The headlines of the leading newspapers on 07 July 2026:
NATIONAL:
# Business Day:
Reports the World Bank is recommending a 15-percent corporate tax rate for South Africa’s Special Economic Zones. This comes as the government considers tax relief, zone reforms, and funding changes.
# And the Netwerk24 website:
Reports the state’s Information Technology Agency has lost about two-billion-rand since 2020, but the Department of Communications and Digital Technology says the agency has not yet collapsed.
And secondly, the website reports four people were killed and eight injured in an accident on the R-555 near Middelburg in Mpumalanga yesterday. Nine vehicles were involved.
GAUTENG:
# The Star:
Writes police have searched several properties in Centurion in connection with the death of deputy national crime investigation commissioner Sindile Mfazi in 2021. It was initially assumed that he died “as a result of Covid-19-related complications”. The paper reports Mfazi was busy investigating the Secret Service account when he died.
# Sowetan:
Reports the Madlanga Commission followed the trail of major general Feroz Kahn’s tender transactions from text messages. According to WhatsApp messages, he is involved in the awarding of a tender worth 50-million-rand.
# And The Citizen:
Writes an uncertain future awaits the children of foreigners who are repatriated. They have so far received education in South Africa, while the circumstances at home are radically different.
WESTERN CAPE:
# Die Burger:
Reports the DA’s federal chairperson, Solly Msimanga, has confirmed that the party’s federal council will investigate deputy minister John Steenhuisen’s allegations against the party’s former leader, Tony Leon. Steenhuisen will have to present evidence.
And secondly, the paper writes that three suspects appeared in court yesterday after they were caught trying to steal the Belville High School bus.
EASTERN CAPE:
# The Herald in Gqeberha:
Reports the board of the Mandela Bay Development Agency has appointed the institution’s founding CEO, Pierre Voges, to act in the position for the next five months.
And secondly, the paper writes the foreigners housed at the port say they do not know what the future holds.
KWAZULU-NATAL:
# The Witness in Pietermaritzburg:
Writes the trade union NEHAWU has decided to support the South African Communist Party in the upcoming local government elections. This decision indicates a break with the ANC and, according to observers, workers’ dissatisfaction with the party.
And secondly, there is a report about the sardine run on the South Coast.
And finally from NAMIBIA:
# Republikein in Windhoek:
Reports the minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform, Inge Zaamwani, said in Parliament that the approximately 6.2-million-rand that disappeared from the Agricultural Marketing and Trade Agency was not fraud. She says it is poor financial management.
Secondly, the paper writes the Namport Social Investment Fund donated two fully equipped ambulances for rural use.
And finally, there is news about a former resident of Grootfontein, Birke Thümer, who was awarded the prestigious International Speaker Award at the International Speaker Slam near Wiesbaden in Germany.