Cape Town

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his sadness at the loss of life in violence on the Cape Flats at the weekend and in a collision involving a scholar transport vehicle this morning, Monday, 19 January 2026.

At least 26 people died in violence on the Cape Flats during a 24-hour period over the weekend while 11 learners died when the vehicle in which they were travelling collided with a truck near Vanderbijlpark today.

President Ramaphosa offers his deepest sympathies to all families and communities concerned and says Government will work with citizens and community-based organisations to protect people's lives in these different circumstances.

With reference to the Western Cape tragedies, President Ramaphosa said communities could expect stronger law enforcement and increased police visibility to stabilise affected communities and reduce the potential for further violence.

President Ramaphosa recognises the fear to which criminals subject residents and therefore calls on communities to strengthen their partnership with law enforcement agencies in community policing forums.

The President also urges residents to provide information – even on neighbours and family members – to police on an ongoing basis so that communities will instead become unsafe for criminals. With the assistance of community members, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been able to arrest 100 gang leaders and 106 runners in the past three months.

President Ramaphosa assures residents that Government is balancing short-term actions to prevent and respond to violence and stabilise communities, with long-term socio-economic interventions to improve social conditions and living standards.

On today's learner transport tragedy, President Ramaphosa says it is particularly distressing that this incident has taken place on the day the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has published a report on scholar transport in the North West.

The President's thoughts are with the families, teachers, classmates and friends of the young victims.

“Our children are the nation's most precious assets and we must do all we can – from observing the rules of the road to the quality of service providers appointed to transport scholars – to protect learners.”

President Ramaphosa says national and provincial authorities will provide families and schools with the necessary psychosocial support.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.

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Greenpeace has announced that its Rainbow Warrior ship will dock at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa this January, bringing with it a quintessential example of salt-crusted irony. Greenpeace, which actively protests against oil companies, will use petroleum-powered cars to get there, wearing synthetic, oil-based clothing while taking pictures and tweeting from phones made from critical minerals and oil – the very products of the industry they want to dismantle.

Used as a tool to protest the very energy resources that stand to lift Africa out of energy poverty, Greenpeace is offering a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” to tour the ship. But as their ship docks in one of Africa's harbors, one must ask: why does Greenpeace's narrative for Africa's energy future demand absolute restraint while its own global operations continue to rely on the very fossil fuels it insists African nations must leave in the ground?

While Greenpeace routinely urges African nations to leave their fossil resources undeveloped, its own operations underscore the impracticality of such views. The organization's flagship vessel Rainbow Warrior is frequently cited as a symbol of clean activism - yet its design tells a more inconvenient truth. Despite incorporating wind-assisted sails, battery systems and efficiency-focused architecture, the ship still relies on diesel-electric engines powered by marine gas oil - a refined fossil fuel - for propulsion, maneuvering and operational reliability. Greenpeace itself acknowledges that wind power merely reduces fuel consumption rather than eliminating it altogether.

This reality exposes a clear double standard: while Greenpeace accepts fossil fuels as a necessary operational compromise for its global campaigns, it simultaneously campaigns for Africa to forgo oil and gas development entirely - resources that underpin electricity access, industrialization and fiscal stability for hundreds of millions of people. The evidence from Greenpeace's own vessel confirms what African energy policymakers have long argued: fossil fuels remain structurally embedded in modern systems, and demanding that Africa abandon them - while NGOs continue to depend on them - is neither honest nor equitable.

“A wealthy western NGO parading Africa in a fancy boat, eating caviar and goat cheese, while drinking matcha with almond milk, telling Africans to stop oil and gas is shocking to say the least. It kind of takes your breath away. It gives Chutzpah a new meaning,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber.

With over 600 million people living without access to electricity, 900 million people living without access to clean cooking solutions and millions dying from biomass-associated health risks, the continent cannot afford to leave its oil and gas resources in the ground. But organizations such as Greenpeace continue to oppose this strategy, launching attacks on projects, deterring investments and impacting any meaningful progress to make energy poverty history.   

By blocking seismic surveys in South Africa and lobbying against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), these foreign-funded NGOs are engaging in a form of economic sabotage. They are effectively telling Africa: “You may have the resources to power your own industrialization, but you are not allowed to use them.” Projects such as EACOP offer a lifeline for many communities in East Africa. The pipeline will not only transport crude from Uganda's oilfields to international markets via Tanzania, but generate the revenue that can transform local infrastructure, power homes and develop strong, resilient economies. The same can be said for South Africa - home to significant offshore and onshore hydrocarbon resources that could, if extracted, stabilize the economy, eliminate load-shedding and power the country for decades to come.

“If fossil fuels remain necessary for Greenpeace to run its own operations, then it is neither credible nor justifiable to demand that Africa leave its resources undeveloped while millions remain without electricity, jobs or industrial opportunity,” Ayuk notes, adding “Africa needs energy to industrialize and create jobs. There is more dignity in work than in accepting foreign aid. The main goal of Greenpeace and its western funders is to keep Africa under developed and in energy poverty. We must not let them.”

The next time you see a Greenpeace boat on the horizon, remember: that ship is a monument to the very industry they want to destroy. They are enjoying the fruits of the energy industry while trying to deny those same fruits to a continent that needs them most.

“The African Energy Chamber believes Africans should make their own when it comes to oil development, not foreign NGO'S. Most Africans without electricity can't even afford the Greenpeace boat ride. Think about that,” he concludes. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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The Ad Hoc Committee established to investigate allegations made by the South African Police Service's (SAPS) KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, is scheduled to hear oral submissions from Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, the head of crime intelligence, tomorrow.

The meeting will be in Parliament and live streamed on YouTube. Documents for the committee can be found on: https://www.parliament.gov.za/ad-hoc-committee-gen-mkhwanazis-allegations

Details of the meeting are as follows:
Date: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Time: 11:00
Venue: Good Hope Chamber, Ground Floor, Good Hope Building, Parliament

Parliamentary committees are open to the media and the public. Journalists wishing to cover these meetings (including receiving links to virtual meetings) should send their cell phone numbers to Mlindi Mpindi at mmpindi@parliament.gov.za for inclusion in the Parliamentary Communications Services WhatsApp Group, where such information is shared. Journalists must send these requests from their official email addresses (no private email addresses).

Members of the public may follow sittings live on Parliament TV (DStv Channel 408), via live stream on the Parliament YouTube channel and Twitter page, using the links below. You may subscribe to the Parliament YouTube channel to receive instant notification of live feeds.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParliamentofRSA
Facebook: https://facebook.com/ParliamentofRSA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ParliamentofRSA

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES. 

For Media Enquiries:
Name: Rajaa Azzakani (Ms)
Tel: 021 403 8437
Cell: 081 703 9542
E-mail: razzakani@parliament.gov.za
 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.