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Becoming: Bongeziwe Mabandla’s Ndingubani has been gestating for years, waiting for the courage to come into being. Photo: Christopher Saunders

Bongeziwe Mabandla is ready to be fully present

With a new album on the horizon and sold-out shows across the globe, Bongeziwe Mabandla is stepping into the artist he was always becoming

Primary risk: The most important part of scaffolding is the planning, engineering drawings, the load calculations and daily inspections. When the discipline slips, the system becomes vulnerable. Picture: Supplied

Safety vs profit in building sector

Cutting corners while balancing construction pressure and tight deadlines can be fatal

Waiting widow: Noziqhamo Mgidi’s husband died before the settlement was reached. Photos: Delwyn Verasamy

Where are the unions and the ANC for suffering silicosis victims?

Recently, a proposed amendment announced by the Tshiamiso Trust — set up to disburse compensation — now threatens to shut out even more former mine-workers with the disease from…

Spekboom, a hardy, unassuming succulent shrub, has become one of the country’s most quietly powerful climate allies.  (Imperative)

Spekboom restoration at centre of $120m World Bank climate bond

The World Bank has priced a $120m spekboom restoration bond in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, linking investor returns to ecosystem recovery

Privilege: White farmer myth survives while African farmers face a different historical landscape.  Photo Delwyn Verasamy

The great white farmer myth distorts black agrarian input

When foreign governments, organisations or political networks speak about offering South African farmers land, visas or farming opportunities abroad, they should define farming…

Unsafe supply: Qwa Qwa residents use river water to do their laundry. They also collect water from the river for their homes. Photo Delwyn Verasamy

No freedom without water

Across South Africa, communities are marking Freedom Day under the weight of an escalating water crisis, where unreliable supply, contamination and ageing infrastructure continue…

No work, big pay: As local government elections approach, the issue of city manager Noxolo Nqwazi’s suspension will probably be used to score political points rather than solve service delivery failures in Nelson Mandela Bay. Photo: Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality

City crumbles but manager bags millions

The saga of the Nelson Mandela Bay city manager, who has been under suspension for three years, highlights systemic mismanagement amid persistent service delivery failures and is…

The University of Fort Hare has formally charged its vice-chancellor, Professor Sakhela Buhlungu.

Fort Hare council split deepens after VC’s suspension

The University of Fort Hare faces a governance crisis after vice-chancellor Sakhela Buhlungu was placed on precautionary suspension. Councillors warn of contested authority,…

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy

Transport Minister Creecy reports 18% drop in Easter road fatalities

Easter road fatalities fall from 356 to 291 thanks to intensified enforcement and 321 roadblocks nationwide

ANC Eastern Cape conference indefinitely postponed amid court disputes and internal divisions

The ANC has postponed its Eastern Cape provincial conference indefinitely, leaving leadership battles and court disputes unresolved

The KwaZulu-Natal province experienced a deadly series of natural disasters, exacerbated by heavy rains driven by inevitable climate change. Photo: X/KwaZulu-Natal government

Democracy should feed land hunger

It is shocking that a post-1994 dispensation, emerging from a colonial-apartheid liberation struggle whose core objective was the return of land, has presided over the increase…

The joint task force comprising the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to tackle crime will not see soldiers performing ordinary policing functions. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

SANDF deployment to back police set to start on 31 March

National police commissioner Fannie Masemola said the army would play a supporting role to the South African Police Service

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has financially backed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Sona. (GCIS)

Godongwana financially backs Ramaphosa’s tough talk on crime

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has signalled increased spending on peace and security in his budget speech from R268.2 billion in 2025/26 to R291.2 billion in 2028/29. The…

Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia. (@Prof_Cachalia/X)

SA violent crime down, but still unacceptably high, Cachalia says

The acting police minister also stressed the need to tackle organised crime, which President Cyril Ramaphosa last week singled out as ‘the most immediate threat to our democracy,…

Isuzu Motors South Africa chief executive chief executive Billy Tom. (Isuzu)

High tariffs stifle Africa’s trade potential, warns Isuzu CEO

Isuzu Motors South Africa says high tariffs and cross-border costs make intra-African trade more expensive than exports beyond the continent, urging faster implementation of the…

South Africa on Friday expelled Israel’s chargé d’affaires Ariel Seidman, ordering him to leave the country within 72 hours

UPDATED: South Africa expels Israel’s chargé d’affaires Ariel Seidman

The department of international relations and cooperation said the move — which prompted a retaliatory measure by Israel — was a response to conduct inconsistent with diplomatic…

An aerial view shows heavy traffic on the N1 North at the Pumulani Toll as the last batch of holidaymakers
make their way to Limpopo and neighbouring countries. Photo CMTV

Beyond the body count

Road deaths, in this context, are not random tragedies. They are predictable outcomes of structural neglect

Villagers in Sicwenza walk more than a kilometer, crossing hills, to collect buckets of water because the area has not had running water for years. Photos: Yamkela Ntshongwana

The generator broke, leaving Eastern Cape village without water — 17 years ago

Residents who can’t afford to buy water have to get it from a distant river

Equipped: A woman looks around in the Michaelis Art Library within the Johannesburg City
Library on 9 August 2025. Photo: OUR CITY NEWS/James Oatway

How funding apartheid fails young library users

Lack of funds prevent provinces from carrying out their mandate to manage public library services

The protagonist Mkhondwana, portrayed by Thembekile Komani.
Photo: Mzansi Magic

A love letter to AmaMpondo

Mpondoland brings the rich history, spirituality and resilience of AmaPondo to screen, exploring identity, community and the fight for economic freedom