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 […]

The government has promised that the calamitous journey of its Medupi power plant, said to be the fourth-biggest in the world and first started in 2007, will be over this year and its sister plant Kusile completed in 2023. This was stated when Deputy President David Mabuza answered a question in Parliament today. He said […]

On Monday it was announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa had referred the contentious Copyright Amendment Bill back to Parliament on the basis that a number of its provisions are unconstitutional. This was 15 months after it had been passed by Parliament, more than 3 years after it had been formally introduced, and 9 years after […]

The Department of Public Enterprises has welcomed the court judgment, which will see the creditors’ meeting to vote on the #SAA business rescue plan, go ahead as planned today. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has welcomed the judgment to strike off the roll an urgent court application by SA Airlink. The airline this week […]

The government will need to borrow $7 billion from international finance institutions as one of the measures to cover the budget hole brought about by South Africa’s response to COVID-19, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said today during his supplementary budget. “Debt is our weakness. We have accumulated far too much debt. This downturn will add […]

South Africa’s economy is projected to contract by 7.2 percent in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni. “This is the largest contraction in nearly 90 years,” he said tabling the Supplementary Budget Review. Inflation will likely register 3 percent in 2020. “Commodity price increases and a weaker […]

Fees charged by liquidators and business rescue practitioners, and the impact they can have on bottom-line payouts to affected employees, came under the spotlight at Monday’s meeting to consider a business rescue model for Edcon. 22,000 jobs are at stake if the rescue plan for Edcon does not work. Business rescue practitioners propose backdating and […]

Ambassador Bridgette Motsepe has hit back at what she calls “baseless allegations” implicating her of money-laundering, as announced by AfriForum on Tuesday morning, 23 June. Motsepe says she rejects the allegations as “preposterous”, and says they were already proved untrue six months ago. She has also appointed an international law firm, led by Cherie Blair, […]

The leaking of official documents at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa showed there was a “fight-back campaign” by highly placed officials unhappy about the cleaning up of corruption and maladministration at the state-owned enterprise, says administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo. Mpondo has directed the acting head of PRASA Security, Brigadier General Tebogo Rakau, to investigate […]

It’s goodbye to bad hair days as salons and many other personal beauty services are now free to operate, although under strict conditions, after almost three months of lockdown. These include hairdressing, barbering, nail and toe treatment, facial treatment and make-up, body massage, tattooing and body piercing. The Minister of Small Business Development, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, […]

Unemployment in South Africa has unfortunately risen to 30.1% in the first three months of 2020, Statistics South Africa has revealed. The results are contained in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released by Stats SA on Tuesday. They show that employment decreased by 38 000 to 16.4 million in the first quarter of 2020. “The […]

The big medical aid heist? To replace my current lenses will cost R6,000 – of which #Bankmed will ONLY pay R1,500 – thus leaving me to pay R4,500 out of MY own pocket… writes Gauteng publicist and regular SAPeople contributor Georg Knoke. Some background: I’m on one of the highest levels of medical aid cover, […]

Before signing two copyright bills into law, President Cyril Ramaphosa has referred them back to the National Assembly because of reservations on the constitutionality of the legislation passed by Parliament. The Democratic Alliance welcomed the move, saying the Copyright Amendment Bill and the Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill, which also deal with “fair use” of artists’ […]

The Department of Public Enterprises has said it will oppose an application by SA Airlink to place South African Airways under provisional liquidation and finds the legal action “disturbing.” It was reported earlier today in Business Day that the private airline wanted to interdict a creditors meeting set for Thursday, and instead have the company […]

This Sunday South Africa’s top current affairs show Carte Blanche investigates if the R37-million fence between South Africa and Zimbabwe that the SA Government built is really doing its job to curb the smugglers. COVID-19: Beitbridge Border Blunder As the lockdown of national borders was meant to curb the movement of people and spread of […]

“Think of it as the Amazon, the Alibaba or even the eBay of Coronavirus resources on the African continent, made in Africa by Africans, the fundamental difference being that on this platform, the buyer is not an individual but governments,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said. As chairman of the African Union, he said yesterday the new […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says government relied on scientific advice, consultations and the experience of other countries when it made the decision to gradually ease lockdown. The President said this when he fielded oral questions from members of the National Assembly during a hybrid question and answer session on Thursday. “In deciding on when to begin […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says government has started a process of implementing an economic recovery plan, which is coupled with preserving the livelihoods of South Africans and saving lives… and that it won’t take long for the country to recover. The President was speaking before the National Assembly, responding to oral questions via a virtual link […]

Springbok coach and captain, Jacques Nienaber and Siya Kolisi, led a delegation of eight national players and coaches at the Food Forward SA warehouse in Cape Town today, where they assisted in packing food parcels in the fight against hunger. The visit to the Food Forward SA facility in Epping was part of SA Rugby’s […]