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The AI apocalypse may be coming sooner than expected. Or not. Which is, admittedly, not the kind of uncertainty you want from the people building machines smarter than us. Jacob Coxon, a researcher who worked at both Anthropic and OpenAI, quit Anthropic last week with an extraordinary warning that has dominated headlines since: the companies racing to build ever more powerful artificial intelligence are “gambling with our lives”.

Nine women’s bodies have now been pulled into a widening murder investigation in Ekurhuleni that has put the country on edge. But as police search for answers, South African women are asking another question: why does staying alive so often require them to make their lives smaller? The deaths stretch back to 15 July, with bodies found in Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, Clayville and Kwa-Thema. Most of the women were found naked or partially clothed with visible signs of bruising.

Next time you’re zoning out in a grocery store while waiting to pay, try this quick experiment. How many people in the queue ahead of you are forking out cash? Or is it all cards, tap-to-pay, QR codes and smartwatches held against the point-of-sale machine? Many South Africans have become comfortable with cash alternatives and can go days or even weeks without visiting a bank or ATM.

Danny Jordaan has been re-elected as the president of the South African Football Association (SAFA), extending his time at the helm of South African football for another term. Despite the controversies and scandals that have followed Jordaan and his administration over the years, the congress has once again placed its trust in the man who has been leading the organisation since 2013.

As of 17 September, say goodbye to fighting for the remote and hello to DStv’s new packages. Whether you’re a sport fanatic or obsessed with Mzansi Magic shows, the days of wondering what to watch are over. On Thursday, DStv is introducing new packages to the current Easyview: R30, Access at R120 or more, and Family, Compact, Compact Plus, and Premium.

Fear has gripped Gauteng after police discovered a fifth woman’s body in Ekurhuleni on Monday with possible links between the latest discovery and the four other women whose bodies were found in the Kempton Park area being probed. It’s been reported that the body was discovered on the side of the road by a passerby on his way to work in Olifantsfontein.

Things are heating up in South Africa, and we’re not just talking about the weather. This year’s Local Government Election (LGE) is shaping up to be one of the most hotly contested local government elections ever, with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reporting that 142,072 candidates have been put forward for council seats, a whopping 43% increase from the 99 000 candidates put forward in the country’s last local government election in 2021.

Gauteng’s Lenacapavir rollout, launched in June, exceeded expectations in its first month with 6,130 people getting jabs against a target of 4,672, 131% of the provincial goal. By the end of July, that figure had climbed to 17,937, and by 7 September, 26,357 people received it, the highest of any province and almost half of the 55,123 national total across six provinces.

The ANC has spent months trying to raise the bar for the people it wants to send into South Africa’s municipalities. The party introduced stricter candidate-selection rules ahead of the 4 November local government elections, including a matric requirement for ordinary councillor candidates. Candidates without matric were recently told they would need to commit to obtaining a matric certificate or an accredited NQF Level 4 qualification within 12 months of becoming councillors.

As South Africa’s two biggest political parties, the ANC and the DA, continue to implore voters to cast a vote that will end coalitions in local government, Build One South Africa (Bosa) leader Mmusi Maimane has a different view: coalitions, he says, are here to stay.