Everyday Lauren* breaks her isolation to visit the clinic where she undergoes radiotherapy. Cancer patients appear to have a higher risk of dying of Covid-19 if they become infected with the new coronavirus. Lauren has cancer and needs to attend a clinic for radiotherapy. She describes the measures the clinic has taken because of the […]

An urgent intervention and investigation of a Durban quarantine facility is being sought by both the DA and AfriForum to resolve what the opposition party calls an “untenable situation”. About 160 to 200 South Africans are currently being quarantined in Durban hotel, Coastlands… which they claim is dirty and unsafe, and where they are allegedly […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Friday be in Cape Town to assess the Western Cape’s provincial response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Western Cape is currently the country’s epicentre accounting for nearly two-thirds of infections nationally. As of Thursday, the Western Cape had 27 006 out of the 40 792 COVID-19 infections reported […]

There are now 40,792 confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa as of 4 June 2020, according to the Department of Health. This is an increase of 3,267 cases in the past 24 hours. Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said: “As of today, the cumulative number of confirmed #COVID19 is 40 792, the total number of […]

A sudden landslide in the north of Norway caused eight homes to be washed into the sea on Wednesday 3 June. The incredible scene was captured on film by Jan Egil Bakkeby, a resident of Alta, who had just finished making a couple of sandwiches when he heard the noise, which sounded like creaking. “At […]

In a predawn raid, the SA Police Service arrested eight senior officers, including a former lieutenant-general, as well as six company executives on charges of corruption and fraud. In a statement today the police said the arrests by the Anti-Corruption Task Team – backed by a prosecution team of the National Prosecuting Authority under Hermione […]

The rand strengthened to below R17 to the US dollar today, for the first time in almost 11 weeks, after suffering record lows in April, when it went over R19. It was trading at about R16.91 late in the day. The currency was close to R14 to the dollar in late December, and was in […]

The lockdown in South Africa has been extended by another month, which means it will run its full 90 days, until 15 July, according to a statement by government today. After a meeting of the cabinet today, the extension was announced by the Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu, as was a decision to appeal […]

South African athlete Caster Semenya posted an adorable photo on Thursday afternoon that has everyone guessing: is her wife pregnant and are they expecting a baby? The photo shows what looks like Caster’s feet in takkies, with two little baby shoes in the middle being held by Caster’s hands. The South African double Olympic champion, […]

With lockdown leaving many families in South Africa destitute without the means to earn an income and provide for their families, South Africans all over the land have stepped up to find a way to create vegetable gardens, soup kitchens and other ways to help feed those who may otherwise starve. And for those who […]

Pleas for DIRCO to help South Africans stranded abroad, or stuck in SA with jobs abroad, have increased as many run out of money, medicine and hope. The DA today issued a call for Dirco to liaise better with embassies in helping get citizens home; and AfriForum this morning issued urgent court papers in an […]

South Africa’s government is proud that its response to Covid-19 relies on science. It might be prouder if it was also guided by knowledge of how society works. When South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown began on 27 March, opposition from some quarters was inevitable. What was not expected was that the most vehement resistance would be […]

“We want to love the police, but they don’t want to love or respect us”, “Black Lives Matter” and ”Refugee Lives Matter” read some of the placards laid on the ground outside Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday. Small groups of people trickled past to place flowers and banners in a show of solidarity against […]

The number of confirmed COVID-19 in South Africa is 37 525, while the death toll has spiked to 792. Almost 80% are in the Western and Eastern Cape Out of the 37 recorded deaths on Wednesday, 29 are in the Western Cape, seven in the Eastern Cape and one in KwaZulu-Natal. On Tuesday, 50 people […]

Two communal vegetable gardens have made a big difference to life in Khenana informal settlement in Durban, where residents have used the money from sales of spinach and cabbage to buy masks, gloves and sanitisers for everyone during the Covid-19 pandemic. The first garden in the settlement in Cato Crest was started in June last […]

Two South African airlines, Airlink and FlySafair, will start flying again over the next two weeks, with Mango also possibly joining them. Airlink said it would launch a limited scheduled domestic air service from 8 June, with flights on the Johannesburg-Cape Town and Johannesburg-Durban trunk routes, using 98-seat Embraer E190 regional jets. According to the […]

The South African History Archive Trust has won an important victory for the constitutional right of access to information in the Supreme Court of Appeal. In a unanimous judgment, the court found that the Reserve Bank had unlawfully refused to provide SAHA with records in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). […]

The Zondo commission of enquiry into state capture will resume hearings later this month or early in July, according to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. The commission itself would resume work next week. During a virtual briefing today, after the commission suspended work during the lockdown, Zondo said, “With the cooperation of the executive there […]

The Democratic Alliance said today that the minister of tourism’s “see how things go” attitude could decimate the country’s tourism industry. The minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has said that the sector would only reignite by December this year. “By that time most of the tourism, travel and hospitality industries will be decimated,” the DA said. “The […]

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has expressed confidence that the aviation industry and South Africa’s airports will adhere to COVID-19 regulations and directives, as the sector reopens. See below for the process passengers will now go through to travel by air. Speaking on Wednesday at the O.R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, where he was inspecting […]

20 organisations ask state capture commission to issue interim report… Dear Judge Zondo, We write to you as concerned members of the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture, which comprises more than 20 civil society organisations. In February 2020, we presented an Agenda for Action to the Commission, which is based on detailed submissions […]

The South African Government says it has taken note of the Johannesburg High Court ruling, which declared COVID-19 lockdown regulations in levels 3 and 4 unconstitutional and invalid. The court, however, suspended the declaration of invalidity for a period of 14 days. “This means that the Alert Level 3 regulations remain in operation for now,” […]

Six people have died and four more are in a critical condition at False Bay Hospital, Fish Hoek, in South Africa after being admitted for methanol poisoning on Monday evening, 1 June. Natalie Watlington, Western Cape Department of Health Principal Communications Officer for Southern Western Sub-structures, confirmed the cases with GroundUp. Watlington said, “Western Cape […]

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa have now reached 35 812 — an increase of 1 455 in the last 24 hours. According to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, the Western Cape still has the majority number of cases with 23 583, followed by the Eastern Cape with 4 324, Gauteng with 4 276, and […]

The South African government says it has observed the protests in the USA following the tragic death of George Floyd, and calls on all in America – especially the security forces – to exercise maximum restraint in responding to the anger and frustration felt by many of its citizens, friends and international partners. DIRCO Minister […]