NINE WOMEN. A 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL. WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO SOUTH AFRICA?

SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG IN SOUTH AFRICA.

I genuinely don't even know how to start this.

Because every time I think, okay, surely South Africa has reached the limit now, another story appears on my phone and I'm just sitting there like...

AGAIN?!

If you're reading this from outside South Africa, let me bring you into the madness for a second.

Since July, women have been found dead across Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg. Kempton Park. Olifantsfontein. Clayville. Rhodesfield. KwaThema. And now Dawn Park in Boksburg.

At the time I'm writing this, nine women have been found dead.

And the disturbing part is how some of these women were discovered.

The first body was found on 15 July in an open field near the R21 highway in Kempton Park. She was 37 years old, naked and restrained with cable ties. A man reportedly linked to her was arrested two days later.

Then came another woman in Kempton Park in August. She was 32-year-old Itumeleng Kekana. Her family spent 17 days and nights searching for her, praying that she would come home, before they were eventually called to identify her body.

Then September arrived.

On 7 September, a woman believed to be in her late twenties was found floating in a river in Clayville, Olifantsfontein, near Thembisa Mall. She was found without clothing apart from underwear.

Another unidentified woman's body was discovered in Olifantsfontein that same day.

On 10 September, another unidentified woman was found in Kempton Park. Her body was naked and already in an advanced state of decomposition.

Then came Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo.

A 38-year-old mother.

A runner.

On 9 September, Elizabeth went out for her usual run and didn't come back. Her eight-year-old daughter was the one who raised the alarm when her mother failed to return. Her family searched, people shared her missing-person information, and then on 12 September her partially naked and bruised remains were found in Rhodesfield, Kempton Park. Her family identified her on 14 September.

I'm sorry, but imagine being that little girl.

Mommy went for a run.

Mommy didn't come home.

And then you find out Mommy is dead.

That is somebody's childhood memory now.

On 14 September, another woman was found in Olifantsfontein. A passer-by spotted the body and alerted authorities. She was partially naked and bruised, and police suspected she may have been killed elsewhere and dumped there.

Then on 15 September, Dineo Evelyn Motapane, 38, was found on the side of the road in KwaThema, Springs. She had last been seen alive on the Sunday. Her family identified her body at the Springs Mortuary the following day.

And then, because apparently nine wasn't enough...

TODAY.

17 September.

A ninth woman's body was found in Dawn Park, Boksburg.

She is believed to be around 30 years old. Police say she was found partially naked, wrapped in a sheet, and preliminary indications suggest that she may have been killed somewhere else before her body was dumped there.

NINE.

At this point, I don't even know what emotion I'm supposed to have.

Fear?

Anger?

Disgust?

Exhaustion?

Probably all of them fighting for first place.

And yes, I have my own suspicion about what is happening.

I personally suspect ritual killings or ritual sacrifice.

And with everything happening lately, I can't help but wonder: could these women be part of something much darker?

South Africa is heading towards the 4 November 2026 Local Government Elections, and suddenly I'm looking at these killings differently. Could some of these women have been used as sacrifices — blood being shed because, in someone's twisted belief system, something needs to be sacrificed for something else to work? Could it somehow be connected to power, politics, or whatever plans people behind the scenes might have?

I don't know.

But could it be?

Because the timing makes me question things. July. August. September. Women disappearing. Bodies being found. More cases appearing as we move closer to an election.

Maybe I'm connecting dots that have nothing to do with each other.

But still...

Could it be?

And spiritually? I feel like there this dark cloud over South Africa. I'm looking outside right now and the sun is shining. Birds are chirping. Trees are moving. People interacting. Somebody is buying amagwinya somewhere.

Life looks normal.

But spiritually? Something feels deeply wrong. And that's why I believe we need a lot of prayer warriors. True prayer warriors.

And then there's the SAPS response.

Some of these deaths started in July. Now we're in September and the number has climbed to nine. Police have now assembled a multidisciplinary team, deployed additional resources and increased patrols.

And I'm sitting here thinking:

NOW?

I'm not saying investigators were sitting around eating popcorn for two months. Obviously, we don't know everything happening behind the scenes.

But people have every right to ask why the urgency feels so much louder now.

And then, as if all of this wasn't enough, we hear about 10-year-old Octavia Swarts, a Grade 4 learner from Kraaifontein.

She went missing on Sunday.

Her family and community searched nearby orchards and surrounding farms late into the night. On Monday morning, her body was found in a farm dam. A 14-year-old boy was arrested in connection with her death, but the case was not enrolled and he was released into his parents' care while the docket was returned to police for further investigation.

And now I'm supposed to sit here calmly?

A TEN-YEAR-OLD CHILD.

What more are we supposed to hear before we finally say enough?

All I want is JUSTICE.

For every woman, child and man whose life was stolen. For the families still staring at an empty chair. And for those still missing, whose names haven't even reached the news.

I pray the blood that was shed does not rest quietly.

May it haunt whoever did this. May they lie awake knowing exactly what they have done. May whatever they gained from another person's death turn into nothing but chaos until they finally crack, and hand themselves over.

Because you can hide from the police.

You can hide from people.

BUT YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM GOD.

And to the souls who were taken from this world:

LET YOUR BLOOD SPEAK.

Let the truth come out.

Let justice find them.

BECAUSE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

Disclaimer: Images used on this blog are for illustrative purposes only and remain the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.

APPLE finally made a foldable iPhone. And somehow, I’m not impressed.

WHERE DID EVERYBODY’S CREATIVITY GO? 😭

Look who’s finally doing folds. 😭

Apple has officially entered the foldable-phone conversation with the iPhone Duo, a phone that folds open like a book. Closed, it has a 5.4-inch screen. Open it, and you get a 7.6-inch display, basically giving you a phone that wants to cosplay as a tablet. It starts at $1,999 ≈ R32,063 in the US, with the most expensive version reaching $3,999 ≈ R64,096. Preorders beginning in October, with sales starting October 23.

Anyways...

And I’m sitting here thinking: Apple… is this really what we have come to?

Because Samsung has been making foldable phones for years. Samsung didn’t just wake up yesterday and discover that a phone can fold. The Galaxy Z Fold line has already been doing the whole open me and suddenly I’m a mini-tablet thing. Apple has now entered the same room, wearing an expensive suit, and basically said, “Look what we invented.” 😭

Okay, technically Apple has designed its own hardware, hinge, software experience and everything else that comes with it. Fine. But you cannot tell me the concept itself feels groundbreaking anymore. It feels like Apple arrived fashionably late to a party that Samsung has already been cleaning up for years.

And this is what actually bothers me.

WHERE IS THE CREATIVITY?

I genuinely feel like we are entering an era where some of the biggest companies in the world have access to billions of dollars, thousands of engineers, designers, writers and creative people, and yet sometimes the final product has me sitting there like… That’s it? 😭🤷🏿

Apple is one example. Disney is another. Tyler Perry? Chile. Let me not even start with "Why Did I Get Married Again? Part Two" 🤦🏿. Because sometimes you watch something and think, surely somebody in that room had another idea.

And before somebody says, “But Lilo, Apple’s foldable is different!”

Yes, I know.

I’m not saying Apple literally copied every single component from Samsung. I’m talking about the bigger picture. We have become so accustomed to companies watching what somebody else is doing, waiting for the technology to become popular, improving it slightly, putting their branding on it and calling it innovation.

At some point, we need people who are willing to imagine something that does not already exist.

Because what happens when the people currently running these industries eventually hand everything over to us?

I’m looking at the generations coming after the millennials and wondering: What exactly are we inheriting?

A Disney that keeps recycling its old magic.

A television industry that keeps recycling old ideas.

A music industry that keeps recycling sounds.

A technology industry where everyone is watching everyone else.

And then we’re expected to be the generation that creates the future.

We're DOOMED! 😭

And honestly, I’m grateful I’m not an iPhone girl.

I am an Android girl and I am proud. And that's on PERIOD. 🤏🏿

Because if I had grown up feeling like I absolutely needed the newest iPhone every time Apple announced one, my parents would have developed grey hair before I even finished high school. 😭

What fascinates me even more is watching people who, from what I personally see around me, clearly do not have massive disposable incomes somehow find a way to get the newest iPhone. Maybe they save. Maybe they finance it. Maybe somebody buys it for them. Maybe they simply prioritise it over everything else.

I don't know.

But suddenly somebody who has been complaining about money is standing there with an iPhone that costs more than some people’s monthly salaries.

And I’m looking at them like:

“Brother. Is that the iPhone 17 or iPhone X disguised as the iPhone 17?”

Because at this point, I genuinely don't even know what half these phones look like. 😭

And that is another conversation: how much of our consumer culture is actually about needing something, and how much is about wanting to prove that we have it?

Because Apple is going to keep making money. Obviously.

They know exactly what they are doing.

They know there will be people who see the newest model and immediately start calculating how they can get it. They know there will be people who don't need a foldable phone but suddenly feel like their current phone is embarrassing because a newer one exists.

And honestly? Good for Apple.

The company is winning.

But as consumers, maybe we should occasionally ask ourselves whether we are winning too.

Because this isn't really about Apple anymore.

It's about creativity.

It's about originality.

It's about whether we are becoming a generation that creates, or a generation that waits for somebody else to create first and then improves the packaging.

And that genuinely scares me.

Because if the people before us are already running out of ideas, and we're becoming comfortable with recycling everything from technology to movies to music to television...

At what point do we stop copying the past and actually create the future?

Because respectfully, I refuse to believe humanity has reached its creative limit.

There has to be more.

There HAS to be.

Otherwise, what are we doing here?

And please don't ask me to buy an iPhone Duo.

I fold my clothes. That's enough folding for me. 😭

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.

MISS MALAWI HAD A WINNER. SO WHY DID SOMEONE ELSE GET THE DREAM? 👀

A crown, a runner-up, a minister’s daughter and a Miss World opportunity that somehow ended up somewhere nobody expected.

[Photo: Miss Malawi 2025 / Nation Online. Thandi Chisi, Ireen Navicha and Tina Nkombezi following the Miss Malawi 2025 results.]

Imagine winning a national pageant and then watching somebody else get the international opportunity you thought came with your crown.

Yeah.

That is basically where this story gets interesting.

Because in December 2025, Thandi Chisi, 26, stood on a stage in Malawi and became Miss Malawi. She had made it through the competition, beaten the other finalists and got the crown. The girl had won. Full stop.

And standing behind her as first runner-up was Ireen Navicha.

Ireen wasn't some random woman who suddenly appeared from the bushes when Miss World came around. She had her own pageant experience, including international competitions, and she was clearly a serious contestant. But there was one other detail about Ireen that would later make this whole story considerably more interesting: her mother is Mary Navicha, Malawi's Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare.

Now, ordinarily, that would just be a family fact.

But then Miss World happened.

Or, more accurately, Thandi's Miss World opportunity didn't happen.

Instead of sending the reigning Miss Malawi, the organisation selected her first runner-up, Ireen Navicha, to represent Malawi at Miss World 2026.

[Photo: Miss World Organisation. Ireen Navicha representing Malawi at Miss World 2026.]

And I remember thinking: Wait. What happened to the winner? Because isn't that usually the point?

You enter Miss Malawi. You compete. You win Miss Malawi. You represent Malawi internationally.

Simple.

Except apparently we had entered Pageant: Director's Cut, because suddenly there were explanations.

First, there was the age in question. Thandi had turned 27, and age was given as one of the reasons she wasn't selected. Except Miss World had contestants around that age, including South Africa's Romanda Hombir, who was also 27 and eventually made the Top 6.

Hmm.🤔

Then another explanation came into the picture: international experience. Ireen had it. Thandi didn't have the same level of international pageant experience, and organisers said they believed Ireen was better prepared for the international stage.

So basically, the argument was about that, and somehow that became a reason to choose her over Thandi. But honestly, that logic doesn’t sit right with me. How is someone supposed to gain international experience if you never give them the opportunity to represent their own country internationally in the first place? Experience has to start somewhere you know, and Thandi being the woman who actually won Miss Malawi should have been given the preparation, training and chance to prove herself on that stage too. Otherwise, what are we really saying — that you need experience to get the experience? 😭

[Photo: Miss Malawi 2025;Thandi Chisi.]

As the explanation changes, people start doing what people do best on the internet: investigating. 🔎 And this is where I have to admit something. My eyebrows started living permanently above my forehead.😲

Because look at the picture: the reigning Miss Malawi wins the national competition. Her first runner-up is selected instead for Miss World. The runner-up happens to be the daughter of a sitting government minister. Then the public hears different explanations about why the winner wasn't chosen.

Am I saying the minister personally pulled strings?

No.

Am I saying I know what happened behind closed doors?

Absolutely not.

But do I find the situation suspicious?

Girl.

Please.

I'd have to be asleep.

This is also where the whole Nepo Baby conversation comes knocking.

[1st runner up; Ireen Navicha]

Because nepotism isn't only about somebody literally picking up the phone and saying, “Give my child the job.” Sometimes it's about the uncomfortable advantage that comes from being born into the right family, having the right connections, or simply being close to people with power.

And here's the thing: Ireen could be completely deserving. She could have worked her behind off. Her previous pageant experience could genuinely have made her the better choice for Miss World.

Both things can be true.

But when you're the person who won, and the person who gets the opportunity you expected is the daughter of a powerful government official, people are naturally going to ask questions. I'll definitely put you on my suspicious list.😑

And Thandi?

[Photo: Miss Malawi 2025 event coverage. Thandi Chisi celebrating her reign as Miss Malawi 2025.]

That's the part that bothers me most. Imagine being 26, competing for your country's biggest pageant title, winning it, making plans, carrying that crown — only to discover that when the international opportunity arrives, you're not the one going. How do you even process that? Because I’d be somewhere investigating like my crown had been stolen: rulebook, contract, meeting minutes, CCTV footage — EVERYTHING. 😭 At some point I’d probably be asking, “Who was in the room? Who knew? Who approved this? And can somebody please get Jesus?” 😂

And maybe there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything.

Thandi eventually watched from the sidelines while Ireen represented Malawi at Miss World 2026 in Vietnam, making the Top 40 but not advancing to the Top 20.

And honestly, that’s what makes this whole thing even more disappointing.

 Because who knows what Thandi could have done if she had been allowed to take the opportunity she had already won

Maybe she would have made the Top 10. Maybe she would have gone further. Maybe she could have won the whole thing and put Malawi at the centre of the Miss World conversation for all the right reasons.

 Instead, we got politics, controversy and enough unanswered questions to make you sit back and stare at the wall for five minutes. Again, I’m not accusing anyone. But I do know one thing: if this pageant were a dog, by now I’d be telling it to sit, stay and explain itself. 👀

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.

THE INTERNET HAS TOO MANY DAMN ADS — AND I’M TIRED 😭

Our Attention Is Not Free

There was a time when I could open YouTube, choose a video, sit back and actually watch it. Imagine that. 😭 You clicked on a documentary, a music video, an interview, a random two-hour movie uploaded by someone with questionable copyright decisions, and you knew there might be an advertisement somewhere along the way. Fair enough. Businesses have to make money, creators have to make money, and apparently we all have to be reminded that SHEIN has another sale.

But these days? The advertisements have become part of the main event.

And I genuinely want to know: when did we decide this was normal?

I'm not talking about one advertisement before a video. That's been around forever. I'm talking about watching something on YouTube and getting interrupted again and again. You're 15 minutes into a documentary, completely invested in whatever story you're watching, and suddenly somebody wants to sell you something. You continue watching, get comfortable again, and there it is—another advertisement.

Now you're not watching a documentary. You're watching a documentary with regular commercial breaks that you didn't ask for.

And before anyone says, “Well, just pay for Premium,” that's exactly what makes this whole thing feel strange. Because YouTube already earns money from the enormous amount of attention people give it. We spend hours there. We watch, search, like, comment, subscribe and share. We use our Wi-Fi and our mobile data to do it. Our attention is valuable, our behaviour is valuable and advertising is built around that value.

So sometimes it feels like we're being told: “Thank you for giving us your attention. Now would you like to pay us extra so we interrupt you less?”

😂

And yes, I understand that creators can have some control over where advertisements appear in their videos, including manually placing mid-roll ad slots, while YouTube can also automatically place them. So it's not as simple as blaming the person who uploaded the video. The whole system has become much bigger than that.

Then there is Facebook.

You're currently watching a video, actually enjoying it, following the story, and then—BOOM. Advertisement.

Fine. You either get the little “Skip” button, or you have to sit there and wait for the whole thing to finish. Eventually, your video comes back and you continue watching. A few minutes pass. Maybe 30 seconds. Maybe one minute. And then—ANOTHER AD.

At this point, I'm looking at my screen like, “Who did I offend?” 😭

You skip it if you can. If you can't, you sit there and wait again. Then the video comes back. You continue. And if the video is long enough, guess what?

Another advertisement.

Two or three interruptions in ONE video? Sometimes even more? That's not a video anymore. That's an advertisement with a little bit of entertainment in between.

And the sickening part is that I get angry every single time. I despise it. I complain to myself, I roll my eyes, I threaten to leave Facebook forever...

And then I go back.

Why?

Because I'm a procrastinator. 😭

Apparently, my hatred for advertisements is not stronger than my desire to avoid whatever I was supposed to be doing in the first place.

Then there's TikTok. Sometimes you're scrolling, an ad appears, and you think, Okay, let me just swipe past this.

Except suddenly your innocent little swipe has launched you into the advertiser's app.

No.

I was trying to leave.

I did not suddenly wake up and decide I needed SHEIN.

I didn't ask to be transported to a catalogue containing approximately 74,000 dresses, phone cases, shoes and things I never knew existed. 😭

And I know I can close the app. I know I can swipe. I know I can pay for certain services. That's not the point.

The point is that advertising is becoming increasingly difficult to escape. And I'm starting to wonder what the end goal is. How much is enough? How many advertisements can you put in front of a person before the experience itself becomes unbearable?

Because there has to be a balance.

I don't think advertisements should disappear. They support businesses, creators, websites and free services. But perhaps there should be some reasonable limits on how frequently they can interrupt certain types of content. Maybe users deserve more control over how aggressively they're advertised to. Because we are already giving these platforms something incredibly valuable: our time. And time is something you can't refund.

You can give me back R10. You can give me back R100. But you can't give me back the hour I spent watching advertisements instead of the thing I actually came there to watch. That is what bothers me most.

The internet was supposed to give us more choices, more access and more freedom. Instead, I'm beginning to feel like I need a negotiation strategy just to watch a video without being interrupted. And perhaps I'm being dramatic.

Maybe.🤷🏿

But I'm definitely not the only person who has thought, “Oh, COME ON!” when an advertisement appears for the fourth time during something I'm watching.

So here's my question for The Dreamer's Pause this Monday:

At what point does advertising stop being advertising and start becoming an invasion of our attention? Because our data already has value. Our clicks have value. Our views have value. Our engagement has value. Our time has value. Surely we deserve some respect for what we're already giving these platforms.

Otherwise, what's next?

An advertisement when we unlock our phones?

“Welcome back! Before you can check your messages, please watch this 30-second promotion for laundry detergent.”

😭

Please. Let's not give them ideas.

Disclaimer: Images used on this blog are for illustrative purposes only and remain the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.

ARE WE WATCHING OUR LEGENDS WORK THEMSELVES TO DEATH? 😳

Okay, somebody needs to explain something to me.

Why are some of our legendary singers still working like they have a mortgage on the moon? 😭

I'm serious.

We are watching people who have already given us decades of music continue touring, performing and travelling when sometimes their bodies are clearly saying, “Please. We have done enough.” And every time someone says, “Maybe it's time to retire,” the response is usually:

“The stage is my life.”

Amazing!

But what if that's not the only reason?

I'm not accusing anybody. I don't have access to their contracts, bank accounts, lawyers or dressing rooms. 😂 These are simply my seven reasonable suspects for why some legends might continue working when perhaps their bodies need something very different.

1. Maybe They Simply Can't Imagine Retirement

Let's start with the obvious one.

Some artists genuinely LOVE performing.

If you've been singing since you were a teenager, spent your entire adult life onstage and built your identity around music, retirement might feel less like a holiday and more like somebody took your entire personality away.

So when an artist says, “The stage is my life,” maybe they actually mean it.

And honestly? Fair enough.

But then there are those performances where you're watching from home thinking, “Baby, your stage needs a sofa.”

2. Maybe They Need the Money

We assume that because someone sold five million records, they're automatically financially comfortable forever.

Not necessarily.

Artists can have huge expenses, complicated finances, debts, taxes, managers, lawyers, entourages, businesses and investments that don't work out.

We've seen famous musicians who made enormous amounts of money later reveal that they were struggling financially.

So maybe some artists aren't working because they desperately need applause.

Maybe they just need the cheque.😬

3. Maybe There Are Still Contractual Obligations

What if an artist still owes albums?

Tours? Appearances? Recordings? Other commitments?

Music contracts can be complicated, and sometimes what the public thinks an artist has completed isn't necessarily what the contract says they've completed.

Whitney Houston is the example that always comes to my mind. She had enormous recording commitments with Arista, including the famous 2001 deal that was reported at around $100 million.

So when we look at Whitney's later years, when she was struggling physically and vocally but still working, I can't help wondering whether contractual obligations were part of the picture.

4. Maybe Something Wasn't Completed When It Was Supposed to Be

This is different from simply owing something.

What if an album was delayed?

A project was postponed?

A recording wasn't delivered?

A commitment was carried forward?

A contract that should have ended years earlier somehow remained unfinished?

That's my fourth suspect.

Because sometimes the clock keeps moving even when the paperwork doesn't.

And imagine signing something when you're 25, thinking, “I'll deal with this now and move on.”

Then suddenly you're 55.

And the contract is still sitting there like:

“Hello. Remember me?” 😭

5. Maybe Delays Actually Keep the Relationship Going

This is the one that really makes my conspiracy eyebrow rise. 😂

What if, in certain situations, repeated delays, postponed projects or extended arrangements can keep an artist tied to a company for much longer than originally expected?🤨

I have no evidence for that.

But great artists are valuable. Their names are valuable. Their catalogues are valuable. Their old music continues making money through streaming, licensing, compilations, reissues and sales.

So naturally I wonder whether there could be situations where keeping a successful artist connected to a company is financially beneficial.

Why would anybody willingly let go of an asset that still makes money?🤷🏿

6. Maybe Management and Business Pressure Are Bigger Than We See

And this is where “Just quit!” becomes much easier to say from the outside.

Imagine being surrounded by managers, promoters, agents, accountants, lawyers, business partners and other people whose livelihoods are connected to your career. 

The artist might say, “I'm tired.”

Someone else might say, “But we have three shows.”

Another person says, “The cancellation will cost us.”

Someone else says, “The contract says…”

And suddenly the person holding the microphone is also carrying an entire business operation on their back.

We see the singer.

We don't see the machine around the singer.😕

7. Maybe They Are Trying to Finish What They Started

And finally, maybe some of these legends simply feel they have unfinished business.

An album.

A tour.

A promise to fans.

A final project.

A contract.

Or simply the belief that they aren't ready to walk away yet. And honestly, this is why I don't think we should scream “RETIRE!” every time an older singer struggles. But if there really are financial or contractual problems behind the scenes, then “just get a lawyer” isn't some magical solution either. The music industry is an enormous business, and artists can be dealing with people and companies with far more money, influence, lawyers and resources than they have. Walking away from a contract isn't always as simple as saying, “I quit.” And that's precisely why I keep thinking about Whitney.

She was one of the most valuable voices in the world, and even when her health, personal life and voice were deteriorating, the machine around her didn't simply disappear.

Maybe she wanted to continue. (False!)

Maybe there were obligations.

Maybe there were financial considerations.

I'm saying that when I see legends like Gladys Knight, Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey, Patti LaBelle, Dionne Warwick and others continuing to work while visibly showing the effects of age, I firmly believe there's more to the story. And if there isn't?

Then please, legends…

Go home. 😭

Eat with your family. Watch television. Take a walk. Sleep for twelve hours. Play with the grandchildren. Do absolutely nothing for a while.

Because no contract, tour, album, cheque or catalogue is worth watching somebody destroy the little time they have left.

© 2026 The Dreamer’s Pause. All rights reserved.