In mid-2015 it was reported that the massive Gauteng Provincial Government Precinct (Kopanong Precinct) in central Johannesburg may finally be moving ahead. The project involves the “rehabilitation, development and management” of 21 buildings in the historic heart of Johannesburg at a projected cost of R5 billion. This is certainly exciting news, writes James Ball of The Heritage Portal, but […]

Hiker Alistair Hill and his friend Carla had read about a great hike in the latest Go! magazine stretching along the famous now-unused train track from Wilderness to Victoria Bay. Little did they realise it would be a hike not to remember, although their experience has started a dialogue on how to deal with crimes like this […]

A KwaZulu-Natal municipality in South Africa has awarded scholarships to 16 young women who are virgins and who will undergo tests throughout the course of their studies to prove that they remain “pure”. This was the condition given to the 16, who were awarded the Maidens Bursary Award from the UThukela District Municipality. According to news reports on Friday, the […]

Chaos broke out in Kempton Park on Saturday after police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets following the death earlier of a Nigerian man in police custody. A large group gathered outside the private hospital, as shown in this video: According to various reports, Nigerians at the Arwyp Medical Centre in Kempton Park said the 38-year-old man, […]

It was 1966. Racial divisions were growing more entrenched in South Africa by the day but the issue was still little publicised abroad. A young black South African woman, however, was raising her voice against apartheid while cutting a swathe through the international music scene, opening doors for women, especially black women in years to come. She was the 34-year-old […]

HOBART, AUSTRALIA – A South Africa rapper has been jailed in Tasmania, Australia, for indecently assaulting a fellow artist who was asleep in her hotel room, it was reported. Brian Simiso Zwane, who performs as OkMalum­Kool­Kat­, was trying to get a fine so that he could leave the country on Friday, but he was given a month-long jail […]

Foreign direct investment in South Africa fell by 74 percent in 2015 to $1.5 billion, according to a new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released on Wednesday. “Central Africa and Southern Africa saw the largest declines in FDI,” UNCTAD said. “The end of the commodity ‘super-cycle’ had an impact on resource-seeking […]

For any expat living in the United Arab Emirates, it is one of the hardest things to watch – wild animals, often from Africa, not living in the wild and free but being kept in small private zoos and gardens and coddled like pets. Well, that might soon be a thing of the past. According to news reports […]

The African National Congress, the Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party all retained their wards in the nine by-elections contested in five provinces on Wednesday, the Independent Electoral Commission said. The IEC said the voter turnout varied between 26.36 percent and 53.56 percent with an average of 38.93 percent. Two wards were uncontested. The ANC kept four seats in […]

Jesse Clegg, the pop singer son of Johnny Clegg, will be doing a 35-show tour of the United States early this year, as soon as he has released his new album. Clegg – who has just released a brilliant new single, “Souvenir” (see video above and below) – said in an radio interview on Friday […]

In a new series out of Wits University about how Africa is covered in Chinese newspapers, Barry van Wyk looks at three journalists writing in January 2015 about visiting South Africa. Their trips left them with “decidedly mixed impressions”. One shows (“with obscure statistics”) that South Africa is the third most dangerous country for Chinese people. The other stories look […]

President Jacob Zuma’s office on Thursday released an unusual statement reprimanding a South African business journalist for saying that Zuma was a no-show at an important World Economic Forum debate, and chose to have discussions with the Swedish premier instead. “Zuma has bailed on the Africa Panel – no Pravin either. Defeats the purpose of coming to […]

A total of 1,175 rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2015, down from 1,215 a year earlier – a drop of 40 in all – the Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said on Thursday. This would be the first time that figures – though still staggeringly high – had fallen since 2007. Numbers escalated drastically especially since 2011, […]

The luxurious boutique hotel Ellerman House, overlooking Bantry Bay in Cape Town, has joined 49 illustrious other hotels around the world in the latest “50 Greatest Hotels” named by the British Telegraph newspaper. The three other hotels in sub-Saharan Africa that made the list were designed, owned or managed by South Africans. They are Wilderness Safaris’ North Island […]

JOHANNESBURG – The U.S. rapper Mos Def will stand trial in South Africa in March after being arrested for presenting a “world passport” when trying to fly out of the country, according to news reports on Wednesday. At the same time the hip hop artist posted a freestyle rap (see below) on singer Kanye West’s website, […]

It’s been a heady week for the block of flats at the top of Long Street in Cape Town, where a #ZumaMustFall banner went up on Friday, had its photograph taken by countless people over the next 24 hours, but was torn down by ANC members on Saturday. Now the building has been draped with a […]

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND – A delegation of at least 55 people headed by President Jacob Zuma is busy making its way from South Africa to Switzerland to take part in the World Economic Forum, which starts on Wednesday and will reportedly be a tough one for Africa. The South African group at Davos will include government members, and business and […]

For anyone who hasn’t seen a South African theatre production recently, “Singin’ in the Rain” will astound you. The famous musical – which is actually seeing a revival on Broadway this year – gets nothing but praise, praise and more praise. After a wildly successful run in Cape Town – with audiences in the first three rows getting ponchos […]

If you are upset that South Africa’s Charlize Theron didn’t get nominated by the Academy Awards for her brilliant performance in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, that’s nothing compared to the racial furore that’s been caused by people of colour having been overlooked, with two well-known movie industry members saying they won’t attend the 2016 Oscar awards in […]

I think I speak for most Africans who grew up here that we have at one point in our lives wanted to go live somewhere else, far away. Preferably somewhere with snow and no power cuts. Somewhere with adequate water supply and quite possibly better job prospects. I was thinking of this a couple of […]

A senior member of Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters will represent well-known radio personality Gareth Cliff in his lawsuit against M-Net claiming he was unfairly dismissed from Idols SA for a tweet he posted apparently did not showing empathy. Cliff will be represented by Dali Mpofu, according to news reports. Mpofu left the African National Congress to join the EFF in 2013, […]

South African Airways is in dire straits. According to an internal memorandum of 6 November 2015 made public by the media last month, SAA is technically insolvent and thus guilty of reckless trading. It is therefore legally obliged under the Companies Act to file for either liquidation or business rescue. On 24 December, Citigroup withdrew […]

Philani Dladla’s story is well known to those who know him as the Pavement Bookworm and have bought books from him on Empire Road in Johannesburg, South Africa. But now he has added author to his résumé, with his newly published book titled, of course, “The Pavement Bookworm”. Dladla – whom we wrote about in […]

President Jacob Zuma has officially said he made a mistake about Africa being the biggest continent in the world. It is, he admits, the second biggest in terms of population after Asia. In a statement released on Monday, the Presidency referred to a speech Zuma made on 9 December at a dinner in Sandton, where he said […]

The former Idols SA judge Gareth Cliff, who was one of several people publicly taken to task in past weeks for remarks they made on social media over the racial debate, has sued the TV channel M-Net for firing him, according to a news report. On Monday it was reported that the radio personality was suing […]