The Transport Department deployed over 800 national traffic cops for the holiday season to crack down on dangerous driving across South Africa. Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa announced the massive operation at a safety event on the N3 highway, and teams have already set up more than 458 roadblocks since early December. Two deadly crashes on a single Friday killed 12 people, which shows why the heightened enforcement matters right now.
Early numbers look decent, with crashes and deaths down 30% compared to last year during the same period. The Road Traffic Management Corporation reported 213 fatal wrecks and 249 deaths in the first nine days of this month. High-risk highways like the N1, N2, N3, and the sketchy Moloto Road are getting...
Transnet National Ports Authority locked down a 25-year deal with WASAA CEF SOC Ltd to construct and operate a massive liquefied petroleum gas terminal at Durban's Island View Precinct. The R1.4 billion facility will handle 50,000 cubic meters of LPG storage and pump out 800 cubic meters per hour when it opens by late 2027, serving KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape with cleaner energy alternatives.
TNPA Board Chairperson Tshokolo Nchocho hyped up the partnership as a transformation play that brings together a black-owned, black-women-led operator and a state energy company. About 51% of the project work goes to businesses run by black owners, women, youth, and people with disabilities. WASAA Gases founder Nokwande Qonde said the...
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina called out board members at Amatola Water Board and Magalies Water Board for taking R3.7 million in unauthorized payments over three years. The Amatola crew grabbed R2.8 million while Magalies members pocketed around R960,000, and all of this went down without ministerial approval for extra meeting attendance beyond the allowed six sessions per year.
The minister discovered the sketchy payments earlier this year and fired off warnings to water sector entities about seeking retroactive approvals. Board members were billing for additional meetings at rates up to R1,240 per hour for chairpersons, with some raking in massive sums while communities struggled with dry taps and failing...
People living in Matzikama Municipality are dealing with nasty brown tap water that smells terrible, and residents stormed council chambers after getting fed up with officials saying the sketchy-looking liquid is totally safe to drink. Mayor Johan van der Hoven showed up but refused to commit to actual fixes, which made everyone even more pissed off. Towns like Vredendal and Vanrhynsdorp have been dealing with rusty pipes and low reservoir levels that turn their drinking water into something resembling mud.
The municipality claims natural sediment and old infrastructure cause the discoloration, but locals say their kids are getting stomach problems from using it. Power cuts hit ten towns recently when prepaid meters got installed, and...
A temple construction project went sideways when a four-story addition collapsed at the New Ahobilam Temple of Protection in Redcliffe near Verulam, and rescue crews pulled four bodies from the wreckage after workers got buried under concrete slabs. The building gave out during a concrete pour, trapping multiple people underneath the debris, while survivors sent voice messages from their phones to help rescuers find them. Officials confirmed the structure had zero approved building plans, which has everyone questioning how oversight failed this badly.
Premier Thami Ntuli showed up to check out the damage, and Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson promised a full investigation into what caused the failure. Eleven injured people made it...
South Africa's air traffic control outfit just told travelers their systems are locked in for the holiday crush after some gnarly delays earlier this year when outdated instrument flight procedures left planes sitting on tarmacs at spots like OR Tambo International. ATNS spokesperson Mphilo Dlamini said the company fixed the flight procedure maps that help pilots navigate through bad weather, and most airports got fresh updates to keep operations smooth when traffic spikes.
The agency is running the same playbook they used for the G20 summit, with real-time weather monitoring and flow management to space out takeoffs if conditions get sketchy. ATNS partnered up with ACSA and regional airports to coordinate traffic handling during the...
The Sharks grabbed a scrappy win against the Saracens at Kings Park Stadium in Durban under interim coach JP Pietersen, pulling off a 28-23 result despite rain turning the pitch into a slip-and-slide. Siya Kolisi punched in an early try before flyhalf George Whitehead nailed four conversions, and the home squad outlasted a late comeback attempt by the English side.
Saracens hooker Theo Dan got binned for a no-arms tackle, which let the Sharks extend their lead through Grant Williams. The visitors clawed back through Angus Hall but could not finish the job after losing scrums all night.
Whitehead hit clutch kicks from the touchline, while Ethan Hooker broke tackles to set up the deciding score. The result puts the Sharks back in...
Laptop makers are getting absolutely wrecked by memory shortages, and some research firm says the industry might start pushing 8-gigabyte configurations as the new normal to keep supply chains from completely falling apart. Dell has apparently been tacking on hundreds of extra dollars for upgrades, and the whole situation could get way worse heading into the middle of next year.
Companies like Lenovo coasted through most of this year on stockpiled RAM chips, but their inventories are running dry. The mid-range laptop segment will probably see more base-model machines shipping with minimal memory as manufacturers try stretching their DRAM supplies further.
Microsoft set 16 gigs as the floor for Copilot PCs, but developers might need to...
Google's Tensor G6 chip is apparently stealing some moves from MediaTek's Dimensity 9500 after getting completely dunked on in benchmark tests. The upcoming processor will ditch one efficiency core for an extra performance core while switching to brand-new ARM Cortex-X930 and Cortex-A730 designs instead of using ancient silicon that shipped back in 2023.
The shift from a one-plus-five-plus-two layout to one-plus-six-plus-one should help the chip actually compete when it drops on TSMC's 2nm process. MediaTek proved you can boost performance by cutting down on low-power cores, and Google finally seems to be learning that lesson.
The company is still shooting itself in the foot by downgrading to an older GPU than what shipped in the...
