The City of Cape Town’s Alderman James Vos has welcomed Belgium’s decision to upgrade its post in Cape Town, saying this “shows their commitment to our city and provides a clear path towards stronger relations with a key European partner”. Alderman Vos was recently joined by the newly-appointed Belgian Consul General Mathias Bogaert at an […]

South Africa has recorded 12 513 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed infections to 2 075 409. “This increase represents a 31.6% positivity rate, which is higher than yesterday (30.2%),” the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Monday. The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (60%), followed by the […]

Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, has announced that the price of both grades of petrol will increase on Wednesday. The price of petrol 93 (ULP and LRP) will increase by 29 cents per litre and the price of 95 (ULP and LRP) will increase by 26 cents per litre, while the price […]

Distraught and heartbroken parents have told news agencies in Nigeria that their children have been plucked overnight from a boarding school and kidnapped. Around 150 students are believed to have been taken by armed men from the hostel at Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state, sometime between 11pm on Sunday night and 4am Monday. […]

In September each year, South Africa’s Gauteng province turns purple. The cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria are well covered with trees – and jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia), with their purple blooms in late spring, are a prominent part of this urban forest… writes Jennifer Fitchett, University of the Witwatersrand. About 16% of the land in the Gauteng […]

Springbok training has been suspended for Monday following a positive test for COVID-19 in the squad, SA Rugby announced in a statement. “The players have been placed in preventative isolation prior to further PCR testing and a review of the testing data by the Medical Advisory Group (MAG),” said SARugby. Lood de Jager retuned a […]

Government’s controversial alcohol bans are strongly associated with a large drop in unnatural deaths. This is a finding by University of Cape Town (UCT) and Medical Research Council (MRC) researchers, in a study published on Friday in the South African Medical Journal. Tom Moultrie and his colleagues compared weekly unnatural deaths (murders, vehicle collisions, suicides and accidents) […]

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJOINTS) on Sunday enhanced operational capacity in KwaZulu-Natal amid “flagrant disregard” for COVID-19 Adjusted Alert Level 4 regulations. “This is in response to incidents in which people are seen to be undermining the authority of the State, including the flouting of the Disaster Management Act Regulations,” NatJOINTS spokesperson […]

South Africa’s ex-President Jacob Zuma on Sunday declared that “South Africa is fast sliding back to apartheid rule”. Speaking to the media from his home at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), he said: “The fact that I was lambasted with a punitive jail sentence without trial should engender shock in all those who believe in freedom […]

The scenes currently unfolding outside Jacob Zuma’s homestead at Nkandla, which have broken almost every lockdown level 4 regulation gazetted, are fast morphing into a dangerous and volatile Covid-19 super spreader event threatening the lives of countless South Africans… writes Democratic Alliance Leader John Steenhuisen. President Cyril Ramaphosa must urgently intervene in the chaotic gathering […]

In Secrets from the Cockpit, Robert Schapiro offers a rare insider’s view on life as an international pilot. Schapiro, who was a pilot for the South African Airlines in the 1980s before flying internationally, describes near misses and emergency landings… but also explains how pilots kept rowdy travellers in check. Enjoy this excerpt from the […]

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has urged taxpayers to carefully consider working from home expenses before submitting claims to the revenue collector. SARS recently published an update on its website in relation to home office expenses. In a statement on Thursday, the revenue collector provided additional clarity for individual taxpayers who may be considering […]

South African soprano Pretty Yende has posted a heartfelt message of gratitude to all those in South Africa and around the world, including in France, who rallied to her support after the horrific ordeal she suffered at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. (Watch Pretty’s message at bottom of article.) She also posted a video […]

With a 25-run victory over the West Indies in Grenada on Saturday, South Africa has won the Twenty20 International series. Cricket South Africa (CSA) today shared some photos of the series-clinching performance. CSA said of the match at the National Cricket Stadium: “Lungi Ngidi (3/32) was the pick of the bowlers, complimented by a solid […]

The Commonwealth says it has been following the situation in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) very closely, and is “concerned about the regrettable violence that has led to the loss of life and the destruction of property”. In a statement on Saturday night, it said: “The Commonwealth calls for calm and restraint and urges all political and […]

Acting Minister of Health Mamoloko Kubayi has described an announcement by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) on the approval of the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by Sinovac Life Science for use in South Africa as a “turning point” and much needed relief for the country’s vaccination rollout programme. This authorisation with conditions, […]

The British & Irish Lions started the Lions Series on a winning note with an eight-try 56-14 victory over the Sigma Lions at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday evening, with Josh Adams bagging four second-half tries. The home team lost focus from time to time, and were punished for a slow start with […]

NKANDLA, South Africa (Reuters) – A South African court on Saturday agreed to hear ex-president Jacob Zuma’s challenge to a 15-month jail term (for failing to attend the Zondo corruption hearing), as hundreds of his supporters gathered outside his home in a show of force. The Jacob Zuma Foundation says he will ‘address the nation’ […]

As South Africa grapples under a fierce Third Wave of the Coronavirus Pandemic, the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has authorised the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by Chinese company Sinovac Life Sciences, and imported by Curanto Pharma. The authorisation was done in terms of a section of the Medicines Act that enables emergency use […]

The acrimonious divorce of a couple in Cape Town, South Africa, has made headlines in the UK where the husband was a former friend of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and once tried to lure him into a plot to give a journalist a “couple of black eyes and a cracked rib”. According to the Daily […]

South Africa has now recorded over two million positive Covid-19 cases since the start of the worldwide pandemic, with a ‘record-breaking’ 24,270 new infections in the past 24 hours tipping it over the milestone mark. This is the highest number of daily cases ever recorded in South Africa, as the country battles its third wave. […]

The Springboks are up and running, celebrating Friday night with a victory against Georgia in their first Test match at home since 2019! Although the match was not perfect, there were some moments of brilliance for the Rugby World Cup champions as they beat the visitors at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, South Africa, in a […]

Jacob Zuma today, Friday 2 July, made a last-minute attempt for freedom as Sunday rapidly approaches, by which time he has to hand himself in to Nkandla Police Station to serve a 15-month prison sentence. Don’t miss Carte Blanche this Sunday at 7pm (or Showmax on Tuesday if you’re abroad) as the current affairs show […]

The Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Regional Hospital in Bizana, Eastern Cape is currently the only Covid-19 vaccination site in the Winnie Madikizela Mandela Municipality. Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Regional Hospital in Bizana, Eastern Cape is the only vaccination site in Winnie Madikizela Mandela Municipality. Villagers from Nyavini travel up to 70 kilometres on treacherous roads […]

Comair announced Friday that it is temporarily suspending all scheduled kulula.com and British Airways (operated by Comair) flights for three weeks. This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of a move in South Africa to an adjusted Level 4 lockdown and the prohibition on all non-essential travel in and out of Gauteng. Flights will be suspended […]