• Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema can now appeal his firearm convictions, the Makhanda High Court ruled on 28 September.

• Julius Malema got five years in prison in April but has not served time, because his sentence is under appeal.

Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, has been given the right to appeal his five firearm convictions. The Makhanda High Court in the Eastern Cape signed the order on Monday, 28 September 2026.

Leave to appeal means the court has agreed to hear the appeal. Two judges read Malema’s application and the court record and found “compelling reasons”, the order says.

The appeal will go to a Full Bench of the High Court in Makhanda.

Malema was found guilty in October 2025 of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, firing a firearm in a built-up area, failing to take reasonable precautions and reckless endangerment. The charges come from the Economic Freedom Fighters’ fifth anniversary celebrations at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in July 2018.

Magistrate Twanet Olivier sentenced him to five years in prison on 16 April 2026 at the KuGompo court, in the city formerly called East London. That court let him appeal the sentence but refused him leave to appeal the convictions. Malema then took that request to the High Court.

Malema left court on 16 April without going to prison. Daily Maverick reported that he remains convicted and sentenced, and that the appeal only pauses the sentence.

Eyewitness News reported in June that Malema’s court papers say no witness saw him fire a weapon. They also say no fingerprint or DNA evidence linked him to the firearm or the spent cartridge. He also questions how the video evidence was handled. The State opposed his application and said he has no reasonable prospects of success.

The order does not give a date for the appeal hearing.

South Africa is spending billions and deploying soldiers against crime, but the real measure is whether fewer people are being murdered and more criminal networks are being dismantled, writes Zukile Majova in Real Politics.

South Africa is living through a crisis of public safety.

27 people were killed in two mass shootings in a single weekend. Eleven more were killed in KwaMakhutha, KwaZulu Natal, days earlier. In Ekurhuleni, 11 women’s bodies have been discovered over two months while police investigate killings that have left communities fearful.

Even after a 5.9% year on year drop in the latest SAPS crime statistics, the country recorded 5,427 murders between April and June 2026. That is almost 60 murders every day.

Yet the government has a strategy, a budget and growing assistance from the military. President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised additional police officers, intelligence led operations, the dismantling of criminal syndicates and a renewed fight against gender based violence.

The question is no longer what the president intends to do. It is what the country has received in return for years of promises, billions of rands in public spending and repeated declarations of war against crime.

In March, Ramaphosa authorised the deployment of 2,200 soldiers to support the police at an estimated cost of R823 million. Operation Prosper targets illegal mining and gangsterism in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, North West and Western Cape. The deployment is scheduled to continue until March 2027.

The strategy uses the military’s logistical and operational capacity to support police in crime hotspots.

In July, police and the military reported that the operation had produced 1,149 arrests during June, along with the seizure of illegal firearms and mining equipment.

These are significant enforcement activities. But arrests alone do not prove that criminal networks have been dismantled or that communities are safer.

How many arrests have resulted in convictions? How much money has been recovered from criminal syndicates? What measurable reduction in violent crime can be attributed to the deployment?

The latest massacres raise uncomfortable questions about the reach of the operation. The military cannot be deployed to every violent crime hotspot and soldiers cannot be expected to prevent every shooting. But the government should explain how its targeted deployments are coordinated with police intelligence and local crime prevention operations.

It must also demonstrate that these deployments are confronting the criminal networks and conditions they were designed to address.

The official statistics may show a decline in some offences. That does not erase the severity of a murder rate that remains extraordinarily high, nor does it necessarily reflect how safe people feel in their neighbourhoods.

Ramaphosa must move beyond national totals and demonstrate improvement in the communities most affected by violent crime.

How many murder investigations result in arrests, prosecutions and convictions? How many illegal firearms are traced to criminal networks? Are repeat shootings declining in identified hotspots?

Perhaps the most troubling question concerns the ability of the police to anticipate and prevent organised violence.

Ramaphosa’s 2026 State of the Nation Address promised to consolidate intelligence, identify priority syndicates and establish teams across different agencies to dismantle criminal networks.

But intelligence led policing requires trusted informants, competent investigators, effective information sharing and leadership that has not been compromised by corruption.

The allegations involving senior police officials make this an urgent institutional concern.

The Madlanga Commission was established after KwaZulu Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that criminal syndicates had infiltrated parts of the criminal justice system. Its hearings and referrals have raised serious questions about criminality, political interference and accountability within law enforcement.

The government must establish whether the police have the leadership, resources and institutional integrity to confront increasingly sophisticated criminal networks.

Large drug seizures and regular operations may demonstrate activity. They do not necessarily reveal who finances the trade, controls distribution or profits from it.

The same applies to illegal mining, kidnapping, human trafficking and extortion. Arresting individual perpetrators is not the same as dismantling the networks behind them.

The economic consequences of this insecurity are substantial.

Businesses must pay for private security, insurance and protective infrastructure while also worrying about the safety of employees and customers.

In struggling central business districts, crime can discourage investment, reduce foot traffic and undermine efforts to revive evening economies. Restaurants, retailers and entertainment venues lose valuable trading hours when customers and staff are afraid to travel after dark.

Tourism is also exposed. The sector contributed an estimated R361.7 billion directly to the economy and supported about 954,000 jobs in 2024, according to the Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development.

South Africa welcomed more than 10.5 million tourists in 2025, surpassing levels recorded before the pandemic. That success demonstrates the sector’s resilience, but continued growth depends partly on visitor confidence and safe destinations.

Crime does not deter every tourist. But insecurity imposes costs on operators, shapes visitor choices and threatens the country’s ability to realise its full tourism potential.

Domestic tourism matters too. South Africans should be able to enjoy their own cities, visit attractions and support local businesses without constantly worrying about their safety.

The same insecurity undermines government plans to attract investment and regenerate urban centres. Investors considering commercial property, hospitality or retail developments need confidence that employees, customers and infrastructure will be protected.

A city that empties after dark because of fear is a city losing economic opportunities.

The crisis of violence against women exposes another gap between government commitments and lived experience.

Ramaphosa has repeatedly described gender based violence as a national crisis and pledged decisive action. Yet the discovery of 11 women’s bodies in Ekurhuleni over two months has renewed concern about the protection of women and the effectiveness of prevention and investigation.

The government has a National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence and Femicide, but the public deserves a transparent account of its implementation.

How much has been allocated and spent? Which organisations receive funding? How much reaches shelters, victim support services, prevention programmes and forensic investigations? What independent monitoring shows whether these interventions are working?

Presidential condemnations and strategic plans matter. But women need functioning police services, accessible protection, effective investigations and a justice system that holds perpetrators accountable.

The state must demonstrate that its commitments are producing safer homes, workplaces, streets and public spaces.

Ramaphosa’s record since taking office in 2018 should therefore be assessed against outcomes, not announcements.

Police recruitment, military deployments, arrests and budget allocations are inputs. The real measures are fewer murders, successful prosecutions, dismantled criminal networks, reduced violence against women and greater public confidence in the state.

There is no simple solution to South Africa’s entrenched crime problem. Poverty, inequality, unemployment, illegal firearms, organised criminal economies and institutional weakness all contribute to it.

Nor can the president personally prevent every act of violence. But he is responsible for ensuring that the government has a coherent strategy, competent leadership and systems that deliver results.

The latest massacres should prompt more than another round of outrage and promises of decisive action.

They should trigger an honest assessment of what the government has spent, what its operations have achieved and where its approach must change.

South Africa cannot build thriving cities, attract sustained investment or expand its tourism economy while millions of people live with the fear of violence. Nor can it claim meaningful progress against gender based violence while women continue to face grave threats to their safety.

Eight years into Ramaphosa’s presidency, the country needs an honest accounting of the war on crime.

The question is not how many operations have been announced or how many arrests have been made. It is whether the state is becoming more capable of protecting its people.

Until the government can prove that it is, its war on crime will remain a campaign of activity without enough evidence of victory.

Zukile Majova and Rob Rose will later this week discuss Ramaphosa’s war on crime and whether government operations are making South Africans safer on the Sharp Sharp podcast from Scrolla and the Financial Mail.

By Palesa Matlala

• Eyewitness Lonwabo Benze says gunmen arrived in a Toyota Quantum and appeared to join Heritage Day celebrations before opening fire.

• President Cyril Ramaphosa says technology has helped police identify images of eight suspects as the hunt for those responsible continues.

Lonwabo Benze was setting up his table to sell snacks at a Heritage Day celebration when a Toyota Quantum pulled up.

A group of men climbed out and appeared to join the celebrations.

Then the shooting started.

“I had a Heritage Day event and community members came in their numbers. I set up my table to start selling,” Benze told Scrolla.Africa.

“I saw a Toyota Quantum arriving and a group of men coming out of it. They disguised themselves as though they were joining the Heritage Day celebration.”

Benze said the gunmen appeared to know that men would run towards the men’s toilets for safety.

He said the attackers opened fire as people tried to hide.

One person was shot dead outside, he said.

Benze said he heard the attackers speaking in Sotho and saying the people they were looking for were not there.

He said one of the gunmen then said they “might as well kill everyone else”.

Police have not confirmed what the gunmen said or whether specific people were being targeted.

Benze said the attackers took cellphones, clothes, money and alcohol from people at the scene, but did not take the tavern’s alcohol.

He said the gunmen also broke the windows of two cars and threw hot coals inside, setting them alight.

“It was like a movie,” he said.

Benze said Wedela already struggles with illegal mining and crimes such as muggings, but residents are not used to violence on this scale.

He also said two people were shot at the same location almost two months ago.

Police have not confirmed that earlier shooting.

Police said 17 people were killed and 15 others wounded in the latest attack.

Thirteen men and four women died.

The gunmen were armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols, according to police.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said technology had helped police identify images of the eight suspects wanted in connection with the shooting.

He said this had given investigators an important lead in their search for those responsible.

“We do need to bring the levels of criminality down throughout the country as much as possible,” Ramaphosa said.

“We cannot be a country where people just pick up guns and start shooting randomly and making the people of South Africa unsafe.”

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi also visited Carletonville following the shooting.

He said Gauteng was not a “gangster’s paradise” and welcomed the progress made by investigators.

Deputy Gauteng Police Commissioner Fred Kekana said police were hot on the heels of those believed to be responsible.

Lesufi said the evidence gathered within hours of the shooting showed that police were improving their ability to trace suspects.

For Benze, however, the attack has left him worried about something much closer to home.

He depends on selling snacks at community events to make money.

“I look forward to such events because that is where I make my money. But I am scared now,” he said.

What should have been a day of celebration and business for Benze became a night he will never forget.

Pictured above: Eyewitness Lonwabo Benze says gunmen appeared to join a Heritage Day celebration before opening fire at a tavern in Wedela.

Image source: Palesa Matlala.

By Celani Sikhakhane

• King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo urged South Africans to rally behind King Misuzulu kaZwelithini after the Zulu King raised concerns about the government.

• King Misuzulu kaZwelithini raised concerns about his security and accused politicians of discussing land in KwaZulu-Natal without consulting him.

AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has thrown his support behind King Misuzulu kaZwelithini following the Zulu King’s strong remarks about the government.

King Dalindyebo took to social media to address the AbaThembu nation and South Africans following King Misuzulu’s recent speeches in KwaZulu-Natal.

He called on people across the country to support King Misuzulu.

“Beautiful Thembu Nation, fellow South Africans both black and white, the Zulu King has spoken and let’s rally behind him. I’ve never been so happy hearing him speaking like that,” said King Dalindyebo.

“I’m calling on all of you to support him. We are all angry and in order to fight for our future let’s support His Majesty King Misuzulu kaZwelithini.”

King Misuzulu raised several concerns while addressing the King Shaka Day event in Durban on Thursday.

He spoke about plans to remove his security detail and told his regiments that they would look after his safety.

King Misuzulu also complained about politicians who visit his palace to seek his blessing before elections.

He said those politicians later enter government and hold international events in KwaZulu-Natal where land is discussed with foreign investors without informing him.

King Misuzulu told amabutho that if this happens again, he will call on them to disrupt international summits held in Durban.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation, led by Minister Ronald Lamola, later released a statement saying an invitation had been sent to King Misuzulu to attend the 46th Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community Heads of State.

King Misuzulu did not name any government leader in the remarks.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli told King Misuzulu and his regiments that his government would continue working with traditional leaders and the King to improve the lives of communities.

President Cyril Ramaphosa also met traditional leaders in Durban on Saturday and expressed his support for them.

Pictured above: AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, who has called on South Africans to support King Misuzulu kaZwelithini.

Image source: File.

The ANC’s failure to register candidates has given neglected communities a rare opportunity to demand more than another political promise, writes Zukile Majova in Real Politics.

For the people of Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns, the ANC’s candidate list blunder is not primarily a story about the ANC.

It is a story about them.

For years, politics in parts of the Eastern Cape has seemed less like a contest than a permanent condition. The ANC has dominated local government for generation after generation. Yet the basic economic circumstances of many residents remain extraordinarily difficult.

In Ingquza Hill, just 17.6% of households had piped water inside their homes in the 2022 Census. In the 2011 Census, youth unemployment was recorded at 60.9%.

Port St Johns tells much the same story. Only 19% of households had piped water inside their homes in 2022. Its youth unemployment rate was 61% in 2011.

These are not abstract statistics. They describe communities where social grants can become the economic foundation, young people reach adulthood without jobs and the promise of development remains just that, a promise.

Now something extraordinary has happened.

Because the ANC failed to complete the registration of its candidates on time, voters in six municipalities are heading into the 4 November local elections with an electoral map fundamentally different from the one their politicians expected.

The Electoral Court rejected the ANC’s application to restore 181 excluded candidates. The affected municipalities are Ingquza Hill, Port St Johns, Mangaung Metro, uMshwathi, Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley. The ANC says it will pursue further legal options.

The consequences are especially dramatic in Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns, where the ANC has no candidates on the ballot.

In 2021, the ANC won 46 of Ingquza Hill’s 64 council seats. It won 31 of the 39 seats in Port St Johns.

The political establishment may spend the next few weeks asking which opposition party will benefit.

That is the wrong question.

The more important question is what happens when the party that has dominated a municipality for decades is suddenly no longer an option.

There is a temptation to regard this merely as an electoral gift to whichever opposition party can capture displaced ANC voters.

But the opportunity is bigger than that.

It allows voters to ask every party seeking their support a more uncomfortable question:

What exactly will you do with this place?

Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns possess assets that most municipalities would envy.

The Wild Coast is one of the country’s great natural assets. Port St Johns describes itself as the centre of Wild Coast tourism, with opportunities around its coastline, beaches, fishing and natural environment.

Yet the surrounding communities remain among the country’s poorest.

That contradiction should embarrass every political party.

The region should not have to choose between development and environmental protection as though the only alternatives were a mine or poverty.

The real challenge is to construct a development model in which local communities share in the economic value of their land and natural resources, whether that value comes from tourism, agriculture, mineral resources, conservation or a combination of them.

Xolobeni illustrates the problem.

For more than 15 years, communities have fought over a proposed titanium mine on the Wild Coast. The dispute has become a national symbol of the conflict between mining, environmental protection, community rights and economic development.

The 2018 Baleni judgment established that communities holding informal land rights must give consent before mining rights can be granted over their land.

But after all those years, the fundamental question remains unanswered:

How do you turn the natural wealth of the Wild Coast into economic opportunity for the people who live there?

That requires political leadership.

Not slogans about transformation. Not promises made at election time. And not another decade of arguing while young people remain unemployed.

The same question is visible further inland in Mangaung.

Bloemfontein should be one of the country’s great inland economic centres. Instead, the metro has been under government intervention since 2019, with the intervention escalated to national level in 2022.

Recent reporting describes deteriorating infrastructure, returned infrastructure grants, water losses, sewage problems and billions of rand in unauthorised expenditure.

The result is not merely damaged roads or unreliable services.

It is lost economic opportunity.

A city cannot attract investors while its infrastructure is deteriorating. Agriculture cannot flourish without functioning roads, water and electricity. Tourism cannot grow when public spaces decay. Businesses cannot create jobs indefinitely when municipal failure becomes another cost of operating.

That is why the candidate list fiasco matters beyond the ANC.

It has unexpectedly forced the question of governance onto the ballot.

The DA will point voters towards uMngeni in KwaZulu Natal as evidence that municipal government can improve within a single electoral cycle.

There is evidence that the municipality’s financial and administrative performance improved after the DA took control in 2021. Its records show consecutive financially unqualified audit outcomes, compared with a qualified outcome in 2020/21. The municipality also says its roads maintenance budget increased from R11 million to R42 million.

Those achievements include political claims that voters should test against municipal records. But the broader lesson does not belong exclusively to the DA.

Municipal performance can change.

That is an important lesson for voters in the six municipalities affected by the ANC’s administrative failure.

They have choices.

Some may choose the DA. Others may choose the EFF, MK or another established or emerging party. Some may choose independents or civic organisations.

The ANC’s absence does not leave an empty ballot. It leaves a more fragmented political marketplace.

Fragmentation carries its own risks.

A party that has never governed a municipality has no municipal record against which voters can judge its promises. A party can campaign brilliantly and still discover that running a municipality requires something different.

It requires competent administrators, functioning revenue systems, credible budgets, infrastructure maintenance, procurement controls and the ability to attract investment.

Voters should therefore not simply ask which party is angry with the ANC.

They should ask which party can run a municipality.

Can it collect revenue and maintain roads and water infrastructure?

Can it produce credible budgets, achieve clean or unqualified audits and stop corruption and waste?

Can it attract businesses and turn a municipality’s natural and economic assets into opportunities for local people?

The ANC’s candidate list failure was an extraordinary political blunder.

For the ANC, it is plainly bad news.

For democracy, however, there is another possibility.

It could become a blessing in disguise, not because it guarantees that an opposition party will govern better, but because it has temporarily broken the assumption that the political status quo is inevitable.

In Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns, voters have suddenly been handed an unusual political laboratory.

The ANC cannot ask them to vote for its candidates.

That means the opposition cannot simply ask voters to vote against the ANC.

They must persuade them to vote for something.

The people of the Wild Coast, Mangaung, uMshwathi, Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley do not need another promise that their turn is coming.

They need evidence that somebody knows how to make their turn happen.

That is the real test created by the ANC’s blunder.

Zukile Majova and Rob Rose will discuss how the ANC’s candidate list blunder has transformed elections in six municipalities. Hear on Thursday why the mistake could give neglected voters a rare chance to demand better government on Sharp Sharp, the politics and business podcast from Scrolla and the Financial Mail.

Pictured above: Vote ANC banners. 

Image source: @MYANC/X

By Palesa Matlala

• Golden Arrow will raise mainly off-peak cash fares by an average of 4.5% from 28 September while protecting most peak cash fares.

• Gold Card multi-journey ticket prices will not increase, with Golden Arrow encouraging regular commuters to buy rides in advance to save money.

Cape Town commuters who pay cash for Golden Arrow buses will have to dig deeper into their pockets from 28 September.

Golden Arrow Bus Service has announced an average 4.5% increase on selected cash fares.

But the increase will not hit every passenger.

The company says its Gold Card multi-journey tickets will remain at their current prices, while most peak cash fares will also be protected from the increase.

Golden Arrow spokesperson Bronwen Dyk-Beyer said the increases would mainly affect passengers paying cash during off-peak hours.

“The fare adjustment will apply primarily to off-peak cash fares, those are cash fares mainly paid on the bus between 8am and 4pm daily, with increases only affecting selected peak cash fares,” she said.

“There will be no increase to any Gold Card multi-journey tickets, ensuring that passengers who purchase their rides up front continue to pay the same fares.”

The company said it had chosen to target certain cash fares rather than increase prices across the board.

This was done to reduce the impact on commuters who depend on buses to travel to work, school and other daily commitments.

Golden Arrow general manager Derrick Meyer said rising operating costs had put pressure on the bus company.

“The adjustment comes after sustained increases in the cost of operating bus services, including fuel, maintenance, parts, tyres and labour,” Meyer said.

He said Golden Arrow had absorbed a large part of those higher costs before deciding to adjust fares.

“GABS has absorbed a significant portion of these increases and opted for a targeted fare adjustment rather than applying increases across all fares.”

Regular commuters are being encouraged to consider multi-journey tickets instead of paying cash for every trip.

Golden Arrow says these tickets can offer discounts of up to 45%.

The tickets are loaded onto a reusable Golden Arrow Gold Card, which costs R40 once off.

One option is the Easy ticket, which can be used on almost all Golden Arrow routes.

It costs R134 for five rides and R248.50 for 10 rides.

A 48-ride Easy ticket costs R1,093.

For passengers who use buses every day, keeping the multi-journey prices unchanged could provide some protection from the latest increase.

But commuters who normally pay cash during quieter parts of the day are likely to feel the impact from 28 September.

The company said the fare changes were necessary because of the continued pressure from fuel, maintenance, tyres, parts and labour costs.

Golden Arrow has deliberately kept most peak cash fares unchanged because those trips are heavily used by people travelling to and from work and school.

For commuters trying to keep their transport bills down, the message from Golden Arrow is clear: paying for several journeys in advance could work out cheaper than paying cash on the bus.

Pictured above: A Golden Arrow bus in Cape Town.

Image source: Golden Arrow Bus Service.

By Palesa Matlala

• Eight-year-old Khumo Moselakgomo told mourners she would carry her mother’s memory in her heart after losing her to violence.

• More than R100,000 has been raised for Khumo’s education as communities demand stronger action following the deaths of nine women in Ekurhuleni.

Eight-year-old Khumo Moselakgomo stood before mourners on Sunday and said goodbye to the mother she desperately wished she could hug one more time.

Her mother, 38-year-old runner Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, was murdered after going out for a run in Kempton Park.

“Dearest mother, how heartbreaking that you left me,” Khumo said at the funeral.

“The day feels quiet without your voice, but your love is still here, surrounding me with love.”

Elizabeth disappeared after leaving her home for an afternoon run. When she failed to return, Khumo contacted relatives and the family reported her missing.

Her body was found three days later in Rhodesfield.

The family later identified her at the Germiston mortuary.

At her funeral in Mpumalanga on Sunday, Khumo spoke about growing up without her mother’s hand to hold or smile to see.

“I may not hold your hand or see your beautiful smile, but all the memories we have made will stay with me forever,” she said.

Khumo said she would look towards the sky when she missed her mother.

“When I feel sad and miss you, I will look up to the sky and imagine you are watching me from above with love in your eyes.”

She spoke of how badly she wanted her mother back.

“I wish I could hug you. I wish you can be here. But I carry you inside my heart, so you can always be nearby,” Khumo said.

She ended her tribute by telling her mother how much she loved her.

“Your beautiful daughter loves you so much. She misses you every day, but I know that I have gained a beautiful angel in you.”

Elizabeth is one of nine women whose deaths police are investigating after their bodies were found across Ekurhuleni in nine weeks.

Police are investigating whether any of the cases are connected.

Her killing has also brought support for the daughter she left behind.

A BackaBuddy campaign started to help pay for Khumo’s education passed its original R50,000 target.

By Wednesday it had raised R108,541.

The campaign aims to help cover school and university fees and other education costs.

“While we cannot fill the space left by a parent, we can come together as a community to help provide something lasting: The gift of education and the opportunity for a brighter future,” the campaign said.

Elizabeth’s death has also increased calls for authorities to protect women in Ekurhuleni.

Bopha Foundation’s Andrew Baloyi said women in Kempton Park were afraid to leave their homes.

“Our sisters are living in fear in Kempton Park,” he said.

“They don’t go shopping; they don’t go anywhere now. They are sitting at home; they are like slaves.”

Baloyi called for greater police action and said the Gauteng government needed to show residents how its crime-fighting measures, including panic buttons, were meant to work.

“We will fight, we want accountability,” he said.

Family, friends and members of the running community gathered to say their final goodbyes to Elizabeth.

For Khumo, the farewell was simple.

“Love, your beautiful princess Khumo. Thank you.”

Pictured above: Eight-year-old Khumo Moselakgomo pays tribute to her mother Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo at her funeral. 

Image source: Palesa Matlala.

Rob Rose and Zukile Majova are joined by Patrick Smith from Africa Confidential for episode 25 of Sharp Sharp, the weekly podcast on politics, money and power from the Financial Mail and Scrolla.Africa.

The Trump administration has announced targeted visa restrictions for foreign nationals involved in race based discrimination. Washington has again accused South Africa of persecuting Afrikaners, despite its claims presenting a distorted picture of the country. Rob, Zuks and Patrick examine what this could mean for business and diplomacy, and whether anyone can repair relations between the two countries.

The conversation turns to the women whose bodies were found across Ekurhuleni. Police have not confirmed that all the cases are connected. The team examines South Africa’s failure to confront gender based violence, the collapse of trust in the police and why crime has not become a major issue ahead of the local elections.

They also unpack Fikile Mbalula’s court battle with Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma over allegations of vote buying within the ANC. Mbalula denies the allegations. The episode ends with Africa’s successful campaign for the United Nations to use maps that show the continent at its true scale.

By Celani Sikhakhane

• King Vulikhaya Sigcawu called on academics to help protect and develop African customary law, at a University of Fort Hare gathering this month.

• Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana called for the rejuvenation of Jongilizwe College to train traditional leaders, and greater government support for the initiative.

AmaXhosa King Vulikhaya Sigcawu is calling on academics to play a vital role in consolidating African customary law, which he says has long been marginalised by colonial legal systems rooted in Roman-Dutch and British law.

The King was addressing the University of Fort Hare’s Customary Law Assembly, held at the Miriam Makeba Arts Centre on the university’s East London campus earlier this month, in partnership with the AmaXhosa Kingdom and recognised kingships across the Eastern Cape.

The King acknowledged that consolidating and codifying customary law would be a long process, and pledged his support for the initiative, championed by the university’s Faculty of Law. He described customary law as central to the way of life of African communities, saying its treatment as subordinate to Roman-Dutch law reinforces a colonial mindset that Africans’ own practices are backward. He called on academics to contribute to protecting and developing customary law through research, and urged the initiative be expanded beyond the Eastern Cape to include other kingdoms and traditional leadership structures nationally.

Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana, Contralesa’s provincial chair and a High Court advocate and MP, delivered the keynote address on behalf of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, saying customary law had historically been marginalised within the country’s legal system. He called for traditional and Khoisan leaders to be properly capacitated, and recommended reviving Jongilizwe College to train royals and provide ongoing training for traditional and Khoisan leaders. He also called for government support for infrastructure and research, and urged higher education institutions to promote customary law.

This comes as many traditional leaders across South Africa call for the development of customary law and traditional courts to handle royal disputes directly. Prof Mathole Motshekga of the Balobedu Kingdom recently argued that royal disputes are instead being decided in courts rooted in colonial legal traditions that have little to do with African custom.

Discussions at the Assembly examined the historical marginalisation of customary law, including the legacy of colonial legislation and its effect on the recognition of indigenous legal systems, as well as the challenge of developing customary law within South Africa’s constitutional framework. Participants also considered the need for greater recognition of living customary law

Pictured above: AmaXhosa King Vulikhaya Sigcawu, who has called on academics to help advance customary law.

Image source: ANC Eastern Cape

By Anita Dangazele

• The Electoral Court has dismissed the ANC’s appeal over 181 candidates excluded from the local government elections.

• The court also granted the DA leave to intervene in the case, while the ANC says it will pursue a further appeal.

The Electoral Court has dismissed the ANC’s challenge against the Electoral Commission over 181 candidates excluded from the 4 November local government elections, but the party says it will appeal the ruling.

The dispute centred on whether candidate information the ANC had loaded onto the IEC’s online nomination system before the 28 August deadline counted as formally submitted, even though the party had not completed the system’s final submission step.

The IEC maintained that capturing or uploading information isn’t the same as formally submitting it, and that the ANC simply didn’t complete the process in time.

The court dismissed the ANC’s appeal and granted the DA leave to intervene in the matter. A separate bid by the African Transformation Movement to intervene was rejected, with the court finding it had been brought too late and without the right application. No costs order was made against either side.

The 181 affected candidates span six municipalities: Port St Johns, Ngquza Hill, Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape, uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal, and Mangaung in the Free State.

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said in a statement on Wednesday that the party will pursue further legal options.

“Having considered the judgment, the ANC will exercise its legal rights and pursue the appropriate appeal process. Our legal representatives will engage the court on the legal questions arising from the judgment,” she said.

The party maintained it was not seeking special treatment, saying the case was about the legal status of information it says was already captured on the IEC’s system before the deadline.

Bhengu called on ANC members to stay calm while the party’s lawyers consider next steps, and said the party remains committed to contesting the elections regardless of the outcome.

“The ANC remains fully committed to the 2026 Local Government Elections. Our focus remains on presenting our programme to South Africans, engaging communities, and earning their support through our record and our policies for the betterment of communities,” she said.

Pictured above: The Electoral Court has ruled against the ANC in the fight over 181 election candidate lists.

Image source: Supplied