Author: Kgaogelo Magolego
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused the City of Tshwane of jeopardising safety at Wonderboom Airport by allowing security contracts to expire. Dana Wannenburg, the DA Chief Whip in Tshwane, said, without providing details, that the airport is particularly vulnerable, claiming that he had personally driven in and out of the facility without being noticed. “The City of Tshwane has allowed security contracts to expire at a time when one of its most strategically important and valuable facilities appears dangerously exposed. “I personally drove into and out of Wonderboom Airport and was shocked by the apparent lack of effective access…
The newly formed Security Personnel Party of South Africa (SPPSA) has questioned the United States government’s silence on rising cases of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in South Africa, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration of an emergency in response to the crisis. The party said GBVF had reached crisis levels in South Africa, with at least a dozen women’s bodies discovered in recent weeks, mostly in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. SPPSA argued that if the US were genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of South Africans, it would speak out against the ongoing killings of women, particularly black women, as well as other…
A woman on death row in Tennessee remains in a critical condition, unconscious and on a ventilator in hospital following a botched execution attempt earlier this week. The 50-year-old inmate, identified in reports as Christa Pike, was rushed to a Nashville hospital on Wednesday night after a failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection. Officers at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee, allegedly administered a second dose of the lethal drug pentobarbital after the first injection reportedly left her gasping for air while still conscious and apparently in pain, according to a witness account. Pike had spent…
Work is underway to consolidate South Africa’s emergency telephone numbers into a single number as part of broader efforts to ensure a speedy response to incidents. Currently, crimes and other emergencies can be reported via 10111 or 112 when using a mobile phone. Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has expressed the government’s intention to establish a single point of contact for reporting emergencies. She addressed the media in Johannesburg alongside Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi on the province’s response to the rising number of incidents of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). Ntshavheni expressed satisfaction with the reliability of the existing…
Authorities in Gauteng have undertaken to move swiftly in efforts to curb incidents of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) in the province. The provincial government has agreed on a range of measures to be implemented immediately. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi briefed the media alongside other senior officials, including Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Deputy Minister of Police Polly Boshielo and provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni. The briefing followed a high-level intergovernmental meeting prompted by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national address on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide this week, in which he instructed state institutions to put urgent measures in place…
The taxi industry is, for the first time, set to benefit from the public transport subsidy. Transport Minister Barbara Creecy made the announcement during a National Press Club appearance in Midrand, adding that the move is part of a bigger plan to make public transport safer and more affordable. Subsidisation of the taxi industry has been on the table for years, and Creecy believes it will happen this time around. “We want to set up transport operating companies together with the taxi industry, and we are going to pilot this new approach, one in each province. Of course, part of…
The North West provincial government has given an undertaking to settle outstanding debts owed to scholar transport operators, some of whom were last paid in 2024. Newsnote caught up with Transport MEC Tsotso Tlhapi on the sidelines of the launch of Transport Month in Midrand. A recent departmental lekgotla gave officials a mandate to address challenges facing scholar transport in the province, with the payment of operators among the MEC’s priorities. “As you would know, transport has been a challenge in our province, so we agreed with the officials to work with all stakeholders. One of the things we are…
Scores of families across the country are set to find closure through the spiritual repatriation of their loved ones from Angola, where they died fighting forces of the apartheid regime. Representatives of 53 families are being flown to Angola to take part in rituals aimed at bringing home the spirits of the fallen combatants. The first stage of the process took place at Freedom Park in Pretoria on Wednesday, ahead of the families’ departure on Thursday. Freedom Park CEO Dr Hilton Fisher, who is among those facilitating the process, said it was significant because it would help bring closure to…
Taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni has denied using violence to pressure the owners of bus company PUTCO into allowing him and his associates to buy the company. The allegation emerged in a letter read out at the Madlanga Commission, in which the company questioned the timing of Sibanyoni’s unsolicited offer to purchase PUTCO, which was made shortly after the company had experienced violent attacks on its employees and fleet. In a letter responding to an approach by Sibanyoni’s company, a PUTCO official raised concerns about the timing of the unsolicited offer, saying it coincided with “the most heinous attacks on our…
Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has claimed that the 16-year-old girl he is accused of sexually grooming had a crush on him. He also claims that his alleged sexual encounter with the 18-year-old woman he is charged with raping was consensual. Sibiya launched his bail application in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where he indicated that he intends to plead not guilty to all the charges against him. Sibiya claims that the father of the 16-year-old girl, referred to in his affidavit as Mr M, was the person who introduced him to the teenager. He further claims…