While “Batman v Superman” plays out on movie screens, South Africa has some real superheroes who have swooped in during the presidency of Jacob Zuma to save the day. You might love them or disagree with them, but they deserve recognition and admiration. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng The chief justice, who brought an end to the […]

After producing the more exclusive Roadster, Model S and Model X electric cars, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Thursday that a five-seater sedan selling for a lot less – $35,000 – would come off the production line in 2017. Within 24 hours of the announcement, orders had reached 180,000. The car, which was launched in […]

“Buy local,” deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa exhorted a summit sponsored by Proudly South African this week in Sandton, Johannesburg. And we couldn’t agree more. “If we want our economy to grow,” he said, “then we need to buy more local goods and services. If we want new jobs and better opportunities, then we need to buy more local goods […]

The world premiere of the documentary about a South African woman who became an Israeli Mossad agent and an assassin took place in Ra’anana, Israel, on Tuesday. “Sylvia: Tracing Blood” is the story of Cape Town-born Sylvia Rafael, who was, as one review puts it, “a woman with a secret life, comprising triple identities, who […]

SA National Parks said it has successfully darted Sylvester, the lion that escaped from Karoo National Park earlier this week – for the second time – and whose plight generated a frenzy online when people heard that SANP was going to euthanise him. “SANParks search team has successfully darted the escaped lion from #KarooNationalPark outside […]

Political parties and politicians (and everyone with a Twitter account in South Africa) was quick to react to the Constitutional Court’s judgement against President Jacob Zuma and the National Assembly for failing to hold Zuma accountable, as well as the highest court’s insistence that the public protector was there to protect the constitution and the […]

JOHANNESBURG – The Constitutional Court, in a unanimous decision, on Thursday came down hard on President Jacob Zuma and the National Assembly for second-guessing the public protector Thuli Madonsela over her report about security upgrades at Zuma’s Nkandla home and demanding that remedial action be taken against the president. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said Zuma had failed […]

A group of Economic Freedom Fighters MPs turned up at the Unisa graduation ceremony on Wednesday to support their newly graduated party leader, Julius Malema. Malema graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Human and Social Studies. A trim-looking Malema was dressed in the official graduation garb and cap, forsaking EFF red for the evening.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has responded to questions sent to him by the SA Police Hawks division, apparently regarding a so-called rogue unit in the SA Revenue Service (SARS) during Gordhan’s term as head of SARS. In a statement, issued today by the Ministry of Finance, Gordhan replied (full statement below): I have responded to the […]

BEAUFORT WEST – A wily lion named Sylvester has escaped Karoo National Park by crawling under an electric fence – his second escape in less than a year – and is said to be roaming a mountainous area nearby, with a growing public outcry for parks authorities not to shoot him. SANParks was quoted in the media on […]

The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, is to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Africa on Wednesday, the EFF has announced. Malema will graduate with a BA in Communications and African Studies at a ceremony at the university. In an interview last year Malema said that once […]

Two South African priests – one of them the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox church of Johannesburg and Pretoria – were among the passengers of an EgyptAir plane en route to Cairo from Alexandria that was hijacked on Tuesday and rerouted to Cyprus, according to news reports. All the passengers were released and the suspected hijacker […]

US comedian Kevin Hart, who is touring South Africa, said Cape Town blew him away from the moment he arrived in the city. He arrived in the country on Friday for his “Kevin Hart What Now?” tour, taking in Cape Town, Durban (Monday) and Johannesburg (Wednesday). The kinetic, very funny, hugely popular (27 million followers on Twitter), […]

Barely two weeks after a horrific terror attack on a beach resort in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, a collective of singers in the country have come together to sing words telling the terrorists that they won’t give in to fear after the attack. The Grand Bassam attack left at least 16 people dead when the terrorists, apparently […]

A new investigative report has drawn together information that either directly or circumstantially connects the Gupta family to numerous key players in Eskom and Transnet. The Friday report by Amabhungane, the investigative arm of the Mail & Guardian, included an extensive chart that was republished on Twtter of the links that “are indisputable in some cases, and circumstantial […]

A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) has grown from 82 on Wednesday to over 150, endorsing a statement which condemns the killing of a Wild Coast resident who opposed the mining of a stretch of the Eastern Cape shore by an Australian mining house. The statement calls for mining to be suspended while an investigation […]

Lots of people might make fun of Klippies and Coke, but South Africa’s Klipdrift Brandy has just taken the top award in an international brandy competition. The World Brandy Awards announced on Thursday that Klipdrift Premium was its best brandy of the year. It also won for best brandy aged 2-3 years. Van Ryn’s Distillers […]

Actress Charlize Theron recently put her Hollywood apartment up for sale, at a price of $1.75 million. It was reported that Theron, who is soon to be seen in “The Huntsman: Winter’s War”, the sequel to “Snow White and the Huntsman”, bought the apartment nine years ago for $2 million. It was advertised by Beverly […]

British Airways will start flying to Cape Town from Gatwick airport later in 2016, adding to the existing daily flights from London’s Heathrow, the airline announced on Thursday. The (northern hemisphere) winter-only flight, which starts in November, will join the two flights a day that already fly to Cape Town from Heathrow. BA also flies twice daily to […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African fashion retailer The Foschini Group said on Thursday it had acquired all the shares in high street chain Whistles for an undisclosed sum. Foschini, which last year bought clothing, footwear and accessories retailer Phase Eight, said in a statement it has acquired Whistles’ 46 stores and online retail business through its […]

One swim to Robben Island is a feat, but Capetonian Theodore Yach, who did his first Robben Island swim 35 years ago, has completed the famed 10-kilometre crossing for the 100th time. Yach, who is 58 and was met at the finish by his wife and two sons, used the swim to gather funds for six charities and causes, all […]

So is Trevor Noah making the grade as host of “The Daily Show” or not? Six months after taking over from Jon Stewart, the jury, as they say in the US, is out. While a recent segment has got more than 600,000 views on Youtube in just over a week – about Donald Trump – a major […]

Anyone watching news reports in England, the US or Australia these days might be struck by a growing phenomenon – South African accents. More and more journalists from South Africa are either taking the anchor seat on leading international news programmes or reporting for them from hot spots around the world. Whether it’s on an […]

Musician/comedian Deep Fried Man has released a new  video called “Gupta Bling”, based on singer Drake’s mega-selling “Hotline Bling” and which riffs on the relationship between President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family. “You used to call me on my cell phone, To discuss that nuclear deal,” starts Deep Fried Man, rather than Drake’s “You used to call me […]

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia said on Tuesday it will send a team to retrieve a piece of debris found along the southern coast of South Africa to check whether it could belong to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The wreckage, discovered near the town of Mosselbay on Tuesday, could be from an “inlet cowling” of an […]