It’s incredible it’s taken this long, but finally Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla announced today (Friday) that 37 hospitals across South Africa will be exempted from the load shedding schedule. (See full list at bottom of page.) The announcement follows meetings to devise a plan to shield public health facilities from the devastating power outages […]

Africa’s most famous funnyman and TV star, the South African stand-up comedian and author Trevor Noah, is leaving his job as the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show in the US. Noah, who hosted the high profile show for seven years, says he wants to devote more time to his stand-up career. We asked […]

Democratic Alliance Leader John Steenhuisen delivered the following address during a live broadcast, concerning the ANC taking control of Johannesburg… After months of efforts to destabilise coalitions across the country, today the ANC succeeded in seizing control of Johannesburg. I warned precisely, a few weeks ago, that this is what is transpiring in the background… […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah is quitting The Daily Show after seven years. He said “my time is up, in the most beautiful way. I’ve loved hosting this show. It’s been one of my greatest challenges, and one of my greatest joys.” (Watch the video below.) The South African expat says he wants to spend […]

Former president repeated misconceptions about the disease when he addressed UNISA. By Mary-Anne Gontsana The TAC has demanded an apology from former president Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki repeated confusing statements about HIV during a lecture. GroundUp editor Nathan Geffen set the record straight about Mbeki’s HIV/AIDS legacy. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has called on former president […]

Thirty years after their epic 10,000m Olympic final, and the highly symbolic victory lap, South Africa’s Elana Meyer and Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu met again in Barcelona. After a private visit to the Olympic Museum and a press conference, the two athletes returned to the stadium which was the theatre of their triumph, taking photos on […]

Another mine dam wall was reported to have collapsed at the disaster-stricken diamond mine in Jagersfontein, just weeks after a similar incident at the same site left at least one person dead and 70 injured; as well as damaging 60 homes and 2,615 hectares of grazing land. Free State Premier, Sefora Ntombela, issued a statement […]

The project is expected to save billions of litres of water a year. By Liezl Human and Ashraf Hendricks The City of Cape Town and the Nature Conservancy are clearing invasive plants such as pine and eucalyptus trees growing in water catchment areas. Invasive species in areas such as Wemmershoek, Steenbras, Berg River, and Theewaterskloof […]

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Social Development MEC, Nonhlanhla Khoza, has called for a harsh sentence for the pastor who allegedly raped 13 children at Luvisi village in Nquthu, northern KZN in South Africa. It is alleged that the 56-year-old reverend had been luring young girls and boys, aged between five and 17 years, to watch cartoons with […]

Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head, Advocate Andy Mothibi, says the unit has gathered enough evidence for civil, prosecutorial and disciplinary action to be taken against those who allegedly “siphoned” some R279 million from the coffers of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). The corruption-fighting unit recently concluded the first phase of an investigation into allegations of […]

It’s easy to assume all animals have a neat dividing line between the sexes because the differences in appearance between males and females can be so striking. But the more scientists learn about wildlife, the clearer it is that nature doesn’t have a rule book. By Louise Gentle, Nottingham Trent University Most people know that […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has wished the Jewish community well over Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days that culminate with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (Oct 4/5). Having begun at sunset on Sunday, 25 September 2022, the Presidency said, Jewish communities in South Africa and around the world are observing Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah, […]

The board of South Africa’s power utility Eskom is expected to be “reconstituted and restructured” following a meeting with Department of Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan. The State-owned electricity company has been facing serious and recurring challenges since June this year – reaching a nadir of Stage 6 load shedding twice over the past four […]

International tourists are flocking to South Africa, with the Western Cape celebrating a whopping 191 international flights into Cape Town International Airport each week. BUT it’s South Africans themselves who saved the day during the Omicron nightmare, embracing the local is lekker attitude and spending their hard-earned rands on holidays at home. Addressing World Tourism […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) Airwing has received a R4,5-million donation for much-needed fuel for their anti-poaching operations. The symbolic handover was made by TotalEnergies Marketing SA MD and CEO, Mariam Kane-Garcia. It also marked TotalEnergies and SANParks long-term relationship of 60 years, in which TotalEnergies has focussed on nature conservation and contributing to the […]

A 1-metre telescope in South Africa has captured footage of the historic moment that NASA’s DART mission successfully made impact with asteroid Dimorphos on Monday evening US time. DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) – which weighed 570kg – has been flying through space for over 10 months to perform last night’s world-first planetary defence technology […]

Streaming giant Spotify has unveiled five new curated Afrikaans playlists, from Afrikaans Techno to Afrikaans Country, for Heritage Month in South Africa. With more than 433 million users, Spotify has decided to highlights SA’s third most widely spoken language, Afrikaans. By doing so, the audio streaming platform says it is giving voice to numerous different […]

Given the unpredictable performance of Eskom’s fleet of coal-fired power stations, President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted that the country will not be able to eliminate load shedding in the short term. Just this week in South Africa Eskom is implementing Stage 3 load shedding between 00:00 and 16:00 until Thursday, while Stage 4 load shedding […]

Celebration kicks of with protest over hate crime against LGBTQIA+ community… Raising public awareness of prejudice, harassment and violence towards gay people was a key aim of the 18th Soweto Pride celebration, held on Saturday 24 September. The event started with a protest attended by hundreds marching through the streets of Soweto. Participants held placards […]

Grand Final day is huge in Australia. Ask any South African expat. But this year the AFL (Australian Football League) has attracted worldwide attention, with a sweet moment between the winning captain and a beautiful fan captured on film, after the Geelong Cats were crowned premiership winners. Watch below as the team’s captain, Joel Selwood […]

JOHANNESBURG (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – John first heard of cryptocurrency three years ago, when the teenager came across slick YouTube videos and Facebook posts of other South Africans claiming to have become wealthy overnight with bitcoin. By Kimberly Mutandiro Inspired, the then 14-year-old downloaded a trading app, lied about his age in order to set […]

CAPE TOWN, ZA – North American independent book publisher Catalyst Press will publish two graphic novels from Cape Town’s world-renowned animation studio next year. Pearl of the Sea, a middle grade comic by Anthony Silverston, Raffaella Delle Donne, and Willem Samuel, is slated for release 31 January 2023. The 166-page adventure comic follows Pearl, a […]

The tragic mother attacked and killed in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, by a great white shark has been named as Kimon Bisogno. She was on holiday from Cape Town with her family who are believed to have been paddling on the beach when she was killed. Restaurant owner Kimon, 39, was enjoying a Heritage Day […]

Air Belgium has signed a new commercial agreement with South Africa’s independent and premier airline, Airlink, which conveniently connects customers travelling to or from Brussels, with 36 destinations across Southern Africa. This follows the recent inauguration of Air Belgium’s new service between Brussels, Johannesburg, and Cape Town, using the fuel-efficient Airbus A330neo aircraft. This first cooperation […]

Stage 3 loadshedding will continue to be implemented at 00:00 – 16:00 daily until Thursday; while Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented daily during the evening peaks between 16:00 and 00:00, Eskom said in a statement on Sunday afternoon. The power utility said it will issue a further update on Wednesday afternoon, or as soon […]