Police in Limpopo, Polokwane, are hunting suspects who attacked South African Police Service (SAPS) members yesterday, Saturday 2 January. The suspects threw stones injuring SAPS members and damaging their vehicles, and helped arrested suspects escape. Limpopo’s Acting Provincial Commissioner of Police, Major General Jan Scheepers, has strongly condemned the incident and ordered that the suspects […]

The South African variant of Covid-19, which has already been identified in Australia and the UK, has now been found in isolated patients in France, South Korea, Switzerland and Japan. The new mutation – known as 501.V2 variant – which genomics scientists first identified in Nelson Mandela Bay, was announced by SA Health Minister Dr […]

Hundreds of birds died on New Year’s Eve in Rome, Italy, allegedly killed by the shock of celebratory fireworks and firecrackers, although this has not been confirmed. The birds, mostly starlings that fill the southern European skies at this time of year, are believed to have been startled when people set off fire crackers near […]

In South Africa’s latest Covid-19 update on Friday night, Health Minister Dr Zwelini Mkhize revealed that with 16,726 new cases reported on New Year’s Day, this represents a positivity rate of 33.4 %, SA’s highest daily positivity rate. Dr Mkhize said in a statement on 1 January 2021: “As of today, the total number of […]

The South African Police Service (SAPS) in Parys is seeking assistance in finding a missing woman who was last seen running barefoot towards the Vaal River. Police said the missing person, Rita Hawkins (53), is from Bellville and was visiting her aunt in Parys. “She was last seen on Wednesday, 30 December 2020 at about […]

Gauteng’s provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has met with representatives of the cash-in-transit (CIT) industry following a spike in the number of CIT incidents in the province. Mawela, together with his Deputy responsible for Policing, Major General Tommy Mthombeni and the Provincial Head of the Directorate for […]

South Africa has as of Wednesday recorded a staggering 17 710 new cases – bringing the country’s cumulative total of COVID-19 cases to 1 039 161, indicating a positivity rate of 33%. Several experts appeared on SABC this morning to discuss the status quo and the vaccine rollout. (Watch below.) “The positivity rate, being an […]

LIMPOPO – Police in Lephalale have launched a manhunt for an unknown number of suspects in a rhino poaching incident that took place on Monday evening at a nature reserve in South Africa. The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a media statement that the poaching of the protected and endangered species was discovered […]

Eskom will again implement stage 2 load shedding tonight, beginning at 22h00 (10pm). Wednesday’s load shedding marks day two of load shedding after the power utility announced that it would cut power on Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Load shedding is expected to conclude at 5 am tomorrow. In a statement on Tuesday, the power utility […]

Eskom has announced it will implement loadshedding Stage 2 at 22:00 in South Africa this evening, until 05:00 on Wednesday morning. The power cuts will be repeated on Wednesday night through to Thursday morning 31 December 2020. “This loadshedding is necessary to preserve emergency generation reserves in preparation for higher demand expected during January as […]

The mutated Covid-19 variant (known as the 501.V2 Variant), which was announced in South Africa 10 days ago, has been discovered for the first time in Australia in a person who recently returned from SA. The female traveller was in quarantine in Queensland when she tested positive for the new ‘super strain’. It’s therefore hoped […]

With the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and the increase in trauma cases, South Africa’s hospitals are almost full to capacity, according to SA’s President Cyril Ramaphosa. “Our hospitals, both private and public, are already close to full capacity in a number of provinces, and ICU beds are either full already or rapidly filling up,” […]

More than 3 000 motorists in South Africa have been arrested throughout the country for allegedly violating traffic regulations since the start of December. “The majority of suspects (1 328 or 43%) were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. A total of 496 or 16% were arrested for driving speeds above the legal […]

Travellers between South Africa and Zimbabwe, making their way home for the festive season, have been stuck in long traffic jams (some for five days) at the Beitbridge border post, in incredibly hot conditions without easy access to water, food and other amenities. This has led to the tragic death of at least four people […]

The South African government may have to review current lockdown restrictions and consider further measures to curb the exponential spread of the COVID-19 virus, says Health Minister, Dr Zwelini Mkhize. He warned that within days the number of daily positive cases recorded in SA will surpass that of the peak during the first wave. The […]

England announced last night that as of 09h00 today, Thursday morning 24 Dec, no more flights will be allowed to enter the country from South Africa. This follows the discovery of at least two patients in the UK being identified with the Covid-19 variant from South Africa, a mutation which the South African authorities announced […]

South Africa has recorded 339 more COVID-19 related deaths bringing the death toll to 25 246, says Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize. A total of 9 501 new cases have been reported in the past 24 hours pushing the country’s cumulative COVID-19 figures to 940 212. Covid-19 Deaths by Province in SA The Eastern Cape […]

News that British Airways has announced plans to suspend 13 destinations, including the direct Durban – London route, has been met with disappointment by KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Economic Development and Tourism Department… as well as understanding. The department’s Ravi Pillay has warned this will hamper growth of international air services into the province post-Covid-19, but said […]

As thousands prepare to travel long-distance, operators say they need help with masks and sanitisers. Though numbers are down because of Covid-19 job losses, about 20,000 people are expected to travel from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape this year. Taxi associations say they are taking precautions but need help from the authorities. Taxi […]

Germany plans to ban all passenger flights between Germany and South Africa with an emergency order. Israel has implemented a similar ban on flights from SA. Both Germany and Israel, along with several other countries, have also closed their borders to the UK. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Sunday: “Tomorrow we are planning […]

Israel has closed its borders to South Africa because of the new Covid-19 strain that is believed to be driving SA’s second wave of infections. Israel has also stopped all flights from the UK and Denmark, it was announced on Sunday afternoon by the Israeli Prime Minister. SA has highest proportion of Covid-19 variant in […]

The Department of Water and Sanitation has warned South Africans against flocking to the country’s dams and rivers as an alternative to the beaches, following a government ban on the use of some SA beaches to minimize the impact of COVID-19. This week President Ramaphosa announced the government’s decision to bar public access to all […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it has found out that once again, Minister Dlamini-Zuma has decided to overrule President Ramaphosa through the latest amended regulations published on the 17th of December 2020. “This time, Minster Dlamini-Zuma has unilaterally decided to change the closing time for restaurants, bars, gyms, cinemas, theatres and museums from 10pm to […]

Holiday accommodation spots on the Garden Route have suffered devastating cancellations, especially in Knysna and Sedgefield, according to a survey. One third of owners say they have lost 50% of their bookings for the festive season. Some have lost over 80% of their revenue. According to the survey, run by online accommodation booking system provider, […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) announced on Friday that items believed to be those of missing Field Ranger, Checkers Mashego, who went missing in the Stolsnek Section of the Kruger National Park during the evening of 17 November 2020, were discovered by a search party in the same section during the late afternoon of Wednesday, […]