President Cyril Ramaphosa has met in Maputo with other high-level leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to assess the growing Islamic State-linked threat in the region. Carte Blanche delves deeper this week, speaking to South Africans who survived the most recent horrific attack in Palma. This follows as eyewitness accounts and disturbing video […]

SADC Heads of State have reiterated commitment to contribute towards the efforts of bringing about lasting peace and security, as well as reconciliation and development in the Republic of Mozambique. This comes amid a spate of attacks in the country’s Cabo Delgado Province in the last two weeks. The leaders condemned the violence during this […]

A new report reveals that water pollution across Cape Town’s rivers, vleis and estuaries has been getting steadily worse for 40 years, except for a few years. A new report shows that Cape Town’s rivers, vleis and estuaries have been getting worse for 40 years, with the exception of a few years. In the rivers, […]

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has announced that the second phase of South Africa’s vaccination rollout will begin on 17 May. This, he said, is thanks to the millions of vaccine doses that are expected to land in South Africa in the next coming weeks. Dr Mkhize said the country has secured a combined 51 […]

The Royal Family says: “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.” […]

A British man has launched a petition to allow a black South African hero from World War II to finally – and posthumously – be awarded the prestigious Victoria Cross (VC) he so deserved.  Job Maseko became a war hero when he used a home-made bomb to blow up a Nazi ship. He was nominated […]

For South Africans this is an interesting read on how farm crime (no murders or attacks, mind you!) are handled in Australia… Crime on farms in Australia can have devastating effects on farmers and their families — financial, psychological and social. Crime can also have national implications, too, if it disrupts or damages farm production. […]

South African Police Minister General Bheki Cele has welcomed the deployment of 200 police officers to violent hotspots across Cape Town. Cele said the Western Cape province continues to experience stubbornly high levels of violent crime, necessitating the reinforcements. “The Western Cape’s high murder rate is simply unacceptable. In the past week and during the […]

A South African expat living in The Netherlands is on a mission to gain legal guardianship of her late sister’s children. The two young children from Boksburg – Kebi (12) and Khanyi (10) – tragically lost their mother two years ago when she died after an extremely short illness, suspected to be meningitis. The children […]

South Africa has achieved a proud milestone after over 10 million people have been tested for COVID-19 to date, the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, announced. According to the Minister, 24 594 people were tested on Wednesday, which pushes the total number to 10 020 025 since the outbreak. Meanwhile, the country logged 756 new […]

The South African government has welcomed the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) revised upward growth outlook of South Africa from 2.8% to 3.1% for 2021. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Ministry in the Presidency: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, said the upgrade affirmed the robustness of the country’s economy and positive economic interventions despite tough […]

There’s one day left for potential employees at the new Radisson RED hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg, to apply for a casting call to fill 40 positions there. The hotel, set to open in June and the second in the specialty brand after the first one in Africa opened in Cape Town, is having what it […]

Africa should be able to have the capacity to manufacture and distribute its own biotechnology to develop vaccines as COVID-19 continues to sweep the globe, says South African Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize. Speaking during the webinar on World Health Day on Wednesday, Dr Mkhize said depending on other continents should be the thing of […]

The trial of South Africa’s Speaker of Parliament, Thandi Modise, has been postponed until the end of April on the request of her defence team. AfriForum, which is privately prosecuting Modise, said in a statement on Wednesday that the trial at Potchefstroom Regional Court has been postponed until 28, 29 and 30 April. AfriForum’s Private […]

Housing activists demand answers eight months after Sisulu’s budget vote announcement… By Liezl Human In July 2020 Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu announced during her budget vote speech that R600 million would be allocated towards rent relief for tenants facing “financial distress” due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Eight months later, no money or information about […]

South Africa has signed a deal for the procurement of 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccines. According to the announcement made by Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, payment processes are also underway to close the deal in the next few days. In addition, with the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) agreement also fully concluded, Mkhize believes […]

Tony Leon is the most prolific of all former leaders of the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s main opposition party, as befits the chair of a communications company. In his latest and fifth book, Future Tense: Reflections on my Troubled Land, he comes across as articulate and persuasive. The Democratic Alliance has, ever since its […]

Norwegian Cruise Line today announced its highly-anticipated return to service, with new itineraries sailing Europe and The Caribbean beginning July 25, 2021. The Cruise Line will restart operations at a reduced capacity with Norwegian Jade, Joy and Gem as the first of its 17-ship fleet to welcome guests back on board. Travellers long-awaiting a return […]

Appealing for public support to feel at home in their body, Siv Greyson (23) – who is an artist, activist and academic from Gardens, Cape Town – has penned an emotional open letter on their BackaBuddy campaign, detailing the trials and tribulations of growing up queer in South Africa. “Growing up queer wasn’t easy” “Growing […]

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) says it has registered the COVID-19 Johnson & Johnson vaccine, known as Janssen, with conditions. “This registration signals a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said SAHPRA CEO, Dr Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela. According to Dr Semete-Makokotlela, the authorisation is based on acceptable safety, quality and […]

Fifty three years ago, on 4 April, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated as he stood on his balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Barely sixty feet away was the only photographer on the scene, South African Joe (Joseph) Louw, who was staying in a nearby room and making a documentary about […]

The price of petrol in South Africa is set to increase by between R1 and 95 cents a litre as of tomorrow, Wednesday 7 April, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has announced. The department attributed the increase to various global events, including the Ever Given vessel which blocked the Suez Canal. “The […]

In an average year, 1.35 million people die on the world’s roads and another 50 million are seriously injured. Most (93%) of the deaths happen in low- and middle-income countries, and sub-Saharan Africa is the global hotspot in the road death pandemic. In South Africa 26 out of every 100,000 people die on the roads […]

Thirty Banded Mongooses that inadvertently ‘hitched’ a ride from Mabula Game Lodge for 170km to a house in Silverlakes, Pretoria, have been successfully rescued and returned by the Owl Rescue Centre. As the Centre says, this “unusual” (and uniquely South African!) story should make it into the Guiness World Book of Records. The mongooses’ adventure […]

About 7,000 families are living on the railways in Langa, Cape Town. The Siyahlala informal settlement calls the tracks their home, and they blame the City of Cape Town municipality for not providing services. Meanwhile their shacks are blocking the trains. The South African government wants them to leave, but they have nowhere to go. […]