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TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Thembisa residents protest against new electricity tariff surcharge
Residents of Thembisa in Ekurhuleni took to the streets to protest on Sunday night and Monday morning, complaining they cannot afford the latest electricity tariff surcharge. Several major routes in Thembisa were blocked off with stones and burning tyres. The new electricity tariff surcharge of R126 a month was implemented from the beginning of July. WATCH | Protestors in Tembisa block the mayor's convoy as he prepares to address them regarding increased electricity tariffs in the area. Video: @Muchave1Muchave — Sowetan LIVE (@SowetanLIVE) July 21, 2025 Mithe Mokgotadi, 55, who said he has lived in Thembisa his whole life, told Sowetan: 'In May I was billed R12,000 and this month I've been billed R3,000. That is for everything, from rates to water. And on top of that, I still need to make payment for electricity. 'Paying R250 gets you at least 64 units, but that is not enough. It can last you three days at most, and so I have to keep buying electricity. 'I live in a house where there is more than five of us and I don't have a job. I only sell apples and some vegetables from home to make do with what I have. But it's not enough, because in a month I spend at least R3,000 on electricity — and now they want to make matters worse by increasing the tariff. 'At this point they want us to turn to crime and making illegal connections because we are really struggling — but they don't see that. They are mugging us of the little we have.' WATCH | Tembisa resident Josephina Siboni (62) says she does not understand the newly introduced tariffs and what they mean. She says when buying electricity, the units do not reflect accordingly. Video: @Koena_xM — Sowetan LIVE (@SowetanLIVE) July 21, 2025 Another resident, Enos Mohlari, 60, said he applied to fall into the indigent category in April and is baffled why he has been billed. 'Just a few days ago, I received a statement saying that I owed the municipality more than R3,000 — I am being forced to pay,' he said. 'My hands are tied because I don't have the money to pay these bills. I don't work at all, but they're billing me amounts that I don't have in my account. And now they want us to pay more for electricity. It's not fair, the units we get barely get us by.'
SowetanLIVE
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- SowetanLIVE
House of Paradise in Katlehong hosts Mandela Day celebration
Unity, joy and the spirit of Madiba in full force at a fun-filled day at House of Paradise, Zonkizizwe in Katlehong, where the community came in numbers to celebrate Mandela Day. SowetanLIVE
The Herald
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald
Sassa encourages honesty from grant beneficiaries during income reviews
'We have not experienced a situation where someone has been verified and not been paid. If the person no longer qualifies in terms of the legislation, we will suspend the grant but there hasn't [yet] been any suspension.' Matlou noted that means testing varies depending on the type of grant. For child support grants, it is the primary caregiver's income that is assessed, not the child's. In contrast, the SRD (Covid-19) grant involves more stringent, automated income checks via bank verification to determine eligibility. 'With SRD, we verify through the banks whether there's consistent money that comes through. But for normal grants, the means test usually applies to the primary caregiver only.' To reduce panic and long queues at Sassa offices, Matlou said the agency is developing a self-review online platform so grant recipients can review their own information without visiting offices. Hotspot offices with high volumes are being staffed with additional personnel to handle reviews more efficiently. 'We've only sent out the first rounds of notifications in June. We're still within the review time frame. Once we pass that, and if clients haven't come forward, then suspension will occur not necessarily because they don't qualify but because they failed to do the review.' The agency will publish data on the number of beneficiaries reviewed, the outcomes of those reviews and the number of grants continued or cancelled by the end of July. SowetanLIVE
SowetanLIVE
14-07-2025
- Politics
- SowetanLIVE
State appeals Timothy Omotoso acquittal
The Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha will on Monday hear the first part of the appeal process in the case of Timothy Omotoso and his co-accused who were acquitted in April of rape and human trafficking. This follows a directive by judge Irma Schoeman after the state sent a request for clarification of factual findings in her judgment, which is required before the state can request reservation of questions of law in terms of section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act for consideration by the Supreme Court of Appeal. - Shonisani Tshikalange SowetanLIVE
The Herald
12-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Herald
Home affairs to help print driving licences to clear backlog
Creecy said the two departments had agreed that the process would not take more than three months. The transport department's printing machine, which is more than 25 years old, has repeatedly broken down, resulting in huge backlogs. In February, the machine was out of operation, which resulted in a backlog of outstanding cards to be printed. According to the department, on July 5 the backlog stood at 602,831 cards. Gauteng was leading with 192,856, followed by the Western Cape with 86,862, and KwaZulu-Natal with 85,313. However, between May 8 and July 7, the department managed to process 515,758 cards. 'If you have a driver's licence that expires now, you have six months in which to get your permanent licence,' Creecy said. 'There would be a lot of people in the queue whose six months is up, so we have said they cannot be penalised because this is not of their making. So people must keep their receipts of when they applied, then they can't be fined. 'Also, they do not have to apply again. A lot of people have temporary licences, but now those licences are expiring again. But they don't have to apply again because that would be unfair. So we have waived that provision.' SowetanLIVE
