Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s visit to Mangaung for a high-profile cleaning campaign has sparked fierce backlash from the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has labelled the trip a “desperate PR stunt” intended to divert public attention from the deputy president’s deepening ethics scandals. The cleaning campaign, held under the theme “Bontle Ke Botho: A Free State That Works for All”, is part of the national Clean Cities and Towns Campaign, launched in Kliptown in June. While the government claims the campaign…

The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) has strongly denied explosive allegations made by the Democratic Alliance (DA), which claim that its officers are under pressure to issue traffic fines amounting to R7,000 per day. The department has labelled the accusation “misleading” and “damaging to the integrity of law enforcement in the city.” Speaking out after the DA released a statement on Monday alleging politically motivated revenue targets in the JMPD, the department’s spokesperson, Superintendent Xolani Fihla, said such claims were…

In a rare move to underscore accountability among senior office-bearers, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests has imposed a R10 000 fine on Deputy President Paul Mashatile for failing to declare a registrable gift — specifically, a diamond — within the legally required timeframe. The fine, announced this week, has been criticised by some as merely a “slap on the wrist” for one of the country’s most powerful political figures. Mashatile, who returned to Parliament following the 2024 general…

South Africa’s century-long tradition of elite pact-making began with the 1910 Union, which forged white unity through excluding black South Africans from political life. In response, black elites—mostly Christianised African professionals and chiefs, collectively known as amazemtiti or ‘Black Englishmen’—formed the ANC in 1912, hoping to counter this settler compact through petitions and appeals to imperial justice. “Tell England that we are not the barbarians they think we are.”—Sol Plaatje, 1914 formal protest letter to King George V against the…

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has revealed that former Police Minister Senzo Mchunu is now the subject of a criminal investigation by the South African Police Service (SAPS), adding yet another twist in the deepening crisis at the top of the country’s security leadership. DA Deputy Chief Whip Baxolile Nodada announced on Wednesday that a senior Lieutenant Colonel has been appointed to investigate charges laid by the party against Mchunu last week. The charges relate to allegations that Mchunu misled Parliament…

The Presidency has strongly denied claims by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Special Envoy to North America, Mcebisi Jonas, was rejected by the United States government. This comes as fresh signs of division emerge within the Government of National Unity (GNU). In a statement on Tuesday, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya accused the DA of spreading “disinformation” and acting against the national interest. The Presidency said the DA is deliberately trying to embarrass Jonas and mislead the public…

The DA in Limpopo is calling on the Executive Mayor of Capricorn District Municipality(CDM), Mamedupi Teffo, to urgently investigate the R213 million incomplete water projects in the Blouberg municipality. The Capricorn District Municipality (CDM), in its legislated capacity as Water Service Authority (WSA) as well as Water Service Provider (WSP) to Blouberg, funded water projects in 2023 in excess of R213 million, most of which remain incomplete: The DA Cllr Bianca Bocke put it straight and said the “The Devrede…

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu is facing a political firestorm as three major political parties — the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, and the Democratic Alliance (DA) — simultaneously mount legal and parliamentary pressure following explosive allegations of corruption, political interference and dishonesty made against him. In a dramatic escalation of the scandal that has shaken South Africa’s policing and executive leadership, parties across the ideological spectrum have opened criminal cases, laid ethics complaints, and called for…

The Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance in parliament, George Michalakis, is said to have given Karabo Khakhau, a Member of Parliament and spiritual healer, a sort of disciplinary session because she sat on the floor and burped when her ancestors visited her during a party caucus meeting. Ideally, the discussion about African spirituality must take place in light of the groundbreaking resolutions made by the City of Tshwane Council Chambers and UNISA, among other institutions, regarding the provision of employment…

There is a war raging—not of guns, but of manipulated images, falsified polls, weaponised perception, and manufactured narratives. This war is not fought on the battlegrounds of constitutionally sanctioned contestation, but through a deceptive campaign of disinformation led by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and its cohorts in business and media. It is a war camouflaged as democratic engagement, yet it undermines the very ethos of our post-apartheid constitutional order. What we are witnessing is a nefarious recycling of colonial and…