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Verushka Singh has resigned as Mrs South Africa 2026. The Mrs South Africa organisation has confirmed that Verushka Singh has resigned as Mrs South Africa 2026, which has come as a surprise to the pageant community and supporters. In a formal statement released this week, the organisation announced that Singh had made the personal decision …

Staff Writer  ·26 Mar 2026 Petrol and diesel price under-recoveries have continued to surge in South Africa, with diesel breaching R10 per litre for the first time in history, and petrol moving towards R6 per litre. The latest data from the Central Energy Fund for the end of the fourth week of March shows that …

Staff Writer  ·26 Mar 2026 Liquidations in South Africa rose sharply in February 2026, rising 40% month-on-month, with warnings that worse may lie ahead. According to the latest liquidation statistics from Stats SA, the country recorded 135 closures in February 2026, up from 96 in the first month of the year. Year-on-year, liquidations were down …

Farmers in South Africa are heading into the winter planting season with surging diesel prices and tightening supplies — triggered by the Middle East conflict — that are threatening production in sub-Saharan Africa’s largest commercial wheat-growing industry. For Rossouw Dippenaar, who farms near Riebeek-West about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Cape Town, time is …

PRETORIA – The United States put pressure on France to uninvite President Cyril Ramaphosa to the G7 Summit in June. The South African presidency told AFP on Thursday that Ramaphosa would not be attending the Summit in the French town of Evian. It marks the latest episode after months of fractured ties over a range of …

France has rescinded South Africa’s invitation to the G7 summit scheduled for June, excluding Africa’s most industrialised country from the multilateral forum of the world’s seven largest advanced economies. Pretoria was notified of the withdrawal weeks ago through the French embassy, said presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, who confirmed the move to Business Day. The decision …

Malcolm Libera  ·26 Mar 2026 The government raised the idea of work-from-home as a practical way to mitigate what is shaping up to be a massive fuel price shock next month. A cabinet committee has also been established to discuss what can be done about the rising fuel prices. Officials from the Department of Mineral …

Former SA Police Service (SAPS) special task force member Matipandile Sotheni has denied involvement in the fatal shooting of whistleblower Marius van der Merwe, known as Witness D at the Madlanga commission of inquiry. Sotheni made the remarks during his second appearance at the Brakpan magistrate’s court, where he faces charges linked to the December …

Malcolm Libera  ·26 Mar 2026 Malaysian retail giant MR.DIY is rolling out stores across South Africa, taking retail space in five shopping malls in recent months, with plans to double this number by the end of this year.  The group announced its fifth local store at Mall@Carnival in eastern Johannesburg that will open at the …

The fuel crisis in the Middle East has continued to deteriorate this week, as South Africans are now facing petrol hikes of up to R6 per litre next month. At the end of the third week of March, data from the Central Energy Fund indicated that petrol prices would go up by R4.94 per litre …

Youth unemployment in South Africa now stands at 43.8%, according to Statistics South Africa’s first-quarter 2026 figures. That number does not stand alone. It reflects a generation of young people who qualified, showed up and were ready, but for whom the institutions, opportunities and pathways simply did not exist. The proposed Ekurhuleni University of Applied …

Global governance expert, Dr Thelela Ngcetane-Vika, says the withdrawal of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s invitation to the G7 Summit in France demonstrates the United States’ problematic influence on the global governance architecture. France’s decision to disinvite President Ramaphosa to the summit in June comes after Washington threatened to boycott the event should South Africa be in …

The DA has called for a 50% reduction in the fuel levy, warning South Africa is facing a sharp and immediate fuel price shock driven by escalating conflict in Iran. Speaking at a press briefing, DA finance spokesperson Mark Burke said petrol is expected to increase by more than R5 a litre and diesel by …

I’ve just returned from the ProWein trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany. This was my 18th time attending. I’ve seen the show at its busiest, its most energetic, and at a time when it genuinely felt like the centre of the wine world. This year felt different. Not dramatically, and not in a way that suggests …

Gauteng recorded the highest share of deaths, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. South Africa recorded almost 500 000 deaths in 2023, a decrease from the previous year. The numbers show a continuing recovery from the devastating Covid pandemic in 2021, according to Statistics South Africa’s latest Mortality and Causes of Death report. The …

The only International Economic Association (IEA) Fellow from the country, Emeritus Professor Murray Leibbrandt is a distinguished academic economist. He studies poverty‚ inequality and labour market dynamics in South Africa using longitudinal survey data and‚ in particular‚ panel data. He is being acknowledged for his high-quality policy work and excellence in research publications through the …

As South Africans brace for a massive looming petrol price hike, residents in the Cape Peninsula are already feeling the pinch. The United States and Israel’s war in Iran has ignited global panic, with the conflict expected to severely impact fuel prices and supply. Supply issues are already affecting businesses across the Garden Route, Klein …

Staff Writer  ·25 Mar 2026 The good-time start to the year is over, with economists warning of massive energy price hikes next month that will drive inflation higher, potentially trigger interest rate hikes, and place a huge damper on economic growth. The PayInc Net Salary Index, which tracks the nominal net salaries of an estimated …

A National Scam Centre is a centralised government-led agency that brings together various experts to fight fraud. (Image created via ChatGPT) The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is looking to establish a National Scam Centre in the long-term, as part of developing a more coordinated national approach to tackling the rising rate of sophisticated cyber …

[embedded content] English and Afrikaans soundbites by Dr Mark Burke MP.  South African households are in the line of fire of the oil price shock. Many minimum wage workers spend a third of their wages on transport. Petrol price increases will drive up taxi fares, they will drive up food prices and they will drive …

Malcolm Libera  ·25 Mar 2026 Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe has warned petrol stations that withholding fuel is illegal and has promised to prosecute those found to be doing so in South Africa.  During a Q&A session in the National Assembly (NA) on 25 March, Mantashe made it clear that any deliberate …

Luke Fraser  ·25 Mar 2026 South Africans with retirement funds have been warned about the long-term consequences of withdrawing from their two-pot funds, especially amid current market volatility. Retirement funds were subject to new legislation in 2024, when the two-pot system came into effect, allowing limited access to funds while ensuring that the majority of …

Chase Haskins continues to underline his status as one of South Africa’s most exciting emerging talents, delivering a standout performance at Red Star Raceway during the opening rounds of the National ROK Cup Karting Championship. What makes the performance even more compelling is the context; Haskins is competing against drivers with years of experience, while …

Partnership with Certified AI Access and Reality Defender delivers real-time detection of AI-generated fraud across voice, video, image, and text for South African financial institutions. Certified AI Access, a South African AI trust and risk infrastructure company, and Reality Defender, the award-winning deepfake detection platform, today announced a partnership to deploy enterprise-grade deepfake detection technology …