Domestic

A new variant of the Coronavirus has been detected in South Africa. Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla convened an urgent media briefing on Thursday to explain the significance of the new variant - named B.1.1 529 - of which 100 cases have been detected in South Africa.

The Department of Health says as of Tuesday this week, rapid antigen test results will now be included in the COVID-19 statistics. Up until now, only laboratory-confirmed tests have been included.

The perjury trial of the former Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, is set to begin in the Johannesburg Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

A young man, Henrico Barnard whose racist videos on TikTok went viral is currently in hospital. Police in the Waterberg District in Limpopo has since laid charges of intimidation, crimen injuria and incitement to commit violence.

A contractor who was conducting renovations at a residential property in Durban on Monday has died after an iron beam collapsed with a brick facia. The Durban K9 search and Rescue unit and medical teams were dispatched to the property in the La Lucia area where five contractors were trapped underneath the rubble.

Gauteng police have arrested six suspects for a hijacking and kidnapping incident in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.

A group of heavily armed suspects has attacked the Malamulele police station in Limpopo province and robbed police members of several firearms and an undisclosed amount of ammunition.

Two German nationals have been arrested near Askham in the Northern Cape for the illegal trade and possession of reptiles and controlled substances. These included 28 Armadillo Girdled lizards, which are a threatened and protected species, as well as geckos and four tortoises that were found in the Northern Cape and destined to be smuggled out of the country into the lucrative international exotic pet trade.

Gauteng police have arrested a 23-year-old man on a charge of perjury for falsely claiming that he had been hijacked and his five-year-old son kidnapped.