Author: Larson Thebe
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…
Controversial political fixer Brown Mogotsi will appear in person at parliament ad-hoc committee investigating allegations of corruption in the police sector on Tuesday. Mokgosi’s surprise appearance follows months of delays, where he made several demands to the committee, demanding that parliament must pay for his security detail, whilst in Cape Town. His scheduled appearance was announced by the committee’s evidence leader, Advocate Norman Arendse, during the committee meeting on Monday. “He’s arriving this afternoon by 14:30. He’ll be appearing in person tomorrow (Tuesday). You would have notice that we didn’t provide a statement up to date, because of continues difficulties contacting…
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has received the first consignment of one million high-potency Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccines, at the OR Tambo International Airport. This shipment from Biogénesis Bagó in Argentina, will be followed by further consignments scheduled to arrive over the coming weeks, including vaccine sourced from BVI in Botswana and Dollvet in Turkey. The department said a total of over five million vaccines will have entered the country from the three international suppliers by the end of next month. Locally, the Agriculture Research Council (ARC) has committed to produce 20 000 vaccines per week and scaling up…
Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, has expressed concern about the growing obesity crisis and its direct link to the rise in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke and heart disease. The MEC’s comments come as the country commemorates February as National Healthy Lifestyle Awareness Month and Healthy Lifestyle Awareness Day. Recent data show that approximately half of the South African adults are living with excess weight, with 23% classified as overweight and 27% as obese. The data also revealed that in an urban province like Gauteng, long working hours, sedentary lifestyles, limited physical activity, and increased…
The Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality remains an epicentre of foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the North West, allegedly due to its proximity to Gauteng which is the second most affected province after KwaZulu Natal. The disease has spread across eight provinces except Northern Cape since 2019, threatening livestock, livelihoods and export markets.Agriculture and Rural Development MEC, Madoda Sambatha, told YOU FM Newshour that as much as the outbreak is manageable it becomes almost impossible to manage it when it spreads to the communal farms. “Once it gets there it becomes difficult to impose control measures because of…
North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi is optimistic that the province is on the right path, to turn the tide against several socio-economic challenges affecting the development of the province. Speaking during the State of the Nation Debate (SONA) in parliament, the premier cited among others the upward trajectory in audit outcomes ethical leadership, turnaround strategies at municipalities, and the creation of 36 000 jobs in the fourth quarter of last year as announced by the Statistician-General of Tuesday. The premier said these strategies have seen eight out of ten departments receive clean and unqualified outcomes in the last audit cycle. “This…