WARNING: The following story contains graphic details that could offend sensitive listerners including children!
 
The brutal killing of 11 year old girl in Modutung village near Taung in the North West has left her family and the community devastated. Rethabile Jackson's charred body was found in a shallow pit, after she went missing for few days. According to police crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year, child murders in South Africa have increased by 7.2 percent to 314, compared with the same period last year. SABC News Reporter Thabiso Moss compiled this report.

Five people have been shot and killed in Atlantis on the west coast of the Western Cape last night. Police say a further five people from the same incident were seriously injured while they were all in three vehicles on their way home from Silverstroom Beach when the shooting occurred. The province's Anti-Gant Unit is on the hunt for the gunmen. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to SABC reporter, Corbin August

Three people are reported to have died as a result of the floods in the Eastern Cape.  The Eastern Cape government has activated its disaster management teams to provide support to communities affected by heavy rainfalls in the Nelson Mandela bay metro. This as hundreds of families across the metro have been displaced. The government says its primary concern is the safety and well being of residents, and has also expressed its condolences to the families that lost a loved ones,  and has promised that they will do everything possible to assist them, and ensure that no further lives are lost due to the floods. FSakina Kamwendo spoke to SABC reporter, Sinethemba Witi

Another mass shooting incident has rocked the Eastern Cape community after five men were shot and killed in New Brighton in Gqeberha. Here is the Eastern Cape police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli

Two Stellenbosch University students, Veer Gosai together with Joel Cedras says they have found numerous suspected fraudulent applications in SASSA's social grant payment system for the Social Relief of Distress Grant. The pair have been addressing the Portfolio Committee on Social Development  in parliament where they detailed alleged weaknesses in the system. The two first year students say their findings where triggered through an extensive investigation into whether or not they themselves had social grant applications made with their ID numbers. On confirming this, they then conducted a survey by asking fellow students to submit their own ID numbers for verification. Here is a snippet of their findings explained in their own words in Parliament.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa sees Russia as a valued ally who supported the country's struggle against Apartheid. Ramaphosa met with his Russian counterpart President Vladimir Putin in Kazan on the margins of the 16th BRICS Summit. Putin stressed that the two countries' trade and economic ties remain generally positive. A number of world leaders including the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres are attending the BRICS summit to tackle a pressing global issues. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to SABC reporter, Khayelihle Khumalo. 

Local residents in the Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape have called on local municipal officials to attend to illegal dumping of trash as it causes blockages to drains which ultimately leads to flooding during heavy downpours. Various parts of the provinces are underwater, roads have been damaged with some residents trapped inside their houses while others have been forced to evacuate. Here are two residents from Missionvale township assessing some of the damage to their area. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to Sinethamba Witi

The city of Johannesburg's Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for Public Safety, Dr. Mgcini Tshwaku is today inspecting a number of spaza shops and wholesalers in Soweto and surrounding areas. The city says the inspections form part of efforts to address what it calls a serious problem of unregistered spaza shops, where adherence to safety standards and tax obligations is frequently overlooked. This follows the recent deaths of 6 children who died after allegedly consuming poisoned food that was bought from a local spaza shop. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to SABC reporter, Mbalenhle Mthethwa

Mozambican police have clashed with demonstrators in the capital Maputo. They fired teargas as hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets following the killing of opposition symphathisers Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe. Presidential aspirant Venancio Mondlane has rejected the provisional results of the October 9 elections. The preliminary results have shown that FRELIMO is going to win. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to political analyst and media scholar at the Centre for Media Studies, Egidio Vaz Raposo

Residents of Orlando East in Soweto are going from house to house - searching for a suspect they believe is responsible for the rape and murder - of a five year-old girl. They say the suspect - a foreign national allegedly strangled the child to death - yesterday. Police are yet to confirm the incident. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to Orlando East community member  Lufuno Mokotla