A powerful South African video has won the Music Video Category in an international film festival – the 2020 Moment Invitational Film Festival. The video, directed by Luke Bell, features Cape Town-based musician Phehello Makgoe performing his song ‘We Can’t Breathe’. And the guys would love your vote right now to make sure they win […]

Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, has issued a stern warning to those in South Africa who have invaded – or plan to invade properties – to desist from the unlawful acts. “The department has noticed incidents in which people illegally occupy places of land, buildings and houses. Recent cases have been reported […]

The finalists for the prestigious 2020 Rhino Conservation Awards have been announced, featuring several South Africans. The winners will be celebrated in a virtual event on World Ranger Day on 31 July. These conservation heroes comprise the people and organisations who work constantly to reduce the threats and increase the sustainability of conservation efforts in […]

A nearly complete R281 million forensic pathology facility at Groote Schuur Hospital could help reduce South Africa’s high number of unsolved crimes and cold cases. The Observatory Forensic Pathology Institute will be more than just a mortuary, the University of Cape Town’s Department of Medicine says on its website, but will allow pathologists to be […]

South Africa’s COVID-19 cases are on a sharp and steady increase, with 6,130 new cases reported on Monday, bringing the total number to 144,264. “The numbers are picking up and the surge is on the way. Particularly in Gauteng, the numbers are locking up faster than anticipated,” said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize. “Western Cape started […]

With moviehouses across the country ready to open soon, the well-known Labia Theatre in Cape Town has announced that it will also start streaming a curated selection of movies that one can watch at home, in addition to those that will be available on its four screens. The Labia Home Screen offers six video-on-demand movies […]

Crowned “a new kind of global pop star” by The New York Times, award-winning South African rap disruptor Sho Madjozi has officially signed to Epic Records, it was announced today. She joins the label’s esteemed roster as the only South African act in North America. Epic Records’ Chairman and CEO Sylvia Rhone said, “African artists are enjoying an unprecedented […]

KLM has announced two more flights in July that South Africans in Europe can catch if they would like to be repatriated home to SA. KLM said today that on the flights from Amsterdam, it is able to bring South African nationals and permanent residents back home.   If you would like to be booked […]

The South African Government says it remains “gravely concerned” at the intention of Israel to proceed with its unilateral action to annex strategic areas of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) in the West Bank and Jordan Valley, from 1 July 2020. Israel’s annexation plans represent a unilateral negation of the two-state solution, and are opposed […]

At least 132 civilian claims have been made against the members of the Gauteng SAPS since the inception of the national lockdown period, according to Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko. According to Mazibuko, of these 132 claims, 79 claims are being processed, 44 claims are under investigation and only nine claims have been finalised. […]

The supplementary budget tabled last week by South Africa’s finance minister, Tito Mboweni, whose primary objective was to make more money available for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, sheds no light on the relative prioritisation of prevention over treatment for COVID-19. Alex van den Heever reports. The required health system response to COVID 19 […]

As many as two dozen ships at a time could be seen lying anchored in Table Bay the last few weeks, while berths in the harbour were almost empty. The Western Cape government said it has requested a meeting with Minister Pravin Gordhan to deal with the challenges facing Cape Town harbour that are losing […]

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, and the number of diseases associated with it, seems to be increasing worldwide. Africa is known to have a huge burden of disease, but little is known about the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. In our recent paper, we reviewed and analysed all published studies that assessed the vitamin […]

The adjustments to the 2020 budget partly cushion the initial blow of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s lockdown. But the relief is only temporary and measures to contain the growth in debt will bite hard in years to come. Some cried wolf about austerity budgets in South Africa after the global financial crisis in […]

Government has welcomed two high court judgments dismissing challenges related to the Disaster Management Act and its regulations. On 26 June, the Western Cape High Court dismissed an application that sought to challenge the constitutionality of the National Coronavirus Command Council as a subcommittee of Cabinet. In a separate case, the Gauteng High Court dismissed […]

South Africa’s President – and Chairperson of the Africa Union – Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated Dr Lazarus Chakwera on his historic election as the President of the Republic of Malawi. Dr Chakwera posted a short message on Twitter on Sunday evening, saying: “It’s an honour.” President Ramaphosa has also congratulated all stakeholders for the success […]

As predicted by the South African Weather Service (SAWS), a cold front made landfall this morning in the South West Cape, bringing with it sheets of hard rain and gale force winds… reminding locals why it’s known as the Cape of Storms. SAWS cautioned residents to keep checking for alerts and “stay safe”. “Rain is […]

The South African cabinet has said it supports the establishment of a new airline out of South African Airways and has backed the concerted efforts to mobilise funding from various sources that could see the proposed carrier take off. The mobilising of funding would include potential equity partners, government said in a post-Cabinet meeting statement. […]

Whether you pour one litre of water into a bucket riddled with holes, or a thousand litres, the outcome will be the same: There will be no water left. So writes Theo de Jager, head of the SA Agri Initiative (SAAi) and president of the World Agricultural Organisation. The bottom line of Finance Minister Tito […]

Saai, an organisation that represents the interests of family farmers, will be in the Western Cape High Court in early August 2020 on behalf of farmers and farmworkers to have the government’s regulations on the banning of legal tobacco sales declared unconstitutional and invalid. The case will be heard together with nine other applicants, headed […]

Cinemas, restaurants, theatres and casinos can start operating again, albeit under strict conditions, after having closed for three months in the COVID-19 enforced lockdown. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, on Thursday signed and gazetted an amendment to the regulations for the advanced COVID-19 alert level 3 lockdown. Restaurants have […]

It’s happened again. In spite of holding all necessary legal documentation from the South African Embassy in China, 23 South Africans have been refused permission to board a connecting flight on Air Asia from Guangzhou in China to Kuala Lumpur, after which they would be repatriated home to SA. Some, who had spent their last […]

Zeblon Vilakazi, a professor who is “globally recognised for his scientific work,” has been selected to replace Professor Adam Habib as the next vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Witwatersrand. He will take over his role on 1 January. Professor Vilakazi’s appointment was announced today by the Council of the University of the Witwatersrand […]

The government has promised that the calamitous journey of its Medupi power plant, said to be the fourth-biggest in the world and first started in 2007, will be over this year and its sister plant Kusile completed in 2023. This was stated when Deputy President David Mabuza answered a question in Parliament today. He said […]

Two nurses at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday shared the heartbreaking reality of their working lives right now, during these Covid-19 times… when a coronavirus cure is still but a dream, and being admitted to ICU is a nightmare for the patients, their family who can’t visit and the medical staff […]