Following a solid downpour of rain, one of the small dams on the Sabie River – in South Africa’s Kruger National Park – burst Saturday night, leading to one bridge being washed away and the Lower Sabie low water bridge flooding on Sunday morning! Jacqueline Abington was on the S30 (Salitjie Road) when the dam burst. She described it as […]

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation recently announced that once again, no-one had earned its annual prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The prize is meant to recognise probity and commitment to democracy and, crucially, it is awarded to people who have relinquished power with grace rather than outstaying their welcome. Alas, such people are few and […]

In 1980 there were 127 000 commercial farmers serving a population of 25 million people. As a result South Africa used to feed nine neighbouring countries… writes MENZI SOLOMON SHANGE. In 2016 there are only 30 000 commercial farmers left serving a population of 55.9 million people. The ANC are well informed on this statistic […]

The exquisitely-penned letter from a dying children’s author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, has gone viral. The poignant message of love was published by The New York Times on Friday… and has since made headlines around the world. In the letter Amy says that just as her third and final child left home, and she looked forward […]

CAPE TOWN – The South African Police Service (SAPS) says contact crimes have gone down by 1.9% across the country between April and December 2016. There were apparently 10 less murders during the reported period compared to the previous year, and 6% less sexual offences… BUT unfortunately aggravated robberies – like carjacking and robbery – went […]

ER24 Emergency Medical Services, the fire department, police and other services worked Thursday afternoon and evening to free a man who had been trapped in a trench at a residential property in Kloof, Durban, since 14h00. (Updated 21h00.) ER24 reported that when its paramedics arrived on the scene, they found the 30 year old man trapped from his shoulders […]

A section of the roof of the fifth floor at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, collapsed on Thursday. (Updated: 23h00) In an update at 16h30, Nane Radebe, Joburg’s Emergency Medical Services spokesperson, tweeted that the Urban Search and Rescue Team were still trying to locate two people trapped in the rubble. Jack Bloom, Gauteng Shadow […]

Alberton, south of Johannesburg in South Africa, was hit by heavy rain and a flash flood on Thursday, and there was major flooding at Gillooly’s Interchange in Joburg, Gauteng, resulting in road closures to retrieve stranded vehicles. Gauteng Weather issued an alert at around 14h45 on Thursday afternoon. Johan Smit captured dramatic footage on video (scroll […]

While the South African Police Services (SAPS) has secured quick arrests in the high profile ‘farm murder’ cases that rocked South Africa last month, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has reiterated its call today for Rural Safety Units to be re-implemented, following an attack on a home for intellectually disabled people in Balfour… the same rural area where […]

A Sky News investigation in the Democratic Republic of Congo has found children as young as four not only working, but working under extremely dangerous conditions… to mine cobalt, an essential ingredient in lithium ion batteries used in smart phones and laptops. Eight-year-old Dorsen tells Sky his mother is “already dead and I have to work […]

Traffic in and around Pretoria, South Africa, ground to a virtual halt this morning as truck drivers made their way to Marabastad, ahead of a protest march to the Union Buildings. The truckers, reportedly contracted to Eskom to carry coal, are protesting against the implementation of renewable energy projects and requesting it be slowed down. Eskom […]

In a statement yesterday, the City of Cape Town said dam levels have dropped to 33%, which is 1,5% down from a week ago. With the last 10% of a dam’s water mostly not being useable, dam levels are effectively at 23%. The City reported that consumption is at 837 million litres of collective use […]

Friends of Ludi Vink’s Australian fiancé have set up a fund raising page for the South African murder victim’s parents, to help with his funeral and other expenses. A message on the GoFundMe page says: “Ludi was tragically murdered while trying to stop a fight between two people he didn’t know, pushing his mum [Danlee] into […]

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Orlando Bloom, star of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Lord of the Rings” movies, said on Friday it was hard to grasp the scale of the suffering in Africa’s Lake Chad region after visiting some of the children uprooted by years of conflict. An insurgency by the Boko Haram […]

North West government to start donkey production programme… Writes Kimon de Greef A Johannesburg businessman was arrested this week after falsely declaring a shipment of 300 donkey hides at OR Tambo airport. Investigators suspect that the man, a Chinese national, is the leader of a local donkey smuggling ring. Gelatin from donkey hides is used to […]

PRETORIA (Reuters) – South African police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse rival marches by hundreds of protesters in Pretoria on Friday, after mobs looted stores this week believed to belong to immigrants. (See photos at bottom of story.) Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa against a background of […]

PRETORIA (Reuters) – South African police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse rival marches by hundreds of citizens and non-nationals in the capital on Friday, following looting this week of stores believed to belong to immigrants. Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa against a background of near-record unemployment, with […]

There has been an outpouring of grief, kindness, money and love for Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage in South Africa, which suffered an unprecedented attack in the early hours of Tuesday morning – when their staff were taken hostage, assaulted, and made to witness the merciless killing of two of their beloved rhino orphans in front […]

Eskom has been in South Africa’s news today as it scoops a prestigious international award… and as its former (and disgraced) CEO Brian Molefe – of Saxonwold Shebeen fame – is sworn in as an MP, with possible sights on a senior cabinet position. And – perhaps putting its famous load shedding days (and nights) firmly in […]

The Vaal Dam is now over 81.64% full. Gauteng Weather said: “Massive 10,02 percentage rise in 24 hours alone! What a week it has been. We are getting closer to 100%.” According to projections, the dam is likely to cross the 85% mark late Thursday as there are still huge volumes of inflow water. Gauteng Weather […]

As tensions mount between South African citizens and foreign nationals in Rosettenville and Pretoria West, and a protest march is planned in Tshwane tomorrow, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has issued a media statement addressing the apparent resurgence of xenophobia. He said South Africa is not unique and that “as in other parts of the world, immigration […]

South Africa could be witnessing a step towards a safer country for all, as the Democratic Alliance (DA) heightens its campaign calling on the South African government to reintroduce Rural Safety Units. Crime statistics, released yesterday, show murders are on the increase and – according to the DA – it’s time for the police chief to […]

Flare ups continued through the night at the #Houtbay Fire in the Western Cape, South Africa, with ground crew from NCC Environmental Services, SANParks – Table Mountain National Park and Volunteer Wildfire Services working throughout the night in an attempt to secure the left and right flanks, according to Working on Fire. New teams will be sent in this […]

The team at Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage say they have all been left in shock by the devastating poaching attack in the early hours of yesterday morning. An emergency fund has been set up (please see details below). The Orphanage’s Karen Trendler, said in an interview Wednesday with Stroop rhino documentary filmmaker Bonne de Bod, […]

The rhino orphanage in South Africa which was attacked in the early hours of Wednesday morning by cruel and ruthless poachers, has been identified as Karen Trendler’s much loved Thula Thula Orphanage. According to Allison Thomson, founder of Outraged South African Citizens Against Rhino Poaching, the Orphanage will be putting out a statement shortly. It is not […]