On 9 May 2019 the Australian Koala Foundation announced they believe “there are no more than 80,000 koalas in Australia”, making the species “functionally extinct”. While this number is dramatically lower than the most recent academic estimates, there’s no doubt koala numbers in many places are in steep decline. It’s hard to say exactly how […]

Tom Moyane, former commissioner of South African Revenue Service (SARS), appeared for the first time in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court today in the private prosecution case against him. Advocate Gerrie Nel, Head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, is prosecuting Moyane in this case. The date for Moyane’s first appearance has been set for 11 December […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated that the South African government’s attempts to reconfigure and split Eskom into three divisions is not aimed at privatising the embattled power utility. These measures, he said, are rather aimed at stabilising the utility and getting it back on its feet. “We are not going to privatise Eskom,” he said, […]

This incredible CCTV footage from South Africa shows an armed robber being robbed himself by a customer he held, up after the customer did a cheeky SAS style crawl to hoover up stolen loot the original robber had dropped in the raid. The brazen robber had pulled out a gun and ordered a shop owner […]

World-renowned elephant scientists and conservationists have united in an urgent plea to Zimbabwe, China and other countries considering exporting or importing wild-caught elephants for captive use, to abide by an internationally-agreed near-total ban on such activities that takes effect tomorrow, 26 November 2019. The experts’ plea comes in the wake of Zimbabwe exporting at least […]

Each year, South Africans produce about 40 million tonnes of general waste, only 10% of which is recycled, according to the State of Waste Report published by the Department of Environmental Affairs in 2018. The other 90% ends up in landfills or waste storage facilities around the country. But what happens to the 10% of materials […]

Many Johannesburgers will be looking for the best vantage point downtown on Sunday, 24 November, to view the implosion of the former Bank of Lisbon building, marking the end of a sad downward spiral for one of the city’s tallest buildings. The 31-storey 1970 structure, on Sauer Street between Albertina Sisulu and Helen Joseph, was […]

The festive season is fast approaching, and in an annual tree lighting ceremony that’s becoming as hotly anticipated in South Africa as that in New York’s Rockefeller Centre or St Petersburg’s Palace Square, Cape Town’s Moët & Chandon Golden Tree is the place to be for the launch of the festive season… and this year […]

As reported earlier today, South African comedian Trevor Noah has been nominated for a Grammy Award. Since announcing the exciting news, Trevor has posted another heartfelt message on social media… which could even be his speech should he win! The South African expat – who now lives in New York – has been nominated for […]

The Office of the Chief Whip in Parliament has issued a statement following the arrest of ANC Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Bongani Bongo, who was arrested this morning in Cape Town, South Africa. “We are aware that the MP was arrested by the Hawks on allegations of […]

The South African Police Service (SAPS) in Lephalale (or Ellisras) in Limpopo have arrested three suspects for suspected rhino poaching. The three men were employees of the local game reserve on which they were arrested. SAPS said in a statement that the suspects were aged 29, 30 and 33. They were arrested for ‘illegal hunting’ […]

Racial quotas in South African sport have been an emotive debate for the past 20 years. The arguments for and against are usually based on limited, subjective evidence. And the voices of the players affected by quotas are rarely considered. As part of my PhD I conducted research to find out what sports people themselves […]

At the end of winter 2019, we have a lot to be negative about… writes Steve Hall. And not just in South Africa. Europe has no clue, Britain has no plan, and The US, it would seem, has no morals. If there was a single country doing well right now, their celebration will be short […]

South African Airways (SAA) Acting Chief Executive Officer Zuks Ramasia has affirmed that the safety and security of customers, aircraft and employees are of paramount importance to the airline and that claims to the contrary are “untruthful”. Claims made by the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South […]

The Department of Basic Education has distanced itself from a series of images that have been circulated on social media in recent weeks around the issue of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE). “The Department of Basic Education has noted with concern the impact fake news has had on the debate around the issue of the Comprehensive […]

Fifteen judges have been appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, to various divisions of the High Court. The Presidency said on Monday the President had strengthened the administration of justice countrywide with the appointments. In terms of the Constitution, the President must appoint judges of all courts, with the exception of the Constitutional Court, on the […]

An inspiring South African barista from Durban – Teddy Nzama – has scooped the title of 2019 EMEA Barista Champion. In a press statement, Starbucks said: “After an intense three days of competition, 30 finalists – each of them already National Champions in their home markets – battled through coffee skills tests and demonstrated their […]

Bafana Bafana beat Sudan to claim three crucial points on Sunday. The South African team downed visiting Sudan 1-0 in an Africa Cup of Nation Cameroon 2021 match played at a sunny Orlando Stadium yesterday, 17 November 2019. South Africa dominated to earn the three points, a good return after losing 2-0 to Ghana on […]

South Africa’s Top 10 restaurants for 2019 were announced this weekend at the glittering Eat Out Restaurant Awards in Cape Town. Sadly for  those not living in the Western Cape, it appears that 90% of the top 10 restaurants in SA are all in that corner of the country! (See The Top 10 SA Restaurants […]

Carte Blanche investigates the ‘War on Climate Change’ and explores whether going meatless could save our planet. This episode will be broadcast today, Sunday 17 Nov, on DStv Now if you’re in South Africa, and available to stream from Tues 19 Nov on Showmax International in most other countries.  EMPOWERING > ENLIGHTENING Hotting Up in the […]

Sign up for Showmax and Vodacom’s hot new deal and get live sport, series, movies and more on your mobile. Vodacom and Showmax have launched a brand-new mobile-only deal. Sign up to Showmax with Vodacom and get 2G of data every month for streaming Showmax on your smartphone or tablet for just R99 a month.  […]

A ring designed and crafted in Cape Town, South Africa, and featuring 798 diamonds, is proving to be a show stopper at a prestigious art and design fair in New York City… and from these photos you can see why! The ring – Desert Rose – is currently featuring at the Salon Art + Design […]

I’ve had the opportunities throughout my life to travel extensively writes Dean Morris. I’ve traveled to 24 countries on 5 continents (not South America and not Antarctica), with notably several equatorial African countries in the mix. I have a model that anthropomorphises the different regions and my take is as follows: North America: rich old […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead a South African delegation to the 11th BRICS Summit to be held in Brasilia, Brazil, from 13 – 14 November 2019. BRICS is the association of the five major emerging countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which together represent about 42% of the global population, 23% […]

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi thanked South Africans from all walks of life for coming out in their hundreds of thousands to congratulate the Boks on winning the Rugby World Cup in the last week. The Springboks arrived home from Japan on Tuesday and visited Pretoria, Johannesburg, Soweto, Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town […]