News24 South Africa

Election season usually transforms Cape Town’s streets into a sea of smiling politicians and party slogans, but this year’s campaign is looking noticeably different.

Murder-accused Sabino Nel, 34, has told the Bredasdorp Magistrate’s Court that he will not bring a bail application following his arrest for the murder of 73-year-old Mariette Mouton, who was found dead inside her home last month.

Better communication and independent assessments – that’s what some political parties have proposed as solutions following this week’s electricity outage in large parts of the Tshwane metro.

The reward for the return of the historic stolen Bethelsdorp Mission Bell has been dramatically increased to R20 000 – no questions asked.

Rape accused and former top cop Shadrack Sibiya has blamed the father of the 16-year-old girl he is accused of sexually grooming for the charges against him, saying that their friendship soured after he confronted the man over his alleged inappropriate conduct towards women.

The State warned the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday that witnesses in the rape and sexual grooming case against deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya were still being targeted and intimidated, and in some cases, offered money to drop the charges.

The DA’s “water tanker mafia” billboard has been removed from the side of the N2 in the north of Durban after eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba sent the party a letter of demand threatening court action.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced the city’s plans to transform the now-iconic unfinished highways into a new link bridge, promenade, and vibrant new neighbourhood.

After decades of enforcing a blood policy that saw high courts rule for children to receive life-saving transfusions against their parents’ wishes, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has quietly conceded that accepting blood components is now “a matter of personal conscience”.

The defence for a former military man sentenced to life for killing his wife by the Pinetown Regional Court, which described the murder as callous and brutal, was heard reassuring its client on Friday that he would not be kept in the general population of sentenced prisoners in Westville Prison.

The political head of one of the Eastern Cape’s most dysfunctional municipalities looks forward to no longer being insulted as her term draws to a close.

Beyond President Cyril Ramaphosa’s four national interventions to deal with the scourge of gender-based violence, Premier Panyaza Lesufi said Gauteng is adding another to the list — an audit of places of safety, covering buildings, staffing, and funding gaps.

Knysna’s municipal leadership crisis has taken a dramatic new turn, with the arrest of the town’s former mayor and two senior municipal officials on corruption charges.

A Gqeberha man who was found alive and calling for help from the boot of a hijacked vehicle in the early hours of Thursday was rescued by police officers who had initially responded to an entirely different crime scene nearby.

While police say they will work with prosecutors to reinstate withdrawn murder charges against Bonginkosi Mfanomncane Dlamini, his arrest for the 2021 Sydenham mass killing that claimed nine lives, including two children, has led investigators to the alleged mastermind, who is serving a sentence for a separate murder.

Nelson Mandela Bay ANC regional secretary Siphiwo Tshaka faced an intense interrogation by regional party leaders during a confrontational meeting on Tuesday morning, amid allegations of interference with the councillor candidate list.

La Motte head baker Ricardo Slawers has become the first African to earn the Certified Bread Sommelier title from Germany’s National Bakers Academy in Weinheim, graduating with a thesis on mosbolletjies.

With elections looming, villagers feel bribed with food parcels that they need water to cook, and many are ready to abandon the party they say has turned their thirst into a business.

Cape Town roads affected by service delivery demonstrations on Friday morning have been reopened, and the crowd of protesters has been dispersed.

The DA in the Eastern Cape has moved to capitalise on the ANC’s claims of a glitch in the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s system by fielding mayoral candidates in four municipalities where it previously had none.