December 6, 2025 – South Africa Headlines

Story gist: Witness D from the Madlanga Commission was shot dead in Brakpan. A manhunt was launched after the incident.

Bias summary: Left-leaning IOL frames the story sensationally with ‘executed,’ ‘gunned down in front of family,’ emphasizing targeted violence and emotional family impact. Center News24 uses neutral phrasing like ‘shot dead in apparent hit,’ focusing on facts without drama. Right-leaning The Citizen presents it as concise ‘BREAKING’ news, omitting details on family or execution-style killing.

Story gist: FIFA conducted the 2026 World Cup draw, assigning Mexico to play South Africa in the opening match.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Al Jazeera frames the draw expansively, listing groups, teams, format, and injecting political angles like Trump and peace prize. Center outlet supersport.com uses a neutral, factual headline matching the title. Right-leaning outlets absent, omitting any conservative perspective such as national team emphases or U.S. hosting implications.

Story gist: Donald Trump announced a peace treaty between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He stated it ends a 30-year war in Africa and everyone will make a lot of money.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Mail & Guardian frames it critically as ‘Western solutions for African problems,’ emphasizing skepticism toward external intervention. Center Financial Times reports neutrally as Trump announcing a ‘historic’ peace treaty, highlighting the event factually. Right-leaning coverage absent, omitting potential praise for Trump’s diplomatic achievement.

Story gist: Minister Mchunu told the Madlanga Commission that the decision to disband the PKTT was prompted by several complaints against the unit. He was questioned about establishing an Eastern Cape task team in the same month.

Bias summary: Left- and right-leaning outlets provided no coverage, leaving those perspectives absent. Center outlet News24 frames Mchunu as ‘grilled,’ emphasizing scrutiny over the timing of PKTT’s dissolution and a new Eastern Cape task team’s formation, implying inconsistency. The original title focuses neutrally on complaints as the disbandment reason.

Story gist: Five initiates died during the current initiation season in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Traditional leaders urged providing water to initiates.

Bias summary: Left- and right-leaning outlets provided no coverage, omitting those perspectives entirely. Center outlet News24 frames the story around traditional leaders’ advice to give initiates water amid the deaths, emphasizing preventive guidance over criticism of the practice or assigning blame.