Trucks are backed up in long queues at the Beitbridge border with Zimbabwe, with some drivers complaining that they have been stuck for three days. When GroundUp visited the area on Tuesday 28 July, the queue of trucks crossing into Zimbabwe or on their way to Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania stretched […]

In support of World Tiger Day (29 July), Blood Lions has released an explosive video that puts the focus on the international trade in tiger body parts and makes the link to South Africa’s legal lion bone trade, in their latest campaign movement. Since 2008, nearly 7,000 lion skeletons weighing a total of around 70 […]

The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has given more than R15 million in funding to a dormant organisation in rural Limpopo, some of it for a mysterious music festival in Mpumalanga. More than R15 million was paid to a dormant Limpopo organisation by the National Lotteries Commission in 2017 and 2019. About R5 million of it […]

Eskom welcomed the Johannesburg High Court judgement today for the power utility to recover a R69-billion equity injection, in a phased manner over a three-year period, ruling that NERSA may not deduct the injection from Eskom’s allowable revenue. The decision means Eskom may now apply to increase tariffs. Eskom said in a statement that prior […]

Three small businesses that won awards in 2019 for their innovation are among the tourism operators that Cape Town is helping weather the economic fallout of COVID-19. The board of Cape Town Tourism has also given their own salaries to fund small tourism businesses during the lockdown. African Authentic Experience, a tour operator; Tees and […]

The International Monetary Fund has approved a R70 billion ($4.2 billion) loan for South Africa to help the country manage the immediate consequences of the fallout from COVID-19. The Conversation Africa’s editor, Caroline Southey, asked Danny Bradlow at the University of Pretoria to shed some light on what South Africans should expect. What conditions has […]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board has approved South Africa’s request for a US$4.3 billion (R70 billion) loan to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. The request for emergency financial support under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) will help the country to mitigate the adverse social and economic impact of the pandemic. In a statement issued […]

The illegal trade in cigarettes in South Africa has been booming for decades but when lockdown regulations banned the sale of smokes, it increased demand in the black market like never before. Overnight, furious smokers became blue-collar criminals illegally purchasing cigarettes from their neighbourhood dealers. But small-time dealers lead to high-stakes criminal syndicates. Now in […]

More than 50 infrastructure projects in South Africa worth R340 billion and impacting the sectors of water and sanitation, roads, energy and affordable housing – part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to reignite a flailing economy – have been gazetted, and are expected to create tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of new jobs. Minister […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today, Monday 27 July,  launched two #StopFarmAttacks websites – one in Afrikaans and the other in English – and called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to retract his comment denying farm murders. The website contains an open letter to the South African President urging him to apologize for his “untrue and […]

South Africa’s Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has tested positive for COVID-19. The Minister received his results on Saturday, 25 July 2020. This was the Minister’s second test since the outbreak of this virus. “Minister Patel is in good spirits and is in self-quarantine, and will continue to work from home. Those that […]

Two men have been arrested over the sale of cigarettes in the Northern Cape of South Africa, in contravention of the Disaster Management Act regulations. Meanwhile in Gauteng over 600 people were arrested over the weekend in a blitz on those breaking the #Covid19 regulations. Members of Springbok Public Order Police arrested the first male […]

The town of Hoedspruit is “on its knees”, say lodge owners, fearing that the enduring Lockdown regulations in South Africa could cripple not only the nation’s famous safari industry… but lead to rampant poaching of the country’s precious wildlife. Yesterday morning between 10am and noon, desperate residents – from private game reserve owners to restaurant […]

For months, train stations went silent as the national lockdown in South Africa forced millions of commuters to stay home, but on the railway tracks, opportunistic criminals went to work targeting state facilities that had been left non-operational. Looting on the Train Tracks In a special investigation produced by Nicky Troll, Carte Blanche goes deep […]

A debate on farm murders and attacks will take place in Parliament on a date still to be announced, a move that has been welcomed by the Democratic Alliance, which has been pressing for more action to be taken by a government it believes has been turning a blind eye to this decades-long problem. “It […]

The South African Police today used water canons to disperse peaceful protesters from the restaurant industry – one of Cape Town’s most vital sectors – outside parliament, a move condemned by the Democratic Alliance, which has accused President Cyril Rampahosa of “killing” thousands of restaurants and ruining people’s lives “for nothing.” In a statement, DA […]

The #ServeUsPlease peaceful protest announced for Cape Town will now have national movements in several cities across the country today. The protests will be held simultaneously, from 10am to 12pm on Friday 24 July. In response to the South African government’s Covid-19 restrictions on the hospitality, tourism, food and alcohol, entertainment, media and affiliated industries, […]

Stellenbosch Wine Routes and at least 300 wineries in South Africa, together with Visit Stellenbosch, have thrown their weight behind a legal application asking evidence from the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to explain the reintroduction of a blanket ban on the domestic sale and transportation of alcohol. In an unprecedented show of […]

While action is being taken against officials in her department implicated in cases of corruption, more investigations have to be carried out into the R15 billion in irregular and wasteful expenditure uncovered by the auditor-general, according to Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. Sisulu said today that the department had heeded parliament’s call […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will tonight brief the nation on developments in South Africa’s risk-adjusted strategy to manage the spread of Coronavirus. (You can watch below.) “The President’s address follows a number of meetings of the Cabinet and the National Coronavirus Command Council,” said the Presidency on Thursday. The President’s address is scheduled to get underway […]

The DA says it condemns a vicious attack on Betrus Kotze – the second in months – on his farm at Tinmyne in the Mokgalakwena municipality in Limpopo, yesterday late afternoon. Kotze was ambushed at his cattle kraal, tied up and “viciously attacked”, according to Jacques Smalle, DA Provincial Leader. The farmer suffered serious injuries, […]

Following a controversial tweet yesterday, in which the South African government announced that the ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarettes would remain in place until the end of Lockdown, the government has clarified that it was “incorrect”. The SA Government said: “This account posted a tweet earlier (yesterday) which said that the ban […]

The South African government has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $4.2 billion. The money would come from a facility that provides financing to countries facing an urgent balance of payments need, without the need to have a full-fledged program in place. According to the IMF managing director this means that the recipient can […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it rejects with contempt the SA Government’s “disgraceful tweet” which has advised South Africa that the ban on alcohol and tobacco will remain in place “throughout the lockdown”. This indefinite ban could last weeks or even into 2021, says the DA. “What the government has done today is pull the […]

South Africans have been shocked by a tweet, posted by the South African Government, casually announcing that the sale of cigarettes and alcohol are to remain banned until the end of lockdown. The tweet, posted at lunchtime, says: “The ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarette will remain in place throughout the lockdown period.The […]