The final instalment of SA Rugby’s 2025 FNB Youth Weeks programme will run from Monday 7 to Saturday 12 July, with 16 teams competing across the matches played on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
At the conclusion of the tournament, the SA Schools and SA Schools ‘A’ teams will be announced. They will face each other at Hoërskool Middelburg on Thursday, 17 July, while the U18 International Series will follow in August.
Nine players who featured in the SA Schools and SA U18 teams last year have been included in their provincial squads again. They are Josh Neill, Markus Muller, Briint Davids, Jordan Jooste (all WP), Ethan Adams, AJ Meyer (both Free State), Zekhe Siyaya (KZN), André Poulton (Lions), and Joshua McKenzie (EP).
Eight teams are in action on the opening day of the tournament, with the Western Province XV and the Griffons meeting in the first fixture at 09h30.
Free State, who went down to DHL Western Province in the final match of the 2024 tournament, will face South Western Districts thereafter.
The FNB U18 Craven Week Opening Ceremony at 14h00 will be followed by a clash between the Hollywood Foundation Pumas – the hosts of this year’s tournament – and the Limpopo Blue Bulls.
DHL Western Province, who finished last year’s tournament unbeaten, will be in action on Tuesday, along with the Leopards, Valke, Border, Suzuki Griquas, Sharks High Schools, Eastern Province and Sanlam Boland.
All the FNB U18 Craven Week action will be broadcast by SuperSport.
FNB U18 Craven Week day one schedule (Monday, 7 July):
09h30: DHL Western Province XV v Griffons
11h00: Free State v South Western Districts
12h30: Blue Bulls v Obaro Golden Lions
14h00: Opening Ceremony
14h30: Hollywood Foundation Pumas v Limpopo Blue Bulls
FNB U18 Craven Week day two schedule (Tuesday, 8 July):
10h00: Leopards v Valke
11h30: Border v Suzuki Griquas
13h00: Sharks High Schools v Eastern Province
14h30: DHL Western Province v Sanlam Boland
*This article was first published by SA Rugby
The panel had the prima facie view that the evidence of the witness presented by Mbenenge’s legal counsel was irrelevant and inadmissible.
The Judicial Conduct Tribunal may put a spanner in the works for Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge’s case in the continued misconduct probe against him.
The panel had the prima facie view that the evidence of the witness presented by Mbenenge’s legal counsel was irrelevant and inadmissible.
Stenographer in the Makhanda High Court, Unathi Sogoni, the ex-friend of high court secretary, Andiswa Mengo, is the third witness to have been called by the judge’s legal team.
Advocate Griffiths Madonsela was quizzing Sogoni on her relationship with Mengo and some of Mengo’s utterances about the relations between judges and secretaries in the division.
However, the panel took issue with this, holding the provisional view that it was hearsay evidence that held no material value in its inquiry.
Sogoni was on Friday before the fact-finding body sitting in Sandton, Johannesburg, investigating Mengo’s allegations of unwanted sexual advances made towards her by the judge president between 2021 and 2022.
Tribunal chairperson, retired Judge President Bernard Ngoepe said the panel deemed her evidence prejudicial towards Mengo.
"She cannot lead evidence on the contents of these two statements. We are of the view that large parts of it are hearsay evidence. Secondly, it’s evidence on the character of a person. Thirdly, the contents of these statements have not been put to the complainant when she testified. Fourthly, the probative value of the contents of these statements is so minimal in relation to the inquiry that we are supposed to conduct and in that sense, therefore, technically it’s irrelevant."
However, Madonsela held a different view and was presenting arguments in favour of the tribunal hearing Sogoni’s evidence.
"Ms Lisa Vetten came here and gave evidence to the effect that the complainant was subjugated because of the power positions of her as a secretary and because the JP [Judge President] was a judge and a father. She based that on theories. How can it not be relevant for the respondent to give direct evidence relating to how the complainant understood relations between her, as a secretary, and the judges?"
*This article was first published by Eye Witness News
The president said multilateral institutions like the United Nations needed to be strengthened and reformed.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has sounded the alarm over the worsening state of geopolitics, saying that "multilateralism is under attack".
Ramaphosa said that multilateral institutions like the United Nations (UN) needed to be strengthened and reformed.
The president was speaking at the Union Buildings on Friday, where he hosted Austrian head of state, Alexander van der Bellen.
While South Africa and Austria are currently not involved in any conflicts, both nations have suffered residual effects of the wars currently taking place across the world.
The president said that this state visit came at a time of heightened global insecurity, including the climate emergency.
"These events reinforce the need for strengthening the multilateral system which we see under attack and it is countries such as Austria and South Africa who firmly believe in a multilateral system who can defend it."
Austria said it shared South Africa’s values of multilateralism, respect for international law and peace through disarmament.
*This article was first published by Eye Witness News
An inquest into the Enyobeni tavern tragedy is still underway nearly four years after 21 young people died at the East London venue.
An inquest into the Enyobeni tavern tragedy is still underway nearly four years after 21 young people died at the East London venue.
The magistrate’s inquest, which began in late 2022, is being heard in Mdantsane trying to determine who, if anyone, should be held criminally liable for the deaths.
The tavern owners, Siyakhangela and Vuyokazi Ndevu, were already convicted of selling alcohol to minors and fined R5,000 each, but the inquest seeks to uncover the full circumstances that led to the teenagers’ deaths.
In October last year, the East London High Court ordered the demolition of the illegally‑built Enyobeni Tavern and banned it from operating again.
The inquest has revealed a troubling mix of contradictory evidence, possible chemical exposure, illegal licensing, blocked exits and regulatory failures.
The proceedings resumed in April and again in June, with a focus on owner, Siyakhangela Ndevu, who insists he is not to blame.
Witnesses, including survivors, former employees and regulators, have given harrowing testimony.
In April, survivor Ovayo Mkhonkqo, who was just 16 at the time, contradicted the owner’s version, detailing overcrowding and suffocating conditions.
On Thursday, Ndevu is back on the stand for a third straight day, as the court tries to establish whether he, his partner, or their staff can be held responsible for the deaths.
*This article was first published by Eye Witness News
He stepped back, not away, that’s how Deputy President Paul Mashatile remembered the late David Mabuza — a principled man, a leader who would never betray the ANC, even when he quietly stepped out of the spotlight.
Speaking in a heartfelt tribute, Mashatile described Mabuza not only as a former deputy president, but as a man who knew when to lead and when to support.
Mabuza died on Thursday after experiencing breathing difficulties.
Mashatile visited Mabuza’s home in Johannesburg on Friday to convey his condolences.
“I think it was a correct thing for him to step back and be able to only play a role when he's required to do so.
“It is not like he was abandoning the ANC or our people, but he felt that there is a new Deputy President who is going to do the work, and he can only support whenever he's needed.
“So we always were in touch with him, and that's why when we called him for the election campaign, he immediately responded and went on the ground,” he said.
That's the kind of calibre of man that he was, that he didn't want to, you know, try to rule from the grave or do anything like that, Mashatile added.
He stated that Mabuza was not disruptive and would always be supportive even in the party’s activities.
“The President [Cyril Ramaphosa] would consult him and when the ANC said, please come help with the election campaign, he immediately came,” Mashatile said.
He further urged the ANC members to honour Mabuza and follow in his footsteps in the commitment to serving the people.
*This article was first published by IOL News
Fake booze volumes are growing faster than what smugglers are bringing into the country, although the value of sales in the illicit market are not gaining pace as fast as the legal one, with the cost of legal alcohol having been pushed up by price increases.
This is according to the latest research from Euromonitor International in conjunction with the Drinks Federation of South Africa (DF-SA). It found that the market for illicit alcohol accounts for a fifth of total alcohol sales in South Africa.
“The drivers of illicit alcohol have changed over the last four years, with counterfeiting growing at the expense of smuggling. Since 2017, the market share for counterfeiting alone has grown from 24% to 31%. Its category value has almost doubled from R4.9 billion in 2017 to R9.8bn 2024,” their report said.
In the report, they attributed this to the fact that demand has tapered off since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown that saw sales of alcohol and cigarettes banned, leading to people turning to buying these items from providers who sourced them from over the border.
Smuggling has dropped from one in three purchases to one in every five, the research found. “However, counterfeit and illicit brands have grown substantially since the pandemic, becoming the largest illicit category by volume in 2024,” it said.
Richard Rivett-Carnac, South African Breweries CEO and chairman of DF-SA said that the sale of illegal booze is “not just a public health concern, but a direct threat to fiscal revenues and formal businesses that contribute significantly to the economy and job creation”.
The legal alcohol sector supports around one in 31 jobs and generates over R100bn in tax revenue annually, said Rivett-Carnac. “When illicit traders avoid tax, undercut the market, and exploit vulnerable consumers, we all lose, he said.
Illegal booze cost the economy R16.5 billion last year, up from R11.3bn four years previously, when South Africa was in lockdown. The bulk of this amount came from illegal sales of spirits.
When Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presented Budget 3.0 in May, he was faced with a revenue hole of R75bn.
The report stated that enforcement continues to be a challenge as both the South African Revenue Service and the South African Police Service “have reported capacity and resource constraints, especially the illicit trade task team which deals with all illicit goods, not only alcohol”.
However, it said that trade sources indicate that the greater involvement by industry in identifying culprits and working together with law enforcement agencies has resulted in positive outcomes.
*This article was first published by IOL News
