South African municipalities in good financial standing – Cape Town, Ekurhuleni and many in the Western Cape – will be able to develop their own generation plants and procure power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), according to new legislation gazetted today. Until now, municipalities have had to buy power from Eskom and have suffered from […]

Rail operations could change dramatically for the better, at least in the Western Cape, where a strategic nerve centre was opened today to digitally control a network that was until now manually controlled, if controlled at all. Opening the Bellville Rail Management & Traffic Control Centre, the Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula also spoke about […]

About 150 farm workers marched from Hanover Street to Parliament in Cape Town on Thursday in response to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development’s latest land reform strategy. Women on Farms supported by numerous organisations led a march to Parliament to demand land. The march marked International Rural Women’s Day and and […]

CoGTA Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has once again extended the national state of disaster, which was set to expire today, justifying it with “the need to continue augmenting the existing legislation and contingency arrangements undertaken by organs of state to address the impact of the disaster”… writes John Steenhuisen – Leader of the Democratic Alliance – […]

The following is a full transcript of President Cyril Ramaphosa‘s address to Parliament on Thursday, 15 October 2020: I have requested this sitting of the Joint Houses of Parliament to present the plan for the reconstruction and recovery of our economy and our country. In contrast to the State of the Nation Address, where we […]

When Phumeza Booi Welisa from New Crossroads in Cape Town could not find a school suitable for her son with autism, she had no choice but to start her own. Phumeza Booi Welisa couldn’t find a school for her son with autism so she started a school. Her school has children with and without autism. […]

The South African Government has committed R100 billion to create 800,000 employment opportunities over the next three years, to help build a ‘new economy’. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced this at a joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament in a hybrid session on the Reconstruction and Recovery Plan aimed at steering the country back to […]

The Western Cape provincial government has called on youth and business to play their part in staying safe, after a cluster outbreak, in which 63 cases have been linked to a club/pub in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Over half of the infected at the club, believed to be the Tin Roof in Claremont, […]

The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has assured the nation that the appointment of Basil Ford as the executive caretaker at the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) followed the appropriate recruitment process. The Department’s assurance comes after public interest in Ford’s appointment. “We do however wish to inform the public, […]

Eskom has welcomed what it deems as a landmark judgment after the High Court affirmed the utility’s right to terminate electricity supply to defaulting, non-paying customers. The South Gauteng High Court handed down the judgement on Tuesday. Eskom said it was now in a position to enhance all its collective efforts from defaulting municipalities that […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to appear before Parliament this afternoon to outline the country’s much-anticipated economic recovery plan. The President last week wrote to National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Chairperson Amos Masondo about his intention to call a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament. […]

Members of Parliament have heard how R44.4 million was channelled from Eskom’s contractors, through sub-contracted companies, to four Eskom officials in a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe, which has led to four arrests. Briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Wednesday, the SIU told MPs that suspicious payments by four contractors were […]

The National Traffic Police (NTP) has shut down a Pretoria company that is allegedly producing fraudulent vehicle licence discs. This comes after the traffic police’s specialised unit, the Falcons, conducted a raid on the premises of the company in Kameeldrift on Tuesday morning. This after two trucks were found to have false vehicle licence discs […]

Most of South Africa’s seasonal rainfall occurs during the warmer summer months, from October to March. As a result, October is an important period for farmers to begin planning when to sow crops (such as maize, wheat and sunflowers) for the growing season. October is also an important period for the tourism industry to think […]

A peaceful protest is planned against farm murders and violence on Friday 16 October, in Senekal in the Free State, South Africa… where last week an angry crowd of farmers stormed the Senekal court holding cells when two suspects appeared in connection with the brutal murder of young farm manager Brendin Horner. Later a police […]

South Africa has recorded 888 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of detected cases to 693 359. “Regrettably, we report 83 more COVID-19 related deaths – 17 from the Eastern Cape, 43 from the Free State, two from KwaZulu-Natal, 11 from Gauteng and seven from the Western Cape. “This brings the total number of […]

Shoprite Checkers (Pty) Ltd (Shoprite) has agreed to stop enforcing exclusivity provisions in its long-term exclusive lease agreements with its landlords against small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and speciality and limited line stores. This is according to a consent agreement between the Competition Commission (the Commission) and Shoprite. “In effect, this agreement stops Shoprite […]

Within the media and popular culture of the global north, cities like Johannesburg are often presented as a site of trouble. They’re the source of the immigrants, drugs, violence, poverty, disease and environmental crisis that worry nervous citizens of more “developed” cities. Even when they take centre stage in international media production, global south cities […]

The Expropriation Bill 2020 has been submitted to Parliament for introduction. The bill, which is set to replace the Expropriation Act of 1975 that is inconsistent with the Constitution, was gazetted on 09 October 2020. The bill is part of the work of government in ensuring that a comprehensive land redistribution for agricultural purpose, human […]

The South African government has initiated a process to formalise and regulate the country’s large, yet informal minibus taxi industry, with a view to making it viable and free of violence. The government envisions the industry being restructured “along legally recognised business units” that pay corporate tax and comply with labour laws. Formalisation will eventually […]

This Sunday Carte Blanche investigates what it means to be able to cross a borderline with no passport controls or customs checks. South Africans living in small towns along the eastern Free State’s highly porous border with Lesotho are under severe pressure as farm attacks, stock theft and violence escalate. You can watch the show […]

Eskom’s maintenance efforts, which will help reduce load shedding, are likely to bear fruit next year, says Eskom Chief Executive Officer André de Ruyter. Speaking at the two-day Joburg Indaba that concluded on Thursday, de Ruyter said plans are in place to enable Eskom to achieve operational stability and, subsequently, significantly reduce the risk of […]

A former police officer, Post Office cleaner and two civilians were arrested on Wednesday, for alleged corruption and extortion, following a sting operation between the Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation Unit and Provincial Anti-Corruption Unit. This comes after the Virginia Post Office manager in the Free State was allegedly approached and lured by one of her […]

Anyone who benefitted off of the VBS bank heist will sleep less peacefully from tonight, because its former chief financial officer agreed to a deal to cooperate with the National Prosecuting Authority. For his cooperation, Phillip Truter will have three years suspended on his 10-year sentence. Truter will cooperate with the NPA in its investigations […]

Thousands of workers and union supporters downed tools in support of a nationwide strike on Wednesday. In Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth memorandums were handed over to government representatives (protests reportedly took place in other cities, but these were the ones our reporters witnessed). The largest union federations participated in the strike, including […]