HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOUTH AFRICA TODAY

Tue 30 June 2026:

Here’s what’s happening in South Africa today:👇🏼

◼️ Ramaphosa holds last-minute talks with anti-immigration leaders: President Cyril Ramaphosa met with two of the country’s most prominent anti-immigration activists, Nkosikhona Ndabandaba and Ngizwe Mchunu, in the hours before nationwide community demonstrations were set to proceed, in what appeared to be a last push for dialogue between the Presidency and grassroots movement leaders.
Read more here:
https://iol.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-06-30-ramaphosa-holds-last-minute-talks-with-anti-immigration-leaders-ahead-of-june-30-demonstrations/

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◼️ Last chance for Sassa beneficiaries to replace gold cards: The bank warned that beneficiaries who fail to replace their cards before the deadline would no longer be able to access their social grant payments using the old cards. Postbank has been replacing Sassa gold cards with black cards since April 2026, but said the response from beneficiaries has remained significantly lower than expected. The bank warned that delaying the replacement until the last minute could lead to long queues and delays that may affect beneficiaries’ ability to receive their grants.
Read more here:
https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/last-chance-for-sassa-beneficiaries-to-replace-gold-cards-before-deadline/

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◼️ SA becoming a ‘cartel capital’ rivalling Mexico and El Salvador: South Africa has created conditions that allow criminal syndicates to operate with virtual impunity, with internationally feared cartels sending their cooks to set up shop in the country. “What we didn’t experience previously was the presence of foreign cooks linked to Mexican cartels. The Mexican cartels are sending their chemists here to come and prepare the drugs,” he said. He explained that these operations are primarily involved in producing methamphetamine, commonly known as tik, as well as substances used in the manufacture of nyaope, a highly addictive street drug.
Read more here:
https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/864319/south-africa-becoming-a-cartel-capital-rivalling-mexico-and-el-salvador/

◼️ What South Africans need to know about the new Tobacco Bill: For the first time, electronic cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems would fall under tobacco control legislation. This means many of the same restrictions that currently apply to cigarettes could also apply to vaping products, including advertising controls, age restrictions and limitations on where they may be used.
Read more here:
https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2026-06-30-smoking-vaping-and-cigarette-packs-what-south-africans-need-to-know-about-the-new-tobacco-bill/

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◼️ John Steenhuisen makes allegations about Starlink: Malatsi has repeatedly said that he has not had direct engagements with Starlink as it would not be appropriate and that it was a matter for sector regulator ICASA to deal with. Meanwhile, Steenhuisen said he met with a delegation from Starlink, which he said: “turned into a complaint session that Solly was not moving fast enough and the like.” Malatsi has attempted to enact a policy change by aligning regulations on demographic-based ownership requirements for telecoms licences with B-BBEE in other sectors.
Read more here:
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/government/656107-john-steenhuisen-makes-allegations-about-starlink-in-south-africa.html

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