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THE MURDER OF SEVEN PEOPLE IN CAPE TOWN WITHIN 24 HOURS

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THE MURDER OF SEVEN PEOPLE IN CAPE TOWN WITHIN 24 HOURS

ONLINE_EDITOR 


The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the brutal murder of seven people in less than 24 hours in Cape Town, a city falsely marketed as the “best-run” municipality under Democratic Alliance (DA) leadership. On Monday, reports emerged that seven people were found dead in different areas across Cape Town, with the youngest victim being only 21 years old.

In Gugulethu, two young men between the ages of 21 and 23 were gunned down while walking with four friends who narrowly escaped with their lives. In Canal, Manenberg, two men aged between 40 and 52 were shot and killed. In Ravensmead, a man was shot dead and another injured while they were sitting on the pavement inside the yard of the deceased. This is a chilling reminder that the people of Cape Town are not safe even within the confines of their own homes.

Another lifeless body was discovered at the Mitchells Plain taxi rank, while in Delft, a 40-year-old man was shot and killed at Langa Hokies. What unites all these murders is the fact that every victim died from gunshot wounds, the cases remain under investigation, and not a single arrest has been made in a so-called city that “cares for all.”

Cape Town has effectively become a murder zone. Between 1 and 17 January 2026 alone, 195 homicides were recorded, an average of 11 people killed every single day without justice. This level of violence constitutes a state of emergency that demands urgent and decisive intervention. However, the DA-led City of Cape Town remains indifferent because this violence is concentrated in townships and the Cape Flats, far removed from their privileged constituencies.

The DA-led government has demonstrated, through both action and inaction, that African and Coloured lives do not matter. Our people are reduced to mere statistics, stripped of dignity and denied justice. 

This deliberate neglect sustains Cape Town as a city of two realities, a safe haven for the white minority, while Black and Coloured communities are condemned to poverty, violence, and death. It cannot be normalised that people die like flies while governance continues as if nothing is wrong.



The EFF further condemns the complete failure of the state, at local, provincial, and national levels to control the proliferation of illegal firearms. Guns continue to flood Cape Flats communities with no meaningful interdiction, no accountability, and no political will to dismantle gun-running syndicates

The DA-led provincial government has failed to implement effective gun-control strategies, while law enforcement agencies appear either incapable or unwilling to remove firearms from our streets. As long as guns are freely available, the bloodshed will continue.

We call on Parliament to urgently fast-track the multi-portfolio parliamentary intervention into the violent crime crisis in Cape Town and across the Western Cape, as tabled by the EFF on 13 November 2025. This inquiry is long overdue and must be treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves, similar to the Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations made by General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. All lives matter and must be treated equally, without class bias.

Finally, we call upon civil society organisations and communities to unite in the fight against crime.

Those with information about these murders and the perpetrators must come forward and report them. Community safety cannot be achieved without collective action, accountability, and justice.

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Sport, Arts and Culture on World Surf League event at Jeffreys Bay

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Sport, Arts and Culture on World Surf League event at Jeffreys Bay

CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS 
ONLINE_EDITOR 


The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) has noted numerous public statements attributing responsibility for the loss of the World Surf League’s Championship Tour event at Jeffreys Bay to the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture and DSAC. This includes an official statement from a major political party directly criticising the Minister and the Department for the decision made by the World Surf League to shift the event to New Zealand.

The Jeffreys Bay event is a privately owned and promoted event that formed part of the professional global surfing circuit since the mid-1980s. It featured on the Championship Tour calendar for more than 30 years.

Many of the commercial realities around sustainably promoting and holding this event have changed, however, leaving the organisers searching for sources of funding that were not needed in the past. It must be noted that the World Surf League event was hosted in South Africa for many years without the involvement of, or direct financial support from, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.

The public narrative being spread now, by contrast, appears to suggest that the Minister has withdrawn support from the event, leading to its demise. This is highly inaccurate.

Factually, anyone wishing to apply for funding for such an event must do so in line with the Bidding and Hosting of International Sport and Recreational Events Regulations, which set out the prescribed process to be followed by organisations intending to bid for and host international sporting events in South Africa.

In terms of these Regulations, event organisers are required to submit a formal application to the Department whenever they bring international competitors to South Africa for a sporting event. The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture considers such applications and may approve or decline them. Where an application includes a request for national government funding, guarantees, or services from other government departments, the Minister is required to submit the request to Cabinet for consideration and approval. The Regulations exist to ensure that international events hosted by South Africa are properly planned, financially viable, and implemented in a sustainable manner, with due regard to available resources.

In the case of the World Surf League event, the Department and Ministry did not receive any formal application submitted in accordance with the Regulations.



As no request for national government funding, guarantees, or associated services was formally submitted for consideration, no funding decision was therefore taken at national level. All public comments that are now seeking to place the blame at the feet of the Minister for the inability to secure a WSL event in 2026 are misguided, a form of deflection and unjustified scapegoating.

The Department continues to support the development of the sport through the provision of an annual grant to Surfing South Africa, in line with an approved three-year funding agreement and subject to the availability of funds.

DSAC remains committed to supporting sport development and the hosting of international events in South Africa through transparent, lawful, and sustainable processes.


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Home Affairs sets new record by delivering over Four Million Smart IDs in 2025

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Home Affairs sets new record by delivering over Four Million Smart IDs in 2025

CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS 
ONLINE_EDITOR 


The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has issued a record 4,002,964 Smart ID Cards in the 2025 calendar year, the highest rate of delivery in the history of the department. This milestone represents a 17% increase on the 3,427,468 Smart IDs issued during 2024, which was itself a new record at the time. 

The 2025 performance is about 1.3 million more than the number of Smart IDs issued during the 2023 and 2022 calendar years respectively.

This historic breakthrough represents the latest milestone under the department’s vision to deliver Home Affairs @ home through the pursuit of digital transformation. It is thanks to the purposive focus of the Government of National Unity (GNU) on technology upgrades and improved efficiencies at both the Department of Home Affairs and Government Printing Works (GPW), which physically produces the Smart ID. One of the key upgrades has been the department’s investment in repairing the Online Verification Service (OVS), which was previously underfunded and abused by some external users. Correcting this has led to higher uptime and better performance of the population register at Home Affairs offices, directly contributing to giving more South Africans access to Smart IDs than ever before.

The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, said: “The milestone of delivering over four million Smart IDs in a calendar year for the very first time demonstrates how our commitment to digital transformation is expanding inclusion and access at a scale never seen before. Smart IDs are vastly more secure than the fraud-prone green barcoded ID book. Thanks to the ongoing digital transformation of Home Affairs, over four million more people gained the ability to securely open a bank account, access employment, and obtain social grants in 2025.”



The accelerated rollout of Smart IDs is a cornerstone of the department’s Medium-Term Development Plan targets. The green bar-coded ID book, which the Smart ID is intended to replace, has become a soft target for fraudsters and is estimated to be 500% more vulnerable to fraud than the Smart ID.

To further enhance access to Smart IDs, the department is currently in the final phase of preparatory work for the rollout of its new digital partnership with South Africa’s banking sector, which will enable even more citizens to access Smart IDs at hundreds more bank branches around the country, close to where they live. This is Home Affairs @ home in action.

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MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe Launches provincial R19,5m Irrigation Schemes Revival Programme

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MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe Launches provincial R19,5m Irrigation Schemes Revival Programme

ONLINE_EDITOR 


In line with commitment outlined on the policy speech for 2025/26 financial year to revive irrigation schemes across the Eastern Cape, Department of Agriculture (DoA) MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe will lead the provincial launch of the revitalization of irrigation schemes on Tuesday, 27 January 2026 at Zanyokhwe, Amahlathi Local Municipality under Amathole District.

The R19,5 million investment into the irrigation schemes revival programme is aimed to support vegetable, grain and fodder production and equipment and machinery provision covering 1 528 hectares of land.

In its endeavour to curb food insecurity, the Eastern Cape department of Agriculture has prioritised revitalisation irrigation schemes during the 7th term government to ensure agriculture become an economic frontier of growth.

The revival of the schemes is set to improve agricultural productivity, enhance food security, provide reliable income for landowners in schemes, improve local economy and boost livelihoods in rural communities.

This revitalisation programme will ensure food security and farmer support and strengthened partnerships between government, private sector, and communities.

At least 613 ha with an investment of R5 million will be developed in Amathole district while Chris Hani will develop 700 ha from an investment of R6 million with OR Tambo developing 215 ha worth R3,5 million.

Furthermore, DoA implementing agency the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA) has been allocated R5 million to support with commercialization of the production, organize market, bring new production technologies, provide technical support and production finance facilities.

The funding criteria is not limited, in instances, where there are needs infrastructure repairs, districts will make their own determination.


According to the National Food and Nutrition Security Survey the province has the highest number of households that have access to land at 67%, while only 37% of that is put into productive use. The revitalisation of irrigation schemes presents an opportunity to unlock this potential and increase productive land use.

Agriculture is the major employer of people that are semi-skilled and investment in this sector can greatly contribute to reducing unemployment and food insecurity. Irrigations schemes are seen as vehicle that can significantly contribute to increase in agricultural productivity in the province.

The Zanyokhwe Irrigation Scheme spans across 6 villages and covers 635 hectares of land, of which 412 hectares are irrigated. The scheme supports 87 landowners organised into seven primary co-operatives and one secondary cooperative.

During the launch, the MEC will be engaged in a number of activities that include acknowledgement of the new Board, potato harvest demonstration and welcoming of graduate interns placed by DoA at the scheme to gain experience business skills and practical farming.

She will also handover vegetable production inputs, irrigation pipes, fodder production inputs and tractor implements.

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Mpumalanga Education refutes allegations relating to procurement of E-Learning Devices

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Mpumalanga Education refutes allegations relating to procurement of E-Learning Devices

CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS 
ONLINE_EDITOR 


The Mpumalanga Department of Education notes with concern the article published by City Press and News24 regarding the procurement of laptops and tablets for learners.

The Department wishes to place the correct facts on record and dispel misleading allegations of wastage and irregular procurement.

The Ubuhlebuzile E-Learning Programme was introduced in 2022 as a well thought and phased intervention to enhance teaching and learning throughout the Province.

In 2022, the Department procured 64 000 tablets for Grade 12 learners under a three-year contract valued at R224 million, including a three-year warranty. The procurement was conducted through a SITA contract, with Bongani Rainmaker Limited (BRL) appointed as the supplier, in full compliance with applicable government procurement prescripts.

In 2025, the Department replaced the 2022 devices with 60 000 Packard Bell tablets valued at R232 million, inclusive of a three-year warranty.

These tablets were successfully distributed to Grade 12 learners in quintile 1 to 3 schools in 2025, and the Department is not aware of any verified reports of non-functionality.

The Department attributes the improved Grade 12 performance partly to the effective utilisation of e-learning and teaching devices.

The significant improvement from 79% in 2023 to 86. 55% in 2025 is also linked to the maturing of the e-learning programme introduced in 2022.



The allegation that the Packard Bell tablets constitute wastage is completely untrue and misplaced.

As part of the Department’s e-learning strategy, the 2025 Grade 12 tablets have been retrieved, formatted, and reloaded with updated content.

These devices will be re-issued to the 2026 Grade 12 cohort, ensuring cost efficiency and sustainability.

The Department has further placed an order for 70 000 Windows-based tablet notebooks to be issued to Grade 10 learners in 2026.

The cost of these devices is R330 million, not R600 million as alleged by the City Press.

The strategy is to issue content loaded devices to Grade 10 learners who will retain them through to Grade 12, thereby reducing future costs related to retrieval, redistribution, and logistics.Content to these devices will henceforth be updated remotely, further improving efficiency.

The procurement was facilitated through BRL, in terms of a contract that allows BRL to source devices based on Department-approved specifications, manage procurement, load educational content, and oversee distribution to schools.

The Department funds the programme through a dedicated e-learning allocation, supplemented by the Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM) budget, as the devices form an integral part of e-learning delivery.

For the 2025/26 financial year, the e-learning budget amounted to R717 million to cover both grade 10 and 12 learners and is allocated as follows:

R312 million for Grade 12 tablets, including e-content and distribution,

R126 million for the Edukite subject application, supplied via micro-SD cards under a separate contract,

The remaining R279 million, augmented by the LTSM budget, contributed to the procurement of 70 000 Grade 10 devices, with a total project value of R393 million, inclusive of devices, e-content, and distribution

The Department reiterates that all procurement processes were lawful, strategic, and aligned to improving learner outcomes.

Claims of wastage, inflated costs, or non-functional devices are factually incorrect and misleading.

The Department remains committed to transparency, accountability, and the effective use of technology to advance quality education for all learners through out the Province.
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Parliament holds State of the Nation Address at Cape Town City Hall, 12 Feb 2026

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Parliament holds State of the Nation Address at Cape Town City Hall, 12 Feb 2026


CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS 
ONLINE_EDITOR 


The 7th Parliament will be holding the third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 12 February at the Cape Town City Hall, Darling Street, at the Grand Parade, where President Nelson Mandela first appeared on 11 February 1990 before the people of South Africa after 27 years in prison.

The SONA is a constitutional event called by the President of the Republic in terms of Section 42(5) of the Constitution. It is a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament and one of the rare occasions that bring together the three arms of the state under one roof. To ensure that the majority of South Africans listen to this important Address, it is scheduled to take place in the evening at 19:00, when the majority of South Africans are at home.

The Address provides the President with an opportunity to speak to the nation on the general state of South Africa, reflecting on a wide range of political, economic and social matters within domestic and global contexts. It is also an opportunity for him to account to the nation on the work of government and to set out the government’s programme of action for the year.

Traditionally, the President makes key government announcements during this important sitting. During the week following the Address, a debate is held on it over two days. Thereafter, on the third day, the President is given an opportunity to reply to and close the debate.



The President delivers the Address before Parliament because it is Parliament that is charged with ensuring that the work flowing from the Address is implemented. Most importantly, SONA is delivered in Parliament because the priorities announced in it have budgetary implications demanding robust parliamentary oversight. This is one of Parliament’s core constitutional responsibilities.

Parliament may accept, reject or amend the budgets allocated to government departments to ensure that these align with national priorities, as outlined in the President’s Address. Parliament may also withhold the budgets of departments whose annual performance plans are not in line with these priorities.

The SONA is different from the occasion of the Opening of Parliament Address, which takes place only at the start of a new five-year term of Parliament, immediately after national general elections. This opening address is also held at Parliament in a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.

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Deputy Minister Mondli Gungubele on collaboration with CSIR to advance digital transformation

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Deputy Minister Mondli Gungubele on collaboration with CSIR to advance digital transformation

CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS 
ONLINE_EDITOR 


The Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Mr Mondli Gungubele (MP), today concluded a successful engagement with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), aimed at strengthening strategic collaboration in support of South Africa’s digital transformation agenda.

The visit provided an opportunity for the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) to engage with CSIR leadership and researchers on the organisation’s current and emerging capabilities in key areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), broadband connectivity, digital infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing.

Deputy Minister Gungubele emphasised the importance of closer collaboration between government and science institutions to accelerate innovation and ensure that technological advancements translate into tangible socio-economic benefits for all South Africans.

“CSIR remains a critical strategic partner in our efforts to build a digitally inclusive society. Through deliberate collaboration, we can harness local innovation to drive industrial growth, improve service delivery, and enhance the quality of life of our people,” said Deputy Minister Gungubele.



The engagement reaffirmed the commitment of DCDT, working together with the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation through CSIR, to align research and development with national priorities, particularly those focused on digital inclusion, sustainable development, and the creation of a high-capacity state.

Discussions further explored opportunities to leverage CSIR’s research and innovation to support broadband expansion, smart infrastructure development, and the adoption of emerging digital technologies across government and industry.

The visit marks a significant step towards strengthening interdepartmental synergy and ensuring that science and technology play a central role in South Africa’s digital future

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