CAPE TOWN – President Jacob Zuma paid a visit Thursday afternoon, 18 May, to the family of the little three-year-old girl – Courtney Pieters – who was tragically found murdered and buried in a shallow grave in Elsies River, in Cape Town, South Africa. Just over 10 days ago, missing posters had gone up looking for the […]

Soon there’ll be no more braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies AND Chevrolet… as General Motors (GM) announced Thursday 18 May that it plans to sell its operations in South Africa. This, as well as its decision to stop selling cars in India, comes as the company decides to focus on fewer, more profitable markets. Last year […]

CAPE TOWN – The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe, says Operation Phakisa in the oceans economy has unlocked R7.3 billion in investments. The Minister said this when he tabled his department’s Budget Vote in the National Assembly on Wednesday. “Since its launch by President [Jacob] Zuma in July 2014, […]

On Tuesday, 17 May 2017, Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader Mmusi Maimane delivered what his party is calling “a landmark speech on the realignment of South African politics and the road to election 2019”. He delivered his vision for a post-ANC South Africa, and said: “I am prepared to work with all parties that share this […]

The perilous state of Cape Town’s water supply is starkly visible… [This is part one of a GroundUp special series on Cape Town’s water crisis.] There are six major dams in Cape Town: Berg River, Steenbras Lower, Steenbras Upper, Theewaterskloof, Voëvlei, and Wemmershoek. These hold 99.6% of the city’s water capacity, with eight smaller dams, mostly […]

Former South African Minister of Mineral Resources Ngoako Ramatlhodi claimed on Tuesday that Eskom’s CEO, Brian Molefe, and chairman Ben Ngubane, had tried to persuade him in 2015 to suspend Glencore’s mining licences… in an attempt to pressurise Glencore into selling a coal mine… and help the controversial Gupta Family take over the mine. Ramatlhodi told […]

Braam Malherbe and Wayne Robertson arrived in Cape Town on Monday morning to a superhero’s welcome… after rowing 6,700 km – from Cape to Rio – to help save the planet! And amongst those waiting to congratulate them was South Africa’s favourite chicken peri-peri chain, Nando’s! The world-famous extreme adventurer took on the epic journey as part […]

PRETORIA – Police Minister Fikile Mbalula has assured all South Africans that the police will do everything in their power to apprehend the killers of Mandla Hlatshwayo. (Please see update on Mandla Hlatshwayo’s murder here.) The Jozi fm DJ and former Generations actor was brutally killed in an armed robbery in the early hours of this […]

O. R. Tambo International Airport has issued the following statement concerning the horrific incident this afternoon – Monday 15 May 2017: “As O.R. Tambo International Airport Management, we have this afternoon been made aware of this very unfortunate and deeply concerning matter. “The incident took place off the R24, along Ring Road, which leads to […]

After the Springbok Sevens not only won the Paris Rugby Sevens Series this weekend – but achieved an unassailable lead so that South Africa will be crowned World Rugby Sevens Series Champions next week, when the series concludes in London – they were joined by Mr Mission Impossible himself – Tom Cruise. For many years, it had […]

Opposition party members marched arm in arm Monday morning from Mary Fitzgerald Square to the Constitutional Court where arguments are being heard today on whether a secret ballot should be conducted when Members of Parliament vote on a Motion of No Confidence against President Jacob Zuma. The EFF said: “The masses have come out in […]

Extreme conservationist Braam Malherbe, together with his rowing mate Wayne Robertson, completed their epic journey of 8,100 km from Cape Town – from which they set off on 7 February – to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil… where they arrived on Tuesday. On Monday 15 May they will arrive at Cape Town International Airport… and South Africans are invited […]

Wordfence has just issued the following alert to all Windows users (Sunday 22h30): “On Friday we alerted you to a global ransomware campaign a few hours after it started. That campaign has now infected over 10,000 organizations and 200,000 individuals in 150 countries. This includes the UK National Health System which saw ambulances divert from affected […]

While snow fell in the Drakensberg this weekend, heavy rain fell in other parts of KwaZulu-Natal… with some dramatic footage coming in from Richards Bay and Zinkwazi, in South Africa. (Watch video below.) Richards Bay resident Karina Rautenbach said this afternoon there had been 310mm of rainfall collected (since Friday) “and counting”. Flooding in the […]

The Springbok Sevens team on Sunday took an unassailable lead in the World Rugby Sevens Series and will be crowned the 2016/17 series champions in London next week when the series conclude with the HSBC London Sevens at Twickenham. WATCH the Highlights from today in Paris at the bottom of the page. The Blitzboks had […]

World Rugby Sevens has announced that South Africa are the 2016-17 World Rugby Sevens Series champions… a FANTASTIC achievement, after being runners up for so many years! The Blizboks ensured the win at the Paris Sevens on Sunday afternoon, 14 May 2017, after beating New Zealand in the Cup semi-finals. World Rugby said: “England’s earlier […]

An 11-year-old schoolboy from Fourways will be joining international musician Justin Bieber on stage at the FNB Stadium today in Johannesburg! Julian Andrews scooped the incredible opportunity after winning a dance competition. Julian told Justin in his video entry that he wanted to follow his dreams, of dancing, like Justin had followed his of singing. Watch […]

SINGAPORE/TORONTO (Reuters) – Technical staff scrambled on Sunday to patch computers and restore infected ones, amid fears that the ransomware worm that stopped car factories, hospitals, shops and schools could wreak fresh havoc on Monday when employees log back on. The spread of the virus dubbed WannaCry – “ransomware” which locked up more than 100,000 […]

New South African Police Minister, Fikile Mbalula, has taken the time to pledge his support to police officers around the country… as well as to their family members. Earlier this week, he acknowledged the thankless – and life-threatening – job South African Police Service (SAPS) officers undertake, whilst visiting a call centre in Midrand. This weekend, […]

Congratulations to four young South Africans who have won top titles at the International Pageantry stage in Turkey. Pageants SA CEO, Carolyn Baldwin Botha‎, said she is proud to announce the following achievements for “our incredible young girls”:   Eldunique Du Plessis has won Little Miss Universe 2017 & Little Miss Sympathy Neo Nkhumane has won Miss […]

Snow has continued falling in parts of South Africa this weekend… allowing at least one holidaying couple – Marius and Christine – to enjoy the perfect ‘honeymoon’ weekend in Sani Pass… snowed in! (See pics below.) For some travellers it’s been less exciting… as the inclement snowy and icy conditions led to road closures in the Drakensberg – between […]

PRETORIA – Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi will not appeal a decision by the Western Cape High Court to set aside Inter-governmental Agreements (IGAs) on nuclear. “I have decided that I will not be appealing the decision of the Western Cape High Court on this matter,” Minister Kubayi said. She was addressing a media briefing in Pretoria […]

According to local reports in South Africa, as many as NINE rhino were killed this week in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal… in what is becoming a tragic occurrence every time there is a full moon (nicknamed Poachers’ Moon). This brings the total rhino killed by poachers in the park during the first two weeks of this month […]

PRETORIA – The Eskom board’s decision to reinstate former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Molefe may have shocked many South Africans… but according to Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, it’s a “better option” than the previous R30 million early retirement pay-out! Not everyone agrees (see the joke at the bottom of the page). “I believe the board’s […]

LONDON/MADRID (Reuters) – A global cyber attack leveraging hacking tools believed to have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries including South Africa, disrupting Britain’s health system and global shipper FedEx. Cyber extortionists tricked victims into opening malicious malware attachments to spam emails […]