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vanderbijlparklatest news & developments
Targeted: Martha Mani Rantsofu was an accountant in the municipality’s finance department where she handled municipal accounts and debts. Photo: Facebook

Political killings task team investigates assassination of municipal accountant

Martha Mani Rantsofu, a finance clerk at Emfuleni local municipality, was gunned down while waiting for her vehicle at a tyre-fitting shop

Road carnage: Twelve learners were killed when the scholar transport vehicle they were travelling in crashed into a truck in Vanderbijlpark in the
Vaal. Photo: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers

SA binges on lawlessness, impunity

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy says South Africa’s tolerance for “just one drink” has become a licence for mass death

Good examples: In Midvaal, the library was teeming with locals who had access to free wifi and computers provided by the municipality. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

In Midvaal, the evidence suggests the DA does govern better

Even the informal settlements have running water, uninterrupted electricity and their own toilets

Mess: Comparisons are often drawn between Midvaal and the badly run Emfuleni municipality next door. Photos: Delwyn Verasamy

For Emfuleni residents, life is a daily grind of service delivery failures

The ANC-run municipality refuses to accept blame, accusing some residents of paying for DStv, servicing clothing accounts and drinking expensive alcohol instead of paying their…

Samson Mokoena. Photo by Thom Pierce

Tribute to Samson Mokoena: How a fearless community activist stared down one of South Africa’s biggest polluters

Courageous Samson Mokoena dedicated his time to fighting pollution and his determination to take on ArcelorMittal saw a landmark court ruling

Intervention needed to pull steel industry from the brink

ArcelorMittal SA expects to make a final decision by August on the closure of its long steel operation, which puts 3 500 jobs at risk

South Africa’s largest steel maker has warned that without urgent government protection, it will be a matter of time before local production is no longer viable. (David Harrison/M&G)

Numsa, ArcelorMittal sign wage agreement

The three-year agreement runs from 1 April to 31 March 2026

A view of the Vaal River after heavy rains caused floods in Parys town of Orange Free state, South Africa on February 19, 2023. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

‘Absolute chaos’ after flooding in the Vaal

Homes, roads and bridges destroyed as two more sluice gates opened

Gushing: Water flows from the Vaal Dam after sluice gates were opened by the department of water and sanitation when levels reached more than 100%. Photo: Deaan Vivier/Gallo Images/Beeld

Sluice gates opened as Vaal Dam reaches maximum capacity

Farmers have been warned to move equipment and to avoid crossing flooded low lying bridges.

Members of the Sobukwe family and  VUT academic staff discuss how VUT’s public affiliation with Mama Sobukwe will do much  to help address the erasure of PAC heroes and heroines in the national discourse about the struggle. (Photos: Musa Rapuleng)

Mother of Azania carried love in her heart

Were she alive, she would have shared the award with everybody

Desecration: ArcelorMittal churned up graves to accommodate a fence on its steelworks, which pollute the air near the town of Vanderbijlpark. (Oupa Nkosi/M&G)

Graves bulldozed for security fence

ArcelorMittal, charged with toxic air and water pollution, seems to have bulldozed through graves to create a perimeter fence

Poisonous: Pollutants spew out of ArcelorMittal’s chimneys at its Vanderbijlpark steelworks and its waste dump seeps toxins into the ground. (Madelene Cronjé/M&G)

No end to Arcelor’s toxic practices

The company is unable to stop the emission of the pollutants and is asking for more time upgrade parts so that it can comply with the law.

South Africa’s largest steel maker has warned that without urgent government protection, it will be a matter of time before local production is no longer viable. (David Harrison/M&G)

Headless cats and government promises back in 2005

Government interest in the pollution claims appears to have been aroused by Constitutional Court action launched against President Thabo Mbeki

Newspapers have been, and still are, battling to find ways to survive. Sales have dropped and revenue from adverts has dwindled and they have not yet found a way to make enough money by publishing online. (Paul Botes/M&G)

6 police officers assaulted, gunshots fired during Vanderbijlpark raid

Police are investigating a case of murder, attempted murder and assault after raiding a suspected drug den.

Radical change won’t happen with Sasco, Malema tells VUT

EFF leader Julius Malema told students at VUT that the EFF is the only party that’s not in anyone’s pocket, "but in the pockets of the masses".

Another Mbeki supporter purged from union

Trade union supporters of ANC president Jacob Zuma scored a victory this week by toppling one of former president Thabo Mbeki’s most vocal supporters.

Numsa elects new president

Cedric Gina has been elected as the new leader of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).

Zuma greeted with song at Numsa conference

ANC president Jacob Zuma was greeted with a song insisting he become president as he arrived at Numsa’s eighth conference on Tuesday.

Boats collide on Vaal River

Rescuers were searching on Saturday for a woman’s body after two boats collided in the Vaal River in Vanderbijlpark, emergency services said.

Lekota warns of ‘real challenge’ of regime change

Southern African countries face a ”very real challenge” of regime change encouraged by foreign powers, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Thursday. He was opening the…