Singing on the Last Night of the Proms, aka the BBC Proms, the summer festival of orchestral highlights, two days ago, South Africa’s fantastic opera singer Golda Schultz gave a moving rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical “Carousel.” Watch (and listen to) Golda Schultz sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” […]

The United Kingdom today became the first international partner to contribute to South Africa’s Solidarity Fund, with a donation of R50 million. “Proud to become the first international partner to contribute to S Africa’s Solidarity Fund; a transparent, accountable, public-private collaboration, directing support to those hardest hit by coronavirus, especially women,” tweeted the UK’s High […]

“His name was Zwelenkosi Zulu. He was axed and burnt in Eshowe … for being a part of the (LGBTQ community). How many more homophobic murders?” These were words on Twitter about #Zwe, who was, according to the Democratic Alliance’s Sakhile Mngadi, “allegedly hacked in his own house, left unconscious and the house was then […]

The statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa today praising the work of the media is a sea change from the days of his predecessor Jacob Zuma and his support of the Gupta ANN7 network and New Age newspaper and the vilification of Jacques Pauw, author of “The President’s Keepers,” among other low points. Countries with strong […]

South Africa recorded its lowest single-day death toll on Sunday in over four months, while the number of COVID-19 cases rose by 1 579. The recovery rate is almost 90 percent. The 20 deaths recorded on Sunday is the lowest number since 23 May, when 10 people succumbed to the disease. According to the latest […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to furnish him – within 48 hours – with a detailed report on the circumstances that led to her sharing a flight to Harare with a senior delegation of African National Congress leadership. A public outcry quickly grew on Wednesday after ANC […]

For all those people who hate the way taxi drivers behave on the road, the way they disobey traffic lights, go the wrong way down one-way streets, overcrowd, drive abysmally and disrespect even their own passengers, now is the time to have your say. Today saw the launch of a public platform, the National Taxi […]

South Africa is making its best wines ever, according to British journalist and wine master Tim Atkin, who managed to put together his latest report during the pandemic and gave two wines a perfect score of 100 points. “Rather than just a few individuals, what we have now is a constellation shining bright above us […]

The District Six Museum in Cape Town, which recalls the painful and yet colourful past of the famous neighbourhood whose residents were forcefully evicted and the area demolished during apartheid, faces closure after 25 years, and have asked for donations from the public to help them get back on their feet after the lockdown. The […]

In one of the worst year’s on record for loadshedding in South Africa, more of the same is possible as one of the conveyor belts at Medupi power station broke down, Eskom said today. “This means the four generation units in service are not able to take in the requisite amount of coal to generate […]

The Supreme Court of South Africa today dismissed the appeal of Nelson Mandela Bay ANC councillor Andile Lungisa over his sentence to two years in jail over an incident in 2016 where he hit a Democratic Alliance councillor over the head with a water jug (see video below).   Lungisa was found guilty in April […]

The Zimbabwean government has banned mining inside national parks, after reports surfaced that two Chinese companies had been granted rights to mine for coal in Hwange National Park and conservationists and lawyers kicked into gear to stop it. “Mining on areas held by National Parks is banned with immediate effect. Steps are being undertaken to […]

PRETORIA – The South African Police Service has said that a series of social media posts depicting a building in Pretoria – a police building – as a centre for human trafficking is fake news. In a statement today, the police said the building on Johannes Ramokhoase Street in the CBD was in fact a […]

Gross domestic product for South Africa fell by just over 16 percent between the first and second quarters of 2020, giving an annualised growth rate of ‑51 percent, according to figures released today by Stats SA. The one sector to see good growth (15 percent) was agriculture. [Thread]Steep slump in #GDP as #COVID19 takes its […]

After 400 Clicks stores across the country were apparently shut by Economic Freedom Fighters supporters today, and seven damaged and/or petrol-bombed, charges are to be laid against the EFF, several of whose leaders exhorted members to “Attack” the pharmaceutical chain today over a controversial advertisement. Clicks apologised publicly on Friday for the TRESemme hair product […]

A band of citizens in inner city Johannesburg this weekend became the latest private grouping trying to make an impact on the often-overlooked and dire garbage situation plaguing the streets, and they took to one of the worst-hit areas, Hillbrow. “The CleanCitySA Adopt a Street Volunteers Network was successfully launched in Hillbrow today,” CleanCitySA said […]

On Wednesday the Auditor General released publicly the final first special audit report into COVID government expenditure made under TERS till the end of July – including UIF COVID-19 Ters transactions – indicating serious risks and violations. As a result, the Unemployment Insurance Found Commissioner Teboho Maruping was suspended. Here are some of the AG’s […]

The head of department for Human Settlements in Mpumalanga, who has made statements in the media before on behalf of the province, has appeared in court after it was discovered he has been living in South Africa illegally for 25 years and claimed on three separate occasions to have been born in different places in […]

Eskom today said two station chiefs had been suspended after Stage 4 loadshedding this week was responded to with “apathetic behaviour,” and said that urgent culture change at the utility had to be accelerated. The managers of the Tutuka and Kendal power stations were summarily suspended pending disciplinary enquiries, Eskom said in a statement. It […]

The Vaal Dam has continued to fall this week, hitting levels unseen since the beginning of 2017, when large parts of the country were in the grip of a devastating drought. But other dams feeding the north of the country have kept good levels. “As the Vaal Dam persists to drop week-on-week, it now hovers […]

In a bid to sell more South African wine overseas, a new matchmaking portal has been launched to bring together buyers and sellers of Western Cape wine. Cape Export Network is a platform for South African wine producers to freely advertise their products and connect them with international importers and buyers of wine, and has […]

The Eastern Cape, which in 2018 changed the name of Grahamstown to Makhanda, is at it again. This time it wants to change East London, King William’s Town, Berlin and the East London Airport. The proposals are to change the name of East London to KuGompo, King William’s Town to Qonce, Berlin to Ntabozuko and […]

The Passenger Railways Association of South Africa, clawing its way back from years of mismanagement and corruption, has a new man in charge after a court order last week ruled that the appointment of an administrator in December last year was unlawful. “We are pleased that the National Treasury has appointed Mr Badisa Matshego as […]

Kebone Masange, the head of the department of human settlements in Mpumalanga, was arrested in Pretoria today by Home Affairs officials for allegedly being in possession of numerous identity documents, according to a news report in City Press. The story also said that he had not been vetted for the position when he got it […]

Despite Eskom’s inability to meet the country’s electricity needs and plunging everyone into darkness with loadshedding – taken to Stage 4 today – the government rejects alternatives because it wants Eskom to keep its monopoly, according to the Democratic Alliance. “At a time when the country desperately needs economic growth, Eskom once again plunges us […]