Scores of families in Greytown in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands will spend tonight in open fields after they were evicted from a farm in which they lived for decades.  About 20 families claimed that they have resided on the farm known as KwaMajayiva since 1981 after the previous owner allowed them to settle.  The farm was recently bought by Pidelta Properties (PTY) LTD. Immediately after buying the farm, the new owner took to the Greytown magistrate court to obtain an eviction…

The family of Nkosi Shabalala, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) activist who was killed on 18 January this year in front of his kids and wife, are concerned with the slow pace of the police investigations into the case.  Shabalala was from Bergville in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, but lived in Clermont as he was a teacher at Eric Mtshali Secondary School near Pinetown. He was also the head of the department for physical science and mathematics. According to…

A few days after President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe two dubious tenders awarded by the Kokstad Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, another whistleblower has made damning allegations of corruption against the same entity. The whistleblower alleges that the municipality bought a farm known as Waaifontein to build RDP houses for the needy, but the farm allegedly ended up housing cattle belonging to a top ANC leader in the province. African Times has decided to withhold…

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has thrown its weight behind the embattled Ithala Bank as the Prudential Authority (PA) presses on with its Pietermaritzburg High Court application to have the historic KwaZulu-Natal financial institution liquidated. In a statement, AMCU President, Joseph Mathunjwa said it looks like underlying political and commercial interests are driving the legal action, potentially threatening the livelihoods of thousands and further destabilising the province. He added that AMCU is committed to safeguarding this essential…

A KwaZulu-Natal African National Congress (ANC) ward councillor has been shot dead at the notorious KwaSithebe township in Mandeni in the politically volatile province. Phendukani Mabhida, the councillor of ward 18 at the ANC-run Mandeni Local Municipality, was attacked by unknown gunmen at his home on Tuesday (February 4) night, according to a source familiar with the incident. He was then rushed to hospital where he later died.  The source said Mabhida was attacked by two heavily armed gunmen around…

One of the suspects who was allegedly involved in the dramatic and brazen cash in transit (CIT) heist along the N2 in Durban on Tuesday morning has been shot dead by the police. The suspect was killed during a gunbattle with the police in the suburb of Glenwood, some 10 kilometers away from the crime scene.  According to the police in KwaZulu-Natal, they followed up information regarding the vehicles which were spotted fleeing from the cash in transit robbery crime…

The rugged coastlines of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape conceal secrets beneath the waves secrets that challenge longstanding narratives about South Africa’s past. Among these are persistent myths: that white settlement began in 1652, that Africans had little engagement with the outside world before colonial conquest and that the Atlantic slave trade was the most important conduit for African enslavement. These narratives have shaped mainstream historiography and even Pan-African ideologies, obscuring deeper truths about interaction and our view of the…

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in KwaZulu-Natal says the highly publicised intention to close down the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Newcastle and elsewhere is a ploy to force the government to pour in public money to save the company. According to Edwin Mkhize, the provincial secretary of COSATU in the province, the company is exploiting the reality that South Africa is facing a high unemployment rate and the government would frantically do anything to save jobs. Mkhize…

With less than a day before schools open for the start of their 2025 academic year, some of the unions in the education sector have raised alarm regarding the state of readiness in KwaZulu-Natal’s schools. The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA) says the provincial Department of Education ended 2024 with numerous unresolved issues that continue to affect schools across the province.  This comes as poor and historically disadvantaged schools face significant challenges due to the department’s failure…

Embattled Zulu King Misuzulu KaZwelithini is facing a fresh headache after one of his wives filed court papers to interdict his upcoming marriage to his third wife, Queen Nomzamo Myeni of Jozini in northern KwaZulu-Natal.  The much anticipated royal marriage is billed for 24 and 26 January this year in Nongoma and Jozini respectively.  The wife who is seeking an interdict is the same woman King Misuzulu is divorcing. She cannot be named to protect their children as required by…