SA NEWS HIGHLIGHTS — Thursday 22 October 2026
Top Headlines
1. Fuel levy fight goes to court. Godongwana's R10 billion fuel-levy relief is being challenged in the Cape Town High Court by the EFF, whose counsel Adv Mfesane Ka-Siboto argued the Finance Minister should not set tax without proper parliamentary consultation. Opposition parties called the relief a "scam" and "temporary Band-Aid"; COSATU wants it extended. Treasury will also announce the final online gambling tax plan.
2. ANC war over Joburg mayor. Fikile Mbalula refuses to tell Johannesburg who the party will put forward as mayoral candidate, with Dada Morero and Loyiso Masuku in the frame. Ramaphosa used the day to release the final White Paper on Local Government ahead of the 2026 local elections.
3. Khampepe Commission: Kasrils says TRC gave him amnesty. Ronnie Kasrils told the inquiry into post-TRC prosecutions that he received amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Former justice minister Brigitte Mabandla denied instructing that post-TRC prosecutions be halted.
4. Fort Hare fires Vice-Chancellor. The University of Fort Hare has dismissed VC Sakhela Buhlungu — the latest shock in a campus run by governance and violence crises.
5. Cities failing at the basics. The Bronkhorstspruit water crisis has fractured the Tshwane coalition, with Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya vowing action against negligent officials; Johannesburg's power and water failures are squeezing inner-city regeneration; JMPD vehicles are standing idle because petrol stations have ended lines of credit.
Also Worth Knowing
• SAPS received 150 000 applications for just 5 500 trainee posts.
• SARS hit taxi boss Bafana Sindane and an associate with a R26 million tax bill.
• KZN COGTA MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi removed the Mandeni ward councillor over misconduct.
• Businessman Suliman Carrim and co-accused appeared in the Musina Magistrates' Court over an alleged cross-border vehicle scheme.
Justice / Accountability Watch
The Khampepe Commission is doing the work the country was promised 30 years ago: finding out who decided that apartheid-era crimes would not be prosecuted. Kasrils saying "I got amnesty" and Mabandla saying "I gave no such instruction" is the shape of the whole problem — everyone was following orders, nobody owned the decision.
Why It Matters
The fuel levy is the one tax every South African pays at the pump, and the fight is not really about cents per litre — it is about whether a minister can move R10 billion of tax by announcement. Election season plus a commission digging into suppressed prosecutions means accountability is finally on the ballot.