What began as a routine intelligence-gathering operation in one of Durban’s most desirable northern suburbs descended into a bloody massacre on Wednesday afternoon, when an unidentified group of gunmen launched a sophisticated, targeted ambush on a vehicle carrying two KwaZulu-Natal Crime Intelligence officers. By the time the shooting stopped, one officer—a seasoned detective with nearly…
A bitter, cross-border legal war that has pitted a grieving family against a sovereign state reaches another critical juncture on Thursday, as the family of Zambia’s late former President Edgar Lungu and the Zambian government are set to face off once again in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. The hearing, scheduled for 10:00 AM…
The oppressive heat of the Lowveld did little to deter the grim determination on the riverbanks of the Komati on Thursday, as police divers and search-and-rescue teams pressed on with their relentless hunt for a 59-year-old businessman who vanished beneath the churning brown waters three days ago. The man, identified by family as Mr. Johan…
The simmering tensions over the control of Johannesburg’s most densely populated inner-city neighborhoods boiled over on Wednesday as controversial former radio presenter and self-styled activist Ngizwe Mchunu led hundreds of demonstrators on a winding, high-decibel march through the bustling streets of Hillbrow and Yeoville. Brandishing placards and singing struggle songs repurposed for a new target,…
In a city long haunted by the specter of dry taps, sporadic outages, and the dreaded “low water pressure” alerts that have become a grim part of daily life, a significant dawn broke on Thursday. The City of Johannesburg officially inaugurated the new Brixton Reservoir and Water Tower, a state-of-the-art infrastructure project that officials have…
The N2 highway that snakes through the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape is many things. It is a lifeline for commuters, a trade artery for businesses, and a ribbon of hope connecting rural communities to cities. But for those who drive it after dark, it is also a hunting ground. On a quiet Tuesday…
For years, the name Mugabe carried an almost mythical weight in Southern Africa—a surname that opened doors, stilled critics, and, for those who bore it, seemed to offer a shield against accountability. But in a cramped courtroom in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, that shield shattered. Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the youngest son of the…
The queue at the Lebombo border post between South Africa and Mozambique is, on a bad day, a vision of purgatory. Trucks stretch for kilometers, their drivers asleep in their cabs, waiting—sometimes for 48 hours or more—to clear customs. Cars idle in the African sun, air conditioners struggling, children crying, tempers fraying. Passengers on foot…
South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has taken a significant step toward controlling the country’s ongoing foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak by securing a steady supply of vaccines from Argentina. The move forms part of a broader strategy to stabilise the livestock sector and protect the agricultural economy from further disruption. During his visit to…
The mathematics classroom at Sizwe Secondary School in Soweto was designed for 35 learners. On a Tuesday morning in late April, 73 of them sat shoulder to shoulder, their desks arranged in rows so tight that the teacher cannot walk between them. To reach a student in the back, she must ask three others to…
