Clearing one last major hurdle in the creation of a new South African Airways, all but one labour union, representing the pilots, have agreed to accept voluntary severance packages for up to 2,700 people, which will cost about R2.27 billion, according to a statement by the Department of Public Enterprises. The business rescue plan put […]

A corner restaurant in Johannesburg well known for its brunches and its name, Pablo Eggs-Go-Bar, has become the latest victim in the food industry of an economy devastated by the COVID pandemic. Other well-known restaurants, especially in Cape Town, like the popular Jason Bakery on Bree Street, Karen Dudley’s very popular The Kitchen in Woodstock […]

Over 622 youth from around the world have signed a letter calling on the South African Government to phase out captive predator breeding in South Africa. To commemorate Youth Day in South Africa, leading conservation organisation Blood Lions and Youth For Lions sent a letter on Friday to various Ministers of the South African Government […]

The Competition Tribunal has slapped pharmacy group, Dis-Chem, with a R1.2 million fine for excessively overpricing surgical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes after the company was found guilty following complaints registered by the public. The Tribunal found that Dis-Chem contravened the Competition Act for charging excessive prices for three types of surgical face […]

South Africa’s Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has called on unions to convene their own bilateral meetings to finalise the South African Airways (SAA) restructuring plan. In a statement issued on Monday, the department said after withdrawing from the Leadership Consultative Forum (LCF), the department has had bilateral discussions with all unions, and is now […]

The eighth suspect arrested over allegations of the R2 billion fraud at VBS Mutual Bank, Phillip Truter, appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes court today to face 47 charges of fraud, theft, money laundering, corruption and racketeering. Truter, the former Chief Financial Officer of VBS, was in quarantine when the other seven, including […]

On 18 July a virtual tournament using the South African-developed Android app BOATS, will kick off with prizes and incentives of over R30000.00. While having fun, learners will be educated on coding, marine pollution and COVID-19. Background Using mainly the award-winning TANKS mobile application, Prof Greyling and his team from Nelson Mandela University and Leva […]

The National Treasury has reiterated its stance that it will not bail out South African Airways, apparently in direct conflict with Pravin Gordhan, who seems hell bent on saving the airline from liquidation. In its response to public submissions to the Supplementary Budget, the treasury today released a brief programme on what the next steps […]

An analysis of financial inclusion in South Africa shows that affordability limits poor households’ access to formal financial services. In our study, which looked at people’s use of financial goods and services between 2008 and 2015, we found that there was a general increase in use. But this was severely skewed to households with higher […]

Four South African Airways unions and staff representatives have expressed an intention to sign voluntary severance packages offered as part of the airline’s business rescue and restructuring process. The three main unions, however, have so far not accepted the packages. These are the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), the SA Cabin Crew […]

MTN South Africa has made a donation of R500,000 to a newly started relief fund to help journalists whose livelihoods have been devastated by COVID-19, and has exhorted other businesses to also help. A newly released report by the non-profit South African National Editors’ Forum, COVID19 Impact on Journalism, has highlighted the havoc that the […]

South Africa’s Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu says the SA government cannot afford to lose money because of neglect, inefficiencies or poor decision making. Makwetu said this when he released the report on the audit outcomes for municipalities for the financial year that ended in March 2019. “The levels of fruitless and wasteful expenditure have also increased. […]

As the squandering of money by most municipalities went up yet again – from R25.2 billion to R32 billion – Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu in his latest report of the country’s municipalities singled out the Western Cape and Gauteng for having developed characteristics of good governance. Makwetu said many municipalities were spending money “in ways that […]

A nearly complete R281 million forensic pathology facility at Groote Schuur Hospital could help reduce South Africa’s high number of unsolved crimes and cold cases. The Observatory Forensic Pathology Institute will be more than just a mortuary, the University of Cape Town’s Department of Medicine says on its website, but will allow pathologists to be […]

With moviehouses across the country ready to open soon, the well-known Labia Theatre in Cape Town has announced that it will also start streaming a curated selection of movies that one can watch at home, in addition to those that will be available on its four screens. The Labia Home Screen offers six video-on-demand movies […]

KLM has announced two more flights in July that South Africans in Europe can catch if they would like to be repatriated home to SA. KLM said today that on the flights from Amsterdam, it is able to bring South African nationals and permanent residents back home.   If you would like to be booked […]

The supplementary budget tabled last week by South Africa’s finance minister, Tito Mboweni, whose primary objective was to make more money available for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, sheds no light on the relative prioritisation of prevention over treatment for COVID-19. Alex van den Heever reports. The required health system response to COVID 19 […]

As many as two dozen ships at a time could be seen lying anchored in Table Bay the last few weeks, while berths in the harbour were almost empty. The Western Cape government said it has requested a meeting with Minister Pravin Gordhan to deal with the challenges facing Cape Town harbour that are losing […]

The adjustments to the 2020 budget partly cushion the initial blow of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s lockdown. But the relief is only temporary and measures to contain the growth in debt will bite hard in years to come. Some cried wolf about austerity budgets in South Africa after the global financial crisis in […]

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has called on the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) leadership to reconsider their decision to incite lawlessness, and place their drivers and passengers on a collision course with law enforcement authorities. This comes after Santaco announced that it has taken a decision to revert to 100% loading capacity in its […]

Government has welcomed two high court judgments dismissing challenges related to the Disaster Management Act and its regulations. On 26 June, the Western Cape High Court dismissed an application that sought to challenge the constitutionality of the National Coronavirus Command Council as a subcommittee of Cabinet. In a separate case, the Gauteng High Court dismissed […]

The South African cabinet has said it supports the establishment of a new airline out of South African Airways and has backed the concerted efforts to mobilise funding from various sources that could see the proposed carrier take off. The mobilising of funding would include potential equity partners, government said in a post-Cabinet meeting statement. […]

Whether you pour one litre of water into a bucket riddled with holes, or a thousand litres, the outcome will be the same: There will be no water left. So writes Theo de Jager, head of the SA Agri Initiative (SAAi) and president of the World Agricultural Organisation. The bottom line of Finance Minister Tito […]

Saai, an organisation that represents the interests of family farmers, will be in the Western Cape High Court in early August 2020 on behalf of farmers and farmworkers to have the government’s regulations on the banning of legal tobacco sales declared unconstitutional and invalid. The case will be heard together with nine other applicants, headed […]

Cinemas, restaurants, theatres and casinos can start operating again, albeit under strict conditions, after having closed for three months in the COVID-19 enforced lockdown. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, on Thursday signed and gazetted an amendment to the regulations for the advanced COVID-19 alert level 3 lockdown. Restaurants have […]