The Witness (South Africa)
Gambling’s hidden toll: More than 1 300 flagged as high risk for suicide
More than 1 300 South Africans who sought help for gambling-related harm were identified as being at high risk of suicide in the 2025-26 financial year. The South African Responsible Gambling Foundation (SARGF) said its clinical data showed 1 345...
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Godongwana offers fuel relief but warns of weak growth and struggling municipalities
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has offered motorists and households temporary relief from rising fuel costs, while warning that sluggish economic growth and struggling municipalities continue to threaten South Africa’s recovery. Presenting the...
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Cost-of-living crisis deepens as fuel price hikes push households into debt
Soaring fuel and energy costs are driving South African households deeper into a cost-of-living crisis, forcing families into debt to survive and prompting growing calls for urgent government intervention. With rising transport costs putting further...
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Ramaphosa warns SA to prepare for loss of US-Africa trade deal
President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday that South Africa should “prepare” for the possibility of being removed from Washington’s duty-free trade programme for Africa, as ties between the two nations continue to fray. The African Growth and...
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Fraudulent sick notes costing businesses millions as healthcare providers raise alarm
Fraudulent medical certificates are an increasingly serious problem for South African businesses, costing employers millions in lost productivity, replacement labour and operational disruptions, with a Pietermaritzburg healthcare provider among those...
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KZN secures record R124,5 billion in investment pledges, exceeds target
Premier Thami Ntuli urged investors to help create jobs and expand economic opportunities beyond Durban and other major centres as KwaZulu-Natal secured a record R124,5 billion in investment pledges, exceeding its 2026 target by R29,5 billion. The...
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Sacca residents raise alarm over cycle of violence against women
Unemployment, financial dependence on male partners and alcohol abuse are said to be fuelling gender-based violence (GBV) in the Sacca informal settlement in Mkondeni, where residents say women are assaulted almost every weekend. The warning comes...
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Girl (6) critically injured in school stabbing linked to Ballito bomb suspect
A six-year-old girl is fighting for her life after she was stabbed multiple times at a primary school in Umhlali, on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, yesterday morning, allegedly by a 16-year-old boy previously linked to an attempted bombing at a Ballito...
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Pupils forced to use bush as school toilets remain closed
Pupils at KwaMadlala Primary School in Pietermaritzburg have allegedly been forced to relieve themselves in a bush for about three years, with Grade 3 boys reportedly ordered to collect human waste from the school grounds last Friday. The allegations...
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JSC RECOMMENDS PMB ATTORNEY MARION FOR HIGH COURT BENCH
Pietermaritzburg attorney Jennifer Mary Marion has been recommended for appointment to the KwaZulu-Natal High Court bench after more than three decades in legal practice in the city. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) this week resolved to advise...
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Decomposed body recovered in Inchanga cliff death mystery
Mystery surrounds the death of 32-yearold Kwanele Ngcobo, whose decomposed body was recovered from the bottom of a 110-metre-high cliff in Inchanga yesterday, nearly a month after he disappeared. Police have opened a murder investigation and arrested...
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Anglican church rocked by new charges against Sobantu priest
Last-minute preparations are under way as the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) gets ready to celebrate its 175th anniversary with its first show at Tweedie Hall, outside Howick. Running from tomorrow to Sunday, October 11, the Royal Agricultural Show...
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Cachalia: SA policing faces transformational moment
South Africa must use the current crisis in policing and gender-based violence as a “transformational moment” to reset the country’s approach to safety and define a new vision for policing over the next two decades, Acting Police Minister Professor...
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Residents at wits’ end over Alexandra Road drinking
Residents living near the Alexandra Shopping Centre in Pietermaritzburg say they are at their wits’ end over weekend drinking, blaring music, public indecency and litter in the car park — despite repeated complaints to police and the ward...
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Ramaphosa orders urgent action to tackle GBV crisis
As South Africa reels from a surge in gender-based violence and femicide, including the discovery of 11 women’s bodies in Ekurhuleni, President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered urgent action to strengthen the state’s response to violence against...
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Ekurhuleni body count rises to 11 as second body found in two days
killing spree targeting women in Ekurhuleni has continued, with two more bodies found in just two days, bringing to 11 the number discovered dead in the area since July. The latest body was discovered in an open veld near Rhokana Road in Springs at...
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Sinaloa cartel targets South Africa for drug manufacturing, probe reveals
The Mexican “tourists” told immigration officers in Johannesburg they had come to see the “Big Five” of South Africa’s game parks — the elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards and buffaloes that draw millions every year. But police believe they were really...
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Police probe possible drug feud after 11 killed in Durban massacre
Police have launched a 72-hour manhunt for the gunmen behind the KwaMakhutha massacre that left 11 people, including a pregnant woman, dead and three others injured, as investigators probe what triggered the attack. The operation was activated...
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Spate of KZN pupil shootings continue
Twenty critically endangered black rhinos translocated from KwaZulu-Natal to Botswana have safely settled into their new home, marking a major step in efforts to expand the species’ population across southern Africa. The rhinos were moved to a remote,...
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KZN school safety under spotlight after three matric pupils shot outside school
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has been brought into the high-level multidisciplinary team investigating the murders of nine women in Ekurhuleni. Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia confirmed this on Sunday...
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KZN braces for severe El Niño
KwaZulu-Natal faces a hotter and potentially drier summer as an unusually strong El Niño intensifies in the Pacific Ocean, raising concerns over water supplies, agriculture and prolonged dry spells in parts of the province. The South African Weather...
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Record interest for Comrades centenary run
More than 40 000 people were at one stage waiting in the online queue as applications opened for the historic 100th Comrades Marathon, with interest in the centenary race reaching unprecedented levels. The 2027 race will have a record field of 28 000...
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Family tells of anguish as serial killings trigger army lockdown
The family of one of the women murdered in Ekurhuleni has spoken to The Witness about their anguish as South Africa is gripped by fear that the discovery of eight women’s bodies may be the work of one or more serial killers. The killings prompted...
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Marcos Jewellers murderer gets life, mother shares grief with court
“He died protecting me.” These are the words of Nicola Ann Galanis, whose son Eleftherios (Lefteri) “Marco Junior” Galanis was shot dead during an attempted robbery at the family’s Marcos Jewellers business in Pietermaritzburg in November...
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Serial killer fears grip Gauteng as profiler urges specialist probe
South Africa has been gripped by fears that a serial killer could be stalking women in Gauteng after five women were found dead in the City of Ekurhuleni in just two months, prompting one of the country’s most experienced serial murder profilers to...
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Msunduzi moves to put mayor, councillors under lifestyle audit
Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini used one of the Zulu nation’s biggest cultural gatherings to sound the alarm over gender-based violence, calling for a return to cultural values and greater responsibility from men to protect women and children. His...
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MK Party replaces eThekwini mayoral candidate amid list row
Former president Jacob Zuma (pictured) has dropped the MK Party’s eThekwini mayoral candidate, Zandile Hlophe-Mkhwanazi, just three weeks after she was unveiled to contest what is widely regarded as the crown jewel of KwaZulu-Natal’s November 4 local...
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Business cautiously optimistic after frank talks with Msunduzi
Business leaders have emerged cautiously optimistic from two days of frank talks with Msunduzi Municipality over the state of Pietermaritzburg’s infrastructure and economy, with further meetings expected to explore practical partnerships that could...
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Business sector confronts Msunduzi over city’s crumbling infrastructure
Pietermaritzburg’s business community has put Msunduzi Municipality on the spot over the city’s deteriorating infrastructure, unreliable services and security concerns, warning that these challenges could undermine investment and economic growth. The...
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Witchcraft fears after skull, ritual items found on graves
A human skull perched on a gravestone, a black fowl pierced with a knife, a burnt red candle and a red sheet are among a series of unsettling discoveries at Mountain Rise Cemetery that have raised fears the graveyard is being used for witchcraft and...
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Four years on, fumigator faces court over Durban couple’s deaths
Four years after her son and daughter-in-law were found dead in their Durban apartment, Zoë Molver’s painstaking fight for answers has reached a significant turning point, with two counts of culpable homicide now opened against the fumigator allegedly...
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Thousands of pensioners swindled in ‘grant shark’ trap, Sassa warns
Thousands of social grant beneficiaries are being left short of money after being duped into signing up for financial products they believed would give them supermarket vouchers, food and other benefits. The beneficiaries only discovered they had been...
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Contraceptive pill blunder sparks legal action from nearly 500 women
Nearly 500 South African women have approached attorneys after falling pregnant while using a contraceptive pill that was recalled because some packs contained the wrong sequence of tablets. LHL Attorneys is investigating a potential class action...
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PMB fast-food outlet shut down over labour, building violations
A Pietermaritzburg fast-food outlet was shut down yesterday after authorities found workers earning R100 for 12-hour shifts and uncovered serious health, building and immigration violations. The crackdown, led by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli,...
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Deadly virus stalks SA’s sardines
South Africa’s sardines are dying by the thousands, with a suspected killer virus spreading concern along the coast and fears mounting that the latest mass deaths could be the first wave of a far bigger marine crisis. The latest mass stranding...
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Tatham Art Gallery under strain
One of Pietermaritzburg’s cultural landmarks is under growing strain, with the Tatham Art Gallery battling weakened governance, reduced public engagement and the loss of services that once drew visitors through its doors. Concerns have been raised by...
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KZN families cling to hope after deadly Nepal floods
The desperate search for six South Africans missing after devastating flash floods swept through Nepal has left families anxiously awaiting news. Five of those missing are understood to be from KwaZulu-Natal, including two elderly couples from...
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GNU parties rally behind Didiza as motion of no confidence fails
The Phala Phala saga has put National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza in the firing line, with MPs yesterday trading blows over her handling of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s legal challenge to Parliament’s processes. The EFF-sponsored motion of no...
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Crippling Msunduzi strike ends
Msunduzi residents and businesses can finally breathe a sigh of relief after the municipality and the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) reached a deal yesterday, ending a strike that has battered service delivery across the city. The...
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Tempers flare as Msunduzi workers protest salary delay
Tempers flared at Msunduzi Municipality’s council chambers yesterday as workers demanded answers over delayed salaries, with some saying bounced debit orders had left them facing financial penalties. Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla apologised to employees...
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Families raise alarm after Richmond boot camp deaths
Two Durban families are mourning the deaths of their sons after sending them to a Richmond discipline boot camp in the hope that they would overcome drug problems. A third family is grappling with the trauma of the alleged rape of their 30-year-old...
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KZN family wins court battle over allegedly fraudulent will
A KwaZulu-Natal family has won the latest round in a court battle that began after an unsigned, undated will surfaced and a man they say had no relationship with their deceased relative was appointed executor. The family alleges that the man withdrew...
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Comrades Marathon to honour its roots at historic 100th running
The Comrades Marathon will mark its historic 100th running next year with a record field of 28 000 runners, a prize purse of more than R8,9 million and a centenary celebration built around the race’s heritage and military roots. Organisers officially...
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Power pricing shake-up puts Nersa and municipalities under scrutiny
A sweeping overhaul of South Africa’s electricity pricing system is set to place municipalities and Eskom under far greater scrutiny while giving consumers stronger protection against being forced to pay for inefficiency, electricity losses and bad...
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Matlala frustrates Madlanga Commission
Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala (pictured) yesterday frustrated the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry by refusing to answer questions about other high-profile witnesses and co-accused in criminal matters. Aided by Advocate Annelene van den Heever, Matlala invoked...
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Southern African leaders gather in Durban for major economic push
Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders yesterday descended on Durban’s beachfront to honour one of the region’s liberation struggle stalwarts. Led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the SADC Heads of State laid wreaths at the statue of...
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NEWS FLASH
More than 60 South Africans are serving in Russia’s war against Ukraine, with at least 10 killed, according to a Ukrainian project that has published the names of 69 South African nationals fighting for Russian forces. The list, published by I Want to...
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Commission hears evidence of alleged police hit squads in KZN
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry yesterday turned its attention to KwaZulu-Natal, where evidence emerged of alleged police hit squads targeting suspects linked to cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies, taxi violence and drug syndicates. The commission,...
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MKP regional convenor accuses colleagues of smear campaign to plot her removal
Hot on the heels of former president Jacob Zuma’s massive leadership shake-up in the MK Party, which saw the party’s first deputy president John Hlophe removed, Zuma has withdrawn the appointment of Moses Mabhida regional convenor, Cebile Zuma. An MK...
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Mkondeni licence centre delays crush young job seekers’ hopes
Ongoing disruptions at Mkondeni’s driving licence testing centre are taking a mounting financial toll on unemployed applicants and local driving schools, as people who queue from as early as 2am are repeatedly turned away. Applicants are forced to...
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No rebuilding as Msunduzi clears devastated Jika Joe site
Msunduzi Municipality will move heavy machinery into Jika Joe today to clear the area destroyed by Saturday’s devastating fire, while working with humanitarian organisations to assist hundreds of residents left without homes, food, clothing and...
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Zuma’s Nkandla falling apart
More than R246 million was spent on former president Jacob Zuma’s controversial Nkandla homestead. Now, as the property reportedly falls into disrepair, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson insists it is not his department’s...
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Police activate 72-hour plan after deadly weekend violence
Police have launched a 72-hour manhunt after six people were killed in a spate of apparently unrelated shootings and stabbings across the Mountain Rise policing precinct. Among the victims was a man who was shot dead while walking home with his...
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Zuma axes Hlophe, Nhleko as MK Party leadership shake-up deepens
Former president and MK Party leader Jacob Zuma has announced sweeping changes to the party’s leadership structure, removing first deputy president John Hlophe and national chairperson Nkosinathi Nhleko from their positions with immediate effect. The...
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King issues stern rebuke to social media plotters
Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has issued a stern warning to those allegedly plotting to destabilise the monarchy through fake news and the weaponisation of videos circulating on social media. The claims were confirmed yesterday by the King’s...
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Comrades centenary on track as CMA cuts ties with KZNA and ASA
It is full steam ahead for the centenary Comrades Marathon despite members overwhelmingly voting to sever ties with KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) and Athletics South Africa (ASA), setting the stage for a dramatic split in South African athletics. The...
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Boy (14) fights for his life after gunmen kill mother, baby sister
A 14-year-old boy, who lost his mother and oneyear-old sister when gunmen stormed their Yellowwood Park home on Wednesday night, remained in a critical condition in hospital yesterday. The teenager was shot in the neck, chest and arm during the attack...
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Thousands of uncollected IDs threaten voter registration in PMB
The partnership between private emergency medical services provider Mi7 and BMW Pietermaritzburg, part of the Supertech Group, entered a new phase yesterday with the donation of a new BMW X3 emergency response vehicle aimed at strengthening life-saving...
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Aarto hits KZN roads with first fines issued
KwaZulu-Natal motorists have now had their first taste of Aarto and, for one driver, it came in the form of a freshly printed infringement notice handed over at the Mariannhill Toll Plaza yesterday morning. It was the first Administrative Adjudication...
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Crime-hit Plessislaer named priority precinct in national police overhaul
Pietermaritzburg’s crime-ridden Plessislaer policing precinct, which has ranked among South Africa’s most violent crime hotspots for years, is set to receive a significant policing boost after being identified as one of the country’s priority precincts...
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Lion Park residents face a long and costly wait for electricity
More than 1 400 households in the Lion Park area, who were getting electricity through a sprawling illegal network, now face a long and potentially costly road back onto the grid. Eskom recently ripped out the unauthorised network, removing more than...
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Abandoned container tuckshops cause a stink
Abandoned shipping containers that once operated as tuckshops have become a refuge for vagrants and alleged drug users, leaving residents living near an illegal dumping site in Pietermaritz Street fearing for their safety and demanding urgent...
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Ebola rapidly spreading in Africa, over 1 000 dead
The Ebola outbreak declared in May has killed more than 1 000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday. A total of 2 473 cases of the deadly virus, including 999 deaths, have been...
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Four jailed for 35 years as KZN schools battle theft and vandalism
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has lost more than R14 million to theft and vandalism at schools over the past three years, as criminals increasingly target technology intended to modernise classrooms and expand digital learning. The scale...
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Scathing report lays bare extent of sewage crisis at Albert Falls Dam
A scathing uMngeni-uThukela Water report has laid bare the extent of sewage pollution in the Albert Falls catchment, documenting raw sewage flowing from broken sewer systems, overflowing pump stations and poorly functioning wastewater plants into...
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Toyota’s R10 bln Hilux investment vote of confidence in SA: Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed Toyota South Africa Motors’ R10,4 billion investment in the production of the ninth-generation Hilux as a strong demonstration that the government’s efforts to create an environment conducive to investment are...
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Lion Park area plunged into darkness after Eskom removes illegal transformers
Residents of Lion Park Road near Lynnfield Park were left in the dark after Eskom disconnected and removed 54 illegally connected transformers supplying electricity to about 1 400 households. The disconnections led to major disruptions after the MR477...
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Call for police probe after ailing grandmother held during protest
The Northern Areas Ratepayers and Residents Association (Narra) has called on police to investigate the conduct of officers who handcuffed and detained a 70-year-old widow who recently underwent heart surgery during an operation in Pietermaritzburg’s...
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Fire crews contain New England Road landfill blaze as investigation continues
Msunduzi Municipality has deployed more than three firefighting teams to contain a fire at the New England Road Landfill Site, as investigations continue into the cause of the first major blaze at the landfill since the devastating fire of 2020. The...
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Hundreds left homeless as blaze rips through Jika Joe informal settlement
Msunduzi firefighters battled for four hours to bring a devastating blaze under control after it swept through the Jika Joe informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday night, destroying 427 homes and leaving hundreds of people without...
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Love triangle ends in horror as Taylors Halt couple burn to death
A Taylors Halt father and his girlfriend died after they were trapped inside a burning house, with his family claiming the attack followed threats linked to a bitter love triangle involving the mother of his children. Mzomuhle Shezi and his...
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Questions mount after teenager in FBI-linked Ballito bomb case released
Questions are mounting after a 15-year-old Zimbali teenager, accused of attempting to detonate an explosive device at Ballito Junction Mall, was arrested last week and released from police custody this week after the matter was not enrolled in the...
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Grief and anger grip Willowfontein after missing girl’s body found in veld
Grief and anger swept through Willowfontein in Pietermaritzburg after the body of a missing nineyear-old girl was discovered in the veld that residents had tirelessly searched for days. The discovery of Nonjabulwenhle Nzimande’s body yesterday morning...
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Acsa seeks urgent funding for Pietermaritzburg Airport upgrade
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) is exploring multiple funding options to modernise Pietermaritzburg Airport as a newly updated Airport Master Plan warns that ageing infrastructure is hampering the facility’s growth and long-term competitiveness as...
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Immigration tensions pose long-term threat to economy, experts warn
Growing tensions around illegal immigration could pose a serious long-term threat to South Africa’s economy if left unresolved, economists have warned, saying prolonged instability could undermine investor confidence, job creation and economic...
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RAMAPHOSA WELCOMES GOOGLE AI AND CLOUD INVESTMENT IN SA
Motorists in Pietermaritzburg will soon be among the first in KwaZulu-Natal to face the long-delayed Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) demerit points system — a traffic enforcement regime government believes could be a game...
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