At the start of this month, prison guards at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria injured inmates sentenced to life who were protesting against the delays in their parole processes. The Wits Justice Project (WJP) has seen pictures of four prisoners with head wounds and large bruises on their limbs. By RUTH HOPKINS and NKOSIKHONA KUMALO.

South Africa’s most famous ex-prisoner wrote in his autobiography that “no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails”. In this fact sheet, we provide data to show what’s going on inside South African prisons. By GOPOLANG MAKOU, INA SKOSANA and RUTH HOPKINS.

Just hours after Themba Godi, chair of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public accounts lashed out on Monday at shadowy individuals threatening the life of Sassa CEO Thokozani Magwaza, Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini fired the embattled CEO. The shocking move comes as Magwaza was putting finishing touches on a contract with the South African Post Office to replace CPS in March 2018 as the distributor of social grants to 17-million South Africans and worth a whopping R10-billion a month. Dlamini appears to be hell-bent on manufacturing another social grants crisis. By MARIANNE THAMM.

President Jacob Zuma has survived through controlling key state institutions, especially the intelligence services. That soon could be exposed. By GREG NICOLSON.

There is a remarkable silence on the part of the ANC in this week, which marks the 50th anniversary of Chief Albert Luthuli’s death. Luthuli died as ANC president in 1967 and was the first South African to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The ANC has made no statement on the matter or announced no commemoratory events. Luthuli, is an uncomfortable memory, for he represented ethical and leadership qualities that are in stark contrast to the squalor that marks the ANC of 2017. By RAYMOND SUTTNER.

Black First Land First only fights with white people, even though black journalists are “house negroes”. But just this once, they’ll make an exception. Should he challenge them, they’ll see amaBhungane’s Micah Reddy in court. By MARELISE VAN DER MERWE.

But it will need farmers, municipalities, NGOs, unions, and businesses to work together. By Peter de Wet for GROUNDUP.

The Labour Appeal Court handed down a judgment on 10 July that clarifies the status of employees hired through a temporary employment service, more commonly known as a labour broker and ruled the client company is considered the employer if a worker has been at the company more than three months. By Safura Abdool Karim for GROUNDUP.

France steps into Gulf Crisis, Trump takes to the offensive, and zombie movie grandfather dies.

Evita Bezuidenhout celebrates 20 years of her Darling venue Evita se Perron with a weekly episode of 'Evita's Free Speech'. Here's the Episode 99. By PIETER-DIRK UYS.

Despite the laws, systems and agents in place to develop, guide and protect the most vulnerable of children, there are many that fall victim to the state’s inadequacies. By SHENIECE LINDERBOOM.

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s plan was an economic miss as far as declaring supportive, principled, pragmatic and progressive fiscal policies is concerned. Here are some misses. By FATIMA VAWDA.

Passively interested in cycling? Nothing more than a passing patriotic interest in how the South Africans are getting on in the Tour de France? Our daily wrap is for people just like you. By ANTOINETTE MULLER.

As the #GuptaLeaks and other investigations publicly turn up more evidence, it has become clear that Transnet, with its annual revenue of more than R60-billion, was targeted as ground-zero for Gupta capture. By AMABHUNGANE and SCORPIO.

The Turkish ambassador in South Africa has informed Pretoria about Turkish nationals who it says are fund-raising in this country for the Gülenist movement which Ankara blames for a coup attempt a year ago today. By PETER FABRICIUS.

Balancing HIV treatment with a myriad lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension is tricky. Patients have to take lots of pills, some medicines interact badly and there are side-effects. But this is the future of our clinics as HIV positive patients age and poor diet and lack of exercise take their toll. HEALTH-E’s Kerry Cullinan reports.

In November 2016 a sorrowful Brian Molefe announced he would resign from Eskom “in the interests of good corporate governance” after the Public Protector proved just how chummy he was with Gupta Inc. Three months later Molefe received a controversial R30-million golden handshake… err, performance bonus. No, make that a pension fund payout. Because Molefe – Eskom’s CEO at the time – got retrenched. Or resigned. Took early retirement? No, was on unpaid leave. Yeah, we all got lost in the absurdity that stopped short of maternity leave. Thanks to a series of emails and documents leaked from the heart of Eskom, SCORPIO now clears the confusion. By PAULI VAN WYK.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive” has become the motto of the Trump family in recent days. J. BROOKS SPECTOR reviews the newest wrinkles.

The number of the person threatening to kill outspoken ANC MP, Dr Makhosi Khoza is formally registered to the Gupta beholden Black First Land First (BLF) movement. By Pauli van Wyk for SCORPIO

Think of it as one of history’s most astonishing ever retirement packages: Daily Maverick has recently learned that an offer of R2-billion has been presented to Jacob Zuma, making it the most significant financial amnesty ever made to a sitting head of state. (The money would be raised from private individuals and institutions, and not from state coffers). Sources within the ANC, along with sources from the business community have confirmed that the A-bomb has indeed been dropped in at least one major forum, although the president has not yet agreed to begin talks. The economic implications, to say nothing of the legal precedent it would set, are beyond staggering: enough fuck-off money to upgrade an Nkandla a year until 2027. But where would Zuma go? Who else among his faction would be granted amnesty? What would happen to the cash he and his associates already have? And what species of country would be left standing in his wake? By RICHARD POPLAK.

The #GuptaLeaks are a massive trove of information made up of hundreds of gigabytes of documents and emails obtained by a team of journalists from the Daily Maverick's investigative unit, Scorpio, Amabhungane and News24. The latest episode of the  #Guptaleaks  looks at Bell Pottinger, the UK-based PR firm that brought South Africa to the brink of a race war to protect the reputations of the Zumas and the Guptas.

Owner of Excelsior asks – but what can we do? By Ashleigh Furlong and Thembela Ntongana for GROUNDUP.

Residents also claim their belongings were stolen during evictions. By Andrew Bennie for GROUNDUP.

Matters have taken a sinister turn in the slipstream of Sassa CEO Thokozani Magawaza’s cancellation on 29 June of costly R47-million workstream contracts set up by Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini. Magwaza, who is likely to testify against Dlamini in a public enquiry into her role in the Sassa scandal, is being pressured to accept an “exit package”. Daily Maverick has also received reliable information that Magwaza was informed that his life is under threat. By MARIANNE THAMM

Kenya has been through dark periods before. Uncertainty surrounding polls, amid massive irregularities have degenerated into something other before. It seems to be happening again, and it casts doubts about the country’s readiness to hold polls. By NJERI KIMANI.

From the end of July to the middle of August, South Africa will be on the front lines of international drug policy reform. World experts are descending on the country to fight out the merits of cannabis legalisation in the first truly scientific constitutional hearing — and the Dagga Couple, after seven years in the trenches, will finally get their day in court. Will we show the world what freedom is, or will we sell our heritage to the Canadians? By KEVIN BLOOM.

Passively interested in cycling? Nothing more than a passing patriotic interest in how the South Africans are getting on in the Tour de France? Our daily wrap is for people just like you. By ANTOINETTE MULLER.

Amidst extreme levels of unemployment and the economy in a recession, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba announced a plan on Thursday to improve confidence in the economy and boost growth. While the intervention was welcomed, issues of political credibility and government’s implementation abilities could hold it back. By GREG NICOLSON & ORATENG LEPODISE

Kenya is heading for another dangerously close election. By Peter Fabricius for ISS TODAY.

The report is expected to describe alternative accommodation for Albert Road residents facing eviction. By Barbara Maregele for GROUNDUP.

Members of the South African management team of German software group SAP have been placed on “administrative leave” and a senior board member is en route to the country to launch an investigation into several contracts awarded by SAP South Africa. By JILLIAN GREEN.

Trump faces first impeachment, major cancer treatment put before FDA, and eSports Overwatch league to be formed.

Ray Phiri’s train has rolled into its final stop. At the age of 70, the legendary South African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician and producer succumbed to lung cancer on Wednesday following his admittance at a Nelspruit hospital. By PUSELETSO NTHATE.

The inherent unpredictability of human behaviour means that we can’t know which way peace and conflict in an age of increased climate change effects will go. This reaffirms for me that environmental issues and social justice very much go together, and climate change is as much a social justice issue as any other. By AYESHA FAKIE.

The sudden death of Ray Phiri, guitarist, vocalist, producer, composer and arranger at the age of 70 on Tuesday has robbed South Africa of one of its foremost talents. Phiri was a man whose unique artistry contained the fears, hopes and dreams of South Africans. Together with mega-band Stimela, Phiri created a timeless, authentic hybrid sound that would go on to seduce the world in 1985 when Paul Simon showcased South African talent on his Graceland album. Hamba kahle Raymond Chikapa Enock Phiri. You were one of our brightest stars. By MARIANNE THAMM.

The Cyril Ramaphosa who kowtows to Jacob Zuma is no more. The Deputy President who praises the President – calls him “Action-Man Zuma” – has gone. Instead, there is a man fighting, pushing and shoving his way to the Number One spot. Ramaphosa’s address to the SACP National Conference on Wednesday marks the start of a muscular campaign season. He’s using every trick in the book, every nudge and wink. And he appears to have a head of steam behind him. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, widely criticised as either incompetent or captured this week, on Tuesday said the commission of inquiry into state capture, recommended by her predecessor Thuli Madonsela, should proceed urgently. As law enforcement agencies have been reluctant to act on the #GuptaLeaks, the inquiry could be a boost for accountability. By GREG NICOLSON.

Five taxi ranks and several routes in Soweto will be shut from Thursday following ongoing violence between two rival taxi associations. But minibus taxi drivers remain sceptical over whether this will bring a lasting end to the conflict. By BHEKI C. SIMELANE.

J. BROOKS SPECTOR had already started to evaluate the outcome of the Trump-Putin meeting in Hamburg; but, then the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, thoroughly upset everything with his release of an email thread that hog-tied him to a Russian lawyer trying to peddle dirt on Hillary Clinton – or something.

Passively interested in cycling? Nothing more than a passing patriotic interest in how the South Africans are getting on in the Tour de France? Our daily wrap is for people just like you. By ANTOINETTE MULLER.

A passionate and charismatic Cyril Ramaphosa urged the SACP on Wednesday to remain in alliance with the ANC and Cosatu. The Deputy President slammed state capture and again urged for a commission of inquiry to be established. By GREG NICOLSON.

The department has doubled placement but waiting lists are growing. By Moira Levy for GROUNDUP.

Lungu may be taking his country down a path from which it’ll be hard to return. By Simon Allison for ISS TODAY.

President Jacob Zuma has no grounds on which to attack the remedial action former public protector Thuli Madonsela set out in her State of Capture report, her successor says in court papers. By NEWS 24.

Trump denies knowledge of meeting, Mayweather and McGregor square off, and Jupiter's storm photographed.

It is still unclear whether Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete will allow a secret ballot in Parliament’s upcoming vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma. If Mbete does allow for secrecy while voting, though, does that have the potential to set a dangerous precedent for South Africa’s democracy? This was one of the questions under discussion on Tuesday night in Cape Town, where an occasionally heated event organised by a coalition of civil society groups saw UDM leader Bantu Holomisa, rogue ANC MP Makhosi Khoza and political analyst Steven Friedman thrash out the issues. By REBECCA DAVIS.

Who you gonna call? The Public Protector? Nah, she tripped up on a typo while trying to capture the Reserve Bank. Shaun Abrahams? Thieves have just broken into the NPA head offices and he hasn’t raised an ample eyebrow or even made a public peep. The Hawks? They’re still circling the outer tundra of inertia and indifference. SAPS? They’re too busy investigating inside jobs at OR Tambo. The Minister of Police? He’s tweeting. We’re on our own, compatriots. By MARIANNE THAMM.

ANC MP Makhosi Khoza says she’s speaking out “because I think I know why I am here (at Parliament)” as a public representative. Right now that is in favour of a secret ballot in the upcoming 8 August vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma. Speaking to Daily Maverick on the sidelines of Tuesday’s public debate on this, Khoza added: “I am standing for what is right within the ANC state of paralysis.” But stepping out of the party line comes at a cost. By MARIANNE MERTEN.

Passively interested in cycling? Nothing more than a passing patriotic interest in how the South Africans are getting on in the Tour de France? Our daily wrap is for people just like you. By ANTOINETTE MULLER.

Should Eskom be granted permission to conduct part of its multi-year price determination proceedings in secret, it would in all likelihood be taken on review as unfair administrative action and set aside by the High Court. By NIC ROODT and KATHRYN MITCHELL.