Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) has condemned the arrest of several of its leaders and members in Robega, North West, warning that the use of criminal charges against community organisers threatens constitutional rights and democratic participation.

In a statement, the organisation called for the immediate release of those arrested where there is no lawful basis for their continued detention, while urging authorities to investigate whether the criminal justice system is being used to suppress legitimate community activism.

The arrests include Robega Branch Secretary leader “Cde Mighty”, along with other branch leaders and community members, namely Relebogile Mogoshane, Robert Tshukudu, Pule Tshukudu, Thapelo Makokoe, and Shimi Tsomane.

The following events are linked to preparations for a peaceful community protest that has since been postponed until 3 July.

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MACUA said it was “deeply concerning” that

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The City of Johannesburg’s worsening financial crisis has reached a point where the national government must intervene to prevent further economic and service delivery collapse, civil society organisations have warned, arguing that the metro can no longer be relied upon to rescue or run itself.

The call comes after Johannesburg’s council spent much of its final sitting of the 2025/26 municipal financial year rushing through National Treasury-required documents in an effort to safeguard billions of rand in national funding, while continuing to grapple with a R2.1 billion unfunded budget gap, mounting debt, deteriorating infrastructure and a controversial R10.3 billion wage agreement.

The Joburg Crisis Alliance, WaterCAN and JoburgCAN said the administrative measures adopted by the council failed to address the city’s deeper structural failures.

“Without national intervention this city, which contributes 16% to the country’s nominal GDP, will continue to deteriorate and erode the value it creates

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for the Southern African Customs Union to be transformed into a premier regional economic platform from its traditional role of a customs arrangement to create a self-reliant economy for the bloc.

Opening the 9th SACU Summit in Cape Town on Friday, Ramaphosa said the union must adapt its framework and instruments to advance industrialization, strengthen regional value chains, promote economic diversification, attract investment, and improve the economic competitiveness of member states.

“This is essential because institutions that fail to adapt to changing realities ultimately become custodians of the past rather than architects of the future. Our Union has the potential to be more than a fiscal instrument. It must be a catalyst for development,” said the president.

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The union is a regional economic bloc, comprised of member states South

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ActionSA’s Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, Xolani Khumalo, has been found not guilty on assault and firearm charges after the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court granted a Section 174 discharge at the close of the State’s case.

The court on Thursday discharged Khumalo and his co-accused, Duma Radebe, after finding that the State had not led evidence on which a reasonable court could convict.

The pair had been facing charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and pointing a firearm.

The charges arose from a televised anti-drug raid at a Katlehong home on 19 December 2025.

During the trial, the State alleged that complainant Bongani Radebe was assaulted and threatened during the operation. The court heard claims that he was struck and beaten with a firearm and that a weapon was pointed at him in contravention of the Firearms Control Act.

In a post on X, Khumalo

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The ANC and DA signed off the municipal by-election cycle with comfortable ward victories on Wednesday, each holding ground in different provinces as parties shift their focus to the 4 November local government elections.

In Mpumalanga, the ANC comfortably retained Ward 3 in Bushbuckridge, while the DA secured an overwhelming win in Ward 15 in Rustenburg, North West.

The ANC increased its support in Ward 3, which covers the Mkhuhlu and Calcutta areas of Bushbuckridge, from 67% in the previous comparable by-election to 85% in Wednesday’s by-election.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) dropped from 32% to 15%.

Voter turnout declined to 33%, down from 41% in the previous comparable by-election.

The by-election was triggered by a vacancy in the ward following the death of the ward councillor.

Following the result, the ANC expressed gratitude to voters and party structures that campaigned in the ward.

“The ANC thanks the

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DA federal leader and Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has told South Africans not to turn anger over unemployment, crime and failing public services into violence against foreign nationals, saying the country’s real crisis is a weak economy and a broken state.

“South Africa’s deepest problem is not a vulnerable person selling vegetables on a corner who happens to not be born here,” Hill-Lewis said in an address on Thursday night.

“It is an economy that does not grow, a state that does not work, and a government that has failed to create jobs, secure our borders, fight crime and deliver basic services.”

His remarks come as South Africa is bracing for protest action on 30 June by anti-illegal-immigration groups, including March and March, which have set that date as a “deadline” for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country.

March and March has denied calling for

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GreenCape has been named Impact Intermediary of the Year at the Krutham Africa Impact Investment Awards, with judges citing its partnership with the City of Cape Town and its role in supporting green economy investment and job creation.

The award was announced this month at the Africa Impact Summit in Lusaka, Zambia.

The City of Cape Town said GreenCape, a not-for-profit green economy organisation established in 2010, had helped facilitate and support about R70 billion in green economy investment and the creation of about 22,000 jobs across South Africa.

Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth Alderman James Vos said the award recognised a long-running partnership aimed at strengthening the city’s green economy, supporting businesses and attracting investment.

“This recognition is particularly significant because the judges specifically acknowledged the partnership between GreenCape and the City of Cape Town as a contributing factor to GreenCape’s success,”

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The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, has struck AfriForum’s urgent application challenging the City of Johannesburg’s increased water demand management levy off the roll, leaving the charge to take effect on 1 July while the merits of the legal challenge remain unresolved.

AfriForum approached the court on an urgent basis seeking to review and set aside the city’s decision to increase the levy by 65.6%, arguing that the charge was unlawful and that the municipality had failed to comply with its legal obligations during the budget process.

The organisation said that residents would be unfairly affected if the increased levy was implemented before its legality was tested in court.

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AfriForum’s Advisor for Environmental Affairs, Marais de Vaal, said before the hearing that the organisation had repeatedly sought information and engagement from the city regarding the levy but had received

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Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke has warned that South Africa’s metros are regressing on audit outcomes, financial health and service delivery, saying weaknesses in institutional capability are undermining their ability to deliver and maintain infrastructure.

Maluleke was briefing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on Wednesday during the tabling of the 2024-25 local government audit outcomes.

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“In fact what we are seeing is that, on the whole Metros are regressing not just on audited outcomes, but importantly on financial health and also on service delivery,” she said.

“We looked at how they were managing the grants that were available to them to build houses and we found that there was a big struggle in ensuring that projects are delivered on time, at the right cost, and at the right value. Simply put, it tells us that

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Suspended KwaZulu-Natal Correctional Services head Mnikelwa Nxele was granted R50,000 bail by the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday after his arrest in a Bosasa-linked fraud and money-laundering case stemming from evidence presented at the State Capture Commission.

Nxele, a former POPCRU official who was later promoted to senior positions in the Department of Correctional Services, was arrested on Tuesday.

His bail conditions include that he must not interfere with witnesses and must surrender his passport to the State.

The case was postponed to 16 September 2026 for an application for a centralisation certificate with the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, according to Henry Mamothame, spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC).

“His arrest emanates from a referral to IDAC by the DPCI (Hawks) after investigations were conducted on evidence that was provided by Angelo Agrizzi during the State Capture Commission involving BOSASA contracts,

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