The South African cabinet has agreed to go ahead with a controversial 9,600 MW nuclear procurement programme, according to a Government Gazette notice released by the Department of Energy on 21 December. The Gazette notice released by Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Peterson, in consultation with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, said her department would […]

For anyone far from South Africa over Christmas, it might even seem further if you have snow instead of hot sandy beaches. While our Christmas traditions aren’t too different from everyone else’s abroad, there are still a few things that make a South African Christmas unique. So, to bring a little of SA closer to you these holidays, here […]

PRETORIA – A North Korean diplomat who used the privileged diplomatic postal bag of his country to illegally smuggle rhino horn out of the country has been expelled from South Africa, according to news reports. The man, Park Chol-jun, apparently left the country on 11 December. According to one report, Park was arrested on 3 May in […]

The carcass of a humpback whale that floated ashore closed Strand Beach near Cape Town on Wednesday at the height of the Christmas holidays, for fears that its blood and blubber would attract sharks. The massive body was moved away with heavy machinery. Soon after the carcass was found, the city closed off the beach, saying […]

The Telegraph newspaper in Britain has included Cape Town on a list of top places across the globe – from cities to countries to national parks – to visit in 2016. Other destinations on the list included Porto, Portugal; Yosemite national park in the U.S.; the Dominican Republic; Kenya’s Masai Mara; and the island of […]

(To be sung to the tune of “Twelve Days of Christmas”. All objects were found at traffic lights/robots in South Africa.) On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a dar-ling wood African tree, On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two fab bouquets and a dar-ling wood African […]

A handicapped Cape Town woman whose son could not find a parking bay to pick her up at a shopping centre because they were all taken by non-handicapped drivers parking illegally got her own revenge – she took out her lipstick and wrote them a message. “You are not handicapped,” was the message Mandy Martin left […]

Just in time for Christmas, East Coast Radio’s Jane Linley-Thomas asked a group of four- to seven-year-olds in Durban a couple of questions that brought out the cutest answers. What do they want for Christmas, she asked? How does Santa know where to deliver their toys? Why do they think Santa should go on a diet? Asked what […]

Anyone who has just got back to South Africa will quickly notice several things: the prices (good), the weather (fantastic), the politics (volatile), the protests (increasing). And, of course, then there’s the driving (shocking). In less than two months back in the country, after moving from New York, I’ve seen drivers… speeding at 100km/hr in 60km/hr zones, overtaking on white lines, zigzagging […]

Wondering how to celebrate New Year this year? Here are 11 fabulous and varied ways to bring in 2016 if you’re in South Africa. They may not be as famous as New York’s Time Square, London’s Trafalgar Square or Sydney’s Harbour Bridge lights…but they’re just as much – if not more – fun! 1. At the Karoo’s Festival […]

On 1 January 2013, Lorraine Loots set herself a goal: to produce one work of art a day for the next year. Two years and 730 paintings later, the results can be seen in “Paintings for Ants” and the newly launched “Postcards for Ants”. Along the way, Loots has picked up almost a quarter of a […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, U.S. – In an event that might happen a lot more often, a rocket launched into space by Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Monday night made a soft landing on Earth – rather than in the sea – according to news reports. The South African-born Musk is the chief executive officer of the California-based Space Exploration […]

It isn’t often that major news publications write editorials about a government not their own, or take its leader to task. But in the last few days both The Economist in Britain and The New York Times have written severely critical pieces about President Jacob Zuma. While many local publications have criticised Zuma over the events that unfolded […]

Miss Universe South Africa was one of 15 finalists in this year’s Miss Universe pageant on Sunday to witness one of 2015’s biggest gaffes on television when comedian Steve Harvey made a mistake announcing the wrong winner of Miss Universe – instead of Miss Philippines, he said it was Miss Colombia. The mistake was allowed […]

WASHINGTON — Barely six months after the killing of Cecil the Lion with a bow and arrow in Zimbabwe by a U.S. hunter caused international outrage, President Barack Obama will on Monday introduce a law that reclassifies the protection status of lions and clamps down on the importation of certain sport-hunted lions, according to news […]

Former finance minister Trevor Manuel has finally broken his silence about the sudden sacking by President Jacob Zuma of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene almost two weeks ago and the subsequent chaos in the markets that analysts have said cost South Africa billions. In an open letter published on Sunday, Manuel spoke about “shock” and “breach of trust”. He said […]

Usually when rhinos are in the news, it’s for only one reason – poaching. But the media is suddenly focusing on a very different kind of rhino, a golden one that is more than 700 years old, and they’re asking, “Will South Africa let it leave the country?” The figurine – made of gold foil and tacked […]

It was a crazy week, where sanity prevailed in the end. Pravin Gordhan rose, #ZumaMustFall protesters marched, the minister of education promised action against abusers of the school system, and a court ruled that SAA could not cover up a report exposing its financial woes. In all this excitement, it was easy to miss some stories, so we’ve […]

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga on Thursday acknowledged the scandal of jobs for sale in schools across South Africa – an issue raised by a newspaper last year – and said that criminal cases will be started to stamp out the “widespread” practice. After City Press reported in April 2014 that teacher and principal posts were being […]

JOHANNESBURG – A document stating that the embattled South African Airways should urgently apply for business rescue or face liquidation – which Business Day tried to publish before SAA filed an interdict – can be published, the High Court in Johannesburg has ruled. Judge Roland Sutherland on Thursday laid aside the 24 November interdict that tried to […]

Rhodes Rage, by Zapiro “In Zapiro’s 20th annual he skewers another momentous year including the drama over Rhodes and other statues, Nkandla pay back the money, spy cables, NPA shenanigans, Eskom and parastatal paralysis, union disunity, Charlie Hebdo, xenophobia, Juju’s boiler suit brigade, Godzille’s successor, cockroaches, Verwoerd’s ghost and other political creatures.” The Cape Town […]

John Magufuli was elected president of Tanzania in late October. Since then many around the world have been electrified by the honesty and goodness of this man, who is that rarity – a leader who actually has the interests of his country and its people at heart. In South Africa, with protests demanding #ZumaMustFall after […]

DURBAN – Former Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, now South Africa’s ambassador to Australia, has been charged with corruption for allegedly accepting more than R10 million in kickbacks, according to news reports. Ndebele, who was a minister from 2009 to 2012, appeared in court in Durban on Tuesday and was released on R10,000 bail. The charges, which […]

There’s been little (or lots, depending on how you look at it) that’s funny about President Jacob Zuma’s actions over the past week, as his decisions to sack one finance minister and then a second have sent South Africa’s economy and reputation reeling. But one video in particular takes a Spanish-language look – and it’s a pretty […]

Thousands of South Africans across the country joined together on Wednesday to get President Jacob Zuma to step down, as they walked through various cities chanting “Zuma Must Fall”. The major protests were in Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg and some went on for several hours, disrupting traffic in parts of the cities on the public holiday, […]