In a bid to sell more South African wine overseas, a new matchmaking portal has been launched to bring together buyers and sellers of Western Cape wine. Cape Export Network is a platform for South African wine producers to freely advertise their products and connect them with international importers and buyers of wine, and has […]

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen says it is unfortunate that, in leaving the party he (until recently) wished to lead, John Moodey – who resigned as DA Gauteng Leader yesterday – has “spread blatant falsehoods which appear to be an attempt to justify his reasons for leaving”. Addressing the media today, Steenhuisen said it’s […]

Law enforcement agencies are working together to probe the breaches of the COVID-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (TERS) in South Africa. The benefit scheme was established to provide much needed relief to employees, who have been laid-off work or unable to earn an income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his first special audit report […]

The Passenger Railways Association of South Africa, clawing its way back from years of mismanagement and corruption, has a new man in charge after a court order last week ruled that the appointment of an administrator in December last year was unlawful. “We are pleased that the National Treasury has appointed Mr Badisa Matshego as […]

Poor financial management by public institutions once again reared its ugly head in South Africa during the disbursement of COVID-19 relief scheme funds, an audit report has found. The synopsis is contained in Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu’s first of a series of special reports on the financial management of government’s R500 billion COVID-19 relief package. The […]

Despite Eskom’s inability to meet the country’s electricity needs and plunging everyone into darkness with loadshedding – taken to Stage 4 today – the government rejects alternatives because it wants Eskom to keep its monopoly, according to the Democratic Alliance. “At a time when the country desperately needs economic growth, Eskom once again plunges us […]

The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, has warned that attacks on farms threaten food security, employment and the economy. “Both farm workers and farm owners are of equal importance in the agricultural chain,” Mandela said. He made the remarks following the recent attacks on four […]

Eskom has been ordered by the high court to restore full maximum electricity supply to several areas in the Free State and Mpumalanga provinces immediately. North Gauteng High Court Acting Judge Anthony Millar heard a combined urgent application at the end of August. Read the judgment here. Applicants were the Vaal River Development Association, which […]

Ministers, MECs and mayors should stay out of the administration of public services and let public servants do their work, and appointments should be made on qualifications not political considerations, according to a letter by President Cyril Ramaphosa to mark the start tomorrow of Public Service Month. “The civil service must be seen as a […]

When South Africans express shock at corruption, few seem to know that it is perhaps the country’s oldest tradition. Citizen anger about corruption, a constant theme in South African political debate, reacts to a very real problem. This was underlined recently by news that well-connected people had enriched themselves at the expense of efforts to […]

This Sunday Carte Blanche investigates the situation in Standerton, South Africa, that has shocked the nation. Video footage this week of the streets of Standerton in the Lekwa municipal district in Mpumalanga, showed how the residents and municipal workers are burning fires late into the night and dumping their rubbish right outside the municipal buildings. […]

In March three unemployed men from KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage, decided to start growing their own food. As it turned out, a week later the Covid-19 national lockdown started. Siyabulela Booysen, Sakhumzi Mbaduli and Mendo Vece had no experience. They started by collecting empty bottles from friends and family and selling them to get the money they […]

I have to admit, I have never spent more time avoiding “real work” to watch YouTube like I did this week, I bluffed myself that is was “sort of” real work as the content I was consuming was #StateCapture and the #ZondoCommission.   #Netflix may lose a subscriber if this type of content keeps pouring out. […]

Six men were arrested west of Johannesburg today, after a combined force of PRASA and the police caught them with railway assets worth R5.5 million, as well as equipment used in illegal mining. “This is fuelling suspicion that elements involved in illegal mining, known as the zama-zamas, are now targeting rail infrastructure,” PRASA said in […]

After the government has come under repeated criticism for corruption in the awarding of tenders dealing with the fight against COVID-19, and investigations have been launched to uncover illicit dealings, the National Treasury has released a detailed list of the companies to whom government has given contracts. The Treasury said the register will be regularly […]

Four more airports have been given the green light to resume operations, bringing the total to 18 airports which are permitted to operate in South Africa, says Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula. International air travel remains prohibited. The four airports are: Mthatha Airport, Hoedspruit Airport, Phalaborwa Airport and Margate Airport as the new additions. “Air travel is […]

The City of Cape Town’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit (ALIU) will not be allowed to evict people or demolish their structures, whether occupied or unoccupied, without a court order while the country remains in a state of national disaster. Judges Shehnaz Meer and Rosheni Allie in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday afternoon granted an […]

A Johannesburg businessman has been released on bail of R50,000, after being charged with defrauding the city of R7.5 million for undelivered computers. Deon Pillay, the sole director of Esizwe Techology, is accused of taking payment of almost R7.5 million for 570 computers that were never delivered to the city. He is charged by the […]

The Association of Southern African Travel Agents (ASATA) has put out a call for government to give a definite date for the reopening of international travel, so that airlines can plan and the devastated industry can start to recover. “A definite date for international travel would allow sufficient time for airlines to plan the reintroduction […]

South Africa’s National Treasury and the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) today presented “damning findings” before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure which, according to the Democratic Alliance (DA), suggests that Minister Patricia De Lille was much more involved in the procurement of the Beitbridge “Washing Line” than she has previously admitted. These findings […]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged countries to desist from the nationalisation of COVID-19 vaccines and has requested that they join a vaccine pact. The call from WHO comes as countries across the world race to find a vaccine for COVID-19. Following a letter to all member states requesting them to join the vaccine […]

Soccer star Lucas Radebe along with other South African celebrities like Francois Pienaar and Karen Zoid are inviting South Africans abroad to join them to raise funds for South Africa’s COVID-19 Solidarity Fund this weekend, which is a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK. South Africans across the globe can join the well known personalities […]

The South African government said over 10 private sector funders, private equity investors and partners – which still remain unidentified – have expressed interest in South African Airways and its subsidiaries, as time runs out for the ailing airline to be saved. As at the beginning of August, the Department of Public Enterprises had received […]

Firefighters in Durban have managed to save the famous Juma Masjid Mosque in Denis Hurley Street (formerly Grey Street) from being engulfed by flames. Five apartments in a neighbouring building were also saved as the fire blazed on Monday afternoon. It is believed that the fire began at around midday in a building beside the […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has strongly reprimanded Finance Minister Tito Mboweni following comments made by the Minister on social media regarding the removal of Zambia’s Central Bank Governor by President Edgar Lungu. In one of his tweets, Mboweni “promises to mobilise”, if not given the reasons the Zambian Central Bank Governor was fired by President Lungu. […]