Author: Larson Thebe
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture, has given the South African Football Association (SAFA) seven days, to submit a comprehensive report to the committee, following weekend brawls by officials at its meetings. The committees’ remarks come after videos went viral on social meeting showing altercation among officials during a SAFA National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at its headquarters in Nasrec, south of Johannesburg. According to the committee, similar incidents were also reported at the association meeting in the Free State. The incident was sparked by some members of the NEC, who were calling for the removal of SAFA…
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced that voter registration for the local government elections will be held on the weekend of 20 and 21 June. This was revealed by the IEC Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo, during a media briefing in Centurion. According to Mamabolo, the aim of the registration weekend is to facilitate access to franchise and broaden electoral participation. “The timing of this registration weekend aligns with the current planning assumption, namely, that the Commission must stand ready to administer elections whenever, they are lawfully called. This alignment ensures procedural certainty, operational readiness and full compliance…
President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the period of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System. According to the presidency, the extension was granted at the request of the commission due to the number of persons who must still appear. The commission was established following specific allegations by Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on 6 July 2025. “Accordingly, the Commission shall submit a second interim report by 29 May 2026 and a final report on the completion of the inquiry, on 31 August 2026,” said Ramaphosa spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.The Commission submitted its first interim…
President Cyril Ramaphosa will today kick-off his two-day state visit in Brazil, after he arrived in the South American country on Sunday. According to the presidency, the visit will provide an opportunity for Ramaphosa and his Brazilian counterpart, Lula da Silva, an opportunity to engage on a broad range of bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual interest. The state visit programme will begin on Monday with an official welcome ceremony in honour of Ramaphosa in the afternoon. Both countries share long standing diplomatic ties, historic and fraternal ties, built on friendship, shared Africa heritage, solidarity, South Cooperation and multilateralism. “The…
President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the late anti-apartheid activist, Reverend Jesse Jackson, as a beacon who carried the fight against apartheid across the world. He was speaking during Jackson’s funeral service in Chicago in the United States. Jackson passed away last month at the age of 84 following a long illness. Ramaphosa told mourners that South Africa also claims Jesse Jackson as one of its own, because he pledged his solidarity with the country’s struggle against apartheid. “In the long and painful years of our struggle, when the voices of our people were often silenced, Jesse Jackson chose to belong…
The Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development is calling for an urgent intervention to address delays in the issuing of operating licences to spaza shops by municipalities. It has described the licensing backlog as the primary constraint limiting access to the Spaza Shop Support Programme. The committee remarks come after it received briefings on the issuing of operating licences by municipalities across the country and on the implementation of the Spaza Shop Support Fund (SSSF). The reports were presented by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD). According to CoGTA,…
The Johannesburg High Court has sentenced former Member of Parliament Vincent Smith to seven years direct imprisonment after reaching a plea and sentence agreement with the state. Smith pleaded guilty to charges that include the Contravening Section 7 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 (PRECCA), fraud, money laundering, and the Contravention of the Tax Act. The matter relates to the corruption and fraud charges in his personal capacity, as well as in his capacity as a sole director and shareholder of Euroblitz 48. He was accused of failing to disclose to the Registrar of…
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says it’s always good to have several players fighting for one position, as it helps with the team’s succession plan. His comments come as the team is holding its first in-person alignment camp of the year in Cape Town, as the team prepares for the 2027 season. The three-day camp started on Tuesday and is expected to conclude on Friday and comprises 49 players. The team includes Rugby World Cup winners, and some members of the victorious 2025 Junior World Championship squad. Briefing the media in Cape Town, Erasmus said they already have an idea of…
Police are confident that they have broken the back of a syndicate linked to a series of robberies at OR Tambo International Airport. This follows the arrest this weekend of a 64-year-old serial robber linked to 42 cases of armed robberies that mostly took place on the R24 near the Barbara off-ramp towards the airport. According to the police, the suspect, together with his accomplices, robbed three high-ranking senior police officials from one of the African countries on their way to the airport in an e-hailing service. “The three senior officers were making their way to the airport in an…
Eleven South African men who were lured in the fight between Russia and Ukraine, have been rescued and are expected to arrive in the country on Wednesday. The men are part of a group of 17, who were lured to join mercenary forces involved in the Ukraine-Russia war under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts. Following their short military training, they were then provided with contracts written in Russian but however refused to sign them. Their cellphones and other communications devices were then confiscated and were sent to the war-torn region of Donbas in the Ukraine. President Cyril Ramaphosa has…