South Africa detected 8 881 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest daily spike since 23 January, when the country recorded 12 271 infections. According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the majority of new infections are from Gauteng, which accounts for 58%, followed by the Western Cape with 9%. The latest data show that […]

More than a hundred people marched from St George’s Cathedral to Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday. They are demanding that former Western Cape Head of Detectives, Major-General Jeremy Vearey be reinstated. More than 100 people marched to Parliament on Wednesday demanding that former Western Cape Head of Detectives, Major-General Jeremy Vearey be reinstated. The […]

Eskom is currently implementing stage 3 load shedding, as there have been further breakdowns at Kusile, Matla and Tutuka power stations. The Stage 3 Loadshedding is due to continue until 10pm after which it will revert to Stage 2, said Eskom. The power utility noted a slight improvement in generation performance on Wednesday but said […]

Other than observing the commemoration of the historic events that took place in Soweto 1976, National Youth Day also happens to be the birthday of Springbok Captain & Red Bull athlete, Siya Kolisi. Turning 30 this year, Siya shared some of the life lessons that he has learnt along the journey to mark his 30th birthday. Below in the form […]

The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government have worked together to turn the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) into a mass vaccination site… a ‘vaccination centre of hope’. With much of the legwork done and the funding for this important endeavour secured, formal contracts are due to be signed imminently with […]

JOHANNESBURG (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Armed groups in Mozambique are increasingly kidnapping children as a warfare tactic, putting victims at risk of sexual violence, early marriage and being used as fighters in the country’s worsening conflict, aid groups said on Wednesday… writes Kim Harrisberg. At least 51 children have been abducted over the last year in […]

DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has ratified a 2018 extradition treaty with South Africa, its embassy in Pretoria said on Wednesday, a move that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government hopes will lead to the return of the Gupta brothers to face corruption charges. South Africa signed the treaty with the UAE in late 2018, […]

The dam levels within the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), with the exception of four dams, have fallen this week while one remains unchanged for the second consecutive week. The system consists of 14 dams, which overlap Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State and the Northern Cape provinces. “Continuing to drop weekly, the IVRS has decreased further […]

Eskom has apologised to South Africans yet again as it plunged the country into Stage 4 blackouts this afternoon, expected to last until 22h00 tonight… after which it will revert to Stage 2 as had been previously communicated earlier in the day. The power utility blamed the increased loadshedding on high winter demand, together with […]

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, most processes in South Africa were significantly slowed down, with some Home Affairs services even being suspended throughout higher levels of the national lockdown. Although South Africans were relieved when the country moved to relaxed levels of lockdown, the difficulties in obtaining documents such as police clearance certificates […]

After casting doubt on Pretoria News’ exclusive story yesterday that a mother from Tembisa township had allegedly given birth to a world-breaking 10 babies, Ekurhuleni’s mayor confirmed they have now located the family. (Update Wednesday 14h30: Gauteng Social Dept have confirmed the Tembisa mom has given birth to babies, and they will visit her tomorrow […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has eased travel recommendations for more than 110 countries and territories, including South Africa. The CDC’s new ratings include 61 nations that were lowered from its highest “Level 4” rating that discouraged all travel to recommending travel for fully vaccinated individuals, the agency […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize on special leave, replacing him with SA’s Tourism Minister. Dr Mkhize had requested special leave in order to attend to allegations and investigations concerning contracts between the Department of Health and a service provider, Digital Vibes. The corruption scandal involves a R150-million contract […]

Simon’s Town’s penguins are poised to become global superstars, as they feature in a new Netflix original documentary series that is sure to have the world fall in love with the endangered African Penguins. Watch the trailer below. It’s very cool! This is what Netflix has to say about the TV series, which starts in […]

Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he believes at least $30 billion is needed annually for an effective global vaccination plan… and he would like this high on the agenda for next week’s G7 Summit in Cornwall, England, where the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada will be meeting. He’s not the only […]

“It is clearer than ever that the occupation is not temporary, and there is not the political will in the Israeli government to bring about its end” – By Ilan Baruch and Alon Liel. During our careers in the foreign service, we both served as Israel’s ambassador to South Africa. In this position, we learned […]

A South African woman who had reportedly broken a world record by giving birth to 10 babies, the world’s first Decuplets, apparently made it up. According to Pretoria News, Gosiame Thamara Sithole (37) gave birth to the children in a Pretoria hospital on 7 June. UPDATE 18 June 2021: It appears this story – which […]

South Africa’s multi award-winning Restaurant Mosaic has found a fabulous new home far from its Pretoria roots… in France! Chef Chantel Dartnall announced on Facebook yesterday: “This is where our story will continue and our new chapter will start.” Chantel, who won the Best Female Chef in the World title in 2017, announced the closure […]

South Africa’s Rooibos has become the first African food to receive the status of a protected designation of origin in the European Commission register. This decision by the EU means that the name ‘Rooibos’ or ‘Red Bush’ can only refer to the dried leaves of 100% pure ‘Rooibos’ derived from Aspalathus linearis that has been […]

South African rugby players Damian de Allende and RG Snyman, who were recently named in the Springbok squad for the Lions tour, were involved in an accident in Munster, Ireland, over the weekend that has left them with “substantial” burns to their legs, hands and faces. According to their Head Coach they are “ok”. Munster […]

Make the circle bigger cause it’s time to JIVA! Today, Netflix dropped the official trailer for the streaming platform’s latest local original series, JIVA!, about a vibrant dancer from Durban, Ntombi (played by Noxolo Dlamini) who does everything in her power to live out her passion. Lead actress Noxolo is naturally very excited for JIVA”s […]

South African student voices have largely remained unheard in formal discussions around COVID-19. A pandemic that should not be put to waste, COVID-19, on some podiums, is seen as laying the groundwork for germination of seeds of change… write Peet van Aardt, University of the Free State and Brian Sibanda, University of the Free State. […]

The Eastern Cape Department of Health says it’s boosting efforts to register people for the Covid-19 vaccine who are homeless and over the age of 60. A few homeless people in Nelson Mandela Bay say health officials have neglected them during the pandemic. The people we spoke to say they either did not have a […]

Tim Noakes has a long history of making misleading and false claims, including promoting the debunked theory that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine contributes to autism and promoting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19… writes Eduard Grebe. In a recent tweet, he linked to an utterly misleading BizNews article on the recent release of thousands of emails to and from […]

Eskom says it regrets to announce the implementation of Stage 1 load shedding between 5pm and 10pm on Monday evening… and cautioned that more power cuts are likely in the near future. According to the State-owned entity, tonight’s load shedding was due to the loss of two generation units at Kusile, and one each at […]