SANParks has announced new restaurant operators at selected Kruger National Park camps, with several familiar dining spots set for new names, concepts and refurbishments.

Activists and community representatives gathered in Soweto to demand concrete food-security plans from political parties ahead of Johannesburg’s November 4 local government elections.

This tale has all the makings of a Netflix documentary. If it doesn’t become one, the streamer should wake up and smell the salt in the ocean air. It has intrigue, a David-and-Goliath battle, a larger-than-life character, and three families who have spent more than a decade trying to find out what happened to their loved ones in the Indian Ocean. How a sailor vanished at sea and is still missing. The Life and Death of a Rock and Roll Sailor is author and former music journalist Diane Coetzer’s debut book. It’s a true story, written at a pace that could match a Led Zeppelin guitar riff, but behind the rock and roll is a disappearance that has left more questions than answers. Coetzer originally planned to write a book with her brother-in-law, Anthony John Murray, an experienced delivery skipper whose adventures at sea and on land were the stuff of legend. They even had a title, Rock and Roll Sailor. But in 2015, Murray disappeared with two crew members while delivering a Cape Town-built catamaran to Thailand. Neither the yacht nor the men were ever found. The disappearance changed everything, including the book’s title. Coetzer added death to what was supposed to have been a celebration of Murray’s extraordinary life. Instead, it became an account of his adventures, the family’s search for answers and what she alleges was corporate indifference to the fate of three men. Still missing, so are the answers “The company that he was sailing for was a huge international conglomerate. And they failed us on every single level in trying to search for him. The families had to report the boat missing,” she said. “They didn’t even do that. They owned a goddamn airline. And they didn’t lift a finger.” Coetzer alleged that the company knew a cyclone had developed in the region and that commercial demands changed after a takeover, despite the dangers of sailing during storm season. “The company, which was delivering the boats, never sent boats out during the storm season because it’s dangerous,” she said. “But then it gets bought by this big conglomerate, and they’re like, ‘We need these boats. If you want the work, you’re going to do it.'” Murray was no wealthy adventurer sailing around the world for pleasure. He was a working sailor, highly regarded by his peers and disciplined at sea. On land, however, he loved partying, rock and roll and the freedom to live by his own rules. Alcohol was banned aboard his boats, but ashore it was another matter entirely. “He calls himself like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,” Coetzer said. “And the one is on the ocean, and the other is on land.” Battling corporate indifference His adventures included playing frisbee with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards on an island, while his relationship with the ocean was almost spiritual. Coetzer wanted to capture these contradictions and the remarkable stories that came with them. Former music journalist and debut author Diane Coetzer. Picture Hein Kaiser Before his final voyage, she persuaded Murray to record his recollections on a dictaphone. Those recordings would eventually become invaluable. “I had gold in the fact that I had this small little dictaphone with hours and hours of Anthony talking to it,” she said. But the book they had planned together became something neither could have imagined. More than 11 years after Murray’s disappearance, the family still does not know exactly what happened aboard the yacht or whether any of the men survived the initial incident. “We don’t even know fully if he’s dead because we have no body, we have no evidence. We live in this thing of ambiguous loss,” Coetzer said. There were indications that one or more of the sailors might have reached a life raft, but whether they survived remains unknown. It is the kind of uncertainty that makes grieving almost impossible, because there is no definitive ending. “Most of the time, as we went further and further along, that hope fragmented. But it never totally goes away.” Writing the book also meant reopening wounds. Coetzer revisited WhatsApp messages, emails, and recordings from the period surrounding the disappearance, reliving the family’s anguish as she pieced the story together. “There were times I’d have to stop and cry,” she said. “It really was intensely emotional at times.” Intensely emotional at times The recordings have since inspired Requiem for the Impossible, a music and performance project involving Amsterdam-based Effect Lab and musician Lucy Kruger. A Johannesburg planetarium production is also being considered for next year. But beyond the music, the allegations and the mystery of what happened in the Indian Ocean, Coetzer said the reason for writing the book realised her personal mission. “The main impulse was to make good on what Anthony and I had always wanted to do, which was to write a book together.”

South African Airways (SAA) faces an urgent high court challenge from acting CEO Matshela Seshibe, who was placed on special leave in August. Seshibe wants the court to force the airline to interview him for its top job, or halt the appointment of a permanent CEO until disciplinary proceedings against him are finalised. CEO wants court to force airline to interview for top job He claims the national carrier dropped him after initially shortlisting him because of unresolved disciplinary allegations brought by SAA subsidiary Air Chefs. In court papers filed in the High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Seshibe argues that the airline has effectively judged him guilty without allowing him to answer the allegations. He wants the matter heard urgently on 20 October, before SAA is expected to appoint a permanent CEO by month-end. Seshibe was appointed acting group CEO in April after serving as chief executive of Air Chefs. He said he applied when SAA advertised the permanent position in August and was invited to an interview. Seshibe placed on special leave in August However, after Air Chefs placed him on special leave and instituted disciplinary proceedings, SAA withdrew the invitation. His founding affidavit does not disclose the charges against him, but Seshibe maintains that he has a substantial defence and that no finding of misconduct has been made. “The sole basis for my exclusion was the existence of unresolved disciplinary allegations, notwithstanding that those allegations remain disputed and have not been determined,” he wrote. He said his shortlisting demonstrated that SAA considered him qualified and suitable for the job, yet the airline refused to hear his explanation before excluding him. “The respondent [SAA] gave me no opportunity to explain the position, or to advise it of my defence to the disciplinary proceedings against me. Shortlisting demonstrated that SAA considered Seshibe qualified/suitable “The approach it took was simply prejudicial to me. It made assumptions about my character and suitability for office without letting me respond.” Seshibe also noted his executive record at Air Chefs which. he claims, achieved record profitability, improved operating margins and its highest cash reserves under his leadership. The subsidiary, he said, became the SAA group’s only profitable entity during the relevant period and improved its audit outcomes. He also said that SAA had entrusted him with responsibility for the group’s Liquidity Crisis Committee in March 2026, before appointing him acting group CEO the following month. During that period, he claims to have introduced daily cash monitoring, extended the group’s projected cash runway to September and overseen a revised corporate plan and budget. SAA spokesperson confirms receipt of court application On 7 October, Seshibe wrote to SAA demanding that it proceed with his interview or suspend the recruitment process pending the outcome of his disciplinary proceedings. SAA spokesperson Mphilo Dlamini confirmed the airline had received Seshibe’s court application but declined to comment on the allegations. “As the matter is now sub judice and before the court, SAA will address it through the appropriate legal processes,” he said, confirming that recruitment for a permanent CEO was still underway. Dlamini said the airline was bound by confidentiality obligations during recruitment and could not disclose information about individual candidates while the process remained underway.

Viral videos never seem to dry up on the World Wide Web. Isn’t it wild how there’s always something bizarre or hilarious making the rounds? From people surfing shopping trolleys on highways to cringeworthy challenge fails, the Internet never stops surprising us. The latest viral sensation has grabbed millions of people’s attention, racking up likes and shares across social media. Today’s Eish Wena segment features South African man whose hilarious singing lesson with his goat has left Mzansi in stitches. Watch today’s viral video of a South African man trying to teach goat to sing. @seraga_afrika3 Farm vocals. #music #peace ♬ original sound – Seraga WATCH MORE VIDEOS FROM THE SOUTH AFRICA Visit The South African website for all you need to know. Enjoy a wide variety of videos from news, lifestyle, travel, sports, viral videos and lots more! There is always something to watch here! Why not follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok while you’re at it? Get ALL the news you need to know on the go at your convenience!

After two weeks of indecision, revised SASSA payment dates for November 2026 have finally been announced. The agency confirmed earlier this week, on Wednesday 14 October, of next month’s payment schedule. As beneficiaries already know, local government elections fall on Wednesday 4 November, which is the date originally set for the Disability Grant. As such, the agency said a new schedule had to follow consultations with all stakeholders, including the National Treasury. REVISED SASSA PAYMENT DATES FOR NOVEMBER 2026   The South African Social Security Agency said the aim of the date change was to keep payments “administered efficiently, securely and with minimal disruption during the election period.” Accordingly, here are your revised SASSA payment dates for November 2026, with one actually falling in October: Older Person’s Grant: Friday 30 October (was 3 November) Disability Grant: Monday 2 November (was 4 November) Children’s Grants: Tuesday 3 November (was 5 November) ‘Fourth’ under review payment date: Thursday 5 November (was 6 November) In practice, state pensioners are paid four days earlier than planned. Disability and Children’s grants are now two days earlier, and review cases one day earlier. HOW LONG BETWEEN PAYDAYS? Counting from October 2026 disbursements, which carried no top-up, it’s exactly four weeks gap for the three ‘core’ SASSA Grants. Under the original schedule, pensioners would have waited 32 days. Now, Older Person’s is 28 days, as are Disability and Children’s Grants. So, all in all, the reshuffling has worked serendipitously, you could argue. However, only the timing has moved. With no October top-up, the amounts stay at R2 400 for pensioners aged 60 to 74, Care Dependency and Disability. And R2 420 for those 75 and older. Same deal with the three Childcare Grants. Moreover, SASSA urges beneficiaries not to visit its offices just to ask about dates, and to be wary of any false information about payments. Anyone whose grant is under review should respond to SASSA’s communications and attend any appointments they’re given in time for the fourth payment date. But what do you think? Are you happy with the revised SASSA payment dates for November 2026? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below …

iOCO will not pay a dividend for as long as Rhys Summerton is at the helm of the company.

ID numbers, medical aid details and payment information may have been taken, Ampath has told patients.