Author: Kgaogelo Magolego
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…
A man identified by police as a person of interest in the murder of a 23-year-old woman in Thembisa has been found dead inside his vehicle in Midrand. Police said the man was the estranged husband of Boitumelo Gift Mashita, who was shot dead on Monday morning while travelling to work. Mashita was attacked in Temong, Thembisa. According to police, her belongings were taken during what was initially treated as a suspected robbery. However, Mashita’s family questioned whether robbery was the motive. Her uncle, MC Khoza, said the family was pursuing its own leads following a disagreement involving Mashita and…
Taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni is scheduled to return to the Madlanga Commission, where he is expected to face questions about his alleged extortion ring. Evidence leaders presented WhatsApp chats between Sibanyoni and fellow industry operative Bafana Sindane, who has cited illness as the reason for his failure to testify. The conversations show the two allegedly using threats of violence to demand payments from various contractors, amounting to hundreds of millions of rands. Evidence Leader Mathew Chasckolson read several messages that appeared to show the two taxi bosses forcefully demanding payments from contractors and threatening violence in the event of defaults.…
Sarah Mabotsa, who has been serving as the Economic Development MMC in the City of Tshwane, may have bitten off more than she could chew after the GOOD Party fired her as a councillor and terminated her membership for allegedly double-dipping. Mabotsa found herself in trouble after accepting the nomination as Rise Mzansi’s mayoral candidate while still serving on the GOOD Party’s ticket. “GOOD’s leadership has informed the Executive Mayor and City Manager of the City of Tshwane that Sarah Mabotsa’s membership of the party has been terminated, and that she should be removed as a councillor and therefore as…