
Top Stories
What’s happening with the assisted dying bill?
It’s more than a year since MPs first backed the proposed legislation but it still needs to be approved by peers.
FRIDAY, 12 DECEMBER 2025, 16:15

Top Stories
It’s more than a year since MPs first backed the proposed legislation but it still needs to be approved by peers.
Top Stories
Rand Water and Joburg Water have advised residents to prepare for intermittent water supplies over the festive season as two major water treatment stations – Zuikerbosch and Eikenhof – will be shut down for maintenance.

Top Stories
South Africa’s ANC, the liberation movement that brought Nelson Mandela to power, said it was facing a crisis over corruption, poor governance, and persistent racial inequality, and pledged to clean up its act.
Top Stories
The First Thing newsletter’s Ever-lasting Subscriber Photo Gallery.
South Africa
TNPA, WASAA SOC Ltd agreement signed and sealed to operate LPG terminal at Durban’s port
The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has signed a 25-year Terminal Operator Agreement with WASAA CEF SOC Ltd to develop and operate a new liquefied petroleum gas terminal at the Port of Durban’s Island View Precinct.
With an investment value of approximately R1.4 billion, the execution...
South Africa
Commercial close of critical Limpopo water project reached
Government has taken a pivotal step towards transforming water security in Limpopo with the commercial close of the first phase of the massive Olifants Management Model (OMM) programme.
The Badirammogo Water User Association (BWUA), a unique 50:50 public-private partnership representing both government and commercial...
South Africa
HPCSA to announce new President and Vice-President
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is set to announce its new President and Vice-President for the 2025–2030 term. This announcement will take place during the inaugural meeting of the newly constituted Council on Friday evening in Sandton, Johannesburg. According to Section 7 of the Health Professions Act...
South Africa
Law enforcement intensifies operations for festive season
At least 800 National Road Traffic Law-Enforcement Officers, supported by various other law enforcement agencies, will be deployed throughout the festive season to monitor compliance with traffic regulations and maintain safety.
“We began the law enforcement operations in November at an intensified pace. It’s been a...

World
Russia’s central bank says it is suing Belgium’s Euroclear in court following an EU bid to use Russian assets to aid Ukraine.

World
You won’t arrive on time and may not even get a seat. Your booking might get lost. Things have gotten so dire that a foreigner has been brought in to shake things up.

World
The man who led the operation says María Corina Machado crossed “very rough seas” in “pitch-black darkness”.

World
The idea came from the miners building makeshift altars in the mine in the 1930s, to pray for their safety before starting their shifts.

Africa
BBC Sport Africa picks out six players to keep an eye on at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January.

Africa
He is accused of using romance scams to defraud $8m, with the profits flaunted on Instagram.

Africa
This is the first time that officials have said how many foreign soldiers were deployed to help thwart the mutiny.

Africa
Investigations show individuals receiving multiple salaries, with one case involving five salaries paid to a single ID

Business
GEMS member contributions remain among the most affordable in the sector because of the low starting base.

Business
Despite this growing interest, about 80% of the 411 houses in a small coastal town between Mossel Bay and Stilbaai stand empty for most of the year.

Business
Airbnb is not the culprit behind escalating rental prices or worsening housing affordability in Cape Town.

Business
Airbnb is not the culprit behind escalating rental prices or worsening housing affordability in Cape Town.

Politics
The EFF said it would support the motion, while the MKP continues to seek support

Politics
Ekurhuleni HR Head was suspended with immediate effect following a council resolution.

Politics
ANC NGC resolves that SACP members must recuse themselves from ANC discussions ahead of 2026 LGE
Politics
The ANC national general council has decided that SACP members should be recused from ANC election workshops and strategy meetings amid discussions on addressing differences between alliance partners.

Sport
Britain’s Fabian Edwards will face Costello van Steenis for the PFL middleweight title in Madrid on 20 March.

Sport
Swindon boss Ian Holloway on the emotions of returning to hometown club Bristol Rovers as an opposition manager for the first time.

Sport
Prize money for the Derby at Epsom will increase to £2m in 2026 making it the joint-richest race in the UK as part of a series of changes.

Sport
Peter Wright says becoming the first Scot to win the title for a third time is more motivation than the record £1m top prize at the PDC World Darts Championship.
Education
Austria’s centrist government passed the new law, which takes effect next year, after years of pressure from the far right.
Education
[Ghanaian Times] Yapra Rural Bank PLC, headquartered in Prang, Bono East Region, has constructed and handed over a three-unit classroom block with ancillary facilities to the Prang D/A No. 1 Primary School.
Education
[Liberian Observer] Liberia’s education sector sits at a pivotal crossroads. As government officials, development partners, lawmakers, and civil society organizations convened in Buchanan for the 2025 Joint Education Sector Review (JESR), one message emerged with clarity: progress has been made, but the challenges that remain are deep, structural, and morally urgent.

Education
Notoriously difficult entrance exam is regarded as gateway to economic security and even a good marriage
The chief organiser of South Korea’s notoriously gruelling university entrance exams has resigned – after complaints that an English test he designed was too difficult.
Passing the exam, known locally as the Suneung, is essential for admission to top universities and regarded as a gateway to...

Lifestyle
A new hotel has quietly joined the Camps Bay skyline, adding another upmarket stop to Cape Town’s most popular beachfront stretch.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle

Lifestyle
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has honoured South Africa-born, Achim von Arnim, founder of Haute Cabrière.

Entertainment
The court likened the Information Regulator’s stance to ‘a poorly constructed thought experiment’

Entertainment
Three-day music festival Makhelwane, which means ‘neighbour’, celebrates being neighbourly.

Entertainment
A four-storey temple collapsed in Redcliffe, KZN. Survivors are sending voice notes while rescue teams rush to the scene.

Entertainment
The accused allegedly demanded R300 000 from a local businessman to secure a tender.

Science/Tech
Teneo School becomeing the first school in South Africa to demonstrate with large-scale data that digitally enabled learning delivers measurable academic improvements.

Science/Tech
These merino wool T-shirts are the last shirt you’ll ever wear. I’m wearing one right now.

Science/Tech
A prominent energy expert has criticised Eskom for using an “instantaneous” energy availability factor (EAF) to punt its generating fleet performance improvements, claiming no such figure can exist.
Science/Tech
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: Reddit has filed a challenge against Australia’s under-16s social media ban in the high court, lodging its case two days after implementing age restrictions on its website. The company said in a Reddit post on Friday that while it agreed with protecting people under 16, the law “has the unfortunate effect of forcing intrusive and...

Motoring
TopAuto is South Africa’s foremost motoring website – and the best place to advertise your products and services.

Motoring
A Chinese carmaker has launched a new sedan in South Africa called the 007.
Motoring

Motoring
Stellantis has issued an urgent safety recall for these 21 cars in South Africa.
Health
Researchers found a chasm between the health reasons for which the public seeks out cannabis and what gold-standard science actually shows about its effectiveness.

Health
Iron deficiency is a relatively common problem, especially in women. Here’s how to spot the symptons.
Health
The vaccines were found to decrease the risk of needing medical care in the first six months after vaccination by 76 percent in children under 4, and by 56 percent in children 5 to 17.

Health
The TEWV announcement comes after calls from families of three patients who died by suicide.