Author: Kgaogelo Magolego
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…
A woman has been shot and killed while on her way to work in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni. Police believe robbery may have been the motive, as the attacker made off with her belongings. Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said a case of murder and robbery has been opened. “Gauteng police are investigating a case of murder and robbery following the shooting of a 23-year-old woman in Temong, Mapungubwe Street, Tembisa, this morning at about 05:45 on 28 September 2026,” said Muridili. The woman is believed to have been on her way to work when she was ambushed. “The woman was…
Police investigations are continuing in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, as more women are found dead, with the latest body discovered in Springs on Sunday. Another woman’s body was discovered near a graveyard in Tembisa on Saturday. Police in the province said on Sunday that a multidisciplinary task team had been activated to investigate the latest killing. “On Sunday, 27 September 2026 at approximately 12:00, SAPS Springs responded to a crime scene where a body was discovered in an open veld near Rhokana Road. “A security company vehicle patrolling the area noticed the body and alerted the police,” said Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier…
The government is working on a plan to increase the amount of free electricity provided to poor households and deliver the subsidy directly to qualifying consumers rather than through municipalities. Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the current system is failing to ensure that funding intended for indigent households reaches them. The government currently allocates about R21 billion through municipalities to support free basic electricity, but Ramokgopa says financial pressures at local government level mean some of the money is diverted towards other expenses. “The current arrangement is that it comes as a grant, that R21 billion. Then the…