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AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY ANALYSIS: The return of Waterkloof Four’s ‘God’s child’, and the gravity of violence, privilege and media
Christoff Becker, one of four Pretoria teenagers convicted of the murder of a homeless man in a crime which outraged the nation, is back in the news.
PHOTO ESSAY: In pictures – The 83rd Annual Golden Globes Awards
Red carpet arrivals and late-night celebrations frame the mood and moments of the 83rd Golden Globe Awards.
LEARNING CURVE: Matric Class of 2025 achieves unprecedented 88% pass rate
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube hailed the Class of 2025 for achieving South Africa’s highest-ever National Senior Certificate pass rate of 88%, with a record 345,000 bachelor’s passes despite challenges in gateway subjects.
THRESHOLD TURMOIL: Regulator probe, public uproar spare 16,507 Discovery Health members from R125m billing error
Discovery Health’s systems hiccup turned routine claims into nasty ‘you owe us’ notices for 16,507 members, with some demands climbing toward R80,000. After MediCheck lit the fuse and the Council for Medical Schemes began asking questions, Discovery has backtracked, promising refunds and no 2026 benefit pain, but questions remain about governance, controls and accountability.
US Senate Republicans concerned over probe of Powell, impact on Fed
WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republicans expressed concernon Monday about the Trump administration’s threat to indict Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as two lawmakers threatened to retaliate by blocking President Donald Trump’s central bank nominees and a third called for the federal probe to end quickly.
Supertankers sailing to pick up Venezuelan oil for China make u-turn, ship data shows
HOUSTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Two China-flagged supertankers that were sailing to Venezuela to pick up debt-paying crude cargoes amid the U.S. oil embargo on the OPEC country have made u-turn and are now heading back to Asia, LSEG shipping data showed on Monday.
VIEW FROM THE TOP: Chief executives’ 2026 outlook: AI, rate cuts and cautious optimism
South Africa enters the new year with hints of a firmer footing, along with reminders of how fragile the recovery remains. Business Maverick chatted to a few of the minds at the very top – leading business CEOs – to find out their thoughts about the year ahead.
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW: CES 2026 — a human-centric shift in tech amid AI overload
For a brief moment, the big PC brands turned away from shoving needless AI into everything and remembered that people use computers to do and build things.
BUSINESS REFLECTION: Discovery Health gives you another reason to hate your medical scheme
In the middle-class story of the holidays, what made Discovery Health’s reimbursement error utterly bizarre was that it publicly defended its flawed legal stance when it never had a case.
TROUBLED WATERS: Mapping South Africa’s fishing industry — a conversation with Shaheen Moolla
Journalists are seldom specialists, so any investigation into a complex sector like fishing needs to begin as an in-depth conversation with the most knowledgeable person you can find.
OUR CITY NEWS: Meet the Joburg councillor who turned his car into a tool for accountability
Carlos Da Rocha, the DA councillor for Bez Valley, has transformed a graffiti-covered van into a mobile protest advocating for accountability in Johannesburg. Through this unconventional tactic, Da Rocha, now in his third term, believes he is effectively pressuring the city to take action and is committed to doing ‘anything for [his] community’, even if it means breaking the rules.
COPPER CONUNDRUM: S&P sees looming copper shortages posing ‘systemic risk’ to global economy
There are many moving parts to this unfolding saga, which explains why copper is so high on the radar screens of mining boardrooms — and why so many governments have classified it as ‘critical’.
CREDIBILITY CHASM OP-ED: Eskom’s ‘stayed’ court case shows double game duplicity on electricity trading
For months, South Africans have been told that Eskom has “paused” or “stayed” its legal challenge against the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) over the granting of electricity trading licences to five private electricity traders.

KwaZulu-Natal tops 2025 matric results with 90.6% pass rate
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube said the notion that 30% constituted a pass mark was political sloganism
DEMOCRACY FOR SALE OP-ED: The high cost of politics enables corruption and fiscal indiscipline in Africa
The escalating costs of elections in Africa foster corruption and fiscal irresponsibility, undermining democracy and enabling elite control over politics, with dire consequences for public welfare.

PassRate/ Matric class of 2025 sets new record pass rate of 88%
KZN achieves highest marks as minister says education system has become more stable

Official NSC pass rate is 88%, but the ‘real pass rate’ is 56.9%
Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, said that the pass rate must account for learners who drop out before writing their final exams.
WILL FOR PEACE: Iran pulls out of SA’s joint naval exercise amid political tensions
Iran has three warships waiting in False Bay, but they will not join South Africa, China, Russia and the UAE in the naval exercise Will for Peace.

Zuma reshuffles MK leadership, Brian Molefe replaces Mpiyakhe Limba as treasurer general
Molefe is currently out on R50 000 bail on charges of fraud, corruption and contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act and the Companies Act linked to his tenure at Transnet