Daily Maverick

Meta rejects claims it sought to hook children to Facebook, Instagram as landmark trial begins

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms META.O rejected accusations by U.S. states that it intentionally sought to addict…

Harvard to pay $53m to settle lawsuits over theft of body parts

BOSTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Harvard University has agreed to pay $53m to resolve lawsuits by families alleging it…

TRIBUTE: In Memoriam: Estelle Ellis, Daily Maverick’s ‘lisquito’-in-chief, is laid to rest

‘Estelle’s compassion shone through her writing and made me a more caring person too — her life was too short, but her…

MUNICIPAL DYSFUNCTION: NMB emergency and service vehicles immobilised by yet another fuel crisis

Nelson Mandela Bay’s recurring fuel problems are raising fresh questions about procurement failures and the…

LOCAL ELECTIONS 2026: ANC hero Marius Schoon’s son, Fritz, is a DA candidate for Joburg

Fritz Schoon’s family fought for the ANC. He chose the DA. He tells us why.

US sanctions International Criminal Court president, senior lawyer

WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The U. S. imposed sanctions on Tuesday on the International Criminal Court's president…

21 PROBLEMS: NMB metro finally acts on R35m streetlight scandal, but suspensions still pending

The Special Investigating Unit has welcomed Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s progress in implementing its…

SHOULDER CHARGE: Boks muse aloud about All Blacks’ possible illegal breakdown tactics

Springbok assistant coach Felix Jones was forthright in his assessment that the All Blacks’ entries into rucks could be…

TRUTH INTERRUPTED?: TRC investigator shut down interview probing Dulcie September murder, inquiry hears

Dulcie September’s family wants to know who told the TRC special investigations chief to abruptly terminate the Paris…

ANALYSIS: What Scopa should have made a bigger fuss over in RAF draft report

Of course, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts spent most of its Road Accident Fund efforts on unravelling the…

CLOUDED ACCOUNTABILITY: Scopa meeting with NPA, Hawks, SIU lays bare criminal justice shortfalls

Parliament’s public spending watchdog, Scopa, struggled on Tuesday to get clear answers to why so many corruption and…

OpenAI slows model training to bolster security after Hugging Face hack

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - OpenAI on Tuesday said it is slowing down the pace of its AI model development while…

MADLANGA COMMISSION: Tobacco, tender rigging and spy-tech — inside the world of alleged Big Five boss

Alleged Big Five cartel boss Jothan Msibi was involved in retrieving stolen stock for the controversial tobacco company…

CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Lawyers to help Western Cape cops sharpen court dockets

A police station is often where a criminal case is either strengthened or quietly weakened beyond repair. Defective…

GRASSROOTS POWER: How one doctor’s neighbourhood cleanup sparked a citywide movement in Gqeberha

From neighbourhood streets to major tourist hubs, TidyNMB turns small monthly contributions into citywide impact,…

Death of woke — the left must reclaim universalism to defeat the far right

What is (or was, depending on your point of view), ‘woke’? Where did it come from, where did it go — and why, after its…

Agribusiness exploits humans and animals alike – legal protections should be species-blind

By siloing human rights from animal welfare, our regulatory framework makes it harder to see what – or rather who –…

Mining rights vs social licence — why trust is the ultimate currency

Mining rights secure access, social licence secures legitimacy; without trust, investments falter, communities…

Baselines and biases: The trouble with opinion polls in race to the local elections

The issue is not the reliability or otherwise of polling data, it is pollsters’ interpretation of that data that policy…

From Ceuta to SA: How viral misinformation and political framing weaponise migration

From Ceuta to South Africa and Southport, migration is increasingly shaped by viral misinformation, political framing…

If SA keeps failing to implement plans, it’s time to rethink planning

We need to consider what comes after Vision 2030, what future South Africa we want, and what stands in the way of us…

Colonialism, xenophobia and SGBV — SA must reclaim ubuntu

Both gender-based and xenophobic violence have a deep-rooted legacy in South Africa’s colonial past, which imposed…

The real GMO issue is whether farmers are allowed to compete

Beyond the clash over corporate power lies a simpler truth: denying technology to South African farmers won’t fix food…

Breaking Bad — The extent of the doping problem in SA schoolboy rugby

The use of banned substances in schoolboy rugby has a long history and little is being done to stamp it out.

My menopause patch disappeared, and I started asking bigger questions

Awareness of menopause is improving but does a prescription script for HRT guarantee access? Women needing medication…

The likely Agoa extension is positive for South Africa’s agriculture

A likely renewal of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, with South Africa’s continued inclusion, is a positive step…

Empty promises — why SA local government fails the gogo test

The Auditor-General’s latest report exposes a systemic failure in local government, as municipalities continue to…

Dog moms dominate: money talks more than biology ticks

People are choosing to have pets instead of kids, mostly because raising the latter is too expensive.

Letter to Mahlamba Ndlopfu – Illness before truth as a new plague erupts

Subpoenas to appear before the Madlanga Commission trigger a sudden outbreak of conveniently timed illness. Really,…

Watch — SA’s sports funding crisis exposed as athletes pay the price

If we want a human rights economy, Africa must change from within

While building a human rights economy in Africa also requires transforming the international financial architecture and…

Watch – Beyond the Big Five cartel: Unmasking South Africa’s true narco kingpins

Beyond the personalities — PIC drama is about control of R4-trillion in workers’ money

Former PIC board chairperson David Masondo explains the decisions he made and the need to protect the organisation that…

Why Africa must treat disease surveillance as infrastructure

Improving disease surveillance is not simply a question of buying better software. A sophisticated digital platform…

Watch – More than 1,200 City Power outages in two weeks leave Joburg buckling

Watch – The DA MP, Tony Leon’s lobbying firm and the SIM card law