Load Shedding is crap! But I must admit that I’ve not been affected by it whatsoever… writes South African music and entertainment entrepreneur, and former frontman of the band Cinema, Jarrod Aston Assenheim. I love having a few hours at this time of night to slow down, listen to the silence, listen to an audiobook and […]

As South African news reports “darker days ahead” and “no lights, no water”, it’s time to shed some light – and humour – on SA’s infamous “load shedding” (known to the rest of the world as power cuts). Today South Africans braced themselves for another round of rotational Stage 4 load shedding which will got […]

Brave rescue teams from South Africa have saved 167 people using air support in the Buzi district of Mozambique, an area which was particularly hammered by Cyclone Idai over the weekend. But more help is desperately needed as storm victims are still hanging onto poles and trees in flooded areas, in a desperate bid to […]

MAPUTO/HARARE – Cyclone winds and floods that swept across southeastern Africa affected more than 2.6 million people and could rank as one of the worst weather-related disasters recorded in the southern hemisphere, U.N. officials said on Tuesday. Rescue crews are still struggling to reach victims five days after Cyclone Idai raced in at speeds of […]

South Africa’s Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday he cannot say yet when rolling blackouts will end, as power utility Eskom struggles with capacity shortages that threaten to thwart efforts to boost economic growth. Eskom supplies more than 90 percent of the power in South Africa but has suffered repeated faults at its […]

South Africans often complain that SA hardly ever makes international news, but yesterday the country featured prominently in news around the globe for three main reasons: load shedding, Ramaphosa stuck on a train, and a high profile politician arrested for killing a whistle blower. “Chaos across South Africa as blackouts roll into third day” This […]

Former Steinhoff chairman and top shareholder Christo Wiese said on Monday he is open to negotiations over his $4 billion claim against the South African retailer, days after it revealed the scale of devastating accounting fraud. Steinhoff said on Friday that an independent report had found it overstated profits over several years in a $7.4 […]

South Africa’s state utility Eskom will make more power cuts this week as it struggles with capacity shortages that threaten to stymie President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to boost investments and economic growth. Eskom supplies more than 90 percent of the power in South Africa but has suffered repeated faults at its coal-fired power stations, along […]

“I have always prided myself in writing objective and truthful articles” says Tossie Beukes. One of four defamation cases against seven critics of controversial Australian mining company Mineral Commodities (MRC) and its South African operations has been dropped. A linked criminal defamation case against one of the seven has also been withdrawn. The cases, totalling […]

The loadshedding crisis in South Africa, which has dragged on (and off) for around 11 years is not so much a power failure, say some, as a failure of power. And therefore no joke – of which there are many, it being South Africa and all – captures the ineptitude of those controlling South Africa’s […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African state utility Eskom stepped up rolling blackouts (aka the dreaded load-shedding!) over the weekend as it lost 900 megawatts of electricity imports from neighbouring Mozambique, which was hit this week by a cyclone. Eskom, which generates nearly all of the power for South Africa, said that it had cut 4,000 megawatts, […]

HARARE – Cyclone Idai has killed at least 64 people in eastern Zimbabwe and destroyed homes, bridges and roads, making rescue efforts difficult, a government minister said on Sunday. The tropical storm has already pounded neighboring Malawi and Mozambique where at least 111 people died in floods and heavy rains as the cyclone approached. Mozambique […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has included two prominent politicians – who were linked to corruption under former President Jacob Zuma – in its list of candidates for parliament ahead of May’s election… but a senior source allied to President Cyril Ramaphosa said tainted former officials are unlikely to make it […]

JOHANNESBURG – Eskom has warned that the loadshedding of the past week is likely to continue until Sunday, and says that further cuts are probably on the horizon next week… which is not great news for business. Eskom supplies more than 90 percent of South Africa’s power… but has suffered repeated faults at its fleet […]

Johannesburg is famous for having one of the largest urban forests in the world, but now the South African city faces losing much of that extraordinary and beautiful 10-million tree canopy as a tiny beetle threatens to cause one of South Africa’s largest ecological tragedies. ‘Garden Style’ author Melanie Walker reports on the current crisis, […]

A powerful tropical storm made landfall in Mozambique on Thursday evening, battering a coastal city with heavy rain and wind at speeds of up to 170 km an hour and injuring several people. Parts of Mozambique were cut off on Friday because of Cyclone Idai. In Beira, a city of around 500,000 people and a […]

At least 49 people have been killed, and 20 injured following an attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Tributes from around the world have poured in, including one from All Blacks rugby player Sonny Bill Williams, who is Muslim: “My heart is hurting about the news coming out of Christchurch. Sending love & […]

CAPE TOWN – A young lion captured after being on the run for almost a month spent the night in a South African police cell before being moved back to its national park home. And judging by the video below, he wasn’t very happy about it! The juvenile male lion escaped from the Karoo National […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s popular Standard Bank will cut around 1,200 jobs and close 91 branches as part of efforts to digitise its retail and business bank, it said on Thursday. South Africa’s lenders, like others around the world, have been shuttering branches and trimming their headcount in an attempt to cut costs and adapt […]

Cyclone Idai, the worst storm to threaten Mozambique in years, is due to make landfall late on Thursday according to South Africa’s Weather Services (SAWS). The powerful hurricane – called a “rare giant hurricane” in some international news reports – threatens to rip through Mozambique’s second largest port with winds of over 190 km per […]

ADDIS ABABA – Draped in traditional white mourning shawls, relatives of the Ethiopian victims of ET Flight 302 gathered silently in a hotel conference room in Addis Ababa on Thursday, before boarding buses headed for the crash site. Couples held each other, slumped forward in their chairs, their gazes downcast. Some men held their heads […]

Around 220 animals tragically died during a fire on Monday evening at Mulati Wilddienste Farm near Brits in North West, South Africa. Police suspect it was arson. According to WildForLife, the animals “died a painful death, trapped in burning enclosures”. The heartbroken owner of Mulati, Gustav Strydom, said in a video interview that in 20 […]

Thousands of South Africans around the world will not be taking part in the SA National Elections this year, despite having the privilege to do so… because of an unfounded rumour. They’re afraid their details will be passed on to the SA government for the future ‘expat tax’ that is due to be introduced in […]

CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s rising debt trajectory will make it difficult to weather a significant global economic downturn, the Reserve Bank deputy governor said, adding it would take at least a decade to bring the debt-to-GDP ratio down to the 30 to 40 percent range. Deputy governor Kuben Naidoo also said on Wednesday that […]

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa – Veteran batsman Hashim Amla has pulled out of the South African One-Day International squad to play Sri Lanka for family reasons, granting a reprieve for opener Reeza Hendricks who had been dropped for the final two matches of the series. “Hashim has asked to be excused from the last two […]