President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated that the South African government’s attempts to reconfigure and split Eskom into three divisions is not aimed at privatising the embattled power utility. These measures, he said, are rather aimed at stabilising the utility and getting it back on its feet. “We are not going to privatise Eskom,” he said, […]

South African supermarket chain Checkers, owned by Shoprite Holdings, is looking to grab a larger share of the growing online shopping market by pioneering a new one-hour grocery delivery service named Sixty60. It is South Africa’s first 60-minute mobile app grocery delivery service from a supermarket chain, Checkers says, as it looks to respond to […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa faces a prolonged period of weak economic growth marked by rising unemployment, inequality and greater credit-rating risk if the government does not act fast to implement reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday. “The FY20/21 budget to be presented in February should articulate measures to address fiscal and SOE […]

South Africa’s rand firmed in early trade on Monday, as traders continued to chase the high yield offered by local assets after S&P Global Ratings decided to downgrade the country’s credit outlook instead of lowering its sovereign rating. The rand was 0.41% firmer at 14.6750 per dollar by 0620 GMT, compared with an opening level […]

S&P Global on Friday downgraded its outlook for South Africa’s credit rating to negative, citing weak pace of economic growth, mounting government debt burden and liabilities related to the country’s energy utility, Eskom. The downgrade significantly increases the probability of a downgrade in the sovereign rating of Africa’s most industrialized economy. South Africa is already […]

Elon Musk’s launch of his Tesla Inc futuristic Cybertruck pickup suffered a setback when its “armoured glass” windows shattered during a presentation, but it was the overall look of the car that attracted the most comments and worried Wall Street on Friday… with the company’s shares falling more than 6%. Online critics made fun of […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African Airways (SAA) reached a deal on wages with two striking unions on Friday to end an eight-day strike at the state airline. Already reliant on government handouts to survive, SAA had to suspend hundreds of flights after the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and the National Union of Metalworkers South […]

Each year, South Africans produce about 40 million tonnes of general waste, only 10% of which is recycled, according to the State of Waste Report published by the Department of Environmental Affairs in 2018. The other 90% ends up in landfills or waste storage facilities around the country. But what happens to the 10% of materials […]

South Africa‘s National Transport Movement (NTM) on Friday signed a wage deal with South African Airways (SAA) for a 5.9% pay rise for the 2019/20 financial year that started in April, according to a copy of the deal seen by Reuters. NTM is one of the largest unions at state-owned SAA, but its members are not participating in […]

The festive season is fast approaching, and in an annual tree lighting ceremony that’s becoming as hotly anticipated in South Africa as that in New York’s Rockefeller Centre or St Petersburg’s Palace Square, Cape Town’s Moët & Chandon Golden Tree is the place to be for the launch of the festive season… and this year […]

JOHANNESBURG – A South African union filed a case on Thursday asking a court to subject the distressed state-owned airline SAA to a business rescue, with the aim of restoring it to profitability. Solidarity, which mostly represents white, Afrikaans-speaking employees, said it would “mean that the court can appoint a business rescue practitioner with comprehensive […]

The Office of the Chief Whip in Parliament has issued a statement following the arrest of ANC Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Bongani Bongo, who was arrested this morning in Cape Town, South Africa. “We are aware that the MP was arrested by the Hawks on allegations of […]

Auditor General Kimi Makwetu has called on government leaders to take urgent action to halt the trend of disappointing audit results, restore accountability and prevent mismanagement of public funds. Releasing the 2018-19 general report for national and provincial departments as well as their entities, Makwetu said political leaders, accounting officers, authorities and oversight structures must […]

When insurance company Old Mutual refused to pay out on the death of a loved one in South Africa, insisting on more proof, the victim’s family complied – and brought the corpse into their offices in Stanger, in a body bag. The incredible footage (see below) was shot in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) after two bereaved female […]

JOHANNESBURG – A strike certificate has been issued at South African airline Comair as part of a secondary strike against South African Airways, a spokeswoman for the National Union of Metalworkers South Africa said on Wednesday. Two unions that called a crippling strike at SAA said on Sunday they would pursue a secondary strike to […]

A few hundred South African Airways (SAA) employees have returned to work despite a strike, allowing the airline to resume some regional flights, acting Chief Executive Zuks Ramasia said on Tuesday. SAA is currently operating all its international and some of its regional flights and domestic services. These services are being carried out by sister airline Mango, […]

The last remains of 157 people killed aboard an Ethiopian Airlines plane in March were interred at the crash site this week, farmers and families told Reuters, but some relatives were upset they had been unable to take part in the ceremony. Nadia Milleron, whose daughter Samya Stumo was killed, said an email was sent […]

JOHANNESBURG – Corruption under South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma was enabled by international banks, companies and governments which should now seek to recover the loot they helped to launder, British lawmaker Peter Hain told an inquiry on Monday. HSBC, Standard Chartered and India’s Bank of Baroda as well as their senior directors were “directly […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African Airways (SAA) said on Monday it would resume flights to six African destinations but cancel some domestic flights in the next two days, as not all unions had joined a strike over wages currently in its fourth day. State-owned SAA has cancelled hundreds of flights since the strike began on Friday, […]

South African Airways (SAA) Acting Chief Executive Officer Zuks Ramasia has affirmed that the safety and security of customers, aircraft and employees are of paramount importance to the airline and that claims to the contrary are “untruthful”. Claims made by the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South […]

An inspiring South African barista from Durban – Teddy Nzama – has scooped the title of 2019 EMEA Barista Champion. In a press statement, Starbucks said: “After an intense three days of competition, 30 finalists – each of them already National Champions in their home markets – battled through coffee skills tests and demonstrated their […]

JOHANNESBURG – British lawmaker Peter Hain will tell an inquiry on Monday that corruption under South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma was enabled by international banks, corporations and governments which should now seek to recover the loot they helped launder. Hain’s submission on Monday to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, part of […]

JOHANNESBURG – Striking unions threatened to shut down South Africa’s entire aviation industry on Sunday by extending industrial action beyond state-run South African Airways. SAA has cancelled hundreds of flights since the strike began on Friday, saying the stoppage is costing 50 million rand ($3.36 million) per day and jeopardising talks with lenders around much-needed […]

Carte Blanche investigates the ‘War on Climate Change’ and explores whether going meatless could save our planet. This episode will be broadcast today, Sunday 17 Nov, on DStv Now if you’re in South Africa, and available to stream from Tues 19 Nov on Showmax International in most other countries.  EMPOWERING > ENLIGHTENING Hotting Up in the […]

JOHANNESBURG – A union that called a strike at South African Airways said on Sunday it was consulting with workers on a secondary strike across the industry after talks with the state-run carrier ended without a deal. “This secondary strike will have the impact of shutting down the entire aviation sector,” National Union of Metalworkers […]