Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Zwanele Manyi confirmed that the former president Jacob Zuma has filed leave to appeal the high court's rulings to set aside his medical parole, ordering him to go back to jail.

Veteran ANC leader and activist Mavuso Msimang has critiqued the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa in a frank discussion with TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser.

In order to explain how Pastor Melisizwe Monqo and his wife Siphosihle Pamba operated, we need to delve further into the audio recordings which were revealed in the high court during their murder trial. If you haven’t already, please visit the explainer video we have produced on this matter to give you an overview of the case.

The Gauteng education department is hopeful that 4,712 grade 1 and 8 pupils will be placed by the end of Friday. Department spokesperson Steve Mabona said of the 335,091 grade 1 and 8 online applications received by noon on Friday for the 2022 academic year, 278,029 applicants had submitted proof of residence to enable the department to facilitate their placement.

Health minister Joe Phaahla said the Omicron Covid-19 variant is highly transmissible but cases don’t seem severe.

He said Omicron is accounting for 70% of infections in Gauteng but there is no need to be alarmed.

“Weekly cases in Gauteng have increased by more than 400%,” he said.

The minister was addressing the media on Friday morning.

With the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) increasing in SA, more people are using mobile technology like applications to help in the fight against GBV. Apps have become an important stakeholder in this fight, allowing people access to emergency services and information.

The attempt by the ANC to push through the Constitution 18th Amendment Bill to allow land expropriation without compensation fell flat on Tuesday.

However, according to founder and president of the Free Market Foundation Leon Louw, the bill was unlikely to benefit dispossessed black South Africans and would instead have made them victims of state-sanctioned land seizures. The governing party, with only 200 members in attendance at the National Assembly sitting, managed to garner 204 votes in favour of the controversial bill. It needed 267 for the bill to pass.

Louw suggested the bill is unnecessary. He said government could furnish black South Africans with title deeds for land the state owns and which black South Africans already occupy.

National director of public prosecutions Shamila Batohi said gender-based violence and corruption are key priorities for the National Prosecuting Authority. She briefed the media on Monday morning.

Twenty-eight day old Eastern Cape twins sold by their mother for R50; a 13-year-old girl sold for R30,000 by her stepmother, who runs a Bible study group in Heidelberg. These cases, currently before the Eastern Cape and Gauteng courts, are among scores feeding SA’s allegedly booming human trafficking trade.

Mampho Brescia is glamorous. Even in a pair of shorts whilst tucking

into some edamame beans, she exudes a worldly glow that speaks to her global outlook.

The fact that she can break into Japanese and Italian with breezy insouciance adds to the general effect. She has a kind of Old Hollywood presence, as if she is glimmering on a silver screen. She’s also damn fine company. I meet her for lunch in Hyde Park at So Yum for dim sum and a tutorial in how to be a global citizen while staying true to your roots.