The headlines of the leading newspapers on 21 August 2025:
NATIONAL:
# Business Day:
Reports the representatives of world banks are trying to convince Constitutional Court judges that the Competition Commission should be prohibited from prosecuting them over a decade-old rand manipulation saga.
# And the Netwerk24 website:
Reports president Cyril Ramaphosa is in Japan to strengthen trade and investment ties with the country. He is at a conference on African development until Friday.
And secondly, the website writes that shortly after the Springboks concluded their training in Belhar yesterday, the anti-gang unit in the area seized firearms from gangs.
GAUTENG:
# The Star:
Writes a senior police brigadier accused of running a multi-million rand fraud and corruption scheme, says she is innocent. Police sources also question the charges against Stephinah Mahlangu and her arrest.
And secondly, it is reported that the leader of the African Transformation Movement, Vuyo Zungula, has called on the board of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa to accept accountability amid ongoing investigations into questionable tenders and mismanagement.
# Sowetan:
Reports trade unions have sharply criticised KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner lieutenant general Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s comment that organised labour is responsible for unemployment. They say it is the result of apartheid.
# And The Citizen:
Writes the DA says the latest Seta appointments are also ANC cadres with possibly questionable backgrounds.
WESTERN CAPE:
# Die Burger:
Reports the DA and Outa are upset because the administrators of the Setas, who have now been appointed, are once again cadres.
Secondly, the paper claims that less than a quarter of the recipients of Sassa grants in the Western Cape have had their grants reviewed.
And finally, there is news about a woman who won 10-million rand Lotto money.
EASTERN CAPE:
# Daily Despatch in East London:
Reports there is relief for the flood victims who had to find temporary accommodation on train tracks.
And secondly, the paper writes about the mourning of a grandmother who had to give up first her child and then her grandchild to death.
KWAZULU-NATAL:
# The Witness in Pietermaritzburg:
Writes dumped medical waste was discovered in Pietermaritzburg.
And reports that the Msunduzi Metro is facing serious water problems.
And finally from NAMIBIA:
# Republikein in Windhoek:
Reports financial pressure on men who are still seen as the primary providers is one of the biggest drivers of suicide among men in Namibia.
And secondly, the paper writes former prime minister Nahas Angula insisted that the ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs should be under independent supervision to protect the billions of rands of taxpayers.