Following a fire that broke in the evening of Wednesday, 22 July 2026 in Mamarela infomal settlement, the Maquassi Hills sub-district fire department failed to reach a burning shack due to non-working emergency line According to witness account, the residents in Mamarela called the victim, Leonard Pelesa to inform him of the matter Pelesa allegedly tried to contact the fire department located in Wolmaransstad, however, failed to reach it due to non-working emergency landline. Pelesa's shack burned to the ground leaving particulars such as ID documents, birth certificates of his children, clothes and other belongings into ashes Pelesa is reportedly living with a loved ones in Tambo 2 area in Tswelelang after losing all he had in his shack. He is also reported to be receiving assistance to apply for new IDs for himself and his partner he has been staying with at the Home Affairs offices in Wolmaransstad along with birth certificates lost Disclaimer: Fire images used for...

Led by the Premier of the North West Province, Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi together with Members of the Executive Council, Executive Mayors and Heads of the Department, the programmes made several intervention on the municipality that has huge service delivery challenges Among activities that took place included the handing over of three RDP Houses in Lebeleng, Extension 6, pothole patching on George Street, laying of paving bricks in Kgakala Location and the oversight visit at the steel water reservoir There was also monitoring of the grade 12 winter camp for three schools held at the North West Schools of the deaf. Planting of seedlings for establishment of vegetable garde at the Leeudoringstad, issuing of three Wheelchairs and two walking aids to patients   At Leeudoringstad, government also rolled out the Matlakala Ke Zaka Campaign, an initiative that promotes responsible waste management, recycling, and the economic value of waste. The campaign ...

Tswelelang - A multi-disciplinary, intelligence-driven operation by the Stilfontein Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit and Crime Intelligence in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District has resulted in the arrest of a 59-year-old suspect for allegedly possessing suspected stolen livestock The operation, conducted on Monday, followed intelligence indicating that a suspect was allegedly keeping suspected stolen calves in a kraal near the old Tswelelang location Police operationalised the information, leading to the arrest of one suspect and the recovery of four calves with an estimated value of R28,000 Preliminary investigations established that the recovered calves belong to a farmer from Skietpan Farm in Wolmaransstad The suspect, Obusitse Abel Mokgalagadi (59), briefly appeared before the Wolmaransstad Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, 29 July 2026, where he was remanded in custody. The matter was postponed to Monday, 17 August 2026, for legal representation...

Police in Brits arrested a 26-year-old man in Oukasie following an exchange of gunfire between police members and the suspect on Wednesday, 22 July 2026. According to preliminary information, police responded to a complaint of robbery after an elderly man, aged 68,  alleged that his grandson forcibly pushed him to the ground and robbed him of his licensed firearm at his residence in Masenkeng, Oukasie. It is further alleged that the suspect fired two shots at the complainant, missing him, before fleeing the scene. Police immediately launched a search operation, which was later reinforced by members of the Brits Tactical Response Team (TRT), Crime Prevention, and other SAPS units. During the search, the suspect was spotted, but fled towards nearby mountains before running through residential areas. While pursuing the suspect near a primary school, police members allegedly came under fire when the suspect opened fire on them. A further exchange of gunfire ensued afte...

A total of 31 people were injured when a truck transporting passengers was involved in a crash on the N12 near the Orkney Bridge (R502) on Saturday, July 25. Emergency services, including ER24, Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS), rescue technicians, fire and rescue personnel, as well as the South African Police Service (SAPS) and traffic officials, responded to the scene after the collision was reported. According to information from emergency services, seven patients sustained moderate injuries, while 24 suffered minor injuries. One occupant had to be extricated from the wreckage by rescue technicians using specialised rescue equipment. The injured were treated and stabilised at the scene before being transported to hospital for further medical care. Seven patients were taken to Potchefstroom Hospital, while the remaining 24 were transported to the Klerksdorp-Tshepong Hospital Complex. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined and remains under investig...

The City of Matlosana Law Enforcement team, in collaboration with the South African Police Service (SAPS), continued its operation against illegal trading in the Klerksdorp Central Business District (CBD) on Friday, 24 July 2026. This operation focused on clearing illegal trading activities along Anderson Street. Goods deemed unfit for human consumption were confiscated in accordance with municipal by-laws. During the operation, four undocumented foreign nationals were handed over to the Department of Home Affairs for further processing. Additionally, one business on Anderson Street was closed after being found in violation of trading regulations, including hygiene, occupational health, and fire safety requirements. In a separate operation, another enforcement team closed down an illegal scrapyard operating in Flamwood for non-compliance with the relevant municipal by-laws. The City of Matlosana remains committed to enforcing municipal by-laws, promoting public health a...

The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Gaoage Oageng Molapisi, has congratulated hundreds of initiates who successfully completed their sacred rite of passage on Friday, marking the official conclusion of the 2026 Winter Initiation Season. The North West Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee (PICC) approved and registered 151 initiation schools—comprising 126 male and 25 female schools—to facilitate this long-standing cultural practice, which serves as an important transition of young men and women into adulthood. "We once again commend the Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee for the successful conclusion of another initiation season. The Committee continues to safeguard this important cultural practice against individuals who refuse to comply with the law and seek to commercialise a sacred tradition for personal gain. We are encouraged that hundreds of initiates have returned home safely to their famil...

Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has announced the suspension of IDAC chief investigator Dylan Perumal and senior investigators Brian Padayachee and Suneel Bellochun.  The three have been accused of manipulating cases, among other allegations, before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.  The allegations have been at the centre of recent testimony at the hearings and they include the fabrication of witness statements and an elaborate abuse of power. The announcement was made by Kubayi during a media briefing on Thursday. Meanwhile, the name of former IDAC head Andrea Johnson continued to feature highly at the commission on Thursday. Johnson may have to return to the commission to respond to a new set of allegations made against her during the testimony of her former subordinate, prosecutor Drushanta Ramsamy. The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry continued hearing evidence on Thursday, with Independent Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) State Advocate Drushant...

A multimillion-rand vehicle licensing fraud syndicate manipulated South Africa's vehicle licensing system by using insiders' login credentials, bogus companies and even the identities of deceased people to evade licence fees, according to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC). RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane said the syndicate worked with vehicle fleet owners, including truck and bus operators, to avoid paying the correct licensing fees Zwane said one of the syndicate's methods involved temporarily transferring ownership of vehicles to bogus companies or deceased people to avoid outstanding licence fees. "So they would go to these people and these people would either dump all the fees onto a bogus company, in some instances into the name of deceased persons, so that the company does not have to pay anything." He said ownership would then be transferred back to the original owner once the transaction had been completed. Another method invol...

The African National Congress (ANC) has been accused of delaying tactics after second-guessing Parliament’s legal advice to the Impeachment Committee that the independent panel, which laid the groundwork for the inquiry into the Phala Phala matter, should not be called to present its report. While most committee members accepted that summoning the report’s authors would be a breach of the panel’s mandate, ANC members of Parliament (MPs) asked for the decision to be deferred until it obtained its own legal opinion. The party has also not supported a decision taken by the committee on Wednesday to appeal a Western Cape High Court ruling that has prevented it from hearing oral evidence pending a court review of the same disputed report. ANC MPs have pushed for a decision on an appearance of the Section 89 independent panel to be deferred until Parliament’s legal advisors produce an opinion on whether President Cyril Ramaphosa should be compelled to testify in his own defen...

More than 10 million applications for the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant were not approved during the 2025/26 financial year, with government citing income levels, alternative financial support and verification failures among the main reasons. The figures come as the SRD grant remains one of the country’s biggest forms of temporary income support, with millions of unemployed South Africans relying on the monthly payment. According to a parliamentary response from then Acting Social Development Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, 18,017,250 applications for the Covid-19 SRD grant were received during the period under review. Of these, 7,842,041 applications were approved, representing 43.5% of all applications received. The response was provided after Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) Member of Parliament (MP) Busaphi Machi asked the department about the number of applications received, approval rates, reasons for rejected applications, appeals and measures taken to reduce d...

The High Court has dismissed former Maquassi Hills Local Municipality Speaker,  Sarah Nkatlo's application challenging the council's majority decision to remove her through a Motion of No Confidence The court has also ordered each party to pay its own legal costs, meaning Sarah Nkatlo who says she is  "the legitimate speaker" of Maquassi Hills has been responsible for paying her own legal fees The African National Congress member in Maquassi Hills, Sarah Nkatlo says she is still the current Council Speaker while Tshireletso Malebatsane is acting Nkatlo said, currently there are two Council Speakers in Maquassi Hills, her as the legitimate Speaker and Malebatsane as illegitimate Speaker. She says Tshireletso Malebatsane is illegitimately acting as Speaker of the Council She said, she has never been told to step down or step aside as the Speaker of the Coucil of Maquassi Hills, she says the problem began in mid-April when councillors decided...