Top 10 stories of the day: Mkhwanazi drags Mchunu
In today's news update, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says he's ready to die for the badge, while government has dismissed 'disinformation' about terrorism in South Africa.
Additionally, DA leader John Steenhuisen has been warned against insubordination regarding the national dialogue.
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'We don't want him to be a pop star': Allegations by KZN police commissioner Mkhwanazi sparks uproar
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Picture: Gallo Images/Darren Stewart
KZN police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's explosive allegations against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and senior officials within the South African Police Service (Saps) has triggered widespread public and political reaction.
Mkhwanazi alleged political interference in police's operations in a briefing held on Sunday.
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Dirco slams old travel advisory about terrorism in South Africa
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola. Picture: Neil McCartney / The Citizen
The International Relations Department (Dirco) has slammed an old UK travel advisory warning British nationals about terrorism in South Africa, saying it is a 'classic example of disinformation'.
Posts on X have revived the terror warning in South Africa, which was first issued in 2022 and again in April 2024.
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Should criminal offenders be given chance to pay off victims?
Picture: iStock
Criminal court rolls are being sped up by allowing victims and offenders to agree on monetary compensation.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms bridge the gap between time consuming prosecutions and the quest for justice.
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Steenhuisen warned of 'insubordination' over national dialogue stance
Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen. Picture: Per-Anders Pettersson / Getty Images
Cracks in the government of national unity (GNU) are becoming gulfs as its biggest parties exchange threats.
Relations between the ANC and DA have been frayed almost since the onset of the GNU, but have taken extra strain this past week.
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Western Cape school principal gets job back after demotion over 'kwedini' remark to his deputy
Picture: iStock
A primary school principal in the Western Cape who was demoted for calling his deputy a 'kwedini' (small boy) and threatening to hit him has been reinstated following a successful appeal.
Earlier this year, Mvuysi Stanley Damba was demoted to a teaching position at Sobambisana Primary School in Khayelitsha.
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Here are five more stories of the day:
Yesterday's News recap
READ HERE: Top 10 stories of the day: Mabuza funeral | Springboks beat Italy | 2025 Durban July
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The South African
3 hours ago
- The South African
Was the Butler 'assassination attempt' on Donald Trump staged?
Is it remotely possible that showman, actor, TV producer and all-round heavyweight bullsh*tter Donald J. Trump was involved in staging the alleged 'assassination attempt' on him in Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July last year? Because as many analysts, investigators and internet sleuths are pointing out…the 'official explanation' is riddled with weird and confounding inconsistencies. In a recent episode of his talk show, MOATS, British MP and political analyst, George Galloway, raised an interesting, important and pertinent question: 'Whatever happened to the guy…who came so close to murdering Donald Trump at Butler, PA?' Galloway asked. 'Why do I know less about him than I know about the latest K-pop star singing, You're My Little Soda Pop ? Why do I know more about Little Soda Pop than I do about the guy who drew blood, in broad daylight, by firing a bullet into the face of the man who was about to be the president of the United States?' 'I know nothing about him,' Galloway said. 'Haven't seen his manifesto. Know nothing about his motives, his associates, or who he was in touch with in the minutes, hours and days…before he came so close to changing the entire course of world history. 'Is that not a bit suspicious? Just saying…' Good question. Suspicious indeed. And it gets even more suspicious. On the anniversary of the Butler assassination attempt this year, Congress released a report detailing failures by the United States Secret Service (USSS) that allowed the 13 July 2024 attempted assassination of presidential candidate Donald J. Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, to nearly succeed. The report unveiled by US Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, exposes a disturbing pattern of denials, mismanagement, and missed warning signs – some occurring just minutes before shots were fired. Among the failures by the USSS documented in the report are 'inexcusable negligence, communication breakdowns, systemic weaknesses, and limited accountability'. The report states (summary): 'On July 13, 2024, a gunman climbed onto the roof of the American Glass Research building near the Butler Farm Show rally and opened fire, striking four individuals, including President Trump, and killing firefighter Corey Comperatore. The shooter had been reported to the Secret Service as suspicious and with a rangefinder at least 25 minutes earlier.' 'What happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, was not just a tragedy—it was a scandal. The United States Secret Service failed to act on credible intelligence, failed to coordinate with local law enforcement, and failed to prevent an attack that nearly took the life of a then-former president,' said chairman Paul. 'Despite those failures, no one has been fired. That's unacceptable. This was not a single lapse in judgment. It was a complete breakdown of security at every level—fueled by bureaucratic indifference, a lack of clear protocols, and a shocking refusal to act on direct threats.' Almost as if responding to Galloway's good question, political and media (and 'conspiracy theory') analysts, Keaton Weiss and Russell Dobular from Due Dissidence recently did a collating deep dive into the 'suspicious' mystery behind Trump's near murder and would-be assassin. In his introduction, Dobular announced, 'We're going to go Oliver Stone on this.' Citing director Stone's masterpiece film, JFK , he said, 'Stone presented a theory, and that theory was: Even if you don't think this is what happened, the 'official story' is not what happened, based on the evidence.' He added, 'There are a lot of weird things about this assassination attempt.' In a video titled, More Questions than Answers , here's what DD unpacked… The duo started by playing a clip from a video posted on X by alt news/media site HOT SPOT. The description in the post says, 'Footage of the attempted Trump assassination in Butler, PA shows a man lining up photographers at the precise moment the most effective campaign photo in US history was captured.' After the shooter fired on Trump, Keaton Weiss pointed out how bizarre it was that the Secret Service agent was concerned about coordinating the photographers. 'Your job is to protect the president, not the photographers, right?' Weiss said. 'Why are you corralling them? It's weird.' Dobular, a self-admitted 'theatre dork', questioned the strange decision by the SS to bring Trump 'downstage centre' (the part of a stage that's closest to the audience). 'This is an active shooter situation,' Dobular said. 'Why would you bring him downstage centre? That to me is the most suspicious part of this footage.' The video clip got to the part where shots have just rung out, and the SS have Trump on the ground and covered. And then, they again do something that was bewilderingly strange and reckless. They pick Trump up, exposing him to the shooter. Dobular paused the clip and asked the obvious question. 'So they got him down, which is what you'd expect. Why would you lift him up? Why would you expose him like that?' THE WAPO BODYCAM POV – TRUMP PAUSES FOR A PHOTO OP Russell then ran a clip of another angle – from the Washington Post; the POV of a photographer wearing a GoPro or body cam. 'This was definitely one of the photographers that the Secret Service guy was corralling', Weiss indicated. To which Dobular responded, 'Again, why would you position him like that in an active shooter situation? That is really the most suspicious thing in all of this.' In the POV clip, Trump can be seen forcing his SS guards to pause his rapid exit, as he raised his fist for that iconic photo-op moment, and shouted to the crowd, 'Fight!'. Dobular brought up another X post, by alt news/media platform, RAWSALERTS. It's allegedly a photo of the bullet whizzing past Trump's head. He then brought up several photos from different accounts questioning the blood, and lack of scar tissue on Trump's ear – and how quickly it seemed to heal. Commenting on the images and posts, Dobular said: 'A lot of people have pointed out the ear, claiming the blood should be dripping. Some pointed out there's no scarring in the ear. I personally don't think you see scar tissue there.' Dobular also ran a video of interviews with multiple witnesses who pointed out the shooter in advance when they saw him behaving 'suspiciously' and climbing onto the roof, but were ignored by police and SS. By late July, less than two weeks after the shooting, new photos emerged of Trump's ear apparently miraculously completely healed. On 8 August 2024, less than a month after the shooting – and the Republican National Convention where Trump was seen wearing a bandage on his ear – Trump was interviewed by the media at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, without the ear bandage. When a reporter asked about the absence of the bandage, in true narcissistic Trump fashion, The Don answered: 'I'm a fast healer. It's a helluva shot, but I'm a fast healer. Yeah, pretty much recovered.' 'I got very lucky. It just hit the lobe – as they call it,' he added. On 28 February, Elon Musk made another appearance on the Joe Rogan show. The subject of Trump's near-assassination came up. Along with some good questions about some very strange inconsistencies. As Rogan pointed out, the house of the (alleged) shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been 'professionally' scrubbed, and Crooks had no internet or social media footprint. Here Musk interjected, 'Yeah, there's zero per cent chance that he has no social media footprint.' Rogan continued, 'With this kid, we don't know anything, right? And everyone's stopped asking questions. There was never a formal report or press conference where they detailed all the information we know currently and where the investigation stands. At the moment, what we know is you have a very young kid who was filmed, they knew he was there – with a rangefinder – half an hour before the event.' He pointed out, 'You also know that CNN streamed it live – which I do not believe they did for any other rally and certainly not for a rally that's in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania.' Among the other anomalies in the case, Rogan also brought up 'the kid had 5 phones, that's a lot of phones for a 20-year-old kid. One of them was tracked to outside FBI offices several times.' 'There's a lot of weird shit', Rogan added. THE HIGGINS REPORT – 'THE BODY IS GONE' In early August 2024, Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins, a member of the House Task Team investigating the assassination attempt, was in Butler asking the coroner if he could investigate the body of Thomas Crooks – only to be told, 'the body is gone'. In his report submitted to the Task Force Chairman on 12 August, Higgins wrote: 'My effort to examine Crooks' body on Monday, 5 August, caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact… the FBI released the body for cremation 10 days after J13.' 'On J23, Crooks was gone', Higgins reported. 'Nobody knew this until 5 August, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc.' Higgins said the Butler County Coroner 'technically had legal authority over the body, but I spoke with the Coroner, and he would have never released Crooks' body to the family for cremation or burial without specific permission from the FBI'. He also wrote that 'similar to scrubbing crime scene biological evidence … this action by the FBI can only be described as an obstruction to any investigative effort.' 'THE 'OFFICIAL STORY' IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED' In the course of the deep dive by Dissidence , Russell Dobular said, 'In my entire life, there has never been a would-be assassin as invisibilized as this assassin. I didn't know his name until I did the research for this.' Wrapping up their video, Dobular made his position and personal opinion on the 'assassination attempt' clear. 'Given how things have evolved since Trump became president…I believe this was staged to ensure that he would become president', he said. 'Nobody could ever prove that – but that's my opinion based on the evidence.' 'There's a lot of weird stuff. I think we can say, conclusively, that the story we're being told is not the truth. Clearly, there is a cover-up here. Whatever you believe about that, there's a cover-up.' He added, 'What the nature of it is, we don't know.' Let us know by leaving a comment below or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
4 hours ago
- The Citizen
South African woman arrested in Bali for alleged drug smuggling
Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers. Two people from Brazil and South Africa have been charged in Indonesia for allegedly trying to smuggle four kilograms (8.8 pounds) of drugs into Bali, the anti-narcotics agency said Thursday. The pair were travelling separately when they were arrested on 13 July at the resort island's international airport and could face the death penalty if found guilty. The Brazilian man was allegedly carrying two plastic bags containing just over three kilograms of cocaine in his backpack and luggage, I Made Sinar Subawa, from the local anti-narcotics agency, told a news conference. ALSO READ: Child of South African drug mule in Mauritius prison to return home Made said the suspect was a courier and had been told to deliver the package to a man living in Bali. The South African woman was arrested after arriving from Singapore on the same day with nearly one kilogram of crystal methamphetamine allegedly hidden in her clothing. 'Based on the interrogation, she confessed that she was ordered to carry the meth from Johannesburg to Bali, to be delivered to someone in Bali,' Made said. Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers. There are dozens of traffickers on death row in the country, including a cocaine-smuggling British grandmother. ALSO READ: OR Tambo International now a hub for drug mules — expert Indonesia last carried out executions in 2016, killing one Indonesian and three Nigerian drug convicts by firing squad. Drug smuggling cases This is not the first case of South African women being arrested in foreign countries for drug smuggling. Mauritius has seen multiple arrests of South African women involved in drug trafficking. A South African woman was arrested after allegedly being caught with drugs with an estimated value of Rs 8 million (just over R3.3 million) at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport in Mauritius on 17 September 2019. ALSO READ: Cocaine on a plane at OR Tambo – again: Drug mule nabbed with 33 'bullets' Mauritius' Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) in collaboration with the officers of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section of the MRA intercepted the woman coming from Reunion after being alerted of the 'suspicious behaviour' of the woman. The woman, 34-year-old Nokuphila Mtshali, from KwaZulu-Natal, reportedly introduced herself as a businesswoman who would be on the island for five days. The officials searched her and found three plastic-wrapped bundles in her private parts containing 528 grams of heroin. The woman reportedly cooperated with the officials, who arranged a fake delivery with fake drugs in an attempt to find her accomplices, reported Mauritius' The fake delivery led to the arrest of two Nigerian men, Ndubuisi Samuel Ebielonwu, 33, and Eze Collins, 31, and police confiscated an iPhone and cash in rands, Mauritian rupees, US dollar and naira. The woman was reportedly promised R40,000 for a successful delivery. ALSO READ: SA woman arrested for 'drugs in vagina' for two Nigerians in Mauritius A year before, 30-year-old Thami Nomathamsanqa Dyasi was allegedly caught with pellets of heroin weighing more than 1.25kg concealed in her private parts and stomach, according to Mauritian reports. Additional reporting by Vhahangwele Nemakonde
The Citizen
5 hours ago
- The Citizen
Top 10 stories of the day: Zondo blasts Ramaphosa
Here's your daily news update for Sunday, 27 July 2025: An easy-to-read selection of our top stories. News today includes a police captain who killed his girlfriend and brother before turning the gun on himself in a double murder and suicide in Protea. Meanwhile, the City of Joburg council no longer has jurisdiction over former transport MMC Kenny Kunene, now that he has resigned, and that it has become a 'police matter', mayor Dada Morero says. Furthermore, The Citizen had the opportunity to have a look around the Gupta compound in Saxonwold. This was ahead of an auction taking place to sell the three properties. Weather tomorrow: 28 July 2025 The South African Weather Service (Saws) expects isolated showers along the east coast and the northeastern parts of the country. Possible damaging winds and waves are anticipated along the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected in the Nama Khoi municipality of the Namakwa district in the Northern Cape. Full weather forecast Stay up to date with The Citizen – More News, Your Way. Police captain kills girlfriend, her brother, then himself in double murder and suicide A police captain killed his girlfriend and brother before turning the gun on himself in a double murder and suicide in Protea. Three others were injured in the shooting on Saturday night. Picture: iStock Police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said a police captain's girlfriend, who was also a SA Police Service officer, was shot at their home. CONTINUE READING: Police captain kills girlfriend, her brother then himself in double murder and suicide Joburg council has 'no jurisdiction over Kenny Kunene, it's a police matter,' Morero says [VIDEO] The City of Joburg council no longer has jurisdiction over former transport MMC Kenny Kunene, now that he has resigned, and that it has become a 'police matter', mayor Dada Morero says. Former MMC of transport, Kenny Kunene during the War On Potholes campaign launch at Ward 90, Hyde Park on 10 July 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Picture: Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo The suspended Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy president resigned as a councillor in the city of Johannesburg with immediate effect on Saturday. CONTINUE READING: Joburg council has 'no jurisdiction over Kenny Kunene, it's a police matter,' Morero says [VIDEO] Video: A tour inside the Gupta compound The Citizen had the opportunity to have a look around the Gupta compound in Saxonwold. This was ahead of an auction taking place to sell the three properties. A view of number 5 Saxonwold Drive, part of the Gupta compound, seen on 24 July 2025. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen Number 3 Saxonwold Drive was the most rundown property of the three, and it was the only one to sell. Numbers 5 and 7 did not sell during the auction by Park Village Auctioneers. CONTINUE READING: Video: A tour inside the Gupta compound DA demands urgent action on illegal street racing in Joburg suburbs Joburg residents are up in arms over illegal racing in several suburbs, including Lenasia, Rosebank, Fourways and Midrand, among other areas, which they say have become a nuisance and dangerous. Joburg residents are up in arms over illegal drag racing in several suburbs. Picture: iStock The DA said that, due to the brazen antics of the drag racers, innocent lives in Johannesburg's suburbs are being put at risk in the 'reckless and illegal practice of street racing.' CONTINUE READING: DA demands urgent action on illegal street racing in Joburg suburbs Breakfast with the Aquarist: Dive into marine magic at the Johannesburg Zoo The Johannesburg Zoo's special 'Breakfast with the Zoo Aquarist' programme offered visitors an extraordinary behind-the-scenes glimpse into the aquatic world on Saturday. Joburg Zoo aquarist Peter Baloi is seen scuba diving in the zoo's walk-through tunnel tank, 26 June 2025, during an event inviting youngsters to find out what a career as an aquarist would involve. The presentations hoped to inspire attendees to consider careers in marine biology, zoology and diving. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen Guests joined the zoo's aquarist team for an educational morning that combined a delicious breakfast with fascinating insights into marine biology, zoology and diving careers. CONTINUE READING: Breakfast with the Aquarist: Dive into marine magic at the Johannesburg Zoo Here are five more stories of the day: Yesterday's News recap READ HERE: Top 10 stories of the day: Kenny Kunene resigns | Basotho military-style training camps | Leaked Bushiri case affidavit
