The Democratic Party (DA) says it is horrified at the murder of community and environmental activist Fikile Ntshangase at her home in Ophondweni, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in South Africa. “The perpetrators of this heinous crime must be found, and justice swiftly meted out,” Hannah Shameema Winkler – Shadow Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries […]

A vocal opponent of plans to extend Somkhele coal mine, one of South Africa’s largest open coal mines, situated on the border of iMfolozi-Hluhluwe Game Park in northern KwaZulu-Natal, was murdered on Thursday night. Fikile Ntshangase, a vocal opponent of plans to extend the Somkhele coal mine, was murdered in her home on Thursday night. […]

Stephen Gray, the South African novelist, poet, biographer, literary scholar, editor, critic and academic, died in Johannesburg on October 22 after a short illness. He was 78… writes Darryl Accone. Born in Cape Town on November 30 1941, Stephen Richard Gray was to become a protean literary talent, writing in every genre, acknowledged as the […]

As fires have ravaged across areas of the Free Sate, North West and Northern Cape, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to urgently declare and gazette a state of disaster for the fire-ridden areas of these three South African provinces. It’s estimate […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) announced the arrest of three staff members on 20 October 2020; in an extended Intel driven operation by SANParks, SAPS Crime Intelligence Unit, Sabi Sands and Skukuza SAPS Stock Theft Unit outside Kruger Gate. Two of the officials were employed as Security Guards and one was attached to Technical Services […]

Popular Expresso Morning Show host Katlego Maboe will not be appearing on the show until legal proceedings have been fully investigated, and pending the outcome,  Cardova Productions said in a statement on Friday. The statement said: “Certain serious allegations have been posted on social media about Mr Katlego Maboe and, last night, a video was leaked […]

The City of Cape Town has granted in-principle approval of the Rondebosch Golf Club lease renewal, stating that the area is “not suitable for housing purposes at this point” and that it has “severe development constraints”. The decision by the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee was made on 20 October, with a final decision […]

A young South African expat living in Los Angeles, California, has written and produced a song with a voice that will tear at your heart and lyrics that will stir your soul, set to a backdrop of visuals highlighting the spectacular, heartbreaking beauty of South Africa. Edward Smith – whose real name is Dewald Smit […]

Around a hundred thousand years ago, South Africa’s Cape south coast was a busy place. Giraffes, crocodiles, hatchling sea turtles and large bird species populated the landscape. Early humans were there, too. We know all of this because of fossil tracksites that today dot the Cape south coast, which is about 400km east of Cape […]

In his capacity as African Union Chairperson, President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the Nigerian government to desist from the use of violence and respect human rights and the rule of law amid the #EndSARS protests. Meanwhile in the USA, South African expat and comedian Trevor Noah has briefly explained what has been going on […]

The Democratic Alliance today laid criminal charges against the EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi for incitement to arson following a song he sang in Senekal translating to “Call the fire brigade, burn these Boers.” These utterances were not only incredibly hateful but were a call to incite arson, violence and anarchy by Ndlozi and his fellow […]

South African citizens living in countries like the UK (which are currently on South Africa’s banned ‘red list’) who would like to travel to South Africa, but have concerns related to their minor children or spouses who have foreign nationality, are advised of the following information from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). Firstly, any […]

The Bosasa whistleblower Angelo Agrizzi, who was denied bail only last week (for reasons that will be covered in this Sunday’s Carte Blanche), has suffered a heart attack while in a private Johannesburg hospital. Agrizzi who was denied bail last Wednesday, as he was deemed a flight risk, was moved to a private hospital earlier […]

A brazen ‘Rolex’ robbery took place yesterday at a Turkish restaurant in Sunninghill Village shopping centre, in Sandton, Johannesburg. In a video which has gone viral in South Africa, at least two suspects can be seen, pointing their guns at a table of six diners. One suspect, dressed in dark clothes, can be seen jumping […]

A family man was shot and sustained serious injuries in an attempted robbery at The Village restaurant in Hazelwood in Pretoria, South Africa, around midday on Sunday 18 October 2020. Update (Sun 25 Oct): Pretoria man, Wayne Giles, shot for his cellphone, wakes up!  Two suspects allegedly tried to rob the victim, Wayne Gary Giles, […]

PRETORIA – The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (HAWKS) has arrested four former senior state officials on Thursday morning for alleged tender irregularities committed at the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH), in 2007, Haws announced in a statement today. The long-drawn-out case by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation emanates from February 2007, when the State […]

Five people were arrested early today for the execution-style killing of two women in Polokwane ten days ago, including the husband of one of them, who had apparently tried to commit suicide. Makoena Mabusela-Leshabane, 46, and Tebogo Mphuti, 35, were shot while sitting in a car in Polokwane on 10 October. Reports at the time […]

The cumulative number of detected COVID-19 cases is now 708 359, with 85 more COVID-19 related deaths reported. In the last 24 hours, 2 055 new cases were reported. Of the 85 deaths reported, eight occurred in the past 48 hours. The 85 deaths bring the national COVID-19 death toll to 18 741. “We extend […]

South African student Talia Smith, who is currently studying at New York University (NYU) in the USA, has won GOLD in the prestigious 2020 Student Academy Awards for her poignant short film ‘Umama’, based a true life account of her ‘domestic worker’. Talia received the news of her incredible achievement from none other than legendary […]

Transnet said today it had implemented containment measures to limit the extent of the crude oil spillage which occurred on 19 October in the Bellair area of Durban, into the Umbilo River and the harbour, due to an attempted theft incident on a crude oil pipeline. There have been more than 80 fuel theft incidents […]

The DA in the Free State, South Africa, has requested that the Premier declare the fire-swept areas a State of Disaster, in order to facilitate the allocation of vital resources. The veld fires this week ravaged about 100,000 hectares around and between the towns of Dealesville, Boshoff, Hertzogville, Hoopstad and Bultfontein… destroying livestock, game, grazing, […]

Farmers, farmworkers and their families have been left heartbroken in the Hertzogville area in the Free State, South Africa, where huge fires have destroyed fields and killed several hundred animals. The fire was possibly started by the flames of burning tyres lit by service protesters. SA Agri Initiative (Saai), an organisation that represents the interests […]

Thirty-one students from Fort Hare University’s East London campus in South Africa have tested positive for COVID-19, apparently following a night out partying… similar to the recent ‘super-spreader’ incident in Cape Town where 89 tested Covid-19 positive following a gathering, which included several matric students, at the Tin Roof in Claremont. According to a joint […]

The constantly cash-strapped and facing bankruptcy South African Broadcasting Corporation now wants people to pay TV license fees not only if you don’t watch their television programmes but also even if you watch streaming services like Netflix on your laptop. In a presentation to the parliamentary portfolio committee for communications, the deputy minister of communications […]

The 200-year-old SA Astronomical Observatory, with its headquarters in the Cape Town suburb of Observatory, has been unveiled as a national heritage site. The facility was the first in the Southern Hemisphere. With a history dating back to 1820, this is a “living site”, with more than 200 years of prominence in the international astronomical […]