E Cape ANC bigwigs in ‘loan’ fracas

Oscar Mabuyane and Babalo Madikizela paid for a Bentley and renovations with suspect funds

2021: ANC, DA could lose metros

Based on projections, if the ANC continues on its 2016 trajectory, the party could have to go into coalitions in Johannesburg and in Tshwane

ANC survival depends on Cyril’s choice

A credible Cabinet needs to fight for the economy and prevent losses in the 2021 local elections

JZ’s battle to avoid ‘tainted’ trial

Former president Jacob Zuma is seeking a permanent stay of prosecution in the corruption case against him that has dragged on for 15 years

Slice of life: Learning about music and life

‘The love was what I needed’

Big increase in mine water pollution

New data reveals a radical increase in the number of mines flouting water regulations

Mine shakes homes and dreams

Residents say the world’s largest open-cast platinum mine on their doorstep is killing them; mine management disagrees

‘No place for black academics’

A book accuses universities of crushing the ambitions of black lecturers and researchers

Gender is a premier issue for ANC

Compromise means the majority of provincial executives and all speakers of legislatures need to be women

Hawks move on 62 KZN councillors

Four waste removal contractors were allegedly awarded a R5-million tender despite inexperience

Read a human for a life change

The Human Library lends people with titles like Ex-Drug Addict and Gay Christian to deal with your problems or challenge your prejudices. Carl Collison spoke to two human books

ANC’s biggest Gauteng losses were wards in Soweto’s heart

Residents in Zola have punished the government for all their service delivery woes

What the low voter turnout really shows

Pomfret is a town like no other in South Africa.
A substantial number of Portuguese speakers live there, descendants of soldiers who fought in the South African Defence Force’s 32 Battalion during the Border War in Angola.

Raw sewage overwhelms Durban

The breakdown of a treatment plant has cost businesses millions of rand in lost income,  delayed ship maintenance and hammered sea life

Plans for second airport grounded

Everyone’s a loser as an ambitious plan to resuscitate Durban’s old airport falls apart

Health:

Why Discovery Health didn’t pay up

Discovery Health Medical Scheme and all other open medical schemes apply waiting periods if a member has had a break in membership of more than 90 days before joining/re-joining a scheme.

Are the medical aids really fleecing you?

Medical aids may be increasingly willing to fork over the cash to cover your hospital visits, but there’s a good reason to propose new protections for consumers, a Competition Commission investigation finds.

Why your pregnancy might be pricier than you think

When medical schemes and the law count conceiving as a pre-existing condition to exclude cover, pregnant women lose

Africa:

AU ‘covering up’ perpetrators’ abuse

A damning internal inquiry has implicated senior officials in sexual harassment, nepotism and fraud,but there have been no repercussions for any of the accused

Queer voters can’t win

Ahead of polls, all major political parties in Malawi have said they will entrench the queerphobic landscape

What it feels like to go home to the new Sudan

For years I have felt great apprehension and uneasiness whenever I visited Sudan, my home country.
Not this time.

Kenya’s ID push raises red flags

There is lots of money to be made from exploiting the personal data of Kenyans, and no shortage of dodgy politicians willing to do the exploiting

Business:

Beast-free burgers are on a roll

Pioneering food firms are winning over fast food fans with meat alternatives – and even the beefy SA market is starting to bite

‘Airbnb Bill’ ruffles duvets

Those for the law say it will level the playing field whereas those against say it is anticompetitive

Small power’s green light gets brighter

Efforts are underway to make it easier for firms, farms and households to sell electricity to the grid

Let’s jam: Is it time to take stock of the Uber economy?

Investors have eagerly been waiting for Uber to make its stock market debut

Bank branches off from the poor

Standard Bank’s decision to close branches and push its app excludes low-income households and the informal sector

Comment & Analysis:

SA today is another country

1994 set us on the path to freedom, but much must still be fixed and new problems await us

Editorial: People of honour — Your time is now

‘In last week’s vote, the ANC was offered a lifeline by a public anxious to see its choice validated by action’

Editorial: EFF must expect scrutiny

‘The EFF is free to answer, or not answer, the M&G’s questions’

Online site a new model for journalism

Africa Is a Country provides news about Africa by Africans that’s free and not dependent on clickbait

uBaba fails to show up for Mama

The Durban mayor charged with corruption may, for once, not be at Jacob Zuma’s next court appearance

Show women that you care, Mr President

Ramaphosa has to demonstrate that achieving gender equality in SA is an important goal

It’s white people’s turn to be generous

Without a renewed social compact and the sacrifice of economic power, our country

will never experience its ‘new dawn

A beauty revolution emerges

Stereotypes and idealised images of what constitutes the perfect woman are being challenged

The book lover’s fallback

‘Perhaps the best thing about joining the library is the deadline for finishing a book’

The DA would benefit from a little introspection

To win back support, the DA should conduct a brutally honest assessment of its governance failures in the metros it still controls.

Friday:

The Weekend Guide

For good vibes and an arts fix, don’t miss this

The Portfolio: Madelene Cronje

“For me the image captures a normal moment in an abnormal situation”

Queer maketh camp

The artistic expression of identity has made its way to the most mainstream spotlight — the Met Gala

Peeking through death’s door

John Vlismas is exploring ways of fucking with his formula

Head’s journalism eclipsed

The acclaimed author’s newspaper articles should have been given critical attention too

One’s move is another’s muse

Do all creatives need to migrate to bigger cities in order to enjoy successful careers?

Mlangeni & SA’s syncopated society

The musician may not have known who to vote for, but he is in tune with our political past and present

The organised chaos of Sun-Xa

Sun-Xa songs often come across as extended jams centring performance and sound production.

Sport:

FC Fémeni may help Barça men’s club make history

Barcelona have the opportunity to achieve something unprecedented this season.

Banyana running out of chances

Still reeling from their most recent loss, the team has very little time to prepare for better opponents

Tale of dirty, sexy Watford

The gritty underdogs have bludgeoned their way to the finals, but can they beat football’s best?

It’s the dreamers vs the desperate

The very different dispositions of Chiefs and TS Galaxy will determine who wins