CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South African environmental authorities have confirmed four new infections and another seven suspected cases in a new outbreak of avian flu at Cape Town’s Boulders penguin colony, a popular tourist attraction and an important breeding site, officials said on Friday. City and provincial officials said the strain of highly pathogenic avian […]

Deputy President David Mabuza has acknowledged that illegal mining is a major challenge in South Africa, and says that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy will appoint specialised teams in each province to fight illegal mining. “It has grown to the point where it is a major source of concern not only for the […]

(Reuters) – Roger Federer’s decision to retire may not have come as a surprise to the tennis world but Thursday’s announcement was still met with an outpouring of sadness as current and former players celebrated one of sport’s greatest athletes. Heartbreak and goat (Greatest Of All Time) emojis filled social media after the 41-year-old Swiss […]

British monarch Queen Elizabeth II’s passing has elicited many polarised responses, in the process allowing the ghosts of the past to resurface. By Adam Haupt, University of Cape Town. A Nigeria-born US professor, Uju Anya, tweeted a scathing criticism of the British monarchy, recalling her family’s traumatic experience of colonialism in Nigeria. US billionaire businessman […]

R23-million in irregular expenditure; R36-million in accounting errors. By Daniel Steyn. The Auditor-General has found R23-million in irregular expenditure and R36-million in accounting errors at the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). The NLC had regularly bragged about having a track record of clean audits. Minister of Trade and Industry said compliance deficiencies must be addressed by the […]

South Africa has recorded its second fatal case of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) following vaccination with the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 jab, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) announced on Monday. “Causality assessment of the reported case was conducted by the National Immunisation Safety Expert Committee (NISEC) using the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) […]

Since Monday afternoon last week, an electricity substation at Maluti-A-Phofung municipality has been down. Harrismith, including Lotusville, Westerson and Wilgerpark areas and some farms in the vicinity, have been left without power. Many businesses have been forced to close and thousands of residents have been left to struggle without electricity. Eustarity International (PTY) Ltd is […]

A mine dam has burst in the Free State, flooding the streets of Jagersfontein and collapsing homes. According to the SABC, residents are being evacuated and at least 20 people have been admitted to the Diamant Hospital with minor injuries. «Reports coming in indicate that several houses in the nearby Charlesville residential area have already collapsed,» […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) has confirmed, with « deep regret and sadness », that the organisation was made aware of an alleged incident of sexual assault at the Skukuza Living Quarters involving a minor recently. The South African Police Services (SAPS) in Skukuza have confirmed having registered a complaint and have transferred the docket […]

The DA has today submitted a petition signed by 32 000 South Africans opposing the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa’s giant flag project which they say is “wasteful”. “The announcement of the R22 million project was followed by an immediate nation-wide uproar. And rightly so,” says Tsepo Mhlongo – DA Shadow Minister […]

South Africa’s Jacob Zuma is taking a top reporter to court. The verdict could affect journalists’ rights. By Anton Harber, University of the Witwatersrand South African journalism organisations this week rallied around well-known journalist Karyn Maughan when former president Jacob Zuma initiated a private prosecution against her. Zuma faces 16 counts of corruption for taking a […]

South African singer Jesse Clegg announced the profoundly sad news on social media today (8 September 2022) that his partner Dani Cooperman has passed away, after a year-long battle with cancer. Jesse, son of legendary musician Johnny Clegg, lost his father to cancer just three years ago, in July 2019. He and Dani had been […]

Yesterday (Wed, 7 September) community activist and humanitarian Pete Graham captured the following photos of his beloved hometown, Durban… KZN’s usually beautiful coastal resort. He captioned it « Dirtbin: A Photo Essay ». Pete pointed out that despite the water being contaminated and too dangerous to swim in, some beaches weren’t even displaying the black […]

A foster home for a dog in Johannesburg is urgently needed, after it was abandoned by its ‘family’ who moved abroad. Friend of the Rottweiler Rescue & Re-home South Africa have posted a heartbreaking message and photo, explaining: “This wonderful girl’s entire life turned upside down when her “family” abadoned her and left her on […]

Nearly a dozen police vehicles, buses and cars have been torched during violent retaliation allegedly by amaphela drivers. By Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and Siphokazi Mnyobe. At least seven suspects have been arrested. This follows the torching of a dozen vehicles and a part of a clinic during unrest in Nyanga and Phillipi this week. The protests […]

Eric Nsembene gets donations from motorists and taxi drivers for filling in potholes in Mamelodi. By Warren Mabona. Eric Nsembene was retrenched from his job in construction six years ago and has struggled to find permanent employment. Recently Nsembene has been volunteering his time to fix a pothole-ridden road near his home in Mamelodi. The 37-year-old […]

With a strike by pilots at Lufthansa today (Friday 2 September), hundreds of the German airline’s flights have been cancelled affecting an estimated 130,000 passengers, including those from South Africa. Passenger Liane Dickson was due to fly to Amsterdam from Johannesburg via Frankfurt, but the second leg of her flight was cancelled before she left […]

EAST LONDON, South Africa (Reuters) – Twenty one young people who died in a tavern tragedy in June were suffocated, five parents said on Thursday, relaying to reporters what health department officials told them was the conclusion of an official probe. The youths — the youngest of whom was a 13-year-old girl — died in […]

South African model and actress Charlbi Dean Kriek‘s brother, Alex Jacobs, has told Rolling Stone magazine that his sister’s sudden death in New York on Monday was likely caused by an alleged “viral infection in her lungs” and had nothing to do with Covid vaccines, as has been claimed by anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists. The anti-vaxxers’ […]

A German family on a dream holiday in Namibia were tragically all killed, along with their pilot, when their light aircraft plunged nose-first into a river… just moments after take-off. UPDATE 23 May 2023: Details emerge about why plane crashed in Namibia killing German family and South African pilot. Father-of-two Thomas Rings, 59, wife Dr […]

What looks like a dilapidated bus standing in the school yard of Sindawonye Primary School, next to the R75 in Coega, Eastern Cape, is in fact used as a classroom. The school has 79 learners from grade R to 6, too many grades and learners to teach properly in its two small classrooms, which are […]

A political storm has erupted in South Africa after a video went viral showing the health minister for the Limpopo province – which borders Zimbabwe – berating a Zimbabwean woman who was seeking healthcare. Responses have been divided. Some have called for Phophi Ramathuba to step down on the grounds that verbally abusing a patient […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s outright refusal to answer a question around the Phala Phala debacle posed to him in today’s sitting of the National Assembly, is indistinguishable from the horror South Africans witnessed in the Zuma era where both the Presidency and the Speaker broke parliament to shield a sitting president from accountability… writes JOHN STEENHUISEN, […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev died on Tuesday, aged 91. He will be buried besides his beloved wife Raisa who died in 1999. Lauded in the West as the man who helped bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War without bloodshed, Mikhail Gorbachev was widely despised at home as […]

South African super model and actress Charlbi Dean Kriek has tragically passed away at the age of 32. According to friends on social media, she passed away suddenly last night (29 August). No cause of death has yet been disclosed, although Rolling Stone magazine said it was an “unexpected sudden illness”, and that she died […]