Ahead of the 4 November local government elections, data reveals that most eligible South African voters are opting out entirely. Driven by youth disillusionment, distrust and broken political promises, non-voters may eclipse many, and probably even all, registered parties at the polls.
Naledi Mashishi
Just before then Crime Intelligence deputy Feroz Khan was meant to testify before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry earlier this year, he was wounded in a shooting. Now, Khan’s uncle has been killed on the eve of Khan’s anticipated testimony, which, as a result, has again been postponed.
Caryn Dolley
Decades of municipal decay have left the bankrupt Eastern Cape municipality of Sundays River Valley trapped in a cycle of empty promises and fading hope. The ANC has historically dominated the council, but has failed to field proportional representation candidates for the upcoming vote.
Tamsin Metelerkamp and Victoria O’Regan
Nedlac’s Health Promotion Levy talks excluded community voices, a study has found, raising questions about transparency, evidence and the influence of business in public health policymaking.
Lillian Roberts
The former chief of staff to Sport Minister and Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie is the new CEO of Cricket South Africa’s incumbent ticketing vendor. This follows the sale of Ticketpro to a women-owned empowerment consortium with links to the PA, raising concerns about alleged political influence in SA’s lucrative sport and culture economy.
Ferial Haffajee, Pieter-Louis Myburgh, Craig Ray and Annemieke Thomaidis
It’s just bad news all round with the pedal firmly on the metal for a further acceleration in inflation against the backdrop of a sluggish and slowing domestic economy.
Ed Stoddard
The countdown to the 2026 local government elections is on. Still unsure about how voting works, who is contesting your ward or what will be on your ballot? This guide has you covered.
Daily Maverick
A ‘wicked problem’ resists clear definition and tidy solutions. Its causes are intertwined, people disagree on what a good outcome would look like, and every intervention brings trade-offs. There’s no agreed endpoint because even the question remains contested. Welcome to the science of baboon management.
Don Pinnock
The R191m blue lights tender case against former acting police chief Khomotso Phahlane has been provisionally withdrawn as Idac reviews more than 40 high-profile matters.
Nonkululeko Njilo
Decades before Ernst Roets lobbied the US, a little-known Kempton Park woman linked the AWB to global neo-Nazis – a story that sheds light on international support for the farm murder cause.
Rebecca Davis
Farmers and experts have welcomed plans to license private manufacturers to produce the Agricultural Research Council’s foot-and-mouth disease vaccine, saying faster local supply could curb outbreaks and reduce reliance on imports. Farmers also welcome the council’s decision on additional vaccine-matching assessments in the UK.
Iman Allie
It isn’t always easy to know what to believe when it comes to cancer. In part 2 of a Daily Maverick and Spotlight special series on cancer, Biénne Huisman asks whether cancer cases are on the increase in South Africa, and why. On the way, she visits academic corridors and a Limpopo citrus orchard, all while trying to make sense of the available data.
Biénne Huisman
Judges Gerald Bloem, Mmathebe Phatshoane and Esther Steyn were recommended for appointment for the three vacancies in the Supreme Court of Appeal after the first day of hearings by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Marianne Merten
Nathi and UBUNTOONS
Once a renowned teachers’ college in Sterkspruit, Bensonvale College of Education has deep roots in the Eastern Cape’s mission-education tradition. This photographic essay explores Bensonvale as a place of memory, documenting its decaying buildings and present-day life.
Felix Dlangamandla
Tracking your sleep can reveal bedtime patterns and disruptions to encourage improved sleep habits. But trackers aren’t diagnostic and may lead to an over-fixation on getting a ‘perfect’ night’s sleep.
David Backwell
The Freedom Front Plus’s growing support is putting pressure on the Democratic Alliance. In Tshwane, current polling suggests a DA-led outcome is likely, but it may require a partner, potentially turning FF+ from an electoral liability into a coalition asset.
Reitumetse Pilane
What unfolded in Court 1 of the Western Cape High Court on Monday, 5 October, was a painful experience for a family who have long awaited justice.
Vincent Cruywagen
Buyiswa Ndyenga climbed from seasonal worker to citrus boss, but red tape is keeping her biggest victory out of reach.
Victoria O’Regan and Tamsin Metelerkamp
The 2027 Cricket World Cup, to be co-hosted by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, is a golden opportunity for Cricket South Africa to boost its dwindling financial resources.
Craig Ray and Annemieke Thomaidis
Five weeks before the 4 November local elections, a burst of Afrikaner rural safety activism around a Washington memorial briefly pushed anti-immigrant campaigners off the top of South Africa’s political conversations. Inside the Government of National Unity, partners spent the week campaigning against one another.
Kyle Findlay and Aldu Cornelissen
South Africa’s bitter arguments over hunting, trade, captive breeding and the wildlife economy tend to revolve around ‘sustainable use’. But that shorthand leaves out a crucial word.
Andrew Muir
Regular absences from class can leave learners behind, academically as well as socially.
Mark Potterton
South Africa’s courts reveal a troubling divide: judicial brilliance can deliver swift constitutional justice, while crippling delays leave equality, dignity and accountability hanging in the balance.
William Bird
Synecdoche is an unusual word but capable of some heavy lifting. Applied to the baboons of the Cape Peninsula it’s particularly appropriate. It means a part which represents a whole. In arguments over raided kitchens, fences and the removal of troops there’s a much larger question of how much room humans are willing to leave for wild animals. It brings a global conflict into a single frame: we expand into the living spaces of other species then struggle to tolerate their presence in ours.
Don Pinnock
The Road Accident Fund is buckling under unpaid claims, costly payouts and shrinking fuel-levy revenue. Reform must protect victims without deepening inequality.
Stephen Grootes
People’s Power leader Siyanda Mayana has obtained a writ of execution against Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Babalwa Lobishe after her unsuccessful bid to stop him from publishing claims she said were defamatory left her owing R82,970.88 in legal costs.
Andisa Bonani
South Africa’s R580 Child Support Grant falls far short of the R868 food poverty line, leaving parents and caregivers with little or no work trapped in debt and hunger as rising electricity and food costs erode household stability.
Tamsin Metelerkamp
Littering might not seem as important as collapsing infrastructure, corruption, community safety and struggling municipal finances, but it is.
Mondli Makhanya