Eastern Cape ANC secretary Lulama Ngcukayithobi has refused to answer questions about a WhatsApp conversation in which he accuses newly appointed public works MEC Ntombovuyo Nkopane of nepotism. A screengrab of the conversation has been doing the rounds on social media and in it Ngcukayithobi, in isiXhosa, explicitly tells Nkopane that she is committing nepotism by hiring Nomvula Qola as her chief of staff.
A rift between Buffalo City Metro mayor Xola Pakati and his deputy, Princess Faku, is likely to affect service delivery and cripple the metro, ANC insiders have warned. Fears that BCM has two centres of power emerged after the ANC’s Dr WB Rubusana region and Pakati differed on various critical issues.
A boy walking to school on his birthday was one of two people killed when a speeding car ploughed into them on Friday morning. The accident took place just a few minutes after the teenager had left home. The victim was walking from his home in Sidwadwa View on a pavement alongside a suburban tar road towards Holy Cross High School in the neighbouring suburb of Southridge.
A senior Eastern Cape traditional leader and his wife have indicated they will plead not guilty to a charge of kidnapping and murdering their cousin, whom they accused of theft and of breaking into the family kraal.
Ramaphosa, in trying to reward those who support him for re-election, might be tempted to fill top six positions with the usual dubious characters, writes S'thembiso Msomi.