The dust seems to have settled around the matter of Professor Glenda Gray, who was critical of the unscientific nature of some of the lockdown measures, drawing the ire of a Department of Health official who said she should be investigated by the South African Medical Research Council. The council on Tuesday said that after […]

With the weather service predicting more snow tomorrow, some roads in the Eastern Cape, especially near Graaff-Reinet, were temporarily closed. The N9 from Graaff-Reine to Middelburg and the R61 from Cradock towards the N9 were closed as the result of dangerous driving conditions due to snowfall, but according to news reports have been opened again […]

The weather service has predicted a monster of a cold front and storm conditions approaching South Africa. “It’s a monster! Check the sheer size of this MASSIVE COLD FRONT as captured by EUMETSAT (the European Union’s meteorological satellites),” tweeted Gauteng Weather. “It spans from just below SA & over parts of the Cape, through the […]

South Africa will ease lockdown restrictions to level 3 from 1 June, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech tonight. The sale of cigarettes is still banned. Under level 3, all business and retail activity is permitted, except where risk levels are high. Alcohol will be sold, but under restrictions and on specific days. Exercise […]

The South African Weather Service has advised Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management Centre that an intense cold front is expected on Sunday night into Monday, resulting in cold weather, gale force winds and significant sea swells between Cape Columbine and Plettenberg Bay.   Heavy downpours are expected in places during the same period, which might […]

Five categories of South Africans who wish to leave the country can once again do so, including for work, study, family reunions, permanent residence or medical attention. Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi today said in a statement that the government had approved “essential travel for South Africans who want to return to countries where […]

A total of 230,000 people have been charged with contravening the lockdown, according to the Minister of Police Bheki Cele, a figure that has been labelled “outrageous” by the Democratic Alliance, especially given that not one person has has gone to jail yet for state capture. “State Capture cost our country ONE TRILLION RAND,” tweeted […]

The distribution and receiving of food by NGOs and other relief agencies cannot be interfered with by the government, at least not for the next month, according to a high court ruling handed down today. The Democratic Alliance challenged Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu and three other ministers over regulations that started being enforced three […]

The South African Reserve Bank has cut the repo rate by 50 basis points, and from 22 May it will be 3.75 percent. SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago made the announcement on Thursday following a Monetary Policy Committee meeting. The cut is the third since the advent of COVID-19 in the country in March, when the […]

Due to repairs that have been made to Eskom’s power grid during lockdown – although not major repairs – there will be much less loadshedding this winter than anticipated. In a virtual press conference addressed by most of the top brass of the utility, it was stated that instead of a possible 31 days of […]

The International Space Station of NASA can be viewed from various points in South Africa over the next week, but remember that it’s early in the morning while it’s still dark. The ISS is visible because of the sun reflecting off its exterior. In Cape Town, look up during the early morning hours from about […]

At least seven employees of the SA Revenue Service have tested positive for COVID-19, four of them in the Western Cape and one still in ICU, SARS has said in a statement. SARS said it learnt ‘‘with concern” that by yesterday two more two additional positive COVID-19 cases had been found. It said that besides […]

The country’s first public advocate for children and guardian of their rights will take up her post from 1 June, Western Cape Premer Alan Winde announced today. The Children’s Commissioner is Christina Nomdo. Winde said this was an incredibly important role, as the person was tasked with monitoring, researching, investigating, lobbying and reporting on children and […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the government recognises that there have been criticisms of the way it has handled the lockdown and every South African has a right to to take this matter to the courts. “There has been, and will continue to be, robust and strident critique of a number of aspects of […]

Small, medium and macro enterprises in South Africa should watch out for fraudulent agencies purporting to be entities of the Department of Small Business Development and trying to extract fees out of them. “It has come to the attention of the department that an unknown company is requesting food producers and agro-processors to send through […]

Crime in the Cape Town city centre during lockdown has dropped by 73 percent compared with last year, according to statistics released by the Cape Town Central City Improvement District. Only 94 crime incidents were reported from 26 March 2020 to 15 May 2020, compared with 340 during the same period last year, said CCID […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa is today meeting with the President’s Coordinating Council to deliberate preparations for moving most of the country to COVID-19 alert Level 3, the presidency said. Alert Level 3 will entail more extensive reopening of the economy and the lifting of restrictions on the movement of people and goods, according to the statement. […]

An Nguni bull has been sold for a record price of R310,000, far above the last record set in 2005, during an auction that was held on WhatsApp. The news was reported last week on the NetAuctions Facebook page. It said the record price was paid for an Nguni bull bred by the Nandi Nguni […]

Within three days of it going on stream, more than 3.5 million people have applied for the new special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant of R350. The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) started taking nationwide applications for the grant on Monday. As of today, 3,585,040 applications were received. Applications were currently being assessed […]

The North West province’s Department of Health has suspended four senior officials over allegations of tender irregularities, one of which amounts to almost R11 million. Two suspensions relate to a building contract at the Mmbatho Nursing College, the other two to a security contract whose financial loss is still being calculated. Two senior officials, including […]

T-shirts, closed-toe shoes and crop bottoms were the buzz words on South African social media today, after the Minister of Trade Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, released a bizarre and inexplicable list of clothing you can and cannot buy under Level 4 lockdown regulations. “Bizarre,” “Kafkaesque,” “mad,” “Soviet-type regulations,” “petty,” “monumental embarrassment,” “a mockery,” “East […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address South Africa tonight at 8.30 p.m. about the ongoing measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, almost three weeks since he made his last appearance before the camera. “20 days later!” the DA’s shadow minister for trade and industry tweeted after the announcement today. Many other world leaders have appeared […]

In a bid to alleviate the burden on indigent households during the COVID-19 pandemic, Eskom is reminding qualifying members that they should apply for the free electricity they are entitled to, despite the fact that at least 200,000 households who have already qualified are not using it. Eskom today launched a campaign to raise awareness […]

Deeds offices across the country will reopen on Wednesday 13 May under strict guidelines, with only conveyancers allowed in the buildings, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has announced. All services would be available and all lodgements accepted, but only conveyancers would be allowed to enter the building, and in big offices […]

The Unemployment Insurance Fund has  paid out R11 billion in benefits to over two million employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the past month. A total of 161,567 companies launched claims on behalf of their workers over the course of the last month. The funds were disbursed through the COVID-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief […]