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DA Federal Council chair and Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille addressing the Iftar dinner. Picture: Supplied In the news today, the South African government has urged the warring parties in the current Persian Gulf conflict, the United States, Israel, and Iran, to pursue dialogue as the path to peace. Meanwhile, United States (US) ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell III has found another ally in Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie.

Furthermore, the Bloemfontein Regional Court has sentenced Dino Sherwin Kekana to eight years’ direct imprisonment on charges of housebreaking and theft following a break-in at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Free State in 2023. The South African Weather Service (Saws) has issued a raft of severe weather alerts for Sunday, 15 March, ranging from flooding threats in the north-east to dangerous heat in the Cape provinces and elevated fire risk in the west. The South African government has urged the warring parties in the current Persian Gulf conflict – the United States, Israel, and Iran – to pursue dialogue as the path to peace.

Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Thandi Moraka, delivered the message during her address at an Iftar dinner marking the end of the day’s fasting, hosted at the Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand Thursday night. The pair met on Friday in the wake of the political storm emanating from Bozell’s criticism of South Africa’s domestic and foreign policy earlier in the week. Issues discussed included controversial political chants, the conflict in the Middle East and how the US and South Africa should be “partners, not adversaries”.