DBE Warns Matric Learners of Extreme Weather as 2026 NSC Exams Enter Final Stages

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has urged matric candidates and provincial education departments to remain alert to potentially disruptive weather conditions as the 2026 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations enter their final stages.

The department warned that excessive heat, heavy rainfall and thunderstorms could affect examination activities in parts of the country, raising concerns about the safety and well-being of candidates and examination personnel.

In a statement issued on Thursday, November 12, the DBE said the administration of theREAD MORE

XI’AN, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) — A national high-level think tank released a report on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation in promoting an open world economy on Tuesday.

The report, titled “Building an Open World Economy Through Belt and Road Cooperation,” was released by Xinhua Institute, a think tank affiliated with Xinhua News Agency, at the Belt and Road Forum for International Think Tank Cooperation 2026 & the 4th Silk Road (XI’AN) International Communication Forum in Xi’an, capital of northwest China’sREAD MORE

The search for missing Hartbeespoort Dam skipper Jan Obakeng Mokonyane has turned into a race against time, with thick water hyacinth covering nearly half of the dam and hampering efforts to locate him more than two weeks after his boat capsized. There were eight in the boat; seven people were rescued. Unfortunately, he wasn’t.

Mokonyane went missing on October 25, 2026, after a boat capsized at Hartbeespoort Dam in North West.

Despite ongoing search and rescue operations, there has beenREAD MORE

XI’AN, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) — The Belt and Road Forum for International Think Tank Cooperation 2026 and the 4th Silk Road (Xi’an) International Communication Forum opened in Xi’an, capital city of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, on Tuesday.

Themed “High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation Empowering Modernisation and Mutual Learning among Civilisations,” these forums aim to pool global wisdom and promote new development of Belt and Road cooperation with higher quality and at a higher level.

More than 300 diplomats, think tankREAD MORE

South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) is operating with 2,146 officers across its four regions, while a 75% vacancy rate continues to undermine its capacity, according to a written parliamentary reply by Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber.

The figures were provided in response to questions from African Transformation Movement (ATM) Member of Parliament Thandiswa Linnen Marawu, who sought information about staffing levels at border posts, the adequacy of personnel and whether officers had the necessary tools to combat corruption.

TheREAD MORE

Two Lesotho nationals have been sentenced to a combined 27 years in prison for murdering fellow countrymen in separate incidents in the North West and Northern Cape.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) secured a 12-year direct imprisonment sentence against 23-year-old Tshepo Nkhope in Koster, North West, for murdering a man who had visited his residence looking for his girlfriend.

In a separate case, Phosholi Peete was sentenced to 15 years’ direct imprisonment for stabbing fellow Lesotho national Thabo Rakeketsi toREAD MORE

Banyana Banyana are heading into a defining November showdown in Morocco, with Chinese Taipei, Ecuador and Uzbekistan standing between South Africa and the next step towards the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

Head coach Dr Desiree Ellis has named her 23-player squad for the high-stakes play-off tournament, knowing that there is little room for error as the African champions fight to keep their World Cup ambitions alive.

The tournament, which runs from 28 November to 5 December atREAD MORE

The Democratic Alliance (DA) must turn its strong local election showing into a stable Johannesburg administration, with mayoral candidate Helen Zille saying the city’s finances must be repaired before residents can expect service improvements.

The DA secured the most votes in five of the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities, but won an outright majority only in Cape Town. In Johannesburg, the party emerged in first place without a majority, leaving it dependent on negotiations with other parties to form a government.READ MORE

A senior Department of Justice and Constitutional Development official stationed at the Office of the Master of the High Court in Polokwane allegedly had a corrupt relationship with suspended attorney Charlotte Tibana, with the State accusing him of referring beneficiaries of deceased estates to her law firm in exchange for money.

The explosive allegations emerged at the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where estate controller Gustavus Mokoana Moloto made a brief appearance alongside Tibana on gratification charges relating to allegedREAD MORE

More than three years after political activist and former politician Loyiso Nkohla was gunned down in front of community members in Philippi, Cape Town, the man who pulled the trigger will spend the next 30 years behind bars.

For his wife, Nyameka Mabandla, April 17, 2023, remains a painful reminder of how a decision by her husband to persuade her to stay away from a community meeting ultimately saved her life, while he was brutally murdered in a hail ofREAD MORE