Domestic

Breaking news this morning from Johannesburg is that 73 people are now confirmed to have died following a fire in the CBD.

Eighteen people have been killed after a fire broke out in a five-story building in the Johannesburg CDB. Spokesperson for Emergency Services in Johannesburg Robert Mulaudzi says among the deceased is a one-year-old.

It’s clear that the 2020 tobacco ban did not work and, in fact, may have contributed to the increase in rates of smoking. Smokers could buy freely on the black market, switching to cheaper brands on which no excise duty was paid. Illicit cigarettes poured across the border, as they do today, and can readily still be found in spaza shops and smaller grocery stores across the country.

Two sisters appeared in court in Atteridgeville in Gauteng in connection with the deaths of five children in a shack fire in an informal settlement this past weekend.

The Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee tasked with finding a new Public Protector has endorsed Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka as its preferred candidate.

Gauteng police have confirmed the arrest of two women in connection with the deaths of five children in Laudium, west of Pretoria.

The Hawks in Kwazulu Natal have arrested a woman in connection with the murder of a police officer in Umlazi in May.

Broadcast veteran Freek Robinson has been honoured with a lifetime achievement award by KykNet at the first ever Silwerskerm Awards for Film and Television.

The SABC has banned the broadcasting of a radio advertisement wherein AfriForum asks the public to support AfriForum’s campaign against polarising statements like “Kill the Boer”. In the ad, AfriForum says it indicates that the organisation will oppose polarisation in the case that is expected to be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeals on 4 September and through projects that promotes mutual respect between different communities.