MIDRAND – The African National Congress has seen its membership fall by about one-quarter since 2012 – from 1,220,057 to 769,870 – President Jacob Zuma said today, addressing the party’s National General Council. Zuma said that party members were growing tired by the impression of a “lack of discipline”, infighting and divisions in the ANC. There was reportedly […]

DAR ES SALAAM – A Chinese woman known as the ‘Queen of Ivory’ has been arrested in Tanzania, the most important ivory trafficker ever caught in the country, according to a statement released on Thursday. Yang Feng Glan, 66, has been followed by Tanzania’s National and Transnational Serious Crimes Investigation Unit for over a year, and was […]

BLOEMFONTEIN – The South African Broadcasting Corporation chief Hlaudi Motsoeneng should be suspended while a disciplinary hearing is conducted into his alleged breaches – a huge salary increase and fake matric papers – according to a Supreme Court of Appeal Court ruling on Thursday. Motsoeneng‚ the SABC and the Communications Minister had challenged a lower court’s decision that, following a report by […]

The Democratic Alliance and the African National Congress have both been clamouring over the past week for the other party to take immediate action after news broke of serious problems within their ranks, namely the ANC’s possible involvement in a deal with Hitachi and a DA parliamentarian’s indiscrete tweet that has been called racist. On Thursday (today) […]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer, has promptly rejected an improved offer from bigger rival Anheuser-Busch InBev, saying on Wednesday that its 68 billion-pound valuation was insufficient. Earlier Belgium-based AB InBev said it was willing to pay 42.15 pounds in cash per SABMiller share, having already made two prior offers at 38 […]

PRETORIA – A panel led by a judge has upheld a decision not to let athlete Oscar Pistorius be transferred to house arrest and have sent his case back to the parole board for review again, a move his family reportedly said “flies in the face” of justice.   Pistorius was sentenced to five years in jail […]

PRETORIA – After a meeting with the leaders of some of South Africa’s universities on Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma said that while it was the right of all students to protest, they should do it responsibly. Zuma also said that Afrikaans was as African as South Africa’s other official languages, which immediately started a debate on […]

People in Africa are healthier and the continent more democratic than 15 years ago, but progress in certain areas has stalled over the last four years, according to an important new governance survey released by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation on Monday. “It is wrong for people to buy elections.” Mo Ibrahim pic.twitter.com/91bNVNF2tU — Mo Ibrahim Fdn […]

Much of Africa’s most densely populate areas should have free access to broadband Internet by late 2016, all provided from a satellite, according to a plan announced by Facebook on Monday. In partnership with French satellite operator Eutelsat, news reports said, the two companies will use the AMOS-6 satellite to beam Internet connections to reach at least 14 countries in sub-Saharan […]

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 […]