In the news today, five mineworkers remain trapped nearly 890 metres underground following a mud rush incident at a Northern Cape mine.
Meanwhile, parliament heard that out of 284 prisoners who escaped between 1 April and 31 December 2025, more than 200 remain at large.
Furthermore, the latest crime statistics indicate that the murder rate in South Africa continued decreased in the third quarter of the 2024/25 financial year.
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‘Possibility of life is minimal’: Mantashe says Ekapa Mine workers feared dead after mud rush
Grave concerns are mounting for five mineworkers who remain trapped nearly 890 metres underground following a mud rush incident at the Ekapa Mine in Kimberley, Northern Cape.
Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister, Gwede Mantashe, visited the diamond mine on Friday as rescue operations continued several days after the workers became trapped on Tuesday.
Addressing members of the media during his visit, Mantashe confirmed that an investigation into the incident is currently underway.
“Any accident that takes more than four lives is described as a disaster. In this case, where five people have disappeared and have not been found, it is therefore considered a potential disaster.”
CONTINUE READING:Â ‘Possibility of life is minimal’: Mantashe says Ekapa Mine workers feared dead after mud rush
284 inmates escaped police custody in under a year, and only 82 have been rearrested
The Select Committee on Security and Justice met with South African Police Service (Saps) management on Wednesday to scrutinise a growing crisis in custody management.
Committee Chairperson Jane Seboletswe Mananiso noted that the meeting was called because of “several recent escapes from custody across the country, which continue to pose a serious challenge to the criminal justice system.”
Parliament’s Select Committee on Security and Justice heard this week that only 82 of those escapees were rearrested during the same period, leaving more than 200 people unaccounted for.
CONTINUE READING:Â 284 inmates escaped police custody in under a year, and only 82 have been rearrested
Murder continues to decrease but crime stats still ‘unacceptably high’
The murder rate in South Africa continued to decrease in the third quarter of the 2024/25 financial year, according to the latest crime statistics.
Addressing the media on Friday, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said murder and most violent crimes, including rape and robbery, continued to decrease.
Cachalia said after more than a decade of annual increases, murder has been on a downward slope since the first quarter of 2023/24.
“This trend has continued throughout this year with this quarter showing an 8.7% decrease or 602 fewer lives lost,” Cachalia said.
CONTINUE READING:Â Murder continues to decrease but crime stats still ‘unacceptably high’
Work or study in Russia: Inside the tactics used by MK party to supply African cannon fodder
Supplementing its numbers on the frontlines with the impoverished men of world is Russia’s modus operandi, say critics.
Two European researchers and a diplomat on Friday gave a presentation on the alleged tactics used by the Russian military to bolster its military machine.
Four South Africans returned home this week after spending time near the disputed territories of eastern Ukraine, with the researchers singling out one local political party for criticism.
The uMhkonto weSizwe (MK) Party, through Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, were tied to the recruitment of South Africans, with researcher Thierry Vircoulon mentioning the party specifically as being aligned to Russia.
CONTINUE READING:Â Work or study in Russi
‘Not a smart move’ for Mkhwanazi to reject PKTT dockets, says Sibiya
Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya says it is unfair that he is being blamed for the delays in the investigations of the dockets of the political killings task team (PKTT).
During his testimony in September last year, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told the Madlanga commission that on 26 March 2025, 118 ‘under investigation’ dockets investigated by the PKTT were handed over to Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection Lieutenant General Hilda Senthumule on Sibiya’s instruction.
On 10 April 2025, three additional dockets, still under investigation by the team, were handed over to the South African Police Service head office in Pretoria, also on Sibiya’s instruction, bringing the total to 121 dockets.
While arrangements were being made to return the dockets to KZN, Mkhwanazi informed the head office he wanted nothing to do with them. Sibiya blamed Mkhwanazi for rejecting the dockets, saying this was what caused all the confusion around them.
CONTINUE READING:Â ‘Not a smart move’ for Mkhwanazi to reject PKTT dockets, says Sibiya
Yesterday’s News recap
READ HERE: In case you missed it: Mugabe’s son arrested | Zim-bound bus crash | Maskandi singer beaten to death
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