No official changes to name of Kruger National Park

Posted on October 23, 2025October 23, 2025 by

No changes have been made to the name of the Kruger National Park, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, has confirmed.

The Minister has not approved any changes to the name. Further, no notice has been published in the Government Gazette and there is nothing in progress to change the name of the Kruger National Park.
In terms of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003, only the Minister has the legal authority to assign or amend the name of a national park.

Schedule 2 of the Act lists all national parks and their official names, and Kruger National Park appears under Item 11.

Any proposed name change must follow a formal legislative process, including public consultation and publication of a notice in the Government Gazette. No such process has been initiated.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment called on all individuals and entities to refrain from promoting or repeating unverified claims about name changes.

“Spreading misinformation undermines public confidence and distracts from the real work of conservation. Members of the public are encouraged to rely solely on official government communications for accurate information,” the department said.

Home Affairs introduces doorstep delivery of passports to SA citizens abroad

Posted on October 23, 2025October 23, 2025 by

In another major step towards fulfilling the Home Affairs vision of delivering 'Home Affairs @ home', the Minister Leon Schreiber on Wednesday announced the introduction of doorstep delivery of passports for South African citizens living abroad.

The service starts on 1 November 2025.

This milestone was unveiled during Schreiber’s address to the South African community in The Hague in The Netherlands, where Home Affairs launched its latest dedicated service centre that reduces waiting times for passport applications from up to 18 months, to just five weeks.

This marks the first time ever that Home Affairs is providing clients with the option to select courier delivery for a critical enabling document, instead of travelling to an office for a second time just for document collection.

The initial rollout of this service to South Africans living abroad enables the department to refine the process in a sandbox environment before rolling out the option of doorstep delivery to all clients in South Africa as well.

From 1 November, the option of courier delivery of passports will be available at all of the new Home Affairs service centres around the world.

Turnaround times will range from 24 to 72 hours and will attract a fee ranging between US$30 and US$60. The service will initially be available at the existing service centres located in 18 cities around the world, with more set to be launched over the coming months.

Information on all locations that will offer this service from 1 November is available here

“This bold reform not only promotes inclusivity by resolving long-standing problems experienced by South Africans abroad when applying for a passport but also amounts to another watershed moment for #TeamHomeAffairs as we work with urgency to reform our department from a laggard to a world leader in identity management.

“Through our vision to deliver Home Affairs @ home, we are pushing forward relentlessly to eliminate the need for clients to travel large distances and stand in long queues to obtain enabling documents.

“Instead, our digital transformation journey means that we are using technology to decentralise access and bring our services to South Africans right where they live, anywhere in the world.

“Once we are comfortable that doorstep delivery is working smoothly and securely for the relatively small population of South Africans living abroad, we will scale up this reform to provide all South Africans with the option to have their documents delivered to their doorstep, including through our new digital partnership model with the banking sector,” Schreiber said.

The development, he said, demonstrates that the tech-driven service delivery revolution underway at Home Affairs continues to gather momentum to deliver dignity for all.

Fairytale ending for missing wedding album

Posted on October 23, 2025October 22, 2025 by

During a recent tidy up session at Strandfontein Library, the staff found a mysterious wedding album that had been at the library for many years.

The album was found previously, but because staff didn't know who the owners were, they kept it safe in the storeroom, hoping the couple would reclaim it, but neither a bride nor groom turned up.

That's until it resurfaced recently and efforts to find the owners were reignited.

The staff showed photos from the album to a few patrons – one of whom identified a local church where the marriage was officiated, and was able to recall the first names of the couple – Nico and Tania Manuel.

Next, staff contacted the church secretary who managed to trace Nico Manuel and convey the good news. He was in another province at the time, and initially thought to collect the album later and surprise his wife, but could not contain his excitement and alerted Tania, who quickly turned up at the library to collect the album.

The couple were thrilled to have their wedding photos back, especially because they didn't know what had happened to it.

They believe it may have mistakenly ended up with a box of books that they had donated more than 20 years ago.

‘Library staff went the extra mile not only to hold on to the album, but to make sure it’s returned to its owners two decades later. We’re glad Nico and Tania’s memories of their special day have been returned, and I applaud the staff for going above and beyond to solve the mystery. Who knows … this could even have the makings of a plot for a novel,’ said Councillor Francine Higham, Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health.

Consumer inflation edges higher

Posted on October 23, 2025October 23, 2025 by

Annual consumer inflation rose slightly to 3,4% in September from 3,3% in August. The monthly change in the consumer price index (CPI) was 0,2%.

Annual inflation accelerated across several product categories, most notably transport and restaurants & accommodation. In contrast, food & non-alcoholic beverages (NAB); alcoholic beverages & tobacco; and furnishings, household equipment & routine maintenance recorded lower rates.

Food & NAB was a mixed bag in September. Meat and maize meal inflation remained elevated while price decreases were recorded for products such as milk, eggs and white rice.

Meat inflation continues to surge

Meat inflation reached 11,7%, the highest annual rate since January 2018 (13,4%). While month-on-month increases for beef products have slowed, price levels remain high. Stewing beef, for example, recorded an annual rise of 32,2%, but no monthly change.

Other meat categories are also feeling the heat. The annual rates for pork and lamb accelerated notably in September. Chicken inflation is also rising, albeit at a slower rate. IQF (individual quick frozen) chicken climbed to 5,0% from 4,4% in August, boosted by a monthly increase of 1,1%.

Milk and eggs cheaper than a year ago

The milk, other dairy products & eggs category remained in deflationary territory for a fourth consecutive month, with prices on average 1,6% lower than a year ago.

Most varieties of milk were cheaper. For example, prices for fresh full-cream milk decreased by an annual 2,1%. Egg prices were also lower, with the annual rate for eggs dropping further to -8,2% from -6,7% in August. The average price of a box of 18 eggs, for example, was R62,58 in September 2025, down from R69,36 in September 2024.

Cheese inflation was higher, however, with Gouda 6,4% and cheddar 6,3% more expensive than a year ago.

The annual rate for cereal products crept up to 1,6% from 1,5% in August. Prices for white rice continue to fall, with the index 7,8% lower than a year ago. On the other end of the scale, maize meal inflation accelerated to 9,5% from 8,2% in August.

NAB eased to 4,1% from 4,9%. In September 2024, the rate was 9,5%. Inflation for hot beverages cooled slightly to 9,0% from 10,0% in August, much lower than the 15,8% recorded a year ago. Products in the NAB category that experienced the highest rates include coffee (12,2%), fizzy drinks in a can (7,8%) and black tea (7,1%). Fizzy drinks in a bottle, however, declined by 1,3%.

The graph below shows the food and beverage products that recorded the sharpest price increases and decreases in September.

Other notable price changes
The September CPI release contains results for the most recent quarterly survey of housing rentals. Actual rentals increased by an annual 3,2%, up from 3,0% in June. Townhouse rentals registered a large annual rise of 5,4% from 4,1% in the previous quarter. Imputed rentals accelerated to 3,0% from 2,5%.

The transport category recorded its thirteenth month of deflation, with the annual rate at -0,1% in September. Motor vehicles are 1,4% more expensive than a year ago. Passenger transport is 1,9% cheaper. Fuel prices declined by 0,3% between August and September. The annual rate for fuel was -2,2%.