If you are stuck at home in South Africa with a burst pipe, you can now call your plumber to come fix it. This is just one of the changes made to regulations governing the extended COVID-19 lockdown. The announcement was made by the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who […]

Any person or small business in the tourism sector, regardless of their skin colour, can apply for financial relief from the Tourism Relief Fund, says Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane. The minister said this following Afriforum’s announcement that it had served the department with court papers calling for the review of the Tourism Relief Fund. There […]

Cape Town has become the biggest city in South Africa to offer commercial and private property owners rates relief if they can prove that their income has been negatively affected by the Coronavirus crisis. In a statement today the leader of the Democratic Alliance John Steenhuisen congratulated Cape Town “for offering much needed property rates […]

A British war veteran in the UK, Tom Moore – known as Captain Tom – has raised over £14-million (at the time of publishing) with his inspiring and unique fundraiser! The 99-year-old today completed 100 laps of walking the length of his back garden (25 metres) – with his zimmer frame! – having walked ten […]

Here’s a powerful video message, edited by South African filmmaker Michael Odendaal… to Coronavirus. Michael, who owns Mode Productions 17, told SAPeople he created the video after feeling “incredibly inspired by President Ramaphosa’s address to the nation just before Easter”. He added: “I am overall just inspired by the people in our country and I […]

The South African Government says it is “very concerned and alarmed” at the announcement by President Donald Trump to cut funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) with immediate effect. This comes as the global number of people with coronavirus surpasses 2 million. “South Africa is particularly alarmed that the decision is made amid a […]

A domestic worker in Johannesburg has donated R3,000 of her R7,500-a-month salary to families in distress because of the Covid-19 lockdown. Zimbabwean national Judy Murambinda used the money to assist other Zimbabweans in trouble. She said immigrants should help each other when living away from home. Murambinda, who came to South Africa in 2009, was […]

The South African Police Service (SAPS) in Kimberley is being commended for going above and beyond in the call of duty… and for bringing a good news cop story to social media. According to the SAPS, the local police in the Northern Cape town assisted residents to drain their homes which were flooded over the […]

Hundreds of residents from Govan Mbeki and Nkandla townships in Port Elizabeth took a stand against criminals to protect some immigrant-owned spaza shops from looters on Tuesday morning… writes Mkhuseli Sizani. In Govan Mbeki GroundUp spoke to Mule Wanaro, the owner of Mubarak Spaza shop in Area 20, who recounted a narrow escape from armed […]

The number of COVID-19 related deaths in South Africa has risen to 34, with infections now at 2,506. This comes after Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Wednesday confirmed seven more deaths. Mkhize confirmed the increase during a press briefing in which government received much-needed personal protective equipment from Multichoice, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. Confirmed […]

A captain and the crew of his ship have been arrested in South Africa for attempted murder after throwing two stowaways overboard (with a makeshift life raft) in the middle of the Indian Ocean, over fears they had the coronavirus. The desperate stowaways had climbed up the anchor chain while the 600-foot long bulk carrier […]

A non-profit feeding scheme today said it would no longer hand out food parcels in a Pretoria township after chaos erupted and looters stole thousands of food parcels and damaged vehicles. The incident happened at Itireleng township in the west of Pretoria, at a feeding scheme run by a number of community groups from Laudium. […]

Many South Africans have been surprised, even outraged, by the ‘raw egg challenge’ that has swept South Africa during lockdown – but the latest twist it has taken has shocked and “disgusted” authorities and animal lovers nationwide. Three South African men have been filmed consuming live animals. The Raw Egg Challenge – brought on by […]

At least three factories in the Western Cape have turned their focus away from their normal production of clothing and liquor to turn out much-needed face masks and hand sanitiser. The companies are KWay, Reliance Clothing and Distell in Paarl. Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer said in a statement yesterday that he had visited two places […]

The Surgeon General of the South African National Defence Force says the SANDF has recorded its first four positive cases of the COVID-19. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Surgeon General said three of the cases were in the Western Cape, while the fourth was recorded in Gauteng. “None of these members are uniformed […]

We are a group of concerned citizens and educational activists and South African leaders, with the support of the National Association for Social Change Entities (NASCEE). We have heard Minister Motshekga’s interview on e.TV on 10 April, and understand that a Recovery Plan will be tabled to the Cabinet in the course of the week. […]

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa is 2 415, as of Tuesday, 14 March. Releasing the update of cases, the Health Department said the total number of tests conducted to date is 87 022. Gauteng has 909 cases, Western Cape 643, KwaZulu-Natal 489, Eastern Cape 174, Free State 98, Limpopo 24, […]

Gauteng MEC for Education and Youth Development, Panyaza Lesufi today visited the Lyttelton Homeless Shelter in Tshwane, following reports of escapees fleeing with mattresses… writes photojournalist Tom Brown. Images which were widely circulated on social media yesterday, including in a tweet by Lesufi, showed two men making off with multiple mattresses from the facility. City […]

The number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa rose to 2,272 on Monday, with two more deaths confirmed by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize. He said one of those deaths was a 57-year-old Gauteng man who had no recorded underlying diseases. The positive tests are an increase of 99 from the previous day. Total deaths stood […]

Professor Tim Noakes gave an interview to CCFM that has been widely circulated on social media. In it Noakes makes false and misleading statements… writes GroundUp editor Nathan Geffen. The interview starts off with Noakes admitting he is not a virus expert. If the interview had ended at this point it would have been accurate. […]

In the second week of March the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. By mid-March the disease had spread rapidly in many countries around the world. Governments are taking drastic steps, including the complete lockdown of cities, as well as extensive health interventions to try and stem the disease which is caused by […]

Police Minister Bheki Cele has condemned the burglary and looting of at least 16 liquor outlets in the Western Cape since the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown. Minister Cele visited the province on Saturday and was accompanied by Deputy Minister Cassel Mathale, the National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Kehla Sitole and Deputy National Commissioner, Lieutenant General […]

As of Sunday, 12 April 2020, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa is 2 173, with no reported increase in deaths. Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said this is an increase of 145 cases from the previously reported cases on Saturday. The number of deaths still stand at 25. He said […]

For the first time, most South Africans – and Christians around the world – have celebrated Easter at home with their family in lockdown… writes filmmaker and photographer Kierran Allen, who has captured these photos of Easter Sunday, in Durban, South Africa. As we head into our second phase of trying to ‘flatten the curve’, […]

More than 100 South Africans who found themselves stranded at Heathrow over two weeks ago are finally heading home on SAA Flight 4239, along with about 200 others stranded in the UK! And it’s largely thanks to an incredible team of South African volunteers from around the world who have been keeping their spirits high, […]