President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Cabinet will over the next three months take a pay cut of 33% in their salaries – as government ups the ante on the fight against the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. The drastic move was announced by President Ramaphosa on Thursday evening, while addressing the nation on the […]

Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, over 240 leading animal welfare and conservation organisations from around the world have this week called on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to publicly confirm the link between live wildlife markets and the serious threats to human health; and to also recommend that governments worldwide permanently ban live wildlife markets […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa tonight announced an extension to the current 21-day national lockdown by an extra two weeks to the end of April 2020. The President thanked South Africans for their patience and said “I have to ask you to make great sacrifices” and to continue this little bit longer to help prevent the possible […]

Watch South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa below as he addresses the nation on Day 14 of SA’s 21-day Lockdown, which began at midnight on 26 March, to curb the spread of the deadly Coronavirus. UPDATE: South Africa’s Lockdown period extended by 2 weeks to end April, and Ministers Take Pay Cut! WATCH LIVE | Day […]

Whether you’re working remotely, home-schooling, or just binge-watching an old favourite to pass the time, you’re probably putting in maximum time with your devices. Chances are that you’re reading this article on a phone or tablet right now! When was the last time you gave the screen a good wipe?  Disinfecting surfaces is one of […]

SINGAPORE – A South African man who was caught in Singapore trying to smuggle 11 pieces of rhino horn to Vietnam has been sentenced to 17 months in prison, the severest sentence yet for the crime. In a report in the Straits Times today, it said that 45-year-old Thurman Shiraazudin Aiden Matthews was in transit […]

South African-based Blood Lions and the Humane Society International are two of the 241 conservation bodies around the world that have appealed to the World Health Organisation to publicly confirm the serious threat of live wildlife markets to human health, as evidenced by the Coronavirus pandemic. In a joint interview this week, some of them […]

A video capturing the sound of South Africans in Sea Point, Cape Town, singing the National Anthem – as they do every night during Lockdown – has not only sent goosebumps around the world, but is now leading to impoverished families being fed during this challenging period. The video posted by Cape Town resident Shelley […]

Drive-through tests for the Coronavirus have started at numerous Dis-Chem locations around the country. At Dis-Chem’s Centurion outlet, where the idea was first prototyped, store manager Johan Pienaar reported that the number tested today would likely eclipse the 16 tested yesterday. He said that most people testing were doing so merely as a precautionary measure, […]

The mayor of Welkom, Nkosinjani Speelman, has been suspended because of “blatant racism” when he referred to members of the coloured community as “boesman.” Authorities should investigate this. This senior officer -possibly an @SAPoliceService officer orders to “skop and donder.” @SANDFCorpEvents @_SANDF_ pic.twitter.com/KCXPGNf4D5 — Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) April 7, 2020 Speelman used the word on […]

Never a dull moment during lockdown, says the Bloemfontein SPCA, who bravely rescued a monkey during dangerous windy conditions from the top of a 50-metre high tower in an informal settlement where the wind was blowing, and the angry crowd was throwing rocks at the animal… and later at the SPCA rescuers. When the SPCA […]

Mduduzi Manana, whose lunch-during-lockdown Instagram post led to the temporary removal of a cabinet minister yesterday, is again in the spotlight after a video surfaced showing him wandering around a luxurious house, sometimes in a Versace robe, posing with perfumes and racks of shoes as he is attended to by a butler and a maid. […]

The Bambazi High School in Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal went up in flames on Wednesday late afternoon, before 17h00; sadly not the first South African school that’s been torched during SA’s 21-day lockdown. Elijah Mhlanga, Spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education, tweeted on Wednesday evening that “so many schools (have been) destroyed during this lockdown. It’s […]

The public broadcaster and the Department of Basic Education have launched a COVID-19 learner support initiative in an effort to limit the impact of the lockdown on the school calendar. The multimedia learner support initiative, the SABC and the DBE said in a joint statement, is part of the broader efforts to prevent the total […]

A young Spanish tourist, who so enjoyed his trip to SA, has reached out to help a South African tour operator through the tough times. Gilda Swanepoel from Eenblond Tours said she was blown away by an unexpected foreign payment she received last week of almost R4,000 from Alex Blanco. “Alex did five tours with […]

South Africa’s COVID-19 related deaths have risen to 18. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced the latest Coronavirus figure on Wednesday, after five more deaths were sadly recorded. As at 8 April, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stands at 1,845. This is an increase of 96 from the previously reported cases. Gauteng leads with […]

Environment minister Barbara Creecy’s decision to allow vastly expanded West Coast beach mining in South Africa has prompted sharp criticism from environmentalists, reports John Yeld for GroundUp. Appointed at the end of May last year, Creecy, minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, was seen as a new broom, particularly after making a number of […]

South Africans who have found themselves stranded and destitute in London, when their flights home were cancelled on or around 26 March (when Lockdown began at midnight on that Thursday), are to be repatriated to South Africa. After we received several queries on Wednesday morning, DIRCO spokesperson Penny Ehlers confirmed to SAPeople that an SAA […]

There are many ways to spend your lockdown or quarantine time – and maybe even put that excess toilet paper you’ve collected to some use (except you’ll have to roll it up again!). An avowed fan of “domino or chain reactions,” Kaplamino, has posted a YouTube video of an intricate way he figured out to […]

The minister who flouted lockdown rules to have lunch with friends has been censured by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and put on two months special leave – one month unpaid. The president said he was “unmoved” by the mitigating factors she tendered to him and said she must make a public apology to the nation. Minister […]

A picture on social media of a South African cabinet minister having a casual meal with friends while the country is in lockdown has resulted in calls for her to resign or be fired by President Cyril Ramaphosa, especially after countless citizens have been arrested or even beaten for breaking the same law. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, […]

Homeless people at the Strandfontein Sports Grounds, Cape Town, were shot at with rubber bullets by police after they began to protest about conditions at the tent camp set up as part of the national lockdown to disrupt the spread of Covid-19. The protest possibly broke out after some people who were moved to the […]

Tonight there’s something beautiful to brighten our locked down lives – 2020’s biggest, brightest Supermoon of the year is shining over South Africa. And regular SAPeople contributors Andrea Ben in Johannesburg and Ed Robbins and Andrew Gorman in Cape Town have captured it making its way across SA’s night sky. Andrea said it has been […]

DIRCO Minister Naledi Pandor has asked South Africans stranded abroad to please be patient as the Department of International Relations is doing all it can under unprecedented and challenging circumstances to arrange for them to be repatriated. “It’s a very difficult situation,” Pandor told 702 on Tuesday evening. “Travel arrangements are difficult. Communication is difficult. […]

The spread of the coronavirus has forced millions all over the world to retreat to base and abandon outdoor exercise and gym sessions. If they own a big house and garden, it’s manageable, but many live in shacks, cramped houses or tiny high-rise flats. How can they avoid going to seed during lockdown? Gavin Evans […]