AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch health authorities called for pre-flight COVID-19 tests regardless of vaccination status for travel from outside the European Union, revealing that about 90% of the 62 people who tested positive on two flights from South Africa on Nov. 26 had been vaccinated…. By Toby Sterling. Under rules in place at the time, […]

Across the world, right now – from Cape Town to Kabul and London to Beijing – the arts are being silenced. COVID-19, conflict, censorship, loss of funding, displacement – even natural disasters – are seeing to it that the volume is being turned down on one of humanity’s driving forces: creative expression. But right here […]

The South African Post Office (SAPO) says Christmas mail leaving the country will be delayed due to the international travel restrictions. Travel restrictions were imposed on South Africa after the detection of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. In a statement on Wednesday, the SAPO said cargo space on aeroplanes is limited due to […]

The Kiffness has come up with another kiff song – a cover of John Lennon’s Imagine, but with his own words sending a strong message to Shell, who were scheduled today to start a controversial oil exploration expedition – known as ‘seismic blasting – along South Africa’s beautiful Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape. The […]

The Van Der Merwe’s are literally cleaning up in England, as are other South Africans like Jorge Santos who moved to London, aged 24, to seek his fortune. “Twenty plus years later and I still love this city – its culture, energy, and opportunity,” he told SAPeople. A South African of Portuguese descent, Jorge was […]

South Africa should be applauded for having alerted the world about the Omicron variant that is now beginning to spread around the world, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. The President has criticised countries who have imposed travel bans on South Africa, following the identification of the COVID-19 variant last week. “We reject that in the strongest […]

The DA says it has has once again felt the need to step in and assist stranded South African residents abroad, and those who have to travel abroad from South Africa. Using the channels afforded to the DA in Parliament, the Department of Internal Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and […]

A PET scan machine used for diagnosing cancer patients at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital has been out of action for more than three weeks because of broken air-conditioning that causes it to overheat. This was revealed today by Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi in an oral reply to DA questions at a sitting of […]

A well known German clinical epidemiologist, who’s pegged to possibly be Germany’s next Health Minister, says that Omicron may in fact be an early Christmas gift… and hasten the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Professor Karl Lauterbach tweeted that if Omicron is a less severe version of Covid-19, as has so far been seen in […]

The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, today (Tues 30 Nov) praised South Africa for identifying the new variant, Omicron, and the way in which the country shared the news with the world. Blinken said: “I really want to applaud and express gratitude to South Africa and its government for its extraordinary transparency and also […]

As the countdown begins to Shell’s seismic survey off the east coast of South Africa, conservationists are up in arms and trying to beat the clock in efforts to stop Shell from following through with this operation. Shell announced their plans to commence seismic surveys along the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast, an area renowned for […]

South Africans will be paying more at the pumps from Wednesday when fuel prices are expected to increase. According to the Mineral Resources and Energy Department, the price of petrol (both 93 and 95) will go up by 81c per litre, while the price of diesel 0.05% will increase by 72c and diesel 0.005% sulphur […]

Three terrified eco-students had a miracle escape in South Africa when their safari truck was attacked by a six-tonne elephant bull in musth, and rammed off the road. The elephant became enraged when two vehicles came a little too close to its breeding herd on the Selati Game Reserve near Hoedspruit and the Kruger National […]

With knee-jerk travel restrictions causing havoc to the sum of nearly R1-billion for the South African tourism industry, one passionate South African abroad is calling for South Africans around the world to make lemonade out of the sour situation by doing what they can to support local tourism on home soil. Hayley Reichert, a London […]

Restaurant Klein JAN has won the World Hidden Gem award at the prestigious La Liste gala evening in Paris, France, tonight. Proudly South African Chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen took to social media to say: “So proud to have just won World Hidden Gem at the La Liste awards in Paris.” He congratulated the […]

KIGALI, RWANDA: In the largest single rhino translocation ever undertaken, 30 white rhinos have been successfully translocated from &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa to Akagera National Park in Rwanda. andBeyond Travel revealed in a post today – 29 Nov – from Rwanda: “30 years ago, when our dream started, there was not […]

Gauteng is seeing continued high levels of COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions, as the fight against the Omicron variant begins, according to Dr Waasila Jassat of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. She said the majority of patients admitted in Gauteng were not vaccinated, with a smaller proportion of patients admitted being fully or partially […]

The #Action4Inclusion campaign was started in 2020 and hopes to raise R2 million by Christmas to help those who can’t afford registration, accessing marks and other material. By Marecia Damons. About 50 people joined a 16 kilometre walk at the weekend to raise funds for a campaign to help Stellenbosch University students pay off their […]

The Blouberg beach community in Cape Town has created a ‘pension fund’ to reward a humble 71-year-old Ice Cream man’s ‘sweet’ service. George Phontshe Peni (71) from Khayelitsha, Cape Town, has made an honest living selling ice creams, whilst capturing the hearts of Bloubergstrand residents and beachgoers for more than 4 decades. ‘Uncle George’, who […]

The strange story of the house Fikile Mbalula offered to buy… By Raymond Joseph and Masego Mafata Upbrand Properties, linked to suspended National Lotteries Commission chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, bought a house in an upmarket Johannesburg suburb, days after Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula and his wife made an identical offer on the same house. […]

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has confirmed the transfer of convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius to a correctional centre in Gqeberha to start a dialogue with the family of his victim, model Reeva Steenkamp. The disgraced Paralympic gold medalist was transferred from the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Facility in Tshwane where he is serving a 13-year […]

South Africa reacted with outrage to travel bans, first triggered by the UK, imposed on it in the wake of the news that its genomics surveillance team had detected a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa has been monitoring changes in SARS-CoV-2 since the pandemic first broke […]

South African Airways has cancelled all of its flights to and from Mauritius following the imposition of a travel ban on South Africa by the Mauritian government. Restrictions were also placed on at least five other Southern African countries after the Omicron variant was identified by South African scientists last week. SAA interim CEO Thomas […]

South Africa has reported 2 858 new COVID-19 cases, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) figures. This was 362 fewer infections logged than the previous day. According to the data, this takes the total number of registered cases involving COVID-19 to 2 961 406 since the outbreak. Gauteng remains the hardest-hit province […]

The DA is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to ensure that the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP-GBVF) is implemented as a matter of urgency. The call comes after the DA learnt that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has yet to create a specific crime category for gender-based violence and femicide […]