Anti-drug trafficking groups say an increasing number of South Africans are getting arrested abroad for drugs smuggled through O.R. Tambo International Airport. This Sunday Carte Blanche investigates the status quo at the airport, as well as celebrating Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi, remembering Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala and finding out why a popular Western […]

Joseph Shabalala was the affable leader of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a men’s group that sang isicathamiya, a traditional Zulu genre of South African a cappella. Even with heavy hearts at his passing, a lot of South Africans know they are much richer for his time in the world. For the group he formed, for making […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa teed off this morning with South African golfing star – Simthandile “Sim Tiger” Tshabalala – who is fast becoming a legend at all of eight-years-old! The President met Sim Tiger at the Atlantic Beach Golf Estate this morning. The young boy is already a phenomenal young golfer, who has flown the flag […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says while it welcomes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that municipalities will be allowed to purchase power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), it’s meaningless unless timelines are swiftly announced; and has urged Ramaphosa to stop the government fighting the City of Cape Town in court and allow the Mother City […]

South African solo rower John Dempster of Watering The Mind just finished the World’s Toughest Row, the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge (TWAC). John completed the 3,000 mile Atlantic crossing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean in 63 days and 9 hours,14 minutes. The Proudly South African rower said it “feels good” […]

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has demanded that the City of Cape Town take immediate action against the sewage pollution in Milnerton lagoon. OUTA announced on 11 February that it had sent a letter to the City to ask for a meeting. The objective of the meeting is to present residents’ solutions to the pollution […]

Here’s the full State of the Nation  Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday 13 February 2020: It is 30 years since Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela walked out of the gates of Victor Verster Prison, a moment in our history that signalled perhaps more vividly than any other that freedom was at hand. As he stood […]

The South African Government plans to regulate the commercial use of hemp products this year, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday to a great deal of excitement. Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) before a joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament, President Ramaphosa said government will […]

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) created chaos at the State of the Nation Address tonight, infringing on the rights of all those who wanted to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his address… and delayed the President’s speech by almost an hour before the Speaker of the House Thandi Modise announced that the proceedings in the […]

Watch President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA) live here. Before the President has even got a chance to speak, EFF Leader Julius Malema and his colleagues have argued with the speaker that former President FW de Klerk should be removed from Parliament. Malema says he has blood on his hands. […]

Not quite sure where the time has gone, but somehow my logbook told me it had been a month since my last flight… writes marine conservation photographer Jean Tresfon. With the forecast looking good for Wednesday I planned to head around the Peninsula and see what marine life was in evidence, hopefully even spotting some […]

With just over an hour to go before President Cyril Ramaphosa tables the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the spotlight is on praise singer Masingita Shibambu, who is tasked with ushering in the President into the Parliamentary chambers. Over the years, the 19-year-old has perfected her craft at Sunday school, parties and funerals of […]

Democratic South Africa has skeletons in the closet that it needs to address. One of these is the death of Dag Hammarskjöld, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) in a plane crash shortly after midnight on 17 to 18 September 1961. The plane went down as it approached Ndola, a mining town in Northern […]

Dear Family and Friends, When I put my fingers into a black china bowl of water in the sink to scoop out what I thought was a leaf, I found myself holding a small black scorpion… writes author Cathy Buckle in her latest Letter from Zimbabwe. A yelp of alarm, a few unrepeatable swear words […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to use his State of the Nation Address Thursday evening to respond to burning issues such as load shedding and gender-based violence; unpack the progress that has been made by government over the past year and chart plans for the year ahead. Parliament officials have been hard at […]

The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter of 2019 show that the official unemployment rate remained unchanged at 29.1%, compared to the third quarter of 2019. Releasing the survey results on Tuesday in Tshwane, Statistician General Risenga Maluleke said this was the first time since 2008 that the unemployment […]

Chameleons (Chamaeleonidae) are a family of unique lizards with unusual characteristics: rapidly extendable tongues, feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, a prehensile tail, and eyes that can move independently of each other. Many species also have the ability to change the colour of their skin. There are about 213 species of chameleons […]

South African wine companies are making inroads at the Prodexpo international trade show currently underway in Russia. Prodexpo is the largest international show for the food and drinks sector in Russia and Eastern Europe. Wahed Khan, the Director of Global Business Development at Cape Dreams, says the show is an ideal platform to promote his […]

Faried Swartz‎ has come up with another very catchy song summing up the state of affairs in South Africa. This one’s called “Wake Up Ramaphosa” and has been published on the eve of the SA President’s State of the Nation Address to Parliament on Thursday, 13 Feb 2020. It’s sung to the tune of the […]

The City of Johannesburg (COJ) Libraries has been shortlisted at The London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2020 for The Library of the Year Award. eLearning Manager Jeff Nyoka told SAPeople: “We are extremely excited about the nomination, it’s testimony to the amount of work that the librarians in various City of Joburg libraries have […]

The South African men’s hockey team closed out an emphatic series whitewash over the United States with a convincing 5-1 victory in Ballito, KZN, on Wednesday. The Proteas scored in each quarter to gain 20.6 ranking points for the series and close the gap on Ireland who are currently ranked 13th to just 30 points, […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa is being urged to announce on Thursday – when he delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) – that he will send the Copyright Amendment Bill back to Parliament for reconsideration. If nothing else, it would be an ideal opportunity to announce some good news “amidst the doom and the darkness”, […]

An exhausted Boomslang was rescued from the beach in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on Saturday… by one of SA’s top snake experts Nick Evans who said it was a first for him to discover a Boomslang on the beach! “This big, beautiful specimen was very disorientated and extremely tired from swimming in the waves. Thankfully a […]

Up until 5 months ago, Llewellyn Barnes (59) was a homeless man, living on the streets of Pretoria, South Africa… but this March, against all odds, he will participate amongst professional players in the Senior Tour, a major golf tournament! A difficult childhood At an early age, Llewellyn faced many obstacles. He became like an […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his deep sadness at the passing of Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala. “The passing of Joseph Shabalala is a terribly sad moment for a nation and a world in whose ears the isicathamiya and mbube crafted by Ladysmith Black Mambazo will ring for generations to come,” said President Ramaphosa. […]