September 04, 2026.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is Polity’s daily podcast

Making headlines:

Ramaphosa authorises SIU corruption probe into Eastern Cape Public Works

ANC Veterans League condemns Durban xenophobic attacks, demands prosecutions

And, rebel-held eastern Congo records new Ebola case after declaring outbreak over

President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the Special Investigating Unit to probe allegations of corruption and maladministration at the Eastern Cape Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

By signing Proclamation 344 of 2026, the President has cleared the way for the Unit to investigate a series of highly sensitive infrastructure contracts and security tenders.

The investigation will cover the period from January 01, 2021 up to the publication of the proclamation on September 09, 2026.

The core focus of the SIU probe is to determine whether these multimillion-rand contracts violated constitutional procurement principles.

Investigators will check if the processes were “unfair, non-competitive, non-transparent, or not cost-effective”, and if the contracts went against National and Provincial Treasury guidelines, as well as the department's internal policies.

The ANC Veterans League has strongly condemned recent violent clashes in Durban, calling for immediate, thorough investigations and prosecutions following a wave of killings, looting and unlawful evictions targeting foreign nationals.

The statement followed a chaotic confrontation outside the Durban Home Affairs office on Che Guevara Road yesterday.

The violence erupted when about 100 supporters of the group 'March and March' attempted a self-described "clean-up campaign" targeting foreign nationals.

These individuals had been camping outside the government facility after fleeing anti-immigrant tensions in their local communities.

Reports from the scene indicate that March and March supporters attacked monitors and activists, prompting law enforcement to deploy rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

The Veterans League highly commended the monitors and activists who stood their ground despite being targeted, and blamed a lack of proactive governance and weak law enforcement for the escalating crisis, accusing March and March of capitalising on a perceived culture of impunity.

A new Ebola case has been recorded in an area controlled by AFC/M23 rebels in eastern Congo, the group said, more than two months after it declared the outbreak over in the territory it holds.

The Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 rebels, who control large parts of North and South Kivu provinces after staging a lightning offensive last year, declared areas under their control Ebola-free in late June, after 21 days without new cases.

The latest case was detected in the Kayna health zone in North Kivu, near Lubero, the rebels said in a statement.

The patient, a 21-year-old man, arrived from Butembo, a city in government-held territory, the statement said. It was not clear where he had contracted the virus.

He was identified as a suspected Ebola case at a health checkpoint on Wednesday and transferred to a quarantine facility, where tests confirmed infection the following day, the rebels said.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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