Here’s your daily news update: An easy-to-read selection of our top stories.
News today includes theologian Professor Itumeleng Mothoagae saying electing an African Pope would be a historic move, given that the Church’s leadership has not been African in more than 1,500 years.
Meanwhile, police minister Senzo Mchunu has admitted that he “falsely identified” Jaco Pieterse, the principal of Bergview College in Matatiele, as a suspect in the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl.
Furthermore, the Special Investigating Unit says the Road Accident Fund management stalled their efforts at every opportunity during investigations.
Weather tomorrow: 26 April 2025
The weather service hasn’t issued any severe weather alerts for tomorrow, but you can expect partly cloudy conditions in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, and the Free State. Meanwhile warm conditions are forecast over the coastal provinces, except for KwaZulu-Natal, where it will be cloudy and cool. Full weather forecast here.
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Electing an African Pope to lead the Catholic Church would be a historic move, says expert
On Saturday, Pope Francis—the head of the Catholic Church, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio—will be laid to rest in Rome in a simple yet rare ceremony that only a few people have witnessed throughout history.
The 88-year-old Pope died on Easter Monday.
The Citizen spoke to Theologian, Professor Itumeleng Mothoagae, from the University of South Africa (Unisa), about the succession debate in the Catholic Church.
“Two African cardinals—Peter Turkson from Ghana and Robert Sarah from Guinea—are considered frontrunners in the papal election. Their candidacies symbolise Africa’s growing influence and could mark a significant shift reflecting the Church’s demographic realities,” he said.
CONTINUE READING: Electing an African Pope to lead the Catholic Church would be a historic move, says expert
Mnchunu admits mistake, apologises to school principal for naming him in alleged rape of Cwecwe
Police minister Senzo Mchunu has admitted that he “falsely identified” Jaco Pieterse, the principal of Bergview College in Matatiele as a suspect in the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl and has since apologised to the head of the school.
This was in a letter addressed to AfriForum’s advocate Gerrie Nel earlier this month.
“I have human and personal empathy for your client and any other person who might have been wrongly fingered as a suspect in circumstances where he or they were only persons of interest,” Mchunu wrote.
CONTINUE READING: Mnchunu admits mistake, apologises to school principal for naming him in alleged rape of Cwecwe
RAF management muzzled employees during investigations, SIU says
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is littered with administrative challenges, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has said.
The investigative body provided an update to the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Friday regarding its scrutiny of the RAF.
In addition to listing the funds recovered and cases pending litigation, the SIU said that RAF management stalled their efforts at every opportunity.
CONTINUE READING: RAF management muzzled employees during investigations, SIU says
R100 billion debt: only 10 municipalities honouring their accounts
Despite progress in generation recovery efforts, Eskom has struggled to collect payments from municipalities. While some municipalities have acknowledged their debt to Eskom, others have still not honoured payment agreements.
In March 2023, the National Treasury launched the Eskom municipal debt relief programme which aims to provide financial relief to municipalities struggling to pay their debts. At the time, 71 municipalities were targeted for the programme.
However, by March 2024, only 23 municipalities were honouring their accounts. By November 2024, only 10 municipalities were honouring current accounts.
CONTINUE READING: R100 billion debt: only 10 municipalities honouring their accounts
MTN hit by ‘cybersecurity incident’, some customer details compromised
Mobile network operator MTN has fallen prey to a “cybersecurity incident” that resulted in “unauthorised access to personal information” of some of its customers in “certain markets”.
However, MTN said late Thursday that it found no evidence of compromise of any of its critical infrastructure platforms or services.
“Our core network, billing systems and financial services infrastructure remain secure and fully operational.
“An unknown third party has claimed to have accessed data linked to parts of our systems. At this stage, we do not have any information to suggest that customers’ accounts and wallets have been directly compromised,” MTN said.
CONTINUE READING: MTN hit by ‘cybersecurity incident’, some customer details compromised
Here are five more stories of the day:
Yesterday’s News recap
READ HERE: Top 10 stories of the day: VAT hike reversed | Radebe named first Leeds global ambassador | Zuma arms deal appeal dismissed
