The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry says as organised businesses they “urgently call upon President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a State of Emergency in the province of KwaZulu Natal, as this disorderly behaviour continues to spiral out of control”. Violent protests have rocked the province since the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma late […]

Chadian abortion drama, Lingui – The Sacred Bonds, directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, has reportedly been acquired by Mubi for distribution in North America, Latin America, the UK and Ireland. Writer-director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun previously won the Cannes’ Jury Prize with A Screaming Man in 2011, and also had Grigris selected for competition in 2013. His most recent […]

Following President Ramaphosa’s announcement that South Africa will remain on an adjusted LEVEL 4 lockdown for at least the next two weeks, Comair has announced it will extend the suspension of scheduled kulula.com and British Airways (operated by Comair) flights until 31 August 2021. Comair initially temporarily suspended its flights from 5 July 2021 due to […]

Looting and protests from the weekend continued in Alexandra, Johannesburg, on Monday. Reports initially linked the protests to calls for the release from prison of former President Jacob Zuma. Spaza shop owner Sayabo Wodimu lost all his stock and some of his equipment. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this. My shop is the […]

A rare blue diamond from South Africa, which was recovered at the Cullinan diamond mine in April, has been sold for a whopping $40,180,180 (over R580-million). At just under 40 carats, this equates to over $1-million per carat. Petra Diamonds said in a statement that it was “pleased” to announce that the 39.34 carat exceptional […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa tonight – Sunday 11 July 2021 – announced that Adjusted Level 4 will be extended for two weeks. Here is the South African President’s full statement: Two weeks ago I announced a set of additional measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. In deciding to introduce these additional measures, Cabinet followed […]

At least 62 people have been arrested as protests, to demand the release of former President Jacob Zuma from prison, have spread from his home province of KwaZulu-Natal to South Africa’s economic centre, Gauteng. The Johannesburg Metro Police Department has today issued alerts about violent protests in and around the Joburg CBD, as hundreds of […]

The Durban Chamber of Commerce has condemned the ongoing protests and violence in Durban and across the KwaZulu-Natal province, and called for “urgent intervention” as supporters of former President Jacob Zuma attempt to shutdown KZN in a demand for Zuma’s release from prison. Zuma was sentenced to 15-months imprisonment for contempt of court (failing to […]

Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, this week reiterated his call for 10 percent of people in all countries to be vaccinated by September and for that figure to rise to 40 percent by the end of the year. This would position the world on the path to vaccinating 70 percent of […]

A fire at one of the biggest public hospitals in Johannesburg, the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, and the delay in reopening the facility has brought infrastructural issues into sharp focus. The fire broke out in mid-April. Only now is a phased re-opening of the hospital being undertaken… writes Professor Daynia Ballot, University of the […]

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) efforts to repatriate corrupt-Gupta family members have received a major shot in the arm after Interpol issued red notices against two implicated brothers, their wives and other associates. The brothers – Atul and Rajesh Gupta– and their respective wives, Chetali and Arti are among those accused of fleecing the Free […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has called on provincial Legislature Speaker, Nontembeko Boyce, to allow a debate on a Matter of Urgent Public Importance in terms of Rule 103. The move follows recent events at former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home following the order that he be incarcerated as a result of contempt […]

The City of Cape Town’s Alderman James Vos has welcomed Belgium’s decision to upgrade its post in Cape Town, saying this “shows their commitment to our city and provides a clear path towards stronger relations with a key European partner”. Alderman Vos was recently joined by the newly-appointed Belgian Consul General Mathias Bogaert at an […]

Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, has announced that the price of both grades of petrol will increase on Wednesday. The price of petrol 93 (ULP and LRP) will increase by 29 cents per litre and the price of 95 (ULP and LRP) will increase by 26 cents per litre, while the price […]

Government’s controversial alcohol bans are strongly associated with a large drop in unnatural deaths. This is a finding by University of Cape Town (UCT) and Medical Research Council (MRC) researchers, in a study published on Friday in the South African Medical Journal. Tom Moultrie and his colleagues compared weekly unnatural deaths (murders, vehicle collisions, suicides and accidents) […]

At the start of the Covid-19 lockdown last year, 27-year-old Lindokuhle Msomi was among millions of people who lost their income due to the imposed restrictions. Lindokuhle Msomi from Durban was able to use the R350 Covid-19 grant he received for nine months to support his family and start a fast food stall. Due to […]

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has urged taxpayers to carefully consider working from home expenses before submitting claims to the revenue collector. SARS recently published an update on its website in relation to home office expenses. In a statement on Thursday, the revenue collector provided additional clarity for individual taxpayers who may be considering […]

Comair announced Friday that it is temporarily suspending all scheduled kulula.com and British Airways (operated by Comair) flights for three weeks. This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of a move in South Africa to an adjusted Level 4 lockdown and the prohibition on all non-essential travel in and out of Gauteng. Flights will be suspended […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa’s top court on Thursday re-affirmed an earlier ruling that President Cyril Ramaphosa did not deliberately mislead lawmakers about donations to his 2017 campaign to lead the ruling party. The Public Protector, an anti-corruption watchdog, had been unhappy with last year’s ruling by the high court, which found that Ramaphosa […]

The construction of the SKA telescopes – the world’s largest radio telescope arrays – in South Africa and Australia has been given the go-ahead at a historic meeting, it was today announced by the SKA Observatory (SKAO) Global Headquarters in the UK. The approval was given by SKAO’s members states at a meeting of its […]

Talk of a so-called “pensions crisis” is prevalent across the globe, with Schroders Global Investor Study (GIS) suggesting that 41% of investors were concerned that they wouldn’t have sufficient savings to fund their retirement in 2020. The situation is even worse in developing economies throughout the world, with as many as 50% of South Africans […]

The South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) destroyed over 2,000 master boxes of illicit cigarettes, valued at R17.4 million on Tuesday, it announced in a statement. SARS director for customs border operations, Beyers Theron, said the cigarettes were either illicitly imported or illicitly manufactured in the country. They were seized and destroyed by a government inter-agency […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa today announced the establishment of the Transnet National Ports Authority as an independent subsidiary of Transnet. Following his visit to the Port of Cape Town, the South African President said: “This is an important part of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan… The weak performance of our ports is the result of […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) and its COVAX partners are working with a South African consortium to establish its first COVID mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub. The SA consortium comprises Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of universities and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The move follows WHO’s global call […]

For the first time in history, the entire country of South Africa may soon be lit up. Eskom has never been able to provide power to 100% of the population. And while the state-owned enterprise has battled to keep existing lights on, it has been unable to spend the time and energy needed to resurrect […]