After its first reported losses, the world’s biggest producer of platinum, Anglo American Platinum, wants to close shafts and retrench, so as to spare shareholders more pain. After months of negotiations between the Department of Mineral Resources and unions, 6,000 jobs are still on the line. In response, Amplats workers declared they would down tools unless the mining giant put people before profits. By MANDY DE WAAL.

South Africa is rapidly urbanising, and in many cases infrastructure and municipal services are struggling to keep up. In the Western Cape, a private group of urban designers and developers think they have a solution. They want to build a new city 25km north of Cape Town’s city centre called Wescape, and so far they have the land, the plan, and seemingly the City of Cape Town’s blessing. But not everyone is convinced that the development is a very good idea. By REBECCA DAVIS.

Ahead of the tripartite alliance summit in June and October, the South African Communist Party has commented at length on the National Development Plan. It’s a well thought-out critique that rejects the ‘yes/no’ paradigm sought by NUMSA, while honing in on the plan’s weaknesses, like the inconsistencies and ‘broad consensus’ on which the document is supposedly built. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

More than 20 boys died at Mpumalanga initiation schools in the last week. This follows the death of almost 50 young men in only three weeks at the schools last July. There are examples of the practice improving and becoming more regulated. But with oversight shunted to provinces, local government and traditional authorities, there are schools operating with little accountability under a confused mixture of different authorities. By GREG NICOLSON.

The Northern Cape Afrikaner enclave of Orania is a topic much beloved by documentary-makers and journalists. This is for one good reason: however much you might deplore the principle of cultural self-determination, Orania is fascinating. The volkstaat has its own currency – the Ora – and the streets appear to be lined with North Korea-style billboards urging self-sufficiency. But a recent documentary, “Orania”, neither satirises nor explicitly judges the Orania community. Primarily, it reveals what appears to be a suffocating sense of boredom hanging over the town. By REBECCA DAVIS.

This week, Gauteng Commissioner of Police Mzwandile Petros announced that 560 protests had taken place in Gauteng between 1 April and 10 May this year. Petros warned that his charges did not have the resources to adequately police these protests. State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele has also been talking about the issue in Parliament – he’s vowed to stamp out the incidence of violent protest. By KHADIJA PATEL.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

In the process of completion of De Wet Potgieter’s expose, Daily Maverick afforded the right of response to Junaid and Farhad Dockrat as well as other individuals mentioned in the story. Within two-day period, we have received only a short statement from the African Continental Development, a company that owns Tsitsikamma Coastal Golf Estate. A further 48 hours later, Farhad Dockrat issued the following press statement, which we publish in its entirety.

Helen Zille’s latest DA Today newsletter puts the blame for SA’s parlous education system squarely at the feet of teachers, based on a report released just over a week ago. But education activists continue to insist that the conditions under which teachers work are equally important. The latest organization to try to lend a hand to setting educational standards in the country is the SA Human Rights Commission, whose Charter of Children’s Basic Education Rights aims to flesh out what we mean when we talk about someone having the “right” to education. By REBECCA DAVIS.

The Limpopo textbook scandal came to our attention courtesy of public interest law group Section27. The organisation has been criticised by the state and drawn controversy from its inception. GREG NICOLSON meets the team and finds that not only are they committed to ensuring the rights of South Africans are met, but they’re a group of committed “crazy people”.

The much-anticipated report on the government investigation into the irregular landing of a private plane carrying Gupta family wedding guests at Waterkloof Air Force Base is to be discussed on Wednesday by ministers in the justice, crime prevention and security cluster. It may or may not be complete, may or may not be made public, and may or may not contain recommendations to prevent the recurrence of such a national security breach. But whatever the report contains, the heart of the problem is the ANC’s inability to stop the corrupting influence of business people, and their money, on its leaders. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

On Tuesday, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) released its 2013 mid-year population estimates. This release is normally uncontroversial, but this year’s numbers clash quite glaringly with the 2011 census results. By PAUL BERKOWITZ.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

As the Marikana commission of inquiry continues, so does the bloodshed on the ground. The body count is rising as a climate of fear spreads through the platinum belt. And the violence looks unlikely to abate soon. By GREG MARINOVICH & THAPELO LEKGOWA.

The NUM has lost thousands of its members, mining bosses are under the profit cosh and the mining minster is under the job loss whip. However, it is Joseph Mathunjwa, the leader of AMCU, a union that has had only one leadership conference in its 12 year existence, who is the focal point of this year’s wage negotiating season. And he is the guy who has to deliver – despite AMCU’s non-existent track record. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

The Democratic Alliance’s “Know Your DA” campaign, launched a month ago, has attracted criticism from those who accuse the opposition of airbrushing its history and attempting to co-opt ownership of the struggle against Apartheid from the ANC. But the DA is unbowed. On Monday, the party launched a video to accompany the campaign which it intends to show to one million South Africans, and leaders insisted that the campaign is working exactly as they had hoped. By REBECCA DAVIS.

If you were hoping the Department of Public Works task team on the upgrades to President Zuma’s Nkandla residence would shed some light on who’s responsible for the R206 million spend, don’t hold your breath. The president’s house is a national key point so his allies can “justifiably” say releasing the juicy details of the report might compromise national security. By GREG NICOLSON.

The Department of Communications called a press conference on Monday to encourage the Sunday Times to stop publishing investigative stories into the minister Dina Pule. This is after it issued a statement on Friday to say that she would not apologise to the paper for attacks she launched against it and its journalists at the end of April. This is all just a curtain-raiser for the hearings before the joint committee on ethics and members’ interests, which were sparked by the ST reports. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

In a significant escalation, mineworkers in the Marikana area are blaming the NUM for the murder of an AMCU member who was due to appear at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into last year’s massacre. Under pressure to protect its members and fight to retain its position as mining’s leading union, it appears the NUM is becoming more militant. By GREG NICOLSON.

“I’m not a card-carrying member of any political party. I have over the years voted for the ANC, but I would very sadly not be able to vote for them after the way things have gone.” These are the words of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who wrote last week that it was “a very huge ache” to see South Africa deteriorating the way it is. It is no secret that Tutu is angry and disenchanted with the ANC. His is no ordinary voice, but does what the elders say matter, and do they impact on the mindset of South Africans? By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

The police’s specialised unit, Crimes Against the State (CATS) and the State Security Agency (SSA) have been monitoring the training of al-Qaeda terrorists in South Africa for several years, without taking any action. A year-long investigation by the Daily Maverick’s DE WET POTGIETER has revealed surprising inaction by police despite incriminating evidence about secret military training camps and sophisticated sniper training at three well-documented locations as well as several others across South Africa. These subversive activities have taken place at a farm near the notorious Apartheid police hit squad camp at Vlakplaas outside Pretoria, as well as a secluded farm in the mountains of the Klein Karoo.

“This is a moment of renewal,” President Jacob Zuma said at his inauguration as South Africa’s fourth democratically elected president. Following an incredible political comeback after being fired as deputy president and two turbulent court trials, Zuma looked ready to lead the country into a new era. It was the age of innocence: Julius Malema was still en vogue, Zwelinzima Vavi and Blade Nzimande still liked each other, Kgalema Motlanthe still had a political future and we had never even heard of Riah Phiyega. Or Waka Waka. Lonmin was just a platinum company and Dina Pule was wearing normal shoes. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

Former ANC soldier and soccer star-cum-community paralegal Bricks Mokolo is furious after he spent some six hours trying to access Baragwanath Hospital’s x-ray department with an injured employee. Mokolo says Gauteng’s public health system is a disaster that violates basic human rights; civic research backs this up. Now the human rights activist want to make politicians give up private health care, and to start using the system they brought to its knees. By MANDY DE WAAL.

City of Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau delivered his state of the city address on Thursday, making big promises to spend on infrastructure and economic development whilst fighting crime and corruption. Skeptics are not convinced, claiming there is not enough acknowledgement of just how bad things are in the city. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Earlier this week, Daily Maverick published an article by Jared Sacks exposing some of the suffering experienced by those seeking adequate housing in the Western Cape. Here, in the interests of debate, is the response from the Housing Development Agency.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.