Prasa overcharged by 2 000%; Cradock Four inquest: Today's top 7 stories in 7 minutes
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Cradock Four inquest: Brutal murders were 'calculated and premeditated', court told
A new inquest has begun into the 1985 murders of the Cradock Four, anti-apartheid activists killed by apartheid security forces.
Previous inquests identified security forces as responsible, but no prosecutions occurred, prompting the families to continue seeking justice.
The current inquest will include site visits and aims to uncover the full truth and provide closure for the families and community.
Rosetta Msimango/News24
DERAILED | Price-gouging frenzy: Entities overcharge Prasa by 2 000%, deliver faulty work
A forensic report accuses Prasa's contractors of overcharging by as much as 2 000% for repairing trains that are now discarded, with investigators recommending fraud charges.
The report details instances of price-gouging, ghost billing, substandard work, and inflated invoices by several contractors, resulting in Prasa paying millions for unusable or poorly repaired locomotives and coaches.
Despite spending R2.5 billion on the project, Prasa is not using the repaired trains, leading to recommendations that the expenditure be declared irregular, fruitless, and wasteful.
Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp
Ex-Moti Group employee - now in witness protection - blocks arrest bid to force him out of hiding
Former Moti Group legal advisor Clinton van Niekerk, who leaked documents to amaBhungane, successfully obtained an interdict to avoid being forced out of witness protection to face charges from the company.
Van Niekerk's legal team argued that bringing him into the open would endanger his life, requesting he appear in court via video link and stressing his status as a potential witness in a criminal investigation against the Moti Group.
The court granted the interdict, with Van Niekerk's attorney stating it sends a message to whistleblowers that courts can protect them and preserve their rights.
Lisalee Solomons/News24
Meet the viral matric pupil selling R2 sweets at a taxi rank to pay for his matric ball
Rudolph Lekay, a matric pupil from Mitchells Plain, sells sweets and chips at the taxi rank to fund his matric ball expenses, as his mother is a pensioner and cannot afford it.
Inspired by elderly ladies selling vetkoek, he started his venture with R150 Christmas money and aims to reach R10 000 by September, earning up to R600 a day.
His story went viral, and despite challenges like gang violence and needing to help his mother financially, he remains determined, with plans to study business at university next year.
Maya on Money | Retiree expected R2m but was paid out just R240 000
Many people experience retirement shortfalls because they assume their existing policies will be adequate without regular reviews.
Leon's Sanlam investment policy matured with a payout far below expectations due to lower-than-projected premium escalations and investment returns.
Investors should stay informed about their investments and advisors have a responsibility to provide updates, but legal recourse may be limited due to prescription and pre-FAIS Act policies.
Grant Pitcher/)
Heinrich Klaasen calls time on international career: 'It's a sad day for me'
Heinrich Klaasen has announced his immediate retirement from international cricket, stepping away from white-ball formats after retiring from Test cricket in 2024.
Klaasen, who debuted for the Proteas in 2018, established himself as a destructive middle-order batsman in ODIs and T20Is, known for his power-hitting and dominance against spin.
Cricket South Africa acknowledged Klaasen's impact and contribution to South African cricket, wishing him success in his future endeavors.
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Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell coming clean on Epstein case would be ‘a great service to the country'
Speaker Mike Johnson called on Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to come clean and told Americans that he "hoped" she could be trusted as he faces the growing uproar around the White House's handling of the investigation. Johnson appeared Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, where moderator Kristen Welker asked him point-blank if the convicted sex-trafficker girlfriend of Epstein could be trusted to accurately testify about the crimes she and Epstein committed. Epstein was awaiting prosecution for sex trafficking underage girls after a previous conviction on similar charges when he died in federal custody. Maxwell has been thrust back into the spotlight as the MAGA base has grown frustrated with President Donald Trump and his administration's shutting down of the so-called Epstein files release. Last week, a top Department of Justice official met with Maxwell about the case. "Well, I mean, look; it's a good question. I hope so," Johnson told Welker in response. "I hope that she would want to come clean." "I hope she's telling the truth. She is convicted, she's serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking. Her character is in some if she wants to come clean now, that would be a great service to the country. We want to know every bit of information that she has." The House Oversight Committee voted this week to issue a subpoena for Maxwell after the Justice Department announced its own plans to speak with her. Agency officials did so for nine hours between Thursday and Friday, after making a statement seeming to confirm that her testimony hadn't been aggressively sought before. Some have called Maxwell to testify and suggested she should be given a pardon for sharing what she knows about the Epstein case. She was convicted of sexual abuse against minors and sex trafficking for helping Epstein carry out crimes. Johnson touted the Oversight subpoena favorably Sunday, casting it as evidence that GOP leadership supported efforts aimed at transparency. The Trump administration turned speculation about Epstein's death and the so-called 'Client List' of his co-conspirators into a raging wildfire in early July. The Justice Department and FBI published a joint memo explaining that future releases from the files would not take place, and that the list of Epstein's accomplices was not found. Epstein was rumored to have cultivated personal relationships with many powerful men and institutions. Critics of the president have alleged that a cover-up is in the works regarding the Epstein files. Democrats have hammered the president for his reversal, and a pair of scoops from the Wall Street Journal have reported on the president's connections to Epstein, to Trump's fury. The newspaper reported the contents of a message allegedly penned by Trump to Epstein as part of a 50th birthday celebration in 2003, including allusions to a shared 'secret' between them. Trump firmly denied authoring the note, and sued the Journal and its reporters in response. A second article from the Journal days later reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein investigation multiple times, but it was not clear in what context. The White House called that story 'fake' and has repeatedly insinuated that Democrats including Joe Biden tampered with evidence while Trump was out of office. Being mentioned in the files does not mean wrongdoing, and hundreds of names are reportedly included. The lead GOP co-sponsor behind a House resolution that would force the Justice Department to release the entirety of its collected evidence related to Epstein said Sunday that his push was to help the convicted pedophile's victims and would only grow stronger in the coming weeks. Earlier on the same network, Rep. Thomas Massie appeared alongside the resolution's lead Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Ro Khanna, as the two promoted a resolution that would force Attorney General Pam Bondi to release 'all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials' related to the Epstein and Maxwell investigations. Massie told Welker that 'the release of the Epstein files is emblematic of what Trump ran for' and explained that the president's MAGA base expected results. 'There seems to be a class of people beyond the law, beyond the judicial all thought that when Trump was elected, he would be the bull in the china shop and break that all up,' said Massie. Massie went on to say that the Trump administration had lost his trust on the issue after publicly supporting transparency around the investigation, then doing an abrupt about-face. The administration is now calling on its supporters to move on from the issue and focus on hashing out issues with the 2016 'Russiagate' investigation instead of Epstein. Top administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, also spent months calling for the very releases the Justice Department says it won't authorize. 'People who were allegedly working on this weren't sincere in their efforts,' Massie said. 'Somebody should ask Speaker Mike Johnson, why did he recess Congress early so that he didn't have to deal with the Epstein issue?' 'Politics is the art of the doable. There's enough public pressure right now that we can get 218 votes and force this to a vote on the floor,' said Massie. He also firmly rejected a DOJ memo explaining the administration's position against further releases of information from the Epstein files, despite the very public promises of Bondi and others to do the opposite. In the memo, agency officials said that explicit imagery involving children was 'intertwined' throughout the files collected by the Justice Department. Some have said the files should not be released to protect sex-abuse victims of both Maxwell and Epstein. 'That's a straw man [argument],' Massie responded on Sunday, after Welker read part of the memo. 'Ro [Khanna] and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names would be redacted, and that no child pornography will be released.'
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Speaker Mike Johnson Slams Ghislaine Maxwell's 20-Year Sentence: ‘A Pittance'
"I think she should have a life sentence at least," he tells NBC's "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker" Ghislaine Maxwell's 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking is 'a pittance,' Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told NBC's 'Meet the Press with Kristen Welker' Sunday. 'I think she should have a life sentence at least.' The Trump administration's Justice Department recently granted Maxwell limited immunity during a series of recent interviews, allowing her to answer questions without her responses being held against her. Maxwell has made clear she wants her sentence thrown out or reduced; President Trump wished her 'well' in an interview and said a pardon is something he's 'allowed to do.' More from TheWrap Speaker Mike Johnson Slams Ghislaine Maxwell's 20-Year Sentence: 'A Pittance' | Video The Best New Shows on Netflix in July 2025 Connie Chung Says 'Shame On' Shari Redstone and the Ellisons: 'I Fear the End of CBS as I Knew It' | Video 'Anne Rice's Talamasca' Spinoff Taps 'Interview With the Vampire' Star Eric Bogosian as Guest Star In a firestorm of controversy over the administration's whipsaws around the Jeffrey Epstein matter, the Republican speaker has stood firm. 'I mean, think of all these unspeakable crimes, and as you noted earlier, probably 1,000 victims,' Johnson continued. 'I mean, you know, this, this is, it's, it's hard to put into words how evil this was, and that she orchestrated it and was a big part of it, at least under the criminal sanction, I think is an unforgivable thing. So again, not my decision, but I have great pause about that, as any reasonable person would.' In 2021 Maxwell was convicted on five of six charges stemming from her years working with Epstein. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022. Welker also asked Johnson if Maxwell 'can be trusted' following two days of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Tom Blanche. 'I hope so. I hope that she would want to come clean. We certainly are interested in knowing everything that she knows,' he answered. 'And as you'll note, in our House Republican majority, we're working towards that. Chairman Comer and our oversight committee has already issued their own subpoena. They, they want to bring in Ghislaine Maxwell as well. I hope she's telling the truth. She is convicted. She is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking, and so her character is in some question. But if she wants to come clean now, that would be a great service to the country, and we'd like to know every single bit of information that she has. I certainly hope she's telling the truth.' Blanche has yet to make a public statement about his conversations with Maxwell. That the department's second in command is interviewing a witness personally is 'highly unusual,' former prosecutors told NBC News. Attorney Jack Scarola, who represented approximately 20 of Epstein's victims, was denied a request to attend Maxwell's interview. Catherine Christian, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney and an NBC News legal analyst, also told the news outlet the interviews could be part of a larger plan to distract from Donald Trump's ties to Maxwell and Epstein. The president is fending off rising inquiries into the exact nature of those relationships, including calls for clarification from within his MAGA base. The post Speaker Mike Johnson Slams Ghislaine Maxwell's 20-Year Sentence: 'A Pittance' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
