South Africa’s Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday he cannot say yet when rolling blackouts will end, as power utility Eskom struggles with capacity shortages that threaten to thwart efforts to boost economic growth. Eskom supplies more than 90 percent of the power in South Africa but has suffered repeated faults at its […]

Former Steinhoff chairman and top shareholder Christo Wiese said on Monday he is open to negotiations over his $4 billion claim against the South African retailer, days after it revealed the scale of devastating accounting fraud. Steinhoff said on Friday that an independent report had found it overstated profits over several years in a $7.4 […]

South Africa’s state utility Eskom will make more power cuts this week as it struggles with capacity shortages that threaten to stymie President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to boost investments and economic growth. Eskom supplies more than 90 percent of the power in South Africa but has suffered repeated faults at its coal-fired power stations, along […]

“I have always prided myself in writing objective and truthful articles” says Tossie Beukes. One of four defamation cases against seven critics of controversial Australian mining company Mineral Commodities (MRC) and its South African operations has been dropped. A linked criminal defamation case against one of the seven has also been withdrawn. The cases, totalling […]

JOHANNESBURG – Eskom has warned that the loadshedding of the past week is likely to continue until Sunday, and says that further cuts are probably on the horizon next week… which is not great news for business. Eskom supplies more than 90 percent of South Africa’s power… but has suffered repeated faults at its fleet […]

JOHANNESBURG – The World Bank will lend Angola $1 billion to fund social security and water projects, their president’s office said on Wednesday. Angola, Africa’s second largest oil producer, has been pushed into an economic crisis by the fall in oil prices since mid-2014. Alongside a $500 million loan agreed earlier, which Angola is set […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s popular Standard Bank will cut around 1,200 jobs and close 91 branches as part of efforts to digitise its retail and business bank, it said on Thursday. South Africa’s lenders, like others around the world, have been shuttering branches and trimming their headcount in an attempt to cut costs and adapt […]

Recently a number of school boards and police services issued statements advising parents of an alleged cyberbullying threat called the Momo challenge. It’s unclear how many videos actually exist of the creepy-looking mask apparently telling children to harm themselves, or to what extent they have circulated, among children or elsewhere. While some experts suggest anxious […]

The Ad Hoc Committee – set up to amend Section 25 of the Constitution — has adopted a report on its work into a possible amendment to the Constitution in order for the State to expropriate land without compensation, in the public interest. Committee chairperson Thoko Didiza said in the report, the committee recommended to […]

CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s rising debt trajectory will make it difficult to weather a significant global economic downturn, the Reserve Bank deputy governor said, adding it would take at least a decade to bring the debt-to-GDP ratio down to the 30 to 40 percent range. Deputy governor Kuben Naidoo also said on Wednesday that […]

Rooibos is already popular in Europe and now it’s becoming a big deal in Japan – one of the largest tea-drinking nations in the world – with exports of our indigenous tea hitting record highs in 2018. More than 2 000 tons were shipped to Japan‘s shores last year – the largest consignment since Rooibos […]

South African Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has on Tuesday announced that the National Treasury has decided to offer the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) urgent interim financial relief. The announcement was made in Parliament’s communications committee. “We just needed assurance that by the end of the month, there’ll be a relief. In terms of how […]

South Africa and the World Bank have signed an agreement that will boost the local business environment while also helping to enhance foreign direct investment into the country. Signed on Monday in Johannesburg, the Advisory Services Agreement was signed between the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) and the World Bank Group. The partnership is […]

Eskom has warned South Africans that there is a high risk of load shedding today. “There is a high risk of rotational load shedding today, but it will only be implemented if absolutely necessary. This is as a result of a shortage of capacity due to the loss of generating units at our power stations,” […]

On Carte Blanche this evening (Sunday 10 March) in South Africa, and available to stream from Tues 12 March for South Africans abroad. Please note this is a 90-minute extended broadcast. (14-day Free Trial): The Future From the Fourth Industrial Revolution to the human brain connecting directly to machines and the Cloud with instant access to […]

Many new mothers worldwide – including Capetonian mom Ferzanah Essack – express anxiety and guilt about leaving their babies to return to work, and some worry their nations’ maternity policies reflect societies that value productivity over raising children. Ferzanah was one of the mothers interviewed by Reuters for today’s International Women’s Day (8 March). Moms from the United […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa today enlisted one of South Africa’s biggest exports – Trevor Noah, host of US TV show, The Daily Show – to help drive investment in South Africa. (Watch videos below.) Ramaphosa also revealed that he’s “trying to get Elon Musk as well to come and build a factory” (which shows how useful […]

AfriForum says it has appointed five experts and a senior advocate to compile reports in order to send a submission that disputes the recent Centurion land claim to the Land Claims Commission. The self-proclaimed civil rights organisation says it wants to prevent claimants from receiving any monetary compensation for this “baseless claim”. The claim – […]

PRETORIA – South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) soared by 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2018, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) announced on Tuesday. The country’s economy expanded at the end of last year with the help of growth in agriculture and manufacturing, data showed on Tuesday. This is a fantastic boost for President Cyril […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa has appointed 11 industry experts to investigate failures at power company Eskom’s ageing coal-fired stations and other breakdowns that have caused the worst electricity shortages in a decade, the government said on Monday. Problems at Eskom include a R420 billion debt pile, massive corruption scandals, and the latest round of national […]

South African consumers are in for a shock at the pumps as the price of petrol is set to increase by 74 cents a litre from Wednesday. The Department of Energy on Monday announced fuel hikes of 74 cents a litre for both grades of petrol 93 (ULP and LRP) and 95 (ULP and LRP). In […]

Olympic 400-metres champion Wayde van Niekerk is unsure whether he will defend his title at the World Athletics Championships in Doha in September, instead of setting his sights on retaining the gold medal he won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Van Niekerk, also the 400m world record holder, has been sidelined for almost 18 […]

Government is set to launch a ground-breaking initiative that seeks to mobilize all South Africans to become more environmentally conscious. Dubbed the Good Green Deeds Campaign, it hopes to galvanize individuals in the private sector, labour, NGO’s, interfaith formations and society at large to clean South Africa. The campaign, which will be led by the […]

Soweto is the home of the first ever – multimedia centre for children with dyslexia in South Africa. The 22-seater multimedia centre, based at the Tlhokomelo Special School in Meadowlands, will close the gap between traditional teaching methods and children with learning styles that don’t fall within the parameters of these methods. Dyslexia, which affects […]

Wiesenhof’s National Beverage Specialist Khulekani “Khule” Mpala Khule who came from Zimbabwe with a family, and pretty much nothing in his pocket is now a top barista, winning awards for his exceptional coffee creations! He won top technical honours at the Speciality Coffee Association of Southern Africa’s National Coffee Competition last weekend, being awarded the […]