Street beggars in Johannesburg have expressed mixed feelings, with some saying motorists have become stingier as the cost of living continues to rise amid global economic pressures linked to the conflict between the United States and Iran. The beggars say many motorists no longer carry cash and some even jokingly ask them to produce card payment machines instead of giving money. “Some ask us to bring tapping machines because they don’t have small change, but when they do give you…

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has firmly dismissed claims of a planned national shutdown on 30 June, warning that while citizens have the constitutional right to protest, no one is permitted to take the law into their own hands. Ntshavheni was addressing the media during a briefing on the outcomes of this week’s Cabinet meeting, where concerns around planned demonstrations against undocumented foreign nationals were raised. Several civic organisations, including Insizwa Ngobunsizwa and the March and March Movement, have…

Build One South Africa (BOSA) has dismissed suggestions that the inclusion of descendants of two of South Africa’s most revered liberation icons on its candidate list for the upcoming local government elections is an attempt to capitalise on their famous surnames. With just 150 days remaining before the municipal elections on 4 November, the party unveiled Ziyeka Sisulu, grandson of anti-apartheid stalwarts Walter and Albertina Sisulu, and Thembela Mandela, great-grandson of former President Nelson Mandela, as candidates for wards in…