KZN Filmmaker Anthony George Kirkwood has created a hard-hitting short film about the recent unrest in South Africa. The film has been submitted to the My RØDE Reel 2021 Short Film Competition, the world’s largest short film contest. Anthony’s filming of the ‘apocalyptic’ events in July began on the first day when he assisted the […]

Curfew could be reinstated if hospital beds start running out… By GroundUp Editors   There is no scientific basis for the continued 12am to 4am curfew. It should be ended. The third wave is over and this restriction does not mitigate the Covid pandemic. If Covid hospitalisations start ticking up again, a temporary curfew may […]

It’s been barely three weeks since South African Airways (SAA) took to the air again (after being grounded for 16 months), and there already seems to be some trouble in paradise. The South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) has been picketing at the airline’s Kempton Park offices. SACCA members are reportedly protesting against alleged unfair […]

Ten people have tragically lost their lives in a fatal bus crash on the N3 near Ladysmith in South Africa today, Tuesday 12 October. The bus was apparently on its way to Johannesburg. According to local reports, the bus plunged into the Tugela River near the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) town, and at least 50 passengers sustained […]

In a heartfelt post on Facebook, two brothers have paid tribute to their father, German tourist Michael Mirschel, who died yesterday – Sunday 9 October – after jumping from a luxury houseboat that had caught fire in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. The brothers – Alex and Mario – wrote in German about the last 48 […]

Over the last couple of decades, factors influencing the success of first-year university students have been comprehensively studied and researched. These studies focused on a wide range of factors including personal characteristics, school performance specifically Grade 12 (Matric) entry points and school subject choices. The research also considered study characteristics like lecture attendance, tutorial attendance […]

Two people, including one crew member and a passenger, have sadly died after a fire broke out on a luxury house boat in Jozini, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in South Africa. The passenger is reported to be a tourist from Germany. Another crew member is also missing, according to the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA). SAMSA […]

CRADOCK – The organisers of the Fish River Canoe Marathon in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, have sadly confirmed the deaths of two participants during the first stage of the two-day race on Friday. 53-year old Pretoria paddler Axel Marggraf died after falling out of his K3 canoe in Soutpansdrift rapid, while 31 year old […]

South Africans are to be plunged into loadshedding land for the entire weekend… through to Thursday morning, Eskom has announced. The organisation said that to continue replenishing the emergency power generation reserves in South Africa, and address additional risks, Stage 2 loadshedding will be extended from 21:00 tonight until 05:00 on Thursday. Yesterday, Thursday, South […]

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has urged consumers in South Africa to return 100% Apple juice produced by Pioneer Foods. This includes both LiquiFruit and Ceres 100% apple juice. “Consumers who have these products must not consume them but return them immediately to the point of purchase,” said the NCC in a statement on Friday. […]

South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI/Hawks) has launched an investigation into the construction of the so-called R15 million Lesseyton sports facility in the Enoch Mgijima Municipality in the Eastern Cape… which was exposed this week by former DA Leader Mmusi Maimane. Maimane declared on Monday, when the stadium was launched: “The #TsotsiGame must […]

Over 260,000 more people have died in South Africa since May 2020 than expected. This is according to researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC), who estimate that 85 to 95% of these “excess” deaths are directly from Covid. This is nearly three times as high as the official Covid death toll published by the […]

Following a furore over DA posters in KwaZulu-Natal which declared “The ANC called you racists. The DA calls you heroes”, the DA has announced today that it is in the process of removing all the posters that have “inadvertently caused offence”. Dean Macpherson – DA KZN Chairperson – said in a press statement on Thursday: […]

Man dies during NUMSA march in Gqeberha… By Masego Mafata, Joseph Chirume, Nokulunga Majola and Marecia Damons Thousands of workers affiliated to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa went on strike across the country on Tuesday. One worker in Gqeberha collapsed and died during the march through the town on Tuesday. Steel workers […]

South Africa’s foreign affairs department – DIRCO – has terminated the employment of its Chief Financial Officer, Caiphys Ramashau, who was embroiled in the controversial (and hugely wasteful) R118-million New York Pilot project. The axing comes at the end of a disciplinary case which had been instituted against Ramashau. The ex-CFO faced charges related to […]

Every few years, it is devastating to watch the same tragedy: a weather cycle that brings debilitating drought and hunger to East Africa, threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya. By Chris Funk, University of California Santa Barbara. The weather cycle responsible for these episodes is a climate-change-enhanced […]

Facebook is back!!! Although many features aren’t working properly yet. Earlier on Monday, Facebook, FB messenger, WhatsApp (the messaging app) and Instagram – which are all owned by Facebook – crashed around the world, and were down in several regions worldwide, including South Africa for at least SIX HOURS. (See the memes at the bottom […]

The explosive Pandora Papers that has rocked the world in the past 24 hours, includes a whopping 56,493 links to South Africa, according to an exclusive expose on Carte Blanche last night. African Leaders’ named in Pandora Papers In total, nearly 50 African politicians and public officials from 18 countries on the continent were found to […]

Thirty captive lions on a private breeding farm in the Free State, South Africa, have had to be euthanised after the farm owner apparently left them suffering for days after wildfires had ravaged the area. Details issued by the Bloemfontein SPCA of the scene they discovered in the Glen/Brandfort district are harrowing and heartbreaking. Unable […]

Desperation to win the election hit a low on Friday, 1 October 2021, when a DA councillor in Nelson Mandela Bay was held up at gunpoint while erecting DA posters in New Brighton. The criminals were allegedly linked to the ANC, according to the DA’s Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson, Andrew Whitfield. The incident was witnessed […]

A 51-year-old farmer in the Free State, South Africa, was murdered on Wednesday night, 29 September, on a farm he and his family had long dreamed of living on and were reportedly due to move to in October. The murdered man – Petrus Steyn – farmed near Heidelberg according to Pretoria FM, but was planning […]

Residents in Gauteng are being urged to remember to get their second Covid-19 jab! It turns out that more than a MILLION people in the South African province have not returned to receive the second dose of their Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine! Speaking at a pop-up vaccine site in the West Rand on Wednesday, Gauteng Premier […]

Following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s authorisation for the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) report into Digital Vibes to be released today, the DA has called on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to pursue criminal investigations and prosecutions against South Africa’s former Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize. In fact the opposition party called for all Department of Health […]

Three young women were killed execution-style in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, last night. Residents say they heard gunshots just after 20h00 on Monday evening. A few minutes after the gunshots were heard by residents of the TT Block informal settlement, “the bodies of young women aged 17, 20 and 21 were discovered in a passage between […]

Three spear fishermen have recounted their terrifying ordeal escaping from an ‘aggressive’ Leopard seal while spearfishing in False Bay. Following the harrowing incident in which the men found themselves fighting for their lives, the NSRI has appealed to everyone who visits the ocean – spear fishermen, divers, paddlers, bathers and surfers – to be cautious […]