(Gemma Ritchie/M&G)
In local headlines:
Sowetan
‘Fake goods’ spark looting
Soweto was hit by riots on Wednesday that left two people dead while one was taken to hospital after he was shot and injured when foreign-owned shops were looted amid allegations that they were selling expired foot and items with counterfeit labels.
Student teachers walk out of ‘hard’ varsity exam
Students studying to become teachers at the University of Limpopo staged a walkout from a philosophy test on Tuesday after complaining that it was too difficult.
Business Day
- ‘Mismanagement at Sars led to VAT hike
The true cost of mismanagement at the South African Revenue Service was laid bare on Wednesday as Treasury officials blamed it for the first increase in VAT in a quarter of a century.
- Distressed SOEs plead for fresh bailouts
The list of state-owned enterprises hoping for a bailout in October is growing with SA Express and Denel — both already reliant on government guarantees to remain operational — appealing to MPs on Wednesday for further financial support.
- Sasse: Resilient fiasco harms entire listed-property sector
The debacle at the Resilient stable of companies has harmed the credibility of the entire R700-billion listed-property sector, says the head of the largest SA-based real estate company.
The Star
- High noon as Tshwane mayor faces the chop
Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga looks set to be booted out as the first citizen of the capital city, becoming in less than a week the second casualty in the ferocious battle between the EFF and DA.
- Two slain as looting spreads to other areas
An early morning trip to buy snuff ended tragically for a young man caught in the crossfire between angry Soweto residents and foreign-national shop owners.
The Citizen
- Xeno looting grips Soweto
At least two people were killed yesterday as residents unleashed a looting spree on foreign-owned spaza shops, sparked by allegations that they were selling ‘fake food’ that was causing widespread illness.
In global headlines this morning
President Vladimir Putin has softened a proposed overhaul to the country’s pension system after widespread criticism of his government’s plan to raise retirement ages.
The plan, which would have pushed the age of retirement for women to 63 from 55, caused protests across the country and dented Putin’s popularity, worrying the Kremlin. (BBC)
Forty French fishing boats attack five British boats in the Channel. Stones and smoke bombs are thrown. Rude words are exchanged in two languages. The British retreat.
Similar incidents have been happening for 15 years – or arguably for the last 900 years. The rights and wrong are complicated. Yesterday evening the French boats were undoubtedly the aggressors. They put to sea not in order to fish, but to harass the English and Scottish boats that had entered “their waters”. (The Guardian)
President Donald Trump, facing a drastically revised death toll in Puerto Rico a year after dual hurricanes devastated the island, offered a still-rosy outlook of his administration’s handling of the disaster on Wednesday.
“I think we did a fantastic job in Puerto Rico,” Trump told CNN’s Jim Acosta during an exchange with reporters at the White House. “We’re still helping Puerto Rico.” (CNN)