JOHANNESBURG – South Africa has imposed emergency measures, including rationing, to save dwindling water supplies after an abnormally hot, dry summer coupled with below average rainfall and a spike in usage pushing the country towards a crippling shortage. Dam levels across the country have dropped by 10% to 60% compared to 2018, according to a […]

With the Vaal Dam below 50% full, the Katse Dam down to 13% and Gauteng gripped in a heatwave, the threat of running out of water is real, according to experts who discuss the plight of the province on South Africa’s current affairs show, Carte Blanche, tonight. For those who haven’t sweltered the heatwave in the past week […]

By the stroke of a legislative pen, a list of iconic and in some cases endangered wild animals can now be manipulated as farming stock. What happens next is anyone’s guess… writes Don Pinnock. Lions, cheetahs, rhinos and zebras were among 33 wild species which became farm animals as of May this year when the […]

JOHANNESBURG – Hackers have shut down the cyber network of Johannesburg City Council, targeting computers of local government employees in South Africa’s economic hub, city officials said on Friday. The hackers allegedly demanded ransom in the form of bitcoins in exchange for reactivating internet and email links to the city’s billing systems, local media reported. […]

South African actor Andile Gumbi has passed away at the age of 36 after suffering a massive heart attack last week in Israel where he was performing in Daniel The Musical. His wife reportedly flew to Israel to be with him as he recovered in hospital, but unfortunately he did not make it. Daniel the […]

The politicians who run South Africa’s official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), have probably never heard of “imposter syndrome”. If they had, they might have a better grasp of the problems which confront their party – and its first black leader might not have been forced to resign. “Imposter syndrome” is a state of mind […]

SABRIC, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre, confirmed today that as of Wednesday, 23 October 2019, the banking industry has been hit by a wave of ransom-driven Distributed Denial of Service attacks, targeting various public-facing services across multiple banks. These attacks started with a ransom note which was delivered via email to both unattended as […]

Springboks winger Cheslin Kolbe will miss the Rugby World Cup semi-final against Wales because of an ankle injury, coach Rassie Erasmus said on Thursday. (See the full Springboks team for the semi-final match at the bottom of the page.) Kolbe, one of the standout players of the tournament, missed South Africa’s pool match against Canada with an […]

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) says a typical “winter” series of cold fronts, with possible flooding, will be visiting  the Western Cape over the “spring” weekend bringing “good amounts of rain”… while most of north-eastern South Africa will continue suffering under persistent heat wave conditions with parts of KZN expecting temperatures in the 40s […]

Southern Cape police in South Africa have sadly confirmed that they have recovered the body of a small child in Herolds Bay on the Garden Route, where mother Heidi Scheepers and her two children – Hugo and Cozette – went missing. The body, believed to be that of two-year-old Hugo, was found floating – still […]

South Africa’s state-run airports management company said on Thursday it had suspended Zimbabwe’s debt-strapped national airline from using the country’s airports over unpaid landing and parking fees. Air Zimbabwe owes foreign and domestic creditors more than $300 million. The Zimabwe government put the airline under administration last year and later invited bids from potential investors […]

Animal Rights campaigners have expressed outrage and “heartbreak” at the news that today more than 30 wild-caught baby elephants – held captive for nearly a year in Hwange National Park – have been flown out of Zimbabwe, via Victoria Falls Airport, to Chinese zoos. Army trucks allegedly moved in despite campaigners’ legal effort. Humane Society […]

The former leader of South Africa’s official opposition Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane, gave up his seat in parliament on Thursday after quitting the national leadership and plunging the traditionally white liberal party into crisis. Race and class remain highly divisive issues in South Africa, where the ruling African National Congress has been in power since […]

After Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane resigned yesterday as head of South Africa’s main opposition party, he has today announced his resignation from the DA party and from Parliament. Maimane announced his resignation as leader of the party on Wednesday after four years at the helm, citing difficulties making the traditionally white liberal party […]

GABORONE – More than 100 elephants have died in Botswana in the past two months partly because of a suspected anthrax outbreak, the government said on Tuesday. “Preliminary investigations suggest the elephants are dying from anthrax whilst some died from drought effects,” a Department of Wildlife and National Parks statement said. “Due to the severe […]

CAPE TOWN – There is no quick fix for South Africa’s ailing Test team in the wake of their demoralising series whitewash in India, captain Faf du Plessis said, as retirements, defections abroad and an under-performing domestic scene drag them into mediocrity. South Africa were thrashed in all three matches and look a shadow of […]

South African Police have recovered gold, vehicle registration plates and cash following an armed robbery at Ergo DRD gold mine in Brakpan, Ekurhuleni, which resulted in the death of the chief security officer, Bart Coetzee, who was fatally wounded in a shoot-out with the suspects. The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement […]

The murder investigation underway after the bodies of 39 people were tragically discovered in the back of a cargo truck in the UK, is ongoing. UPDATE SATURDAY 16h30 SA Time: On Thursday British police said the victims were Chinese, but today (Sat 26 Oct) it is now being reported that most of the victims were […]

JOHANNESBURG – Crisis-hit South African power company Eskom was handed an additional R59 billion ($4 billion) lifeline by parliament on Tuesday, prompting criticism from opposition parties who described it as a “blank cheque”. The special bill passed by parliament to grant the funding was first proposed by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in July as Eskom […]

For anyone hiding under a rock this week, never fear. The interview that former Speaker of Parliament in South Africa Baleka Mbete did on Al Jazeera over the weekend with Head to Head’s Mehdi Hasan is one of those gifts that keeps on giving. It has already been watched almost 300,000 times on YouTube. Called […]

More than 1,000 posts are vacant in the lower and higher courts of South Africa – including presiding officers and court officials – some of them for more than a year, the Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola has revealed. Lamola said, in response to a question in Parliament from the  Democratic Alliance, that there were […]

JOHANNESBURG – Armed men invaded a metallurgical plant owned by South Africa’s DRDGOLD on Monday night, killing the gold miner’s chief security officer and stealing an estimated 17 kg of gold, the company said. DRDGOLD’s chief security officer Bart Coetzee was fatally wounded in an exchange of gunfire during the attack at the Ergo plant […]

A South African father has called for Christians to “stand against the humiliation and mocking of our faith” after discovering artwork at his children’s KwaZulu-Natal school which depicts God as a clown, amongst other things. Watch below. Speaking on his child’s last day of school yesterday at Grantleigh outside Richard’s Bay in KZN, Andrew Anderson […]

HARARE – At least 55 elephants have died in a game park in western Zimbabwe since September from starvation caused by a severe drought, the wildlife agency said on Monday. Zimparks spokesman Tinashe Farawo said the animals had died near water holes dotted around the Hwange National Park, a sign that they had traveled long […]

It’s what parents have feared for years… Johnson & Johnson (J&J) said on Friday it is recalling around 33,000 bottles of baby powder in the United States after U.S. health regulators found trace amounts of asbestos in samples taken from a bottle purchased online. J&J shares fell more than 6% to close at $127.70. This […]