Table of contents for 2025-12-05 in Cape Times

President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid a poignant tribute to the late Oupa Magashula, the former South African Revenue Service (Sars) Commissioner. Magushula passed away at the age of 63 this week. According to his family, he died in hospital on Wednesday evening following a long illness. In his tribute, Ramaphosa said Magashula "devoted his life to the development of our economy and the stimulation of entrepreneurship among a new business generation." Ramaphosa said Magashula led Sars at a critical period during which South Africa's economy was affected by the global downturn of 2008, at a time when SA also relied on fiscal resources to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. "Oupa Magashula was an astute, ompassionate leader whose mission at SARS was driven by the needs of the most…

South African agricultural organisations have raised urgent concerns over reports that an illegal Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine manufactured in Kenya is being smuggled into the country. Industry leaders warn that the unauthorised importation and possible use of the vaccine poses a severe biosecurity threat that could trigger new outbreaks and devastate the livestock sector. The Department of Agriculture this week confirmed it is aware of the risks, stressing that only the Botswana-produced Aftovaxpur vaccine containing SAT1, SAT2 and SAT3 strains is authorised for use in South Africa. “Importing any veterinary vaccine without proper authorisation is a serious biosecurity breach and criminal offence. Vaccines must be declared and imported under strict permit conditions, as they require cold-chain management and are classified as high-risk cargo,” said Moses Rannditsheni, the department's spokesperson. “We…

The JSE was one of the best-performing global stock markets in November with the FTSE/JSE Capped SWIX Index up 2.3% month on month (m/m); the only major bourse to outperform the JSE last month was the Brazilian Bovespa, up 6.4% m/m. The November rally pushed the FTSE/JSE Capped SWIX Index to a 51% year to date (YTD) gain when measured in US dollar terms. Only the Bovespa and the Spanish IBEX 35 (+53% and +64% YTD, respectively, in US dollar terms) have been able to do better thus far in 2025. Precious metal miners were back as the driving force of JSE returns in November, with gold and platinum miners up 13% m/m in aggregate, boosted by a re-acceleration in precious metal prices. Gold and platinum prices both rallied 6%…

Earlier in November 2025, the South African Reserve Bank announced that it would impose administrative sanctions on two finance companies for failing to comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA). The greater of the two penalties, a R3 million fine, was imposed on Discovery Bank for failing to report 24 suspicious transactions on time. The other case saw eZI Remit (formerly Ezaga Remit (Pty) Limited) getting a warning for weaknesses in its FICA-related control measures.In both instances, the companies were reprimanded because their staff weren’t given adequate FICA compliance training. In the case of Discovery Bank, it was highlighted that 84 out of 155 new employees had not received training within 30 days of being appointed; 47 out of 109 of its employees had not received annual refresher training…

An investment firm is buying in with the Ackerman family selling down Pick'n Pay shares. Just after Pick'n Pay said the family’s holding fell from 25.4% to 16.8%, the company told shareholders that Allan Gray had increased its stake to 10.43%. The Ackerman’s sale down has reduced its ownership of the company to 16.8% as it continues to refund itself after ploughing R1.1 billion into the ailing company to right it. The family borrowed the cash and is now settling that debt by selling shares. That funding was prompted by the fact that Pick'n Pay was under strain because of weak operations and a number of poorly performing stores. As a result, it underwent a major reset, including new leadership, and the separate JSE listing of discount brand Boxer. CEO…

SUSPENDED Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) Deputy Commissioner Julius Mkhwanazi has refused to take responsibility for fitting blue lights on vehicles linked to alleged underworld kingpin and tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s companies. During cross-examination at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry yesterday, Mkhwanazi was pressed about his involvement in registering vehicles and installing blue lights, with commission counsel suggesting he “facilitated” the process. However, Mkhwanazi constantly objected to the use of “facilitation” in reference to the role he played to source vehicle donations from Matlala. “I can’t agree to leave my kids and go to jail for something I didn’t do. I didn’t put blue lights. I want to be honest and impress you but not with lies,” he said. Commission chairperson Justice Mbuyisile Madlanga intervened, reminding Mkhwanazi that nobody had…

THE US's intention to form a “New G20” includes a plan to invite Poland as a new member and exclude South Africa from the 2026 summit. In the statement on Wednesday night, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated that: “South Africa entered the post-Cold War era with strong institutions, excellent infrastructure, and global goodwill. It possessed many of the world’s most valuable resources, some of the best agricultural land on the planet, and was located around one of the world’s key trading routes. "And in Nelson Mandela, South Africa had a leader who understood that reconciliation and private sector-driven economic growth were the only path to a nation where every citizen could prosper. Sadly, Mandela's successors have replaced reconciliation with redistributionist policies”. Rubio further criticised the current…

Police are investigating the circumstances leading to the drowning of a man at the Port of Table Bay, Duncan Docks, yesterday. A five-year-old boy was transported to hospital after being retrieved from the water in the same incident. Just after 10am, NSRI Table Bay duty crew, City of Cape Town water rescue network and Police were activated following reports of a drowning in progress at D-Berth, Duncan Dock. NSRI rescue swimmers, Transnet National Ports Authority, ambulance services and other roleplayers responded. “On arrival on the scene a 5-year-old male child was found to be safe in the care of Good Samaritan bystanders and he was taken into the care of paramedics and transported to hospital by Netcare 911 ambulance in a stable condition. A search commenced in the water for…

Judgement was reserved in the Western Cape High Court yesterday where the City’s fixed tariffs are being challenged. The court heard that the defence of the City's tariffs had been one of the “most complex cases that we’ve ever had to articulate”, according to the City’s lawyer, Advocate Nazreen Bawa SC. Since Tuesday, Judge President Nolwazi Mabindla-Boqwana, as well as presiding judges Judge Andre le Grange and Judge Katharine Savage, have heard from legal representatives from the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA), AfriForum, the City, GOOD, Cape Town Ratepayers Association, SA 1st Forum, and CoGTA. In its main application, SAPOA and AfriForum are asking for the three tariffs in the budget, namely the Cleaning Tariff, the Fixed Water Charge, and the Fixed Sanitation Charge, to be declared unconstitutional and…

Lando Norris will battle his own nerves as much as his rivals’ speed, as he bids to end Max Verstappen’s four-year reign as F1 world champion in Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After two weekends of self-inflicted setbacks, championship leader Norris and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri need an error-free event to ensure Red Bull’s number one cannot complete a spectacular end-of-season recovery in glorious style. For the first time since a four-way scrap at the final race in Abu Dhabi in 2010, the title will be decided by a contest involving more than two drivers, with McLaren, in particular, nervously glancing in their mirrors for Verstappen. Norris has a 12-point lead on Verstappen ahead of the finale and a 16-point advantage on team-mate Piastri, and needs to finish…

Acquisition gives Vodacom control over its biggest African market with 62 million customers Vodacom Group will spend about R35.77 billion ($2.1bn) to acquire a further 20% stake in Safaricom, bringing its stake to 55%, as the Kenya government moves to raise additional capital instead of raising taxes or debt. The South African telecoms group said Thursday it will acquire 15% of the shareholding from the government of Kenya and 5% from Vodacom's parent, the UK-based Vodafone group. The deal gives Vodacom control over its biggest African market - Safaricom holds about 62 million customers, more than the 46.1 million customers Vodacom holds in South Africa, and roughly the same size of the group's 51 million customers in Egypt. The deal attracted widespread comment on social media. On "X", Lawrence Kitema…

South Africa stood at two remarkable crossroads last month. A continent-first G20 summit in Johannesburg put our nation — its people, institutions and hospitality — in the global spotlight. At almost the same time, I was in Barcelona at Workday Rising, where enterprise leaders explored the near-term reality of AI-driven, people-centred workplaces. The two experiences together crystallised a single, urgent point: South Africa can not only adapt to the future of work — it can lead it. First, the context. Global leaders arriving on our soil exposed us to the highest expectations in security, logistics, digital capability and service delivery. Coverage from international and local outlets praised South Africa’s delivery — our media centre, our event management and the warmth shown to delegates were singled out repeatedly. That goodwill is…

Global markets are pricing in a continued rally in gold next year, although geopolitical uncertainty could inject volatility into bullion prices, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). The rally in gold prices this year has provided South African bullion miners - among them Sibanye-Stillwater, Pan African Resources and Gold Fields - with prospects of bumping up revenues. However, for South African miners, a rise in costs has negated robust growth of production. Data from the South Africa Reserve Bank showed the country’s net gold exports in the third quarter 2025 slowing down from R150 billion in the same period last year to R149bn. Some South African gold producers are now planning production ramp ups which places them in position to benefit from the expected continued rally in gold prices…

As festive season promotions intensify across the country, the National Financial Ombud (NFO) has issued a strong warning to consumers to exercise caution when considering Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) offers. It says while these schemes are marketed as simple, convenient, and interest-free payment options, they carry hidden risks. In an economy where many households are already weighed down by debt, BNPL can easily worsen financial vulnerability and strain. According to the NFO, BNPL products are not regulated under the National Credit Act (NCA). This means consumers do not benefit from the usual safeguards such as affordability checks, transparent cost disclosures, or formal dispute resolution channels. Despite this regulatory gap, BNPL is spreading rapidly in South Africa, often leaving consumers exposed without fully understanding the risks. Nerosha Maseti, lead ombud…

Economists remain divided over Anglo American’s proposed tie-up with Canada’s Teck Resources, with some arguing that the transaction will unlock significant value for South African shareholders while others warn it signals the final unravelling of the miner’s South African legacy. This comes as shareholders are expected to vote in favour of the deal, touted by Anglo American as a merger of equals. The two resource giants also expect the deal to yield $800 million in pre-tax recurring annual synergies. However, South African economist Duma Gqubule, this week said the tie-up is not a merger of equals. In a report he compiled on the meger, Gqubule said the transaction will “provide a final death knell” for the Johannesburg and London-listed resource giant. Anglo American has been shedding its South African assets…

FORMER President Jacob Zuma has failed in his latest bid to challenge the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria order that he has to pay back the R28.9 million bill for his private legal fees. Judge Anthony Millar said that he was not persuaded that another court would come to a different conclusion. “To keep the doors of the court open indefinitely to a litigant who refuses to accept the judgment on a particular matter, serves no legitimate purpose. All it does is serve to be a drain on scarce judicial resources and to strengthen the view that accountability can be deferred for so long as one has the means to do so,” the judge commented. He added that it is destructive of the notion that all are equal before the law…

I am a 40-year-old mother of three boys. I was born on the Cape Flats and am the eldest of three girls. My parents divorced when I was eight years old, and after the divorce, I was raised by my father. We moved around the Cape Flats frequently, and I had to help my dad raise my siblings. During this time, my dad worked long hours to ensure we had money for food and the basics we needed for school. This meant I had to grow up fast, making sure my siblings had something to eat every night and were ready for school each morning. From then on, I knew I could not rely on her for anything. By the age of 16, I had attended four different schools. As…

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the discovery of an illicit alcohol plant in Lansdowne. Lingelethu West officers conducted a roadblock on Spine Road in Khayelitsha on Wednesday, where they stopped and searched a silver Hyundai I20 and found four boxes containing Old Buck Gin. Those in the vehicle could not account for the alcohol. The police were then led to a location in Lansdowne where they discovered an illegal dop manufacturing plant. On the premises, they found manufacturing equipment and different alcohol branding stickers such as Smirnoff 1818, Old Buck and Gordon’s Liquor Dry Gin and unknown liquids. Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said two suspects aged 26 and 39 were arrested on charges of illegal manufacturing and distributing liquor. “Safer festive season operations in the Lingelethu West…

DEBUT author Alia Khan Koumantarakis has turned a turbulent chapter of South Africa’s past into a moving literary piece, bringing to light the silent echoes of history in her novel, RIOT. The official book launch will take place at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban on December 6. Khan Koumantarakis, 20, who lives in Cape Town, said she began developing RIOT as a screenplay shortly after the unrest and violence that took place in Durban in July 2021. “During the 2021 riots, I remember the shock and fear that spread through communities, and I couldn’t help but wonder if something like this had ever happened before. “That’s when my mother told me about the 1949 riots, a time when the same city, the same streets, and the same communities were…

This wasn’t a partnership. It was the privatisation of power SOUTH Africa’s policing crisis is no longer just about crime. It’s about the quiet, dangerous shift of state authority into private hands. Across the country, municipal police departments and private security companies now operate in overlapping, often competing spaces. When that relationship isn’t tightly policed, it corrupts the very foundation of public safety. It blurs the line between official authority and private interest. And it opens the door to the kind of abuse that the Constitution simply cannot withstand. The scandal in Ekurhuleni is not an isolated embarrassment; it is the clearest warning sign yet. On November 11, Deputy Chief of Police Julius Mkhwanazi was suspended following jaw-dropping testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into corruption in the criminal…

Bafana Bafana’s 2010 Fifa World Cup frontman Katlego "Killer" Mphela is positive about the current team’s chances of reaching the knockout stage of the 2026 edition ahead of the group stage draw tonight (7pm start) in Washington DC. Bafana are in Pot 3 for the draw, and while much still depends on the draw procedure itself, one thing is certain: Bafana will not be in the same group as any of the eight other African teams that have automatically qualified for the showpiece in North America. South Africa’s return to the World Cup has restored national pride, especially given that it will have been 16 years since they last played at the event — they were hosts in 2010 — and 24 years since they last qualified automatically. While the…

South Africa’s construction sector posted a strong rebound in the third quarter of 2025, with the Afrimat Construction Index (ACI) recording a double-digit quarterly increase and signalling a marked improvement in industry activity. The ACI, a composite measure of building and construction activity compiled quarterly by economist Dr Roelof Botha for Afrimat, rose 10.2% quarter-on-quarter, far outperforming the country’s 0.9% GDP growth over the same period. Construction sector activity outperformed the GDP by a healthy margin during the third quarter, although it lagged behind overall economic activity compared to the third quarter of last year. Importantly, the index also broke a long-running downward trend in its four-quarter moving average, registering a slight upward turn for the first time in several quarters. Dr Botha said the latest results were driven by…

Expat South Africans who are returning from abroad for the festive period would do well to add estate planning to the list of things to catch up on while home with family for the holidays. Having estate planning discussions face-to-face is a good idea, and recommends making time to talk in between enjoying the South African sunshine and festive fare. There is a court case that happened in the Western Cape High Court, a matter of Anderson and Another v Du Plessis N.O and Others. In 2001, a couple in Germany signed a joint will, pooling (‘massing’) their South African estates into a single joint estate and naming their children as ultimate heirs. Years later, after the husband had remarried, signed new wills overseas and built up assets in Germany,…

A new report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shows that businesses across multiple sectors are reaping the benefits of the rapidly expanding green economy, now the world’s second-fastest growing market after technology. The report titled "Already a Multi-Trillion-Dollar Market: A CEO Guide to Growth in the Green Economy", reveals that the global green economy has already reached an annual value of $5 trillion and is projected to exceed $7trln before 2035. In this report, the green economy refers to commercial solutions with a clear environmental purpose or solutions that are a direct response to environmental challenges. This covers both mitigation and adaptation and resilience, from advanced clean technologies to nascent agri-tech solutions. Despite global economic uncertainty and uneven policy environments, investment…

South Africans are increasingly turning to credit to survive the rising cost of living, a trend that is deepening indebtedness and leaving millions exposed to loan sharks, says Jack Halfon, founder and CEO of Atlas Finance. In an interview with Business Report on Thursday, Halfon said formal micro-lenders were calling for stronger policy implementation and tight regulation. Halfon said South African consumers are “taking loans to cover gaps in their spending as the cost of living rises” despite inflation trending down from the highs of the past few years. But South Africans are also borrowing for unseen expenditures such as burst geysers or new tyres for their vehicles. However, for many South Africans, the current state of the South African micro-lending industry also means that they have significant exposure to…

POLICE Minister Senzo Mchunu conceded that national police commissioner Fannie Masemola, with whom he confirmed having “a good working relationship”, should have been the first to advise on the future of the SAPS Political Killings Task Team (PKTT). Mchunu, who has since been placed on enforced leave proceeded to disband the PKTT without consulting the very officials best positioned to brief him, he confirmed to the Madlanga Commission yesterday. He also told commission chairperson retired Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga that there was no meeting, no engagement and no briefing from senior SAPS leadership before he issued the directive to shut down the PKTT on December 31, 2024. “I took a decision without Masemola,” he admitted. The minister’s directive instructed that the PKTT be disbanded “immediately” — a term he struggled…

THE trial against accused husband killer Zurenah Smit has been postponed to next year after she was inconsolable in court yesterday morning. This happened after Smit handed over a handwritten letter to the court to apologise for her emotional breakdown in the dock on Wednesday. Smit is accused of masterminding her husband Stefan Smit's murder at Louisenhof Farm on June 2, 2019. She and her co-accused Derek Sait remain out on bail of R5 000 each until the matter will resume on January 26. During her continued testimony, Smit said on the fateful night, one of the assailants who entered the farm home, shouted “minutes” which was “pronounced differently” before a shot rang out and “everything went quiet”. She said their guest who had joined them for supper that evening,…

Icarus Jeffrey Eugenides Multi-cast narration Audible Originals FEW things hit home like the sound of an author's own voice recounting their story. This intimate connection reaches new heights in Jeffrey Eugenides's latest offering, Icarus, a gripping memoir that explores a deeply personal family narrative through a multi-cast narration format. Released last month by Audible Originals, this nearly four-hour audiobook presents not just a story of loss but a profound reflection on the complexities of family relationships and the pursuit of the American Dream. Jeffrey Eugenides, an author celebrated for his Pulitzer Prize-winning hit Middlesex and the haunting The Virgin Suicides, opens the door to his past with "Icarus," recounting his father's dramatic rise and tragic demise. The story unfolds with intrigue, beginning just days before Thanksgiving 1994, when Eugenides's…

OVER the past decade, when India have hosted the Proteas for a ODI series, it is almost guaranteed to go right down to the wire. Who can ever forget the five-match series in 2015, where the AB de Villiers-captained South Africa beat the MS Dhoni-led India 3-2, winning the fifth and final match to seal what was a highly entertaining series? In engagements with the media, Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada still refers to that series as the best he has been involved in his career. These past five days, the two teams, under different leaders in South Africa’s Temba Bavuma and India’s KL Rahul, have produced fireworks of the same calibre in Ranchi and Raipur. The ongoing three-match series is currently deadlocked, with each side having one win. The…

Virgil van Dijk says Mohamed Salah's omission from Liverpool's team for a second successive match shows no player at the club has "unlimited credit". The Egypt international was an unused substitute for Sunday's win at West Ham and was on the bench for the 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland on Wednesday. It was the first time in his Anfield career that he had not started in back-to-back league matches. The forward was brought on for the second half against the Saints but struggled to make an impact and is now goalless in five matches. Salah has scored just four Premier League goals for the struggling defending champions this season, in stark contrast to his haul of 29 last season. Liverpool captain Van Dijk was asked after the Sunderland draw…