The performing arts is one of the sectors hit hard by COVID-19, with tens of thousands of gigs cancelled across the world. While pop and electronic music has evolved with online platforms like YouTube as their natural habitat, jazz has remained more strongly tied to live performance, using social media and online videos mainly as […]

About 1.5 million more South Africans will from 1 May return to work as government begins to lift a fraction of COVID-19 lockdown regulations. This comes as government gradually eases the economy back into activity as announced this week by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The regulations were introduced last month as government sought to counter the […]

South Africa has 4 793 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 90 deaths as of Monday, according to Health Minister, Dr Zwelini Mkhize. “We regret to report a further three deaths: two from the Western Cape and one from KZN. This brings the total cumulative COVID-19 related deaths to 90,” said Dr Mkhize. Among the three deceased […]

The South African flag has today been projected onto the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai – in honour of Freedom Day, 27 April 2020. This comes just days after the SA flag was projected onto the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps. On Monday, the Burj Khalifa page said: “Burj Khalifa […]

No one knows what is going on. So many versions of Level Four have circulated that we all have whiplash, and if you didn’t have an anxiety disorder before, you sure as shit have it now… writes Kim Nicola Stephens. Runners got their shoes all ready and prepped and then someone said NO JOGGING and […]

As South Africa went into Covid-19 lockdown in late March, over 50 performers encouraged the nation to do something powerful –  “to reflect on the lyrics of our anthem, as a source of inspiration and optimism, and to bravely sing it out loud.” Yesterday the man behind the concept – James Bassingthwaighte – announced: “1000+ […]

Here follows the message by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the occasion of Freedom Day in South Africa, during Lockdown, 27 April 2020… in full: Fellow South Africans, Sanibonani. Dumelang. Inhlekani. Molweni. Lotjhani. Ndi masiari. Goeie dag. Good afternoon. On this day twenty-six years ago, a new nation was born in Africa. On the 27th of […]

2020 was going to be a great year for everyone… writes Ari Seirlis, an advisor to the President on disability matters and strategy. I remember reading many friends’ Facebook comments about how this new decade was going to be groundbreaking – vast opportunities, wealth, health and relationships were all going to flourish. A Black Swan […]

South Africans who are stuck in Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand – and who would like to be repatriated home – are urged to submit an online form to book a seat on a private Australian charter plane this coming Friday 1 May 2020. According to Julia Kerr Henkel, who has been stuck in Indonesia for […]

A delegation of 217 Cuban Medical specialists arrived in South Africa in the early hours of Monday, just after midnight. The Cuban Medical brigade includes infectious diseases specialists, and has come to South Africa to support the country in its efforts to deal with #Covid_19, said the National Department of Health South Africa. The group […]

A surprise drive-by baby shower in South Africa has moved social media users to tears on social media. The video was posted on Facebook by Dinika Rooy from Buffalo Flats, East London. She said: “We are truly blessed. ?Drive by – Drop off Baby Shower… ??” One of her friends replied: “Your heart is made of […]

There’s a funny, wonderful – and prophetic – video going viral this weekend in South Africa, of a much younger Cyril Ramaphosa being interviewed by legendary SA character Evita Bezuidenhout (played by Pieter-Dirk Uys). In the clip, Ramaphosa and Bezuidenhout are seen trout-fishing, and you can hear Ramaphosa reassuring Bezuidenhout to hold on to him […]

A generous-hearted group of South Africans in Cape Town have been cooking, collecting and dishing out food to hundreds of people in township communities who may otherwise be starving. It started small just a week ago but is now reaching thousands, after Western Cape resident Helen During rallied her friends to help donate food because […]

South Africans have welcomed the latest speech by their president and African Union chairperson, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has encouraged the millions of Africans who are commemorating Ramadan, to take courage and strength from the message of Ramadan, as the continent deals with COVID-19. Watch the video below. To date, over 27,000 cases of COVID-19 […]

Many are hailing President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech on Thursday night as one of the best in South African history. None captured the spirit as well as writer and animal rights activist, Herman H Le Roux, whose words written straight after Ramaphosa’s address to the nation have gone viral on social media, sometimes without his credit, […]

An intense hail storm on farms in the vicinity of Uhlenhorst in the Kalahari Desert last week, to the south-east of Rehoboth, covered a large swathe of land with a thick layer of ice and turned the countryside into an instant winter wonderland… writes Niël Terblanché from Informanté. The huge amount of falling ice flayed […]

Keeping spirits high in Johannesburg during the Covid-19 outbreak – the healthcare workers at Netcare Linksfield Hospital in Orange Grove gathered together (but keeping social distance!) this morning – Friday 24 April 2020 – to sing South Africa’s National Anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. The footage was filmed by Dr Gabriel Doucas in what has become […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has proved just how great a leader he is, laughing at himself after the mask incident last night following his address to the nation. Watch below as the South African President jokes that he’s going to open a TV channel. Having the last laugh, the President said: “For those who were laughing […]

Two good friends and passionate golfers – South African Laurence Wells, who caddied on the European Tour for over 15 years and Australian Brian Nilsson who is still caddying on the same tour since 2000 – have teamed up away from the fairways of the world during the Coronavirus pandemic, to auction some of their […]

Life in South Africa will gradually begin to return to normal from next month, with government steadily easing the COVID-19 lockdown regulations, albeit under stringent stipulations. From 1 May, government will implement a risk-adjusted strategy aimed at easing the current lockdown restrictions. The decision was taken during a National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) meeting on […]

President Donald Trump has pledged US support for South Africa in a call with SA President Cyril Ramaphosa. The South African president tweeted on Thursday early evening: “I had a very productive call with His Excellency President @realDonaldTrump of the United States of America. “We discussed the impact of #COVID19 on our two countries.” According […]

The Executive Director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) Health Emergencies Programme, Michael Ryan, has again praised South Africa for its strategy in handling the coronavirus pandemic. The Irishman said there has been a “tremendous amount of innovation going on in Africa in general” and specifically honed in on South Africa. Ryan said: “Again it […]

A barefoot South African expat, Lindi Nolte, who grew up in Rustenburg and now lives in Canada, received a standing ovation recently for her breathtaking poem: A Love Poem to Our Earth… which is inspired hugely by her childhood in South Africa. Watch Lindi at the TedX talk below. The sun-loving Afrikaner begins the poem: […]

The COVID-19 lockdown has seen crime decrease significantly since the introduction of the National State of Disaster regulations, says Police Minister Bheki Cele. Speaking in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday, the Minister expressed satisfaction at inroads made by law enforcement agencies across SA since the regulations were gazetted last month. The regulations were introduced in an effort […]

Many South Africans are feeling despondent, nervous about the unemployment ahead and wondering what the covid-19 ‘fuss’ was about… not realising that “only” 58 dead is because the President made a brave call for an early lockdown, averting the tragic fatal statistics seen in countries like Italy and Spain. And last night, watching President Cyril […]