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 […]

The City of Cape Town has been selected from 630 applications, from 99 countries, as one of 50 Champion Cities to Advance in the Global Innovation Competition. The Comp is aimed at identifying the Most Transformative Urban Solutions during the Covid-19 Pandemic.  Cape Town was named as one of the 50 finalists in the 2021 Global […]

Botswana has announced the discovery of a diamond which they say is the third largest in the world. The whopping 1,098.3 carat diamond, was found on 1 June 2021. Holding the precious stone, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi commended Debswana Diamond Company’s discovery, their largest to date. The largest diamond ever was discovered in South Africa […]

South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza says negotiations with the manufacturers of Sputnik V and Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines are at an advanced stage. The Deputy President said this when he responded to oral questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Tuesday. “Further interventions being implemented to save lives are ongoing. Negotiations with vaccine […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is addressing the nation Tuesday evening, 15 June 2021, with an update on SA’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The address comes after a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council, the President’s Coordinating Council and Cabinet. EFF Leader Julius Malema has tweeted a prediction that Ramaphosa will be introducing […]

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has decided not to release the long-awaited Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccines for use in South Africa. However, SAHPRA said about 300 000 doses from batches that have been cleared by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) meet the requirements and will subsequently be released and […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the leaders, gathered at the G7 Summit in the UK, to provide substantial support to the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, and to support a temporary TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Waiver of Covid-19 vaccines. Ramaphosa said: “If the world is to emerge from this grave […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has posted what look like fabulous holiday snaps from a faraway island location… but which are actually photos from British seaside county, Cornwall, where he is bumping shoulders – and elbows – with leaders from some of the wealthier nations in the world, who are gathered this weekend to get down to […]

Ingonyama land leases stripped people living on ancestral land of their customary rights… By Tania Broughton In a ruling that affects five million people in KwaZulu-Natal, the Pietermaritzburg High Court has ruled the Ingonyama Trust’s land leases unlawful. The Zulu King’s trust has been ordered to refund millions it collected on the leases. The court […]

The ANC Parliamentary Caucus says it welcomes some of the major reforms for South Africa announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Ministers in the last few days. Yesterday, Thursday 10 June 2021, President Ramaphosa announced strategic steps to reform South Africa’s electricity sector towards the achievement of a stable and secure supply of energy. “We […]

South African Airways will continue to fly thanks to a consortium which will purchase a 51% stake in the airline, which suffered great losses during the Jacob Zuma presidency years when his close ally Dudu Myeni was chairperson. The consortium – named as Takatso Consortium – will pay R3-billion, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced […]

South African born and raised chef and businesswoman, Prue Leith (81) is set to be made a dame in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. The ‘Great British Bake Off’ star was made an OBE in 1989 and a CBE in 2010, and will now receive a damehood ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday this month, according […]

Eskom is currently implementing stage 3 load shedding, as there have been further breakdowns at Kusile, Matla and Tutuka power stations. The Stage 3 Loadshedding is due to continue until 10pm after which it will revert to Stage 2, said Eskom. The power utility noted a slight improvement in generation performance on Wednesday but said […]

DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has ratified a 2018 extradition treaty with South Africa, its embassy in Pretoria said on Wednesday, a move that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government hopes will lead to the return of the Gupta brothers to face corruption charges. South Africa signed the treaty with the UAE in late 2018, […]

Eskom has apologised to South Africans yet again as it plunged the country into Stage 4 blackouts this afternoon, expected to last until 22h00 tonight… after which it will revert to Stage 2 as had been previously communicated earlier in the day. The power utility blamed the increased loadshedding on high winter demand, together with […]

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, most processes in South Africa were significantly slowed down, with some Home Affairs services even being suspended throughout higher levels of the national lockdown. Although South Africans were relieved when the country moved to relaxed levels of lockdown, the difficulties in obtaining documents such as police clearance certificates […]

South Africa’s multi award-winning Restaurant Mosaic has found a fabulous new home far from its Pretoria roots… in France! Chef Chantel Dartnall announced on Facebook yesterday: “This is where our story will continue and our new chapter will start.” Chantel, who won the Best Female Chef in the World title in 2017, announced the closure […]

Eskom says it regrets to announce the implementation of Stage 1 load shedding between 5pm and 10pm on Monday evening… and cautioned that more power cuts are likely in the near future. According to the State-owned entity, tonight’s load shedding was due to the loss of two generation units at Kusile, and one each at […]

It’s been three and a half years since the epic crash of retailing giant Steinhoff – the biggest corporate scandal in South Africa’s history… which wiped more than R200 billion off the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The company has admitted unlawful conduct, yet there have been no charges and no prosecutions. Currently, Steinhoff faces about 90 […]