Belinda Pheto

Seven people, including a 2-year-old boy and an 86-year-old woman, have died from the veld fires that have ravaged parts of the King Cetshwayo, Ilembe, uThukela, and Zululand districts in KwaZulu-Natal.

The failure by the justice department to pay the fees to enable witnesses to make it to court has seen some alleged criminals walk free because their cases were removed from the court roll.

Doctor Mashabane, the director-general of the justice department, said he was shocked to see how external parties were trying to get suspended officials off the hook.

Activist groups Cancer Alliance, Section 27 and the Treatment Action Campaign are asking the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg to interdict the Gauteng health department from spending part of the R784 million budget allocated to deal with the radiation and surgical backlog.

A Pretoria couple, arrested in connection with the murder of former world high jump champion Jacques Freitag, who was found dead earlier this month, will remain behind bars while the prosecution obtains the necessary bail information.

Corruption-accused ANC MP Zizi Kodwa's legal team has requested that the State provide further information regarding the case against him.

Convicted killer and rapist Thabo Bester's efforts to have his incarceration conditions relaxed were unsuccessful, after the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein refused to hear an application from his legal representative on Wednesday.

Sources say the Northern Cape is financially depleted, despite ongoing discussions with National Treasury for a bailout.

Tuwani, who spent two weeks in Pretoria for the procedure, can't wait for her other three children to see the changes in their sibling