The Weekend View

The South African Policing Union has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to lift National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola's precautionary suspension. Masemola will resume his duties on Monday following the formal withdrawal of charges against him. SAPU says his return presents an opportunity to restore stability and strengthen leadership within the police service. The union has called for unity and decisive action against violent crime, gender-based violence and femicide, and the killing of police officers, as South Africa prepares for local government elections and the festive season. Bongiwe Zwane earlier caught up with SAPU spokesperson, Lesiba Thobakgale

South African municipalities are owed billions by consumers.  Municipalities are struggling to collect revenue while residents face mounting bills and the threat of having their electricity or water disconnected over disputed amounts. Monei Seleho, Nedbank's Head of Public Sector says that municipal debt can't be treated as a single problem. Household, business and government debt require different collection approaches. To unpack this conversation around municipal revenue collection,  Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Monei Seleho,  Head of Public Sector at Nedbank Business & Commercial Banking 

How annoying are those unwanted calls? You know those ones that either try to sell you something, or check if they can pass on your number to potential service providers? If you are lucky your phone can automatically alert you that these are spam calls, but what about those unwanted SMS'? At times you ask yourself how did they get my number? According to Truecaller's 2026 South Africa Spam Report, South Africans received 17.47 billion spam calls between January and June this year, an over 25 percent increase as compared to the same period last year. The National Consumer Commission is still hard at work to try and ensure this is resolved. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Hardin Ratshisusu, Acting Commissioner at the National Consumer Commission  

The IEC has extended an opportunity to submit candidate lists to 32 political parties it says were in a similar position to the ANC, ahead of the November fourth local government elections. The Commission says the decision is aimed at ensuring equal treatment of political parties following the Constitutional Court ruling in favour of the ANC. The IEC says the 32 parties had nominated compliant candidates and paid their election deposits but had not submitted their final candidate lists. The commission addressed the media in Centurion on Friday. Zara Groenewald reports

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, NATJOINTS, says heightened police deployments will remain in place at hotspots in Durban and Johannesburg, where violent protests erupted over the last few days. Chaos broke out in the Durban CBD as well as Soweto and Johannesburg, earlier this week, following violent anti-undocumented immigration protests. Thirty people have been arrested, 25 in KwaZulu-Natal and five in Gauteng. 

 To unpack the latest developments Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Mosa Chabane, Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs , Political Analyst Proffessor Lesiba Teffo  and Security Analyst Andy Mashaile...
 

14-year-old twin brothers, Bonolo and Bohlale Makena were laid to rest yesterday. Their funeral service took place at the Ethiopian Catholic Church in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria. The twins' lifeless bodies were reportedly found with multiple stab wounds at their home by their mother when she returned from work last week Friday. The motive for their killing remains unknown. Thabiso Radebe has the details...

This week, civil society organisations including HEALA ( Healthy Living Alliance) launched their  "90 Days to Protect Our Health" campaign. According to the group , this is an intense public accountability campaign demanding that the Government and Department of Health , Minister of Health, immediately finalise and ratify South Africa's stalled Front-of-Pack Warning Label regulations (Regulation R3337). First published in April 2023, the draft regulations propose mandatory, easy-to-read front-of-pack warning triangles on ultra-processed foods high in sugar, salt, saturated fat, and artificial sweeteners, alongside tight restrictions on marketing junk food to children. Bongiwe Zwane caught up with Nomfundo Mbuli, programme Manager at Healthy Living Alliance(HEALA)

South African households are in an affordability crisis according to the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD). This as rising fuel prices and interest rates put further pressure on already stretched budgets. The group says the crisis is forcing households to make a trade-off between the cost of food and its nutritional value, and this can also be seen in the choices households make at the point of purchase. Meanwhile, the Competition Commission's latest Cost of Living report released early this year also revealed that South Africa's affordability crisis is increasingly driven by administered and essential costs, rather than discretionary spending. Bongiwe Zwane earlier caught up with Andiswa Sibhukwana , Economist with the Competition Commission...

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he hopes that there is no loss of life during the violent protests that have taken place in both KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Tensions once again escalated in Durban, where hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of the CBD destroying buildings and property. The demonstrators were marching against the Constitutional Court's ruling on asylum seekers. The same took place in Soweto Johannesburg where cars were torched while police had to use stun grenandes during a protest to the Constitutional Court. Ramaphosa says the security cluster is on top of the situation...Bongiwe Zwane also spoke to the co-founder of South Africans for Constitutional Reform, Princy Mthombeni

Most of us think of debt as a today problem: the instalment that leaves on the 25th, the card balance that never quite clears. Few of us think about what happens to it when we're no longer here. Debt doesn't disappear when you die but becomes an issue your family has to resolve, often at the worst possible time. To unpack what happens to your debt when you die Bongiwe Zwane spoke to  Cebile Zibi, Head of Trade Marketing at Momentum Advice