Despite securing group stage qualification, Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou warns that technical ability alone won't suffice against Africa's elite without emotional discipline.

ANC Dullah Omar Region chairperson Ndithini Tyhido has resigned as a City of Cape Town proportional-representation councillor and leader of the opposition to focus on the ANC’s campaign for the 4 November 2026 local government elections.

Runaway world championship leader Kimi Antonelli showed no nerves as he stormed to pole position with a perfectly-measured fastest lap in qualifying on Saturday for the United States Grand Prix. The 20-year-old Italian will wrap up the drivers’ championship if he wins in Austin on Sunday, his Mercedes teammate George Russell finishes outside the top eight and Lewis Hamilton finishes outside the top four. Antonelli secured his seventh pole of the season and his first in eight races with a fastest lap in 1min 34.035sec to outpace Max Verstappen, his nearest challenger, by 0.179sec with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar a career-best third. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of Russell, in the second Mercedes, and seven-time champion Hamilton in the second Ferrari. Antonelli leads Russell by 102 points in the championship and is aiming to become Formula One’s youngest champion and Italy’s first since Alberto Ascari of Ferrari in 1953. ‘Try to win’ “We got pole so we’ll try to win tomorrow,” said Antonelli. “Max has been very quick and did an incredible job in qualifying so it’s not going to be easy. “Hopefully, we’ll be leading into Turn One and we’ll try to set the pace — even though it’s going to be very tight. “I’m very happy with qualifying, but Q3 was very tough with the wind, gusty and unpredictable, but I’m happy to stick it on pole.” Verstappen, who won this race from pole last year and will go in search of his fifth victory in Austin, said: “Q3 was not good. Q1, Q2 it was nice, but for whatever reason with both sets of tyres, I just didn’t have the balance. No mistakes, but just no grip.” McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and reigning world champion Lando Norris qualified seventh and eighth ahead of Racing Bulls’ rookie Arvid Lindblad, who has a five-place grid penalty, and Liam Lawson. The session took place in hot and cloudy conditions, the two Cadillacs leading out ahead of fellow Americans Haas before Leclerc clocked a marker time of 1min 35.200sec to set the pace ahead of Verstappen. After seeing 207 laps deleted on Friday and 42 in final practice, all the drivers knew how important it was to avoid exceeding track limits in the qualifying hour – a problem that left Alpine’s Pierre Gasly requiring a late lap, with seconds to spare, to survive the first qualifying session after losing his earlier time. The top ten shootout began with Antonelli quickest on the opening runs ahead of the two Red Bulls and Leclerc back in fourth, Ferrari seemingly unable to find the progressive speed needed to stay on the pace of Mercedes and their young tyro. As so often this year, the precocious Italian found the speed he needed as he prepared for his final run and delivered pole with his now customary elan.

It’s election season and everybody has a hot take. Historically, most people with a hot take were limited in their ability to express it to a wide audience. Today, the internet will provide – and much more than you bargained for. In traditional broadcasting, one would have a coma-inducing panic attack if there were a couple of seconds of dead air. On the internet, one could get an audience of thousands painting their nails and saying nothing. It’s a weird place, this internet but it suffers the same overarching limitation of traditional broadcasting – there is a finite number in the audience that everybody is competing for. Podcast space getting competitive Enter the podcasting Achilles heel. It’s much cheaper to start a podcast and the audience can be less demanding. It’s no surprise then that the number of podcasts continues to rise. What about the audience though? For now, new people are being introduced to podcasts but, at some point, that limit of time and people will be reached and then what? Even now, podcasts have to compete for audience share and what happens when they do something stupid to get that increase? Just watch what ridiculousness comes out of the mouths of some podcasters over election seasons. Some will insist on something benign – ban pickles from burgers. Could be a fun conversation. Others may insist on something stupid – put Jacob Zuma in charge of gender equality. Still, just conversation. Where it will become problematic is that there’s incentive to sensationalise, embellish and tell scandalous stories even if they’re untrue. No regulation for podcasts To some, that’s a problem. To others, it’s freedom of expression… except that’s not exactly how freedom of expression works. Sure, you’re entitled to speak your mind but nothing in the constitution says that it will be without consequence. In traditional broadcasting, there’s the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa(BCCSA). In print media, there’s the Press Council. Even advertising has its own regulatory body. But the podcasters, no. It doesn’t mean that they are above the law. They’re still subjected to the same laws we all fall under but there’s a reason the public is protected by institutions like the BCCSA, Press Council and Advertising Regulatory Board – getting love from the court takes time and is expensive and cumbersome. Getting love from an industry regulator is not only specialised for that industry but also aligns the industry with a particular code of conduct – one that is agreed by the industry players and can limit tensions with audiences. If enough podcasts go rogue and there’s no industry protective mechanism in place, audiences can opt out of the medium entirely. If, however, there is a code that creates a degree of accountability that podcasters can voluntarily adopt, there may exist space for audiences to feel safe by having the content they consume subject to a code. Freedom of speech? When podcasting started in South Africa, it was wild and the narrative was this isn’t radio – I can say whatever I want. That was never true yet it went unchallenged. Nobody can say whatever they want and get away with it. It’s unlawful no matter what the platform. Yes, there were some restrictions that radio and TV had which were unnecessary to migrate to the digital forum but restrictions still exist. Let’s talk after the election again and count the number of times something was said on a podcast that had it been said on TV, you’d report it. Then let’s have a serious conversation about the state of podcasting in South Africa. We have some excellent shows on the net. Too bad they share platforms with some awful ones. I would make a snide remark about how given enough incentive, one can push boundaries. Sometimes pushing boundaries is great and in those instances, frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. Other times, pushing boundaries adds no value and just causes harm. It’s those boundaries that we need to protect.

Orlando Pirates and adidas have unveiled the club’s new third jersey for the 2026/27 season, adding another jersey to the Buccaneers’ collection. The announcement comes after the Sea Robbers secured their place in the CAF Champions League group stages, providing a boost to the club as they prepare for another campaign on the continental stage. Earlier this season, Pirates launched their black-and-gold home jersey and predominantly white away kit. However, the Soweto giants surprised supporters on Saturday evening by unveiling a third strip for the new season. According to the club, the limited-edition jersey draws inspiration from Soweto and the generations that have helped shape Orlando Pirates’ identity. “Today, adidas and Orlando Pirates FC unveil the new third jersey for the 2026/27 season. The limited-edition jersey draws inspiration from the landscape, character and generations that have shaped the Club’s identity,” the club said in a statement. The statement added that the design celebrates the club’s roots in Orlando, highlighting themes of belonging, resilience and togetherness. “Rooted in Orlando, the home of the Buccaneers, the jersey tells a story of belonging, resilience and togetherness, bringing the landscape of Soweto to life through a bold, contemporary design.” The new jersey is also set to feature beyond the football pitch, with Pirates confirming that it will be showcased at South Africa Fashion Week on 24 October as part of a dedicated fashion presentation. The event will bring the club’s football heritage into the fashion space, highlighting the connection between sport, culture and identity. Pirates new jersey coming soon However, supporters will have to wait a little longer to see the new strip in action, with the club yet to announce details of its first on-field appearance. “The 2026/27 Orlando Pirates Third Jersey will make its first official appearance on 24 October at South Africa Fashion Week, where the jersey will take centre stage as part of a dedicated fashion showcase, bringing the Club’s football heritage into a new cultural space. Fans should keep their eyes open for the jersey’s first on-field debut, with further details to be revealed,” the statement concluded. What’s your take on the new kit?

This past week it was confirmed by Stormers director of rugby John Dobson that Cheslin Kolbe would miss the Springboks’ end-of-year tour as he continues his recovery from a broken jaw. There is also an injury cloud hanging over Eben Etzebeth, while the likes of Frans Malherbe, Kwagga Smith and RG Snyman are all sidelined. As Rassie Erasmus now considers his squad options for the end-of-year Tests, the Springbok coach would have been concerned to see hybrid player Andre Esterhuizen suffer what looked to be a serious ankle injury while in action for the Sharks on Friday, and he joins a growing injury list. More injury worries for Springboks On Saturday, the Stormers also picked up several injuries during a brutal battle against the Scarlets, with Deon Fourie and André-Hugo Venter picking up hamstring and elbow injuries respectively. Fourie, in particular, was expected to tour with the Springboks as the Nations Championship concludes in November, but he is now set for a period out of action. Meanwhile, Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard left the field in the second half of the Bulls’ match with a hamstring injury as well. “It’s been a while since we had so many casualties,” said Bulls coach Johan Ackermann. Sentiments shared by Stormers boss Speaking post-match, Dobson said the Stormers were also counting the costs of a hard-fought match. “The mouth guards (that detect head knocks) were going like pinball. It was ping, ping!” he told the media. “I was reading through my contingency sheet. If you lose both hookers, there’s a plan, but I never thought about three. “To lose three hookers takes away all our set-pieces. So it is a crisis.”

The presidency has pulled its website offline, two days after the PHP project released fixes for critical flaws.

A hacker claims it has 366GB of data from the insurer that handles injury claims for mineworkers and metalworkers.