing Committee on Defence on the conduct of SANDF members during deployment. Soldiers will be deployed in Gauteng, the Eastern and the Western …

Security Strategist and retired Interpol Ambassador Andy Mashaile says it’s never too late to bring to book former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major General Johan Booysen and his former colleagues to answer for their alleged hidden past atrocities. The members of the Cato Manor Violent Crime Unit have been accused of killing members of the Kwa- Maphumulo Taxi Association between 2008 …

The US Justice Department released FBI records on Thursday that summarize interviews of an unidentified woman in which she made accusations against President Donald Trump related to an alleged sexual encounter. FBI agents interviewed the woman four times in 2019 as part of their investigation into accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The Justice Department had previously released a log confirming …

Residents in the Western suburbs and parts of the Northern areas of Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) in the Eastern Cape, are continuing to face ongoing water outages, leaving many households without reliable access to water for the past two weeks. Bonke Mvimbi says the intermittent supply has disrupted daily life, forcing him to rely on water tankers and bottled water …

Gafcon chooses leadership council instead of a male rival to female Archbishop of Canterbury The homophobic faction of the 95-million-member Anglican Communion that broke away in 2008 over acceptance of same-sex marriage and LGBTQ clergy has dropped a plan to elect a male alternative in opposition to Sarah Mullally, whose installation as the first female  Archbishop of Canterbury is scheduled for …

On Thursday, former African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament (MP) Vincent Smith was sentenced to seven years by the High Court in Johannesburg. This is after reaching a plea and sentence agreement with the state. Smith pleaded guilty to several charges, including corruption and fraud. However, he is not the only former MP that was sentenced in a court …

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has promised to release the first accommodation funding for 2026 next week Friday. Some student accommodation providers have expressed frustration with delays in payments for students they are housing. Some of the landlords also want the financial aid scheme to pay their historical debt. NSFAS Acting CEO Waseem Carrim says they are open …

South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Major General Siphiwe Sangweni says the deployment of the soldiers inside the country is both authorised by the Constitution and relevant legislation. General Sangweni says President Cyril Ramaphosa as SANDF Commander In Chief is permitted to invoke this piece of legislation when necessary. National Defence Force top brass were briefing Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee …