One of South Africa’s great liberal stalwarts, Rupert Lorimer, has passed away. Lorimer was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Progressive Party in 1974 and joined Helen Suzman in Parliament in the fight against the brutal apartheid regime. Democratic Alliance National Spokesperson Refiloe Nt’sekhe said the DA is saddened by Lorimer’s passing, and […]

One person – a 59-year-old woman – has died and two have been seriously injured in what has been described as a “traumatic night full of uncertainty” as the #BettysBayFire raged in the Overstrand last night. Another person – believed to be an 18-month-old baby – also suffered minor injuries. The fire began on New […]

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has confirmed the resignation of Deputy Governor Francois Groepe. Groepe tendered his resignation during December to pursue “outside opportunities”, the central bank said on Wednesday. His resignation is effective from 31 January. “The SARB wishes to thank Deputy Governor Groepe for his 14 years of service, seven served as […]

Presidency Director-General Dr Cassius Lubisi has received a memorandum from #FeesMustFall activists demanding blanket amnesty for activists who have been convicted of crimes arising from the #FeesMustFall protest in 2017. Activists arrived at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday, 2 January following a march from KwaZulu-Natal to Leeukop correctional centre in Gauteng, where activist […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand weakened more than one percent on Wednesday as weak Chinese manufacturing data offset hopes that a trade war between China and the United States was ending. Stocks saw their largest single-day drop since August, as risk aversion globally weighed on the local market. At 1502 GMT, the rand was 0.71 […]

The wife of a South African man charged in Mozambique on terror-related activities has scoffed at the charges, and says her husband – Andre Mayer Hanekom – is being framed by influential people who want to get their hands on his beach property. South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has called […]

A couple in the Free State is fighting for their lives following a brutal attack on their farm in Smithfield, South Africa, on 31 December, said the Democratic Alliance (DA)… who have reiterated their call for specialised rural safety units. Dennis and Jeanetta du Plessis – aged 70 and 65 – are both in Intensive […]

JOHANNESBURG – Mozambique’s former finance minister, Manuel Chang, has been arrested in South Africa at the request of the United States, a police spokesman said on Monday. Chang, who was in charge of Mozambique’s finances when it guaranteed $2 billion in secret borrowing by state-owned firms in 2013 and 2014, was arrested on Saturday in […]

South Africa has sent its condolences to the people of United Arab Emirates (UAE) following a helicopter crash that claimed the lives of four people in the North-Eastern region of the country, including a South African paramedic. “The government and people of South Africa wish to extend its sincere condolences to the Government and people of the UAE […]

A devastating wild fire has torn through the historic town of Wupperthal (also spelt Wuppertal) in the Cederberg – tragically destroying most of the small tourist town which is nestled outside Clanwilliam, in the Cape West Coast District. The SABC News Western Cape said Friday evening that it is estimated about 30 houses have burnt down, […]

A couple of months ago, as I flew along the Overberg coast I could not fail to notice a fair amount of what I suspect to be poaching activity… writes marine conservation photographer Jean Tresfon. I counted six inflatable boats, all carrying multiple divers, spare cylinders and sackfuls of what looks suspiciously like abalone. Also […]

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has issued a statement in response to the slaughtering of a sheep on Clifton’s 4th Beach in Cape Town. The slaughter took place during an #OccupyClifton protest on Friday, which was organised by activists after a private security company apparently instructed beachgoers to leave Clifton Fourth Beach on Christmas […]

Siphon suction pumps will be used to further lower the Middle Lake Dam level in Benoni after part of the dam caved in earlier this week. Local, provincial and national government worked together to establish the operation to avert the possible loss of lives and serious damage to infrastructure following the caving in of a […]

Initiation deaths were at the centre of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize’s meeting with Eastern Cape traditional leaders. Held at the Nqadu Great Place in Willowvale on Thursday, the meeting between the parties discussed ways of curbing further deaths of initiates during the traditional ritual of ulwaluko. The country has seen a […]

Durban has been hit by a severe thunderstorm on Thursday evening. EThekwini Municipality issued a newsflash warning of the bad weather, just before it hit. The Municipality warned residents and visitors in Durban and surroundings of severe thunderstorms with a possibility of localised flooding. According to South African Weather Services, this inclement weather is likely […]

The City of Cape Town, South Africa has on Thursday reiterated its stance that public amenities are available to all members of the public. In a statement the City noted ongoing reports about an incident that occurred on Clifton Fourth Beach on Christmas Eve where beachgoers were apparently instructed to leave the beach by private […]

LONDON – Sister Wendy Beckett, a nun and art historian who became an unlikely television star in Britain in the 1990s, died at the age of 88 on Wednesday, the BBC reported. South Africa-born Beckett was living in a caravan in a Carmelite monastery in Norfolk, east England, when she started studying art in the […]

Following a deadly tsunami in Indonesia that struck coastal towns on the Sunda Strait on Saturday, 22 December 2018, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has urged South Africans with family members in Indonesia whom they cannot contact or locate, to contact the department’s 24-hour switchboard number at 012 351 1000. […]

Between 2015 and 2017 South Africa’s South Western Cape region experienced three of its lowest rainfall years on record. This led to the progressive depletion of water supply reservoirs and by the summer of 2017/18 there was a real danger that – without drastic reductions in water use – the region, and especially the city […]

SYDNEY – Former Australia cricket captain Steve Smith said on Friday he had not been involved in planning to tamper with the ball during the Cape Town test against South Africa, but took responsibility as a leader for failing to put a stop to it. Smith, along with vice-captain David Warner and opening batsman Cameron […]

MOSCOW – A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck off Russia’s sparsely populated far east on Thursday, but officials said the threat of a tsunami had passed and no damage was reported. The quake off Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, which was initially measured at magnitude 7.8 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), before […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa‘s Competition Commission on Thursday recommended Shoprite’s retail unit, which houses the country’s biggest supermarket chain, be fined 10 percent of its turnover for anti-competitive behaviour. Shoprite shares fell more than 4 percent after the commission referred it to the country’s Competition Tribunal, which will ultimately decide if the commission’s charges and […]

Today is Day 20 of the Khoisan6’s peaceful protest at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa… writes concerned Tshwane resident, Lisa Marcelle Hold. Last night they went hungry and are in desperate need of food and fresh water. Conditions over the past week have been horrendous with unbearable weather – either searing heat or torrential rain […]

South Africa’s Public Protector (PP), Busisiwe Mkhwebane, has found that the 2016 family holiday trip to Dubai by former Minister of Sport, Fikile Mbalula, was paid for by Sedgars Sports, a sporting goods supplier, and that this constitutes a conflict of interest. The PP has also found that Mbalula acted in violation of the Constitution […]

A lodge manager and guide at Leopard Rock Lodge, Mark Lautenbach, has been tragically killed in an elephant attack in South Africa. North West MEC for Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development, Desbo Mohono said in a statement that Lautenbach was a manager and guide at the Leopard Rock Lodge operating in Madikwe Game Reserve. Lautenbach […]