President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that South Africa is moving from Alert Level 3 into Level 1, effective from later this evening – Sunday 28 February 2021 – as soon as the regulations are gazetted. This Friday it will be exactly a year since the coronavirus pandemic hit SA shores, with the first Covid-19 patient […]

The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, will address the nation on developments in the country’s Covid-19 response tonight, Sunday 28 February. The ‘family meeting’ (as these addresses to the nation are being called by locals) will take place at 20h00. The Presidency said: “The address follows meetings in recent days of the National Coronavirus Command […]

An enchanting documentary by well known South African filmmakers – Bonné de Bod and Susan Scott – has been nominated for the Best Feature Film category at the International Wildlife Film Festival in the US. The documentary – ‘Kingdoms of Fire, Ice & Fairy Tales’ – charts the award-winning filmmakers’ epic journey from Yellowstone National […]

Meet some of South Africa’s doctors who have been vaccinated this week, after bravely fighting the coronavirus pandemic on the frontline over the last year, risking their own lives to help save thousands of others. Many are feeling relieved, honoured and hopeful, whilst also sad for those who didn’t make it. Over 52,000 healthcare workers […]

What led outraged community members, from a wildlife reserve bordering the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga, to launch an arson attack on the R60-million luxury Bongani Mountain Lodge on their trust land? Amidst rumours, this is one of the key questions asked by Carte Blanche in this week’s broadcast. Combustible Conditions at Bongani Mountain Lodge […]

Claims that the South African Airways (SAA) flight dispatched by the SA government to transfer a consignment of COVID-19 vaccines was an expensive exercise, are devoid of the truth, asserts the Department of Public Enterprises. In a statement on Friday, the department said these claims seek to sabotage the role of SAA Cargo in the […]

Eastern Cape photographer Mike Geyer – yesterday captured these welcome photos of the Great Kei River as it hasn’t been seen for years. Mike – aka Nature’s Whisperer – said: “When last did you see the Kei River like this ?? Just had to stop on the old bridge today to appreciate – seems a […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it will submit a parliamentary question to Pravin Gordhan, the Minister of Public Enterprises, in order to obtain full details of the costs and reasons for the use of a large SAA jetliner to fly to Brussels to collect a small consignment of apparently only 80,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses. UPDATE: […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has encouraged the private sector to buy local goods in an effort to create jobs in South Africa. “We really need our corporates to come on board for us to build strong local capabilities. We are not asking corporates to buy goods for the sake of buying locally. We are saying that […]

Legendary cheetah conservationist Ann van Dyk has sadly passed away at the age of 90. Ann, the founder of the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre (previously called De Wildt), dedicated her life to saving the cheetah and was credited with helping bring it back from the brink of extinction. The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre […]

The South African Revenue Service has announced the formation of a High Wealth Individual (HWI) Taxpayer Segment, which will focus on wealthy taxpayers with complex financial arrangements. “For SARS to continue to provide a customised and seamless service to various categories of taxpayers, we are establishing a separate unit to focus on individual taxpayers with […]

Interim results from clinical trials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be presented to the FDA on Friday 26 February in an effort to obtain an emergency licence for its distribution. The briefing document for the FDA reports 66% efficacy for all cases and 85% efficacy for severe cases, as well as a favourable […]

AfriForum today announced what it calls “a dramatic turn of events” in the fight for the legal use of ivermectin. AfriForum and Dr George Coetzee are involved in a legal challenge against the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to allow doctors to prescribe ivermectin that is formulated for human use to treat patients […]

South African Airways (SAA) has suspended all SAA-operated international flights until 30 October 2021. Qantas also announced today that it is pushing back the resumption of its international flights from July to 31 October 2021. SAA said its suspension has been necessitated by many countries battling with fluctuating rates of Covid-19 infection and/or new waves […]

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the race to make vaccines and other useful technologies more accessible to people around the world, has once again highlighted the tension between intellectual property rights and the promotion of public health. There is no doubt that the monopolies offered by exclusive rights such as patents are necessary to incentivise pharmaceutical […]

The South African government says it is working tirelessly to deal with the danger of fake news in the fight against COVID-19 and the vaccination plan. Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, believes that while social media is beneficial for communicating, it can be easily hijacked to spread false claims about inoculation. […]

As most South Africans know, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa published a number of name changes for towns, cities and airports in the Eastern Cape, in the Government Gazette, on Tuesday. Today the department released an official statement about the name changes. “The transformation of the naming landscape is a critical […]

The Kiffness has done a quick remake of Mariam Makeba’s legendary Click Song to help South Africans who need it learn the new names of some well known towns and cities. This comes after the new names for Port Elizabeth, Uitenhange and other places were announced on Tuesday. The Kiffness, aka David Scott, explained on […]

Reports coming from a Daily Maverick investigation have revealed shocking findings that South Africa’s Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, is implicated in an improperly awarded contract by the Department of Health. The investigation has found that long-time personal associates of the Minister allegedly pocketed Covid-19 funds after being appointed as consultants of a KwaZulu-Natal company. […]

South Africa kick-started its first phase of the vaccination rollout programme using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine a week ago Wednesday. Here the Health Department answers some of the burning questions about who will get it first; why it is a good choice for the country; why pregnant woman cannot get the shot and how […]

Cape Town doctor Dr Aneeka Domingo, who was one of the 23,059 healthcare workers to be vaccinated by Monday evening, says it was an emotional experience that felt like history in the making. She has also shared the symptoms she felt after the vaccination, and how to best prepare yourself. Dr Domingo was vaccinated with […]

Silwerskerm Best Actress winner Lea Vivier (Wonderlus, The Day We Didn’t Meet) is the lead in the new Showmax Original DAM, a small-town psychological thriller from four-time SAFTA winner Alex Yazbek that’s now streaming.  In DAM, Lea stars as Yola Fischer, who returns from Chile to a small town in the Eastern Cape to bury […]

South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 32.5% in the last three months of 2020, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke has revealed. The increase presents a 1.7 percentage point increase from the third quarter of 2020. Despite the grim picture painted in the fourth quarter (Q4) Labour Force Survey, released on Tuesday, Stats SA said the Quarter 4 […]

The MTN Foundation has rewarded South Africa’s top 183 matriculants with laptops for their hard work and dedication displayed in the 2020 National Senior Certificate examinations. “As a reward for their efforts and stellar results, MTN Foundation is handing over laptop computers to the top 33 achievers nationally, as well as providing laptops to the […]

The drug whoonga has plagued South African communities for at least a decade, yet only gained significant public attention when it appeared more visibly in the inner-city and surrounding suburbs of Durban, the major city in the country’s KwaZulu-Natal province. Also known as nyaope, whoonga is a street concoction of B-grade heroin, rat-poison (strychnine) and […]