The headlines of the leading newspapers on 14 April 2025:
NATIONAL:
# Business Day:
Reports the top structure of the ANC will meet today after consultations with the DA, EFF, MK Party, and the FF Plus this past weekend. It was confirmed that there is no support among the parties for the proposed VAT increase and the ANC will urgently need to look for alternatives.
# And the Netwerk24 website:
Reports the DA has launched a petition against plans to limit the weapons of security companies. About two-thousand-three-hundred people have already signed the document.
Then the website writes the pilot of a single-seater aircraft from the Marksmen Aerobatic Team has died after the aircraft crashed near Kitty Hawk Airport east of Pretoria. The pilot is not part of Marksmen, and his name is not yet released.
And finally, it is reported that president Cyril Ramaphosa has no plans to reduce the cabinet since the deputy ministers make a major contribution.
GAUTENG:
# The Star & Pretoria News:
Also writes the ANC will have to seriously consider scrapping the VAT increase after opposition from many quarters.
And secondly, it is reported that the alleged rapist of a 14-year-old is acquitted after his victim commits suicide.
# Sowetan:
Reports Emfuleni residents can no longer stand the stench of sewage. There are calls for the sewage spill to be declared a national environmental crisis and a violation of human rights.
# And The Citizen:
Reports it has come to light that about 150 municipalities nationwide have never paid over their employees’ pension contributions. Unions are calling the move theft and that the officials should be prosecuted.
WESTERN CAPE:
# Die Burger:
Reports two cousins from Lamberts Bay on the West Coast, Chester and Heshron van der Heever, died when their fishing boat went missing. The boat and bodies were found five kilometres south of Lamberts Bay on Saturday.
Then the paper writes the Western Cape Legislature has invited the minister of Human Settlements, Thembisile Simelane, to discuss the George building disaster report.
And finally, police are reported to have arrested a 35-year-old woman for the murder of a man in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court last week.
EASTERN CAPE:
# The Herald in Gqeberha:
Reports landlords who neglect problem buildings in Nelson Mandela Bay will receive compliance notices from the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority.
And writes that businesses in North End are upset by the informal car mechanics who do business on pavements. The area is littered with smashed windscreens and torn tyre linings while oil slicks are everywhere.
KWAZULU-NATAL:
# The Witness in Pietermaritzburg:
Writes about Social Services getting the short end of the stick in the provincial budget.
And reports about a woman who was attacked at Pietermaritzburg Hospital.
And finally from NAMIBIA:
# Republikein in Windhoek:
Reports president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah officially inaugurated the HyIron plant near Arandis and admits she was initially sceptical about the project.
And secondly, the paper writes Okahandja is in mourning over the gruesome murder of five-year-old Ingrid Maasdorp.