The advisory comes after the Department noticed a growing trend of SASSA applicants flooding local hospitals to get their medical paperwork processed.
Avoid Hospital Fees: Clinics Are Free
Under the Uniform Patient Fee Schedule (UPFS), South African public hospitals are bound by regulations that may require applicants to pay a prescribed administrative fee for the completion of these verification forms. However, the Department highlighted that this exact same administrative service is provided completely free of charge at localized clinics and Community Health Centres (CHCs).
By shifting from hospitals to local clinics, applicants can bypass unnecessary travel, long hospital queues, and unexpected out-of-pocket expenses.
MEC Mazibuko emphasized that local clinics are strategically placed to handle these requests efficiently while protecting vulnerable citizens from financial strain.
“We want to make it easier for disability grant applicants to access the assistance they need," MEC Mazibuko stated. "Clinics and CHCs are closer to communities and are better placed to assist with SASSA-related forms without placing an additional financial burden on applicants. We appeal to residents to only use hospitals for services that require specialised care.”
What to Bring to Your Local Clinic
To ensure a smooth process and help healthcare practitioners fill out the paperwork accurately, the Department reminds all applicants to bring the following documents to their nearest clinic or CHC:
By utilizing community clinics for administrative tasks, residents not only save money but also help alleviate pressure on Gauteng’s heavily strained tertiary hospital network, keeping specialized care units open for medical emergencies.
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Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the revitalisation of hostels owned by the Gauteng Provincial Government.
The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements owns six hostels in the Johannesburg Inner City, which are George Goch, Jeppe, MBA, Murray and Robert and Denver.
“ The last time I was here, you could not even walk like this; there was sewage all over. There was no electricity, and security was poor. We have put CCTV cameras and high mast lights. We just have to start negotiating with hostel leadership on who must stay here, and we must also account for the people who reside in the hostels,” said Premier Lesufi.
“Hostel residents dictated how the hostel should be. The basic non-negotiable is that it must be conducive for people to stay here,” said Lesufi
The site inspection was conducted by Premier Lesufi, MEC for Human Settlements Tasneem Motara and MEC for E-government Bonginkosi Dhlamini.
MEC Motara said that the work had progressed well on five hostels, while it started late on the sixth hostel.
“ Work in the five hostels should be completed in the next 6 months. The last one that we started late last year, we will still continue with the work,” she said.
Motara said that the progress made would not be possible without a solid relationship between the government, hostel leadership and the residents of the hostels.
MEC Dhlamini said that the government had installed high-tech CCTV cameras and Wi-Fi in the hostels.
“As part of assisting in the hostel revitalisation, the E-government department installed CCTV cameras that are connected to our Command Centre, where they are monitored. Even the hostel leadership can attest that the high rate of crime, more especially murder at night, has gone down because of the cameras. The residents can connect to the WI-FI to access government services and also for personal use,” said Dhlamini.
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oday as one of the clearest symbols of democratic failure in post-apartheid South Africa. It is a municipality abandoned by those entrusted with protecting its future — a forgotten community where poverty has become generational and hopelessness increasingly normalised.
Children are born into deprivation. They grow up witnessing unemployment dismantle households; corruption suffocates opportunity, and politicians arriving only when election campaigns begin. For many, life starts and ends in the same cycle of poverty into which they were born. This is not merely poor governance. It is systemic neglect.
The Billion-Rand Debt and Constitutional Failure
Bushbuckridge Municipality continues to face immense financial strain, exacerbated by the failure of national and provincial government departments to pay rates, taxes, and service-related obligations amounting to nearly a billion rand. Intergovernmental cooperation has deteriorated to the point where communities are effectively left to fend for themselves.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 guarantees every citizen the rights to dignity, equality, access to water, housing, healthcare, and social security under Sections 9, 10, 26 and 27. Yet constitutional rights carry little meaning when communities continue living without reliable access to running water for nearly three decades into democracy.
Rights become hollow when children study by candlelight because electricity remains inaccessible in parts of the municipality. Rights lose substance when unemployment strips people not only of income, but of dignity itself.
Political Decay at the Doorstep of Power
The governance crisis in Bushbuckridge is particularly alarming because it unfolds within the home municipality of the Premier of Mpumalanga. One would reasonably expect such proximity to provincial leadership to inspire development, accountability, and meaningful service delivery. Instead, the opposite has occurred. Bushbuckridge has become a symbol of political decay.
The suffering of its people exists at the doorstep of power itself, yet year after year, little changes. Roads continue to deteriorate. Water infrastructure collapses. Young people lose faith in democratic institutions. Entire communities become increasingly dependent on social grants simply to survive.
Millions intended for development disappear through irregular tenders, politically connected patronage networks, and corruption schemes designed to enrich elites while communities remain trapped in desperation. The Auditor-General of South Africa has repeatedly warned about irregular expenditure, weak oversight, and the collapse of governance structures within municipalities across the country. Yet accountability remains almost entirely absent. Bushbuckridge did not arrive at this crisis by accident.
It is the product of decades of political patronage, cadre deployment, weak oversight, and the deliberate erosion of accountability within local government structures. Municipal institutions were never strengthened to serve communities; they were gradually repurposed to serve political networks. When competence is replaced with political loyalty, collapse becomes inevitable.
The Weaponization of Fear
What is perhaps most devastating is that not even intervention from the national government appears capable of rescuing Bushbuckridge from its downward spiral. Corruption has become deeply entrenched within political structures that continue to thrive through fear, dependency, and the systematic exploitation of vulnerable communities.
Too many residents — particularly the poor and uneducated — are manipulated into believing that accountability and political change are dangerous. Fear is deliberately cultivated because fear protects failing systems. It keeps communities dependent, silent, and politically trapped while those benefiting from dysfunction continue to flourish. The politics of fear has become more profitable than the politics of service delivery.
Among the most heartbreaking encounters in Bushbuckridge are those with elderly women — gogos who still carry the trauma of apartheid and genuinely fear its return. Fear has become one of the ANC’s most effective political instruments. Communities are repeatedly persuaded that change itself is dangerous, and that continued suffering is preferable to political accountability.
And then there are the youth — disillusioned, discouraged, and increasingly unwilling to register to vote because they no longer believe democracy can improve their lives. That may well be the greatest danger confronting South Africa’s future.
Rebuilding from the Ground Up
Fixing Bushbuckridge will require far more than another election campaign or another provincial intervention task team. It requires rebuilding institutions from the ground up.
Enforce Consequence Management: There must be immediate consequences for corruption and maladministration.
Appoint Qualified Professionals: Critical positions must be occupied by capable experts rather than politically connected individuals.
Restore Independent Oversight: Financial controls and accountability mechanisms must be completely revitalised.
Ring-Fence Budgets: Infrastructure funds intended for water, roads, sanitation, and electricity must be strictly protected so they actually reach communities.
The Democratic Alliance does not enter communities like Bushbuckridge promising miracles. Opposition parties cannot promise what they do not yet govern. But we can offer communities something they have been denied for far too long: accountability, ethical leadership, oversight, and hope — not false hope, but hope grounded in constitutional governance, transparency, and service.
We remind communities that their vote remains powerful. Their vote is secret. Their vote belongs to them — not to politicians, not to fear, and not to history. We ask communities only to lend us their trust for five years so that leadership may be judged not by slogans, but by measurable outcomes.
The people of Bushbuckridge have not failed democracy; democracy has failed them. But perhaps the time has finally come for South Africans to stop voting out of fear and start voting for accountability.
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MBOMBELA — The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga has formally written to Premier Mandla Ndlovu, demanding that he implement outstanding forensic recommendations by reporting former Education MEC Cathy Dlamini to the Public Protector over a high-profile laptop procurement scandal.
The controversy dates back to December 2024, when the Mpumalanga Department of Education purchased 22 laptops through a service provider, BoTau Technologies. The company was later exposed for heavily overcharging the department and failing to deliver the specific devices that taxpayers had funded. The inflation of prices was brought to light by a whistleblower in February 2025, prompting the Premier to launch an official forensic investigation.
A detailed forensic report, which has been reviewed by the DA, reveals that the department irregularly splurged over R2 million on the 22 laptops, which equates to an astronomical cost of R92,000 per single laptop.
Former MEC Omitted from Accountability
The initial phase of the forensic probe targeted the Head of Department (HOD), Lucy Moyane, alongside other senior departmental staff. In May 2025, acting on the investigator's initial findings of gross procurement irregularities and alleged dishonesty, Premier Ndlovu suspended HOD Moyane and the implicated officials.
Following the fallout of the procurement scandal, Dlamini ultimately lost her cabinet post as the MEC of Education.
However, the DA points out that the Premier failed to act on a critical directive in the final forensic report: formally referring Dlamini to the Public Protector. The investigators concluded that the former MEC must be investigated in terms of Section 4(1)(b) of the Executive Members' Ethics Act 82 of 1998, given her role as the political and accounting executive of the corrupted department.
Calls for Blacklisting and Criminal Charges
In addition to targeting political leadership, the opposition party is pushing for swift retribution against the private contractors involved. The forensic report explicitly recommended that the Mpumalanga Provincial Government immediately move to blacklist BoTau Technologies on the National Treasury Register for Tender Defaulters, citing both the exorbitant overcharging and the company's grossly dishonest conduct during the formal investigation.
The DA has confirmed it will expand its push for accountability by writing directly to the current MEC of Education, Lindi Masina.
MEC Masina will be urged to report all suspected criminal elements—including potential collusion between officials and the service provider—to law enforcement agencies under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) of 1999 and the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004. Furthermore, the DA is demanding that the department carry out the forensic report’s recommendation to subject all implicated senior officials to comprehensive lifestyle audits.
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MIDDELBURG — South Africa’s corruption watchdogs have secured a massive victory against pandemic-era looters, successfully freezing luxury assets and locking down over R27 million in stolen COVID-19 relief funds across two provinces.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU), working alongside the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), announced major breakthroughs in Mpumalanga and the Free State. The multi-agency operation targeted syndicates and businesses that used identity theft and "ghost employees" to siphon money from the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (UIF-TERS).
The Mpumalanga Syndicate: R26.9 Million Extracted via Ghost Workers
In the most severe case, three suspects appeared before the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 18 May 2026, facing heavy charges of fraud and money laundering.
Fumu Mkalira Msiska (48), his wife, Gladness Mkhonto Msiska (48), and his brother-in-law, Bongani Zoran Mkhonto (39), allegedly ran an aggressive, six-month identity fraud scheme in 2020. The SIU revealed that the trio fabricated hundreds of fake employees every month to redirect millions into private bank accounts.
The scale of the alleged monthly ghost employee claims grew steadily throughout the pandemic:
April 2020: 724 ghost employees
May 2020: 587 ghost employees
June 2020: 743 ghost employees
July 2020: 763 ghost employees
August 2020: 767 ghost employees
September 2020: 773 ghost employees
Investigators found that the funds were channeled from an entity called A and F Consulting into Khulani Quality Contribution, a company tied directly to Msiska’s wife. The brother-in-law, Mkhonto, allegedly served as the syndicate's "runner," harvesting ID numbers from unsuspecting victims in Mpumalanga and the North West under the guise of free driving license applications or special grants. Some personal records were even stolen directly from a local Sheriff’s Office.
The court granted bail of R300,000 each to Mr. and Mrs. Msiska, while their co-accused runner, Mkhonto, was granted bail of R3,000.
Fleet of Luxury Vehicles and Real Estate Frozen
The High Court of South Africa, Mpumalanga Division, issued sweeping preservation orders to strip the suspects of their allegedly ill-gotten wealth. The Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) immediately seized bank accounts, household equipment, and real estate holdings in Pretoria, Middelburg, and White River.
The state also confiscated an extensive fleet of vehicles, including:
Free State Businessman Sentenced to Repay Stolen Funds
Simultaneously, the Heilbron Magistrates’ Court in the Free State handed down a decisive conviction against Ente Thibello Sekhoto (51) and his firm, Batlokoa Circle 12 Plaster Services (Pty) Ltd.
An SIU forensic audit discovered that Sekhoto fraudulently claimed R201,812.36 in relief benefits for individuals who never worked for his plastering business. Sekhoto was found guilty of fraud and money laundering and has been ordered by the court to jointly repay the Department of Employment and Labour every cent of the stolen money within the next four years.
The Human Toll of ID Theft: The real-world impact of this corruption came to light when a KwaZulu-Natal mother tried to claim her rightful maternity benefits. Her application was blocked because a company named Consulting Engineers had already used her stolen details to claim fraudulent COVID-19 TERS benefits without her knowledge, sparking the wider Hawks probe.
The SIU emphasized that under Proclamation R08 of 2021, it maintains the absolute authority to launch civil proceedings in the High Court or Special Tribunals to reverse financial damage inflicted on state organs. Law enforcement agencies reiterated that they will continue to track down and claw back public funds intended for vulnerable South African workers.
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The Minister's statement follows a sharp political backlash from opposition parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who labeled the meeting’s cancellation "unprocedural" and an attempt to evade executive accountability.
According to Minister Manamela, the postponement was not a snub to Parliament but a necessary response to ongoing legal battles. The department is currently locked in urgent litigation instituted by former board members of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) who are challenging the Ministry’s decision to dissolve the board and place the student funding body under administration.
"The Minister had confirmed his availability and readiness to appear before the Committee in fulfilment of his constitutional responsibility to account to Parliament," the Ministry said in a statement. "The postponement occurred in the context of urgent litigation proceedings instituted by former NSFAS Board members relating to the decision to place NSFAS under administration."
Manamela strongly defended his sweeping interventions at NSFAS, maintaining that his decisions were legally sound and necessary to rescue the critical public institution from collapsing under financial mismanagement.
The Minister reiterated that his executive actions have been strictly guided by the need to protect student funding continuity, restore governance stability, strengthen internal accountability, and safeguard the scheme for poor and working-class students.
Amid threats from opposition benches to drag the matter before the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manamela sought to de-escalate tensions by reaffirming his commitment to the legislature. He confirmed that his office will constructively engage the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training to secure a suitable future date for the briefing.
GABORONE — South Africa and Botswana have moved to accelerate cross-border industrialization, bolster regional security, and confront the complexities of irregular migration during the Ministerial Session of the 6th Bi-National Commission (BNC) on Wednesday.
The high-level bilateral meeting, hosted in Gaborone, was co-chaired by South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola and his Botswana counterpart, Minister of International Relations Dr. Phenyo Butale.
The session opened under a somber cloud following the recent passing of Botswana’s former President Festus Mogae. Minister Lamola expressed deep condolences to President Duma Boko and the Batswana people, praising Mogae as a "towering giant and African statesman" whose legacy of Pan-Africanism was honored by Deputy President Paul Mashatile during the state funeral.
Turning to economic matters, Lamola highlighted that three new bilateral agreements would be signed during the summit, expanding on an existing framework of 28 agreements.
"South Africa is a major trade and investment partner of Botswana," Lamola said, stressing that South Africa’s agricultural exports and private investments are complementary to Botswana's economic diversification goals outlined in its National Development Plan 12. "Our interests in this sector are complementary. They are not mutually exclusive, nor are they in competition or contradiction."
Economic integration will see a major boost with infrastructure upgrades, including Botswana's plans to establish a One-Stop Border Post at the Tlokweng/Kopfontein border to ease transport congestion. South Africa’s development finance institutions, such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), are actively engaging Batswana partners on critical transport, energy, and water management projects.
Furthermore, Lamola urged joint collaboration in the mining sector amid intense global interest in critical minerals, ensuring both nations have a strategic say in how resources are extracted, beneficiated, and utilized.
A key focus of the ministerial discussions centered on regional migration. Lamola defended migration as a positive force for regional development when managed effectively, but directly addressed South Africa's domestic challenges.
"Migration itself is not a problem. The challenge facing South Africa is irregular migration and a high influx of illegal foreign nationals or migrants," Lamola stated.
He called for an honest, continent-wide dialogue within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regarding the "push and pull factors" of migration and championed the principle of "burden sharing" between countries of origin, transit, and destination. Lamola also reaffirmed that the South African government has deployed strict law enforcement to prevent xenophobic attacks, maintaining that "no one may take the law into their own hands."
Looking ahead to regional leadership, with South Africa serving as interim Chair of SADC and preparing to assume the official Chairmanship in August, Lamola emphasized that "Silencing the Guns" remains a paramount objective to protect economic development from regional instability.
The ministerial council concluded by finalizing its report for the upcoming Summit session between the two countries' Heads of State.
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