The OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape was the hardest hit by the floods that swept through it on Monday and Tuesday this week. So far the death toll is standing at 78 and it is expected to rise as emergency services are still combing the district and its neighbor, Amathole. On Friday, 13 June 2025 President Cyril Ramaphosa, visited the district together with the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, to assess the district. They…

The death toll in the Eastern Cape district following Monday and Tuesday floods has climbed to 57 fatalities. The OR Tambo suffered the most fatalities as 51 of the people that perished came from it, while the rest, 6, came from the nearby Amathole district. These are the latest figures that came from the Office of the Premier Oscar Mabuyane following frantic rescue efforts in the past two days. “As of today 12 June, 57 fatalities have been reported across…

The Eastern Cape government says the death toll in the province following the floods earlier has risen to 49, among them are four pupils whose bus was swept away. The province’s premier, Oscar Mabuyane said the toll is set to rise as more and more figures come through from the police. He added that the situation on the ground is bad. The most affected areas are found in the OR Tambo and Amathole districts. “As of now, as we are…

The death toll in the Eastern Cape following yesterday’s incident in the OR Tambo district has risen from seven to nine overnight. According to the provincial government, over the past two days, the heavy and perennial downpours have led to devastating flooding and landslides, resulting in multiple fatalities and significant damage to property and infrastructure. A combined multi-disciplinary emergency services team has been established and continues to search for the school bus that was swept away with school children on…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South Africans to be careful, kind, and united as the country faces harsh winter weather that has already claimed lives in the Eastern Cape. In a media statement released on Wednesday, the President expressed deep sorrow after seven people died in flooding near Mthatha and Tsolo. Authorities also confirmed that several children are missing after a school transport vehicle was swept away by floodwaters. Three learners were rescued. “I offer my condolences to the bereaved…

The police in the Eastern Cape have officially confirmed the incident whereby armed robbers stormed a church and robbed congregants in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape. According to official information from the police, the incident happened around 6:30pm last night at Gallant Street, Greenfields, Booysens Park, where five suspects targeted congregants. “The incident occurred on 05 May 2025 at approximately 18:30 when five armed and masked men stormed the church and robbed around 50 congregants of their cellphones and other valuables. “The…

The SAPS in the Eastern Cape has kicked off an investigation to nab the killers of Elona Sombulula, a young District Court prosecutor who was based in the Ngcobo Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday night. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Sombulula (30) joined the NPA through the aspirant prosecutor program in 2022 and he was acting as a regional court prosecutor when he was shot dead. It added this devastating incident has sent waves of grief through the NPA…

The National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Makgothi Thobakgale says criminal syndicates operating in Eastern Cape prisons have changed their tactics and are now manipulating elderly people and using them to smuggle contraband into correctional facilities. Thobakgalae says this is a new worrying trend they have just uncovered. He was speaking in the province after visiting the St Albans Management Area, which includes areas like Mthatha. “It has to be said that St Albans Management Area has been doing a phenomenal…

The rugged coastlines of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape conceal secrets beneath the waves secrets that challenge longstanding narratives about South Africa’s past. Among these are persistent myths: that white settlement began in 1652, that Africans had little engagement with the outside world before colonial conquest and that the Atlantic slave trade was the most important conduit for African enslavement. These narratives have shaped mainstream historiography and even Pan-African ideologies, obscuring deeper truths about interaction and our view of the…