Looted From Within

MKHWANAZI COMMITTEE CLEARS SUSPENDED POLICE MINISTER MCHUNU OF MATLALA LINKS

Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s allegations found no evidence linking suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu to alleged crime boss Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala. The finding is part of the committee’s nearly 790-page draft report, which nonetheless recommends a Hawks investigation into former Minister Bheki Cele over Matlala’s claim of a R500,000 cash payment.

Implicated individuals have three weeks to respond before the final report is submitted to the National Assembly by 30 October 2026.

Sources: TimesLIVE · Parliament.gov.za — 8–13 October 2026Permalink

DEPUTY POLICE COMMISSIONER SIBIYA QUITS DURING DISCIPLINARY HEARING — DISHONOURABLE DISCHARGE

Deputy National Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya resigned from the police service on Sunday, moments after a disciplinary hearing began. His departure is being treated as a dishonourable discharge because proceedings were still pending when he quit. Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe confirmed his employment was terminated with immediate effect from 12 October.

Sibiya, who headed crime detection, was arrested on 21 September and faces five criminal charges in the Randburg Magistrates' Court, including rape, human trafficking and the sexual grooming of a 16-year-old girl. He also faced seven internal disciplinary charges, including allegations related to interactions with controversial businessman Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala, the handling of confidential police information and alleged interference in investigations.

Sibiya's links to Matlala overlap with the Mkhwanazi ad hoc committee's findings — that committee's draft report separately recommended a Hawks investigation into former Police Minister Bheki Cele over a R500,000 cash payment Matlala alleged he made.

Sources: Daily Maverick · Mail & Guardian · TimesLIVE · News24 · eNCA — 12–13 October 2026Permalink

#UNITEBEHIND SUBMITS SWIFAMBO DOSSIER TO NPA — DEMANDS PROSECUTIONS AFTER A DECADE

Civil society coalition #UniteBehind today submitted an affidavit and forensic report to the NPA in Cape Town demanding progress on prosecutions linked to the corrupt R3.5-billion Swifambo locomotive contract. Of R2.65 billion paid, only 13 locomotives were delivered — and seven were later sold for just R65 million after it emerged that the trains were too tall for the rail network.

The dossier, also addressed to the Hawks and the SIU, includes detailed bank records. #UniteBehind has given the NPA one month to report on action taken and is calling on Parliament to investigate why no one has been prosecuted in the Swifambo case after more than a decade.

Sources: IOL · Cape Argus · GroundUp — 13 October 2026Permalink

CONFLICTING REPORTS ON ZUMA'S HOSPITAL DISCHARGE — FOUNDATION DENIES HE HAS LEFT

Reports about former president Jacob Zuma's hospital status diverged sharply on Monday. eNCA and Bloomberg reported he was discharged from Netcare St Anne's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg on Monday night and returned to Nkandla. However, JG Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi dismissed the reports as unfounded, saying Zuma remains in hospital.

Zuma, 84, was admitted by ambulance on 6 October. The conflicting accounts — routine check-up versus ICU admission, discharged versus still hospitalised — remain unresolved. The uncertainty continues to cloud the MK Party's preparations for its municipal election manifesto launch.

SUPERSEDED — Zuma was confirmed discharged on 17 October. See 2026-10-18-mk-rally-cancelled-zuma-discharged.

Sources: Bloomberg · eNCA · IOL · The Witness — 12–13 October 2026Permalink

MADLANGA COMMISSION IN CAMERA UNTIL 9 NOVEMBER — REPORT DEADLINE EXTENDED

The Madlanga Commission has paused public hearings until 9 November 2026. From the week of 5 October, the commission is sitting in camera to hear evidence that cannot be aired because of ongoing investigations or confidential material. A two-day seminar in October will prepare the final report.

The commission cited the difficulty of organising livestreaming and media coverage in the run-up to the 4 November elections and their immediate aftermath. President Ramaphosa has granted an extension of the report deadline; the final report is now due 25 January 2027. Phase Two will include evidence from suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, followed by Phase Three with KZN police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's return.

Sources: TimesLIVE · EWN · The Presidency — October 2026Permalink

ZUMA REMAINS HOSPITALISED AS MK PARTY PREPARES MANIFESTO LAUNCH

Former president Jacob Zuma, 84, remains at Netcare St Anne's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg. The Presidency says his admission last week was for a routine twice-yearly check-up under the care of the surgeon-general; however, at least one party source told media he had been admitted to the intensive care unit. The MK Party has not confirmed which account is correct.

His continued hospitalisation raises questions about whether he will attend the party's local government election manifesto launch, reportedly planned for Mbombela. The party, which took 45% of KwaZulu-Natal in the 2024 national elections, faces its first municipal test on 4 November amid reports of a cash crisis that had already put the manifesto launch at risk.

SUPERSEDED — On 13 October, conflicting reports emerged: eNCA and Bloomberg reported Zuma discharged; his foundation denied it. See 2026-10-13-zuma-hospital-conflicting-reports.

Sources: eNCA · Business Day · Sunday World · Mail & Guardian · AfricanNews — 7–12 October 2026Permalink

MKHWANAZI AD HOC COMMITTEE COMPLETES 790-PAGE DRAFT REPORT — RECOMMENDS HAWKS PROBE OF CELE

Parliament's ad hoc committee investigating allegations made by KZN police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has completed its nearly 790-page draft report after a year of public hearings. The committee recommended a Hawks investigation into former Police Minister Bheki Cele over payments allegedly made by crime boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who claimed he paid Cele R500,000 in cash.

The report also flags former IDAC head Robert McBride and Sarah-Jane Trent for possible perjury over conflicting testimony, and recommends further investigation into Paul O'Sullivan's alleged attempt to influence committee member Ashley Sauls.

The draft will now be sent to implicated individuals, who have three weeks to respond. The committee must submit its final report to the National Assembly by 30 October 2026. Chairperson Soviet Lekganyane said the committee exercised restraint where evidence was insufficient: “Where we don’t have reasonable findings, we cannot recommend that a person be investigated.”

Sources: TimesLIVE · Sowetan · Parliament.gov.za — 8–10 October 2026Permalink

HIGH COURT ORDERS ANC TO REINSTATE ANDILE LUNGISA ON CANDIDATE LIST

The Gauteng High Court ruled on Friday that the ANC's removal of Andile Lungisa from its proportional representation candidate list for Nelson Mandela Bay was unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid. The court ordered secretary-general Fikile Mbalula to restore and resubmit Lungisa's name.

Lungisa had been nominated by ANC branches, ranked first on the provincial list, and publicly announced by President Ramaphosa as the party's mayoral candidate for the municipality. The ANC cited his criminal record and an outstanding vetting process, but the judge found that Mbalula failed to establish that Lungisa did not attend vetting.

Sources: Citizen · Sunday Times · Mail & Guardian · eNCA · Sowetan · Business Day · Daily Maverick — 9 October 2026Permalink

MADLANGA COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARINGS PAUSED UNTIL 9 NOVEMBER — REPORT DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JANUARY 2027

The Madlanga Commission has paused public hearings until 9 November 2026. From the week of 5 October, the commission is sitting in camera to hear evidence that cannot be aired because of ongoing investigations or confidential material. A two-day seminar in October will prepare its final report.

President Ramaphosa has granted a final extension of the report deadline, moving it from 16 November 2026 to 25 January 2027 to allow the commission to process additional evidence and expert testimony. Phase Two will include evidence from suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu before Phase Three, when KZN police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is due to return.

Sources: TimesLIVE · SAnews · MDN News · The Presidency · Witness — September–October 2026Permalink

ANC CANDIDATE HEARING NOW SET FOR MONDAY 12 OCTOBER — NOT 7 OCTOBER AS WE REPORTED

Yesterday's entry stated the Constitutional Court was scheduled to hear the ANC's appeal to reinstate 181 excluded municipal candidates on 7 October. EWN reported on 5 October that the hearing is in fact set for Monday 12 October. We have not been able to confirm whether proceedings took place on 7 October, but the most recent reporting places the hearing on 12 October.

The IEC has told the court it believes the ANC's case has "little prospects of success." If the ConCourt rules in the ANC's favour, the IEC will have roughly three weeks to reprint ballots for six municipalities before the 4 November elections.

SUPERSEDED — The ConCourt ruled in the ANC's favour. On 16 October the IEC extended the same relief to 32 other parties, requiring 33 million additional ballots. See 2026-10-19-iec-extends-concourt-relief-32-parties.

Sources: EWN · IEC — 5–8 October 2026Permalink

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT HEARS ANC'S BID TO REINSTATE 181 EXCLUDED CANDIDATES

The Constitutional Court was scheduled to hear the ANC's urgent application to reinstate 181 councillor candidates excluded from the ballot for the 4 November municipal elections in six municipalities: Mangaung, uMshwathi, Port St Johns, Ngquza Hill, Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley.

The crisis stems from the ANC's failure to click "submit as final" on the IEC's digital portal before the 28 August deadline. Officials uploaded the candidate documentation but did not complete the final step. The Electoral Court ruled against the ANC on 16 September; the party appealed to the Constitutional Court. The ANC argued in papers filed on 3 October that the IEC's software "cannot override constitutional rights" to stand for public office. The UDM indicated it would join as amicus curiae.

We have not confirmed whether the Court delivered a ruling today. If it did, the IEC would have roughly three weeks to reprint ballots. We will update when the outcome is established.

SUPERSEDED — EWN reported on 5 October that the hearing is set for 12 October, not 7 October. See 2026-10-08-concourt-anc-hearing-12-october.

Sources: News24 · EWN · SABC News · Briefly · TimesLIVE · BusinessDay · MDNtv — 23 September – 7 October 2026Permalink

MADLANGA COMMISSION PAUSES PUBLIC HEARINGS UNTIL 9 NOVEMBER — IN-CAMERA SESSIONS BEGIN

The Madlanga Commission paused its public hearings from the week of 5 October and will not sit in public again until 9 November, after the municipal elections. The commission cited practical challenges around media coverage and livestreaming during the election period.

From this week the commission is sitting in camera to hear evidence that cannot be aired because of ongoing criminal investigations or confidential material. It will also hold a two-day seminar in October to begin preparing its final report, due 25 January 2027 after the deadline extension granted by President Ramaphosa on 19 September.

The evidence-closing deadline of 2 October passed without the commission formally announcing that evidence had closed. It has continued hearing testimony past that date. Whether the deadline was formally extended or simply overtaken has not been clarified.

Sources: MDNtv · TimesLIVE · EWN — 1–7 October 2026Permalink

TWO ERRORS IN TODAY'S EARLIER ENTRIES

1. The ConCourt has not yet heard the ANC candidate list case. Our entry (2026-10-06-anc-concourt-candidates) stated: "The Constitutional Court heard the ANC's urgent appeal on Sunday 5 October." That was wrong on two counts. First, 5 October 2026 was a Monday, not a Sunday. Second, and more importantly, the Constitutional Court hearing is scheduled for 7 October 2026 — it has not taken place yet. Multiple outlets including Briefly, EWN and the IEC's own confirmation to media place the hearing on 7 October. The earlier entry has been marked superseded.

2. The Madlanga Commission report is due 25 January 2027, not 16 November. Our Madlanga/Sindane/Khan entry stated the commission's final report is due 16 November. That was the original deadline. On 19 September, President Ramaphosa extended it to 25 January 2027 — a fact this site reported in its own backfill entry the same day (2026-09-19-madlanga-deadline-january-2027). The 16 November date should not have been published as current. The earlier entry has been marked superseded.

Sources: Briefly · EWN · IEC (ConCourt date) · The Presidency via The Citizen, SABC News (Madlanga deadline) — 6 October 2026Permalink

SINDANE SUBPOENA BID STRUCK OFF — KHAN TESTIMONY POSTPONED AFTER RELATIVE SHOT DEAD

Mpumalanga taxi boss Oupa Bafana Sindane failed for a second time to evade testimony at the Madlanga Commission when his urgent application for the Pretoria High Court to cancel his subpoena was struck off the roll on Tuesday. The court found Sindane had failed to file papers. He had previously submitted a medical certificate and attempted to block the commission from using his WhatsApp messages.

Separately, the in-camera testimony of former Crime Intelligence head Major General Feroz Khan was postponed after his uncle Preggy Padayachee was shot dead on the R21 highway on Monday evening, 5 October. Preliminary investigations indicate Padayachee died during a vehicle crash while evading assailants. Khan appeared remotely on Tuesday but could not proceed. No new date has been set.

The commission's evidence phase closed on 2 October as mandated by President Ramaphosa. Public hearings are scheduled to resume on 9 November, after the 4 November municipal elections. The commission's final report is due 16 November.

SUPERSEDED — The final paragraph stated the commission's report is due 16 November. That was the old deadline. On 19 September Ramaphosa extended it to 25 January 2027 — a fact this site reported the same day. See correction 2026-10-06-correction-concourt-and-madlanga.

Sources: EWN · Daily Maverick · The Citizen · eNCA · IOL · Mail & Guardian · SABC News — 6 October 2026Permalink

MAPISA-NQAKULA: ARREST WARRANT ISSUED AND STAYED AFTER COURT NO-SHOW

A warrant of arrest was issued — and immediately stayed — for former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula after she failed to appear at her corruption trial in the Gauteng High Court on Friday 2 October.

Her testimony had been cut short on 29 September when she fell ill on the stand. Defence counsel Siyabulela Mapoma presented a medical certificate requesting a postponement. The court accepted the certificate but issued the warrant as a precaution.

Mapisa-Nqakula faces 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering relating to her tenure as defence minister (2016–2019). She allegedly solicited R4.5 million in bribes, of which R2.1 million was allegedly paid in cash by SANDF logistics contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu.

The trial is now set for 11–20 November and 30 November–4 December 2026.

Sources: TimesLIVE · EWN · SABC News · The Citizen · SNL24 — 2–6 October 2026Permalink

MKHWANAZI COMMITTEE GETS ANOTHER EXTENSION — NEW DEADLINE 30 OCTOBER

The ad hoc committee investigating Lt Gen Mkhwanazi's allegations of political interference in policing has been granted a sixth extension after failing to complete its draft report by the 11 September deadline.

Committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane told the National Assembly that members still needed to review hundreds of pages. Poor attendance has compounded delays — while members "showed strong enthusiasm" when the committee was established in July 2025, many are now routinely missing meetings.

The Speaker extended the committee's deadline to 30 October 2026. During its 1 October sitting, members disagreed on the future of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), with ActionSA's Dereleen James advocating for stronger oversight rather than abolishing the institution.

(Corrected 13 October 2026: an earlier version of this entry gave the deadline as 16 November and expanded IDAC incorrectly. Parliament's own statement of 10 October confirms the committee is working to a 30 October deadline.)

Sources: PMG · TimesLIVE · Briefly · Parliament of SA — September–October 2026Permalink

This site published nothing between 10 September and 5 October 2026. The gap was not editorial. The automated daily updater stopped working on 9 September and nobody noticed for 27 days.

Two unrelated things broke within an hour of each other. A Windows update replaced the version of PowerShell the scheduled job was pointed at and deleted the old one, so the job could not start. The same day, the unattended login the job uses expired and would not renew. The job's own status file therefore kept reporting the last successful run, and the task scheduler recorded no missed runs — because it did fire each morning, it simply failed to launch. Both faults are now fixed.

The entries dated 10 September to 5 October were written on 6 October from the archive, and each one says so. A date on this site is the date the thing happened. It does not mean this site reported it that day, and in this window it did not.

Some days in that window are thinner than they should be and a few are missing. Where the record could not be established from named sources, nothing was written rather than something plausible.

Sources: This site's own run logs and Windows Task Scheduler records, 9 September – 6 October 2026Permalink

PHALA PHALA IMPEACHMENT COMMITTEE STALLED BY COURT INTERDICT — REVIEW JUDGMENT PENDING

The Section 89 impeachment committee investigating President Ramaphosa's conduct in the Phala Phala farm theft remains blocked by a court interdict prohibiting public hearings. The committee has frozen its process to appoint a new evidence leader pending the outcome of the legal challenge.

President Ramaphosa's application to review and set aside the independent panel's Section 89 report was heard earlier in September, with judgment reserved. The panel found Ramaphosa has a case to answer over the concealment of $580,000 in foreign currency stolen from a sofa at his Limpopo game farm in 2020.

Committee chairperson Makashule Gana said he remained confident the committee would complete its work despite the legal delays. The committee met this week to table correspondence, consider draft terms of reference and adopt minutes.

Sources: IOL · Business Day · EWN · Daily Maverick · African Insider — October 2026Permalink

R2.4 BILLION SPENT ON SANDF CHARTER FLIGHTS IN FIVE YEARS — MINISTER REFUSES DETAILED BREAKDOWN

Defence Minister Angie Motshekga disclosed in a written parliamentary reply to DA MP Chris Hattingh that the SANDF spent R2,395,521,275 on privately chartered flights between the 2021/22 and 2025/26 financial years — while the South African Air Force fleet remains largely grounded.

The yearly figures: R15.5 million in 2021/22, rising sharply to R753.8 million in 2022/23, then R622.8 million, R629.0 million and R374.9 million in the three years following. The five individual amounts add up to R2,396,061,275 — a R540,000 discrepancy with the stated total that the department has not explained.

Motshekga cited "operational requirements" including access to remote areas, medical evacuations, peacekeeping missions and VIP transport, but did not provide a flight-by-flight breakdown. Hattingh: "Minister Motshekga cannot keep hiding behind bureaucratic excuses." The DA says the minister has not disclosed how much was spent through irregular supply-chain deviations versus standard procurement.

Sources: DA statement · eNCA · IOL · Sowetan · SABC News · PoliticsWeb · VOC FM · Nova News — 5–6 October 2026Permalink

SIBIYA FIGHTS ON TWO FRONTS — DISCIPLINARY HEARING POSTPONED, SAPS TO OPPOSE LABOUR COURT BID

Suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya's internal disciplinary hearing was adjourned to 12 October after his legal team filed an urgent Labour Court application to halt the proceedings. SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed on Tuesday that SAPS intends to oppose Sibiya's application.

Sibiya faces allegations of corruption and misconduct arising from evidence heard at the Madlanga Commission, which is investigating criminal and political interference in the police service. The Mail & Guardian described his situation as a "two-front war" — to remain in the SAPS and to stay out of prison.

The disciplinary hearing and the Labour Court proceedings are running in parallel. The Labour Court has been adjourned to allow SAPS to file its opposing papers.

Sources: EWN · The Citizen · Mail & Guardian · SABC News · Jacaranda FM — 6 October 2026Permalink

IDAC PROVISIONALLY WITHDRAWS THE R191-MILLION SAPS “BLUE LIGHTS” CASE

The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption provisionally withdrew the R191-million SAPS emergency-warning-equipment case against former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane and ten co-accused, including Lt-Gen Bonang Mgwenya and businessman Vimpie Manthata. IDAC said the decision followed consideration by Acting Investigating Director Advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara, who intends to examine aspects of the case before it is re-enrolled, and that the prosecution remains authorised.

The matter concerns a 2016 SAPS contract worth R191 million, of which about R65 million was paid. An earlier bid by the accused to have the matter struck off the roll was dismissed.

The exact date and court of the withdrawal are not established — one outlet reported it on 5 October and another on 6 October, and neither named the court appearance date.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: IOL · Mail & Guardian — 5–6 October 2026Permalink

ARREST WARRANT ISSUED AND STAYED AFTER A SECOND NO-SHOW

Former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula did not appear at her corruption trial — her second non-appearance in three weeks. Her attorney Siyabulela Mapoma handed in a medical certificate and asked for a postponement. The state did not oppose the postponement but asked the court to authorise a warrant. Judge Mashudu Munzhelele issued a warrant for her arrest and stayed it, to be executed only if she fails to appear when the trial resumes on 11 November.

She faces 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering. The state alleges she solicited about R4.5 million from defence contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu between December 2016 and July 2019, of which roughly R2.1 to R2.2 million was allegedly received in cash — outlets differ on the figure.

Her discharge application was dismissed on 7 September. Cross-examination resumed on 28 September, where she denied receiving gift bags, contradicting the state's account that one contained R250,000 handed over in a holding room. On 29 September her testimony was cut short when she fell ill: “I am not well.”

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: IOL · EWN · TimesLIVE · Mail & Guardian · Daily Maverick · NPA — 7 September – 2 October 2026Permalink

PUBLIC HEARINGS ADJOURNED UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTIONS; MATLALA PUT OFF TO DECEMBER

The commission adjourned public hearings for more than a month. From the week of 5 October it sits in camera to hear evidence unsuitable for public airing because of ongoing investigations. Public hearings resume Monday 9 November, five days after the municipal elections. A two-day seminar is planned during October to prepare the final report.

Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, subpoenaed on 25 September, was granted a postponement to 14 December after the commission heard he had no legal team available. Madlanga criticised the lateness of service: “it is unacceptable that Mr Matlala was only subpoenaed on the 25th.” He added: “We just simply cannot afford to lose days, not at this stage.”

Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu did not testify during September. His evidence falls after 9 November, before a third phase in which Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi returns to the stand.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: EWN · TimesLIVE · IOL · The Citizen · SNL24 — 30 September – 1 October 2026Permalink

TAXI BOSS “JOE FERRARI” SIBANYONI PRESSED ON A 40% STAKE AND THE MOLOTO ROAD

Mpumalanga taxi operator Madoda Johannes “Joe Ferrari” Sibanyoni testified on 29 and 30 September. He was shown a message reading “I have a 500 million deal for Moloto Road. The director who got the contract wants to meet up with you,” and said he did not recognise it and did not believe he wrote it.

Questioned about an entitlement to 40% of a mining venture tied to the R573 Moloto Road project, Commissioner Sesi Baloyi asked whether it amounted to fronting: “you bring nothing to the transaction.” Sibanyoni acknowledged the arrangement and pointed to local content requirements.

He denied instructing an associate to demand payment from a businessman, and denied involvement in the attacks on 50 PUTCO buses on 27 January 2025 — despite having previously told President Ramaphosa that any disruption to PUTCO's operations should immediately be attributed to his group.

On 21 September he had refused to answer questions on several topics, arguing that “the commission is not a criminal court.”

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: SABC News · EWN · IOL · TimesLIVE · Sowetan — 21–30 September 2026Permalink

COMMISSION MOVES TO LAY CRIMINAL CHARGES AFTER A GENERAL IGNORES ITS SUBPOENA

Maj-Gen Feroz Khan, former head of Crime Intelligence operational support, failed to appear before the Madlanga Commission despite a subpoena, and did not appear virtually either. His legal team filed a postponement application late the night before, seeking a one-month rollover. Justice Madlanga refused it.

Madlanga said: “His non-appearance today is a flagrant disregard of a subpoena by this commission… The commission's secretary is going to be approached for her to lay criminal charges against Mr Khan for his failure to attend remotely.” He noted that no doctor had found Khan unfit to appear either physically or virtually, and that Khan's attorney had not engaged the commission to arrange a virtual link. Under the Commissions Act a person who fails to attend without sufficient cause faces a fine of up to R1,093 or six months' imprisonment.

Khan's appearances had been repeatedly postponed after he was shot in late June 2026. He was dismissed from SAPS on 2 September for not attending a disciplinary hearing.

What is established is the decision announced on 28 September. We have not confirmed that a charge was actually registered with the NPA, and some coverage blurs the two.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Daily Maverick · Business Day · eNCA — 28 September 2026Permalink

HIGH COURT GRANTS MALEMA LEAVE TO APPEAL HIS FIREARM CONVICTIONS

The Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda granted Julius Malema leave to appeal his convictions under the Firearms Control Act to a full bench, finding “compelling reasons”. He was convicted in the East London Regional Court over the discharge of a firearm at an EFF rally in Mdantsane in 2018; his bodyguard Adriaan Snyman, who was tried with him, was acquitted. (Corrected 13 October 2026: an earlier version of this entry said Snyman was also convicted.) Magistrate Twanet Olivier imposed an effective five years' imprisonment in April 2026, granting leave to appeal the sentence but refusing leave to appeal the convictions. That refusal has now been overturned.

Separately, the NPA's decision to prosecute Malema for crimen injuria was taken in August 2026 after representations by AfriForum's private prosecution unit. No court, summons date or first appearance has been reported. On 21 September TimesLIVE reported that Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions Andre Chauke had decided to prosecute ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula for crimen injuria over the same underlying allegation.

The Helen Suzman Foundation's challenge to Malema's Judicial Service Commission seat was filed and reported on during September but not heard. It is set down in the Western Cape High Court for 11 November. On 29 September Malema delivered a brief apology in the National Assembly for his 2021 JSC questioning of Judge Keoagile Matojane, which the House had ordered by 30 September.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: The Citizen · TimesLIVE · Sowetan · Business Day · EWN · Sunday Times · Daily Maverick — 14–29 September 2026Permalink

ALL CHARGES AGAINST THE NATIONAL POLICE COMMISSIONER WITHDRAWN

Prosecutors formally withdrew four counts of contravening the Public Finance Management Act against suspended National Commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court. The NPA concluded there were no reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution, saying that enrolling a case “where evidence is not sufficient to sustain a successful prosecution is not in the public interest.”

The matter concerned the SAPS healthcare tender to Medicare24 Tshwane District — the broader procurement valued at about R360 million, the specific contract at the centre of the criminal case at about R228 million — linked to Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.

Masemola: “It has been a very difficult moment in life… It has been a tough journey.” The withdrawal does not lift his precautionary suspension, imposed in April 2026, which requires a decision by the President. Asked about reinstatement, Ramaphosa said: “The NPA's decision has been noted, and the matter is under consideration. Have the patience to wait for an outcome.”

The South African Policing Union and the SACP called for his immediate reinstatement.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: EWN · TimesLIVE · SABC News · Sowetan · East Coast Radio — 22–28 September 2026Permalink

RAMAPHOSA PUSHES THE MADLANGA REPORT DEADLINE TO 25 JANUARY 2027

President Ramaphosa extended the deadline for the Madlanga Commission's final report from Monday 16 November 2026 to Monday 25 January 2027. Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the extension allows the commission to process additional evidence “including the testimony of various experts who have made recommendations relating to the commission's terms of reference.”

Commission spokesperson Jeremy Michaels said it “will allow the commission to hear outstanding testimony and write the final report.”

Some outlets describe this as the final extension. The commission's spokesperson used that word; the Presidency's own statement, as reported, did not. We are not asserting it is the last one.

The commission's separate deadline for closing evidence was 2 October 2026. It did not sit that day, and no source we found states that the evidence deadline was formally extended or lifted — the commission has simply continued hearing evidence past it. That is an open question, not a finding.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: The Citizen · SABC News · The Witness · East Coast Radio · allAfrica · The Presidency — 19–21 September 2026Permalink

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT STRIKES DOWN THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ACT OVER PARLIAMENT'S PROCESS

The Constitutional Court unanimously declared the Public Procurement Act of 2024 unconstitutional and invalid. The defect was not in the policy: the Court found no substantive provision unconstitutional and did not criticise the law's content. It found Parliament failed to facilitate reasonable public participation, particularly by allowing inadequate time for stakeholders to consider material amendments. Because the flaw was in the process, the whole Act fell.

Speaker Thoko Didiza acknowledged that Parliament takes too long to pass legislation and said its legislative processes were under review.

The judgment was handed down on a Thursday and reported the following day. We have not confirmed the handing-down date against the Court's own record, so treat 17 or 18 September as approximate. This entry rests on a single newsroom.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Business Day — 18 September 2026 (single newsroom; date of handing down unconfirmed)Permalink

ANC EASTERN CAPE SECRETARY THREATENS TO SUE MBALULA OVER THE LIST FAILURE

ANC Eastern Cape provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi instructed attorneys to demand that secretary-general Fikile Mbalula retract and apologise for claims that he was responsible for the province's failure to submit municipal candidate lists. Mbalula's report reportedly stated that Ngcukayitobi submitted the province's final list 29 minutes before the IEC deadline and altered an NEC-approved list without authorisation. Ngcukayitobi gave Mbalula until noon on 22 September to retract or face a High Court defamation action.

On 20 September Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane called the failure “catastrophic” and blamed “anarchy” in the party, citing 34 material changes to the provincial list. Ngcukayitobi denies wrongdoing. The two accounts are in direct conflict and we record both.

We found no report of whether Mbalula retracted by the deadline or whether papers were filed, and no ANC disciplinary action was instituted against him in this period despite NEC members calling for it.

Separately, MK Party leader Jacob Zuma replaced his party's eThekwini mayoral candidate and ordered an urgent investigation into allegations that MK's councillor candidate lists were manipulated before submission to the IEC.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Sowetan · Daily Maverick · The Herald · YFM · TimesLIVE · IOL · The Citizen — 9–20 September 2026Permalink

RECORDING HAS MORERO PRIORITISING PROJECTS VISIBLE BEFORE THE ELECTION

A recording of a 17 September City of Johannesburg meeting, reported by Daily Maverick on 1 October, has Mayor Dada Morero proposing to prioritise projects that could visibly be completed before the 4 November elections — “50 days away to an election” — naming Lilian Ngoyi Street with a 30 October deadline, sports complexes in Ivory Park and Orange Farm, clinic funding and pothole repairs.

The city faces R10 billion in project backlogs and anticipated a R3 billion short-term loan facility. Spokesperson Khathutshelo Mulaudzi rejected claims of political interference and said a planned political-only meeting “ultimately did not occur.” The DA called for an investigation into possible Municipal Finance Management Act violations.

This rests on a single investigative report.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Daily Maverick — 1 October 2026 (single source)Permalink

MADLANGA OPENS JMPD STRAND: TWO OFFICERS LINKED TO A R5-MILLION KIDNAPPING

The Madlanga Commission resumed after a recess and opened a new strand on the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, examining infiltration by criminal networks and collusion between officers and syndicates.

Sergeant Rico van Wyk of the JMPD K9 unit testified that daylight CCTV footage circulated on a police WhatsApp group on 29 September 2021 showed two officers he recognised — warrant officer Johannes Mokgatle and Zwelibanzi Mgujulwa — forcing a businessman and his daughter from a white BMW and driving off with them in separate vehicles. About R5 million was taken from the pair while they were held. The two officers did not deny being the men in the footage but remained silent when questioned.

JMPD Internal Affairs head Elmarie de Beer testified that investigators faced intimidation and that complainants were “sent from pillar to post.”

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Business Day · Sunday Times · EWN · The Mercury · IOL · SAnews — 15–16 September 2026Permalink

SPEAKER GRANTS THE COMMITTEE UNTIL 30 OCTOBER

Speaker Thoko Didiza extended the ad hoc committee's deadline to 30 October 2026. Outlets disagree on whether this is the sixth or seventh extension since the National Assembly established the committee on 23 July 2025 — MDNtv and eNCA call it the sixth, The Witness the seventh. We cannot resolve it, so we record the disagreement.

On 17 September a committee meeting collapsed for want of a quorum: five members attended where six were needed. Lekganyane said proceeding “could impact the integrity of the committee.” Members cited election business. On 21 September Didiza said she had raised it with the chair personally, “to say the ad hoc committee needs to conclude the process.”

The committee was still deliberating on its draft report on 1 October.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: SABC News · eNCA · MDNtv · The Witness · EWN · Parliamentary Monitoring Group — 12 September – 1 October 2026Permalink

AD HOC COMMITTEE MISSES ITS 11 SEPTEMBER DEADLINE WITH NO REPORT

The parliamentary ad hoc committee investigating Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's allegations of political interference in policing reached its 11 September reporting deadline without tabling a report. Chairperson Soviet Lekganyane had gone back to the Speaker a day earlier to ask for more time, saying the committee understood “the volume of the work that must be done, but very importantly, the tedium of the process.”

The committee held draft-report deliberations on 1, 2, 3, 7, 9 and 10 September. No findings were made public.

A correction to our own earlier reporting: on 9 September this site described the committee as working through a “700+ page report.” That figure cannot be sourced to any outlet and should not have been published. No source we can find gives a page count.

Added later — this entry was written on 6 October 2026, not on the date above. The daily updater was down and this day was reconstructed from the archive afterwards.

Sources: Parliamentary Monitoring Group · Parliament of South Africa · Briefly — 10–11 September 2026Permalink

DISCHARGE APPLICATION DISMISSED — MAPISA-NQAKULA MUST PRESENT HER DEFENCE

The Pretoria High Court has dismissed former defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula's Section 174 discharge application in her R4.55 million corruption and money laundering trial.

Judge Mashudu Munzhelele ruled that the State had presented sufficient evidence — albeit circumstantial — for a reasonable court to convict, and that it would be premature to discharge the accused at this stage. The evidence relating to the 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering, when considered together with the alleged modus operandi, was capable of supporting more than one inference.

Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of soliciting corrupt payments from SANDF contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu between 2016 and 2019, with the State alleging that R2.1 million was received in cash. Her defence team had argued the State failed to prove the quid pro quo — what she allegedly did in return.

She must now prepare and present her defence case. The trial continues.

Sources: EWN · TimesLIVE · News24 · The Citizen · Mail & Guardian · IOL · SABC News — 7 September 2026Permalink

PHALA PHALA SECTION 89 REVIEW: JUDGMENT RESERVED, FAST-TRACK UNDERTAKING

The Western Cape High Court has reserved judgment in President Cyril Ramaphosa's application to review and set aside the Section 89 Independent Panel report on the Phala Phala farm scandal.

Arguments were heard from 2 to 4 September. Ramaphosa's counsel, Wim Trengove SC, argued the panel asked the wrong questions and applied the wrong legal test. Dali Mpofu SC, for the opposing parties, told the court there was "no way out" for Ramaphosa. Judge President Nolwazi Mabindla-Boqwana undertook to fast-track the delivery of the ruling, but no date has been set.

The Daily Maverick has noted that even if the court sets aside the report, the Section 89 impeachment process could still return to Parliament under different terms.

Sources: TimesLIVE · Daily Maverick · Business Day · SABC News · The Citizen · Inside Politics — 2–7 September 2026Permalink

MADLANGA COMMISSION IN TWO-WEEK RECESS — EXPLOSIVE CARTEL TESTIMONY PRECEDES BREAK

The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system is in a two-week recess after completing Day 171. Hearings are expected to resume around 15 September.

Before the break, alleged cartel boss Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala invoked his right against self-incrimination when questioned about the R360 million SAPS Medicare24 tender. Other testimony alleged that police officers worked directly with cartel members. State advocate Drushantha Ramsamy also alleged attempted manipulation of the parliamentary process involving Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola.

The commission's evidence phase closes 2 October 2026. The final report to President Ramaphosa is due 16 November 2026, after an extension from the original August deadline.

Sources: SABC News · IOL · Joburg ETC — 1–5 September 2026Permalink

MAPISA-NQAKULA: DISCHARGE RULING EXPECTED 7 SEPTEMBER

The Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria is expected to deliver its ruling on former Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula's Section 174 discharge application on Sunday 7 September 2026.

Mapisa-Nqakula faces charges of corruption and money laundering totalling R4.55 million, allegedly received while she was defence minister. Her defence argued the state proved money changed hands but failed to establish the quid pro quo — what she was supposed to do in return. The state argued there is no reason to doubt its witnesses.

If the discharge application succeeds, the case ends without the defence having to present its case. If it fails, the trial continues.

SUPERSEDED — Ruling delivered 7 September: discharge application dismissed. See 2026-09-07-mapisa-nqakula-discharge-dismissed.

Sources: IOL · Daily Maverick · EWN · TimesLIVE — 1–5 September 2026Permalink

MKHWANAZI AD HOC COMMITTEE IN FINAL DELIBERATIONS — MANDATE EXPIRES 11 SEPTEMBER

The ad hoc committee investigating allegations by former acting national police commissioner Lt Gen Sindile Mkhwanazi is in its final deliberation phase, with members divided on key findings.

A central point of contention is whether former Police Minister Senzo Mchunu disbanded the Police Khayelitsha Task Team (PKTT) to shield criminal cartels from investigation. The committee met on 1 and 4 September to work through its draft report.

The committee's mandate expires on 11 September 2026 — its fifth extension. The allegations, first raised on 6 July 2025, concern political interference, corruption, and maladministration in the criminal justice system. Whatever the committee recommends will go to the National Assembly for debate.

Sources: PMG · Parliament of South Africa · The Citizen · Jacaranda FM — 1–5 September 2026Permalink

PHALA PHALA: JUDGMENT RESERVED AFTER OPPOSITION ARGUES COURT LACKS JURISDICTION

The Western Cape High Court reserved judgment in President Cyril Ramaphosa's application to set aside the Section 89 independent panel report on the Phala Phala matter, after hearing final arguments on Friday — the third and final day of the case.

Advocate Dali Mpofu SC, for the MK Party, argued that the court lacks jurisdiction and that there is "no way out" for Ramaphosa. The opposition parties contend that the judgment undermines Parliament's constitutional oversight powers and risks creating a precedent allowing future presidents to delay accountability through litigation.

During the hearing, the full bench — Judge President Nolwazi Mabindla-Boqwana, Judge Mark Sher and Judge Ncumisa Mayosi — questioned the link between the Phala Phala cash and Ramaphosa's alleged paid work, and challenged some of the questions opposition parties wanted Ramaphosa to answer. No date for judgment was announced.

Sources: EWN · Daily Maverick · IOL · The Citizen · eNCA — 4 September 2026Permalink

Two entries on the reopened Steve Biko inquest described the postponement application wrongly, and one misspelled the family’s lawyer.

On 25 August this site published the headline “BIKO INQUEST POSTPONED ON DAY TWO” and stated that no new date was set. That followed EWN’s reporting on the day. It was wrong about where the application ended up. The court adjourned on the 25th, but the family’s application for a longer postponement was refused: Deputy Judge President Isaac Madondo dismissed it on Wednesday 26 August and ordered proceedings to resume on Thursday 27 August.

On 26 August this site reported that a ruling on the postponement application was “expected Wednesday morning.” The ruling was handed down that same Wednesday. The entry presented as still pending a matter that had been decided the day it was published.

The 26 August entry also gave the family’s lawyer as “Ngiqoqo Sakhela.” The correct spelling is Ngqiqo Sakhela — as this site’s own 25 August entry had it. That spelling has been fixed in place.

Both entries now carry notes pointing here. What followed was reported correctly on 27 August: Madondo’s reasoning that only two of the eight witnesses to Biko’s death are still alive, and the family’s consideration of a recusal application. Corruption →

Sources: The Herald · The Citizen · EWN · Daily Maverick — 25–27 August 2026Permalink

MAPISA-NQAKULA DISCHARGE RULING EXPECTED 7 SEPTEMBER

The Pretoria High Court has reserved judgment on former defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula's application to be discharged on 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering, with the ruling expected on 7 September.

Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of soliciting R4.55 million in payments from a Defence Force contractor, Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndlovu, when she was defence minister. Her legal team argued the State's case rested entirely on inferences and a single witness, while the prosecution called the discharge bid a “fishing expedition” and said there was no reason to doubt the accuser's evidence.

If the section 174 application succeeds, Mapisa-Nqakula would be automatically acquitted without needing to present a defence.

SUPERSEDED — Ruling delivered 7 September: discharge application dismissed. See 2026-09-07-mapisa-nqakula-discharge-dismissed.

Sources: EWN · TimesLIVE · Daily Maverick · African News Agency — 31 August–2 September 2026Permalink

PHALA PHALA REVIEW: RAMAPHOSA'S LEGAL TEAM ARGUES 'ABSURD' TO EXPECT PERSONAL POLICE REPORT

The Western Cape High Court began hearing President Cyril Ramaphosa's bid to set aside the Section 89 independent panel report on the Phala Phala matter today, the first of a scheduled three-day hearing running until 4 September.

Advocate Wim Trengove, for the President, argued it would be “absurd” to expect a sitting president to personally report a crime to the police. By informing Major-General Wally Rhoode, then head of the Presidential Protection Service, Ramaphosa acted without wilful intent or bad faith, Trengove contended. He further argued that the President cannot be held accountable for Rhoode's subsequent unauthorised actions, including a clandestine search operation in Namibia.

The review challenges the 2022 panel's finding that there was prima facie evidence Ramaphosa should answer questions about the alleged theft of approximately $580,000 from his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in February 2020. Hearings continue tomorrow.

SUPERSEDED — The hearing concluded on 4 September and judgment was reserved. See the 4 September entry.

Sources: EWN · Business Day · The Citizen · eNCA — 2 September 2026Permalink

MADLANGA COMMISSION: SEVEN-WORKING-DAY RECESS FROM 3 SEPTEMBER

The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System will take a recess from Thursday, 3 September to Thursday, 11 September 2026. Public hearings resume on Monday, 14 September.

The last sitting day this week is expected to be Wednesday, 2 September. The recess is to allow two commissioners to honour commitments made before the commission's initial 31 August deadline was extended.

The commission's senior functionaries and extended team will continue working during the recess, preparing for the next phase of public hearings. The evidence-close deadline of 2 October and the reporting deadline to President Ramaphosa of 16 November remain unchanged.

Sources: SAnews · allAfrica · eNCA — 1 September 2026Permalink

PHALA PHALA: WESTERN CAPE HIGH COURT TO HEAR RAMAPHOSA REVIEW BID THIS WEEK

The Western Cape High Court is expected to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa's application to set aside the Section 89 independent panel report on the Phala Phala matter from 2 to 4 September 2026.

Ramaphosa argues that the panel's process was procedurally flawed and that it failed to properly assess the admissibility of evidence. The panel found that the allegations — tied to the theft of foreign currency from Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm in Limpopo — could amount to impeachable offences.

The Constitutional Court previously declined direct access and dismissed leave-to-appeal applications related to interim interdicts, noting that the outcome of the Western Cape review would render the interdict moot.

Sources: The Citizen · eNCA · News24 · Daily Maverick — August–September 2026Permalink

RAMAPHOSA APPOINTS LEONARD LEKGETHO AS PERMANENT SIU HEAD

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Leonard Gaoretelelwe Lekgetho as head of the Special Investigating Unit with effect from 1 September 2026. Lekgetho succeeds Advocate Andy Mothibi and has been acting head since February 2026.

The Presidency said the permanent appointment was intended to “provide stability to the SIU and strengthen its ongoing work in the fight against corruption and serious financial misconduct.” Lekgetho has served in the SIU for 19 years across portfolios ranging from investigation to Chief Operations Officer. He holds degrees in law, education and science, as well as a diploma in forensic auditing and a postgraduate diploma in cyber law.

The SIU is currently pursuing several high-profile corruption matters, including the Tembisa Hospital procurement scandal and Digital Vibes.

Sources: The Presidency (gov.za) · TimesLIVE · The Citizen · News24 · ECR · Jacaranda FM — 31 August–1 September 2026Permalink

TEMBISA HOSPITAL: SUSPECT APPEARS AT PALM RIDGE ON R635-MILLION TENDER FRAUD CHARGES

A 37-year-old suspect arrested by the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation Unit at OR Tambo International Airport on 28 August appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court at Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on Monday. He faces charges of fraud, corruption, forgery and/or uttering, contravention of the PFMA, and money laundering.

Investigators allege that hospital officials colluded with service providers to exploit the Request for Quotations (RFQ) system for transactions below the R500,000 threshold, deliberately circumventing the formal tender process. The Special Investigating Unit has previously identified three criminal networks that allegedly siphoned over R2 billion from the Gauteng Department of Health through 207 front companies and nine syndicates.

The procurement irregularities were first flagged by whistleblower Babita Deokaran, a senior Gauteng health official who was assassinated outside her home in August 2021 after raising concerns about irregular tenders at the hospital.

Sources: SAnews · SABC News · IOL · TimesLIVE · Kaya 959 — 28–31 August 2026Permalink

PHALA PHALA: HIGH COURT DISMISSES APPEAL AGAINST IMPEACHMENT INTERDICT — REVIEW HEARING 2–4 SEPTEMBER

The Western Cape High Court on 28 August dismissed the MK Party and United Africans Transformation's application for leave to appeal the interim interdict that halted Parliament's Section 89 impeachment inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa. The court found that an appeal would not resolve the main dispute.

This follows the Constitutional Court's 12 August refusal to hear a direct appeal brought by the ATM and other parties. The impeachment committee's public hearings — which had appointed former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to lead evidence — remain suspended.

The substantive review application, in which Ramaphosa argues the Section 89 independent panel report contains serious legal and factual flaws, is now scheduled to be heard from 2 to 4 September 2026. The outcome will determine whether the impeachment inquiry can resume and on what basis.

Sources: EWN · The Citizen · News24 · Polity · Mail & Guardian — 28 August 2026Permalink

BIKO INQUEST INVESTIGATOR TESTIFIES ABOUT MISSING RECORDS AND INCOMPLETE DOCKETS

DPCI Sergeant Fundiswa Dingiswayo, the investigating officer in the reopened Steve Biko inquest, was the first witness to testify in the Gqeberha High Court. She told the court she was assigned the investigation in August 2021 and immediately encountered dockets with missing pages and records that appeared to "stop in the middle of nowhere."

Dingiswayo's testimony underscores the evidentiary challenges facing the nearly 49-year-old case. Only two of the eight witnesses to the events surrounding Biko's 1977 death in police custody are still alive and available to testify. The Biko family is still weighing whether to file a recusal application against Deputy Judge President Isaac Madondo after his remarks about witness reliability.

The family also wants former apartheid spy Craig Williamson subpoenaed to testify. The Department of Justice is funding the family's legal costs after Legal Aid South Africa said they did not qualify under its means test.

Sources: Daily Maverick · The Citizen · EWN · The Herald — 27–28 August 2026Permalink

TAXI BOSS 'FERRARI' SIBANYONI TELLS MADLANGA COMMISSION ABOUT HITMEN AND 'BUCKET MONEY'

Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe "Ferrari" Sibanyoni appeared before the Madlanga Commission on Day 169 and acknowledged that taxi associations sometimes use "bucket money" — pooled funds — to pay hitmen who carry out assassinations. He said payments also take non-monetary forms such as route operating licences, which generate further violence.

Sibanyoni, who describes himself as a man of faith with 42 years in transport and property, distanced himself from direct involvement with izinkabi. He told the commission he approached police leadership in 2022 to report cartel operations affecting the Tshwane region, specifically mentioning activities on a farm linked to Jothan Msibi.

He faces extortion and money-laundering charges in Delmas, where he is on bail with co-accused. His next court appearance is scheduled for 1 September 2026. Former National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams is representing him at the commission.

Sources: EWN · TimesLIVE · Sowetan · SABC News · eNCA — 28 August 2026Permalink

BIKO INQUEST PRESSES AHEAD AFTER JUDGE REJECTS POSTPONEMENT — FAMILY CONSIDERS RECUSAL APPLICATION

KwaZulu-Natal Deputy Judge President Isaac Madondo dismissed the Biko family's application to postpone the reopened inquest into Steve Biko's 1977 death in police custody, ruling that proceedings would continue on Thursday. He said only two of the eight witnesses to the events surrounding Biko's death are still alive and available, and warned that their memories could "fade" with further delay.

The family said it is considering an application for Madondo to recuse himself. Son Nkosinathi Biko said the judge's remarks about the advanced age and memory reliability of key witnesses were "worrisome" because the inquest would rely precisely on those memories. "We are looking at all options. I can assure you that [recusal] is one of the options," he said.

The inquest, nearly 49 years after Biko's death, was reopened after the NPA produced fresh evidence. The Department of Justice is funding the family's legal costs after Legal Aid said they did not qualify under its means test. Whether the family files a recusal application or the first witness testifies is expected to become clear in Thursday's session.

Sources: The Citizen · The Herald · EWN · Daily Maverick — 25–27 August 2026Permalink

EX-HAWKS HEAD LEBEYA DENIES KNOWING MURDER ACCUSED MOLEFE — TELLS COMMISSION HE WAS SUMMONED BY 'MALCOLM X'

Former DPCI national head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya appeared before the Madlanga Commission on Thursday and denied knowing murder accused businessman Katiso "KT" Molefe. He said he was contacted by a Johannesburg businessman known as "Malcolm X" and instructed two senior managers to verify claims that people were identifying themselves as DPCI members sent by him.

Previous witnesses alleged Hawks officers sent by Lebeya attempted to disrupt Molefe's arrest on 6 December 2024 in connection with the murder of engineer Armand Swart. Lebeya maintained that the presence of multiple law enforcement agencies at Molefe's home pointed to "a significant failure in the planning and coordination of the operation" rather than interference on his part.

Lebeya appeared at his own expense. His legal representative told the commission his request for state-funded representation had been declined by SAPS. Retired Judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga told Lebeya there was little the commission could do about the rejected funding request.

Sources: TimesLIVE · EWN · Business Day · The Citizen · Joburg ETC — 27 August 2026Permalink

BIKO FAMILY SEEKS SUBPOENA FOR FORMER APARTHEID SPY CRAIG WILLIAMSON — RULING EXPECTED WEDNESDAY

The legal team for the Biko family told the Gqeberha High Court on Tuesday that former apartheid intelligence operative Craig Williamson should be subpoenaed to the reopened inquest into Steve Biko's 1977 death in police custody. The basis: Williamson testified during the separate Cradock Four inquest that Biko had been placed under surveillance by the security apparatus.

Family lawyer Ngqiqo Sakhela said key questions remain unanswered — specifically the extent of that surveillance and what the Security Branch knew before Biko's fatal detention. The family is also preparing Biko's widow, Nontsikelelo, to testify.

A ruling on the family's application for a postponement — to allow time to review the 1977 inquest file, the TRC transcripts, and the NPA's fresh evidence — is expected Wednesday morning. The Department of Justice is funding the family's legal costs after Legal Aid said they did not qualify under its means test.

SUPERSEDED — On 26 August Judge Madondo rejected the family's postponement application and ruled that proceedings would continue. The family is now considering a recusal application against Madondo. See 2026-08-27-biko-inquest-continues.

Sources: EWN · Daily Dispatch · BuzzLife News — 25–26 August 2026Permalink

DIDIZA SURVIVES EFF NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION 282–101 — DA VOTES AGAINST DESPITE EARLIER CRITICISM

National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza survived a motion of no confidence on Tuesday, with 282 MPs voting against and 101 in favour. Only the EFF, MK Party, ATM, ACDP, NCC, and United Africans Transformation supported the motion.

EFF leader Julius Malema brought the motion because Didiza chose not to oppose President Ramaphosa's urgent interdict application in the Western Cape High Court, which halted the Section 89 impeachment process in the Phala Phala matter. Malema accused her of allowing Ramaphosa to "hold Parliament to ransom."

The DA voted against the motion despite having previously criticised Didiza's handling of the Phala Phala impeachment proceedings. DA parliamentary leader Siviwe Gwarube said removing Didiza would be "premature" at this stage. The interdict remains in force; the review hearing is provisionally set for 2–4 September 2026.

Sources: TimesLIVE · EWN · News24 · Daily Maverick · Business Day — 26 August 2026Permalink

CAT MATLALA ENTERS FOURTH DAY AT MADLANGA COMMISSION — CREDIBILITY UNDER PRESSURE OVER R4-MILLION PAYMENTS

Alleged underworld figure Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala entered a fourth day of testimony at the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday. Evidence leaders shifted to new topics including Matlala's connections to taxi industry figures alleged to be part of the Big Five crime cartel, and his relationship with businessman Hangwani Maumela.

Advocate Mahlape Sello probed transactions between Maumela and taxi boss Jotham Msibi totalling R4 million, which Matlala transmitted. Matlala initially denied knowledge of the payments' purpose, then acknowledged being "reminded of transactions," contradicting his earlier testimony. He claimed Msibi considered him "as a son" but could not explain why he was relaying payment proofs between the two men.

Matlala was subpoenaed to testify about his role in the R228-million SAPS tender and the R360-million Medicare24 tender. His legal team threatened to withdraw from proceedings on Monday but was refused a postponement by the commission.

Sources: EWN · TimesLIVE · eNCA · The Citizen · SABC News — 17–26 August 2026Permalink

RAMAPHOSA VOWS ARRESTS FOR ANTI-IMMIGRANT VIOLENCE — MALEMA SAYS THE GOVERNMENT MADE IT LOOK STATE-SANCTIONED

President Cyril Ramaphosa told the National Assembly on Tuesday that perpetrators of violence against foreign nationals “will face arrests and charges” once police have gathered sufficient evidence. He said some suspects had already been arrested and that instigators are “of direct interest to the police.” He also said authorities are investigating whether outside forces fuelled the anti-immigrant uprising.

EFF leader Julius Malema rejected the response as inadequate. He said the failure to arrest known perpetrators — some of whom attacked migrants in the presence of SAPS members — gave “the impression that the violence was state-sanctioned.” Malema challenged Ramaphosa to name the two individuals who met with him and demanded immediate prosecution.

What is established. The deportation drive that followed the June protests has cost R341 million and repatriated at least 73,000 people. What is not established: how many of the perpetrators of the violence itself — as distinct from undocumented migrants caught up in the response — have actually been charged. Ramaphosa promised arrests but offered no timeline and no number.

Sources: EWN · Daily Maverick · Sowetan · SAnews · allAfrica — 26 August 2026Permalink

THE ANC LAUNCHES ITS LOCAL MANIFESTO BY APOLOGISING FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT

With 71 days to the 4 November municipal elections, the ANC launched its local government manifesto on an unusual note: conceding the record. Ramaphosa told supporters the party would “admit that, yes, we've worked together with our people to make tremendous progress, but we will similarly say there had been weaknesses, there had been failures and we will admit them as the ANC.” Speaking in Diepsloot on Sunday, he acknowledged failures specifically on service delivery.

The pledges. A six-point plan to restore basic services; local representatives required to publish their priorities and show measurable progress within three months of taking office; a commitment to act against municipal tenderpreneurs; and a warning that poor-performing ANC mayors and councillors will not be protected. Ramaphosa: “On the first day after the election, we will begin implementing these reforms.”

The measure against which to read it. This site documents 257 municipalities, the majority in distress; Johannesburg reaching R5.26bn in arrears to its own electricity utility before settling this month; eThekwini needing R6–8bn to restore sewers it already has and losing an estimated 65% of its water; and a national Blue Drop finding that only 38% of water treatment works score above the acceptable threshold.

An apology is not a remedy, and a three-month reporting requirement is not an enforcement mechanism. But it is a notable shift for a governing party to open a campaign by conceding the charge rather than contesting it — and the promises are specific enough to be checked against later. This page will check them.

Sources: The Citizen · TimesLIVE · Sunday Times · Jacaranda FM · Scrolla.Africa · MDNtv — 22–25 August 2026Permalink

BIKO INQUEST POSTPONED ON DAY TWO — FAMILY SECURED LAWYERS ONLY ON MONDAY

The reopened inquest into Steve Biko’s death was postponed at the Gqeberha High Court today — one day after it resumed for the first time in 49 years. The Biko family’s lawyer, Ngqiqo Sakhela, told the court that the family only secured legal representation on Monday and needs time to review the extensive documentary record: the original 1977 inquest file, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission transcripts, and the NPA’s fresh evidence.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development agreed to fund the family’s legal costs after Legal Aid South Africa said they did not qualify under its means test. It was the funding question — not the merits — that stalled proceedings.

No new date was set. Sakhela said: “This case is about the interest of the family… the family will be given enough time to prepare.” Biko’s son Nkosinathi and widow Nontsikelelo — who is expected to testify — were present.

The two former Security Branch officers identified as persons of interest are both in their 80s. Every postponement is time the case may not have. But presenting evidence without preparation would be worse than a delay — and the family has made clear it will not rush through a process that took 48 years to begin.

SUPERSEDED — The application for a longer postponement was refused. Judge Madondo dismissed it on 26 August and ordered proceedings to resume on 27 August, so this entry’s headline and its statement that no new date was set do not reflect the outcome. See 2026-09-03-correction-biko-postponement.

Sources: EWN · BuzzLife News · Ahmed Timol Foundation · allAfrica — 24–25 August 2026Permalink

MCHUNU REJECTS THE “PAWN” TESTIMONY AS OPPORTUNISTIC AND WITHOUT EVIDENCE

Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has responded to the testimony given to the Madlanga Commission on 21 August by Hawks Lieutenant-Colonel Deena Govender, who alleged that an associate of the minister, Mavuso Ntandane, pressed him to implicate KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in police shootings — and then put Mchunu on the phone.

Mchunu says the allegation is made “without any evidence” and that he rejects it “with the contempt it deserves.” He has characterised Govender's account as opportunistic.

What is established and what is not. Established: Govender gave this evidence under oath, on the record, on 21 August. Not established: whether any of it is true. Govender says he holds a recording of his conversation with Ntandane; that recording has not been played in the hearing room. The commission has made no finding. Mchunu is entitled to the denial and it is recorded here in full.

What makes the exchange consequential is not either man's word against the other. It is that this is the second allegation before the commission of an attempt to shape what a witness says, and the same suspended minister is named in both.

Sources: The Witness · Daily Maverick · IOL · EWN · allAfrica · SAnews — 21–25 August 2026Permalink

THE BIKO INQUEST RESUMED TODAY — FORTY-NINE YEARS AFTER HE DIED IN POLICE CUSTODY

The reopened inquest into the death of Stephen Bantu Biko got under way at the Gqeberha High Court this morning. Biko died on 12 September 1977 of injuries sustained in police custody. The original 1977 inquest found he died after a supposed scuffle with Security Branch officers and assigned no criminal responsibility to anyone.

Why it is back. The reopening was formally requested by then-National Director of Public Prosecutions Adv Shamila Batohi, and the NPA enrolled it at Gqeberha on 12 September 2025. The purpose is narrow and specific: to determine whether there is sufficient evidence that Biko was murdered, and therefore grounds to prosecute.

Two of the men are still alive. The NPA has identified two former police officers as persons of interest. Proceedings have already been postponed several times, including over the question of legal funding for those two men — and the inquest hit a further snag on its opening day.

The family is not celebrating. Biko’s family has publicly criticised the High Court over the delays, saying the issues should have been resolved before today. His son has questioned the timing outright — *why now?* — and whether an inquest nearly five decades late can deliver anything that deserves the name justice.

It is a fair question. The people who could have been prosecuted in 1978 are mostly dead. But the same NPA that took 48 years to reopen this file is the one currently sitting on the Tammy Taylor dockets, and the one that let the Magashule matter reach its twelfth year without a trial. The Biko inquest is not only about 1977.

SUPERSEDED — Postponed on 25 August — the family secured legal representation only on Monday and needs time to review the evidence. See 2026-08-25-biko-inquest-postponed.

Sources: NPA / Department of Justice media statements · EWN · The Herald · The Africa Report · NPR — September 2025 – August 2026Permalink

FOUR DAYS TO SUBMIT CANDIDATES: IEC NOMINATIONS CLOSE 28 AUGUST AT 5 PM

Political parties contesting the 4 November 2026 local government elections have until 17:00 on Thursday 28 August to submit candidate lists and nomination documents to the IEC. The deadline is firm — no extensions.

The IEC will certify the voters' roll on 26 August, publish the final candidate list on 16 September, and issue certificates of candidacy on 25 September. With 312 eligible parties, the nomination process is the first hard filter between aspiration and ballot paper.

The ANC has been reported to be scrambling to finalise its candidate lists, with internal disputes over ward allocations in several metros still unresolved as of the week of 18 August. The outcome of this week's submissions will determine the competitive field in each of the 257 municipalities where 29 million registered voters are enrolled.

Sources: SABC News · News24 · The Citizen · The Herald — 7–24 August 2026Permalink

MAGASHULE ASBESTOS MATTER POSTPONED TO 18 JANUARY 2027 — TWELVE YEARS, STILL NO TRIAL

When the Free State High Court convened on 20 August for its scheduled progress update, Judge Phillip Loubser postponed the R255 million asbestos matter to 18 January 2027. There is still no trial date. The case has been before the courts since 2014.

Magashule had asked that the matter be postponed to April 2027 to allow sufficient time once the trial eventually begins. The judge declined and set the shorter date. Magashule, now leader of the African Congress for Transformation (ACT), told media: “The intention is to break us” — framing a delay of his own side’s requesting as an instrument of political persecution. He has described the prolonged pre-trial process as “a waste of time.”

Eighteen accused, including businessman Edwin Sodi and former Magashule PA Moroadi Cholota, face more than 70 charges of fraud, theft, attempted theft, corruption and money laundering. The January date is for further pre-trial proceedings, not the trial itself.

Sources: The Citizen · OFM · TimesLive · SABC News — 18–20 August 2026Permalink

HAWKS OFFICER TELLS MADLANGA COMMISSION HE WAS PRESSURED TO IMPLICATE MKHWANAZI — AND HANDED A PHONE TO MCHUNU

On the afternoon of Friday 21 August, Hawks Lieutenant-Colonel Deenadayalan (Deena) Govender — commander of the KwaZulu-Natal police cash-in-transit task team — entered the witness box at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria. His testimony was described by multiple outlets as bombshell.

Govender alleged that an associate of suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, identified as Mavuso Ntandane, repeatedly pressured him to give evidence implicating KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in a series of police shootings. He told the commission that on the day before he testified, Ntandane telephoned Mchunu and handed him the phone — placing Mchunu in direct contact with the witness the night before his evidence.

Govender told the commission: “It is my respectful view and submission that I am being used as a pawn to discredit Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi.”

Mchunu denied the allegation. The suspended minister’s response, relayed to the commission, was: “The allegation is made without any evidence and I reject it with the contempt it deserves.”

This evidence sits alongside testimony from earlier in the month that Mchunu met with former IDAC head Andrea Johnson — whose own credibility before the commission has been substantially undermined. The commission’s evidence record now places the suspended police minister in proximity to two separate efforts to shape what witnesses say. Whether those are two data points or two coincidences is for Justice Madlanga to find.

Sources: Daily Maverick · allAfrica · IOL · EWN · Madlanga Commission Day 164 — 21–23 August 2026Permalink

MAGASHULE PROGRESS HEARING: R255m, 18 ACCUSED, TWELVE YEARS, STILL NO TRIAL

Judge Loubser set today for the Bloemfontein High Court to be updated on the progress of the pending application in the Free State asbestos matter. He directed that the accused’s legal representatives need not attend — only the accused themselves were required to appear.

The case. Former Free State Premier Ace Magashule and 17 co-accused, including businessman Edwin Sodi, face fraud, corruption and money-laundering charges over a R255 million asbestos audit contract awarded in 2014. The State has said Magashule faces up to 15 years if convicted. He maintains his innocence and intends to plead not guilty. In February the court ordered his former PA, Moroadi Cholota, to stand trial alongside him.

The delay is the story. Twelve years after the contract, the matter is still consuming pre-trial hearings. Judge Loubser has expressed concern that postponing to January 2027 would risk the accused losing track of their own case — a judicial observation that doubles as a description of South African white-collar prosecution generally.

SUPERSEDED — The outcome of the 20 August hearing: Judge Loubser postponed the matter to 18 January 2027. Magashule had asked for April 2027; the judge set the shorter date. See the 24 August entry.

Sources: Bloemfontein High Court · Daily Maverick · The Citizen · News24 · eNCA · SABC News — 2025–2026Permalink

MPs SPLIT OVER WHETHER PARLIAMENT MAY NAME WHO ITS OWN EVIDENCE IMPLICATES

The ad hoc committee investigating KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s allegations of police corruption and political interference is now on the fourth draft of a report running to roughly 800 pages. It met on 13 August to consider it. The mandate runs to 11 September — a fifth extension.

The fight is over how far it may go. Chairperson Soviet Lekganyane warned that the committee risks damaging Parliament’s credibility if it declines to identify wrongdoing where the evidence supports doing so. The DA cautioned members against findings resting on hearsay, conjecture, or material outside the committee’s mandate. One member complained the committee was “being abused”; in July the draft was attacked from within as “materially watered down.”

The stated approach is that the committee is an oversight body, not a court or prosecutor. Its findings distinguish between established governance weaknesses, unresolved allegations, institutional risk and matters for referral — with deliberately cautious language wherever evidence is incomplete, indirect, classified, contested, or was never put to the person affected.

That is a defensible standard. It also means the report can document a rotten system while naming nobody — and it is being written by a committee that has already resolved not to look at the Madlanga Commission’s evidence on the same subject.

Sources: Parliament of RSA · PMG · Business Day · Sowetan · The Citizen · IOL — July–August 2026Permalink

On 10 August this site reported that the Madlanga Commission must deliver its reports by 31 August 2026. That deadline has moved. Ramaphosa has granted a further extension — the third since the commission was established in July 2025. The evidence deadline is now Friday, 2 October 2026 and the reporting deadline Monday, 16 November 2026. Corrected below.

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MADLANGA EXTENDED A THIRD TIME; PARLIAMENT WILL IGNORE ITS EVIDENCE

The commission’s reporting deadline has moved from 31 August to 16 November 2026, with evidence closing 2 October. It is the third extension since July 2025 — first to March, then to 31 August, now November — granted so the commission can finish hearings and cover everything in its terms of reference.

Meanwhile Parliament is running a second inquiry into the same subject and refusing to look at the first one’s evidence. The ad hoc committee examining KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s allegations met on 13 August to consider its draft report, and chairperson Soviet Lekganyane cautioned MPs against citing any Madlanga testimony in it. Speaker Thoko Didiza has extended that committee’s mandate to 11 September — its fifth extension.

The problem this creates is concrete. Evidence before Madlanga has suggested former IDAC head Andrea Johnson was dishonest in her testimony to that very ad hoc committee. A parliamentary report that declines to consider sworn evidence contradicting a witness who appeared before it is a report with a hole in it by design.

Sources: The Presidency · TimesLIVE · EWN · The Citizen · Jacaranda FM · IOL — July–August 2026Permalink

THE MEL VILJOEN FILE: 77 VICTIMS, R71 MILLION, THREE DOCKETS — AND NO CHARGES

Peet is the one in custody. The unresolved question is his wife, Melany “Mel” Viljoen, who fronted the business at the centre of the complaints.

What she is accused of. Mel operated as “President” of Tammy Taylor Nails South Africa, selling franchise licences. More than 77 alleged victims opened cases with the Hawks and SAPS, saying they paid for franchises that never materialised — losses running into millions. Documented individual claims include R2.8m, R5.8m and R345,000.

Where it stands. The Hawks completed their investigation and referred three dockets to the NPA in June 2026 for a decision on whether to charge Peet and Mel. Two months later, no decision has been announced and Mel has not been charged with anything. That is the fact worth holding onto, and this page will not run ahead of it.

What has already been decided against them. A United States court ordered the couple to pay the real Tammy Taylor about R71 million in statutory damages for unauthorised trademark use. That is a civil judgment in a foreign court, not a criminal conviction here.

SARS. During Peet’s bail hearing in July, a SARS official walked into the Pretoria courtroom and personally handed Mel a final demand letter requiring her to file personal tax returns for 2022 to 2025 within ten days. She called the approach “intimidating and bullying.” Press reports linked the demand to an alleged R14m liability tied to the franchise business — but the letter itself made no reference to Tammy Taylor, and that connection remains unconfirmed. SARS separately holds a R14.1 million default judgment against Peet, obtained about six months before the couple left for the United States in May 2025.

The pattern. Fifteen years of complaints, a foreign civil judgment, a completed police investigation, and a tax authority serving papers in a courtroom — and still no prosecutorial decision. Whether that reflects a weak case or an overloaded NPA is the open question. Full profile: Political Operatives →

Sources: Hawks / DPCI statements (June 2026) · Sowetan · eNCA · The Citizen · IOL · Briefly · US trademark judgment — 2024–2026Permalink

RAMAPHOSA TAKES THE SADC CHAIR: “TURN BORDERS INTO BRIDGES”

South Africa took the SADC chairship from Zimbabwe at the 46th Ordinary Summit at the Durban ICC today, beginning a one-year tenure. Ramaphosa opened with a call to “turn borders into bridges.”

His own diagnosis was the sharpest thing said. Intra-SADC trade accounts for only about one-fifth of the region’s total trade, across a combined market of more than 400 million people in 16 member states. The region, he said, continues to import goods it could produce and export raw materials it could process locally — and “we have not unlocked full potential.” He pushed for infrastructure investment in refining, electricity, water, roads, railways and ports, and for operationalising the SADC Regional Development Fund.

It is an accurate critique. It is also a description of the host. The country now chairing a regional beneficiation agenda reported mining shedding 26,000 jobs and manufacturing 15,000 in the quarter just ended, and its largest metro is four days from a deadline to pay R5.12bn it owes its own electricity utility.

Sources: SADC Secretariat · SAnews · Business Day · The Citizen · The Witness — 14–17 August 2026Permalink

PEET VILJOEN DENIED BAIL — FLIGHT RISK, NO FIXED ADDRESS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Magistrate Nicca Setshogoe refused bail today in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. She worked through the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Act and found that Peet Viljoen is a flight risk and has no fixed address in South Africa. He remains in custody at Kgosi Mampuru.

He had offered R250,000, house arrest and daily reporting to police. It was refused. He has been held since the Hawks arrested him at OR Tambo on 16 June, on deportation from the United States after ICE detention. He faces roughly 400 charges — fraud, theft, corruption, perjury and forgery — over an alleged R27.6 million Johannesburg Property Company fraud in which 46 City of Johannesburg properties were allegedly sold using forged documents in early 2010.

His wife Mel Viljoen was in the public gallery and broke down after the ruling.

The man who told the court he intends to sue the NPA for R500 million for unlawful prosecution, and who vowed to practise law again, will now wait for trial in a maximum-security remand facility. The matter has been before the courts for close to sixteen years.

Sources: IOL · Sunday World · Joburg ETC · 2oceansvibe · Briefly — 17 August 2026Permalink

SOUTH AFRICA TAKES THE SADC CHAIR IN DURBAN THIS WEEK

Ramaphosa hosts and chairs the 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government at the Durban International Convention Centre on 16–17 August 2026. The summit formally begins South Africa's one-year tenure as chair of the 16-member Southern African Development Community.

The declared theme is “Resilient, sustainable and inclusive industrialisation through Infrastructure Development, Agricultural and Critical Minerals Transformation in Pursuit of a Just World.”

The test is the gap between the theme and the host. South Africa arrives at the chair of a regional industrialisation agenda in the same week its own statistics agency reported manufacturing shedding 15,000 jobs, mining shedding 26,000, and unemployment rising to 33.6%. It chairs an infrastructure agenda while its largest metro is nine days from a deadline to pay R5.12bn it owes its own power utility. Regional leadership is a real diplomatic asset; the domestic ledger is what it will be measured against.

Sources: SADC Secretariat · SAnews · Department of International Relations and Cooperation · Government of South Africa — July–August 2026Permalink

OFF THE GREY LIST — AND LEGISLATING TO STAY OFF IT

Public submissions on the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill (B15–2026) closed at noon today. Parliament holds public hearings on it tomorrow, 11 August, via Zoom.

The Bill exists because getting off the grey list is not the end of the process. It targets deficiencies still outstanding from the FATF's 2021 Mutual Evaluation Report and from the remedial programme that ended with South Africa's October 2025 exit — and it is aimed at securing a better rating in the current mutual evaluation, which concludes in October 2027.

The grey-listing cost South Africa nearly three years of elevated borrowing costs and enhanced due-diligence friction on cross-border transactions. Exiting is a genuine institutional achievement. Holding the exit through the 2027 evaluation is a separate problem, and it depends on the same prosecutorial capacity currently being examined by the Madlanga Commission.

Sources: National Treasury · Parliament of RSA (B15–2026) · Moonstone · Corruption Watch · Baker McKenzie — 2025–2026Permalink

This page stated that South Africa is “FATF Grey-Listed Since February 2023,” and a statistic card gave the country's listing status as “Grey.” Both were out of date. South Africa was removed from the FATF grey list in October 2025, following a successful on-site review of its anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing regime in July 2025. The economy page on this site already reported the removal correctly — the two pages contradicted each other. Corrected below.

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MADLANGA COMMISSION REPORTS DUE IN THREE WEEKS

The Madlanga Commission — the judicial inquiry into alleged collusion and corruption between politicians, senior police, prosecutors, intelligence operatives and elements of the judiciary — must deliver its reports by 31 August 2026.

The commission told the Presidency on 7 July that it was struggling with the workload and asked for an extension; Ramaphosa granted it on 9 July. Hearings have run past day 155. In the final stretch it has been taking evidence on IDAC itself, after former head Adv. Andrea Johnson conceded parts of her testimony to Parliament were incorrect and her own prosecutor, Adv. Drushantha Ramsamy, called Johnson's account of her role “a straight lie.” The commission has offered Ramsamy protection.

Three weeks to write findings on the conduct of the institutions that are supposed to prosecute state capture.

SUPERSEDED — Ramaphosa extended the commission again after this was published. Evidence now closes 2 October and the reports are due 16 November 2026. See the 17 August entry.

Sources: Madlanga Commission public record · The Presidency · eNCA · EWN · SABC News — July–August 2026Permalink

JULIUS MALEMA ADDED TO THE HALL OF SHAME

Malema now has a full documented entry under Still Walking Free — the tier for people with findings against them who face no practical consequence. He belongs there on the plain facts: convicted on five firearm counts on 16 April 2026 and sentenced to five years, he remains an MP, still leads the EFF, and still sits on the Judicial Service Commission, which selects South Africa's judges.

The entry also carries the Public Protector's 2012 finding that his Ratanang Family Trust benefited improperly from a R52m Limpopo tender (criminal case struck off the roll in 2015 when a co-accused fell ill — struck off, not acquitted), the R16.2m SARS judgment and the sequestration SARS withdrew in 2015, the Helen Suzman Foundation's live court challenge to his JSC seat, and this month's crimen injuria prosecution.

It also records, accurately, that he won the “Kill the Boer” litigation — Equality Court 2022, SCA 2024, and the Constitutional Court refusing AfriForum leave to appeal in March 2025. This site documents what the record shows, including when the record favours the subject.

Read the full entry →

Sources: East London Regional Court · Public Protector Report (2012) · SARS · SCA · ConCourt · Helen Suzman Foundation · NPA — 2012–2026Permalink

Earlier versions of this page carried four errors about the Viljoen matter. The accused was named as “Deon Viljoen” — his name is Peet Viljoen. The charges were described as including money laundering; they are fraud, theft, corruption, perjury and forgery. The 26 June bail hearing was placed at Paarl Magistrates Court; it was the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. And the alleged fraud was given as R100m; the figure in the charge sheet is R27.6 million. All four are corrected above and throughout.

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PROCLAIMED: 4 NOVEMBER. THE VOTERS' ROLL IS NOW CLOSED.

Cooperative Governance Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa formally gazetted the proclamation today, fixing 4 November 2026 as the date of the local government elections. The voters' roll closed at midnight on 7 August, immediately on proclamation. Registration is over — anyone not on the roll tonight cannot vote in November.

The roll closed having passed 29 million registered voters. The final registration weekend on 1–2 August drew roughly 1.7 million interactions with the Electoral Commission: 291,806 first-time registrations and more than 1.5 million voters updating or confirming their details.

What is now fixed: 620 registered parties contesting 8 metropolitan, 205 local and 44 district municipalities, across 4,488 voting districts and 23,699 voting stations. The IEC moves next to publishing the formal election timetable.

This is the first municipal election since the Government of National Unity formed in 2024, and the ballot arithmetic is strange: the DA campaigns against the ANC for control of metros while sitting with it in national government. The ANC's 2021 result — 45.59% — was its worst since universal suffrage. Every one of the 257 broken municipalities documented on this page is on the ballot.

Sources: SAnews · Department of Cooperative Governance · IEC · SABC News · The Citizen — 3–7 August 2026Permalink

VILJOEN BAIL JUDGMENT RESERVED TO 17 AUGUST; SARS SERVES HIS WIFE IN COURT

Peet Viljoen — full name Petrus Jacobus Viljoen, the attorney disbarred in 2011 — remains in custody at Kgosi Mampuru. The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has reserved judgment on his bail application until 17 August 2026. He has been held since his arrest by the Hawks at OR Tambo on 16 June, on deportation from the United States after ICE detention.

The charges: more than 400 counts of fraud, theft, corruption, perjury and forgery, tied to an alleged R27.6 million Johannesburg Property Company fraud. The State alleges that between January and March 2010, Viljoen and five co-accused sold 46 properties belonging to the City of Johannesburg without the municipality's knowledge, using forged documents — and that Viljoen paid gratification to a deputy registrar in the Department of Land Affairs to get the transfer deeds registered. The matter has been before the courts for close to 16 years.

His offer: R250,000 bail, house arrest, and daily reporting to police. His defence argued he is “still technically on bail” from the original matter. The State, which called his flight risk self-evident, spent July putting what one report called damning evidence before the court.

His counter-attack: Viljoen told the court by affidavit that he intends to sue the NPA for R500 million for unlawful prosecution, saying the State's case against him is weak, and announced “I've issued summons.” He has also vowed to practise law again.

And then SARS arrived. During the bail hearing a South African Revenue Service official personally handed his wife, Mel Viljoen, a final demand letter in the Pretoria courtroom, ordering her to file personal tax returns for 2022 through 2025 within 10 days. SARS had already secured a default judgment of R14.1 million against Peet roughly six months before the couple left for the United States in May 2025.

Full background on the couple, the Tammy Taylor Nails franchise collapse, the 77+ documented victims and the on-camera racist statements: Political Operatives →

Sources: News24 · IOL · Sunday World · The Citizen · Briefly · eNCA — June–August 2026Permalink

EVIDENCE LEADER NAMED 9–7 AS ANC ABSTAINS; RAMAPHOSA CAN BE SUMMONED

The inquiry got its evidence leader. After broadening the pool to eight advocates, the Section 89 committee voted 9 to 7 to recommend Advocate Thandazani Madonsela of the Durban bar to lead evidence against the President. The ANC abstained entirely — declining to take a position on who should investigate its own leader. Madonsela was nominated by the EFF, backed by the MK Party, BOSA, ACDP, ATM and UAT. The DA nominated Advocate Kate Hofmeyr, supported by the FF+ and ActionSA — losing by two votes.

Both candidates carried disclosure questions. MPs noted Hofmeyr had not disclosed that she previously represented Ramaphosa in court matters. Madonsela did declare that he had overseen junior advocates who provided legal opinions to a political party on impeachment-related matters — and was nominated anyway. Committee chairperson Makashule Gana said the evidence leader will recommend two assistants; Parliament's administration makes the final appointment.

He can be forced to testify. Parliament's legal advisers have concluded the committee can summon the President if he declines to appear voluntarily, and that he cannot invoke a right to remain silent to avoid questioning. The committee considered that opinion today.

And it is going to the Constitutional Court. The committee has joined an application to appeal directly to the ConCourt against the Western Cape High Court ruling that halted its inquiry, arguing the judgment undermines Parliament's constitutional oversight role. So the inquiry is simultaneously interdicted, appointing its prosecutor, and asserting the power to compel the President's testimony.

Sources: EWN · TimesLIVE · SABC News · Parliament of RSA — 4–5 August 2026Permalink

“A STRAIGHT LIE”: WHISTLEBLOWER OFFERED PROTECTION AS IDAC TESTIMONY DEEPENS

IDAC state advocate Drushantha Ramsamy returned to the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria to continue evidence against her former boss. Of Andrea Johnson's account of her own role, Ramsamy told the commission plainly: “a straight lie.”

Johnson had testified that she relied on investigators' briefings and was not involved in operational decisions. Ramsamy rejects that outright, alleging Johnson oversaw every significant step of the investigations — including the Medicare and Crime Intelligence matters — and misled the inquiry about it.

The commission has offered Ramsamy security. Following what it described as explosive testimony, the Madlanga Commission confirmed it is prepared to provide protection to her if needed — an acknowledgement of what happens to whistleblowers in South Africa, in a country where Babita Deokaran was shot dead in her driveway for flagging procurement fraud.

Also appearing: IDAC Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Peter Serunye, who told the commission IDAC is actively pursuing cases arising from the Zondo, Mpati and Nugent Commissions — the state capture, PIC and SARS inquiries respectively. The unit built to prosecute state capture is now itself the subject of a commission of inquiry.

Sources: eNCA · EWN · TimesLIVE · SABC News · Madlanga Commission public record — 1–4 August 2026Permalink

An earlier version of this page reported that Section 89 witness hearings were set for August 11–12 with an SCA hearing on August 13–14, and that the Magashule asbestos trial would resume on August 4 with a co-accused guilty plea. Both were wrong. The impeachment inquiry was interdicted on July 24 and no witness hearings are scheduled; the Free State High Court has set August 20, 2026 for a progress update in the Magashule matter, which remains in pre-trial stages.

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IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HALTED BY COURT; IDAC HEAD UNDER OATH; ELECTION PROCLAIMED FRIDAY

Phala Phala — the inquiry is interdicted, not advancing. On July 24, 2026 Ramaphosa won a High Court bid halting Parliament's Section 89 impeachment inquiry pending a legal review of the committee's process. Public hearings are paused. Committee chairperson Makashule Gana confirmed the committee has noted the court's pause. This reverses the direction of the May 8 Constitutional Court ruling, which found Parliament acted unconstitutionally in rejecting the Ngcobo panel report and struck down National Assembly rule 129I.

Madlanga Commission — the anti-corruption unit is now the subject. Advocate Andrea Johnson, former head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), spent six days on the stand defending her tenure and left facing recall. Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga's panel pressed her on investigations allegedly outside IDAC's legal mandate, the handling of sensitive police dockets, and her relationship with senior police officer General Feroz Khan. Johnson conceded parts of her earlier testimony to Parliament's ad hoc committee were incorrect, saying she had not been fully prepared. Her own former prosecutor, IDAC advocate Drushantha Ramsamy, then alleged Johnson lied under oath, manipulated evidence in the matter of MP Fadiel Adams, and instructed her to shred a letter relating to police dockets.

Local government elections proclaimed Friday. Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa gazettes 4 November 2026 as the municipal election date on Friday, August 7 — which closes the voters' roll. See the election section below.

Sources: Daily Maverick · Business Day · Mail & Guardian · Polity · IOL · EWN · SABC News · The South Africa Brief — July 24 – August 3, 2026Permalink

ANC STEP-ASIDE BACKLASH; ACCOUNTABILITY NOW THREATENS COURT ACTION

The ANC Lekgotla's decision to “review and refine” the step-aside rule has triggered immediate civil society pushback. Accountability Now and Corruption Watch issued statements warning that any softening of step-aside requirements for criminally charged ANC members would constitute a breach of the ANC's own constitution and could be taken on judicial review. DA and FF+ leaders called it “a protection racket for accused comrades.” Who benefits from softening: Ace Magashule (asbestos matter ongoing), Zandile Gumede (R430m fraud trial), and approximately 18 other NEC and provincial ANC leaders who have faced criminal charges but contested step-aside. ANC NEC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the review is about “due process, not protection” — a formulation that satisfied no one outside the party.

Separately: Ace Magashule's Free State asbestos matter remains in pre-trial stages in Bloemfontein. The Free State High Court has set August 20, 2026 for the court to be updated on the progress of a pending application. Magashule and 17 co-accused face fraud, corruption and money laundering charges over R255m in asbestos audit tenders; in February the court ordered former PA Moroadi Cholota to stand trial alongside him.

Sources: Daily Maverick · Accountability Now · Corruption Watch · News24 — July 29, 2026Permalink

ANC LEKGOTLA ENDS; SCA HEARING SET; WITNESSES ANNOUNCED

ANC NEC Lekgotla (July 25–27): The ANC's National Executive Committee concluded its July strategy session Sunday. Key outcomes: the step-aside rule to be “reviewed and refined” — widely read as softening enforcement against accused members including Magashule; GNU reaffirmed as policy, with MK Party described as a “destabilising force working against the democratic project”; NHI implementation timeline to be “phased” pending constitutional court outcomes; no formal NEC position taken on the Phala Phala inquiry — members referred questions to the parliamentary committee.

As reported at the time: the Supreme Court of Appeal had enrolled Ramaphosa's urgency application for August 13–14, and the Section 89 committee had said two former State Security Agency officials would testify on August 11–12.

SUPERSEDED — the August 11–12 and August 13–14 dates did not hold. On 24 July the Western Cape High Court halted the inquiry; see the 5 August entry.

Sources: ANC · Parliament · Daily Maverick · News24 — July 25–28, 2026Permalink

SCA APPEAL FILED; FIRST WITNESSES SCHEDULED AUGUST 11–12

Ramaphosa's legal team has filed an urgent application in the Supreme Court of Appeal challenging the Western Cape High Court's July 18 dismissal. The SCA has been asked to hear the matter on an urgent basis in mid-August. Legal analysts note that the SCA threshold for overturning an interdict refusal is high — Ramaphosa must demonstrate the lower court erred in law, not merely that a different outcome was possible.

Inquiry proceeding regardless: The Section 89 committee's evidence leaders have confirmed the first formal witness hearings are scheduled for August 11–12. The committee's position is that no SCA interlocutory order has been granted, so the inquiry continues. Key witnesses expected include former State Security Agency officials, Phala Phala farm workers, and law enforcement members who handled the 2020 burglary.

SUPERSEDED — as reported on 23 July. On 24 July the court halted the inquiry; the August 11–12 hearings never took place. See the 5 August entry.

Sources: Parliament · Daily Maverick · News24 — July 23, 2026Permalink

WC HIGH COURT DISMISSES PHALA PHALA INTERDICT

The Western Cape High Court dismissed Ramaphosa's urgent interdict application on July 18, finding no irreparable harm in allowing the Section 89 inquiry to proceed while constitutional questions are litigated separately. The impeachment committee, having formally adopted broad terms of reference on June 26 (defeating the ANC's narrow-scope push), was scheduling witnesses. The judge found that halting the inquiry would itself cause irreparable harm to the constitutional order.

Viljoen update (July): Peet Viljoen remains in Kgosi Mampuru; his bail application ran through July with judgment reserved; 400+ fraud, theft, corruption, perjury and forgery charges being formally confirmed.

SUPERSEDED — Ramaphosa appealed and, on 24 July, won an order halting the inquiry pending review.

Sources: Parliament · Daily Maverick · News24 · GroundUp — July 18–21, 2026Permalink