South African businessman Andre Hanekom is still missing in Mozambique under mysterious circumstances. On Thursday his wife of 36 years, Francis, took to Facebook to urge people to sign a petition to the Government and Mozambique police to free him. The petition claims Hanekom, who had been living in Mozambique for 25 years, has been […]

On the advice of the State Librarian one fine day in the 1970s, a truck transported thousands of books and magazines from Pretoria’s Central Police Station to a dark hall at the Iscor state steel company, just outside the South African capital. A large mechanical shovel scooped up and dropped them into a 20-metre high […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s state pension fund and a local black investment firm have bought a majority stake in Africa’s biggest cattle company for R5.2 billion. The Public Investment Corp. (PIC), Africa’s largest investment fund and the biggest investor in South Africa’s economy, said on Tuesday it had bought a majority share in Karan Beef […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s new finance minister will target spending on agriculture, infrastructure and job creation projects in his inaugural budget speech on Wednesday in a bid to haul the economy out of a recession. With the government facing a ballooning debt, stubbornly high unemployment, struggling state companies, and dwindling coffers, Tito Mboweni, a […]

JOHANNESBURG – Wiping out corruption in South Africa continues with an announcement that Transnet’s board of directors has removed Chief Executive Siyabonga Gama, who has been accused of misconduct in a multi-million-dollar deal. State-owned Transnet, which operates nearly three-quarters of the African rail network – most of which is in South Africa – has been […]

This week’s episode of Carte Blanche investigates some of the hottest current topics in South Africa –  how millions were siphoned off at VBS bank, painful decisions around fighting for the right to choose to die, the bankrupt municipality, Maluti-A-Phufong, and if DNA Phenotyping can really help pinpoint the identity of an unknown assailant? The show […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday appointed a judicial inquiry into the R2 trillion rand ($142 billion) state pension fund, a government gazette said, following corruption allegations. The PIC is Africa’s biggest pension fund and the biggest investor in South Africa’s economy holding a large volume of bonds issued by government and […]

JOHANNESBURG – Ratings agency Moody’s said this week that it expected new South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to keep the government’s broad policies intact in the medium-term budget speech due next week. Lucie Villa, Moody’s lead analyst for South Africa said in a research report that while the change in ministers “may lead to […]

Civil rights organisation AfriForum on Tuesday made a presentation regarding farm murders in South Africa to members of the Parliament of Western Australia… in an attempt to persuade the Australians that farm attacks (346 so far this year) and farm murders (46 this year) are a serious issue and that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s denials are […]

CAPE TOWN – South Africa will struggle to finance the public services that form the largest part of its budget… due to falling revenues and an economic recession, the National Treasury told lawmakers on Tuesday. South Africa slipped into recession in the second quarter for the first time in nearly a decade; and the political […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday rejected a newspaper report that he failed to stop R1.9 billion ($132 million) being illegally siphoned from VBS Mutual Bank. City Press reported on Sunday that sources close to a major VBS shareholder said the shareholder had informed Ramaphosa about what was going on when he […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the South African government is intensifying the implementation of land reform and restitution programmes so that South Africans can leverage land for the betterment of their lives and the growth of the economy. Ramaphosa led a land restitution ceremony on Sunday. He handed over 4 586 hectares of land to the […]

Pik Botha, South Africa’s former Foreign Minister during the apartheid era, has died at the age of 86 after a lengthy illness. Botha’s son – Piet – confirmed to local media that his father had died during the night. Born Roelof Frederik Botha in 1932 in Rustenburg, Pik Botha served as Foreign Minister for 17 […]

The DA has challenged the EFF to set the record straight and publicly confirm whether or not it has ever received money from VBS Mutual bank to fund its operations.   DA National Spokesperson Solly Malatsi said in a media statement: “The EFF has not been shy in their repeated and public defence of VBS […]

The DA says that President Cyril Ramaphosa must “come clean” and turn himself in before the State Commission of Inquiry. Yesterday Ramaphosa told the nation that for South Africa to move forward “we need to establish the full extent of state capture, identify those responsible for facilitating it, and take decisive steps to prevent it […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has received a stamp of approval from the South African Post Office – his very own stamp! The President was presented with a commemorative stamp bearing his image by the SA Post Office at Tuynhuis in Cape Town on Tuesday… which happens to be World Post Day. Ramaphosa becomes the fifth Head […]

The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs is set to resume the investigation into the (questionable) process followed in the naturalisation of the Gupta family. Last week, the committee said it had concluded the initial phase of the inquiry, which included the collection of all relevant information. However, the committee said it had identified gaps which […]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed former Governor of the Reserve Bank Tito Mboweni as Finance Minister on Tuesday, replacing Nhlanhla Nene. Ramaphosa made the announcement at Tuynhuis this afternoon, after accepting Nene’s letter of resignation. Quick action was required on the fate of Nene after the Rand suffered its worst fall in six […]

Following Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini’s announcement that he wants South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign an agreement promising to exclude territories that the monarch controls from the government’s land reform drive, the King has gone a step further and announced a partnership with AfriForum! Lobby group, AfriForum, is also opposed to land expropriation without […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa’s top anti-corruption body – the office of the Public Protector – said on Tuesday it would investigate whether Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene breached ethics guidelines over a state pension fund investment, piling pressure on Nene as he faces questions about his future. The Public Protector’s office said it would […]

South African state-owned power firm Eskom does not require government cash injections over the next 12 months, the country’s Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday. Cash-strapped Eskom is critical to South Africa as it supplies more than 90 % of the country’s power… but is also one of its most indebted state firms. […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand was weaker early on Monday following reports in the Business Day that Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to sack him, after he admitted to visiting the home of the Gupta brothers, friends of scandal-plagued former leader Jacob Zuma. Nene has become a divisive figure in SA […]

An analysis of the 2017/18 Annual Reports of government departments and selected entities, as tabled in Parliament, has revealed a “shocking level of financial mismanagement and wasted funds”, according to the Democratic Alliance (DA). According to DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen and DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, Natasha Mazzone, the ANC has racked up […]

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) will from 15 October start a countrywide Census of Commercial Agriculture. The exercise will see Stats SA deploy about 600 field staff to various commercial farms across the country. The study, according to Stats SA, will establish: the number of farms, their size of farms, crop types being farmed in […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene apologised on Friday for visiting the home of the Gupta brothers – friends of scandal-plagued former leader Jacob Zuma – as pressure mounts on one of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s key allies. Nene has become an increasingly divisive figure after testimony he gave at an inquiry into […]