The South African government has released its final regulations covering the 21-day lockdown to start at midnight on Thursday, and it said that people were meant to stay in their homes at all times except to obtain essential goods and services. The Minister of Police Bheki Cele said at a press conference, where several ministers […]

The municipality of Stellenbosch has taken the unprecedented step of suspending the collection of property rates for three months for businesses and households negatively impacted by the Coronavirus, the DA-led body said today. “The payment holiday will last for three months,” the Democratic Alliance said in a statement. “Once the crisis is over, the municipality […]

DUBAI – South Africa’s first gold medal at the Dubai 2019 World Championships was won by 27-year-old Anrune Weyers (Liebenberg) in the women’s 400m T47 with a championship record (55.79), something that not even the 27-year-old sprinter expected to achieve. Two other South Africans won bronze. “Last year was really tough because of injuries,” she […]

The Harbour Arch development, which will be the largest of its kind in the Cape Town city centre, was approved by the Municipal Planning Tribunal on Thursday. The parcel of Foreshore land, spanning 5.3 hectares, was previously owned by Transnet but has since been bought by Amdec for its R14-billion mixed-use development. (See video below.) […]

The South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was actively tweeting – well, more than usual – about the Springboks the last few days, and is eagerly awaiting the face-off between South Africa and England next weekend. Ramaphosa posted a video of himself wishing well to Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and the team (see video below). After […]

CAPE TOWN – It was an unusual sight. The premiers of the Western and Northern Cape, from the Democratic Alliance and the African National Congress, Alan Winde and Zamani Saul, and health officials from their provinces met on Friday to discuss matters of mutual concern in their provinces. “I am happy when we are able […]

Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape has become the first town in Africa to get an eco-friendly road that uses recycled plastic in its construction that would have otherwise landed up in the ocean or landfill. The Jeffreys Bay road, the first phase of the project, is a 300-metre stretch that contains plastic particles guaranteed […]

Cape Town beat out places like New York and Rio de Janeiro to be voted the fifth-sexiest city in the world – with the second-sexiest accent and “some of the sexiest people on this planet” – according to a recent survey. The Big 7 Travel group said in a statement on its website that in […]

For anyone hiding under a rock this week, never fear. The interview that former Speaker of Parliament in South Africa Baleka Mbete did on Al Jazeera over the weekend with Head to Head’s Mehdi Hasan is one of those gifts that keeps on giving. It has already been watched almost 300,000 times on YouTube. Called […]

The board of Prosus, the international digital company owned by South Africa’s Naspers group, today announced a cash offer of $6.3 billion to acquire the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Just Eat, a British online food order and delivery service. Just Eat has 27 million customers and 107 000 participating […]

More than 1,000 posts are vacant in the lower and higher courts of South Africa – including presiding officers and court officials – some of them for more than a year, the Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola has revealed. Lamola said, in response to a question in Parliament from the  Democratic Alliance, that there were […]

South African Airways and Comair have both had flights disrupted after inspections by the South Africa Civil Aviation Authority resulted in some of their planes being taken out of service. Airports Company South Africa said today it was aware of the notification by the SACAA to SAA and Comair, the operator of kulula.com and British […]

Two of Africa’s largest economies and its two biggest tourist destinations, South Africa and Morocco, put the official stamp on the re-establishment of diplomatic relations this week, when ambassador Youssef Amrani presented his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa. Amrani called it a “watershed.” Morocco’s last ambassador left 15 years ago, and relations have been icy, […]

So much has been happening on the train front in South Africa the last few months – new trains being built, shiny new blue engines and coaches spotted around the country, a government “war room” started to cut down delays and identify problems, plans announced to fence urban lines to stop vandalism – it’s hard […]

LONDON – The Lord Mayor of London Peter Estlin will arrive in Johannesburg tomorrow for meetings with investment partners and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, kicking off a 5-day trip in South Africa and Kenya, the City of London said in a statement today. “The UK Government is seeking to become Africa’s biggest G7 investor, and […]

Some 30 electric charging points will be opening across the country in order to make sustainable driving in South Africa a more feasible option, it was announced as a caravan of electric cars crossed the country during Transport Month. #EVRTAfrica above the clouds. 🛑 Day 4, Stop 1: Sunrise drive to Valley of Desolation 🌅 […]

The Heineken beer company has agreed to remove an Amstel billboard and plant 50 trees in Johannesburg after a social media campaign against the company took off after it pruned trees – pruned them so badly, in fact, the trees will probably die – so that the billboard could be better viewed. Jo Buitendach, who […]

The prime minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, paid more than $16 million to a South African swimwear model, Carien van der Merwe, after they had “a romantic relationship” in the Seychelles several years ago, according to a report in an American newspaper. In a New York Times story published three days ago, with the headline […]

HONG KONG – Two flight attendants from South African Airways have been arrested and have appeared in court in Hong Kong, reportedly for smuggling cocaine worth more than $23 million into the territory, in the biggest drug-trafficking case of its kind there in the last decade. South African Airways spokesman Tlali Tlali confirmed on SABC […]

A total of 375 people lost their lives on South Africa’s rail network in the year up to March 2019, according to government information released this week. Addressing the media on Tuesday at a railway safety conference in Stellenbosch, Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula made public figures contained in the latest State of Safety Report, […]

The head of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, has turned down an invite from former Democratic Alliance leader and Western Cape premier Helen Zille to chat with her on a new podcast, “Tea with Helen,” saying that the retired politician should rather go look for the Sassa offices. On Tuesday, Zille tweeted her invitation […]

A total of 98 countries now don’t require a visa from South African travellers, or let them get a visa on arrival or via the Internet, according to Passport Index 2019. That’s eight countries more than two years ago. (The countries in CAPS have been added since 2017.) Here are the 60 countries that South […]

Barely a month after widespread xenophobic attacks in South Africa, many of them reportedly aimed at Nigerians and Zimbabweans, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will visit the country for talks this week. In a statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office today, no mention was made of the timing of the state visit, but played up the […]

JOHANNESBURG – At a splashy wedding over the weekend, Idols SA judge Somizi Mhlongo and his partner Mohale Tebogo Motaung tied the knot at a traditional wedding, wearing a number of eye-catching outfits by Gert-Johan Coetzee that they changed into throughout the day. The grooms’ outfits ranged from Basotho blankets to bold red floral print […]

Johannesburg father and owner of the travel company MicroAdventures Kennedy Tembo helped start the 62-floor Ponte City Challenge several years ago to help draw people back to the city. Today he used the increasingly popular race to focus attention on another cause, emergency service providers, especially those who died during the Bank of Lisbon fire […]