Author name: Scott Balson

A violent shooting at a tavern in Zithobeni in the early hours of Sunday morning has left five people dead and six others injured. The incident has prompted a major police investigation and a charge against one of the victims. According to police reports, the incident occurred on 05 October 2025 at approximately 01:30. The […]

In Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, three sons wrestle with the sins of their father, a man consumed by greed, selfishness, and power. Each brother embodies a path: Dmitri the impulsive, Ivan the rational sceptic, Alyosha the spiritual and compassionate. The tragedy of their family and of the wider society around them is not simply one

Free SA has condemned the ANC government’s renewed and clandestine efforts to revive the controversial 2021 Firearms Control Amendment Bill, a move that would strip ordinary South Africans of their constitutional right to self-defence while bypassing meaningful public consultation.   The proposed legislation, which would have banned firearm ownership for self-defence, was withdrawn in 2022

A quiet community has been plunged into mourning following a deadly shooting at a local tavern in Zithobeni, Bronkhorstspruit, this past weekend. The attack, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, left five people dead and six others injured, with the suspects still at large. The incident has left families shattered and residents

A local mother of two, Kebogile Selaledi, finds herself trapped in a housing limbo, 28 years after first applying for an RDP house with the Free State Department of Human Settlements. Selaledi’s long wait began in August 1996, filled with the initial excitement of one day having a place to call her own. However, that

Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister Buti Manamela has announced the full constitution and appointment of Accounting Authorities (AAs) for all Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), effective from 30 September 2025. The appointments mark a key milestone in stabilising governance across the skills development sector and ensuring continuity in the execution of SETA mandates.

The Land Court has ruled that landowners must go through a mediation process before seeking an eviction order from a court A full bench of the court said this week that mediation is mandatory under the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA). “Good faith negotiations” are not sufficient, the judges ruled. Mediation — and

A new campus for the Rivoni School of the Blind was supposed to be completed in 2024, but the massive project, now budgeted at R198-million, stands unused and incomplete. The contractor has been placed in business rescue, stalling the project. A new sub-contractor was appointed in May, with an additional R29-million allocated to complete construction,

With an annual budget of R3.27-billion, it will take the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure two decades to eliminate the maintenance backlog on 56,000 government-owned properties, according to public works minister Dean Macpherson. The government has about 81,000 properties in total, but only 56,000 have had assessments done to estimate maintenance costs. The current

Inkosi Mhlabunzima Maphumulo House: Since Friday, a total of 52 motorists have been arrested for drunk driving in Pietermaritzburg and Kokstad. Apart from earning yourself a criminal record of up to ten years, drunk motorists, if arrested over a weekend, can be detained a maximum time of 72hours in the holding cells with hardcore criminals.