Wed 14 October 2026:

Here’s what’s happening in South Africa today:

◼️ National shutdown warning: Concerned Citizens of South Africa have called for a national shutdown across South Africa to force the government to cut the General Fuel Levy (GFL) and lower petrol prices. South Africa’s fuel prices have risen sharply in recent months, with petrol reaching R30.25 per litre in October. The high prices have put pressure on households and prompted calls for the government to intervene by suspending certain levies.
Read more here:
https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/879683/national-shutdown-warning-next-week-in-south-africa/

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◼️  Zuma drops latest appeals: Former president Jacob Zuma has abandoned his latest attempt to challenge a court ruling that cleared the way for his corruption trial to proceed, ending another chapter in a legal battle that has delayed the arms deal case for more than two decades. The case centres on allegations arising from South Africa’s controversial multibillion-rand arms procurement deal. Zuma and Thales have pleaded not guilty to charges including corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
Read more here:
https://www.citizen.co.za/news/zuma-drops-all-appeals-face-long-delayed-arms-deal-corruption-trial-2027/

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◼️ 4,305 schools in South Africa don’t have enough classrooms: She added that the sector requires approximately 43,600 additional classrooms to address the shortfall. “2,287 schools are recorded as being without proper sanitation, and 1,802 schools have sanitation facilities, but the provision is insufficient,” she said. She said that the estimated cost of addressing the identified backlogs in classrooms, sanitation, electricity and adequate water supply is R41 billion.
Read more here:
https://newsday.co.za/south-africa/29048/4305-schools-in-south-africa-dont-have-enough-classrooms-and-2287-dont-have-proper-sanitation/

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◼️ ‘He met a lot of girls around me’: The Randburg Magistrate’s Court heard that former top cop Shadrack Sibiya, who is facing rape and sexual grooming charges among others, allegedly met a lot of girls through controversial socialite Serge Cabonge. Sibiya is also accused of sexually grooming a 16-year-old girl through WhatsApp between July and August, as well as possessing and distributing sexually explicit images of the teenager.
Read more here:
https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2026-10-14-he-met-a-lot-of-girls-around-me-cabonge-claims-sibiya-met-several-women-through-him/

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◼️ WhatsApp plans to block South Africans: South African users with smartphones running outdated system software will be forced to update their devices or risk being blocked from using WhatsApp. A new version of the popular social media platform will soon roll out an unskippable security measure requiring users to update their phones before using the app. The platform, owned by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was used by 93.8% of South Africans with active social media accounts, and it had an estimated 29 million users in South Africa.
Read more here:
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/smartphones/671968-whatsapp-plans-to-block-people-whose-phones-have-not- been-updated.html

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