By JN Reporter
A simmering power rivalry within the ANC in Mangaung has erupted into the open, as competing factions gear up for a leadership showdown for the control of the region as well as the Metro municipality’s resources.
The ANC’s highly anticipated regional elective conference is set to get underway tomorrow in Bloemfontein, with current deputy chairperson, Vusi Soqaga, poised to topple the incumbent chairperson, Lawrence Mathae, for the region’s top position.
A source close to the developments says Deputy Regional Secretary, Lulama Titi-Odili, has also entered the race for the chairperson post, adding further pressure on Mathae’s bid for re-election.
According to the source, this conference will be unlike any seen before, with fierce contestation expected across all top positions. Three candidates are set to battle it out for the chairperson seat, with Soqaga reportedly holding the upper hand.
"Unlike the previous conference you have seen, this is a different gathering with fierce contestation in all positions. Three candidates will contest for the chairperson position, and comrade Vusi is leading the numbers… most branches are rallying behind him since comrade Lawrence broke alliance with him and joined the opposing faction,” said the source.
Journal News understands that regional spokesperson Ncamile Nxangisa is being tipped for the regional secretary position under Soqaga’s slate. However, Nxangisa has played down the speculation.
“I do not nominate myself, but I will serve anywhere the branches of the ANC or delegates want me to go,” he said.
Nxangisa is expected to face off against incumbent regional secretary, Sabelo Pitso, regional treasurer, Sipho Mnembe, and former provincial secretary, Paseka Nompondo - who is making an ambitious return bid for the position.
Despite six disputes currently before Luthuli House’s National Dispute Resolution Committee, the region is believed to have met the required threshold and is set to proceed with its Regional Executive Committee elections.
More details will be available in the print edition of Journal News tomorrow.
Henriette du Plessis Announced as DA Gamagara Mayoral Candidate
By Matshidiso Selebeleng
As the 2026 Local Government Elections (LGE) approach, various parties are unveiling
their mayoral candidates in municipalities across the provinces.
Yesterday coinciding with South Africa’s Freedom Day, the Democratic Alliance (DA)
announced Henriette du Plessis as their candidate for mayor of Gamagara Local
Municipality.
The party highlighted Du Plessis, prior experience, asserting that she has proven her
capability to lead the municipality effectively.
“During her previous term as mayor, she brought stability and discipline to Gamagara.
“Within just ten days of taking office, she turned a R47 million deficit into a R19 million
surplus through strict financial controls and by cutting wasteful expenditures.
“The emphasis that her administration focused on clean governance, transparent
appointments, and practical service delivery, she created jobs through public
employment programs, initiated infrastructure maintenance, and fostered partnerships
with local stakeholders to improve roads and public spaces, the party said.
Du Plessis’s return is expected to restore stability, rebuild municipal capacity, and
deliver accountable governance.
“The DA believes that better governance is possible. In areas where the DA leads,
communities benefit from stronger financial management, improved service delivery,
and accountable leadership,” the party noted.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has moved to cushion South Africans from a looming fuel price shock, announcing an extension of the R3 per litre reduction in the petrol levy until June.
In a more aggressive intervention, government will also implement a R3.93 per litre relief on diesel — effectively wiping out the diesel levy altogether for the same period. The move is expected to bring critical breathing room to the transport, logistics and agricultural sectors, which rely heavily on diesel.
The decision comes against the backdrop of steep projected fuel hikes, with data from the Central Energy Fund pointing to sharp increases from the first Wednesday of May. Diesel is expected to surge by as much as R5.42 per litre, while 95 octane petrol could climb by more than R2 per litre.
Godongwana said the temporary tax relief is a calculated attempt to soften the inflationary blow that would follow such increases. Rising fuel prices typically ripple through the economy, pushing up the cost of goods and services, particularly food and transport.
At the heart of the surge is renewed instability in global oil markets, driven in part by escalating tensions linked to the ongoing Israel–Hamas War. These geopolitical pressures have tightened supply expectations and driven crude oil prices higher.
By absorbing part of the cost through reduced levies, National Treasury is effectively trading off short-term revenue to protect economic stability and consumer spending power.
However, the relief is temporary — and while it may blunt the immediate impact, South Africans could still face sustained pressure at the pumps if global oil volatility persists.
This article was originally posted by EWN
Mamelodi Sundowns’ goalless draw with Richards Bay last Sunday was the first time Miguel Cardoso’s team has gone without a victory in consecutive matches during the Portuguese tactician’s tenure.
Sundowns had, of course, also played to a 1-1 draw with Stellenbosch mid-week, which resulted in the champions leaving four valuable Betway Premiership points on the table.
The consequence is that Sundowns have failed to overtake Orlando Pirates at the top of the table, with the Buccaneers holding onto a slender one-point lead, despite themselves being held to a stalemate in the Soweto derby.
Sundowns still have a game in hand on Pirates, but the pressure has certainly been ramped up on the Brazilians to return to winning ways when they face Polokwane City at the Seshego Stadium on Wednesday. It will be no easy task, with “Rise and Shine” filled with confidence after their morale-boosting victory over Stellenbosch over the weekend.
Bafana Bafana right-back Khuliso Mudau believes the key to Sundowns returning to winning ways is by shutting out the growing outside noise.
“We're taking one game at a time. We're not pushing ourselves under pressure,” Mudau said. “I think it's very important in a situation like this to calm down and focus more on ourselves, not on other things that are happening.
“Obviously, with Polokwane City, I think it's going to be a difficult game, to be honest, but I believe everyone is ready for the game tomorrow. It's going to be a tough one, but we have to go there and make sure that we make ourselves, our supporters, and our families back home happy. Because it's very important. I mean, we played two draws in a row. It's unlike us, but, yeah.”
Due to Sundowns’ involvement in the CAF Champions League final, they will, in fact, be playing Polokwane City back-to-back in the Premiership.
The first instalment is in Limpopo on Wednesday with the 15,000-capacity Seshego Stadium, situated in the heart of the Seshego township, set to be transformed into a cauldron—much like Sundowns experienced last Sunday when they faced Richards Bay at a sold-out Umhlathuze Sports Complex.
Mudau, though, promised the Masandawana will be going full tilt on the road before the return fixture at Fortress Loftus on Sunday.
“There's no reserving yourself at Sundowns. We want to win every match,” he said. “Obviously, playing them two times home and away, I mean, it's going to be an advantage because they’re playing at home. They're coming to Loftus also. It won't be nice. It's going to be difficult for both sides.”
Cardoso will have some pondering to do about his starting line-up after ace Colombian striker Brayan Leon missed the Richards Bay clash due to injury, while Brazilian Arthur Sales also limped off against the Natal Rich Boyz.
There was at least some positive news for Sundowns, as Namibian hitman Peter Shalulile made his return to action off the bench in KwaZulu-Natal after two months on the sidelines.
This story was originally posted by IOL
The rand is weakening as global uncertainty, rising oil prices and a stronger US dollar drive investors away from emerging market currencies ahead of an interest rate vote in the US.
The rand dropped to around R16.60 to the dollar by midday, after trading closer to R16.40 in recent days. However, it is still off its one-year low of more than R18 to the greenback.
Wichard Cilliers, head of Market Risk at TreasuryONE, said that US President Donald Trump remains unhappy with the latest proposal from Iran to end the war in the Middle East. Iran's latest proposal would set the discussion of its nuclear program aside until the war is ended and the US blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz is lifted.
Cilliers added that the rand was trading softer in line with broader market trends as the dollar firms and emerging market currencies decline. Trading Economics explains that traders are seeking refuge in the greenback amid ongoing Middle East uncertainty and rising oil prices
“The hopes for an early end are fading away, with the war continuing to disrupt energy supplies, raising fears of spikes in inflation,” Cilliers said.
Persistent volatility
According to Bianca Botes, MD of Citadel Global, volatility is expected to persist through a shortened trading week.
As an emerging-market currency, the rand is particularly vulnerable during periods of uncertainty, said Harry Scherzer, CEO of Future Forex. “The rand is especially vulnerable to shocks because investors typically dump riskier assets and rush into safe haven currencies when volatility spikes,” he said.
Scherzer added that South Africa’s reliance on fuel imports amplifies the impact of rising oil prices. “When the war premium pushes Brent crude above $120 per barrel… it tilts the trade balance and fuels domestic inflation,” he said.
Botes noted that the oil derivative had pushed higher again. “This morning, Brent crude is up just under 1%, trading at $109/barrel,” she said, adding that ongoing discussions around the conflict were containing some of the fallout.
Scherzer said that while, higher gold prices would normally support the rand, that effect has been limited. “Higher gold prices, normally a tailwind for the rand, have also been overwhelmed by dollar strength,” he said.
Trading Economics noted that prices of key precious metals such as gold fell, as investors weighed heightened inflation concerns ahead of key central bank decisions. The US Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady this week.
This article was originally posted by IOL
Calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty in South Africa grew louder following the brutal murder of the Monswamy family on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast. However, legal experts say bringing it back would be extremely difficult under the Constitution.
“Legally, reinstating the death penalty in South Africa is theoretically possible, but in practice it would be extraordinarily difficult,” explained Dr Suhayfa Bhamjee, the discipline head of public law and a senior lecturer in criminal law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Hundreds of South Africans took to social media, calling for capital punishment for the three men accused of killing Alan Monswamy, 52, his wife Sandy, 57, their children Kraidon, 26, and Shamaria, 20, as well as relatives Gonosagren Padayachee, 51, Mooniamma Padayachee, 78, and 83-year-old Mariama Happanah. The family was allegedly kidnapped from their home in Newtown, Newark, before being taken to Melmoth, where they were killed.
Bhamjee said the public reaction to crimes like the Monswamy massacre was entirely understandable.
Dr Suhayfa Bhamjee, the discipline head of public law and a senior lecturer in criminal law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“When violence is this extreme, it shatters families and communities, and it exposes a very real fear that nobody is safe. Calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty come from grief, anger and desperation - not ignorance. Those emotions should never be dismissed or trivialised.”
“At the same time, moments of collective trauma are precisely when it is most important to separate what feels like a solution from what actually makes societies safer,” she said.
Bhamjee explained that the Constitution prevents the death penalty from being brought back through ordinary legislation.
“In S v Makwanyane and Another (1995), the Constitutional Court held that capital punishment violates the rights to life and human dignity, as well as the prohibition on cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Crucially, the judgment did not turn on procedural defects in the way executions were carried out, but on a principled rejection of state-sanctioned killing as incompatible with a constitutional democracy founded on dignity, accountability, and restraint of power.”
“As long as these rights remain protected in the Constitution, the death penalty cannot be reintroduced through ordinary legislation, regardless of how heinous a particular crime may be or how strong public pressure becomes,” she said.
Reinstatement would require a constitutional amendment, supported by at least a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and six provinces in the National Council of Provinces.
“Even if these thresholds were met, such an amendment would almost certainly face constitutional challenge, because the rights to life and dignity lie at the heart of South Africa’s post-apartheid constitutional settlement.”
“This is therefore not merely a policy question. It would require the country to reverse fundamental moral and legal commitments made in response to a history of systemic state violence and abuse of power,” Bhamjee said.
She said South Africa’s abolition of the death penalty was not naïve idealism.
“It was a deliberate constitutional choice to reject state violence as a response to crime, informed by a history in which coercive power was repeatedly abused.”
Furthermore, reintroducing capital punishment would not address the real drivers of violence: systemic inequality, inadequate policing capacity, investigative failures, overloaded courts, and insufficient victim support.
“It would shift focus away from institutional reform and toward a punishment that offers emotional satisfaction without empirical benefit. The moral question is not whether public anger is justified - it unquestionably is - but whether expanding the state’s power to kill will make anyone safer. The evidence suggests it will not.”
“The harder, necessary work lies in building a criminal justice system that is effective, accountable and humane - one that honours victims not through execution, but through justice that is certain, visible and enduring,” Bhamjee said.
She said countries with the death penalty are not safer.
“Globally, more than 110 countries have abolished the death penalty, while approximately 54 countries continue to use it. Many of the highest-executing countries - including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Somalia, and parts of the United States - continue to experience significant levels of violent crime and political violence.”
Large-scale comparative research found no credible evidence that retention of the death penalty is associated with lower homicide rates.
“In fact, jurisdictions without capital punishment frequently report lower murder rates than comparable jurisdictions that retain it, even within shared cultural or legal contexts.”
“Decades of deterrence research have likewise failed to show that the death penalty deters violent crime more effectively than long-term imprisonment. The evidence consistently points in the opposite direction: certainty of punishment matters far more than its severity,” said Bhamjee.
This article was originally posted by IOL
