November 17, 2025 – South Africa Headlines

Story gist: South African weather authorities downgraded storm warnings for Gauteng province following a Level 9 storm event. Disaster management teams remained on high alert amid ongoing flood risks highlighted in an Amnesty International report.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Daily Maverick frames the story with emphasis on storm severity and links to Amnesty’s flood risk warnings, suggesting broader systemic vulnerabilities. Center News24 uses neutral tone, focusing on warning downgrade and continued alerts without added context. Right-leaning coverage is absent, omitting potential perspectives on government preparedness or economic disruptions.

Story gist: South African electricity utility Eskom announced plans to construct 14,000 kilometers of new transmission lines. The project is estimated to cost R440 billion.

Bias summary: Center outlets like TimesLIVE report the story neutrally, focusing on the factual announcement of Eskom’s infrastructure plans without added commentary. Left- and right-leaning outlets provide no coverage, leaving progressive critiques on energy affordability or conservative concerns over state spending absent from the discourse.

Story gist: Palestinians from Gaza arrived in South Africa on a flight organized by an unidentified group. The Israeli army stated that these individuals received permission to leave Gaza. Allegations of forced migration by Israelis have prompted concerns.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Al Jazeera frames the story with suspicion, emphasizing a ‘shadowy organisation’ and implying secretive motives behind the migration. Center outlet France 24 reports neutrally, highlighting the Israeli army’s claim of granted entry while noting the ‘mystery plane.’ Right-leaning perspectives are absent, leaving out potential emphasis on Israeli security justifications or downplaying migration concerns.

Story gist: A report indicates the South African government wastes R1.1 billion daily on inefficient public spending. The figure covers expenditures from recent fiscal years.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets omitted coverage, absenting defenses of social spending priorities amid fiscal critiques. Center sources like Business Tech framed it as a ‘big reality check,’ neutrally emphasizing economic inefficiencies and reform needs without blame. Right-leaning outlets also lacked reports, missing potential emphasis on corruption or anti-government waste narratives. Overall, coverage skewed toward centrist fiscal analysis.

Story gist: The City of Johannesburg closed all routes across the city as part of preparations for the G20 summit, including clearing streets of homeless individuals. The routes have reopened.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets like Daily Maverick emphasize the human impact, highlighting authorities telling homeless people to ‘go home’ to clear streets, with a critical tone on social displacement. Center outlets like EWN provide neutral, factual reporting focused on the route closures and reopening without social details. Right-leaning coverage is absent, omitting potential perspectives on security benefits or economic priorities for the summit.