News24 | Trump declares US-Iran ceasefire over; Peet Viljoen ‘lied’ to judge: Today’s top 7 stories

News24 brings you the top stories of the day, summarised into neat little packages. Read through quickly or listen to the articles via our customised text-to-speech feature.

- Disbarred lawyer Peet Viljoen lied to a US judge about his father dying of prostate cancer to secure deportation back to South Africa, according to Hawks investigators.

- During his Pretoria bail hearing on fraud charges, Viljoen blamed his wife, Mel, for their alleged shoplifting scheme in the US, where they failed to pay for 392 items worth R86 000.

- Viljoen faces 400 charges, including fraud, theft and corruption related to the alleged fraudulent sale of 46 Johannesburg Property Company properties, resulting in losses exceeding R27.6 million.

- National Treasury has withheld R110 billion in July grants from 69 municipalities, including R3.6 billion from Johannesburg, due to failures such as unfunded budgets, unpaid debts to Eskom and water boards, and irregular expenditure.

- Treasury officials say service delivery will not be affected as municipalities have sufficient cash flow and that funds could be released within two weeks once municipalities address the identified problems.

- Treasury has been withholding grants since 2015, more regularly since 2024, but has never withheld funds for longer than 30 days – well within the legal maximum of 120 days.

- The newly constituted state-owned Transnet company, Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager, has botched one of its first attempts to invite the private sector to manage a part of its network.

- A tender to lease 11 sidings opened for only two days last month and included unusual requirements.

- The company was created to separate Transnet’s operations from its rail infrastructure and to enable competition in the freight rail sector for the first time.

- Donald Trump declared the initial US-Iran ceasefire deal “over” and threatened additional attacks on Iran, warning “we’re going to hit them hard tonight”.

- The president did not clarify whether the US would return to full war or continue negotiations but suggested achieving goals “without a deal” may be easier.

- The escalation sent oil prices surging, prompted Iranian strikes on US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, and caused tankers to turn back from the Strait of Hormuz.

- Abu Dhabi-based Adnoc Distribution is acquiring Shell’s downstream business in South Africa for $1 billion, believing the country’s fuel stations have significant growth potential beyond just selling fuel, particularly in coffee, food and convenience retail.

- The deal includes about 580 se