Police and soldiers have arrested 121 suspected illegal miners and recovered five firearms during a major Operation Prosper/Karabo crackdown in Mphahla village, within the Fochville policing precinct on the West Rand. The operation, conducted in the early hours of Tuesday, involved various units of the South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), Department of Home Affairs immigration officers and Sibanye-Stillwater’s tactical security team. The operation began at about…

The bail hearing of suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya has been postponed to Thursday, October 1, after the State asked for additional time to respond to evidence presented by a defence witness. Sibiya, 59, appeared in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday for his second appearance since his arrest last week on five charges, including rape, human trafficking, promoting the sexual grooming of a child and two counts of sexual grooming of a child. He remains in…

Nigeria’s Presidency has turned to South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa in its increasingly forceful defence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s prolonged stay outside the country and his absence from the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, says there is no cause for alarm over the President’s whereabouts, insisting that Tinubu is “hale and hearty” and has been carrying out official duties while on a working vacation in Europe. But in defending…

Suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya is expected to return to the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for a formal bail application after the State indicated it would oppose his release in a case involving allegations of rape, human trafficking and the sexual grooming of a child. The 59-year-old senior police officer was arrested on 21 September and made his first appearance in the same court the following day. He faces five charges, including rape, trafficking in persons,…

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Tuesday convene a virtual meeting of the African Union High-Level Ad Hoc Committee on South Sudan, known as the C5, as regional leaders assess progress towards peace and the country’s planned elections in December. Ramaphosa, who chairs the C5, will bring together representatives of the five-member committee and member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to take stock of developments since the C5 Plus Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 15 February.…

The Gauteng e-Panic Button has become the centre of a growing dispute over cybersecurity, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) calling for an investigation into a reported data breach while the provincial Department of e-Government insists that no residents’ personal information was compromised. The DA says it will report the matter to the Information Regulator of South Africa and wants an investigation into whether the incident breached the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), how the exposure occurred and how the…

The multimillion-rand fraud case involving suspended Polokwane attorney Charlotte Tibana and her husband, Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) officer Peter “Gagash” Nonyane, has drawn comparisons with one of South Africa’s most notorious financial scandals involving former Mamelodi Sundowns boss Zola Mahobe and his lover, Tebello “Snowy” Moshoeshoe. The parallel lies not in the legal details of the cases, but in a recurring feature of high-value financial crime investigations: money allegedly flowing into luxury vehicles, businesses and an extravagant lifestyle. Mahobe’s…

The support pouring in for the family of late Munghana Lonene FM presenter Tiveka Foster “Mafosi-Try by Force” Chauke has reached R49,100 in about 24 hours, and the fundraising is still growing. More than 30 businessmen, professionals, social figures and community members have dug into their pockets to help honour the popular broadcaster, who died in a car accident last week. The campaign has brought together people from different walks of life, with a minimum contribution of R500 per person,…

The estranged husband of 23-year-old Boitumelo Mashita, who was shot and killed in Thembisa on Monday morning, has been found dead inside his vehicle in Midrand. Gauteng police said on Monday that the man had been identified as a person of interest in the murder and that investigators had been tracing him after linking him to Mashita’s death. Mashita was shot at about 5.45 am in Mapungubwe Street, Temong, Thembisa, while she was reportedly on her way to work. Police…

Men in Soweto have been urged to confront mental health challenges, substance abuse, gender-based violence and financial pressures through open conversations and greater accountability. The call was made at the Orlando Ekhaya Men’s Symposium held at the Orlando Ekhaya Flats in Soweto on September 24 as part of Heritage Day celebrations. The symposium, organised by the SA Boy Child Foundation in partnership with community organisations, brought together community members and speakers to discuss the challenges facing men and their role…