The South African Police Service (SAPS) in Lebowakgomo is investigating a case of malicious damage to property following a break in in the office of the Speaker of the Limpopo Legislature, Dr Makoma Makhurupetje. The offices of two senior managers were targeted and vandalised. Provincial spokesperson, Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba, said the incident happened on Wednesday night, 8 July. The suspects gained entry by damaging the ceiling in the two offices and ransacking the entire place. The incident took place a…

Limpopo ANC Chief Whip Essob Mokgonyana allegedly orchestrated a campaign against suspended Secretary of the Legislature, Dr Tim Maake, to protect senior officials implicated in fraud and corruption estimated at R136 million.  According to sources within the Legislature and the provincial ANC, Mokgonyana wanted Maake removed to prevent him from implementing the recommendations of a damning forensic report that found that senior managers allegedly siphoned off huge sums of taxpayers’ money between 2019 and 2024.  The officials in question from…

The Polokwane Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has issued a warrant of arrest for Giyani businessman Howard Mashaba after he failed to appear in court for his trial today, 29 May 2026. He reportedly travelled to China on a business trip without the court’s permission. Mashaba, a convicted fraudster with four previous criminal records, faces charges including fraud, theft, three counts of money laundering, and contraventions of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA). The state alleges he fraudulently concluded property…

A Facebook post in April 2026 by a Limpopo singing star to celebrate a professorship conferred by a church body reportedly without legal authority to do so has been met with uncomplimentary responses, with an author and academic decrying the incident as an ‘easy way to glory’. Caught in the centre of the doctorate conferment storm is Bennet Skheto Baloyi, also known as Benny Mayengani. Mayengani stirred a storm on Facebook on Saturday, April 18, 2026. The post uploaded photos…

A top Johannesburg prosecutor is being investigated for corruption after allegedly demanding a R400 000 bribe to drop a fraud case against a Limpopo businessman. Adv Tilas Richard Chabalala, attached to the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) within the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA), allegedly demanded that Howard Mashaba pay R250 000 into his mortgage bond account and another R150 000 into his credit card before he could officially withdraw the case in court. Chabalala is the prosecutor in an R6…

VHEMBE ANC regional deputy chairperson Miyelani “Mabanana” Chauke has been elected Vhembe District Municipality Mayor, in a vote that was boycotted by his predecessor, Freda Nkondo, who ignored a party instruction to resign. The former Collins Chabane Municipality chief whip was elected at a special council meeting held at the Vhembe District Municipality chambers in Thohoyandou on Friday. Chauke was elected with 38 votes to six against an EFF councillor. Speaking to African Times shortly after Chauke’s election, Nkondo confirmed…

DEFIANT Vhembe District Mayor Tsakani Fredah Nkondo has vowed to ignore the Limpopo ANC’s instruction to resign or be recalled. Nkondo confirmed to African Times that Provincial ANC secretary Reuben Madadzhe summoned her to the party’s Polokwane provincial headquarters, Frans Mohlala, and ordered her to vacate office or face the humiliation of being recalled as mayor. She said Vhembe ANC top brass, regional chairperson Tshitereke Matibe and secretary Matodzi Ralushai, also conveyed the same message, but she declined. Her move…

A prominent businessman has accused the Greater Giyani Municipality (GGM) Mayor of corruption after allegedly instructing him to inflate a transportation quotation by more than the initial quoted amount for personal use. This follows after Howard Mashaba accused GGM Mayor Thandi Zitha of corruption after she allegedly instructed him to increase the 2024 transportation quotation by R250,000. On Saturday, April 11, 2026, the ANC held a provincial rally at the Giyani Stadium in Limpopo to start the party’s councillor candidate…

The Giyani Specialized Commercial Crime Court in Limpopo has sentenced a 41-year-old pharmacist to 10 years imprisonment or pay a fine of half a million after he was convicted of 18 charges of fraud on Wednesday, 18 February 2026.  According to evidence presented to the court in Giyani, the fraudster, Tinyiko Gift Mongolele, approached Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) members in 2018 and requested their medical aid information, promising them cash-back incentives or shoes in return. He also used the…

A pharmacist who allegedly defrauded members of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) of almost R1 million by promising them Green Cross shoes will appear for the first time in the Giyani Specialised Commercial Crimes Court (SCCC) for possible pre-trial talks on Thursday, 29 May 2025. Limpopo police spokesperson Malesela Ledwaba confirmed the accusations against Tinyiko Gift Mangolele, stating GEMS was defrauded of R910,000. Ledwaba further disclosed that the investigation into Mangolele’s actions is still ongoing. The Malamulele pharmacy owner…