The headlines of the leading newspapers on 18 May 2026:
NATIONAL:
# Business Day:
Reports Gauteng is considering a decentralised model for managing education finances with the municipal debt of schools having risen to 583-million-rand. The MEC for Education, Lebogang Maile, wants schools to manage their own finances.
# And the Netwerk24 website:
Reports the relatives of public servants will soon also have to declare their interests as part of the lifestyle audit process. The minister of Public Service and Administration, Mzamo Buthelezi, says legislation in this regard is being planned.
Secondly, the website writes the spokesperson for the presidency did not want to confirm information about president Cyril Ramaphosa’s next steps amid the possibility that he could be impeached.
And finally, it is reported 30-year-old Anele Daniel Nkomo was sentenced to two life sentences for the murder of 70-year-old Catherina Petronella Kruger in Grootvlei, Mpumalanga, in 2023.
GAUTENG:
# The Star:
Reports Ramaphosa wants to delay the Phala Phala impeachment proceedings. According to ANC sources, the president has decided to obtain an interdict against the proceedings, with the party supporting the move.
# Sowetan:
Reports Emfuleni residents are living in filthy conditions with garbage piling up daily. The municipality attributes the problem to non-payment by service providers.
# And The Citizen:
Writes about dangerous street racing that is on the rise. At least 40-percent of the approximately 21-thousand road deaths annually are attributed to this.
WESTERN CAPE:
# Die Burger:
Reports the Western Cape is bracing itself for more rain and damaging winds. The Weather Service is warning of a new system that could develop early this week and bring rain to the Overberg and Garden Route regions.
And secondly, the paper writes seven people were shot dead in two separate incidents in Cape Town over the weekend. Police say the murders appear to be gang-related.
EASTERN CAPE:
# The Herald in Gqeberha:
Reports neglect, crime, and flood damage have turned Nelson Mandela Bay’s cemeteries into scenes of devastation where families are robbed when they visit graves.
And secondly, the paper writes a Kariega family’s last respects to their loved one turned into a nightmare when they unknowingly buried a stranger after a mix-up at a funeral home.
KWAZULU-NATAL:
# The Witness in Pietermaritzburg:
Writes the government is busy with a major intervention to restore local government.
And secondly, it is reported the World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak a crisis.
And finally from NAMIBIA:
# Republikein in Windhoek:
Reports the search for the next CEO of the Social Security Commission has been called off, after the cabinet objected to the inflated executive salaries and laughable member benefits at the institution.
And secondly, the paper writes in Okahandja, the town’s neglected cemetery has become a meeting place for alcohol and drug abusers.