The adversarial battles between the ANC and the Democratic Alliance in the the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality are back to the fore as the DA has announced plans to unseat the ANC from power in the metro. The opposition party says that under the ANC's leadership, service delivery is at an all-time low in the city. This comes as the ANC and other parties ousted Vasco da Gama as Johannesburg council speaker on WEDNESDAY and are now eyeing DA Johannesburg  mayor Mpho Phalatse as their next target.

The Competition Commission has warned that consumers could face opportunistic price increases of sunflower oil. In its latest Essential Food Pricing Monitoring Report, the commission red-flagged high and growing concentration along the sunflower oil value chain. The reasons for the price escalation are being investigated further by the Commission. The report further found that the price of some products, including bread, increased but that the prices have not come down as the economic situation changes.

Environmental activists around the country are celebrating a huge victory after a full bench of judges at the Makhanda High Court on Thursday set aside the 2014 decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to grant an exploration right to Shell to search for oil and gas off the ecologically sensitive Wild Coast. In December 2021, local communities and environmental justice organisations took Shell to court, first to request an urgent interim interdict to stop the seismic testing the company had started in the Wild Coast, a few weeks earlier. Then, in May 2022, the applicants were back, this time asking the court to review and set aside the 2014 decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to grant an exploration right to Shell and Impact Africa to conduct seismic surveys off the Wild Coast of South Africa. 

The Springboks will this morning continue their search for a desperately needed win against Australia, with eight new players named in the starting team earlier this week. The Boks head into the clash in Sydney after back-to-back defeats, a 35-23 loss to the All Blacks at home before crashing 25-17 against the Wallabies in Adelaide last week. The defeats have left the world champions bottom of the four-team Rugby Championship with three games to play and in dire need of a victory to keep their hopes alive.

Kenyans head to the polls tomorrow morning in the country's hotly-contested presidential election. Over nine million registered citizens are set to elect the country's fifth president and successor to the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta. The country's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, IEBC has cleared only four candidates to run for the presidency. Elvis Presslin spoke to Africa Affairs Analyst and Channel Africa's head of the Kiswahili service, Mr. Nixon Katembo.

Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko has called on all women in Gauteng to march to the North Gauteng High Court and the Union Buildings on Women's Day to highlight the country's high rape statistics. Mazibuko was speaking at the launch of Women's Month in Gauteng in Mabopane, Pretoria. This is in the wake of the gang rape of eight women allegedly by illegal miners in Krugersdorp last week. Elvis Presslin spoke to the director of the women's support group Philisa Abafazi Bethu, Lucinda Evans about the challenges that women still face ahead of the Women's day commemoration tomorrow. 

Former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng is believed to have shown his interest in contesting for the presidency in the next government elections. In a video that was shared on social media, Mogoeng was introduced as the new leader and president of the All African Alliance Movement which launched earlier this year. The movement, which intends on contesting the 2024 general elections, says the former Chief Justice has accepted the nomination as its president. Elvis Presslin spoke to the founder and Chairperson of Public Interest SA, Tebogo Khaas  

Mogale City had an eventful week- the local municipality was turned upside down when the South African Police Services (SAPS) had an operation to track down illegal miners in Randfontein and Krugersdorp, arresting 80 men. This is after eight women were gang raped and robbed allegedly by illegal miners in the area. On Wednesday, the African National Congress (ANC) staged a protest at the Krugersdorp Magistrate court West of Johannesburg where the party vowed to highlight and address challenges posed by illegal miners also known as zama zamas. Later in the week, the residents of Kagiso went on a rampage hunting down illegal miners. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to SABC's Politics Editor, Mzwandile Mbeje, and SABC's Specialist Researcher, Maswele Ralebone... 

The Transport Department together with The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and other relevant stakeholders are launching the National Potholes Campaign. The mass/ national initiative aims to coordinate and enhance already existing pothole campaigns in other provinces and municipalities. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to  Sanral's Spokesperson Vusi Mona... 

With the current economic climate South African consumers find themselves going store-to-store bargain shopping, guess what- you don't have to anymore as Outlier does that you. Every month end they compare in-store and online prices of the same basket of goods across four major retailers - Checkers, Pick n Pay, SPAR, and Woolworths to see which one is the cheapest. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to the Editor of The Outlier, Alastair Otter...