South Africa's science minister told a packed forum in Pretoria that African countries need to stop letting foreign donors decide what gets researched on the continent. Blade Nzimande said the donor money usually comes with strings attached that push projects that don't actually solve local problems around food security or climate adaptation. He wants African governments to pool cash and build their research networks instead of waiting for handouts from the West.
The minister laid out a plan to beef up labs and data centers while fixing how math and science get taught in public schools. He also called out the brain drain problem, where talented scientists bail for better gigs overseas because wages and working conditions are trash back...
Chief Justice Mandisa Maya dropped two annual reports about how the courts are doing, and the justice department says they're gonna use the info to figure out how to make things run better. She became the first woman in that top job and laid out some rough numbers showing regional criminal courts barely kept pace with new cases coming in, while only six superior courts managed to get most of their reserved judgments out within three months.
Complaints against judges jumped hard over the past few years, with 132 filed in the latest period, which has people worried about whether the public trusts the system. Maya said backlogs are hitting family law and business disputes because of pandemic delays and not enough staff. The government and...
South African roads turn into death traps every holiday season, and the government is begging people to chill out with the reckless driving before more families get wrecked. Last festive period saw over 1,500 deaths from crashes, which works out to like 30 people dying daily because someone drove drunk or forgot their car needs brakes that actually work. Transport Minister Barbara Creecy pointed out that Easter campaigns actually showed results, with crashes dropping by a third when cops patrolled harder, and communities got involved.
The AARTO demerit system was supposed to start enforcing penalties this December, but got pushed to mid-2026 because law enforcement needs more training. Recent tragedies like the Limpopo bus crash that...
The former Road Accident Fund boss is refusing to show up for parliamentary hearings and says the whole thing breaks the rules. Collins Letsoalo told reporters his legal team sent letters demanding lawmakers back off or face court action, claiming the public accounts committee has zero business investigating stuff like his bodyguard situation. He says that kind of oversight falls under a different committee.
Lawmakers are looking into wild spending at the fund, with allegations pointing to armored vehicles worth millions and crazy fuel bills while Letsoalo ran things. He pushed back hard, saying security threats were legit and backed by intelligence agencies, though the committee chair says those agencies deny ever clearing him. The...
Nedbank cut a check for 600 million rand to Transnet after getting dragged into some sketchy interest rate swap deals that had Gupta fingerprints all over them. The logistics company said those transactions from back in the day ended up costing them around 3.4 billion extra in interest payments, with a firm called Regiments Capital pocketing hundreds of millions in fees for setting everything up. The bank said they did nothing wrong but paid up anyway to end the lawsuit and keep their business relationship with Transnet going.
Transnet has been chasing down money lost during the whole state capture mess and has recovered over 4 billion rand through various settlements and legal wins. The swap drama got flagged during the Zondo...
Standard Bank just became the first African lender to plug straight into China's payment network called CIPS, which lets them move money in yuan without touching US dollars. The setup means companies trading between Africa and China can skip the middleman currency and save up to 30 percent on fees while getting their cash way faster, sometimes in minutes instead of days.
The bank got its license earlier this year and is leaning on its partnership with ICBC, which has owned a chunk of Standard Bank since way back in 2007. Trade between the continents hit over 4.5 trillion rand last year, and this direct payment channel could be massive for exporters and smaller businesses that get hammered by conversion costs. Analysts think other...
Pretoria mayor Nasiphi Moya had cops shut down a bar called Ipi Ntombi after finding out Chinese nationals were running it as a full-blown brothel. Sex workers were getting charged a thousand bucks weekly just to rent rooms there, and officials found cash hidden under beds during the raid. The place had a literal price list posted up with different services going from 50 to 150 rand.
Moya went off on social media about foreign nationals doing whatever they want with zero consequences in South Africa. The venue was packed with dudes drinking downstairs while women worked upstairs before the authorities rolled through. Tshwane has been trying to clean up the CBD, and the mayor brought backup to make sure the owners face proper legal...
South Africa's deputy minister for women and youth told everyone to stop messing around with performative activism when it comes to violence against women and girls. She went hard at a campaign launch in Midrand, saying the media and entertainment industry needs to actually shift culture instead of just talking about it. The stats she dropped were brutal, with a woman getting killed by a partner or family member every three hours and most sexual assaults never even reported.
The minister pointed out how boys grow up watching violent dudes on TV who never apologize or show accountability, which teaches them garbage behavior. She wants film producers, broadcasters, and creative platforms to start making content that shows healthy...
The Hawks just opened an investigation after 17 South African guys allegedly got tricked into fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war. Some MK Party MP named Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and two other people are being accused of luring these dudes with fake job offers for security training or VIP protection work, but they ended up in the Donbas region with Russian mercenaries instead. Most of the recruits are young guys from KwaZulu-Natal whose families say they got totally bamboozled.
President Ramaphosa said the whole recruitment thing breaks South African law since citizens can't join foreign wars without government permission. The families are mad at how slow officials have been about getting their relatives home. The Hawks are working with...
