Rescue crews were kept busy on Tuesday evening, with multiple incidents occurring at opposite ends of the city of Cape Town.

A journalist from Independent Media, who was seated with other reporters, was approached by Darren Govender and one of his supporters, who was identified as a pastor.

Orlando Pirates edged UD Las Palmas 1-0 in a preseason friendly at the Marbella Football Center on Wednesday evening.Substitute Boitumelo Radiopane netted the only goal in the closing stages of the match. It was also the first goal scored by either team after failing to find the back of the net in their previous two meetings.Las Palmas were unlucky not to score a goal of their own after hitting the woodwork twice in the second half.Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou made a wholesale change to his starting line-up from the team that started in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Al-Ittihad.The Moroccan rested started the game with mostly fringe players including goalkeeper Sipho Chaine, who was replaced by young Siyabonga Dladla in goal for this encounter.Pirates were quick out of the blocks and came close to taking the lead in the sixth minute through Yanela Mbuthuma, but his shot was saved by Jose Antonio Caro.Four minutes later, Manu Fuster wasted a great opportunity to put Las Palmas in the lead when he found himself unmarked inside the box, but his shot went narrowly wide of goal.Dladla almost gifted Las Palmas a goal in the 21st minute when he took long to clear the ball and was closed down by Elias Romero, but the ball went just wide of goal, much to the relief of the young Pirates goalkeeper.Former Siwelele FC teammates Neo Rapoo and Ghampani Lungu combined well in the 35th minute as they tried to conjure something up for Pirates, but the latter’s shot hit the side-netting.A minute later Caro did well to come out of his area to close down Cemrin Dansin who was put through on goal by Mpho Phadime.Daniel Msendami was unlucky not to put Pirates in the lead on the stroke of half-time when his goal-bound shot hit the crossbar with Caro well-beaten.The teams were locked at 0-0 at the break.Pirates continued to pose questions on the Las Palmas defence in the second and were unlucky not to take the lead in 65th minute when he chipped the goalkeeper, but the ball hit the crossbar.The Buccaneers were also saved by the woodwork in the 84th minute after Taisei Miyashiro beat the goalkeeper, but the ball hit the upright.The Spanish club were to be punished for this miss a minute later when Radiopane spotted the goalkeeper off his line and cleverly passed the ball into an empty net.Pirates next face Neom SC in their final preseason game in Spain before heading back to South Africa to prepare for their opening game of the 2026/27 Betway Premiership season against Milford FC.

Police personnel use batons to disperse demonstrators during a protest march in Patna on July 22, 2026 demanding the resignation of India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged NEET exam irregularities. The protests, led by the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, have emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government since his re-election in 2024. (Photo by Sachin KUMAR / AFP) Ballerina Candice Desilets, centre, is greeted by Russian School of Ballet (RSB) senior dancers Zuri Erasmus, left, and Barbara Gomez as she arrives at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, after becoming the first South African to graduate from the prestigious Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. Desilets began training at RSB in 2016 at just 10 years old. She made history in 2022 as the first South African dancer to be accepted into the Academy, and now, in 2026, has become the first graduate. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen A staff support helicopter lands on The Ellipse near the White House, before US President Donald Trump arrives to board Marine One, in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2026. President Trump will travel to Dover Air Force Base to attend a dignified transfer before heading to Marietta, Georgia to speak. (Photo by Ken Cedeno / AFP) A man rides a bicycle past a mural covered with photographs of missing persons while a screen on the Stock Exchange building displays currency exchange rates in Mexico City on July 21, 2026. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP) This handout photograph taken and released on July 22, 2026 by the Vatican press office Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV during his visit to the Sanctuary of the Holy Trinity in Vallepietra. (Photo by Handout / VATICAN MEDIA / AFP) Passengers stand on an elevated S-Bahn station operated by German railway giant Deutsche Bahn as a yellow S-Bahn city train drives by, with the TV Tower (Fernsehturm) in the background in Berlin, on a cloudy chilly summer day on July 22, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) Members of the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) picket outside the Parktonian Hotel in Johannesburg on 22 July 2026, demanding that the company pay outstanding provident fund contributions allegedly deducted from employees’ salaries but not paid to the fund since October 2025. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen Firefighters walk along a smoldering hill as Little Fire burns in Pleasanton, California on July 21, 2026. (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP) Alpecin – Premier Tech team’s Belgian rider Jasper Philipsen celebrates after winning the 17th stage of the 113th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 174,7 km between Chambéry and Voiron in the French Alps, on July 22, 2026. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes / POOL / AFP) The Gravity-1 commercial rocket launches from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying nine satellites to their designated orbits, at sea off the coast of Shanghai in eastern China on July 22, 2026. (Photo by CNS / AFP) US film composer and singer-songwriter Danny Elfman’s hands are seen as he attends the premiere of HBO Max’s comedy series “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” at The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on July 21, 2026. (Photo by Chris DELMAS / AFP) US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (R) salute as a US Army carry team carries the flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York, during a dignified transfer solemn event for US service members killed during operations in the Middle East, at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on July 22, 2026. According to the US Department of Defense, Rampersad is believed to have been killed in action on July 17 during an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) A CalFire helicopter crosses the sun on its way to make a water drop on Little Fire in Pleasanton, California on July 21, 2026. (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP) MORE: 24 hours in pictures, 21 July 2026

Beyond the politics and promises swirling around a possible SASSA increase, a more urgent and personal concern is emerging from the comments pensioners are saying they are genuinely struggling to survive on what they currently receive, with no clear timeline for relief. For many commenters, this isn’t just frustration, it reads as a genuine warning. Meisie van Heerden, a Top Fan commenter, didn’t mince words: “WE NEED INCREASE NOW!!! CAN SURVIVE ON R2400 PER MONTH !!!!”, capital letters and repeated exclamation marks reflecting real urgency rather than routine complaint. Val Botes made the stakes personal, challenging officials directly: “Put her on R2400 to see if she can survive what they pay us. Let her feel what we go through.” Years Of Waiting Take A Toll The concern isn’t new and that’s part of what makes it troubling. Sebastian Hawkins pointed out that people have been struggling for years with no meaningful action: “Why only now people has been struggling for year now that it’s election time they want to come and visit the people.” That sense of prolonged hardship, compounded by minimal past increases, suggests a slow accumulation of strain on pensioners’ wellbeing rather than a sudden crisis, which may be exactly why it’s being overlooked. Small Increases, Big Disappointment Even when relief has come, it hasn’t matched the scale of the need. Enodia Riet’s reaction to a previous R10 increase, “R10 increase relief”, carried visible disappointment. At the same time, Sunil Sivnarain warned plainly: “Sassa budget is not for lavish Salaries and lunches, please increase Sassa Pension as we can’t live with R2400.” Taken together, the comments paint a picture of pensioners who aren’t just asking for more money; they’re describing a daily struggle to get by and asking to be heard before it gets worse. Win R2 000 in the South African SASSA grant survey If you receive a SASSA grant and want to share your story, we want to hear from you. Take part in our survey and stand a chance to win R2 000. Your responses help us tell the stories that matter.

Orlando Pirates striker Boitumelo Radiopane scored the only goal of the match as the Buccaneers bounced back from defeat to return to winning ways. Both teams rotated their squads throughout the contest as they continued preparations for the new season. Orlando Pirates remained organised defensively and showed tactical discipline to edge a closely contested encounter. BOITUMELO RADIOPANE STRIKES AGAIN Radiopane continued his impressive pre-season form by scoring the decisive goal after Orlando Pirates applied sustained pressure in the final third. The striker’s clinical finish proved enough to separate the two sides in a physical battle. His first goal of the series came in the 1-1 draw with Cordoba CF. The result was a positive response from Abdeslam Ouaddou’s men following Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad. ORLANDO PIRATES END LOSING STREAK The victory means Orlando Pirates have now played four matches during their pre-season tour of Spain. The Buccaneers opened with a 1-1 draw against Córdoba CF, before defeating Cádiz CF 2-1. They then suffered a narrow 3-2 loss to Al-Ittihad, before bouncing back with a 1-0 victory over UD Las Palmas. The Sea Robbers will conclude their pre-season tour against Saudi Arabian club NEOM SC on Friday, July 24, 2026, with kick-off scheduled for 19:00. The fixture will be the club’s final opportunity to fine-tune preparations before the start of the new Betway Premiership season on 1 August. DO YOU SEE THE BUCCANEERS DEFENDING THE BETWAY PREMIERSHIP TITLE? Share your thoughts by clicking on the red comments block below.

Flash and Shop2Shop will combine to form a R21.3-billion platform Pepkor plans to list separately.

Samsung has taken the wraps off its latest Galaxy foldable smartphones, with competition in the category set to intensify.