The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) says South Africa’s trade relationship with the United Kingdom continues unchanged after the UK left the European Union (EU). “South Africa has been notified by the EU that in terms of the Withdrawal Agreement concluded and ratified between the EU and the UK, during the transitional period, the […]

The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) says it intends to lay criminal charges against freelance journalist Raymond Joseph and GroundUp over an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud and corruption involving multimillion-rand Lottery grants. The threats were made in two separate letters from the NLC’s lawyers, Malatji and Co, which were received by email on Thursday and […]

A video of a man claiming to be ‘Black Jesus’ and his female companion, walking along a Johannesburg street, has been going viral in South Africa over the past 24 hours. Both are not wearing a stitch of clothing. A female driver who appears to have filmed the incident can be heard asking the couple: […]

As the Chinese government tries to contain the coronavirus, other cases have occurred across the globe. This raises the question: Will this spread – to me? Am I at risk? Not now, because currently every case of the novel coronavirus is linked to Wuhan. There are lots of different coronaviruses that group into three types. […]

Archiebold Zolile Ndindwa moved to Van Riebeeck Park near Cape Town’s city centre after he could no longer afford to pay his rent in Langa. For many homeless people finding work is hard, even harder if they are without documents. But with help from Streetscapes, Ndindwa recently obtained his ID and can now receive a […]

On Saturday morning I entered Kruger very early and had a breakfast appointment at Skukuza planned… writes Kurt Schultz.  Having worked in Kruger and guided and run www.kurtsafari.com for the last 10 years. I spend most of the week in an office, so weekends are my time to get my camera out and get into […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa and the SA Human Rights Commission have congratulated the team of South African Grade 11 learners, who have won the 5th International School Moot Court Competition in Gdynia, Poland… flying the flag high for SA, by beating the USA in the finals. President Ramaphosa said the learners’ victory is an achievement to […]

Thirty years ago, on 2 February 1990, a speech was delivered by then President FW de Klerk that marked the beginning of a radically new political landscape for South Africa. In his opening address to parliament, De Klerk unbanned the exiled liberation movements, notably the African National Congress (ANC), Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) and South African […]

Many South Africans who were kept in the dark over the weekend – while Eskom implemented Stage 2 rotational loadshedding – were hoping the week ahead looked brighter. But Eskom has announced on Sunday evening that the Stage 2 loadshedding will continue until Thursday! The only respite will be three hours each morning… but only […]

South African expat and well known YouTuber, Joshua (Josh) Pieters, has pranked a controversial British columnist with a fake award he flew her to Prague, in the Czech Republic, to accept! Katie Hopkins is notorious in the UK for her inflammatory and often racist, ageist, fat-ist, anti-feminist remarks against virtually everyone (watch the video below!). […]

The Health Department has activated an emergency operations centre to deal with the global outbreak of the Coronavirus. “The emergency centre was activated last night and is now currently operational. We are busy building up the staff numbers but from last night, activities have started,” said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize as he detailed the country’s […]

Dr Yasmin Ibrahim was a brilliant anaesthesiologist. She was also a cancer survivor and philanthropist; a true friend and the youngest of a large family who were so proud of her achievements. Tributes from friends, family and colleagues have described the amazing qualities of Dr Ibrahim (45), a practising Specialist Anaesthesiologist in Johannesburg, whose life […]

Botswana registered its first ever suspected case of corona virus on Thursday, 30 January 2020. The suspected case was registered at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport upon arrival using Ethiopian Airways from China, the Botswana Government said in a press statement. “The suspect case is still under isolation at Block 8 Clinic and investigations are […]

Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter, today warned South Africans of more “intensive loadshedding” to come as the power utility battles to come to grips with the country’s energy crisis. But there is a plan and light at the end of the tunnel! Eskom will be changing its maintenance philosophy and will “enter into a long-term […]

Parliament announced, on Thursday, that it has extended the deadline for public comment to 29 February on the land expropriation with compensation proposal, apparently bending to pressure after numerous submissions were blocked by parliamentary IT servers for “unacceptable content”. The extension comes after several people attempting to make submissions to the designated parliamentary email address […]

A giraffe from Africa – destined for a breeding centre at Thailand’s biggest safari park – has tragically died after making a desperate bid for freedom. The 5 to 7 metre high giraffe had escaped shortly after landing at Bangkok’s main airport, along with a smaller giraffe (4 metres)… but authorities were only able to […]

Following the advice of the Emergency Committee today (30 January 2020), the WHO Director-General has declared the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. In China, more than 7700 cases have been confirmed, and 170 people have died. Over 120 have recovered and been discharged from hospital. There are 82 […]

In listing 32 wild animal species as farm animals under the Animal Improvement Act in 2019, the Department of Agriculture went against the recommendations of the government’s own scientific authority. The scientific report on wildlife breeding was called for by the former Minister of Environmental Affairs (DEFF) and authored by 14 of the country’s top wildlife scientists. […]

About 80 activists took part in an Extinction Rebellion protest outside The Westin hotel in Cape Town during the annual Southern African Coal Conference on Thursday. Business executives, lobbyists, and government officials gather every year to discuss the future of coal mining, processing and trading at the conference. The protesters want to encourage the switch […]

Watch below as tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (number one in the world) speak about how they can’t wait to play at the Match in Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, on 7 February. Federer, whose mother is a South African expat, said on Facebook: “I am so excited to be playing my […]

Children at a Centre in Pretoria, many from abusive families, experienced a wonderful late Christmas this week when South African Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane presented them with school uniforms and toys, each parcel gift-wrapped with their name on it. The Minister’s generous gifts – which were largely donated by residents and businesses in the area […]

The deepening of economic growth and the predicament of the country’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) – like Eskom and SAA – are expected to be taking centre stage at the Cabinet Lekgotla being held by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria this week. Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu outlined the government’s […]

It could be romantic cande-lit dinners and baths for South Africans tonight, as Eskom says its power system is “under stress” this morning, Thursday 30 January 2020, and the country faces the risk of load shedding this evening. The power utility issued a power alert this morning, revealing that it is using diesel generators currently […]

The Development Bank of Southern Africa will provide South African Airways (SAA) with funding of R3.5 billion to assist the national carrier in addressing its liquidity challenges. “Discussions held with financial institutions have been fruitful with the Development Bank of Southern Africa offering to provide the next tranche of PCF [post commencement funding], for a […]

Interested parties have been reminded they have until Friday to comment on legislation amending Section 25 of the South African Constitution. Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee to Initiate and Introduce Legislation Amending Section 25 of the Constitution on Tuesday reminded all the stakeholders of the approaching deadline. This comes as written submissions are sought on the […]