1. You look for tracks in the ground and markings on the trees when you go for a walk in your local park. 2. You don’t look at house cats the same way. I mean, they’re like tiny leopards, right? 3. David Attenborough has now made it onto your list of the three people you’d […]

Thousands of South Africans took to the streets today (07/04/17), calling for their current President Jacob Zuma to step down. The streets outside Parliament in Cape Town were flooded with national flags, thought provoking signs and cheering adults & children. It was a magnificent sight to see people stand in solidarity so passionately. It is […]

Every time the South African news media use the phrase ‘White Monopoly Capital’ – which they do with monotonous regularity – they are achieving nothing more than falling into the delighted hands of a British public relations company… writes CHRIS MOERDYK. Now, with local media help, Pro-Zuma denialists are using ‘White Monopoly Capital’ as a […]

South African teen blogger DYLAN ELS has written this open letter to President Jacob Zuma. He has also emailed it to the Presidency and relevant staff. With Dylan’s permission, we hereby republish it: DEAR MR. PRESIDENT We live in an age where leadership is needed; an age where leadership can be both dangerous and beautiful. South […]

Taps may run dry in the drought-stricken city of Cape Town and the south-western Cape as dam levels drop and rainfall forecasts for the region over the next few months are no better than chance, said local scientist Nicky Allsopp. There is enough water in Cape Town’s dams to last another 100 days. Allsopp, a […]

There is a lot of brave talk about standing up to President Jacob Zuma after the dismissal of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan amid a wider cabinet reshuffle which has been widely condemned as disastrous for South Africa. Predictions that the country has reached “a turning point”, is facing a ratings downgrade and plummeting investment, rising […]

PRETORIA (Reuters) – South Africa’s new finance minister signalled on Saturday he would oversee a redistribution of wealth to the country’s black majority, as a row over the sacking of his predecessor laid bare bitter divisions within the ruling ANC party. Saying the country was poised at a “polarised and contentious” moment, Malusi Gigaba promised […]

Demonstrations outside Union Buildings and National Treasury in support of axed Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan Axed Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan takes to the stage to address protesters and supporters outside the National Treasury. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee During a press conference held at the Treasury in Pretoria on Friday, axed Minister of Finance Pravin […]

Humans and animals need to do several things to pass on their genes: eat, avoid being eaten, reproduce and sleep. Missing any of these biological imperatives leads to death. But when we’re asleep we can’t perform those other functions. One of modern science’s big mysteries, then, is: why do we sleep? Scientists have suggested many […]

From Monday to Sunday, between ten and 20 men can be seen standing near the corner of South Main Reef Road and the Paul Kruger R51 highway to Pretoria. Some wear overalls, some do not. They are there from as early as 4am, waiting, hoping for someone to pick them up and offer them work. […]

Fortitude. This is the most important characteristic one needs when becoming an immigrant. It’s that special resolve you develop to survive, to make distances between those you love feel closer, and to find joy… writes LAUREN BRADLEY, South African expat in the UK. It’s also, in my view, an outlook on life. You can see misery […]

It’s remarkable how a South African politician as intelligent as Helen Zille, premier of the Western Cape and former leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), did something so unutterably stupid. I am referring, of course, to her notorious tweet stating that not everything about colonialism was bad. It’s remarkable how a South African politician […]

The call for radical economic transformation has grown louder following President Jacob Zuma’s 2017 State of the Nation Address. Accompanying these calls is a line of argument that says “white monopoly capital” is to blame for the fact that the majority of black South Africans remain marginalised from the mainstream economy 22 years after apartheid […]

“Freedom did not fall from the sky, but was fought for with blood, sweat and tears.” This quote – attributed to Ahmed Kathrada – was read out by Busisiwe Nkosi, who is part of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, during an inter-faith prayer held at Liliesleaf farm in Johannesburg… the place of Kathrada’s arrest in 1963. Nkosi called […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Five people were killed and at least 20 injured in London on Wednesday after a car ploughed into pedestrians and an attacker stabbed a policeman close to the British parliament, in what police called a terrorist incident.   The dead included the assailant and the policeman he stabbed, while the other two victims […]

Yesterday another anti-poaching ranger was killed. He was a colleague and friend of well known African Conservation Photographer PETER CHADWICK. Peter wrote and published the following upon hearing the tragic news. Peter’s poem and photo are republished here with his kind permission… Today Another Ranger Died – by Peter Chadwick Blackness, emptiness, death and sadness Today […]

Clare Wiese-Wentzel shares an interview with her father – South African retail tycoon Christo Wiese – on what defines happiness, what doesn’t matter and what keeps him grounded… A few years ago (OK, if I were to give away my age and be brutally honest, I would confess it was about 14 years ago), I found myself working […]

COSAS leads protest against Johannesburg mayor… writes Ihsaan Haffejee. Thousands of school students poured out of trains at Johannesburg’s Park Station on Friday and made their way up Rissik Street to Metro Centre in Braamfontein where the office of Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba is located. The protesters were led by the Congress of South African […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Airbnb expects to maintain its rapid growth in Africa this year and double its customer numbers to 1.5 million, its Chief Executive Brian Chesky and regional head told Reuters on Friday. The number of people using the online room rental service on the continent rose by 143 percent to about 765,000 […]

NEW YORK/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) is nearing an agreement to buy a majority stake in Chevron Corp’s South African assets, which are estimated to be worth $1 billion, two people familiar with the transaction said. The sources said Sinopec, Asia’s largest oil refiner, was the last bidder remaining, and close […]

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Flights from New Zealand’s Auckland Airport are returning to schedule after a runaway dog near the tarmac was shot dead by police because it was delaying planes taking off. Sixteen domestic and international flights were delayed for safety reasons at the nation’s busiest airport while the dog was on the loose for […]

FREETOWN (Reuters) – A Christian pastor has found one of the world’s largest uncut diamonds – weighing 706 carats — in Sierra Leone’s eastern Kono region. The stone, a photograph of which was posted on the president’s official website, is being stored in the country’s central bank, government sources said. A local chief from Kono […]

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – British Olympic champion Mo Farah is supporting a charity appeal, launched on Wednesday, for 16 million people facing starvation in East Africa, including Somalia where he was born. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an alliance of 13 leading British aid agencies, are raising funds for South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and […]

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk spoke with the premier of South Australia on Saturday after the South African-raised tech entrepreneur offered to install $25 million of battery storage within 100 days to prevent recurring blackouts that have disrupted the state. The proposal follows a string of power outages, including a blackout that […]

The Joburg skyline (or at least hints of it) can be viewed from hundreds of places around the city. In this wonderful photo essay, JAMES BALL of the Heritage Portal highlights some of the spots that provide such an exceptional view and experience that they must be shared. City enthusiasts will be aware of these and […]