Shooting of “The Dark Tower”, based on the best-selling Stephen King book and starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, has started in Cape Town and the Western Cape. The movie is being directed by Dane Nikolaj Arcel, famous for making the first (and best) “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and the brilliant but much-overlooked “A Royal Affair”. […]

In 2014 South Africa, which had been Africa’s biggest economy, slipped to second place behind Nigeria, and new figures suggest it has now slipped another notch – coming third behind Nigeria and Egypt. According to statistics released by the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday, Egypt’s GDP has been growing steadily at over two percent the last […]

The Democratic Alliance has asked President Jacob Zuma to reverse the decision to procure a private jet – reportedly at a cost of R4 billion – which was confirmed by the Minister of Defence on Wednesday. “Given our current economic climate and our country’s record high unemployment crisis, South Africa cannot afford to spend R4 […]

In recent months two highly controversial political leaders, Donald Trump and Jacob Zuma, have received harsh, intense global media coverage. Trump, a white man, is the Republican presumptive nominee in the US presidential race as “leader of the free world”. Zuma, a black man, is the embattled President of the African National Congress-led government in […]

Africa loses at least $50 billion a year — and probably much, much more than that — perfectly lawfully. About 60 percent of this loss is from aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations, which organise their accounts so that they make their profits in tax havens, where they pay little or no tax. Much of the remainder […]

For anyone from who remembers the Doll House, the drive-in, Springbok Radio, the Radium, Highlands Park and “Ag Pleeze Deddy”, here’s a big old blast from Johannesburg’s past. For those who don’t, the abovementioned would be 1) a roadhouse, 2) an outdoor moviehouse, 3) the radio version of MTV, 4) a beer hall, 5) a football club […]

DUBAI – Investec Bank, a lender in the aviation market, has closed a $1 billion operating lease transaction with Emirates Airline, it said on Monday. The deal will pay for the delivery and sale and leaseback of four A380-800s, the world’s largest passenger jet, Investec said in a statement. Investec Aviation Finance has around $5 […]

While Johannesburg and Cape Town attract a growing number of new residents daily, they do not come anywhere near the explosive growth taking place in other parts of Africa. A recent report published by the World Economic Forum – which has its Africa summit in Kigali, Rwanda, from Wednesday – listed the three cities in Africa with a population […]

A 813-carat diamond named The Constellation and mined in Botswana has been sold for the highest price ever paid for a rough diamond, its owners said – more than $63 million. The Canadian Lucara Diamond Corporation said in a statement on Monday that the diamond, recovered from the Karowe mine in Botswana in November 2015, had […]

“The Last Face,” a movie about the relationship between an aid worker and a doctor in a wartorn African country that was shot in South Africa and stars Charlize Theron, is one of the most anticipated movies to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this week. The world-famous French festival runs from May 11-22. “The Last […]

The Guptas, friends of President Jacob Zuma, have reportedly paid $30 million for a mansion in an elite area of Dubai, according to a report in City Press this weekend that it said was confirmed by two sources. The house is in Emirates Hills, according to City Press. Emirates Hills is a gated community apparently named […]

Over 30,000 people attended the South African Air Force Museum’s annual Pretoria Air Show on Saturday, with the theme this year being “Celebrating Aviation Through the Ages”, with some grand old dames of the air taking off to show what they are still capable of doing. More than 100 aircraft gathered at the Swartkop Air Force Base […]

As the tourism show Indaba 2016 wraps up in Durban on Monday, where thousands gathered to sell and promote the best destinations in Southern Africa, we give you a postcard from each of the nine provinces. The famous and the not-so-obvious destinations – all gorgeous, all worth visiting. Soon! Blyde River Canyon, Mpumulanga Lisbon Falls, Mpumalanga. iSimangaliso national […]

The love-him-hate-him presenter from CNN with the distinctive delivery, Richard Quest, is at South Africa’s tourism Indaba again this year, taking place in Durban from Friday to Monday. He kicked off the show with a frank interview with Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom. The Indaba is arguably the most attended travel show in Africa (with 1047 exhibitors, 1856 buyers […]

Government has welcomed the ratings agency Moody’s announcement confirming South Africa’s long-term government bond and issuer ratings, after months of speculation that the country could be downgraded to junk status. The department of finance has reportedly been going out of its way to show the international ratings agencies it is committed to fiscal responsibility since late […]

The new head of the SA Post Office, Mark Barnes, must be smiling today. A strike that could have crippled the already embattled state agency that he has been trying to make viable could not even muster a few hundred supporters. “It’s great news and to be honest it’s a victory for common sense. It’s a […]

Havana, Cuba. The pictures, from the top, are of the famous Hotel Nacional, a taxi driver nearby, the Plaza de la Catedral, a mural in the old town, the Cafe O’Reilly, the Museo de la Revolucion, inside the Museo Nacional de las Bellas Artes, an old car serving as a taxi near the malecon (boardwalk), […]

Rescuing wild animals is a long-haul occupation, as Louise Joubert of SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary knows. But a few weeks ago, a more than four-year-long cheetah project – which had lots of heartache in between – came to fruition, with the birth in the wild of at least six cheetah from parents that had been rescued. “We […]

Sometimes referred to as “Mister Parliament”, there are few, if any, speakers in Parliament whose speeches are as anticipated as Democratic Alliance’s chief whip John Steenhuisen, at least if Youtube views of his speeches are anything to go by. We’ve rounded up some of the best. 1. Steenhuisen takes on Zuma, “the ugly head of […]

Addressing the House of Assembly that was almost half empty, because most of the opposition (due to a boycott of him) plus many ANC members (because who knows why) were not there, President Jacob Zuma today told the speaker to get the house in order. He spoke about how South Africa’s dignity was compromised by the […]

Five Zimbabwean men have been successfully growing crops on land abandoned as unprofitable in Malmesbury. The landowner, N7 Meat, gave up farming crops on the land, claiming losses of over R1 million. Albert Zinhanga and four friends met the landowner when buying an ox for slaughter at N7 Meat in 2014. Noticing fallow land, they […]

In an unprecedented move, eight opposition parties, including the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters but excluding the Inkatha Freedom Party, will boycott President Jacob Zuma’s speech in Parliament on Thurday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said in a statement signed by the party leaders. They said it would be “an empty speech of an utterly […]

NEW YORK – “Lesedi la Rona,” the largest gem-quality rough diamond discovered in more than 100 years, will be auctioned in London next month and is expected to sell for $70 million (£48.2 million), international auction house Sotheby’s said on Wednesday. Ahead of the auction on June 29, the 1,190-carat diamond, its name in Botswana’s […]

Parliament descended into chaos for a few minutes on Wednesday as the Economic Freedom Fighters tried to prevent President Jacob Zuma from addressing the assembly, despite warnings from the Speaker Baleka Mbete, who finally told the EFF to leave the chamber. It was reportedly the first time Zuma had appeared in the assembly since two […]

A story doing the rounds on social media has it that President Jacob Zuma will get a luxury jet, the most expensively kitted-out one in the world, a Boeing 747-8 with all the trimmings. It’s a good story but totally fabricated. On 22 April, in fact, Armscor, the acquisition arm of the SA Defense Force, […]