Tadej Pogačar joined cycling royalty by winning his fifth Tour de France title, while Mathieu van der Poel took a thrilling victory on the final stage in Paris.

IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson has asked to be released from office.

Backstroke star Pieter Coetzé continued his impressive campaign in the pool, returning to the top of the podium on Sunday night, as Team South Africa’s swimmers bagged three more medals during the evening session on day four of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Coetzé, who earned gold in the 50m backstroke and bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay over the weekend, secured his third medal of the showpiece. The 22-year-old swimmer dominated the men’s 200m backstroke final, winning by more than two seconds in 1:54.22 and setting a new Games record. In other events in the pool, Aimee Canny was superb in the women’s 100m breaststroke final. Going out hard, Canny was leading at the turn, and though she was caught by local favourite Angharad Evans of Scotland, who won gold in 1:06.07, the South African held on for the silver medal in 1:06.19. Behind Canny, her compatriots Kaylene Corbett (1:07.61) and Rebecca Meder (1:07.68) finished sixth and seventh respectively. And Olivia Nel reached the podium in the women’s 100m backstroke, taking third spot in 1:00.09 to win a tightly contested battle for the bronze medal. Other swimming results Chad le Clos, a two-time former champion in the event, settled for fifth place in the men’s 100m butterfly final in 51.49, while Calvyn Justus was also fifth in the men’s 50m freestyle final in 22.17, and Christian Sadie finished seventh in the men’s S9 100m backstroke final in 1:15.82. Meanwhile, four SA swimmers progressed beyond the semifinals and were set to challenge for medals in Monday night’s finals. They were Erin Gallagher (women’s 100m butterfly), Caitlin de Lange (women’s 100m freestyle), and Michael Houlie and Chris Smith (both in the men’s 50m breaststroke). Houlie was particularly impressive in the semifinals, touching the wall in 26.61 and qualifying quickest for the final, and he was set to line up among the favourites for the Commonwealth title. Gymnastics and weightlifting In artistic gymnastics on Sunday, Naveen Daries (49.100 points) took 10th position in the women’s all-around final and her younger sister Zelmé Daries (48.250) ended 13th. Though weightlifter Zach Snyman turned out in the men’s 65kg final, he did not register a result. Aside from swimmers, other members of the national squad who were set to compete in finals today included gymnast Daniel McLean in the men’s floor exercise, and weightlifters Johanni Taljaard (53kg women), Anneke Spies-Burger (58kg women) and Jon-Antohein Phillips (79kg men). Heading into Monday’s fifth day of competition at the Games, South Africa were lying sixth in the overall standings with nine medals (three gold, two silver and four bronze).

The head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), Andrea Johnson, has requested the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Andy Mothibi, and President Cyril Ramaphosa to release her from office with immediate effect. In a letter leaked online, Johnson cites attacks on her and her official capacity, which she describes as “unprecedented”. “Much of the attacks revolve and arise out of the cases IDAC has conducted against officials of Crime Intelligence,” reads the letter. “I am currently testifying at the Commission and again, the issues there are in the main about the above. “Your Excellency and NDPP, I humbly request you to consider my application for resignation. Whilst my contract requires a three-month notice period, I would request both your consideration of an immediate release from office, thereby waiving the notice period.” Should this be granted, she would have to vacate her office within 24 hours. The NPA has reportedly confirmed receiving the letter. Andrea Johnson at Madlanga commission Johnson has been in the spotlight in the past week, due to her testimony at the Madlanga commission. She testified in response to allegations that Idac unlawfully operates outside of its mandate and that it pursued a criminal case against Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo and other officials at Crime Intelligence. Khumalo was arrested on 26 June 2025 in connection with the alleged irregular appointment of a former BMW employee to the rank of brigadier. Johnson said the arrest was a result of a criminal complaint filed by National Coloured Congress (NCC) leader Fadiel Adams. However, Khumalo has previously maintained that the corruption case against him was a labour-related dispute rather than criminal conduct. He has since lodged representations with the office of National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Andy Mothibi, requesting a review of the decision by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to prosecute him. Khumalo’s role in PKTT Johnson further defended her office from suggestions that Khumalo’s arrest was due to his involvement with the PKTT. KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told parliament’s Ad hoc committee in October last year that Khumalo’s arrest was an attempt to stop a criminal investigation in Gauteng. “The arrest of Khumalo is a project to stop criminal investigations in Gauteng. The letter from the minister to disband PKTT is a project to stop criminal investigations in Gauteng,” said Mkhwanazi at the time. However, Johnson said this was not true, saying that Khumalo was arrested for his conduct in his capacity as Crime Intelligence head. She said that at the time, she was not aware of Khumalo’s role in the PKTT. The Idac head told the commission that Khumalo’s arrest has invited trouble for her and her family. She said in the days leading up to Khumalo’s arrest, she received a death threat on her phone. Since then, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has put several measures in place to protect her and her colleagues. The threat was escalated to the NPA’s risk and security division, which followed up on the message.

Jayden Adams was fondly remembered by his Bafana Bafana teammates as he was laid to rest over the weekend. The 25-year-old’s funeral service took place in Stellenbosch Attending were friends, family and dignitaries like the Minister of Sport Gayton McKenzie, Bafana coach Hugo Broos, SAFA President Danny Jordaan and CAF and Sundowns President Patrice Motsepe. JAYDEN ADAMS REMEMBERED BY TEAM MATES On Instagram, several Bafana Bafana players have paid tribute to Jayden Adams following his shock death, reportedly due to suicide, earlier this month. The tragedy came just weeks after the national team returned from the FIFA World Cup, where they made it to the Round of 32. Oswin Appollis, who spent time with Jayden in the US, after the tournament, posted clips of them dancing and spending quality time together. “My brother”, he captioned the post. Lyle Foster – whose own mental health struggles had made headlines – shared on his IG account: “I love you, my brother. Rest with God”. Teboho Mokeoena also referred to Jayden Adams as his “brother”, as did Iqraam Rayners, who was one of the first friends to pay his respect. He shared: “It doesn’t feel real, and I don’t know if it ever will. You weren’t just a friend—you were my brother, my blood, someone I could count on through the good times and the bad. We shared so many memories, so many laughs, and moments that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.  “Your loyalty, your strength, and the way you looked out for the people you loved will never be forgotten. My heart is broken knowing I won’t hear your voice, see your smile, or make more memories with you. But I’m grateful for every moment we had together. Thank you for being the brother you were to me. You left a mark on my life that nothing and no one can ever replace” ‘NOT ENOUGH HELP FOR ATHLETES’ Meanwhile, former Bafana Bafana star Brent Carelse has called on the national team to provide more mental health support for players. “So many of them [athletes] struggle. Everybody just expects them to be at their best at all times, and sometimes that’s not the case Carelse highlighted the case of Lyle Foster, who admitted to suffering from severe depression in 2023. Foster’s club, Burnley FC, provided him with professional support amid his health struggle. Carelse added: “In that team environment, a lot of people don’t understand that we as footballers and sports people spend more time with our teammates than we do with our family. “Not enough is being done to detect it at an early age as well, and also to help these athletes when they go through trauma and other things such as alcohol or drug abuse, or financially… There is not enough help for the athletes.”

Over the past few weeks, hundreds of South Africans who have applied to the US refugee resettlement programme have received letters of rejection. The letters from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stated that the applicants were “ineligible” and that the decision could not be appealed. The news comes amid a report that the US State Department has significantly increased the intake of refugees in the current fiscal year. ‘THIS IS NOT AN IMMIGRATION PROGRAMME’ On his YouTube channel, US analyst Chris Wyatt shared that up to 1000 applicants of the refugee resettlement programme had been rejected for various ineligibility reasons. Some included individuals who had applied to the programme while living in another country. Others were in possession of a safe-haven passport. Wyatt chastises those who thought that being “white” or an “Afrikaner” guaranteed their success and placement. He said: “Being a victim of crime, just like ‘white genocide’, is not a basis for refugee status. Being a victim, or a potential victim of persecution, is”. He added: “This is not an immigration programme. You must be an Afrikaner or racial minority living in South Africa, and must be able to articulate a past of persecution based on race or a legitimate fear of future persecution REFUGEES: REJECTION AND REVOKING STATUS Applications have been rejected, and some individuals have had their status revoked for the following reasons:  The UCIS can revoke applications based on the following: Fraud and misrepresentation  Ineligibility Security and terrorism concerns Criminal history The UCIS has stated that it is under no obligation to grant an appeal to a rejected refugee applicant. However, in rare cases, the application may be reviewed if evidence is missing or a factual error is found. This is entirely discretionary.

South Africa's mobile operators have won 700MHz of prime spectrum, with Wi-Fi confined to the lower 6GHz band.

The operators want the high court to set aside regulations that will force automatic rollover of unused data bundles.