Spain faces Argentina in the World Cup final, uniting maestro Lionel Messi and heir Lamine Yamal alongside tactical masterminds Luis de la Fuente and Lionel Scaloni.

Public Protector: Gauteng’s food safety system compromised by corruption, weak enforcement and governance failures

The Citizen Motoring recently attended the global launch of the Nissan Tekton, which is expected to arrive locally before the end of the year. The Tekton is the production sibling of the Renault Duster and will slot in between the Magnite and the X-Trail in Nissan’s local portfolio, effectively replacing the Qashqai. Nissan Tekton makes Pitstop On this week’s episode of our Pitstop podcast, we discuss the arrival of the new SUV. And we also look at the differences between it and the Renault Duster. The current local Renault Duster, who was launched two years ago, is sourced from Romania. But it is being replaced by an Indian-built model before the end of the year. The Tekton/Duster is not the first shared model between the two production partners. The Nissan Magnite and Renault Kiger are also production siblings which are built on the same assembly line in Chennai. Styling tweaks The Tekton features a Nissan-specific grille, inverted L-shaped LED headlights, an illuminated strip underneath the bonnet line connecting the light clusters, new alloy wheels and a redesigned front bumper. The differences from the Duster at the rear include a new bumper and imitation skidplate. It also features restyled light clusters connected by an LED strip. The interior has been carried over from the Duster. It retains the 10.1-inch infotainment display and the 10.25-inch instrument cluster. It also features the same gear lever as the Magnite on manual models, restyled air vents on the passenger’s side and more upmarket materials. Like the current Renault Duster, the Nissan Tekton is not offered with a diesel engine. In India, the Tekton features a choice of two powertrains. A 74kW/166Nm 1.0-lite turbo petrol engine and 120kW/280Nm 1.3-litre blown mill. Final local pricing and specification will only be announced once an official date for South Africa is approved.

Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi has been arrested in connection with the R14.9 million Killarney precious stones heist. Mkhwanazi was arrested by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) on Friday, 17 July, along with another suspect believed to be the Madlanga commission’s Witness K. Latest arrests in the precious stones theft investigation The pair is being held at the Germiston Police Station on the East Rand and is expected to appear in court on Monday, 20 July. They form part of five suspects who were sought in connection with the theft of precious stones worth millions from an apartment in Killarney, Johannesburg. Charges against one of the suspects, private security officer Etienne van der Walt, have since been dropped. The two other co-accused in the matter, EMPD officers Adrian MacKenzie and Kersha-Leigh Stols, were granted R5 000 bail each in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on 16 July, and are expected to appear in court again on 25 August. Ipid spokesperson Lizzy Suping said the directorate initially had five warrants of arrest to effect, three of which were effected on 3 and 6 July. They had to “sort out” paperwork for the warrants of arrest effected on Friday. Allegations surrounding the precious stones It is alleged that the accused acted illegally when searching and seizing six boxes of sugilite and manganese stones worth almost R14.9 million. “They raided a house in Killarney, Johannesburg without a warrant and one of them also impersonated himself as a police officer while others went to conduct an investigation in an area which was not their area of jurisdiction,” Suping said on Friday. “But we also had two other suspects whose responsibilities at work do not involve any investigation work and that is the reason why they are facing fraud, because there was theft of those precious stones and they did not even register those exhibits, after they seized them from that house in Killarney, in the occurrence book of the South African Police Service at a police station.” Mkhwanazi and his co-accused face a charge of corruption because of their unlawful conduct in the alleged raid and seizure of precious stones. Witness K’s Madlanga commission testimony During her testimony before the commission, Witness K – a JMPD VIP protection unit inspector – said she became romantically involved with Mkhwanazi in late 2022. According to her evidence, the relationship was marked by financial dependency. Witness K stated that once her savings were exhausted, Mkhwanazi allegedly urged her to “keep my ear to the ground” in search of opportunities to make money. She claimed this led to a coordinated plan to steal precious stones from Peter Prinsloo at his apartment in Killarney on 11 February 2023. She told the commission that after the theft, proceeds amounting to R110 000 were allegedly equally distributed among those allegedly involved, including Mkhwanazi, Stols, McKenzie, and van der Walt. Mkhwanazi arrested three times in three different cases In a video of his arrest on Friday evening, Mkhwanazi appeared warm and in good spirits. [BREAKING] IPID arrests #JuliusMkhwanazi he joins Witness K at the Germiston police station. He's been labeled as the mastermind behind the 2023 heist of precious stones worth R14.9 million.He's expected to appear in court with witness K on Monday.#eNCA pic.twitter.com/cqbW8qHx5z— Silindelo Sebata (@Sli_Masikane) July 17, 2026 This was his third arrest since his initial appearance at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry probing alleged criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system. Mkhwanazi was first arrested on 18 April as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption within the EMPD. His second arrest on 8 July was related to his alleged involvement in the unlawful installation of blue lights on four vehicles owned by alleged cartel figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. Additional reporting by Jarryd Westerdale and Molefe Seeletsa

Eskom has announced a planned electricity supply interruption in Limpopo due to essential maintenance work, warning residents in several communities to prepare for an extended outage this week. The interruption is scheduled for 23 July, from 7:00 to 21:30, as Eskom carries out maintenance at the Dithabaneng substations. The utility said the work is necessary “to perform essential maintenance on our Distribution network.” Areas that will be affected According to Eskom, the outage will affect the following areas: Makurung Dithabaneng Maralaleng Lekurung Bothunyeng Tjiane Seswikaneng Vodacom, Telkom and MTN Towers Eskom urges caution and patience Eskom warned residents to treat all electrical connections as live throughout the maintenance period, saying “the safety and well-being of our community is important.” The utility apologised for the inconvenience, thanking customers for their “patience and cooperation,” and asked affected residents not to log faults during the outage. The utility noted that the planned maintenance could be affected by circumstances beyond its control, meaning the schedule may not proceed exactly as communicated. Residents in the affected communities are advised to prepare in advance for the extended outage, particularly households and businesses reliant on electricity for water pumping, medical equipment, or refrigeration.

South Africans no longer need to fight long queues at Home Affairs offices to apply for a Smart ID card, with the number of places offering the service climbing sharply this week and set to grow much further before the year is out. The Department of Home Affairs confirmed that 296 bank branches nationwide are now enabled to process Smart ID applications, up from a small pilot group just four months ago. The network currently runs through four banks: Capitec, Standard Bank, First National Bank, and now Absa, which officially went live this week as the newest partner under the department’s Digital Partnership Model. Absa’s rollout started small, with just 12 branches enabled so far. A further 60 Absa branches are expected to come online before the end of 2026, adding to the hundreds already offered by Capitec, Standard Bank and FNB since the programme’s earlier phases. A much bigger number is coming for Smart IDs Home Affairs revealed that the full network is set to expand to 750 participating branches across all four banks by the end of 2026, more than double the current number. The growth falls under a wider reform programme, the department calls “Home Affairs @ home.” Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber said: “The rapid expansion of our Digital Partnership with the banking sector demonstrates the success of our vision to transform Home Affairs service delivery fundamentally through digital innovation.” Minister points to demand Schreiber linked the rapid growth directly to uptake, noting that processing more than 385 000 Smart ID applications in just four months shows South Africans are embracing a faster, more secure and more convenient way of accessing Home Affairs services. He added that the department is “bringing secure and dignified access to Smart ID services closer to where people live and work than ever before.” Absa has also flagged a mobile service called Bank on the Move, designed to extend Smart ID access to communities without a nearby participating branch. Further details on how the service will work are expected to be shared at a dedicated launch event. For now, the growing list of Capitec, Standard Bank, FNB, and Absa branches offers South Africans their best chance yet to skip the Home Affairs queue altogether.

Acting CEO Fathima Gany tells TechCentral the Post Office can survive - but only if government honours its funding promise.

ERP specialist Astraia Technology is iOCO's second purchase in four months as dealmaking accelerates.