
Top Stories
State inaction normalises water poverty
In Limpopo’s villages, being waterless has become so normalised that people seem to have accepted that this is just how life should be — spending hours a day queuing to fill a 200 litre drum
FRIDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2026, 00:39

Top Stories
In Limpopo’s villages, being waterless has become so normalised that people seem to have accepted that this is just how life should be — spending hours a day queuing to fill a 200 litre drum

Top Stories
Rebuilding a just system recognises that enduring solutions might lie in combining modern tools with older ethical frameworks grounded in reciprocity and collective responsibility

Top Stories
Joburg’s Dada Morero assured residents that the city would not implement water-shedding in the same way South Africans endured load-shedding

Top Stories
When someone is defamed, particularly online, speed matters

South Africa
A gardener was shot earlier in Hyde Park, north of Johannesburg and is in critical condition

South Africa
Preliminary investigations indicate that the bus lost control along a curvy mountain pass.

South Africa
The two men have been charged with attempted murder.

South Africa
Justice Madlanga pointed out the contradiction in Sibiya’s statement.

World
Recent deadly incidents in California and Europe are putting avalanches – and how to avoid them – in the spotlight.

World
NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Max Colchester about the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the new details that have emerged in the Epstein files.

World
The International Paralympic Committee decided to allow six Russian and four Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags in Italy. The decision has caused an outcry in Ukraine.

World
NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Sky and Amanda Roberts, family members of the late Virginia Giuffre, now that the former Prince Andrew has been arrested by police in the U.K.

Africa
The corridor is strategically significant given that Zambia, Angola and the DRC are home to some of the world’s most significant deposits of critical minerals

Africa
The gunmen launched simultaneous assaults on multiple communities in a remote border district, officials say.

Africa
Bellarmine Mugabe is in custody after he allegedly shot a security guard at a property in Johannesburg.

Africa
Officers in Kano search cafes and restaurants every year during Ramadan looking for Muslims breaking the fast.

Business
The US bought more goods than it sold in 2025 as the White House attempts to reverse the flow.

Business
Sources close to the company insist that its difficulties stem entirely from “the Mandelson legacy”.

Business
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.

Business
Rand Water has been granted an urgent licence to extract more water from the Vaal to help supply Gauteng.

Politics
Senior Democratic Alliance officials are backing Western Cape agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer to replace the party leader as agriculture minister after its April federal congress

Politics
Ramaphosa insists that success within the GNU must be owned collectively rather than politicised.

Politics
The president has pushed back against MPs claims’ that the successes outlined in his State of the Nation address should be credited to coalition partners
Politics
The ANC is riding the wave of what it sees as a political victory for President Cyril Ramaphosa – the successful repatriation of members of the Zuma family and the MK Party (MKP) who were trapped on the frontlines of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Sport
Alysa Liu ends USA’s 24-year wait for a women’s figure skating gold medal, as the reigning 20-year old world champion wins her first singles Olympic title at Milan-Cortina 2026.

Sport
Great Britain’s men’s curling team react to their thrilling 8-5 win over Switzerland in the Winter Olympics semi-finals, describing Saturday’s final as the “biggest match of our lives.”

Sport
Vitor Pereira asks his Nottingham Forest players to “express themselves” prior to their commanding victory at Fenerbahce in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off tie.

Sport
Megan Keller scores in overtime to clinch Winter Olympic gold for the United States in a last-gasp 2-1 win over great rivals Canada.

Education
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
[Daily Trust] The federal government injected N10.1 billion into the education sector during the last quarter of 2025.
Education
[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.
Education
[Daily Trust] A former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has fulfilled the promise made to Sheikh Musa Ibrahim Sagagi, who was honoured at the 23rd edition of Daily Trust Dialogue.

Lifestyle
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has backed plans to build an N2 wall after another highway incident, this time outside Khayelitsha…

Lifestyle
Notorious TikToker Maryke Erasmus – who Gayton McKenzie once threatened to sue for defamation – share her latest theory on Joslin Smith.

Lifestyle
Minnie Dlamini and her friends immersed themselves in all things Galentine’s as they celebrated their friendship in Cape Town.

Lifestyle
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been under fire due to his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Entertainment
Catch up on the biggest stories this Thursday, 19 February 2026, in our simple daily news update.

Entertainment
A total of R550 000 in jackpots is up for grabs tonight! Here are your winning Daily Lotto and Daily Lotto Plus results for 19 February 2026.

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

Entertainment
Find out what the latest weather forecast from the SA Weather Service means for your region on 20 February 2026
Science/Tech
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg faced a barrage of questions about his social-media company’s efforts to secure ever more of its users’ time and attention at a landmark trial in Los Angeles on Wednesday. In sworn testimony, Zuckerberg said Meta’s growth targets reflect an aim to give users something useful, not addict them,...
Science/Tech
A bare-bones Chinese app called “Are You Dead?” — whose entire premise is that solo-living users tap daily to confirm they’re still alive, triggering an alert to an emergency contact after two missed check-ins — has rocketed to the top of China’s app store charts and gone viral globally without spending a dime on advertising. The app wasn’t built for the elderly, as many assumed; its creators...
Science/Tech
Microsoft Research has published a paper in Nature detailing Project Silica, a working demonstration that uses femtosecond lasers to etch data into small slabs of glass at a density of over a Gigabit per cubic millimeter and a maximum capacity of 4.84 terabytes per slab. The slabs themselves are 12 cm by 12 cm and just 2 mm thick, and Microsoft’s accelerated aging experiments suggest the data...

Science/Tech
The Executive Branch has a reported membership list that includes Trumpworld elites like David Sacks. A WIRED review of corporate filings reveals an under-the-radar player: a notorious former DC police officer.

Motoring
Motorists in South Africa are spending considerably less on petrol than they were a few months ago.
Motoring

Motoring
SANRAL will raise fees across all its toll plazas in South Africa next month.

Motoring
The cheapest Toyota Corolla Cross costs more than R400,000 in South Africa.
Health
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya will serve as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until President Trump appoints a permanent director.
Health
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.

Health
Around 1,000 operations a week rely on the product as patients are warned delays are inevitable.

Health
The decision, on the case of a child who sustained a brain injury at birth in 2015, could have significant cost implications for the NHS.