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THURSDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 2026, 22:23

Top Stories

PARLIAMENT: Ramaphosa slams opposition to BEE in Sona reply — what you need to know

Today at 21:33 PM, via Daily Maverick

After two days of debate after the delivery of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address, he asked elected representatives to become like beavers working together to build a dam — ‘with urgency, with unity and with the quiet determination to make something strong enough to hold’.

Business

Not enough to save 134-year-old company in South Africa

Today at 17:00 PM, via BusinessTech

Despite the gazetted reforms aimed at strengthening the industry, they do not address the imports that contributed to the liquidation of a 134-year-old South African company.

Politics

Sona debate: Ramaphosa defends task teams and slow recovery

Today at 17:01 PM, via Mail & Guardian

MPs had criticised the president for establishing another task team to tackle the country’s water crisis after he set up a police special investigations task team to probe those implicated in corruption at the Madlanga commission

Sport

New star shows why Sundowns paid R58 million

Today at 21:13 PM, via The South African

Brayan Leon has scored six goals in his first seven games for Mamelodi Sundowns. He has proved why he cost a reported R58 million fee.

Education

Schools in England to get budget for children with special needs as part of Send overhaul

Today at 20:50 PM, via The Guardian

Children to get individual support directly from school instead of via council in attempt to curb spiralling costs

Children in England with special needs will receive individual support and therapy directly from their schools as part of the government’s overhaul of England’s special education provision.

Under the plans, mainstream schools will be given commissioning budgets to spend on...

Education

Nigeria: Khairun VC Receives Sarkin Sumaila On Courtesy Visit

Today at 20:14 PM, via AllAfrica

[Daily Trust] The Vice-Chancellor of Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu University, Kano (KHAIRUN), Prof. Abdulrashid Garba, on Monday received the Emir of Sumaila, Alhaji Bello Muhammad Dan Sumaila, on a courtesy visit to his office.

Entertainment

24 hours in pictures, 19 February 2026

Today at 18:30 PM, via The Citizen

Through the lens: The Citizen’s Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.

Science/Tech

Europe’s Labor Laws Are Strangling Its Ability To Innovate, New Analysis Argues

Today at 22:05 PM, via Slashdot

A new essay in Works in Progress Magazine argues that Europe’s failure to produce a Tesla or a Waymo stems not from insufficient research spending or high taxes — problems California shares in abundance — but from labor laws that make it devastatingly expensive for companies to unwind failed bets. According to estimates, corporate restructuring costs the equivalent of 31 months of salary per...

Science/Tech

Inside the Rolling Layoffs at Jack Dorsey’s Block

Today at 21:53 PM, via Wired

Workers describe a deteriorating culture at Block, the company behind Square and Cash App, where layoffs continue and employees are expected to use AI tools daily.

Health

How Microbes Got Their Crawl

Yesterday at 18:00 PM, via New York Times

In the oceans and on land, scientists are discovering rare, transitional organisms that bridge the gap between Earth’s simplest cells and today’s complex ones.