The year 2024 will live long in memory as one in which an election that brought about a sea change saw a government of national unity set sail. Thus far, it has avoided a shipwreck, writes News24 parliamentary journalist Jan Gerber.

A toy gun that shoots rubber bullets, a sleeve that shoots “blasters”, and kinetic sand that smells like ice cream are some of the new toys that have made the World Against Toys Causing Harm’s (Watch) 52nd annual list of the “10 Worst Toys” for 2024.

The brutal murders of two teenagers who were gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Lavender Hill, Cape Town, on Tuesday evening has angered both families, who are demanding that the police launch an immediate manhunt for their children’s killers.

Residents of Mmatlakale village near Mokopane in Limpopo faced devastation on Wednesday just a week before Christmas after a hailstorm destroyed their homes and killed their livestock.

Free State police have opened a missing persons case as they try to find a Botshabelo couple as part of their investigation into locals’ stokvel and society fund fraud complaints involving around R4 million.

Gauteng’s Acting Premier, Lebogang Maile, said 541 spaza shops had been closed for non-compliance and that these establishments would not be opened or allowed to operate until they met all compliance requirements.

An “immunity gap” has resulted in a flare-up in rubella cases across the country, with the number markedly higher than previous years.

Protection fees and monopolising transport routes are just some of the ways extortionists may be targeting the Western Cape’s education sector.

Constable River Swartz was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head at the Sophiatown police station in Johannesburg more than two months ago.

Two teenagers were killed in what is believed to be a gang shooting on Tuesday night, with Western Cape police launching a manhunt for the gunmen.

Joe Schaffers was born in District Six in Cape Town in 1939 and lived there for nearly 30 years before his family and thousands of others were forced out in the 1960s under the Group Areas Act.

A Cape Town man is applying for the recission of a default judgment the Western Cape High Court granted against him last month, in which he was ordered to pay R1.25 million in damages to the owners of Hank’s Olde Irish pub in Bree Street, who he accused of racism.

Firefighting efforts in the Garden Route have entered a fifth day, and officials hope to seal off the affected area in Melkhoutfontein.