October 2026

President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke at the Free State ceremony in Qwaqwa. He told learners: "Believe in yourselves, for we believe in you. The nation stands behind you. We are proud of you for having reached this milestone." He also urged them not to let a momentary lapse in judgement put years of hard work and sacrifice at risk.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube spoke at Fezeka Secondary School. She warned that academic dishonesty could have serious consequences for learners' future opportunities. She said the NSC must remain a qualification that South Africans can trust because it is earned honestly.

Ceremonies also took place in Gauteng, where Deputy Minister of Basic Education Reginah Mhaule spoke at Riverside High School. Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile was also named among the officials involved. The Free State had the country's highest matric pass rate for three years in a row, from 2022 to 2024.Share

Kubayi chairs the interministerial committee on immigration. She said the receipt is proof that a person intends to apply for asylum. She said holders will not be arrested or deported only for lacking a visa while their application is pending.

Home affairs withdrew a directive dated 28 September that let foreign nationals submit asylum applications at its offices. The directive sparked unrest. Home affairs said the withdrawal does not change its commitment to comply with the Constitutional Court ruling.

Kubayi said anyone whose claim was finally rejected has no right to apply again. She said such a person must be deported if they miss the appointment without a valid extension. She called the new model a responsible and lawful mechanism to meet constitutional duties in an orderly way.Share

The JSE All Share index closed at 108,525 points on Friday, up 1.3%. The Top 40 index rose to 100,764, up 1.4%.

The rand ended at R16.59 to the US dollar, stronger than R16.63 the day before. Gold was at $4,216 an ounce, up 1.4%. Brent crude was at $104.72 a barrel, up 0.4%.Share

The authors studied daily US and South African maize futures prices, exchange rates and El Niño and La Niña records from 1997 to 2024. They found the two markets generally moved together over the long run. During the three El Niño episodes they studied, the link weakened and local prices rose with poorer harvests. They say stocks are between one third and one fifth higher than before two earlier El Niño years. This is an opinion piece, and they say no two El Niño episodes were the same, so the outcome is uncertain.Share

Diale-Tlabela spoke at the opening of the upgraded K155 road in Modderfontein. She said the theft of traffic signals and other road infrastructure remains a major challenge. It affects the province, municipalities and national government agencies.

The province works with the South African Police Service and metro police on the problem. Diale-Tlabela said: "We are trying to look into alternative solutions. But also involving law enforcement to assist us".

The K155 road cost R173m. The province finished it on time and within budget.Share

Police spokesperson Molefi Shemane said the man had allegedly failed to cooperate with the sheriff's office. The man reported the hijacking at Kimberley Police Station. Detective Warrant Officer Rheeder is named as part of the case.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) warned the public about false cases. It said: "The SAPS cautions members of the public that deliberately opening a false criminal case is a serious offence."Share

Dangor said demarches do not always amount to rebukes. He said they are official engagements through which governments convey diplomatic information. Bozell has faced three demarches in nine months since he arrived in Pretoria.

Dangor told MPs: "What we wanted to avoid was a diplomatic incident where a foreign minister of South Africa arrives at a US airport, and he's then barred from entry." He said citizens will only know if they are banned when they apply for a visa or arrive.

The EFF's Nqobile Mhlongo called for Bozell to be expelled and declared persona non grata. ANC MPs called for stricter legal provisions against South Africans who spread misinformation about the country abroad.Share

The family alleges the police minister failed to properly supervise Nkuna's co-accused, Jacob Chego. It also alleges correctional services failed to monitor Nkuna on parole, even after he was declared an absconder. Reports said Nkuna killed the couple, who had children, while Sabeliwe was pregnant.

Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said on Thursday: "It is important that all the details and information contained in the material are thoroughly considered and verified". Reports said the police minister's office would also study the notice and take legal advice.

Joyce Mogashoa, Lucky's sister, said the family hoped the case would lead the government to review its parole laws. Godrich Gardee Attorneys prepared the notice.Share

Msimanga spoke outside the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Facility in Pretoria on Thursday. He said the party now has a permanent presence in communities across the country. In his words: "The difference is that the DA has now built branches in every single community. We now have permanent visibility."

Msimanga said the DA will not negotiate on coalitions with parties that perpetuate racial politics, divisions or lawlessness. He said he will lead the party's coalition negotiation team.Share

The defence brought the application on the basis of new facts. Advocate Mutheiwana Sikhwari, for Chauke, said that denying him bail violates his constitutional rights.

The fact sheet gives 15 May 2026 as the date on which ten additional charges were added.Share

Mthombeni spoke at the site of the bust in Krugersdorp. Police said the lab made thousands of mandrax pill-packages for trade.

Mthombeni said police are trying to establish whether the drugs were sold to a local market or exported for global trade.Share

Police used pepper spray as the group grew unruly. The refugee office closed, and asylum seekers were asked to leave. An unknown group then set tyres and debris alight in a scrapyard behind the offices.

The protesters then marched into the Durban CBD. Other people joined them, including members of the Inkatha Freedom Party on a campaign for awareness of gender-based violence. The march disrupted traffic in Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street and Dr AB Xuma Street.Share

The woman got away from the suspects by jumping into a police car. Officers from the EMPD then chased the four suspects.

The claim that the suspects fired at the officers comes from a description of the incident. It has not been tested in court.Share

Ntshavheni said public interest in Zuma's health does not override his privacy. She said it is a violation of privacy to ask the government to comment on his health. She said information should come from his doctors and family, and that the public should not speculate.

Ntshavheni said: "It's only his medical doctors that can pronounce on his health status and health conditions with his consent." She said Zuma is under the care of the Surgeon General of the South African National Defence Force, as protocols for former heads of state require. She said President Cyril Ramaphosa assigned the surgeon-general to lead the process.

Reports said Zuma was admitted to St Anne's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg. They said he fell ill during an MK Party electioneering drive in Msinga. People close to the family said he remained in a critical condition. The government did not confirm this.Share

Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, Deputy National Commissioner for Policing, briefed the media at a NATJOINTS briefing on Saturday night. She said the arrests relate to offences including public violence, malicious damage to property and illegal gathering. Further charges depend on the outcome of investigations, and the National Prosecuting Authority will prosecute the suspects.

Protesters claimed the court ruling gives blanket amnesty to undocumented foreign nationals. Reports also link the unrest to a home affairs directive of 28 September. Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said some of the ringleaders allegedly threatened to disrupt planned football matches in Durban. Mosikili said the football and cricket matches in KwaZulu-Natal went ahead without disruption.

Kubayi said: "A crime is a crime". Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said foreign nationals should obey the law and not take matters into their own hands. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the government would use biometrics to identify spurious claimants under the new asylum registration model.Share

San José Plana, a researcher in infectious disease modelling, and Rodó, a research professor at the Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences, describe a chain of effects. Atlantic temperatures shape westerly winds, which bring rain to arid areas. Rain changes desert shrubs, rodent numbers and sandfly conditions, and so disease transmission. The text does not name the journal or say whether the study was peer-reviewed, and it describes a link, not a working forecast.Share

Umalusi CEO Mafu Rakometsi said the practice is unlawful. He said principals and district officials are being alerted to the issue.

Rakometsi said: "It does not show the full capacity of the school when you remove the weak pupils from writing, and you allow only the good ones to write". He also said league tables have unintended consequences.

Over a million candidates are sitting the 2026 matric exams. They write at more than 9,000 examination centres nationwide.Share

Felbab-Brown researches nonstate armed groups at the Brookings Institution. She said South Africa attracts the cartels because it is a trans-shipment hub with existing drug trafficking networks and weak law enforcement. She also named possible local consumption markets as a draw.

She said the Mexican groups train local cooks and facilitators to make highly potent methamphetamine. She said the cartels usually work through local groups and do not bring their own hitmen. In her view, they often push those partners against each other.

Felbab-Brown warned that the expansion could amplify gang violence and threaten governance through corruption. She also said: "A crucial market, crucial target for the Mexican cartels is Australia and New Zealand. And of course, South Africa lies conveniently en route to those markets"Share

Researcher Yossabel Chetty said the group saw nearly identical comments from many accounts that promoted political parties. She described comments on a post about a mayoral candidate as "a bit copy-and-paste".

Chetty said the account called the Somandla Institute promotes the Freedom Front Plus and also posts divisive and conspiratorial racial messaging. She said the party told researchers it did not know who was behind the account.

Chetty also said the account pointed people to an AI-powered election information tool called Wardbeat. She said a quick check found that Wardbeat lacks public CIPC registration and transparent ownership.Share

The Constitutional Court ruled that asylum seekers may not be deported until they have fully accessed the asylum system. This applies regardless of how they arrived in the country.

Ngobese Zuma said the government's slow action is the reason South Africa now struggles with the problem. In her words: "this is the reason South Africa finds itself battling with the challenge today".Share

The DA says the campaign is part of its candidates' work ahead of the 2026 local elections. Members gathered at the Ekurhuleni Fleet Workshop in Germiston to launch it.Share

Zitha said the project had faced challenges. He told Gcaleka: "That is the communication we have received, but there were some challenges that we experienced with the project."

The fire in 2021 destroyed more than R40 million in medical supplies. About 800 patients had to leave the hospital.Share

The bill seeks to appropriate R10 billion to the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. The money would fund a possible intervention to offset increases in the basic fuel price.

Legwase said the R10 billion is a temporary emergency measure. She said it cannot shield South Africans permanently from oil-price volatility or replace structural reform of the fuel pricing and transport system.

COSATU representative Mathew Parks said the fund exists to manage extreme swings in international oil prices. He said rising oil prices contribute to retrenchments, higher input costs and the closure of small businesses. Professor Dumisani Jantjies of PA-IFS said households pay twice: for petrol, and through higher debts when interest rates rise.Share