Hi there 🙋🏾♀️
The sun’s out, the skies are blue… and we’re giving serious side-eye to KwaZulu-Natal’s top cop, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, for his dark comments about journalists. Yikes. We break down what he said.
Meanwhile, Action SA’s Ekurhuleni mayoral pick is a controversial TV star. Bring popcorn.
Some good vibes: the Springboks reminded us who runs world rugby, and two celeb orcas made a rare splash in Kalk Bay.
Around the globe: six SA activists detained on a Gaza-bound flotilla are finally home. The Church of England has its first woman leader — cue grumpy bigots — and Trump’s “peace plan” in the Middle East is… doing something. We explain.
In our deep dives: new parental leave rules for Mzansi, a fresh political mash-up, and why “buy now, pay later” might wreck your wallet.
So, let’s dive into these stories and more in this week’s wrap, brought to you by Verashni Pillay and the explain.co.za team. 😄
Format:
🔊 Voice note by Verashni
📰 Newsletter with pics
▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ BRIEFS
NATIONAL
- KZN police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is veering into autocrat territory. He claims elements within SAPS are using some journalists to publish “certain narratives”, saying they should be investigated by the State Security Agency, lose their jobs and face imprisonment for alleged misinformation. 😲 He’s also taken aim at DA MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard with similar accusations. The South African National Editors’ Forum rightfully slammed his comments. He was testifying earlier this week at Parliament’s ad hoc committee into his allegations of political meddling, which runs in parallel with the more wide-ranging Madlanga Commission.
- Meanwhile, dodgy businessman Brown Mogotsi said Tuesday he’s officially been summoned by the Madlanga commission. He’s been accused of siphoning money from businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala to bankroll the ANC’s activities, as part of the massive police saga before the commission. Mogotsi says he will use the platform to “set the record straight”. Meanwhile, ANC leaders are trying to distance the party from Mogotsi, who insists he’s still an active member. His appearance date is yet to be confirmed.
- ActionSA has named TV host Xolani Khumalo as its Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate ahead of the 2026 elections this week. The announcement by party leader Herman Mashaba in Tembisa came days after ActionSA fired 12 Gauteng councillors for underperformance. Khumalo, best known for drug-busting reality show Sizok’thola, enters politics with a controversial past: he was arrested in 2023 over the death of an alleged drug dealer, though charges were later withdrawn. Mashaba called him a “fearless, ethical leader.” 👀
- The Boks have won again! 🇿🇦 On Saturday, South Africa clinched back-to-back Rugby Championship titles with a nail-biting 29–27 win over Argentina at Twickenham. Cobus Reinach and Malcolm Marx both scored twice as the world champs clawed back from a halftime deficit to lift the trophy. Rassie Erasmus called it “far from perfect” — but when you’re the best in the world, perfection’s overrated. 😉 Another week, another Bok masterclass in organised chaos.
- Two well-known killer whales made a rare appearance in Cape Town’s Kalk Bay harbour this week. 🐋 Nicknamed Port and Starboard, they’re easily recognised by their bent dorsal fins — a rare trait. Known shark hunters, they’ve been tracked along the coast from Lüderitz, to False Bay since 2009. Experts say killer whales are spotted in Cape Town only four to six times a year. Videos of the sighting quickly went viral, racking up over 100,000 views!
INTERNATIONAL
- Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for a Gaza ceasefire yesterday. The deal includes an immediate halt to hostilities, the release of 48 Israeli hostages as early as Saturday (20 of which are believed to be alive) in exchange for prominent Palestinian prisoners, and unimpeded humanitarian aid into the area. Israel’s IDF has begun preparations for troop withdrawal, while Hamas demands guarantees against renewed attacks. This comes amid the war’s second anniversary, with over 67,000 Palestinian deaths reported.
- After days of detention in Israel, six South African activists, including Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla, are home. 🙌 The group was part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a 45-vessel convoy that tried to deliver aid to Gaza and challenge Israel’s naval blockade. They were held in the Negev desert before being released and deported to Jordan on Tuesday following diplomatic pressure. Among the 450 detained were Greta Thunberg and other activists — all accused by Israel of staging a “publicity stunt.”
- For the first time in its 1,500-year history, the Church of England will be led by a woman. 🙌 Dame Sarah Mullally — a former nurse and the UK’s ex-chief nursing officer — was appointed on Friday as the Archbishop of Canterbury. But not everyone’s saying amen. Her appointment has reignited old divisions in the Anglican world, with conservative churches rejecting her over her progressive views on women clergy and same-sex blessings. As she put it: “This will not be easy.”
- Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to just over four years in prison. On Friday, the 55-year-old was convicted on prostitution-related charges involving former girlfriends, including singer Cassie Ventura, following harrowing testimony. During sentencing, a tearful Combs called his actions “disgusting, shameful and sick,” and begged for mercy. Days later, Donald Trump confirmed Diddy had asked him for a presidential pardon. Trump previously said he would not, because Diddy was ”very hostile” when he ran for office. 🙄
- Three US physicists just bagged a Nobel Prize for taking quantum mechanics further. 🏆 On Tuesday, John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis won the 2025 Physics Nobel for proving that quantum effects, usually seen only in tiny particles, can happen on a larger, visible scale. Their work lays the groundwork for quantum computing – a new computing that uses the science of how particles behave at the smallest scales to perform calculations much faster than conventional computers.
▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ BIG STORIES
1️⃣Bosa, Good and Rise Mzansi join forces to form Unite for Change
Three small parties walk into a ballot box… and merge.
South Africa’s political landscape just got a little shake-up, and for once, it’s not a scandal.
Build One South Africa (Bosa), Good, and Rise Mzansi have officially merged to form Unite for Change, a new political party aiming to shake things up for the 2026 local government elections.
That’s right. On Sunday, it was announced that Mmusi Maimane, Patricia de Lille, and Songezo Zibi are joining forces.
Their pitch? To give South Africans a genuine, credible alternative at the polls. With the ANC’s dominance steadily slipping and the DA’s support stuck around 20–25%, there’s clearly space for something new.
Unite for Change wants to occupy that middle ground. It says it’s pro-Constitution, non-racial, and steering clear of the populist rhetoric that’s become commonplace on the political stage (MK and the EFF leading that charge), and there are no red overalls or fire pools in sight.
The logic behind the merger is straightforward: stop splitting the opposition vote and pool resources to build something stronger. Political analyst William Gumede has argued that if Unite can energise the millions who stayed home in 2024, it could become a meaningful player in local governance.
Sure, their combined showing in the 2024 national elections just scraped 1% of the vote, but the real prize is South Africa’s biggest voting bloc: the disillusioned. Over 11 million registered voters stayed home in 2024. If even a fraction shows up in 2026, things could get interesting.
For now, the party will operate under a collective leadership council, avoiding the “cult of personality” trap Zibi has long criticised in South African politics. They’re claiming: no single leader, no big egos (on paper, at least).
Existing MPs and councillors from the three founding parties will serve out their current terms, but come 2026, it’ll be all Unite on the ballot.
Of course, the road ahead won’t be easy. South Africa’s political space is crowded (a whopping 383 are registered on a national level), and mergers are notoriously tricky to manage.
Still, with the ruling ANC wobbling and local coalition politics getting messier by the day, Unite for Change could find itself well placed.
Disclaimer: Our sister company, Explain Agency, assisted Unite For Change with their launch social media strategy. No one who worked on the party’s strategy on the agency side was involved in our reporting, preventing undue influence.
2️⃣South Africa just rewrote the rules on parental leave – Here’s what you need to know
In a landmark ruling on Friday, the Constitutional Court struck down sections of the country’s parental leave laws as unconstitutional, calling them discriminatory and out of step with modern families.
Until now, the law assumed one thing: that moms stay home and dads go to work. Birth mothers got four months off, while fathers got just 10 days. Adoptive and surrogate parents? They were stuck in a confusing maze of age limits and inconsistent rules. This puts the bulk of the caregiving (and the exhaustion) on one parent — usually the mom.
But that’s changed, thanks to one couple, Werner and Lauren van Wyk. They wanted to split parenting duties after their child’s birth (a request that shouldn’t have been revolutionary in 2025 🙄).
But the Basic Conditions of Employment Act only gave time off to birth mothers. The couple took it to the High Court, arguing that the law violated their rights to equality and dignity. The Constitutional Court later confirmed the ruling that BECA was unconstitutional.
So, what’s changed?:
🔹Shared leave pool: All parents (biological, adoptive, or surrogate) can share a total of four months and 10 days of parental leave.
🔹Flexible splits: Parents can divide this time however they choose. If they can’t agree, it defaults to an equal split.
🔹Special cases: Birth mothers can take four weeks before and six weeks after birth for recovery, as part of the shared pool. In cases of miscarriage or stillbirth, any parent can take six weeks off.
🔹Adoptions and surrogacy: No more age limits for adopted children (Previously, leave was granted only if the child was under two years old). Leave starts when the child is placed or born.
🔹Pay: UIF covers up to 66% of a parent’s salary (capped at R17,000 per month), and employees must give four weeks’ notice before taking leave.
The Court gave Parliament 36 months to formally amend the relevant laws, but the new rules kick in immediately. That means employers must scramble to update HR policies almost immediately.
It won’t be all smooth sailing. Companies may rethink paying full salaries during extended leave because of additional costs, which some currently do for maternity leave. And there’s the question of whether the UIF can handle the increased claims from a wider pool of parents.
Ultimately, the ruling could mark a historic shift toward true parental equality, while challenging South Africa’s workplaces and systems to catch up with the realities of modern parenthood.
Read our full explainer here.
3️⃣Buy Now Pay Later boom could lead to debt crisis, experts warn
Mzansi’s shopping habits are getting a little… spendy. And experts say our growing love for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) deals could land us in serious debt.
If you’ve used PayFlex or HappyPay to buy that new iPhone or pair of Crocs over a few months, congrats, you’ve used BNPL. It’s basically a short-term loan that lets you split the cost of a purchase into interest-free instalments. Sounds great, right?
Well, here’s the kicker. These services often don’t check if you can actually afford what you’re buying. And they don’t report your debt to credit bureaus, which means other lenders can’t see it and manage your risk accordingly.
According to TransUnion’s Consumer Pulse Study for the fourth quarter of 2024, 74% of those surveyed in South Africa were aware of BNPL services, and 50% had used them more than once in the past year.
The Micro Finance South Africa group is ringing alarm bells. CEO Leonie Kirsten van Pletzen says unchecked BNPL use could create a “bubble”, where too many people are buying on credit they can’t afford. And when that bubble bursts? We’re talking debt, defaults and financial chaos.
Globally, it’s a growing concern too. In the US, you can even BNPL your takeaway on DoorDash because nothing says “financial planning” like paying off your McFlurry 🍦
Australia has already stepped in with new regulations: since June 2025, all BNPL service providers must “comply with the National Credit Act, National Credit Code, and responsible lending obligations. They must also consider financial hardship requests and credit reporting”, and South Africa could follow suit with a new financial regulation bill in the works.
So while it might be tempting to get that 100-inch TV over three paychecks, do so only if you can afford it. Or just save for it. The payoff will be much sweeter.
That’s it from us at The Wrap, an award-winning product of explain.co.za – simple news summaries for busy people. 💁🏾♀
The Wrap is sponsored by explain’s agency division. We specialise in content marketing for purpose-driven organisations, often with a pan-African reach. Mail info@explain.co.za for a quote.
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