OSLO – Three scientists who worked on cures for river blindness, which greatly affects Africa, and malaria will share the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The Nobel Assembly said on Monday the prize would go to William Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites, and the other half […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s South African unit said on Monday all its vehicles in Africa’s most advanced economy are compliant with environmental laws, following the emissions testing scandal, which has rocked the global car industry. The South African business said its vehicles comply with the published CO2 values and were technically safe and roadworthy. “There […]

PRETORIA – A parole board in South Africa is to meet on Monday to determine whether Oscar Pistorius should be released early from prison, according to news reports. Pistorius, who was found guilty last year of culpable homicide for the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, was due to leave prison in August to serve the […]

JOHANNESBURG – The much praised and often vilified French economist Thomas Piketty delivered the 13th Annual Nelson Mandela lecture at Johannesburg’s Soweto campus on Saturday, spending much of his well-applauded speech on inequality. Pointing out that up to 65 percent of all income earned in South Africa goes to the top 10 percent, he said the […]

JOHANNESBURG – A brouhaha seems to be building up again over a satirical artwork depicting President Jacob Zuma’s penis, and the government has already condemned the work. The cartoon by Anton Kannemeyer shows a giant black penis and scrotum hovering above a group of angry black demonstrators carrying a banner that demands, “Respect for the president’s […]

GENEVA – Rwandans have been fleeing their country since 1959 and through the horrific events of the 1990s, although that is likely coming to an end, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The agency said on Friday that after a meeting of ministers from Rwanda, 11 countries hosting the refugees (including South Africa), the African […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s public prosecutor Thuli Madonsela has said that she would use information from a US government investigation into Hitachi Ltd over allegations  the company made “improper” payments to an African National Congress-backed company in order to get a contract for the building of two power stations, according to a report on Friday. Hitachi agreed to pay a […]

NEW YORK/ZURICH (Reuters) – Major soccer sponsors on Friday issued the strongest calls yet for the immediate resignation of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, a week after Swiss authorities said they were opening a criminal investigation into the head of the world soccer body. In quick succession on Friday companies that have long linked their brand […]

The Democratic Alliance has said member of parliament Dianne Kohler Barnard will face disciplinary action after sharing a post on Facebook that praised former president P.W. Botha, although social media is still abuzz with her gaffe. The shared post, written by freelance journalist Paul Kirk, said: “Please come back PW Botha – you were far more […]

For anyone experiencing delays in getting a passport or Smart Card ID in South Africa, relief is on the way, with a new programme launched in Johannesburg on Wednesday to allow certain banks to take applications and issue them. The Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba said the initiative – which is still being rolled out – will allow people […]

LONDON – British Airways has announced it will cut two of its seasonal flights to Cape Town in 2016, which some have ascribed to the new visa restrictions for South Africa. BA said the flight to Cape Town on Thursdays and Saturdays, and the return flight on Fridays and Saturdays would end on March 27, 2016, […]

Nationwide protests against corruption in South Africa are planned for tomorrow (Wednesday 30 September), the main one in Pretoria ending at the Union Buildings. Former COSATU leader Zwelinzima Vavi, who has been a strong voice against corruption and is one of the main organisers of the protest marches, said, “This is something that has become more than necessary to […]

WASHINGTON – Hitachi Ltd. has agreed to pay $19 million to settle charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the Japanese company violated American antibribery laws by allegedly making improper payments tied to South African government contracts to build two power-generation plants, it was reported on Monday. In late 2005, Tokyo-based Hitachi sold a 25 percent stake in […]

Last week the South African government released its annual data detailing lots of national statistics, even how optimistic people are. The document is 91 pages long and covers everything from the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to how many women hold management positions to the number of households that still have landlines for telephones (a whole […]

SOFIA – Jora and Black, two lions rescued from a Bulgarian circus, are on their way to a private reserve in the Eastern Cape, it was reported by the Born Free Foundation on the weekend. The two seven-year-old brothers were rescued by Born Free in July this year from a cramped metal beast wagon near Bulgaria’s capital, […]

WASHINGTON – The United States and China have committed to a historic agreement to stop the trade in ivory, during the Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s meeting this week with President Barack Obama. One news report said the announcement marks the first public commitment by President Xi to end ivory sales in China. In a statement released by the […]

NEW YORK – South Africa has promised to cap its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, according to a submission it made on Friday to the United Nations. South Africa told the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change that emissions would reach a peak between 2020 and 2025 and then plateau for the following decade. The government said it would need funding […]

PRETORIA – The allegation that over 500 suspected poachers from Mozambique had so far been killed by South Africa was “highly overinflated”, a South African government spokesman said on Friday, according to a news report. Former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano made the allegation this week, saying 82 Mozambicans had been killed this year. Much of […]

While the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) marked Heritage Day in South Africa yesterday calling for a removal of Die Stem from South Africa’s national anthem, and for the renaming of the Kruger National Park, the ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa spoke of reconnecting all South Africans, black and white. In the statement, published on their website yesterday, the […]

PRETORIA – The title of the statement might be humorous – ‘Tobruk or not Tobruk? Pick a lane, Pretoria‘ – but the subject is serious. The Institute for Security Studies on Thursday highlighted an ongoing tussle over the Libyan embassy in South Africa’s capital, which, it said, shows that the Pretoria government cannot decide whether it supports […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Whether it’s selling pensions, pasta or toothpicks, investors in Africa have been targeting the booming middle class. But a year of diving commodity prices has exposed how much the continent, and its consumers, still rely on exporting resources. A decade of growth above five percent in sub-Saharan African economies has drawn a […]

PRETORIA – The fallout from the horrific shootings of 34 miners at Marikana in 2012 continue to be felt, as President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday appointed a commission of inquiry into the Police Commissioner Riay Phiyegi’s fitness to hold office. The three-member board led by Judge Cornelis Claasen will probe “the allegations of misconduct by the national […]

PRETORIA – The appeal by the state against Oscar Pistorius over his sentence for the death of Reeva Steenkamp will be heard before the Supreme Court of Appeal on 3 November, it was announced on Tuesday. More than a year ago, on 12 September, Pistorius was acquitted of murder but convicted of culpable homicide for the shooting death […]

At least 2,000 South Africans have lost their citizenship since 2010 after becoming the citizens of other countries, the Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, said on Monday. In reply to a question from the Democratic Alliance in parliament, Gigaba said about 500 South Africans a year had lost their citizenship in the past four years. He […]

BLOEMFONTEIN – Danish national Peter Fredekrisen who was arrested last week after female genitals were found stashed in his freezer was remanded in custody in Bloemfontein Magistrate Court on Monday. Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said. 21 suspected female genitals, scheduled anaesthetic medicine and surgical doctor’s operating equipment were found in Fredekrisen house in Langenhoven Park, Bloemfontein. Police […]