Daily news update: Mabuza resigns, SA Tourism loses board members, resident sues Cape Town

Here’s your morning news update: An easy-to-read selection of our top stories. Stay up to date with The Citizen – More News, Your Way.

Daily news update: 5 February 2023

Mabuza confirms his resignation as South Africa’s Deputy President

Speaking at his brother’s burial service in Mpumalanga on Saturday, David Mabuza confirmed his resignation as South Africa’s Deputy President and said that President Cyril Ramaphosa will make the announcement in due course. 

In a video shared by journalist Samkele Maseko, Mabuza was at the podium speaking about respecting Ramaphosa and shared his hopes that those left (working within the organisation and for the government) would respect him. 

Read more here.

SA Tourism confirms three board members’ resignations over R1bn sponsorship deal

Three board members from the SA Tourism board have resigned amid the outrage from South Africans over the controversial R1 billion sponsorship proposal of English Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspurs.

SA Tourism board chairperson Dr Aubrey Mhlongo, in a statement on Saturday, announced that Enver Duminy, Ravi Nadasen, and Rosemary Anderson had resigned from the board with immediate effect.

Mhlongo did not provide any reasons for the trio’s sudden departure from the SA Tourism board. He thanked them for their contribution to the agency.

 Read more here.

Man who was dragged naked from shack to sue City of Cape Town

Bulelani Qolani, who made headlines when he was dragged naked from his home in Khayelitsha by Anti-Land Invasion officers during lockdown in 2020, says he is launching legal action against the City of Cape Town.

This was according to a press statement published this week by housing advocacy group Ndifuna Ukwazi.

 Read more here.

Phalatse might have what it takes to beat Steenhuisen, say DA insiders

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen may not get automatically re-elected into the hot seat when the party chooses its leadership at the party’s Federal Congress in April, according to some DA insiders.

It is already widely known that former twice-ousted Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse will be betting on herself to lead the party into a much-anticipated battle at next year’s national poll.

What remains unknown is whether anyone else will throw their blue hats into the ring.

 Read more here.

ActionSA’s Edwin Ntshidi: From teen thug to superhero

From the pen to the ballot box, that is how former journalist and now ActionSA councillor Edwin Ntshidi is known to those who have followed his work as a journalist.

Ntshidi was born 45 years ago and grew up with his grandmother and uncle in Wesselsbron, Free State.

Like many South Africans who grew up in the days of the brutal apartheid system, Ntshidi’s upbringing was not the easiest.

Read more here.

URC result: Stormers score six tries in hammering Sharks in Durban

The Sharks were without several of their Springbok players, who were being rested or possibly attending team-mate Eben Etzebeth’s wedding, and it showed as they crashed to a 19-46 loss to the Stormers in a postponed round one United Rugby Championship match in Durban on Saturday.

The Stormers were also missing a few key men but had far too much fire-power for their hosts, who were outplayed in a number of areas and heavily penalised by referee Jaco Peyper.

 Read more here.

I expected the worst from ‘The Real Housewives of Gqeberha’

I expected the worst from The Real Housewives of Gqeberha and after getting to watch the first episode along with the cast in the Eastern Cape, I am actually happy to admit that I was wrong.

It did not help that a funny edit of one of the cast members’ taglines was shared as promotional material in the lead-up to the show, lending itself to the idea that the show would be ghetto and cause audiences to cringe.

Read more here