The Augrabies Falls in the Augrabies National Park near Kakamas in the Northern Cape at the weekend were in full flood. John Yeld captured the spectacular sight. Published originally on GroundUp / © 2021 GroundUp

Generous South Africans have clubbed in to make a terminally ill young boy’s dream come true – to own a Playstation 5. And it’s just in time for his 12th birthday on 9 March. Shaunie Pretorius, from Benoni, was sadly diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, and terminal type of brain cancer called Brainstem Glioma, in […]

Size does count, and the Covid-19 pandemic has confirmed it. Thanks to the networks of scientists across the world who are running big clinical trials, we can better decide which medicines should be used. Large well-designed clinical trials show us which medicines work and which don’t against Covid-19. The trials of ivermectin have been poorly […]

Long-held traditions associated with the State of the Nation Address (SONA) will not be on display tonight as President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the nation at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an impact on everyday life. What has not changed is that the President will still deliver the annual address at 7pm […]

South African tennis player Lloyd Harris has torpedoed his way through to the third round in the Australian Open Men’s Singles with a 5-set thriller. This is his first time advancing this far in the competition. In a dramatic three-hour match that saw the points see-saw between each player, Lloyd held on to win against […]

The Hilton College and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) community is still reeling after the tragic deaths of popular Hilton College Director of Operations Tony Richter, and his daughter Alice, over the weekend. There has been an outpouring of tributes, including this poignant letter below from a close family friend. The tragic incident apparently happened on the N3 […]

DJ Fresh and Euphonik have announced in a joint statement that they are parting ways with popular South African radio station 947. In mid-January 48-year-old DJ Fresh (Thato Sikwane) and 37-year-old DJ Euphonic (Themba Nkosi) were taken off the air at the music station as they faced rape allegations, dating back to 2011. The South […]

South Africa represents the biggest percentage of hunting outfitter exhibitors at the Dallas Safari Club (DSC) annual convention, according to the Humane Society International (HSI). The DSC, a Texas-based trophy hunting industry organisation, hosts the USA’s biggest industry hunting event, which is being held online this year. Based on research conducted by both the HSI […]

FREE STATE – An exceptional police officer went above and beyond the call of duty to rescue a distressed and depressed pensioner from a flooded river in the Free State, South Africa. Constable Moleko Mabe, from the  Phuthaditjhaba Police Station, risked his life to save hers, despite only having amateur swimming skills. The rescue happened […]

Eskom is once again switching off the lights for South Africans, although this time it’s implementing Stage 3 load shedding. It began at 1pm Wednesday afternoon and is scheduled to last until 6am tomorrow. “This load shedding is necessary as the power generation system is still severely constrained due to high generation unit breakdowns during […]

The R14.25m defamation action being brought by Australian mining interests against six South Africans – three environmental lawyers, two community activists and a social worker – suffered a major set-back with an adverse High Court judgment on Tuesday. Western Cape Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath has ruled that the defamation action brought by Australian mining […]

The South African Government will go ahead with its planned phase one of vaccination, targeting healthcare workers – using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine instead of an AstraZeneca jab. Updating the country on the latest developments, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been proven effective against 501Y.V2, while necessary […]

There were mixed fortunes for South Africa’s two singles representatives at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday. Lloyd Harris won his match, while Kevin Anderson bowed out at the first hurdle. Harris fought back from a set down to win his 1st round singles match at the Australian Open, earlier this morning (SA time). […]

Remember live music? South Africa’s own Ladysmith Black Mambazo are here to remind us of the healing power of music. Don’t miss their special virtual concert, recorded live from Durban, which will be available to stream from Feb 13 to Feb 20, 2021. You can grab a sneak peek below. The multi-Grammy award-winning band is […]

Lights in South Africa will be out from 10pm tonight until 5am on Wednesday as Eskom continues to experience system constraints. According to power utility, the load shedding stage 2 is necessary to preserve and replenish the emergency generation reserves and to maximise the capacity available during the daytime hours. “The power generation system is […]

Springbok wing JP Pietersen recently called time on an illustrious playing career which saw him making 70 Test appearances for the Springboks and winning a coveted gold medal at the Rugby World Cup in 2007, a year after making his international debut. It was therefore not surprising when a string of tributes poured in from […]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is expected to decide on the emergency use listing of the AstraZeneca vaccine, for the two sites in India and the Republic of Korea, which will produce it for COVAX. The announcement comes after results showed that the two-dose regimen of the University of Oxford’s AstraZeneca vaccine offers minimal protection […]

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille’s husband has passed away. The Minister’s husband, Edwin de Lille, passed away on Sunday following a long illness. “The news has come as a great shock to all of us who never saw Minister De Lille’s strength and commitment to her work wavering during this time of […]

Four local teenagers from Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, have been commended by the NSRI for their combined efforts in helping to save the life of another teenager who had been swept out to sea by rip currents. The NSRI named the four heroines as: Abbygail Janse van Rensburg, twins Karla and […]

Pick n Pay is today launching a fantastic new recycled shopping bag to raise funds for the ‘Save our Beach Huts’ initiative, a project aimed at restoring the iconic 36 beach huts in Muizenberg and St James which have fallen into disrepair. The huts, which are strongly rooted in Cape Town’s heritage, are featured frequently […]

In a promising sign that a corner has been turned, South Africa has recorded its lowest number of new coronavirus infections in a 24-hour period, since November 2020. The number of new cases – 1 379 – represents a 9% positivity rate as positive cases continue to decrease. There have now been 1 477 511 […]

The Department of Water and Sanitation has assured the South African public that the country’s large dams are not likely to collapse as a result of the heavy rainfall that is predicted to continue until mid-February. The Department’s Director in the Dam Safety Regulation Unit, Wally Ramokopa, said more than 5 000 registered dams in […]

Gauteng residents were rejoicing on Monday evening, as the Vaal Dam reached 100% capacity. Less than two months ago, in December, the dam had been struggling and was less than 25% full! South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) confirmed: “The Vaal Dam has reached 100% at 17:00 this afternoon (8 February 2021). Meanwhile, […]

A 22-year-old female suspect was arrested on Sunday for allegedly killing her boyfriend at Groenfontein Farm near Smithfield in the Free State, South Africa. Apparently an argument had broken out while they were drinking alcohol in their room on the farm at around 11h00. The suspect allegedly took a knife from the cupboard drawer and […]

The Khayelitsha community has been commended for their concerted efforts in flattening the COVID-19 curve. Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said: “As a province, we continue to face a pandemic which has taken many lives and destabilised our economy, resulting in many becoming unemployed. However, the outcome could have been far more severe […]