January 29, 2026 – eRadio SA – Live from the Garden Route

11 perish in accident involving truck and taxi in KZN

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The Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, and Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa have expressed serious concern over the continued rise in road fatalities linked to crashes involving public transport.

This follows the tragic loss of eleven lives in a collision between a truck and a minibus taxi in Durban. The crash occurred at about 8:30 this morning, 29 January 2026, on Wanda Cele Drive in Isipingo.

The collision involved a Toyota minibus taxi and a Hino interlink truck in an angled impact. Eleven people were killed and six others sustained serious injuries. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, Siboniso Duma, has revealed that the truck involved had worn tyres, the taxi driver’s professional driving permit expired in 2023, and the taxi was overloaded, carrying between 17 and 18 passengers.

The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Minister Creecy and Deputy Minister Hlengwa have instructed the Road Traffic Management Corporation to investigate the incident in cooperation with local authorities.

A preliminary report is expected within 48 hours once the investigation begins.

Serious risks posed by unregulated vaccine use – Steenhuizen

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The national Foot and Mouth Disease Response Plan - the first comprehensive roadmap to decisively address FMD in South Africa in 30 years - has been developed by a Ministerial Task Team comprising experts from both the public and private sectors, including scientists, veterinarians, and academics.

The roll out of the plan outlines clear immediate, medium- and long-term interventions to combat the disease.

Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen said in a statement on Wednesday, the State had already acquired, monitored and administered two million vaccines from the Botswana Vaccine Institute (BVI) to date.

The issuing of permits for private companies to import vaccines, as local agents, has already commenced.
“Import permits for the Dollvet vaccine was issued to Dunevax and an additional import permit to import the Biogénesis Bagó vaccine is imminent,” said the Minister.

The department rejected calls for what it described as a “vaccine free-for-all”, warning that such an approach was reckless and contrary to established international and local disease-control protocols.

The Minister highlighted the recent illegal importation of vaccines into KwaZulu-Natal by certain farmers as an example of the serious risks posed by unregulated vaccine use.

The scientific pathway to restoring South Africa’s FMD-free status with vaccination is clear and guided by international standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), he said.

“In order to regain the ‘FMD-free status with vaccination’ from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), South Africa must prove there has been no virus transmission for at least 12 months. This requires a strictly controlled vaccination rollout; official surveillance; strict movement controls and systematic vaccination coverage that is able to be documented and verified,” the Minister said.

Without centralised monitoring and State-led control over the process, Steenhuisen warned that the country risks failing to achieve FMD-free status, causing long-term damage to agricultural exports, and negating the entire strategy of vaccination.

The Minister stressed that the private sector and industry bodies have been included throughout the process, from the initial FMD lekgotla, to participation in the Ministerial Task Team, and now through the FMD Industry Coordination Council. The department has also committed to working with private veterinarians and animal health technicians as the vaccination rollout progresses.

Over 4 million smart ID cards issued in 2025

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The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has issued a record 4 002 964 smart ID cards in the 2025 calendar year -- the highest rate of delivery in the history of the department.

This milestone represents a 17% increase on the 3 427 468 Smart IDs issued during 2024, which was itself a new record at the time.

The 2025 performance is about 1.3 million more than the number of Smart IDs issued during the 2023 and 2022 calendar years.

This historic breakthrough represents the latest milestone under the department’s vision to deliver Home Affairs @ home through the pursuit of digital transformation.

The focus on technology upgrades and improved efficiencies at both the Department of Home Affairs and Government Printing Works (GPW), which physically produces the smart ID, has led to this improvement.

One of the key upgrades has been the department’s investment in repairing the Online Verification Service (OVS), which was previously underfunded and abused by some external users.

Correcting this has led to higher uptime and better performance of the population register at Home Affairs offices, directly contributing to giving more South Africans access to smart IDs than ever before.

“The milestone of delivering over four million smart IDs in a calendar year for the very first time demonstrates how our commitment to digital transformation is expanding inclusion and access at a scale never seen before.

“Smart IDs are vastly more secure than the fraud-prone green barcoded ID book. Thanks to the ongoing digital transformation of Home Affairs, over four million more people gained the ability to securely open a bank account, access employment, and obtain social grants in 2025,” said Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber.

“The accelerated rollout of smart IDs is a cornerstone of the department’s Medium-Term Development Plan targets. The green bar-coded ID book, which the smart ID is intended to replace, has become a soft target for fraudsters and is estimated to be 500% more vulnerable to fraud than the smart ID.”

To further enhance access to smart IDs, the department is currently in the final phase of preparatory work for the rollout of a new digital partnership with South Africa’s banking sector, which will enable even more citizens to access smart IDs at hundreds more bank branches around the country, close to where they live.

Alleged international scam syndicate members arrested

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Some 23 suspected members of an alleged R1 billion international scam syndicate have appeared in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court on charges of contravention of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS Act).

The suspects were arrested in Gauteng this week, in a multi-agency operation, led by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks.

“The arrests were the culmination of prosecutorial, internationally coordinated investigations conducted by the DPCI, the South African Police Service Crime Intelligence, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the United Kingdom National Crime Agency, the United States Department of Homeland Security Service, Australian IFW and CyberTrace investigation companies, working closely with South Africa’s private investigation company, IRS,” National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Gauteng spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane revealed.

They are alleged to have “operated call centres that provided financial services, despite not being registered as financial advisers or as representatives of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority”.

“The State alleges that more than 40 unsuspecting victims from abroad, including the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, were scammed into investing more than R1 billion in what they believed to be legitimate investment opportunities.

“It is further alleged that some of these funds were used to sustain the operations of the call centres,” Mjonondwane continued.

The case was postponed to next month for the bail hearing.

“The NPA, working with its partners, continues to make significant strides in tackling and dismantling organised criminal networks.

“The complex and deeply embedded scourge of organised crime continues to plague the country; however, law enforcement agencies remain equipped and committed to dealing effectively with such crimes,” she said.