Your same-day highlights of the biggest stories in South Africa — short, scannable, and useful. Compiled Friday, 25 September 2026.
Top Stories
- Eskom shake-up: Ramokgopa backs "Eskom 2.0" to reindustrialise South Africa and its municipalities, and Mteto Nyati stays on as Eskom chairman. Ramokgopa briefed media on the board’s leadership and promised a plan to get free electricity to poor households. At the same time, pushback is growing against Eskom’s proposed tariff increase.
- Cost of living: the repo rate hike takes effect — IOL breaks down exactly how much more you will pay on your car and home loan. The "fuel" behind this week’s hike is the inflation number.
- Ekurhuleni serial killings: nine women dead, and GBV fears are rising across Gauteng. King Misuzulu expressed disappointment over the failure to protect women; men led a march against femicide in KwaThema; advocate Kovini Moodley says the murders have heightened fear among women in the province.
- Local Government Elections 2026: Ramaphosa kicked off the ANC’s LGE campaign in KZN, with the party insisting it is confident of a rebound in the province. The ANC meanwhile welcomed a High Court dismissal of a members’ challenge to candidate lists.
- Corruption watch: water tanker contracts are under scrutiny over corruption and sabotage claims, while the Minister says corruption and sabotage are disrupting water services. Transnet is hunting a private partner for the R44bn manganese corridor (Ngqura, Port Elizabeth, Northern Cape).
Madlanga Commission / Justice
- The Commission will rule by written statement on taxi boss Bafana "King of the Sky" Sindane’s postponement bid — no public hearing on Friday. His lawyer Thabani Masuku cited a medical certificate, traditional and spiritual seclusion, and a pending High Court challenge to block his WhatsApp evidence. Chief evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC opposed a wide postponement, calling it a "self-created urgency" and warning the programme is tight. Judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga chairs.
- Fired crime intelligence deputy head Major-General Feroz Khan returns to the Commission on Monday 28 September. Evidence leaders have applied for parts of his evidence to be heard in camera — WhatsApp messages, evidence that could identify informants, and ongoing organised-crime investigations. SAPS dismissed Khan this month.
- ‘Cat’ Matlala’s multimillion-rand SAPS tender case has been postponed.
- KZN: the suspect in the crime intelligence murders was killed in a police shootout.
- Giyani, Limpopo: a son has been arrested for the murder of his 82-year-old mother.
Also Worth Knowing
- Kruger National Park: two chalets burnt down at the Letaba rest camp; the fire was contained.
- SA envoy Meyer slammed the White Cross Protest in Washington as a "dangerous, misleading narrative".
- Housing demand keeps climbing — more than 2.3 million households are seeking assistance.
- NEF and UIF put R1 billion towards the unemployment crisis; DBSA denies it is retreating from municipal lending.
- Crypto: exchange Bitget says hackers stole $352 million.
- Nine in 10 educators cite workload and burnout as a major workplace challenge; SADAG is alarmed by rising bullying cases in Mpumalanga.
Why It Matters
Energy is the ballgame today — Eskom’s board is being stabilised around a reindustrialisation pitch ("Eskom 2.0") while a tariff hike pushes household costs the other way, and cheaper generation remains the single biggest lever on inflation, the rand and collapsing municipalities. Add the repo hike taking effect and this is a week where the cost of living moved against ordinary South Africans on two fronts at once. Meanwhile the Madlanga Commission is being openly tested by taxi-boss postponement tactics just as it prepares to hear its most sensitive witness in camera — whether the inquiry can hold its schedule is the real accountability test.
Sources: IOL, SABC News, The Citizen, Moneyweb, TechCentral, GroundUp, Daily Maverick, Scrolla Africa. Compiled by Mzansi News Hub.