When Nelson Mandela stood before parliament in February 1996, he made a commitment that should have been one of the defining economic reforms of the democratic era. “For us, it is not a matter of whether, but of when, these controls will be phased out,” he said of exchange controls, echoing a similar pledge made…
SARS import duties have sharply slowed cross-border e-commerce growth and intensified competition between local retailers and global platforms. (Image source: 123RF) South Africa’s cross-border e-commerce sector is entering a slower, more competitive growth cycle, primarily as a result of the import duties introduced by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) in 2024. This is one…
Britain has told parents to curb young children’s screen time, advising no screens for under-2s and up to an hour a day for 2- to 5-year-olds because prolonged solo use can disrupt sleep and displace play and exercise. Governments worldwide have been moving to tighten rules around children’s online use, with countries including France, Denmark…
MultiChoice Group and its cybersecurity subsidiary Irdeto have led a series of enforcement actions against illegal streaming operations in the Western Cape, resulting in arrests, device seizures and multiple court convictions under South Africa’s Cybercrimes Act. Two raids were conducted in Cape Town in February and March 2026, working in partnership with the police’s Provincial…
Football’s lawmakers on Saturday backed a review to bring in rules to stop players walking off the pitch if they disagree with a referee’s decision and also covering their mouth when confronting opponents during matches. The International Football Association Board’s (Ifab) move follows the chaotic denouement to the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of…
As Iran‘s new academic year began over the weekend, large-scale protests erupted across several universities — the first sustained campus unrest since the clerical regime’s bloody nationwide crackdown in December and January. The Virginia-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said more than 7,000 people have been confirmed killed, while the whereabouts and safety of more…
In a bid to stop students from spending their loans on online gambling, the National Gambling Board and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) are working on targeted interventions to tackle the scourge. This follows the release of a study by the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation last year that found that nearly 45%…
Soroush Negahdari,BBC Monitoringand Ghoncheh Habibiazad,BBC Persian WANA via REUTERS Iranian authorities responded with lethal force as the protests in Tehran escalated on 8 January “My friends are all like me. We all know someone who was killed in the protests.” For Parisa, a 29-year-old from Tehran, the crackdown by security forces in Iran earlier this…
The leader of an independent Iranian news publication says that President Trump’s warnings are alarming officials in the Middle Eastern country and encouraging protesters as the largest demonstrations in years sweep the nation. Iran’s Judiciary Chief has warned that protesters will face the “maximum” punishment, and the country’s attorney general said that anyone taking part…
Protesters ignored threats of severe punishment from Iran’s leaders and warnings from rights groups about undocumented killings as they poured out onto the streets of cities across the country late Friday. The fresh protests came as President Donald Trump again warned the Islamic regime that he would intervene if demonstrators were killed. “I tell the…
