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Every province in the country will now have a High Court. The Mpumalanga Division of the High Court has started and held its first sitting on Monday. Judge President Francis Legodi, presided over the first sitting of the newly built Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela.  The permanent seats of the Mpumalanga Division signify a historic occurrence, as this will be the first time that every province will have its own provincial seat of the High Court,” the Judiciary said in a statement.  There are 32 civil matters that the court will finalise before the week ends. A first sitting of the Mpumalanga High Court this week found guilty a Kabokweni man arrested in April 2018 for killing his wife and mom-in-law. The 44-year-old Ngomane killed the 39-year-old woman on 29 March 2018 during an argument at her home in Kabokweni. He then turned the gun on the wife’s 54-year-old mom before fleeing and going into hiding. Premier Refilwe Mtshweni will declare the building in Mbombela a national key point. The event was attended by justice minister Michael Masutha director-general Vusi Madonsela and other men and women of the law.

Short-lived excitement for men in the province to have more wives and marriages in eSwatini has come to an end. The government of eSwatini on Tuesday angrily denied viral online reports that King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch who has 14 wives, had ordered men to have at least two marriages or face jail.

The story, carried by the Zambian Observer and picked up by several other online publications, said that Swazi men would have to marry several wives starting from June.

As well as 14 wives, King Mswati has more than 25 children and a reputation for lavish spending while 63% of his 1.3 million subjects in the kingdom formerly known as Swaziland live in poverty. The story, first published on Monday, said the government would sponsor marriage ceremonies and offer houses to men who entered into polygamous marriages. It said the king “has declared in… Swaziland that men will from June 2019 be required to marry at least two or more wives or be jailed if they fail to do so”. Government spokesman Percy Simelane called the story “malicious” and “poisonous”. “His Majesty has not made any pronouncement to that effect as it has never been an issue raised,” by the people, Simelane said. He said the story was “not only an insult to the monarchy and the culture of eSwatini but a disgrace to journalism”. The government has demanded that the newspaper retract its story.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has become the official opposition party in Mpumalanga, a position which was previously held by the Democratic Alliance (DA). The party is trailing behind the African National Congress (ANC) in the province, having obtained 12% of the votes. EFF provincial leader, Collen Sedibe, says voters have given them a mandate to ensure that they push the ANC to delivery services. “Well we are very much happy the mandate to continue to do the work we have been doing, (our mandate) to finish business in the legislature has been renewed and we are going to do what the people have sent us to do by making sure that we holding the executive accountable and ensuring the public purse in the government is properly managed, finances are spent prudently, and all cents are accounted for.”

Being a motorist in Mzansi is a ghastly pursuit. The petrol price looks set to rise again in June, marking a fourth consecutive increase since March. It’s not news any of us wants to hear. Although petrol prices forecast for next month won’t rise as steeply as they did throughout autumn, the per-litre costs could rise by more than 30-cents-per-litre.

Why fuel costs are likely to increase next month

Despite an improved performance, it looks like a few things are working against South Africa’s road users. At a time where a good exchange rate could stop the rot, our rand remains rooted at over R14 to the dollar. Furthermore, an additional Carbon Tax is being added on to the standard price of fuel. The initiative was given the green light during the Budget Speech in February, and another nine-cents-per-litre is getting added on to the bill.

Police reacted swiftly on information received from a source, that the metro rail line adjacent to the Middelburg, Schoembee gravel road were being damaged and removed.

On further investigation some of the suspects were arrested when found on the crime scene, busy removing parts of the metro railway track and slipper beams. The other suspects were arrested at different addresses in the Eluxolweni locality in Hofmeyer.   Ten suspects between the ages of 16 and 39 were arrested on the Transnet Act 18/2015 sec 3 sub-section (1) (0), Tampers with, damages or destroy essential infrastructure. One Nissan UD 80 truck with one hundred and sixty-six Metres of metro rail lines and eighty three slipper beams were confiscated. The estimated street value of the infrastructure material removed is about R130 000.00. The suspects are due to appear in the Tarkastad Magistrate Court soon.