HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOUTH AFRICA TODAY | WEDNESDAY

Wed 17 December 2025:

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

◼️ Deportation orders for illegal Kenyan ‘volunteers’ at US ‘refugee’ centre: The Kenyans were working for an intermediary organisation processing so-called “Afrikaner refugees” and were in the country on a 90-day tourist visa when they were apprehended by the authorities. Their initial visa applications to do volunteer work in South Africa were denied by the Department of Home Affairs, which was later informed that the group was indeed engaged in paid-for work.
https://www.news24.com/southafrica/crime-and-courts/sa-authorities-issue-deportation-orders-for-illegal-kenyan-volunteers-at-us-refugee-centre-20251217-0412

————-
◼️ SA rivers are ‘open sewers’: Tests were not limited to natural water sources; WaterCan found E. coli in taps and jojo tanks. “These are direct household exposure points, not just polluted rivers downstream. These findings show that the risk has already moved into people’s homes and schools via taps and tanks,” WaterCan stated.
https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/watercan-national-testing-week-rivers-open-sewers/

————-
◼️ Ramaphosa addresses Trump’s misinformation: “Fellow South Africans, there are those, inside and outside our country, who are trying their utmost to paint a false picture of us as the South African people. “They do not show the pictures of African, white, Indian and coloured children learning together, studying together and playing together,” Ramaphosa said.
https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2025-12-16-ramaphosa-addresses-trumps-misinformation-on-farm-murders-in-day-of-reconciliation-speech/

————-

◼️ SA is the synthetic drug capital of the continent: The heroin is then distributed through violent street-level networks, with the rise in gang violence being associated with the increase in distribution. “The crisis, which disproportionately affects the most disadvantaged communities, affects a significant share of the adult population, making South Africa’s heroin market one of the largest on the continent,” the report says.
https://newsday.co.za/south-africa/12360/south-africa-is-the-synthetic-drug-capital-of-the-continent/

————-

◼️ Red flags over new Durban theme park: Nic Steyn, whose family ran the original Funworld for decades, describes the project as “possibly another big mistake in the making”, citing concerns over the massive capital expenditure, profitability, and the challenge of attracting international-level spending in the local economy.
https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/former-funworld-owner-raises-red-flags-over-new-durban-theme-park/

__________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22