For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines: Mantashe appointed acting Police Minister; Jonas sidelined in talks to reset relations with US; And, US says it has sent third-country deportees to Eswatini

Mantashe appointed acting Police Minister

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe acting Police Minister until Professor Firoz Cachalia assumes the role of acting Police Minister at the start of August.

Mantashe will also retain his responsibilities as Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister.

On Sunday, Ramaphosa placed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on a leave of absence after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused the Minister of having colluded with a criminal syndicate and having interfered in high-profile investigations.

The President also announced that a commission of inquiry would investigate the allegations against Mchunu.

Jonas sidelined in talks to reset relations with US

Three months after South Africa appointed Mcebisi Jonas as a special envoy to the US and tasked him with helping reset bilateral relations with President Donald Trump’s administration, he has yet to visit the nation or meet with any high-level officials.

Relations between Pretoria and Washington have been fraught since Trump’s return to the White House in January. The American president has made the unfounded claim that South Africa is subjecting White farmers to genocide and confiscating their land, expelled its ambassador, halted most aid and threatened to slap a 30% reciprocal tariff on its exports to the US by August 1 if a favourable trade deal isn’t struck. There have been no official land seizures in South Africa since apartheid ended in 1994.

President Cyril Ramaphosa tapped Jonas, a former deputy finance minister who currently serves as chairperson of telecommunications company MTN Group, to try and rebuild ties. But questions were raised about his suitability to fill the role after it emerged that he had previously made highly critical comments about Trump.

And, US says it has sent third-country deportees to Eswatini

Meanwhile, the US Homeland Security Department said a deportation flight carrying immigrants from different countries had landed in Eswatini, in a move that follows the US Supreme Court lifting limits on deporting migrants to third countries.

In late June, the US Supreme Court cleared the way for Trump's administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show the harms they could face. The decision handed the government a win in its aggressive pursuit of mass deportations.

US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said a safe third country deportation flight to Eswatini in Southern Africa has landed, claiming that the flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back.

In a thread on social media platform X, McLaughlin named five deportees from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen and said they were convicted of crimes ranging from child rape to murder.

Earlier this month, a top Trump administration official said in a memo that US immigration officials may deport migrants to countries other than their home nations with as little as six hours' notice.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will generally wait at least 24 hours to deport someone after informing them of their removal to a so-called "third country," according to a memo dated July 9 from the agency's acting director, Todd Lyons.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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