In a dramatic turn of events, Chris Brown pleads guilty to a public order offence stemming from a nightclub brawl in London, raising questions about his future as he awaits sentencing.

The ANC in eThekwini downplays the potential threat posed by Zandile Gumede's affiliation with Jacob Zuma's MKP party, as the party prepares for the upcoming local government elections.

South Africa’s swimmers continued to keep the national team afloat on Monday night, with Michael Houlie and Erin Gallagher stepping on the podium on day five of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Houlie, a former African Games champion, secured the silver medal in 26.77 seconds in the men’s 50m breaststroke final, with Australian Sam Williamson producing a strong finish to claim victory in 26.50. Behind Houlie, countryman Chris Smith narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in 26.95, just 0.01 behind former world champion Adam Ramsay-Peaty of England, who touched the wall in 26.94 to snatch bronze. Gallagher did well to grab the bronze medal in the women’s 100m butterfly final in 57.39, holding off a challenge from Australia’s Brittany Castelluzzo (57.40) to take third place. It was Gallagher’s third medal of the Games after she had earned silver in the 50m butterfly and formed part of the SA 4x100m freestyle relay quartet who secured bronze over the weekend. Erin Gallagher in action in the women’s 100m butterfly event. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images Other results In other finals in the pool on Monday evening, the national team finished sixth in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay in 8:09.16, Kris Mihaylov was seventh in the men’s 200m butterfly in 1:58.02 and Caitlin de Lange took eighth place in the women’s 100m freestyle in 55.52. And three SA swimmers – Olivia Nel (women’s 50m backstroke), Lara van Niekerk and Rebecca Meder (both in the women’s 50m breaststroke) – kept their medal hopes alive by progressing beyond the semifinals, qualifying for Tuesday night’s finals in their events. Meanwhile, on the opening day of the track and field competition at the multi-sport showpiece, Franco le Roux finished fourth in the men’s 110m hurdles final in 13.60, and Sheryl James was eighth in the T38 women’s 100 final in 14.08. In other sports on Monday, weightlifter Johanni Taljaard narrowly missed out on a medal in the women’s 53kg division. Lifting a total of 175kg, Taljaard was just 3kg shy of Canadian bronze medallist Rebeka Groulx who successfully raised the bar at a combined 178kg in the snatch and clean and jerk disciplines. In other weightlifting finals, Anneke Spies-Burger was seventh in the women’s 58kg contest, lifting a total of 178kg, and Jon-Antohein Phillips (men’s 79kg) did not register a result. Gymnast Daniel McLean put up a fight to finish fifth in the men’s floor exercise final, earning 12.933 points. After five days of competition at the Commonwealth Games, the SA team were in sixth place in the overall standings with a total of 11 medals (three gold, three silver and five bronze), all achieved in the swimming pool.

Former Orlando Pirates star Relebohile Mofokeng capped off a memorable season by being crowned the 2025-26 PSL Footballer of the Season after leading the Buccaneers to a domestic treble. Mofokeng wins big The Premier Soccer League honoured the best performers from the previous campaign at its annual awards ceremony on Monday, with Mofokeng emerging as the biggest winner of the night. The 21-year-old beat former Pirates teammate Oswin Appollis and Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Teboho Mokoena to South African football’s most prestigious individual award after a stellar campaign. Mofokeng’s remarkable evening did not end there. The Bafana Bafana international also claimed the Players’ Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards, completing a clean sweep of the league’s major individual honours. He enjoyed an outstanding league campaign, scoring 10 league goals and providing eight assists in 27 Betway Premiership appearances. Pirates also lifted the MTN8 and Carling Knockout in what was a memorable season for the Soweto giants. The awards come shortly after Mofokeng secured a move to Belgian Pro League side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise following his impressive displays for Bafana Bafana at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Footballer of the Season award is voted for by the head coaches of the 16 premiership clubs, while the Players’ Player of the Season is decided by fellow players across the league. Pirates dominate Pirates’ dominance was also reflected elsewhere on the night. Abdeslam Ouaddou was named PSL Coach of the Season, while Appollis took home the Midfielder of the Season award. Lebone Seema and Sipho Chaine were recognised as Defender of the Season and Goalkeeper of the Season, respectively. Elsewhere, Cemran Dansin won the Goal of the Season award for his spectacular strike against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld, while Golden Arrows striker Junior Dion finished as the league’s top scorer with 14 goals. Eugene Mdluli and Nandipha Menze received the Referee of the Season and Assistant Referee of the Season awards, respectively The PSL Chairman’s Award was posthumously presented to the late Jayden Adams, who passed away on July 11. Here is list of all the winners: Football of the Season Relebohile Mofokeng (Orlando Pirates) Player’s Player of the Season Relebohile Mofokeng (Orlando Pirates) Coach of the Season Abdeslam Ouaddou (Orlando Pirates) Goal of the Season Camren Dansin (Orlando Pirates) Goalkeeper of the Season Sipho Chaine (Orlando Pirates) Defender of the Season Lebone Seema (Orlando Pirates) Midfielder of the Season Oswin Appollis (Orlando Pirates) Young Player of the Season Relebohile Mofokeng (Orlando Pirates) MTN8 Last Man Standing Tshepang Moremi (Orlando Pirates) Carling Knockout Player of the Season Mbekezeli Mbokazi (Orlando Pirates) Nedbank Cup Most Promising Player of the Tournament Seluleko Mahlambi (TS Galaxy) Nedbank Cup Player of the Tournament Darren Keet (Durban City) Motsepe Foundation Championship Players’ Player of the Season Emile Witbooi (Cape Town City) Motsepe Foundation Championship Goalkeeper of the Season Mickey van der Hart (Cape Town City) Motsepe Foundation Championship Young Player of the Season Gabriel Amato (Cape Town City) DSTV DISKI Challenge Player of the Season Bennet Mokoena (Mamelodi Sundowns) PSL Assistant Referee of the Season Nandipha Menze PSL Referee of the Season Eugene Mdluli PSL Chairman’s Award Jayden Adams (Mamelodi Sundowns)

How much is Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus worth on 29 July 2026? Well, it breaks down like so. Straight Lotto is worth R4 million, Lotto Plus 1 sits at R3.5 million and for Lotto Plus Max 5 you can tag on another R1.5 million. All tallied up that put’s the total worth of the Wednesday game at R9 million, a R2.5-million increase over Saturday’s game past … Crucial to your success for Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus is knowing how recently one of the three lottos has paid out. A bit like the old days playing slot machines in the casino, the longer it goes, the bigger the payout becomes. Looking at the above figures, we can see that almost all have paid a small amount recently. This has been one of the criticisms of new game mechanics – that payouts, while more frequent, rarely allow winnings to climb to big numbers anymore. WEDNESDAY LOTTO AND LOTTO PLUS As such, Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus has always been the National Lottery’s kind of bread-and-butter game. Cheaper than PowerBall and PowerBall XTRA, easier to win, but less dramatic when it comes to jackpots. Nevertheless, Sizekhaya’s 1 June 2026 takeover reshaped it further. The core mechanics require players to choose six numbers from a pool of 1 to 52, which is reduced from 1 to 58 previously. As ever, numbers can be chosen manually or auto generated through the popular Quick Pick. Pricing sits lower than PowerBall’s controversial increase. A standard Lotto board costs R5, with Lotto Plus 1 adding R2.50 and Lotto 5 Max adding a further R2.50 on top. Therefore, playing all three together costs R10 per board. What players are still wrapping their head around is the new MultiPlay (MP) option. It lets players add a seventh number to their existing six in each of the three games. And it gets proportionally more expensive as you go. The total combination if you add MP1 across all boards is R70 – that’s R35 + R17.50 + R17.50. However, your odds are massively improved if you do go down this rabbit hole. HOW TO HANDLE MULTIPLAY Lotto Plus 1 had a small payout this weekend, keeping the winnings for Wednesday muted. Image: File If you add MP1 to Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus across all three games, your total ticket will cost R70.00. Plus, if you’re using your banking app, be sure to lookout for digital banking fee of roughly R2.95 added to the transaction. So, the question remains, is it worth spending the extra money? Jackpot odds have already improved substantially under the new number matrix. The chances of matching all six numbers now sits at 1 in 20 million. That’s twice as likely as the old 1 in 40 million under ITHUBA. However, dabble with the MP1 and all of a sudden, you’re playing with seven numbers instead of six. This means your odds now become just 1 in 2.9 million, which represents a straight sevenfold improvement. And don’t forget that’s across all three games since they share the board. DRAW TIMES AND CLAIMING POWERBALL WINNINGS Remember, if you’re someone like a SASSA beneficiary playing Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus, decide on a budget before buying lotto tickets, and don’t chase a bad week by spending more. The National Responsible Gambling Programme runs a toll-free counselling line on 0800 006 008 for anyone who is struggling. Lotto and Lotto Plus draw every Wednesday and Wednesday at 21:00. Sizekhaya brought back live televised draws using physical draw machines. Ticket sales cut off half an hour before the draw typically at 20:30. All lottery prizes must be claimed within 365 days of the draw date. Anyone who misses that window forfeits their prize and the money is transferred to the National Lottery Distribution Trust for charitable causes. How and where to claim Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus winnings depends on the amount won: Small prizes (up to R4 999) get paid out directly at licensed retailers. Mid-tier prizes (R5 000 to R49 999) can be claimed at selected partner banks. Anything above R50 000 requires an in-person visit to a Sizekhaya regional office, with the original ticket and a valid South African ID. Online and banking-app players have prizes up R249 999 are deposited automatically into their accounts. CONTACT SIZEKHAYA FOR HELP The new lottery operator took over on 1 June 2026. Image: File Anyone unsure where to start can call the Sizekhaya helpline on 0861 026 000. Or you can visit one of the eight regional offices nationally: Head Office/Gauteng at 36 Homestead Road, Edenburg, Sandton KwaZulu-Natal at 10 Rydall Vale Crescent, Umhlanga Ridge Western Cape at 1st Floor, The Barracks, 50 Bree Street, Cape Town Eastern Cape at 153 Cape Road, Newton Park, Port Elizabeth Free State & Northern Cape at 3 Barnes Street, Arboretum, Bloemfontein Limpopo at Gateway Park, Polokwane Mpumalanga at 29@Marloth, Nelspruit And one final note, around R257 million in lottery prizes currently sits unclaimed across South Africa from the previous operator. Therefore, checking old ticket numbers against those drawn (up to one year ago) costs you nothing and might just turn up forgotten money. You can do so by clicking past results HERE.

While some demand that grants be scrapped, others reacting to the SASSA Children’s Grants amendments say the government is treating the symptom, not the cause. Mapontsho Pearl pushed back against the idea that people have children purely for grant money, pointing out that R580 a month can’t even support a child on its own. She argued the real issues are a lack of jobs paying a liveable monthly salary and the R370 SRD grant, which she believes should be scrapped in favour of employment. She also called for child support laws to be amended so fathers face real consequences, rather than mothers having to chase absent parents for money. ‘You should only have what you can afford’ Heather Ann Beykirch took a different angle, arguing that pensioners have earned their support through a lifetime of work, and warning that unchecked population growth is unsustainable. Her view: people should only have as many children as they can genuinely afford to raise and educate. Despite different starting points, both commenters land on a similar theme: responsibility, whether from absent fathers or from parents themselves, should carry more weight in the debate than the size of the grant itself. 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.

Vodacom has cut its dividend payout policy to at least 65% of headline earnings, from at least 75% previously.

Local lenders have gone from building everything in-house to buying the start-ups that outran them.