South Africans have been battered by power shortages for several years. These have worsened to the point that towards the end of 2022 the country’s electricity utility, Eskom, had only half of its power generation capacity operational. This has forced Eskom to escalate its rotational power cuts. By mid-January 2023, users were typically without electricity […]

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has announced an increase in the price of petrol and 0.05% sulphur diesel from Wednesday. Updated prices for fuel, gas and paraffin will be as follows: Both 93 and 95 petrol will increase by 28c Diesel 0.05% sulphur increases marginally by 9c Diesel 0.005% sulphur will decrease slightly […]

“Councillors fool us during election campaigns”. By Vincent Lali. Protesters blocked two main roads in Khayelitsha, Cape Town on Monday, demanding electricity and a change to rubbish collection services. They say they have been waiting many years for electricity. They want the company which is contracted to the City of Cape Town to rotate supervisors […]

Loadshedding is likely to be with us for years to come and it may get worse. South Africans have every reason to complain about Eskom. But after complaining, households have to decide what to do to best cope with loadshedding. By GroundUp Staff. Our country’s households range from families living on the streets of Johannesburg […]

Scheduled blackouts by Eskom started back in 2007. Yet 16 years later, the situation has grown worse and load shedding is expected to continue until 2027. With no end in sight, many businesses and residents have been turning to battery-powered lamps, gas stoves, inverters and domestic solar power. Loadshedding has cut business hours and production, reducing income. […]

Borrowing money, in whatever form, is part of people’s life. The key is to keep it under control and to analyze whether to take the “opportunities” or not. How are South Africans dealing with this? The connection that a person has with the different financial services offered in the market is usually influenced by the […]

Here’s what’s coming up on Carte Blanche this week. You can watch the show on Sunday 29 January in South Africa on DStv Now OR stream it overseas in most countries on Showmax from Tuesday 31 January if you’re abroad. Tiger on the Loose She was an eight-year-old Bengal tiger named Sheba, hand-reared and loved. […]

South African supermarket chain Checkers today (27 Jan) advertised in UK and Australian newspapers, despite not having any stores there. “We want to remind the many South Africans living in both the United Kingdom and Australia, that our country is a great place to live, and Checkers makes living here even better,” claimed Mike Middleton, […]

After narrowly escaping a harrowing mob attack on Wednesday near Hoedspruit in Limpopo province, well-known wildlife filmmaker John Varty has taken to social media to share his experience and concerns for the governance – or lack thereof – of South Africa. Varty says: “I fear for myself, I fear for my family, I fear for South […]

The repurchase rate (repo rate) in South Africa reached 7.25% after the SA Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) agreed to a 25 basis points hike. The increase means that the repo rate will now be 7.25% per year from 27 January 2023, with prime now at 10.75%. SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago made the […]

Taking credit or any kind of debt is not always a bad practice. Actually it can even be positive for our personal finances as it helps to achieve investment objectives or to acquire high-value goods. Even so, it is important to take care of indebtedness levels, so it doesn’t get out of hand. As with […]

Gerhard van Niekerk, from Vleis Vryf in South Africa, has been officially invited to attend and compete in the Australian Barbecue Championships, held at the prestigious Meatstock Sydney from 5 to 7 May 2023 at the Sydney Showgrounds. This is Australia’s largest BBQ Festival, home to the country’s biggest barbecue competitions, where international teams from around the […]

Invest Africa CEO Rob Hersov had the crowds chanting ‘Voetsek ANC, Voetsek Luthuli House’ today (Wed 25 Jan), as South Africans joined DA Leader John Steenhuisen in the Power to the People March to the ANC’s headquarters in Johannesburg. Steenhuisen said it was inspiring to see so many people who “still have the spirit for […]

“If we protect what we have, eventually generations to come will benefit from it,” says Ruben Saul, chairperson of the Doringbaai Development Trust. Doring Bay Abalone, a land-based aquaculture farm, produces about 60 tonnes of abalone per year and legally exports to China. This project stands apart from other abalone farms because it is partly […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved to assure South Africans that government is using every means and resource at its disposal to get more capacity onto Eskom’s grid “as a matter of extreme urgency” with the Energy Action Plan at the core. The President was addressing the nation through his weekly newsletter after South Africans have […]

The DA is today fighting in court in Pretoria to have “cadre deployment corruption” declared unconstitutional and unlawful. DA Leader, John Steenhuisen and DA Shadow Minister of Public Service, Dr Leon Schreiber, are at the North Gauteng High Court where the DA is arguing that the abolishment of cadre deployment is a fundamental prerequisite if […]

Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, has welcomed a High Court Gauteng North judgment confirming that Atul Gupta is a fugitive from justice and therefore does not qualify for a South African passport, as the Department had contended. The Court issued the judgment on Friday. On 25 September 2018, having fled South Africa in the […]

Eskom Board Chairperson Mpho Makwana says the power utility is exploring the possibility of permanently implementing Stages 2 and 3 of load shedding in SA over the next two years in order to give power stations the “headroom” to address power station maintenance and ensure predictability for South Africans. He was speaking during a virtual […]

Here’s what’s coming up on Carte Blanche this week. You can watch the show today, Sunday 22 January in South Africa on DStv Now OR stream it overseas in most countries on Showmax from Tuesday 24 January if you’re abroad. The Piano Prodigy The piano is one of the most difficult musical instruments to play, […]

Betway and 10Bet are two of the most popular bookmakers in South Africa, with millions of bettors choosing to log into their services every single day. While it is a good thing that the people of SA have two incredible betting options to choose from, this also causes quite a lot of debate/confusion among newcomers […]

The South African government says it has acknowledged the frustration of South Africans, due to a combination of factors, which have led to sporadic protests that occurred on Monday in Parys, Kroonstad, Randfontein and Phoenix. It also called for calm as a series of protests were reported in parts of the country on Monday. In […]

Over the course of this week 14 generators are expected to return to service, helping to ease the pressure on the power system. Stage 4 loadshedding is being implemented from 05:00 daily until 16:00, with Stage 5 loadshedding daily from 16:00 – 05:00, a slight reprieve after last week’s Stage 6. But still devastating for small […]

Five luxury properties connected to misappropriated Lottery grants have been frozen by the Asset Forfeiture Unit. By Raymond Joseph A luxurious mountainside mansion with sweeping views of Simon’s Town and False Bay, owned by a trust controlled by dodgy Pretoria lawyer Lesley Ramulifho, was described as “five-star” when it was put up for auction a few […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has cancelled his travel plans to Davos, Switzerland, in order to deal with the current load-shedding crisis in South Africa. Although South Africans have been to this rodeo before – when the president cut short his UK trip and cancelled the New York leg to return home last year to address the […]

Loadshedding at pump stations blamed for most closures. By Steve Kretzmann Sewage spills have caused the official temporary closure of beaches and tidal pools in Cape Town this holiday season. The City blames loadshedding for the sewage spills. Dalebrook tidal pool in Kalk Bay may currently be polluted because of an extremely low tide but […]