Hi there 🙋🏾♀️
This week on The Wrap, it’s all eyes on Parly’s police ad-hoc committee hearings as it stirs up more drama, with Deputy Police Minister Cassel Mathale caught in a bit of confusion. 👀 Sticking with law enforcement, Panyaza Lesufi’s wardens have been given the boot. On a lighter note, South Africa crowns a brand new Miss SA, and the Women’s Cricket team is smashing their way into a World Cup final. 🥳
Abroad, Hurricane Melissa is wreaking havoc across the Caribbean, while Cameroon’s president keeps breaking age records, and not in a good way.
Meanwhile, this last weekend’s Mandela Lecture sparked drama as Francesca Albanese made waves, and the Ekurhuleni land expropriation case is making everyone Google land law again.
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:
▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ BRIEFS
NATIONAL
- Deputy Police Minister Cassel Mathale first learned the famous political killings task force had been shut down via social media — and thought it was fake news! According to his testimony at Parliament’s ad hoc committee this week, his now-suspended boss Senzo Mchunu, ordered an immediate shutdown back in 2024 without consulting Mathale, National Commissioner Fannie Masemola (who was on leave), or even President Ramaphosa, who established the team in 2018. “I don’t know what was going through his mind,” said Mathale. Indeed.
- Only three Afrikaner “refugees” turned up for a US flight meant for 50 in September. 👀 Sources told The Washington Post travellers had changed their minds or postponed while selling property, etc. The Trump administration, however, insists things are on track. They’ve slashed actual refugees intake, and Afrikaners could make up over 90% of this year’s numbers. Meanwhile, nearly 50 prominent Afrikaans figures signed an open letter Saturday rejecting the use of their story to feed America’s far-right “Great Replacement” myth.
- South Africa is officially off the Financial Action Task Force grey list. Think of it as the global naughty-list for weak anti–money laundering and counter-terror financing controls. The global watchdog flagged SA back in February 2023. After two and a half years of cleanup, the body’s president, Elisa de Anda Madrazo, announced on Friday SA’s name has been cleared — alongside Mozambique, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. The markets loved it, with the rand strengthening 0.5% to R17.25 against the dollar. 💪
- Proteas women are through to their first-ever World Cup final after smashing defending champions England by 125 runs. 🏏 The standout duo, Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp, led South Africa to a historic win in Wednesday’s semi-final at the Barsapara Stadium in India. The Proteas will now face the winner of Thursday’s semi between Australia and India in Sunday’s final. Excitement is building as Mzansi waits to see if the women can bring home the trophy for the first time ever!
- There’s a new queen in Town! Qhawekazi Mazaleni has been crowned Miss South Africa 2025.👑 The 24-year-old speech therapist from East London snagged the title at the Sun Square Arena on Saturday night, taking over from last year’s winner, Mia Le Roux. Along with the crown, Mazaleni walks away with R1 million, a fully furnished luxury apartment for during her reign, and a stack of prizes fit for royalty. Qhawekazi’s promise to her country? To “champion education”. Hear hear!
INTERNATIONAL
- Jamaica has been declared a national disaster zone after Hurricane Melissa tore through the island as a Category 5 storm. Prime Minister Andrew Holness confirmed widespread destruction and internet blackouts on Tuesday. Now downgraded to a Category 1 storm, Melissa is expected to cause dangerous storm surges in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, following floods in Cuba as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday. Over 30 deaths have currently been reported across territories.
- Cameroon’s longtime ruler, Paul Biya, isn’t going anywhere. 🤔 The 92-year-old president — already the world’s oldest sitting leader — claimed 53.66% of the vote on Monday, extending his 43-year reign. This possibly keeps him in power until he’s nearly 100. 😵💫 His rival, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, called the result “a masquerade” and declared himself the real winner. Protests erupted, leaving at least four dead. Critics say the election was less about democracy and more about Biya proving he still runs the show.
- Police in Paris have arrested seven suspects allegedly involved in the cinematic 19 October Louvre jewellery heist. Two were arrested on Saturday using DNA found on the scooters they used to escape. They’ve “partially admitted” to their role. A further five were nabbed on Wednesday. But the jewels, worth an eye-watering R1.78 billion, are still missing, and Paris’s public prosecutor says she’s now worried her team may have jeopardised the case by revealing news of the arrests. 😕
- Microsoft is ditching Xbox exclusivity for its crown jewel, Halo. A 25th anniversary remake of the 2001 classic, Halo: Combat Evolved, won’t just appear on Xbox. It’ll also hit PlayStation 5 in 2026 —the first time the series has appeared on a rival console. Why the shift? Console wars aren’t the battle anymore. Xbox chief Matt Booty says they’re competing with TikTok, movies, and mobile games for attention. So instead of locking players in, Microsoft is going where the audience is.
- Tough news for bacon lovers 😓 as scientists call for cancer warning labels on bacon and ham sold in the UK. Recent research links these processed meats to bowel cancer, thanks to nitrites — the preservative that keeps meat pink. Ten years after the World Health Organisation declared processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen (the same category as tobacco and asbestos), no action has been taken despite 5,400 preventable bowel cancer cases annually, costing the NHS £3 billion.
▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ BIG STORIES
1️⃣Lesufi’s ‘amaPanyaza’ flop shows populism comes at a price
In 2023, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, in full superhero pose, launched the “amaPanyaza” crime-busting squad. The rather narcissistically-named crime wardens consisted of 8000 unemployed youngsters suddenly turned orange-vested “peace officers”.
Crime? Poof! Unemployment? Double-poof. It looked good on paper, but the amaPanyaza never really delivered. The wardens lacked proper training, legal authority, and clear oversight. In the end, it felt more like a PR stunt than a real solution to Gauteng’s crime problem.
Last week, Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka declared it unlawful and unconstitutional. Seeing the writing on the wall, Lesufi disbanded the squad hours before the release of her report.
Gcaleka ruled that the initiative violated two areas covered by the Constitution: preventing provinces from policing and preventing power grabs. Without gazetted peace officer status under the Criminal Procedure Act, wardens risked civil suits for unlawful arrests. Basically, because they weren’t officially recognised as police, the wardens could’ve been sued for making illegal arrests. In addition, their training via SANDF breached the army’s defence-only mandate.
There were other concerns. The cost breakdown for maintaining the “amaPanyaza” was brutal, with estimates totalling “way above R1.5-billion,” according to DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga. This included salaries, uniforms, vehicles, and looming lawsuits. The DA has since tabled a no-confidence motion demanding Lesufi’s removal, calling the initiative “reckless”.
Daily Maverick‘s Stephen Grootes noted this saga underscores populism’s allure amid Gauteng’s crime crisis, where millions live in fear.
This isn’t just about one failed stunt. Across the political spectrum, populist stunts are on the rise.
🔹 Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA just tapped a literal vigilante Xolani Khumalo as its Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate. (In April, murder charges against Khumalo were withdrawn, following an incident where he allegedly tortured and killed an alleged drug dealer.)
🔹The overtly populist Patriotic Alliance saw a narrow win in a Soweto by-election recently, showing small parties can punch above their weight in low-turnout areas.
🔹uMkhonto weSizwe has pushed ethnic mobilisation and constitutional abolition.
As Grootes puts it, “The temptations of populism are rising, and it is clear that many politicians will be more likely to succumb in the next few years.”
As the 2026 local government elections loom, let’s remember that declining voter turnout amplifies fringe voices. We need to vote, and encourage others around us to do the same, so that we don’t keep rewarding loud demagogues over steady hands.
2️⃣Ekurhuleni’s land expropriation without pay heads to mediation
We’ve heard plenty about land “expropriation without compensation”, and now South Africa is about to see the entire principle being tested by the courts.
Back in 2019, the city of Ekurhuleni expropriated 34 hectares in Driefontein for housing and offered no compensation. Note, this was before our new land bill was in effect, detailing how expropriation without compensation should work.
Former city manager Imogen Mashazi defended the zero offer, pointing to the land’s 30-year vacancy, lack of development, and no commercial activity. Court papers explain the city’s reasoning: it took the land to meet its “statutory obligations” for social housing, citing the Housing Act and the Constitution, which allow expropriation for public purposes.
The landowners, Business Venture Investments 900, aren’t disputing the expropriation itself. They’re arguing over the city’s offer of… nothing. The company bought the land in 2005 for R1 million and says today it’s worth anywhere between R30 million and R64 million.
Now, that 2019 incident is heading to court to test the principle for the first time. Mediation kicks off on Friday, with a Gauteng High Court trial pencilled in for February 2026 if talks collapse.
That’s because South Africa currently has no active law that explicitly allows for land expropriation without compensation. The Expropriation Act of 2024, which would allow for zero compensation under specific conditions, has been passed but is not yet in effect.
As Dr Tanveer Jeewa, an Advanced Property Law lecturer at Stellenbosch University, told Eye Witness News, the city appears to be misinterpreting the law by arguing its offer is “just and equitable.”
“Until the Expropriation Act of 2024 commences, nil compensation has no statutory footing,” she said.
Under current law, compensation must meet the Constitution’s “just and equitable” standard – not necessarily market value, but not automatically zero.
Quick reminder: The new Expropriation Act (signed but not yet in force) would allow zero payment in some cases, like land held purely for speculation. The new bill lays out a legal balance between addressing historic injustices and protecting legitimate property rights, ensuring fair and transparent procedures rather than arbitrary land grabs (this is NOT Zim 2.0). It’s necessary. Remember when the government agreed to pay R1bn for the exclusive game lodge Mala Mala back in 2013? The insanely expensive deal (at our, the taxpayers’, expense) was shrouded in secrecy and wiped out most of the national Land Claims Commission budget for that year.
Friday’s mediation could either set a new precedent for land reform… or kick off a constitutional showdown. Either way, South Africa is about to see how far expropriation without payment can really go.
3️⃣ Mandela Lecture turns tense: UN envoy’s Gaza remarks followed by unauthorised court summons
South Africa hosted a prized voice on Palestine this past weekend at the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg. UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese attracted significant interest, given what’s happening in Gaza and SA’s position on the genocide.
And Albanese delivered. Known for her outspoken criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza, her lecture was fiery, emotional and unapologetically political.
An Italian human rights expert, Albanese, called out UN member states, urging them to impose arms embargoes, halt trade, and boycott Israel amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Her latest report, Gaza Genocide: a collective crime, delivered remotely to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, accuses 63 states (led by the US, Germany, and the UK) of complicity with the state of Israel through diplomatic cover, arms supplies, and economic ties.
Her proposed fix? Dust off the old anti-apartheid playbook by implementing boycotts, embargoes and real pressure.
The states accused in Albanese’s Gaza complicity report (led by the US, which sanctioned her back in July) have largely responded by attacking her credibility and bias rather than addressing the substance of her allegations.
Sure enough, moments after her address, a sheriff approached Albanese — while on stage in front of a 3500-person audience — and attempted to serve her US court papers. The documents, from two pro-Israel groups, Christian Friends of Israeli Communities and Christians for Israel USA, accused Albanese of defamation for linking them to illegal settlements.
It’s unclear who authorised the move, but SA’s Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi apologised on Sunday. The papers violated South African law, which requires foreign civil process requests to be approved by the Minister and transmitted via the Director-General.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation blasted the disruption, while the National Jewish Advocacy Centre slammed SA for “grossly insulting” the US judicial system.
All this played out against a grim backdrop: Gaza’s fragile US-brokered ceasefire, effective from 10 October, faces collapse. Israel struck northern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 104 (including 46 children) in overnight bombardments, citing Hamas violations. US officials, including Vice-President JD Vance, insist the ceasefire holds despite “skirmishes.
As Mandela himself once put it: Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.
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.
🇸🇺🇧🇸🇨🇷🇮🇧🇪
Remember to share the love. 💫
Tell your friends to sign up:
📩 Email: http://explain.co.za/subscribe
📲 Our new WhatsApp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vac06yM8kyyLmOulb80J
_Till next time, goodbye from the team_ ✌🏽
