Domestic

Two friends who admitted to killing an e-hailing taxi driver last month have each been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Twenty-Five-year-old Nkosinathi Mathobela and 21-year-old Kwanele Buthelezi pleaded guilty in the Pietermaritzburg High Court and were subsequently sentenced.

The Estcourt District Court in KZN has fined a local farmer close to R2 million for the unlawful use of water. NPA regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara says the court sentenced 74-year-old farmer Roy Clifford Braithwaite to a fine of R1,77 million after he was convicted of contravening the National Water Act.

A Gqeberha couple is writing to the South African Human Rights Commission and thereafter heading to the Equality Court after a Cape Town jeweller refused to sell an engagement ring to them because they are part of the LGBTQI+ community.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared 27 December a public holiday due to the fact that Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. Monday 26 December is celebrated as the Day of Goodwill and is already a public holiday.

An energy expert has warned that the electricity crisis is likely to get worse as Eskom suffers near-record levels of unplanned outages. Energy Expert Lungile Mashele says the power utility has over 19,000 megawatts unavailable due to breakdowns at power plants.

The Johannesburg Labour Court has ruled that companies may enforce zero-tolerance policies on the use of cannabis. Although the Constitutional Court had legalised cannabis for personal consumption in private by adults, it could still be regarded as a drug under a company’s policy, the judge said.

A young man from the affluent suburb of Constantia in Cape Town is out on bail of R50 000 after a hydroponic cannabis laboratory was discovered at his house. Twenty-four-year-old Joseph Hughes spend this past weekend behind bars and made his first court appearance on Monday.

Statistics South Africa says the 1.6% rise in Gross Domestic Product in the third quarter not only boosted the economy back above pre-pandemic levels, but quarterly real GDP was also the highest it’s ever been, exceeding the previous peak of R1 152 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018.

South African Police are searching for a truck driver who entered the country with cocaine worth nearly R30 million. The driver disappeared from the Lebombo Port of Entry on Saturday when his vehicle was intercepted by Customs Officials.