South Africa's education system has not collapsed, but that should not become the benchmark for success. An NWU academic argues that poor literacy, overcrowded classrooms and unequal access to key subjects continue to limit children's futures.

The ANC's leaders today are nothing like the generation that fought apartheid, a political analyst told a Cape Town book launch, with struggle veteran Albie Sachs sitting in the room.

Five South African children are stranded in Pakistan as their grandfather reportedly refuses to allow them to return to their mother. It is alleged the late Muhammad Amjid, a Pakistani national who was married to a woman from Tzaneen in Limpopo, convinced his wife, Sebotse Cecilia Muhammad, to take the children to Dera Ghazi Khan, a city in southwestern Punjab, Pakistan. Trip to Pakistan turns into years apart The children, whose ages were between five and 11 at the time, have been in Pakistan for about seven years. Family spokesperson Brenda Lefofana said her sister has been struggling to deal with the issue for three years and was depressed and refusing to eat. “These people had been abusing my sister because the last time she spoke to her children was in April 2022. The children’s grandfather in Pakistan told her he was going to change his contact details as he does not want her to influence the children,” said Lefofana. She added her sister and Amjid married in 2011 and had three children. In 2018, Amjid suggested his wife take the children to Pakistan to visit their grandfather and attend three months of Islamic classes. When three months had lapsed, the father instructed his wife to come back to South Africa, leaving the children in Pakistan because he did not have enough money to bring them home. Family says promises were repeatedly broken He reportedly kept on delaying the process of repatriating the children by claiming he did not have enough money for flight tickets. As years went by, the couple had two more children and when they were about two years old, Amjid convinced her to take them to visit their grandfather, promising to give her money so she could bring back all the children. “Again, he refused to give her enough money and only bought her a ticket. He promised the children would return after a few months,” said Lefofana. “He said he would go and bring back the children but in 2021, he died and was buried in South Africa, while the children were still stranded in Pakistan. “In April 2022, his family in Pakistan told my sister the children were no longer coming to South Africa because that was their father’s wish. Since then, he became unavailable, and his phone was always off,” added Lefofana. Mother’s search for help continues She said her family was worried and the children’s mother was losing hope. The matter was reported to Maphalle Clinic in Limpopo two years ago, but the mother had received no assistance. “Since 2022, we have been interacting with social workers who promised to help, but to no avail. Now, all my family, including the mother of the children, are losing hope and don’t believe they will see the children again. “I always encourage them to keep on fighting until we get the children back. We are appealing to the government and everyone who will read this story to assist us to bring the kids back home.” NGOs may assist with reunification The Citizen has been reliably informed the Brave to Love non-governmental organisation (NGO), specialising in providing aid to victims of human trafficking, may be stepping in to help. When contacted, the NGO did not confirm it was investigating the matter, but asked to be given time to study the questions put to it before commenting. Another NGO offering the same services said it was dealing with three cases in which Pakistani men married SA women and emigrated with the children, without the consent of the mothers.

A 41‑year‑old Pretoria scholar transport driver who lured two children to his home and raped a nine‑year‑old girl has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Given Mpho Mphahlele appeared in the Pretoria Regional Court on Tuesday, 29 July 2026, where the sentence was handed down. At the time of the offence, he had been employed as a scholar transport driver for only two months. Rape The court heard that in June 2021, Mphahlele instructed a seven‑year‑old boy he was transporting to tell his sister to visit him at his residence. The children informed their mother they were going out to play and followed Mphahlele to his house. Once there, he sent the boy to a shop and raped the girl. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said: “Mphahlele then dressed both himself and the child and threatened to kill the victim’s mother if she disclosed the incident. Before they left, he gave the children R4 to buy chicken heads.” Arrest A month later, the child broke down while running an errand and disclosed the rape to her mother. The matter was reported to police, and the victim was referred to the Mamelodi Thuthuzela Care Centre for medical and psychological support. Mphahlele was arrested on 19 August 2021. During sentencing, Mphahlele asked the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence, citing his role as sole breadwinner for his three children. The State opposed, arguing he had shown no remorse and abused a position of trust. “Instead, he abused that trust and violated the innocence and dignity of a vulnerable child,” Mahanjana said. Sentence The court agreed, finding no compelling circumstances to justify leniency and imposed a life sentence. Mahanjana added that the NPA remains committed to prosecuting sexual offences against children and urged victims of GBV to use Thuthuzela Care Centres for integrated support.

A newly discovered dinosaur from Zimbabwe is offering fresh clues to how the animals diversified, suggesting they spread across distinct ecosystems in southern Africa, scientists said on Wednesday. The discovery of the new species, named Musango matusadonaensis, is based on a skeleton excavated on the shores of Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe in 2018, and is the fifth dinosaur identified from the country, they said. Spread across the planet It lived about 210 million years ago during the Late Triassic, when dinosaurs were beginning to spread across the planet but had yet to become the dominant land animals, said the international team of palaeontologists behind the discovery. Unlike the giant long-necked dinosaurs that evolved millions of years later, Musango was relatively lightly built, about 4.5 metres (15 feet) long and weighing an estimated 222kg (490 pounds) – about the weight of a fully grown pig. It was named after the local Shona word “musango”, meaning “living in the bush”. “Until recently, it was assumed that the dinosaurs living across southern Africa were largely the same,” said Paul Barrett, researcher at the Natural History Museum in London. ‘Tip of the iceberg’ The discovery suggests the region was instead made up of several distinct ecosystems, each home to different dinosaur species, Barrett said in a statement. “It suggests that what we’ve found so far is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said. His team’s findings were published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. The fossil is among the most complete dinosaur skeletons of its age found in Zimbabwe, with bones from its spine, ribs, arms, legs and feet preserved. Herbivore Researchers estimated Musango was about eight years old and nearly fully grown when it died. The bones also showed it had recovered from a serious injury or infection. While its skull has not been found, researchers believe Musango was probably a herbivore or an omnivore, feeding on plants growing along rivers and streams. In 2022, scientists in Zimbabwe discovered the remains of Africa’s oldest dinosaur, which roamed the earth around 230 million years ago. The dinosaur, named Mbiresaurus raathi, was only about one metre tall, with a long tail, and weighed up to 30kg. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

According to a new analysis by South African commercial property data company Gmaven, Johannesburg’s commercial property market is valued nearly R200bn below comparable Cape Town-adjusted levels. The study draws on Gmaven’s database and examines, for the two municipalities, 25 700 properties alongside 1 706 high-value commercial property transactions recorded since 2020. Properties were matched by category, grade, size, location and, where relevant, retail submarket to compare similar assets across the two municipalities. Johannesburg contains 44.9 million square metres of rentable commercial space, 54% more than Cape Town’s 29.2 million square metres. Despite that difference, Gmaven estimates the two markets are worth roughly the same, at R376 billion for Johannesburg and R365 billion for Cape Town. Cape Town and Johannesburg municipalities: rentable space by property category. Image: Gmaven Commercial property gap driven by struggling office market The largest divergence appears in offices. Johannesburg office space has traded at a weighted average of R10 121 per square metre since 2020, compared with R20 524 in Cape Town. Capitec’s recent acquisition of an A-grade Sandton office building illustrates the scale of the discount. The bank paid R245 million for 21 946 square metres, equivalent to R11 164 per square metre, including parking. Gmaven estimates that constructing a comparable building today would cost at least R28 000 per square metre, before land. “Johannesburg has been regarded as a value market for years, but the size of the gap has never been clear,” says William Harris, CEO of Gmaven. “By comparing equivalent properties and completed transactions, we can quantify Johannesburg’s discount to Cape Town and identify which parts of the market account for most of the potential recovery.” Commercial property values per municipality by specific valuation type. Image: Gmaven Municipal performance seen as key factor behind valuation gap The analysis covers offices, industrial premises, retail properties, and a “specialist” category that includes assets such as hotels, hospitals, education and storage. The discount is not evenly distributed. Office property accounts for over 40% of the estimated R196 billion gap, while retail and other commercial assets contribute most of the remainder. Industrial property, which is more commonly owner-occupied, has retained more of its value in Johannesburg. Johannesburg and Cape Town operate within the same national economy and share a currency, central bank, tax system, sovereign risk profile, and many of the same landlords – listed and private. Gmaven says the divergence suggests that local conditions, including municipal performance, are influencing asset values. “The R196 billion figure should not be read as a guaranteed windfall or an immediate forecast,” Harris added. “It represents the scale of the potential rerating if better municipal performance helps restore business confidence, occupier demand, investment, and development activity.” Johannesburg municipality’s financial upside, in billions of rand, by contributing property category. Image: Gmaven Coming down to the vote According to Gmaven, South Africa’s local government elections in November provide a potential test of the above thesis. Sustained improvement in service delivery and city administration could influence vacancy levels, investment decisions, and the prices buyers are willing to pay for Johannesburg assets. Gmaven’s analysis also estimates that replacing Johannesburg’s existing commercial property stock would cost roughly R857 billion, compared with its estimated market value of roughly R376 billion. Within that total, office and retail assets are trading particularly far below the cost of replacing the buildings already in place.

Tribunal ruling advances a project whose power demand approaches Teraco's entire installed critical capacity.

MultiChoice Group's delisting took DStv's subscriber numbers with it, and new owner Canal+ has not put them back.