Countless Muslims around the world are voicing their disapproval of the ISIS attacks on Paris on Friday, in which at least 129 people were killed, by raising their voices on social media under the banner #NotInMyName. At the centre of the campaign is a video from September 2014 called “#NotInMyName: ISIS Do Not Represent British Muslims” that […]

Paris was gripped by terror on Friday night, as gunmen simultaneously attacked six locations, with shootings and explosions leaving at least 127 people confirmed dead, according to France’s President Francois Hollande. A siege at a packed concert hall, that left many dead, ended around 1am Paris time after more than 100 hostages were evacuated by police. Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility. The […]

GENEVA – A Hong Kong property tycoon has bought a 12.03-carat blue diamond found in South Africa last year at auction for a record $48.4 million (£31.7m), it was reported on Thursday, the second diamond he had bought for his seven-year-old daughter in two days. Joseph Lau confirmed that he had bought the “Blue Moon” diamond […]

It used to be a rare event when a high-ranking member of the African National Congress said something critical of the party or dissented, or pointed at cracks in the political firmament, but recently it has become more frequent. Add to the growing list of voices being raised Ben Turok (talking about the strictures of the ANC […]

The horror novel ‘Day Four’ by South African Sarah Lotz has reached the semifinals of the 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards, which brands itself as the only major book awards chosen by readers. A book about South African Elon Musk has also been nominated, in a non-fiction category. Goodreads, which started in 2007 and has apparently got 40 […]

PRETORIA – Eight policemen each received a 15-year jail sentence on Wednesday for the murder of a Mozambican taxi driver who was dragged behind a police van, according to news reports. The death of Mido Macia in February 2013 was caught on a mobile phone camera which showed him being manhandled, handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged […]

JOHANNESBURG – The remains of a dinosaur 50 percent larger than a T-Rex, found near Clarens in the Free State, are being pieced together by the Evolutionary Studies Institute at Wits University, it was announced on Tuesday. The plant-eating dinosaur, still to be named but which goes by the nickname ‘Highland Giant’, would have weighed about […]

AMMAN – The South African contractor who was one of at least five people who died after a local police officer opened fire at a police training centre in the Jordanian capital Amman on Monday has been identified as Conrad Whitehorn, it was reported on Tuesday. Whitehorn, 37, was from Johannesburg, the reports added. A news report […]

Yes, the rand is plunging, unemployment is rocketing and the country’s debt is increasing, but South Africa remains one of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that has been growing faster than other countries around the world, according to a new report. The report by financial news agency Bloomberg on Tuesday, compiled from various data since 2005, said that South Africa’s Gross […]

As weather predictions mount of a serious drought hitting numerous parts of South Africa, people are starting to ask whether a massive international water slide event scheduled to take place in a number of cities should go ahead. The event organisers, Slide the City, have given assurances that they take water conservation seriously, and a website in […]

AMMAN – A South African in Jordan was among at least five people killed on Monday when a Jordanian captain opened fire on instructors at an international police training center in the capital, before he was shot dead by security forces, news reports said. The South African was a 37-year-old from Gauteng who worked for an […]

The South African Weather Service has issued a red-alert warning of a heatwave in parts of the country. South Africans are being urged to brace themselves for the hot and dry conditions that are expected to last all week, beginning today. The affected areas are Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the eastern part of the North West. ER24 […]

JOHANNESBURG – MTN CEO Sifiso Dabengwa has resigned with immediate effect, the company said on Monday, it was reported. This comes two weeks after the telecommunications giant’s Nigerian division was fined $5.2 billion by that country’s communications agency for failing to disconnect users with unregistered SIM cards. MTN shares initially reacted badly to the news, and the JSE temporarily suspended […]

The Democratic Alliance said President Jacob Zuma should show leadership and publically insist that the order for a R4 billion jet for him not go through, especially in tight financial times and with more important priorities needing funding. The statement by the DA on Sunday comes after a news report saying that Armscor plans to begin the procurement process for […]

JOHANNESBURG – The South African rand fell to its lowest level ever against the dollar on Friday, to 14.17, on news of strong job statistics in the United States, suggesting the US Federal Reserve will increase interest rates before the end of 2015. One news report said that the rand has depreciated 20 percent in […]

It’s not surprising that the Ministerial Task Team announced today, Thursday, that it has found that the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has failed to provide leadership and guidance to the health profession on a number of issues…when you look at the infographic below. The infographic, outlining how effectively countries around the world spend their […]

On the same day the South African Police arrested four Krugersdorp policemen who were caught on camera fatally shooting a suspect at point-blank range, Trevor Noah talked about the effects of “brutally” filming cops and whether it deters them from doing their jobs properly. According to a SA Police statement on Tuesday, on 19 October two policemen were attending to […]

Now that the month-long EcoMobility World Festival in Johannesburg is over, what do people think? While some liked being forced to use public transport and others complained of traffic jams and lost income, the event definitely got Sandton’s commuters thinking about transport alternatives. Sandton’s CBD was closed to cars for the festival’s October run, and people were encouraged to use public transport, cycle and walk. […]

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK – As Kruger National Park deals with its worst elephant poaching in a decade, it announced on Tuesday that it has appointed a new top ranger to lead its anti-poaching efforts. Xolani Nicholus Funda, a former ranger who has been lecturing in nature conservation, took over the park’s anti-poaching operations from the beginning of […]

JOHANNESBURG – Former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe was highly critical of the African National Congress and many of its leaders in an interview published on Monday in the Business Day, and said the party was impaired. The ANC responded that it respected Motlanthe’s “forthrightness”. Motlanthe lashed out at the ANC, saying it was made up mostly of […]

If South Africa has long been known as the World in One Country, this week it could have also been called Weather in One Country. Storms, terrible winds, blistering heat as well as snow have all hit various parts of the country. In KwaZulu Natal, powerful winds were having a strange effect on the land. Said one news […]

South African state prosecutors lodged an appeal today, in the SA Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, for a murder conviction for Oscar Pistorius. The former Olympic and Paralympic athlete is currently under house arrest, after being found guilty of culpable homicide in the killing of his then girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day 2013. Chief Prosecutor Gerrie Nel […]

CAPE TOWN – What started as a great day for the 21st annual Cape Town International Kite Festival on the weekend was blown away by the weather on its second day, and has put a worthy cause in debt, according to news reports. The two-day festival at Muizenberg, in aid of Cape Mental Health and upliftment […]

CAPE TOWN – Four minutes is probably nothing in parliamentary debates, but last week saw a memorable 240-second interlude during the university fees debate when a member of the Democratic Alliance called a member of the Economic Freedom Front a Teletubby. DA chief whip John Steenhuisen stood up on a point of order just after DA leader […]

President Jacob Zuma made a public visit to the Kruger National Park on Sunday, not long after news had broken of four lions, 46 vultures and an elephant being killed with poison in the park. Zuma visited Kruger to lead an anti-rhino poaching awareness day and officially launch the Joint Operation Centre in Skukuza to coordinate efforts against poaching, […]