The headlines of the leading newspapers on 13 April 2026:
NATIONAL:
# Business Day:
Reports the new DA leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, intends to take over the leadership of the National Government in 2029.
# And the Netwerk24 website:
Firstly, also reports in detail about Hill-Lewis’s election as well as that of the other office-bearers of the DA. The paper focuses on Hill-Lewis’s four-point plan to be the leading party on the South African political spectrum by 2029.
Secondly, the website writes an ally of president Donald Trump and president Vladimir Putin, the nationalist prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, has been ousted in a huge election defeat. He has so far only been able to win 56 of the 199 seats.
And finally, there is news about one of the owners of the private Klaserie Nature Reserve, 65-year-old Gary Freeman, who died when an elephant attacked him.
GAUTENG:
# The Star:
Firstly, also writes extensively about Hill-Lewis’s election and the DA’s plans going forward.
And then the paper reports the Gauteng Department of Health says it is putting plans in place to reduce a surgical backlog of about 30-thousand-600 patients waiting for operations in the province’s public hospitals. The department says it is implementing digital innovation, expanded surgical capacity and targeted reforms to improve efficiency and patient-centred care in hospitals.
# Sowetan:
Reports the task force investigating police murders is investigating the murder of an Emfuleni financial clerk, Martha Rantsofu, who was apparently shot dead in an assassination attempt. Her family says the murder was committed shortly after the task force took over a matter she was investigating.
# And The Citizen:
Writes the resignation of the CEO and three board members of South African Airways has raised fears that cadre deployment could derail the airline’s delicate recovery.
WESTERN CAPE:
# Die Burger:
Has the same lead on the election of the new DA leader as Netwerk24.
And secondly, the paper writes poet and academic professor Jaco Barnard-Naude has withdrawn from the shortlist for the Eugene Marais Prize. The South African Academy for Science and Arts says it does not know the reason for the withdrawal.
EASTERN CAPE:
# The Herald in Gqeberha:
Reports the High Court has banned workers at the Dora Nginza Hospital from striking amid chaos at the health facility.
And secondly, the paper writes a local tribal chief has called for a memorial stone for flood victims at the mass grave in Richmond Hill.
KWAZULU-NATAL:
# The Witness in Pietermaritzburg:
Writes there is serious concern about the increase in shootings and assassinations in KwaZulu-Natal.
And secondly, the paper also reports on the DA Congress.
And finally from NAMIBIA:
# Republikein in Windhoek:
Reports the theft in February 2020 at resident Ramaphosa’s farm Phala Phala has involved the Namibian police in a cross-border investigation.
And secondly, the paper writes with the introduction of an advanced surgical system, orthopaedic care at the Lady Pohamba Private Hospital is taking a major leap forward.