South African expat and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has today – 7 January 2021 – overtaken Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $188.5 billion, according to The New York Times. (BBC puts the figure at $185-billion, just $1-billion ahead of Bezos.) In December, […]

Every evening the Minister of Health publishes a statement with the confirmed Covid-19 infections and deaths over the previous 24 hours. Wednesday 6 January has the worst figures yet: 844 deaths and 21,832 new cases. 452 of those deaths occurred in the Eastern Cape and 149 in the Western Cape. The official Covid-19 death toll […]

The City of Cape Town has shared some helpful electricity-saving measures for South Africans to try at home as their costs increases with more family members than usual likely to be home, due to the resurgence of COVID-19. With these tips, “households can start saving up to 15% on their electricity bill. It’s possible for […]

Eskom says it will implement stage 2 load shedding from 10pm to 5am for two nights, the power utility announced on Wednesday 6 January. According to Eskom, the blackout will take place tonight and Thursday evening. “The load shedding is necessary to recover and preserve the emergency generation reserves that have been utilised to support […]

The price of petrol in South Africa is set to increase by between 40 and 43 cents a litre this week. In a statement on Monday, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) said the price of 93 (ULP and LRP) will go up by 43 cents, while that of 95 (ULP and LRP) […]

Eskom and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation are working to extend the life of the ageing Koeberg nuclear plant for another 20 years. How safe will this be for Cape Town? In tonight’s episode of currents affairs show Carte Blanche, presenter Claire Mawisa seeks answers. Africa’s only nuclear power station, situated just outside Cape […]

This week Carte Blanche investigates a shipping provider who went into liquidation in 2020 and COVID-19 got the blame… while many emigrating South Africans suffered. Shipping Swindle It’s estimated that more than 20,000 South Africans emigrate every year. Finding a reliable service to courier a life’s worth of possessions and valuables is one of the […]

Gauteng’s provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has met with representatives of the cash-in-transit (CIT) industry following a spike in the number of CIT incidents in the province. Mawela, together with his Deputy responsible for Policing, Major General Tommy Mthombeni and the Provincial Head of the Directorate for […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s representative of the hospitality industry, FEDHASA, has called on the government to fast track its vaccine deployment to make SA a more attractive destination to international travellers. South Africa’s competitiveness as a global tourism destination depends on perceptions of safety for travellers New AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine provides another viable alternative The […]

Eskom will again implement stage 2 load shedding tonight, beginning at 22h00 (10pm). Wednesday’s load shedding marks day two of load shedding after the power utility announced that it would cut power on Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Load shedding is expected to conclude at 5 am tomorrow. In a statement on Tuesday, the power utility […]

Eskom has announced it will implement loadshedding Stage 2 at 22:00 in South Africa this evening, until 05:00 on Wednesday morning. The power cuts will be repeated on Wednesday night through to Thursday morning 31 December 2020. “This loadshedding is necessary to preserve emergency generation reserves in preparation for higher demand expected during January as […]

The South African Post Office (Sapo) has advised its customers not to pay self-appointed queue marshals a fee for a place in front of the queue when visiting their branches. “Customers are advised not to pay the fee demanded by these queue marshals, and to report such incidents to the South African Police and to […]

Travellers between South Africa and Zimbabwe, making their way home for the festive season, have been stuck in long traffic jams (some for five days) at the Beitbridge border post, in incredibly hot conditions without easy access to water, food and other amenities. This has led to the tragic death of at least four people […]

South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza delivered the following Christmas message to the nation… Fellow Compatriots, The end of the year is a special time for everyone. It marks the pinnacle of individual and collective journeys we have traversed in the course of the year. It is a time to reflect on where we are, […]

DOHA, QATAR – Qatar Airways says it has paid out over R200-Million since March 2020, honouring its obligation to passengers who had travel plans impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline said in a statement on Wednesday that this demonstrates its commitment to the SA market. The airline said it also helped repatriate over 12,000 […]

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria today ruled against the motion to have the COVID-19 beach ban regulation declared unconstitutional. This means that all beaches in the Eastern Cape, as well as on the Garden Route in the Western Cape, will remain closed until 3 January; and that all beaches in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) will […]

News that British Airways has announced plans to suspend 13 destinations, including the direct Durban – London route, has been met with disappointment by KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Economic Development and Tourism Department… as well as understanding. The department’s Ravi Pillay has warned this will hamper growth of international air services into the province post-Covid-19, but said […]

The Western Cape High Court has extended beach opening hours, but has judged in favour of keeping the Garden Route’s beaches closed for the festive season, as announced by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa last week (along with all beaches in the Eastern Cape). The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it notes the ex tempora judgement […]

As thousands prepare to travel long-distance, operators say they need help with masks and sanitisers. Though numbers are down because of Covid-19 job losses, about 20,000 people are expected to travel from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape this year. Taxi associations say they are taking precautions but need help from the authorities. Taxi […]

Only a massive global rollout of an effective vaccine can end the Covid-19 pandemic in the short term. The vaccine is being rolled out in the United Kingdom and United States. It’s expected to become available in Europe imminently. This is where things stand in South Africa. The Department of Health is playing its cards […]

Germany plans to ban all passenger flights between Germany and South Africa with an emergency order. Israel has implemented a similar ban on flights from SA. Both Germany and Israel, along with several other countries, have also closed their borders to the UK. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Sunday: “Tomorrow we are planning […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it has found out that once again, Minister Dlamini-Zuma has decided to overrule President Ramaphosa through the latest amended regulations published on the 17th of December 2020. “This time, Minster Dlamini-Zuma has unilaterally decided to change the closing time for restaurants, bars, gyms, cinemas, theatres and museums from 10pm to […]

Epidemiologist and Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 in South Africa, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, has been awarded the 2020 John Maddox Prize. Prof Karim was named joint winner with Dr Anthony Fauci from the US. President Cyril Ramaphosa was one of the first to congratulate Prof Karim, saying: “It is an honour […]

Cape Town residents have taken to social media to praise the body corporate of a well-known housing complex in Kensington for hiring unemployed people from a nearby informal settlement to do their renovations. The Kensington Place Body Corporate plans to unveil the newly renovated complex on Saturday, 19 December. This is the first time in […]

According to the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa has missed the second deadline for a deposit on the Covax Vaccine Facility, and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni perhaps mislead Parliament when he denied SA had missed the first deadline. “Securing a supply of the vaccine for South Africa as soon as possible should be government’s number […]