If you follow Arsenal from South Africa, the HFM Arsenal partnership is relevant because it is built around things you can see and engage with directly. On 19 March 2026, HFM and Arsenal announced a multi-year global partnership that includes matchday branding at Emirates Stadium, visibility across Arsenal’s digital platforms, and access to club assets and players for fan-focused content later in the season. That lands in a country where TGM Research’s South Africa 2024 survey found that 81% of people are interested in football, 94% of football fans watch on TV and 55% follow the sport online. The real question is how it shows up in the places where you already watch, scroll and keep up with your club. Logos, Lights and What You’ll Notice First The first reason this partnership feels close to home is simple: it is designed to be visible. The announcement confirmed that supporters can expect HFM branding on Arsenal matchdays, visibility across the club’s digital channels, and fan-facing content linked to club assets and players as the season moves on. This is the kind of deal you are likely to notice while watching coverage, checking Arsenal content online, or following club updates between fixtures. That is worth saying plainly because a lot of sponsorship talk can feel distant. For you as a supporter, the practical side is what counts. Here is where this partnership is most likely to touch your week as a fan: You may see HFM branding around Arsenal matchdays, especially in the wider presentation built around games at Emirates Stadium. You are likely to come across co-branded content on Arsenal’s digital platforms, which fits the way South African football fans already follow the game online. You may also see player-linked or club-led fan activations later in the season, which gives the partnership a more personal shape than a static sponsorship placement. That last point goes beyond the commercial side. The Premier League’s 2024/25 annual report says the competition is focused on bringing the game closer to supporters in person, online and through broadcast and commercial partners. So if you already live with Arsenal across the week, on your phone, on your TV and in group chats, this kind of partnership fits the way modern football already reaches you. More Than a Badge on the Board The second reason this deal carries weight is Arsenal’s commercial strength. According to The Athletic’s reporting on the club’s latest financial accounts, Arsenal’s commercial revenue rose from £218.3 million in 2023/24 to £263.2 million in 2024/25. That tells us Arsenal is growing its business side with real pace, which usually means more energy behind campaigns, more polished content and more incentive to keep global supporters engaged across the season. This is not happening in isolation either. According to Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance, Premier League clubs generated £6.3 billion in revenue in the 2023/24 season, up 4% year on year. When you place Arsenal inside that wider Premier League machine, it becomes easier to see why a partner like HFM wants in and why Arsenal can offer more than simple brand exposure. As fans, we often look at the football first. That is how it should be. The commercial side, though, shapes how your club speaks to you between matches, how often new content appears and how much effort goes into making supporters everywhere feel included in the story. So when you see this partnership, it helps to read it as part of the way Arsenal keeps building a year-round connection with supporters beyond North London. From North London to Mzansi This is where South African supporters come properly into focus. You are part of a sports audience with strong viewing habits, strong online engagement and a genuine appetite for football content. The Media Online’s reporting on Nielsen data says 94.7% of South African respondents showed a top-2 level of interest in at least one sport in July 2024, up from 93% in 2023, among internet users aged 16 to 69. That is broad sports data, but it shows why brands and clubs treat South Africa as a serious audience. There is also a local football benchmark: the PSL said the 2023/24 Betway Premiership season delivered an over 18% rise in average unique audience per game, citing Nielsen Sports SA data. Then there is the digital angle. TGM Research’s South Africa summary found that the 25 to 34 age group showed the strongest football interest at 88%. That makes this partnership easier to understand because it is aimed at the kind of supporter who does more than wait for kick-off, someone who follows clips, updates, reaction and club content all week long. This is a global partnership. For South African supporters, it is also designed to feel relevant in a local, everyday way, meeting you where you already are. When a Partnership Feels Personal What gives this deal its appeal is the combination of timing, scale and audience fit. Arsenal is growing commercially, the Premier League remains one of the biggest football businesses in the world and South African supporters continue to watch and follow football in large numbers. Put those pieces together, and you can see why this partnership feels like more than background sponsorship noise. For you, the upside is straightforward. You get more touchpoints with the club through matchday presence, digital content and fan-led activations built for a global audience that already includes South Africa. If Arsenal is already part of your weekend, your screen time and your football conversations, that connection can feel a little more built around you.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has written to the parliamentary chief whip demanding the immediate implementation of the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the Phala Phala matter. It has also called for parliament to urgently constitute an impeachment committee to consider the Section 89 independent panel report relating to President Cyril Ramaphosa. In its correspondence, the party refers to the Constitutional Court judgment delivered on Friday by Chief Justice Mandisa Maya. The judge ruled that the National Assembly’s decision not to refer the independent panel report for consideration by an impeachment committee was unlawful and invalid. The court further directed that the Section 89 report must be referred to an impeachment committee for proper parliamentary scrutiny. According to the EFF, parliament is constitutionally obliged to act without delay.  “We write to you with reference to the judgment of the Constitutional Court granted on Friday 08 May 2026, in terms of which the Court ruled that the decision of the National Assembly not to refer the report of the Independent Panel on whether President Ramaphosa should be impeached or not to a Parliamentary Impeachment Committee to be invalid.” The party emphasises the binding nature of the ruling, noting that “the Constitutional Court specifically ruled that the National Assembly must refer the Section 89 Independent Panel Report to an Impeachment Committee” and that parliament must take immediate steps to give effect to the judgment. “We write to you therefore to immediately initiate the process to constitute the Impeachment Committee to give effect to the judgment of the Constitutional Court.”   The party has also called for clear timelines from parliament on how and when the court order would be implemented, stating: “Kindly revert to us with clear timelines in which you will give effect to this judgment of the apex court in South Africa.” The matter arises from the long-running Phala Phala farm scandal that centres on allegations relating to the theft of undeclared foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s farm in Limpopo in 2020. The controversy has since become one of the most politically significant constitutional disputes of recent years, triggering parliamentary proceedings under Section 89 of the Constitution. The Section 89 independent panel, chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, previously found prima facie evidence suggesting that the president might have a case to answer.  Despite the finding, the National Assembly voted in 2022 against adopting the panel’s report, effectively halting the impeachment process at the time. The parliamentary decision was later challenged by the EFF, alongside the African Transformation Movement (ATM), leading to the Constitutional Court case that has now resulted in the ruling against parliament’s conduct. The EFF maintains that parliament’s initial refusal to proceed with the report represents a failure to uphold constitutional accountability.  In its letter, the party argues that the ruling restores the correct constitutional process and ensures that no public office bearer is shielded from scrutiny. “The Constitutional Court has made it plain that Parliament may not use procedure to shield power from constitutional scrutiny,” the party says, adding that the judgment reinforces the principle that accountability must apply equally to all holders of public office. To impeach Ramaphosa, parliament would require a two-thirds majority for the motion to succeed and for him to be removed as head of state. This means the EFF would need to secure support from other parties in parliament to reach the required threshold. If Ramaphosa were impeached, he would lose the benefits attached to the presidency, including a lifetime salary and VIP security protection. The ruling has prompted strong political reactions across the spectrum. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has confirmed that it will participate in the impeachment process. DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said the party would approach the proceedings guided by constitutional obligations and evidence, stating that “no person, no matter how high their office, should be placed above accountability”. ActionSA also welcomed the ruling, describing it as a “victory for accountability”. Party chairperson Michael Beaumont said parliament must implement the judgment, arguing that the court had confirmed the parliamentary rule used to block the report was invalid. The ATM said the judgment confirmed that no president or institution was above the Constitution. Its parliamentary leader, Vuyo Zungula, said the ruling restored the integrity of constitutional oversight, adding that parliament must ensure the impeachment committee was established without delay and that the process proceeded transparently and lawfully. The Good Party welcomed the court’s decision. Secretary-general Brett Herron said the ruling strengthened the rule of law and ensured that parliament could not avoid its constitutional obligations. He said the impeachment process must proceed openly, fairly and without political interference. While several state institutions, including the Public Protector of South Africa, the South African Reserve Bank and the National Prosecuting Authority, have previously cleared Ramaphosa of wrongdoing in certain aspects of the matter, opposition parties argue that unanswered questions remain regarding the circumstances of the Phala Phala incident. With the Constitutional Court’s ruling now in place, parliament is expected to establish an impeachment committee and set out clear timelines for implementing the court’s directive, marking the next phase in one of the most consequential political and constitutional processes in recent years.

This article explores the implications of NSFAS's administrative challenges and calls for urgent reforms.

The Phala Phala judgment may become one of the defining constitutional decisions of South Africa’s coalition era. Unlike in 2016, the ANC no longer governs with overwhelming parliamentary dominance.

8 May marks a symbolic date in South Africa’s democratic history. Thirty years ago, on 8 May 1996, the constitution was formally adopted, paving the way for democracy. Exactly three decades later, the same date brought a major constitutional development of a different kind. The Constitutional Court (ConCourt) on Friday, 8 May 2026, delivered a significant judgment that now places President Cyril Ramaphosa on the path to face a formal impeachment inquiry. The apex court found that Parliament acted irrationally in December 2022 when it rejected the referral of a Section 89 panel report to an impeachment committee. That parliamentary vote has now been set aside. The National Assembly has now been instructed to resume the process, meaning an inquiry into the president is now unavoidable. The parliamentary process that will now begin Although the ConCourt gave no timelines, Parliament is now required to establish an impeachment committee, under Rule 129I of the National Assembly rules, which governs how a president may be removed from office under Section 89 of the constitution. Section 89 allows for the removal of a president on three grounds: serious violation of the constitution or the law, serious misconduct or inability to perform the duties of office. Once constituted, the committee will gather evidence, test the credibility of the claims and assess the seriousness of the allegations against Ramaphosa before making recommendations to the National Assembly. Witnesses, possibly even Ramaphosa himself, are expected to be called, questioned and required to respond to or challenge the president’s version of events relating to Phala Phala. At the end, the committee’s final report must reflect all viewpoints expressed by MPs during the inquiry. Phala Phala issues likely to dominate Ramaphosa’s impeachment inquiry At the heart of the inquiry will most likely be the origin of the $580 000 (about R9.6 million) cash which was stolen from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo on 9 February 2020. Ramaphosa has previously stated that the money was payment for 20 buffaloes sold to Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa, who never took possession of the animals. Each animal was valued at R400 000, according to Mustafa. Questions remain, however, about the circumstances under which large sums of cash were allegedly transported and handed over. Mustafa previously disclosed that on Christmas Day in 2019, he travelled from Sun City in North West to the president’s farm, where he arrived in a limousine. The Dubai-based businessman, who did not declare the foreign currency according to South African Revenue Services (Sars), claimed that he intended the money to be kept at Phala Phala farm as a form of security deposit for the buffalo transaction. He also explained that the funds were meant to be used to pay for the buffaloes once suitable buyers were identified and the sales were completed. Further scrutiny is expected over why the buffalo never delivered and why the money was allegedly not returned to Mustafa, despite the animals remaining on the farm long after the burglary incident. Allegations of cover-up The inquiry is also expected to explore the fact that the burglary at Phala Phala was not reported to the South African Police Service (Saps). A recent declassified Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) report conclude that the head of the Presidential Protection Service (PPS), Wally Rhoode, deliberately covered up the break-in at Phala Phala. It was also established that Rhoode was involved in the kidnapping and interrogation of the suspects, and that he crossed the border into Namibia unlawfully to find the perpetrators. Another key issue is why the cash was allegedly stored in a couch for 44 days without being declared to the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb). South Africa’s Exchange Control Regulations require that any resident who is in possession of foreign currency must declare it to the National Treasury within 30 days. Questions also remain about the exact amount of money allegedly taken by the suspected mastermind, Imanuwela David, and his accomplices. The Namibian national and his fellow compatriots, Froliana Joseph – previously employed as a cleaner on the farm – and her brother Ndilinasho David Joseph, are currently standing trial at the Modimolle Regional Court. The three face are facing charges of housebreaking, theft and conspiracy to commit burglary. What happens after impeachment inquiry? Once the impeachment committee concludes its work, its report must be tabled in the National Assembly for urgent debate. If the committee recommends removal, Parliament must vote on the matter. A president is removed from office if at least two-thirds of the 400 MPs in the National Assembly support the recommendation. The outcome will depend heavily on coalition dynamics following the formation of a government of national unity (GNU) since the ANC lost its outright majority in the 2024 general election. The seat distribution in Parliament is as follows: ANC: 159 seats Democratic Alliance (DA): 87 seats uMkhonto weSizwe (MK): 58 seats Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF): 39 seats Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP): 17 seats Patriotic Alliance (PA): nine seats ActionSA and Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus): six seats each African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and United Democratic Movement (UDM): three seats each Rise Mzansi, Build One South Africa (BOSA), African Transformation Movement (ATM), Al Jama-ah, National Coloured Congress (NCC): two seats each Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), United Africans Transformation (UAT), GOOD Party: one seat each A total of 267 votes is required to remove a president from office. The ANC and its GNU partners – DA, Rise Mzansi, PA, IFP, FF Plus, UDM, PAC, GOOD and Al Jama-ah – collectively hold 287 seats, meaning they could block an impeachment if they oppose it. Other parties including the EFF, ATM, UAT, MK Party, BOSA, and ActionSA collectively hold 108 seats, positioning them as a minority bloc in any final vote scenario.

Three hikers — two Singaporeans and a local — died in an eruption Friday of Indonesia’s Mount Dukono volcano where they found themselves in a no-go zone, officials said. The eruption on Halmahera island sent an ash cloud about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) into the air, with no towns or villages near enough to face any immediate threat. 17 climbers found alive as rescue efforts pause Twenty hikers were on the slopes when disaster struck, North Halmahera police chief Erlichson Pasaribu told reporters at a volcano monitoring station in Mamuya village. He said nine were from Singapore and the rest Indonesian. As of Friday evening, 17 climbers — seven of them foreigners — have been found alive, according to the head of local rescue agency Iwan Ramdani. Rescue efforts have been paused and will resume Saturday, he said. Volcano acting ‘a bit strange’ Tour guide Alex Djangu, who was on the slopes when the eruption happened, said he arrived with a tour group on Thursday and found the volcano acting “a bit strange”. “This was the first time I’d seen it so quiet,” he said by telephone from his hotel not far from the volcano. “I told the guests that a major eruption is going to happen because the volcano is accumulating pressure at the bottom of the crater. And my prediction turned out to be correct.” When the eruption happened, there were two groups of tourists, about 15 in total, at the crater rim, the 48-year-old recounted. “I panicked, I thought they had all died, but it turned out that in the end only three died,” the tour guide added. Djangu was with two German hikers who “survived because we were in the safe radius,” he said, describing this as the biggest eruption of Mount Dukono he had ever witnessed. “Previously, when there was an eruption, there would be a single blast and then it was over. This time, the eruption started at 7:42 and by the time we came down the intensity was still the same, rocks were still coming out of the crater.” Prohibited area Erlichson said the bodies of the three deceased were still on the mountain. “Due to ongoing eruptions, the situation is still considered unsafe for evacuation. So, the joint team is still waiting for the right time to begin the search,” he said. Some of the hikers had suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment. The group’s guide and a porter were taken to the police station and could face criminal charges for taking hikers into a prohibited area, added the police chief. Tourists and climbers warned about seismic activity Since December, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has warned tourists and climbers not to come within four kilometres of the volcano’s Malupang Warirang Crater after scientists spotted an uptick in seismic activity. Erlichson said the hikers had ignored social media appeals and warning signs put up at the entrance of the trail to stay away. “Local residents understand and don’t want to climb. Many (hikers) are foreign tourists who wish to create (social media) content,” he said. ‘Booming sound’ Lana Saria, head of the government Geology Agency, said Friday’s eruption was accompanied by a “booming sound” and a thick column of ash and smoke rising 10 kilometres from the summit of Mount Dukono. “The direction of the ash distribution leans northward, so residential areas and Tobelo City need to be vigilant for… volcanic ash rain,” she said in a statement. The smoke could be dangerous for public health, Lana added, and risked disrupting transportation services. There are no settlements within a radius of about nine kilometres of the volcano. Nearly 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where tectonic plates collide. The Southeast Asian country has nearly 130 active volcanoes. Mount Dukono is on level two of Indonesia’s four-tiered alert system. Erlichson urged hikers to stay away to prevent a repeat of Friday’s avoidable disaster that has forced rescuers to deploy in “tough terrain” even as the volcano continues rumbling. “After this incident, we will be strictly monitoring posts that hikers can pass. So no hiking as long as the status remains at level 2,” he said.

Somewhere in Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole, a person is going about their life completely unaware that they were a millionaire. And now, officially, they are not. The winning EuroMillions Millionaire Maker ticket from the draw on 4 November 2025 expired at midnight on 3 May 2026. The prize was worth £1 million. Nobody came forward. Allwyn, the operator of the UK National Lottery, confirmed no valid claim was ever made. The money is gone. There is a reason this one feels close to home. The UK is the single most popular destination for South Africans who emigrate. The 2021 UK census recorded over 211 000 South African-born people living in England alone. Bournemouth is a city of over 530 000 people on the south coast. The idea of a Saffa buying a lotto ticket there is not a stretch at all. We will never know. But the timing is a useful reminder. Back home, one lucky player just scooped R100 644 721.10 in the Lotto draw on Wednesday, 6 May 2026 – and the winner has not yet come forward. The ticket was bought at Checkers Hyper in Sandton City using a Quick Pick. The winning numbers were 6, 8, 23, 40, 42 and 44. The bonus ball was 10. If that was you, read the full notice on The South African and get in touch with ITHUBA today. ITHUBA are also actively looking for winners of several other unclaimed prizes. If any of the below rings a bell, stop reading and go check. R509 925 – PowerBall 2nd Division Game: PowerBall Date won: 18 July 2025 How it was bought: ABSA banking app Expiry date: 18 July 2026 Somewhere out there, an ABSA customer is sitting on more than half a bar without realising it. Open your ABSA app. Scroll back to 18 July 2025. Check the numbers. Yes, even if you reckon you already would have noticed. Stranger things have happened. Got a mate or family member who plays via the ABSA app? Give them a tap on the shoulder. R524 534 – Daily Lotto Game: Daily Lotto Date won: 27 June 2025 How it was bought: FNB banking app Expiry date: 27 June 2026 There is no dorpie or province to point at here, because the ticket was bought online through the FNB banking app. So if you have ever played the Daily Lotto through your FNB app, get on there and check your history. Know someone who plays through FNB? A mate, a colleague, your sister, your boet. Give them a poke. R550 012 – Daily Lotto Game: Daily Lotto Date won: 2 October 2025 Location: East London, Eastern Cape Expiry date: 2 October 2026 If you bought a Daily Lotto ticket in East London around 2 October 2025, now is the time to dig through your wallet, your kitchen drawer, your car cubbyhole and anywhere else a forgotten ticket might be hiding. If you have family or friends in East London, give them a quick call. R550 012 is no small change. All unclaimed SA prizes expire exactly one year after the draw date. After that, the money goes to the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund. It does not come back to you. To claim, visit any participating retailer or post office, or call the National Lottery directly on 0800 484 822. Larger prizes require a visit to an ITHUBA office with your original ticket, a valid ID and proof of banking details. Living in the UK? Check these too. The Bournemouth ticket is gone. But there are still millions sitting unclaimed across the UK right now. £1 000 000 – Hartlepool | Millionaire Maker code: JLZG97793 | Deadline: 9 September 2026 £177 547 – Watford | Deadline: 15 July 2026 £112 091 – Powys, Wales | Deadline: 10 June 2026 £120 000 (Set For Life) – Croydon | Deadline: 29 September 2026 UK players have 180 days from the draw date to claim. Check the National Lottery app. Scan your paper tickets. Search your emails. Someone won £1 million in Bournemouth. They just did not know it. Now they never will. Halala to whoever you are. Ag shame.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) warned that it will not panic over the Artificial Intelligence (AI) risk. “As central bankers, we like to say that panic is not a response in our toolkit, so I won’t say anyone is panicking. But we are updating our world views. Both the threats and opportunities posed by AI are now very much top of mind. The question is what we are all doing about it, Fundi Tshazibana, a Deputy Governor of the SARB said at the University of Johannesburg. She addressed concerns at how AI could compromise commercial banks’ security systems. Mythos effect Mythos is an AI tool developed by the firm Anthropic. Mythos is an example of a “frontier AI models”. These models have a high level of reasoning and contextual understanding. Like humans they can handle multiple types of tasks at a time. They do this learning in real time and dynamically. Due to its advanced dynamic learning, Anthropic announced it would only be released to a few trusted firms and institutions, and not to the general public. This was because it was so effective at finding security flaws in all major operating systems. A few sceptics wondered if this was simply an exercise in marketing hype. It certainly got attention among security experts. This was because these operating systems have been used safely for many years. As yet, there has been no independent verification that the Mythos claims are valid. Risks Tshazibana said financial institutions must understand and exploit the opportunities in this technology. “AI is not the end but rather a means to an end. The end is the objective or the services that are sourced by the financial institutions. Based on the end, the institutions must identify how the task gets done – by AI alone or a combination of AI and humans. This helps in determining which AI tool is acquired,” she noted. She highlighted that the role as financial sector supervisors is to guide the industry in the responsible, ethical, safe and effective use of AI. The SARB will not panic, but guide responsibly. Five categories The SARB will not panic over the AI risk. Instead it will asses the risk and adopt mitigating strategies. The best map at the moment is the Financial Stability Board’s monitoring framework. This identifies five categories of vulnerability from the spread of AI. The first category is third-party dependencies. There are only a handful of companies with the technology and resources to train and run AI models. This means we are all outsourcing, and we are exposed to ‘single point of failure’ risks. The second category relates to cyber risks. This covers threats such as hacking. Cyberfraud is already a major problem in modern financial systems: the number of reported digital bank-fraud incidents in South Africa grew by 86% between 2023 and 2024. The third category is model risks. AI models are remarkably capable, but they have limitations. They hallucinate. They may be biased. Their workings are mysterious, even for their creators. The fourth category is market correlations. Trading strategies based on AI may end up with synchronised market behaviour and more volatility during shocks. AI moves fast, so a crisis that would previously have played out over days or weeks could be compressed into minutes or hours. An example was the speed of the electronic bank run on Silicon Valley Bank in 2023. Then depositors withdrew an average of US$4.2 billion (R69 billion) an hour. The fifth and final category is misalignment. What happens when the AI does not behave as the operators intend? We already have documented examples of AI using inside information and lying to human operators about it. Overall, the risks are clear enough and significant enough to make this a priority issue for the SARB and commercial banks. “At this stage, the priority is to improve our understanding. We cannot de-risk what we cannot fully understand. This gives us a work agenda with three legs: improving information, building skills, and calibrating regulation,” Tshazibana said.

The economics of on-device computing have, for the first time in the PC’s long history, been broken by the data centre.

Airtel Africa has delayed its mobile money initial public offering to late 2026, citing war-driven margin pressures.