JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A closely watched survey of South African manufacturers showed a further decline in business activity in June, pointing to lingering weakness in Africa’s most industrialised economy. South Africa’s new President Cyril Ramaphosa is trying to reverse a decade of economic stagnation under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma. But recent economic data, including first […]

This week’s episode of Carte Blanche investigates Mohair farming and the validity of a video that threatens to close down the industry, children sexting, femicide and South Africa’s 12th Duke of Atholl. The show is available to South Africans abroad from Tuesday 03 July 2018 if you subscribe to Showmax. Mohair Goats South Africa’s Angora […]

The South African Department of Energy is expected to announce a fuel price adjustment later on Friday. Automobile Association (AA) has on Thursday released the petrol price outlook for July. The AA said the petrol prices are anticipated to increase by 26 cents a litre in July‚ meanwhile diesel will increase by 24 cents and […]

Thato Ditsele had a dream of becoming a successful young businesswoman in South Africa. However, with only R5,000 in her bank account, for a while this remained just that – a dream. Until she saw a poster advertising the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Grant Programme… and realised she could actually DO something to pursue […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand steadied early on Thursday after slipping to a seven-month low the previous day amid broad-based dollar gains. At 0625 GMT, the rand traded at 13.8625 per dollar, not far off its New York close of 13.8550 on Wednesday. The rand slipped to 13.9375 on Wednesday, its weakest since Nov. […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A U.S. law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against South African miner Sibanye-Stillwater on behalf of shareholders to recover losses suffered after a spate of deaths at its mines triggered a sharp fall in its share price. Bernstein Liebhard LLP said in a statement the suit would deal with “misleading […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s state power utility Eskom has raised its wage increase offer for this year to 6.2 percent from 4.7 percent previously, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) said on Thursday. NUMSA said in a statement that three unions negotiating with Eskom were demanding a 9 percent increase in […]

Wikipedia mania is about to hit South Africa… in the form of the first Wikimania conference to be held in sub-Saharan Africa – in Cape Town from 18-22 July. And the key focus will be to increase regional contribution to the world’s largest free, collaboratively-built online encyclopedia. According to Wikimedia SA President, Douglas Scott, there […]

South African expats in the UK are in for a major treat as top South Africans artists Prime Circle, Just Jinjer and Tailor will be performing together on one stage in London in August! PLEASE NOTE: EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED. After successful runs in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Real Concerts are bringing A Night To […]

South African expats in Europe recently enjoyed a lekker 2018 get-together in the Blackforest, Germany. Event organiser Samantha Gross said the drive was long, “a never ending road for all… until we met”. “The house was beautiful, and we started preparing as soon as we arrived… proudly decorating the house with our Flag, and wine […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Glencore said on Tuesday that eight people were injured at its South African smelting operations in the North West province during a protest. Glencore said a security company at its Wonderkop Smelter fired rubber bullets to disperse the protestors, who were demanding employment, resulting in eight people sustaining minor injuries. (Reporting by […]

The Durban Survivors’ Dance Crew have sent an impassioned plea to Ellen DeGeneres, requesting sponsorship for a trip to Los Angeles, USA, which would uplift the recognition of South Africa in the dance industry. The letter says: “Our group name is Survivors Dance Crew and we are based in Durban. The crew was established in […]

Meet Martha Hester Sehao, perhaps one of the last people alive from the 1800s… The 121-year-old South African woman has had seven children, of whom she has outlived three. Hailing from Ventersdorp in the North West province of SA, Martha says there’s only one secret to her long life… https://www.facebook.com/BrightVibesAfrica/videos/983504248500688/

ATHENS (Reuters) – A 5.5 magnitude earthquake shook the southwestern area of the Peloponnese in Greece in the early hours of Monday. Its epicenter was offshore, 26 km (16 miles) west of the town of Methoni at a depth of 30.4 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no early reports of serious damage or injuries, […]

Dam levels are rising and Day Zero in 2019 is fortunately unlikely, but for hundreds of thousands of people, the rains bring hardship. Cape Town’s much-needed rains have raised the dam levels to over 40% (as of 21 June), higher than at the same time in 2017 and 2016, but still lower than 2015. Day […]

The Board of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants’ (SAICA) says it has noted the statement issued by Khaya Sithole, which makes mention of allegations against SAICA’s acting CEO and executive team.  The SAICA Board said it distances itself from all the allegations and wishes to reiterate its support for its whole leadership team. […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah jokes that he hopes his mom watches the latest documentary about his meteoric rise “and finally starts believing that I’m not a drug dealer!” The documentary – the first in a series by OZY and PBS – is called Breaking Big, and takes an in-depth look at 12 talented men […]

The South African government says it regrets the withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. “This development is indeed worrisome and goes against the letter and spirit of multilateralism and the Charter of the United Nations, of which the US was one of the founding countries,” the Department of International […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa‘s government is considering layoffs and early retirement packages for staff in the public sector to avoid breaking its pledge to cut spending after unions clinched above-inflation wage increases, the Treasury said on Friday. Under a deal reached in May, the government will raise salaries of public sector employees, including teachers, police, and […]

The South African football team,  Kaizer Chiefs has on Friday confirmed the new signings of Khama Billiat, Letlhogonolo Mirwa and Andriamirado Andrianarimanana. The newly signed players will be playing during the upcoming 2018/19 Assa Premiership season. Billiat is the most recent player to join Kaizer Chiefs from Mamelodi Sundowns. Mirwa joins the Naturena based team for […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus has shuffled his backline and included exciting fullback Warrick Gelant as one of five changes to his side as he seeks a series clean-sweep against England in the third and final test at Newlands on Saturday. Gelant takes over from the experienced Willie le Roux, who drops to the […]

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi claimed today that the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill and the National Health Insurance (NHI) Amendment Bill will introduce measures that will lift a financial burden from beneficiaries who are subjected to high healthcare costs. However the DA says no amount of spin will make NHI a success. After Dr Motsoaledi […]

When Free Speech is counter-attacked by intense scrutiny, intimidations and death threats because of unpopular views, we should all be concerned as that’s not how Constitutional democracy operates, write Neo Nino Mofokeng. Shashi Naidoo is yet another high profile South African who has been scrutinised, viciously attacked by the popular left and in the extreme, […]

This coming Sunday Carte Blanche joins forces with a United Nations arms expert in a special investigation spanning three continents to reveal the origin of weapons confiscated along the Kruger National Park’s border fence with Mozambique… and unmask the real architects behind the poaching of rhinos in Africa. (The programme will be aired in SA only.) […]

Government will consider introducing computer coding in South Africa’s education system, Communications Deputy Minister Pinky Kekana said on Wednesday. “The time has come for us to introduce basic coding in our education system,” said the Deputy Minister. Addressing the IBM South Africa annual Think Johannesburg conference at Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Kekana said government acknowledges […]