Months of uncertainty surrounding the controversial Bodulo Mothong housing project could come to an end today when the Free State High Court delivers judgment in a closely watched legal battle that could determine the future of hundreds of vulnerable families awaiting relocation to safer living cond...
After years of rising concerns over crime, violence and illegal activity at landfill sites, Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has finally moved to ban scrap metal recycling and second-hand goods trading across all landfill sites in the metro.
The municipality this week in a media statement confirmed that the decision was taken following several consultations, mounting concerns over safety risks, weak permit enforcement and escalating criminal activity linked to scrap metal operations.
Mangaung’s Themba Vryman said scrap metal dealing is increasingly being associated with violent incidents, which amongst others include killings at landfill sites which has prompted the outright prohibition of the activity.
“The Municipality has resolved that scrap metal recycling and second-hand goods dealing will no longer be permitted at any landfill sites within the Mangaung Metropolitan area,” he said.
The ban is being viewed as one of the metro’s strongest interventions yet to restore control at landfill sites that have long operated with limited regulation and growing informal activity.
“However, despite the decision, significant challenges remain on the ground. Informal settlements continue to expand around several landfill sites, where families and reclaimers live in makeshift structures under difficult conditions, often without access to basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity.
“Community safety and environmental health concerns have repeatedly been raised, with residents warning that enforcement alone will not resolve the deeper socio-economic pressures driving informal occupation of landfill spaces, Vryman said.
Reacting to the announcement, AfriForum’s Christo Groenewald said the decision was a step in the right direction but warned that implementation and enforcement would determine its success.
Groenewald says authorities must also address the broader issue of informal settlements at landfill sites, arguing that regulation without relocation and proper enforcement risks shifting the problem rather than solving it.
MMM has warned that reclaimers who fail to comply with the new directive may have their permits revoked and could be denied access to landfill sites as enforcement begins.
In Pretoria, suspended National Police Commissioner, Masemola, is expected to appear in the Magistrate’s Court alongside alleged underworld figure Matlala and 12 police officers in a case that has shaken confidence in law enforcement.
Authorities allege links between rogue policing networks and organised criminal activity, with the involvement of senior officers intensifying public scrutiny.
National Police Commissioner, Gen. Fannie Masemola, in court
The matter continues to draw national attention amid growing concerns over corruption and criminal infiltration within the police service.
Prosecutors allege the accused were involved in intimidation and unlawful demands linked to the fiercely contested taxi industry.
The case has heightened tensions in a province long plagued by taxi violence and alleged criminal syndicates operating behind transport disputes.
Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department deputy chief, Julius Mkhwanazi and Ekurhuleni City Manager Kagiso Lerutla, are back in court over fraud and corruption allegations.
In KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), outspoken Member of Parliament (MP) Fadiel Adams is expected to apply for bail in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court following his arrest in Cape Town last week.
Adams’ arrest sent shockwaves through political circles, with supporters and critics closely watching the proceedings as details surrounding the charges continue to emerge.
Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni.
Meanwhile, suspended EMPD acting chief commissioner Julius Mkhwanazi and Ekurhuleni City Manager Lerutla are also expected back in court in a matter linked to alleged murder cover-up and traffic fines manipulation.
From police headquarters to political offices and taxi ranks, Wednesday’s courtroom battles are expected to place some of the country’s most influential figures under spotlight.
Police have confirmed a major drug bust in the North West, with drugs worth an estimated R100 million seized on Wednesday morning.
According to police, Crime Intelligence at the National Head Office uncovered a drug laboratory valued at about R100 million in the Portion 45 Farm Brakspruit, Swartruggens in the province.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the site remains an active crime scene, with officers still at the location.
Police say a suspected drug manufacturing lab discovered in the North West has yielded drugs worth around R100 million.
It is not yet clear whether any arrests have been made in connection with the drug lab.
Police said North West police spokesperson Colonel Adele Myburgh and national police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk are on their way to the scene.
African Rainbow Energy (ARE), founded by well-known South African entrepreneur Dr Patrice Motsepe, has acquired control of South Africa’s biggest independent power company, SOLA Group, which holds a R20 billion renewable energy portfolio.
ARE increased its stake in SOLA Group to 83% from 41%, for an undisclosed amount, consolidating majority control over the renewable energy platform, a statement said Tuesday.
The transaction will see SOLA accelerate efforts to support the decarbonisation of the country’s electricity sector. SOLA owns 1,100 MWp of solar PV and 730 MWh of battery energy storage in construction and operation.
ARE has Ubuntu-Botho Energy Holdings as its parent, which was founded and controlled by Motsepe, and which has Absa Bank as a partner, an online search by Business Report showed.
Following the increased investment in SOLA Group, ARE is invested across a diversified portfolio of renewable energy projects totaling 2,000 MW. Of this, 1.5 GW is already operational, with a further 500 MW under construction. In addition, it owns a R5bn debt portfolio across 20 renewable energy assets.
“Our partnership with SOLA Group over the past five years has seen the company grow significantly, delivering clean energy solutions to large South African corporates,” said SOLA EO Brian Dames in a statement.
He said this acquisition, together with the additional investment, supported ARE’s target of building a large-scale energy company that provides affordable clean energy to clients.
Motsepe, ARE chairman, said the deal positioned them as one of the largest, most competitive, independently owned energy businesses in South Africa that provides affordable electricity and delivers competitive returns to investors.
“This transaction also advances our objective of building ARE into a world-class African energy company,” said Motsepe.
SOLA Group has been focused on selling power to private companies through on-site projects or using Eskom’s wheeling program, where energy can be supplied to corporates from a distance.
“SOLA has focused on the journey of the corporate consumer, mapping their least-cost pathways to net-zero carbon. This requires an in-depth understanding of complex technology options, regulatory pressures, and decentralised generation and storage – all expertise that sits within SOLA,” said SOLA Group director, Dom Wills.
As part of the transaction, Simon Haw, Chris Haw and Dom Chennells would remain actively involved in the business, while stepping back from their executive roles. They will be assuming positions as non-executive directors on the SOLA Group board, while retaining shareholdings in the company.
Wills was appointed Group CEO, a role he previously held from 2017 to 2024. The broader management team remained unchanged.
This year, SOLA closed South Africa’s first private solar and BESS (battery energy storage system) wheeling project, with Sasol as offtaker.
Founded in 2008, the company has spent nearly two decades pioneering renewable energy in South Africa.
A series of industry firsts includes building South Africa’s first 1 MWp+ rooftop solar installation in 2013, the largest in the country at the time, and closing South Africa’s first renewables wheeling project, a 12 MWp solar facility with Amazon as offtaker.
In 2022, it closed the first utility-scale wheeling project to a private client following the lifting of NERSA’s licensing requirements, a 256 MWp project supplying Tronox. In 2023, it closed the 195 MWp Springbok Project, the first utility-scale wheeling project with multiple private offtakers.
This article was originally posted by THE BUSINESS REPORT
South Africa’s unemployment crisis worsened sharply in the first quarter of 2026, exposing deep structural weaknesses in an economy that continues to struggle to generate enough growth, investment and business confidence to absorb millions of job seekers.
The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa showed the official unemployment rate climbed to 32.7% in the first three months of the year from 31.4% in the previous quarter after the economy shed 345,000 jobs.
Economists said the latest figures highlight not only the country’s weak economic growth trajectory, but also a labour market that is becoming increasingly exclusionary as more discouraged people abandon the search for work altogether.
KPMG lead economist Frank Blackmore said the sharp deterioration in employment reflects the intense pressure facing both households and businesses.
“This echoes the pressures that both consumers and businesses face: rising costs, high inflation, elevated interest rates, and, fundamentally, insufficient economic growth,” Blackmore said.
“We need to increase that growth, and to do so, we need to attract international investment and invest more ourselves, which will require, you know, a lot of different initiatives based on the policy space and attracting investment space, for us to get the type of growth rates we need to dent this unemployment seriously,” Blackmore said.
Nearly half a million people joined the working-age population over the past year, yet the economy lost 33,000 jobs during the same period.
Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said the reason for this was the large number of school leavers who matriculated the previous quarter and could not, for some reason or the other, further their education at tertiary institutions.
The survey showed the number of people outside the labour force rose by 164,000 to 17.3 million during the quarter. This includes discouraged work seekers who no longer believe jobs are available.
North-West University Business School chief director, Prof. Joseph Sekhampu, said South Africa’s labour market is no longer defined only by unemployment, but increasingly by “withdrawal”.
“The issue is no longer only the scarcity of jobs, but the growing detachment of many South Africans from the expectation that sustained participation in the labour market will produce meaningful opportunity,” Sekhampu said.
“Withdrawal, in this context, reflects not a preference for inactivity, but a rational adaptation to persistently weak prospects of labour market entry,” he said.
The bleak employment picture comes as economic growth remains sluggish, with businesses battling weak consumer demand, high borrowing costs, electricity constraints, logistics bottlenecks and global geopolitical risks.
Job losses were broad-based across the economy. Community and social services suffered the biggest decline, shedding more than 206,000 jobs, while construction lost 110,000 jobs and transport employment declined by nearly 30,000.
Although manufacturing, mining and agriculture recorded modest gains, economists warned that these increases remain too small to materially change the overall employment outlook.
FNB and WesBank senior economist, Thanda Sithole, said unemployment could worsen further if global pressures intensify.
“Elevated levels of unemployment remain a critical challenge and could be exacerbated by the prevailing Middle East turmoil, which is likely to complicate consumption and production conditions as prices rise,” Sithole said.
Higher oil prices linked to geopolitical tensions are expected to place additional pressure on inflation, fuel costs and consumer spending, further weakening already fragile business conditions.
South Africa’s inability to create jobs consistently is also linked to low fixed investment and weak economic expansion.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said it will be tabling formal proposals on a stimulus package mobilising every possible public and private financial resource to Nedlac and Parliament.
“We cannot continue to normalise 1% economic growth and dangerously high levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality,” said Cosatu Parliamentary coordinator, Matthew Parks.
“The extent of this crisis requires a bold and aggressive stimulus package to kickstart the economy, rebuild public and municipal services, make capital affordable and accessible for SMMEs and industrial sectors, and extend relief for the unemployed by expanding public employment programmes.”
This article was originally posted by THE BUSINESS REPORT
Ndlozi Criticises Ramaphosa’s Address, Sparking Online Political Debate
Political commentator and broadcaster Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has sharply criticised remarks made by President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing the head of state of prioritising personal political defence over urgent national concerns.
The criticism, shared by Ndlozi on 12 May 2026 via the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), followed Ramaphosa’s recent public address in which he reiterated his commitment to remain in office and uphold the Constitution, while responding to allegations levelled against him. The President maintained that he had committed no wrongdoing, describing the claims as unsubstantiated and confirming his willingness to cooperate with any formal investigations.
However, Ndlozi argued that the address failed to acknowledge pressing humanitarian challenges facing parts of the country, particularly severe storms and heavy rainfall affecting regions such as the Western Cape. In his post, he suggested that the President’s focus on defending his position overshadowed the immediate needs of communities impacted by weather-related destruction.
“Storms and heavy rains are devastating people's lives in the Cape. The chap took the platform to address us about not resigning and made zero mention of this weather crisis. Nothing about our people’s well-being in this difficult time,” Ndlozi wrote.
He further described the speech as reflective of “terrible leadership,” arguing that a national address should prioritise public welfare and disaster response over political rebuttals. His comments quickly circulated online, drawing widespread engagement and polarised reactions.
Some social media users echoed Ndlozi’s concerns, expressing frustration that the President did not directly address the impact of the adverse weather conditions or broader socio-economic challenges such as unemployment and migration pressures. Critics in this camp argued that leadership messaging should be more responsive to immediate crises affecting citizens.
Others, however, defended Ramaphosa, stating that expectations for him to address natural weather events in the same speech dealing with governance and constitutional matters were misplaced. Supporters of the President also dismissed the critique as politically motivated, accusing Ndlozi of unfairly targeting the head of state.
The exchange has since added to ongoing public debate around political accountability, leadership priorities, and the tone of national communication during periods of crisis. While Ramaphosa’s office has not directly responded to Ndlozi’s remarks, the incident reflects continued tensions in South Africa’s political discourse, particularly on the role of executive leadership in balancing governance, crisis response, and public communication.
