LONDON – South Africa’s embattled state-owned airline is open to outside investment and in talks with a number of potential partners, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday. South Africa’s economy has come under ever growing pressure as the government grapples with lacklustre growth, high unemployment and a heavy debt burden, especially from state-owned enterprises such […]

LONDON – The Lord Mayor of London Peter Estlin will arrive in Johannesburg tomorrow for meetings with investment partners and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, kicking off a 5-day trip in South Africa and Kenya, the City of London said in a statement today. “The UK Government is seeking to become Africa’s biggest G7 investor, and […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived on Sunday in London, United Kingdom, for a two-day working visit. The President will deliver the opening address at the 6th Financial Times Africa Summit on Monday, 14 October 2019. The summit is being held at Claridge’s in London. On the sidelines of the summit, President Ramaphosa is expected to engage […]

Since Zimbabwe’s land reform of 2000 – when around 8 million hectares of formerly large-scale commercial farmland was distributed to about 175,000 households – debates about the consequences for food security have raged. A standard narrative has been that Zimbabwe has turned from “food basket” to “basket case”. This year, following the devastating El Niño […]

Since the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, South Africa and Nigeria have never had an easy relationship. Over the years, as different presidents have come and gone, the two countries have often been at loggerheads for different reasons. But this was predated by Nigeria’s strong solidarity with black people when South Africa […]

Lack of accountability leads to wasteful expenditure and mismanagement, says activist. Contractors have abandoned more than 50 major school upgrade projects in the Eastern Cape after government departments failed to pay them on time. Many of these schools have been stripped of valuable materials and vandalised after being abandoned. One example is Makhanda’s Grahamstown Primary […]

On Monday charges were laid at the South African Police Service (SAPS) by AfriForum against the Tshwane Metro, Proco Management, Linked Thoughts Consulting and Faragamo Trading. The civil rights organisation said this follows Proco Management, Linked Thoughts Consulting and Faragamo Trading acting as go-between when three farms were sold to the Metro at prices significantly […]

The number of South Africans leaving the country on a permanent basis has increased “exponentially” and many are opting for the island life in Mauritius, not only for its beauty but certainly for greater financial and tax security. “The island seemingly offers a more stable political and financial climate, and its geographic location and affiliation […]

Some 30 electric charging points will be opening across the country in order to make sustainable driving in South Africa a more feasible option, it was announced as a caravan of electric cars crossed the country during Transport Month. #EVRTAfrica above the clouds. 🛑 Day 4, Stop 1: Sunrise drive to Valley of Desolation 🌅 […]

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is set to receive a cash injection of R2.1 billion to help stabilise the public broadcaster. Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams made the announcement at a media briefing on Friday. Ndabeni-Abrahams said of the eight preconditions set for the funding allocation by National Treasury, the public broadcaster […]

Tragically over 60,000 sheep from South Africa have set sail on a three-week journey to the Middle East. Most will suffer, some may die, along the way in overcrowded conditions that Carte Blanche said could only be described as “cruel and vile, to say the very least”. The sheep are forced to stand in their […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s struggling state-owned defence company, which had to be bailed out by the government last August, suffered an operating loss of R1.9 billion rand ($125 million) for the year to March 31, it said on Friday. Denel, which makes military kit for the South African armed forces and clients in Africa, the […]

Britain’s Prince Harry will on Tuesday visit a health centre in Malawi before leaving later in the day to join his family in Johannesburg, South Africa. Harry, his wife, Meghan, and their four-month-old son, Archie, have been in the region on their first official overseas tour, which has seen the Duke of Sussex visit four countries. Malawi […]

Cash-strapped consumers will have to dig even deeper into their pockets as the price of petrol is set to increase by 18 cents a litre next week. Announcing the price changes on Sunday, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said a litre of 95 (ULP and LRP) will rise by 18 cents a litre […]

JOHANNESBURG – The South African government will finalise a clear economic growth strategy within the next few weeks, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday, as the country aims to boost confidence in an economy facing lower growth and job cuts. Investor confidence in Africa’s most industrialised economy is fragile, with the economic growth outlook clouded […]

In Sunday’s special 90-minute extended broadcast Carte Blanche revisits several stories of corruption and dodgy deals from the last year to find out if revealing their truth has brought any change, and if not, why not? Interspersed between fresh investigations and gritty confrontations, South Africa’s popular current affairs show includes several follow-up inserts this week. […]

Some of Cape Town’s rivers and canals are so polluted they are essentially open streams of sewage, and although the City of Cape Town is aware of this, the water and waste directorate has vastly underspent its budget for the past two financial years. Participants in the annual Peninsula Paddle, an event organised by scientists […]

An economic advisory council of 18 specialists from numerous fields and from around the world has been appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to help facilitate the development and implementation of economic policies that are intended to spur growth. They will start work on 1 October. The Presidential Economic Advisory Council, which Ramaphosa referred to in […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Ministers of State Security, Ayanda Dlolo, and International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Naledi Pandor, to urgently answer on the whereabouts of Former President Jacob Zuma’s former ally and top spy, Thulani Dlomo. Given the myriad of allegations against him and his purported role in State Capture – […]

We were making progress until 2011. So what happened? Uyinene Mrwetyana’s murder set off a wave of protests across the country. The release of the latest crime statistics confirmed perceptions: South Africa is becoming more violent; the number of murders has increased every year since 2012. When it comes to crime stats, murder is a […]

A rare blue diamond has been discovered in a mine in Botswana, just days after one was found in South Africa, it was announced Thursday. Canadian miner Lucara Diamond Corp said it recovered a 9.74 carat blue gem diamond from its Karowe mine in Botswana (which is a fifth the size of the famous Hope […]

Three people have been shortlisted for the job of CEO at the R450-billion-indebted Eskom, according to Bloomberg. The three are a former Eskom CEO from 2007 to 2009, Jacob Maroga; Andy Calitz, who once worked at Eskom and Royal Dutch Shell and was a former CEO of LNG Canada; as well as a third person […]

It was Heritage Day here in South Africa, during which the many cultures showcase and celebrate their rich and diverse heritage. Or they just have a lekker braai and get super blootered, which I guess is about as South African as it gets. I’m not here to judge. But it’s also a day off work, […]

In what amounted to a relaunch of the Peugeot brand in South Africa, the company introduced the market to two new models, a hatchback and an SUV, with the promise of more launches. At an event last week, reported almost exclusively in the car media, managing director of Peugeot Citroen South Africa, Xavier Gobille, was […]

The South African Treasury has raised $5 billion from the sale of two new bonds in international markets, with strong demand beforehand allowing it to pre-fund $1 billion more than originally planned, it said on Tuesday. “The South African government sees the success of the transaction, believed to be the largest ever out of Sub-Saharan […]