Latest news with #Mabuza
The South African
13 hours ago
- Business
- The South African
Retired Cape Town mother scoops R30 million Lotto Plus 1 jackpot
ITHUBA, operators of the National Lottery, have announced that the R30 211 163.30 Lotto PLUS 1 jackpot winner from draw number 2562, held on Saturday, 26 July 2025, has come forward to claim her multi-million winnings. ALSO READ | PowerBall draw jackpot a guaranteed R100 million on Tuesday, 29 July 2025 The winning ticket was purchased at a retail store in Cape Town, with a manual selection and a wager of R80. The numbers drawn were 4, 7, 23, 28, 44, 46 and the bonus ball was 18. The jackpot winner, a recently retired mother from the Western Cape, described the win as a 'retirement blessing' and says she is still in disbelief. 'I still can't believe it. I keep looking at the numbers and thinking: is this really happening to me?' she shared emotionally. She retired last year and has since been quietly supporting her two daughters financially. However, she revealed that her biggest worry has been her youngest daughter's daily commute to work. 'She uses e-hailing every day because she doesn't have a car, and I worry about her safety constantly. 'Now, the first thing I'm doing is buying her a car. That will give me so much peace of mind,' said the winner. Beyond providing for her family, she plans to invest the bulk of her winnings wisely and embrace a well-earned rest. 'I want to enjoy my retirement fully now. No stress, just peace. That's my dream.' Charmaine Mabuza, CEO of ITHUBA, congratulated the winner and celebrated the heartwarming impact of the jackpot. 'We are thrilled that the winner wasted no time in claiming her winnings! 'To learn that she will finally be able to gift her daughter with a car that will help ensure a safer commute to work is heart-warming and will surely easy her anxiety. 'This is another testament of how ITHUBA continues to transform lives through the National Lottery', said Mabuza. To help winner's enjoy lasting benefits from their winnings, ITHUBA offers access to certified financial experts who provide valuable financial insights for winners of R50 000 and above. All winners have 365 days from the draw date to claim their winnings, and all National Lottery winnings are tax-free. Participants can check their tickets at retail stores or online through the National Lottery website or social media pages as there are more winners in other divisions. Players must be 18 years or older. Play responsibly. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Retired Cape Town mom to buy daughter a car after claiming Lotto millions
'I want to enjoy my retirement fully now. No stress, just peace. That's my dream.' The winner of the Lotto draw from Saturday, 26 July 2025, has claimed her R30 211 138.30 jackpot. She purchased her winning ticket at a retail store in Cape Town with R80 and manually selected her lucky numbers. 'Retirement blessing' The winner, who just went into retirement, described her win as a 'retirement blessing' 'I still can't believe it. I keep looking at the numbers and thinking, 'is this really happening to me?'' she said. She expressed how she has been supporting her two daughters financially. She said that her biggest worry has been her youngest daughter's daily commute to work. 'She uses e-hailing every day because she doesn't have a car, and I worry about her safety constantly. Now, the first thing I'm doing is buying her a car. That will give me so much peace of mind,' she said. Charmaine Mabuza, CEO of Ithuba, congratulated the winner. 'We are thrilled that the winner wasted no time in claiming her winnings! To learn that she will finally be able to gift her daughter with a car that will help ensure a safer commute to work is heart-warming and will surely ease her anxiety,' said Mabuza. Beyond providing for her family, the Lotto winner plans to invest the bulk of her winnings and embrace a well-earned rest. 'I want to enjoy my retirement fully now. No stress, just peace. That's my dream.' ALSO READ: Have you checked your Lotto ticket? R30 million has been won What happens after winning? All Lotto winners receive an SMS from their banks containing a reference number and further instructions regarding what documents to take along when visiting the lottery operator, Ithuba. If a player wins less than R250 000, the money will be deposited directly into their account if they used a banking app to play. Players who win more than R250 000 will be referred to the Ithuba for a payout. Winners of more than R50,000 receive free financial and trauma counselling. All winnings are tax-free.
Daily Maverick
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Imprisoned activist MPs in Eswatini highlight a growing crisis of civic freedoms across Africa
Mduduzi Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube's ongoing imprisonment is more than a national tragedy. It is a warning about a dangerous continent-wide trend of unchecked state repression. This month marks four years since Eswatini's pro-democracy activists and former members of parliament, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, were arrested — and one year since they were sentenced under the country's notorious Suppression of Terrorism Act for calling for democratic reform. During the June 2021 pro-democracy protests in Eswatini, Mabuza and Dube exercised their constitutional mandate by raising alarm over the unrest, calling for national dialogue and participating in the demonstrations. Rather than heeding calls for dialogue put forward by a number of people, including civil society actors, elders and leaders across the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region, King Mswati ultimately rejected dialogue in favour of brute force. In response to their activism, the Eswatini authorities subjected Mabuza and Dube to irregular trials and harsh sentences, sending a chilling message to others in the pro-democracy movement. Four years later, they remain behind bars, a harsh reflection of how easily democratic ideals are betrayed when the world looks away. To push for their release, Civicus added Mabuza and Dube to its flagship Stand As My Witness campaign. Inspired by the global movement to free Nelson Mandela, Stand As My Witness mobilises people around the world to draw attention to jailed human rights defenders and demand their release. Like Mandela, Mabuza and Dube have been imprisoned for daring to speak out against injustice. But Mabuza and Dube's ongoing imprisonment is more than a national tragedy. It is a warning about a dangerous continent-wide trend of unchecked state repression. Across Africa, from Eswatini to Algeria, Senegal to Tanzania, speaking truth to power is increasingly treated as a criminal offence. More and more, opposition leaders like Mabuza and Dube, as well as whistle-blowers and civil society voices, are under threat. A continental crisis East Africa may be the epicentre of this crisis. Last month, Kenyan blogger Albert Ojwang died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly defaming a senior police official. Likewise, Rose Njeri, a young software developer, was arrested and charged under cybercrime laws for building a tool that enabled citizens to submit objections to a controversial finance Bill. In neighbouring Uganda, 11 environmental activists were arrested on 23 April for peacefully marching to deliver a letter to KCB Bank, which supports the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline. Meanwhile, Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu remains in detention following his April 2025 arrest for agitating for democratic reform. He faces spurious charges of treason, an offence that carries the death penalty in Tanzania. In West Africa, Senegalese pro-democracy organiser Alioune Sané of the Y'en a Marre movement was arrested in late 2023 and released only early this year. In North Africa, Egyptian human rights lawyer Hoda Abdel Moneim — who is part of the Stand As My Witness campaign — languishes behind bars. So does Tunisian humanitarian worker Mustapha Jemmali, who authorities detained on spurious financial charges, widely seen as retaliation for his refugee advocacy. Concern is not enough These arrests form a broader trend of shrinking civic space in Africa. The Civicus Monitor, which tracks civic freedoms globally, reports that more than 90% of Africans now live in countries where civic space is restricted, repressed or closed. The global response? Far too often: diplomatic silence, performative concern, or reactive statements after the damage is done. Media coverage is frequently short-lived and quickly forgotten. But concern alone is no longer sufficient, not when elected members of parliament are behind bars for doing their jobs, and not when ordinary people are arrested for taking to the streets to voice dissent. If repression is becoming the norm, then our solidarity must rise to meet this moment. It must move beyond symbolic declarations to coordinated and sustained action. Fortunately, we know that international pressure and solidarity work. The Stand As My Witness campaign, as part of sustained global advocacy, has helped contribute to the release of 31 people globally so far, like Algerian human rights defenders Zakaria Hannache and Kamira Nait Said, Burundian journalist Floriane Irangabiye, and Zimbabwean union leader Obert Masaraure. Knowing that international advocacy can lead to someone's release is why we keep pushing, and why we encourage others to join us. Together, we can make a difference for Mabuza and Dube in Eswatini. Time to act on Eswatini Securing Mabuza and Dube's freedom requires serious global action. Eswatini is due to undergo its next Universal Periodic Review at the UN in 2026, so global voices should begin raising the alarm now to shape that process and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Mabuza and Dube. African institutions, particularly the African Union and the regional blocs, must rise to the occasion. They need to act decisively when member states violate democratic norms. Multilateral pressure cannot be reserved for coups alone — the slow suffocation of dissent warrants equal urgency. To that end, SADC leaders should encourage King Mswati to return to dialogue. Donor countries and diplomatic partners must also centre civic space in bilateral relations. 'Quiet diplomacy' has too often been a cover for inaction. Governments that imprison critics while accepting development aid must be held to higher standards. Recent responses to Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act offer a glimpse of what stronger accountability can look like. The United States removed Uganda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), imposed visa bans on officials and redirected millions in development assistance. The World Bank suspended new funding to the country. This kind of accountability must become the norm, not the exception, especially when dissidents and elected officials are jailed with impunity. Protect civil society Further, donors must support and protect local civil society. These organisations are often the only line of defence for activists, journalists and political prisoners. They provide legal aid, they document abuses and raise awareness, yet many are underfunded, under threat, and increasingly operating in fear. Finally, people around the world must raise their voices and push their leaders to act for Mabuza and Dube. People power works, but only if we use it. After all, international pressure to release Nelson Mandela did not come from nowhere. It was the result of sustained advocacy around the world at the grassroots level. Mabuza and Dube need the same. Indeed, Mandela's legacy is not only about freedom once won, it is about defending that freedom wherever it is at risk. Today, that risk is acute. Mandela once said: 'To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.' By that measure, Mabuza and Dube's ongoing detention is not just a local injustice, it is a mirror of our continent's broader retreat from democratic values. Their story challenges all of us: to speak louder, act sooner, and stand in true solidarity with those behind bars for defending rights we too often take for granted. It is a test of conscience, one we are dismally failing. We still have time to choose differently. To stand as their witness. And to prove that solidarity is more than sentiment, it is action. DM Kgalalelo Gaebee is a communications and advocacy professional working on human rights and civic space across Africa and globally. Dr Paul Mulindwa is Civicus's advocacy and campaigns officer – Africa lead, bringing more than two decades of experience in peacebuilding, governance and humanitarian programmes across Africa. He has a PhD in Governance and International Relations from the University of Johannesburg.
IOL News
14-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Gauteng High Court upholds protection order against manager for offensive language
The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, ruled that the use of profane language at work towards a colleague is not workplace banter. Image: File Repeated insults with the use of profane and demeaning language during a salary dispute with a colleague resulted in a line manager being slapped with a protection against harassment order, which he now tried to overturn, stating that his language simply constituted 'workplace banter'. But the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, did not agree and turned down the appeal against the harassment order. The court said words such as the 'f' word and calling someone an 'asshole' did not belong in the workplace. Nonhlanhla Mabuza obtained the protection order in April against her line manager, Garth Roberts. Both work for a company known as Africa Rainbow Minerals. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Mabuza joined the company in 2019 and was placed on a three-month probation period at a specified salary. After serving her probation, she was confirmed permanently, but her salary was reduced by R3,000. No reasons were given to Mabuza for this reduction. This discrepancy necessitated a meeting between her and Roberts, during which a representative of the human resources department was also present. The proceedings were recorded. It is not disputed that Roberts told Mabuza during the meeting that she signed a 'f***ing' paper because she is an 'asshole'. The issue in the appeal is to determine whether these utterances constitute harassment, justifying a protection order against him. Judge Percival Motha, during the appeal, inquired from counsel for Roberts whether it is proper for a white man to call a black woman an 'asshole' in this racially charged society. The answer was a clear 'no'. Judge Majake Mabesele, who sat with Judge Motha on the appeal and who wrote the judgment, remarked that although the question raised with counsel is legitimate, the court is alive to the fact that the emphasis should not be placed on race in this matter. 'Instead, the emphasis should be placed on 'power'. Harassment at the workplace knows no race. It is about misuse of power, thereby violating a person's right to dignity, and a right not to be subjected to psychological torture,' Judge Mabesele said. Roberts' lawyer, meanwhile, argued that the utterances made by his client, objectively viewed, were not of such an overwhelmingly oppressive nature as to make them oppressive and unreasonable. He argued that Roberts was, at the time, attempting to assist Mabuza with a salary situation and that she thanked him for attending the meeting. In his argument, the lawyer stressed the point that the word 'asshole' is regarded as workplace banter and could not have caused Mabuza serious distress. However, the judge stated that this argument lacks merit. 'The word 'asshole' should be regarded as an insult in circumstances where a female is accused of wrongdoing by a male person. The word becomes extremely disturbing and causes serious fear and distress when uttered simultaneously with the 'f' word, as it transpired in the meeting between Mr Roberts and Ms Mabuza,' Judge Mabesele said. He added that it is apparent from the entire recorded conversation that the word 'asshole' was uttered more than once and the 'f' word was uttered three times, despite protest by Mabuza, who was pleading for a salary adjustment. Mabuza told the court the reason for her obtaining a protection order against him was not simply because he called her an 'asshole' or used the 'f' word. 'This is just to show how Mr Roberts is.' But the court said logic dictates that the words that were uttered to her must have caused her serious distress.
IOL News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Ramaphosa skipping Mabuza's burial signaled strained relations
President Cyril Ramaphosa. Image: GCIS CONTROVERSY shrouds the absence of President Cyril Ramaphosa and some ANC leaders at the burial site of the late deputy president David Mabuza following his funeral service on Saturday. The family confirmed that Ramaphosa and other ANC officials were invited to attend the burial. Mabuza passed away last week at the age of 64, following a short illness. He was buried at a family burial site in Barberton, Mpumalanga. During the morning session, held at his home, ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe handed over the party flag, which had draped Mabuza's coffin, to the family. The coffin was then draped in the national flag as the ceremony was handed over to the military in accordance with the Category Two State Funeral protocol. However, it was the current Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, who handed over the national flag to Mabuza's widow, Nohlanhla, before he was laid to rest. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ This was strange, according to political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast. It has been alleged that Mabuza and Ramaphosa did not see eye to eye, especially following the outcomes of the ANC's conference in 2022, which saw Mabuza vacate his office. 'It is very strange for him (Ramaphosa) to leave before the coffin is lowered into the grave. It is unusual,' he said. Asked why the President did not go to the burial site, ANC Mpumalanga spokesperson, Sasekani Manzini, said questions should be sent to the national leadership. ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the family spoke at the funeral and nothing was demonstrable that Mabuza's family was angry. The party's spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the family expressly requested a private burial and to suggest anything else was disingenuous. 'Until he took his last breath, the deputy president remained loyal and committed to the ANC,' she said. The family's spokesperson, Desmond Moela, confirmed that Ramaphosa, along with the ANC's top brass and members and the national executive committee (NEC) and the provincial executive committee (PEC), were invited to the burial site but had 'other engagements'. 'That is why the President delegated the Deputy President to hand the national flag over to the flag," said Moela. Mantashe, Mabuza and Mashatile had worked together ahead of the ANC 2017 conference and successfully installed Ramaphosa as party president. The trio agreed that instead of having the Mpumalanga delegates vote for either Ramaphosa or his opponent, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, they should rather split their votes in the name of uniting the party. This propelled Ramaphosa to the party's presidency and Mabuza as his deputy, seemingly solidifying their partnership. However, Mabuza's influence within the government appeared to diminish. He was not as visible or actively involved in key decision-making processes as some had anticipated. This led to speculation about a growing rift between him and Ramaphosa, with some allegations suggesting Ramaphosa strategically sidelined him after securing the presidency. During his speech at the weekend, Ramaphosa described Mabuza as a reliable and dignified leader, adding that he was not someone who sought the limelight but rather chose to work diligently behind the scenes. Breakfast said this speech was far from the truth, adding that Ramaphosa was not honest about his relationship with Mabuza. 'Why would Mabuza leave the office before his term ends? He never had the support of Ramaphosa's faction. He was not given prominent tasks to shine. I don't think they had a good relationship,' he said. Meanwhile, political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said the absence of Ramaphosa and other ANC officials at the burial site was in keeping with the expressed wishes of the family. Cape Times
