South African parents have been urged to inform and warn their children about a “ridiculous new challenge” happening at schools. The latest TikTok challenge – called the Tripping Jump Challenge or Skull-Breaker Challenge – has already swept the world, and has now sadly arrived in South Africa. The challenge involves two so-called friends standing on […]

In December, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the sentences of thousands of prisoners were being shortened. Since the announcement, Pollsmoor Prison has released 887 offenders, according to Ntobeko Mketshane, area commissioner of the prison. On Thursday, a large contingent of Pollsmoor officials, accompanied by senior police and officials from the Department of Home Affairs, hosted […]

If you weren’t lucky enough to be one of the world record-breaking spectators at the Match in Africa on 7 February in Cape Town, South Africa… or if you just want to relive the magic – here are some select video highlights of the celebrity match, and photos of the incredible event that had long […]

Eskom announced on Sunday that it would stop rotational loadshedding at 21:00, but that sadly the “probability of loadshedding during the week remains”. Eskom said it was able to stop tonight’s Stage 2 loadshedding because the emergency generation reserves had adequately recovered. South Africa’s power utility said that the load shedding over the weekend had […]

Young African actress Nikita Pearl Waligwa, who starred in Disney’s Queen of Katwe, has tragically passed away in Uganda at the age of just 15. According to international reports, she had been suffering from brain cancer. She was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016, but thanks to Queen of Katwe’s director Mira Nair […]

Cape Town Water Crisis déjà vu floods over me as I step into Shanghai’s Pingwu Road and see the long line of people outside the pharmacy. We’re eight days into our self-imposed Coronavirus quarantine and my husband and I have finally decided to leave the apartment… writes Anique Kruger who has been living and teaching […]

Check out Oti Mabuse on the Graham Norton Show, having a great belly laugh about the confusion a South African accent can cause! The SA Expat – who has become famous in the UK on ‘Strictly’ – was appearing on the popular BBC show to talk about her latest programme, ‘The Greatest Dancer’. Fellow Graham […]

Anti-drug trafficking groups say an increasing number of South Africans are getting arrested abroad for drugs smuggled through O.R. Tambo International Airport. This Sunday Carte Blanche investigates the status quo at the airport, as well as celebrating Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi, remembering Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala and finding out why a popular Western […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa teed off this morning with South African golfing star – Simthandile “Sim Tiger” Tshabalala – who is fast becoming a legend at all of eight-years-old! The President met Sim Tiger at the Atlantic Beach Golf Estate this morning. The young boy is already a phenomenal young golfer, who has flown the flag […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says while it welcomes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that municipalities will be allowed to purchase power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), it’s meaningless unless timelines are swiftly announced; and has urged Ramaphosa to stop the government fighting the City of Cape Town in court and allow the Mother City […]

South African solo rower John Dempster of Watering The Mind just finished the World’s Toughest Row, the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge (TWAC). John completed the 3,000 mile Atlantic crossing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean in 63 days and 9 hours,14 minutes. The Proudly South African rower said it “feels good” […]

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has demanded that the City of Cape Town take immediate action against the sewage pollution in Milnerton lagoon. OUTA announced on 11 February that it had sent a letter to the City to ask for a meeting. The objective of the meeting is to present residents’ solutions to the pollution […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says government will this year introduce Coding and Robotics in Grades R to 3, in 200 schools – with a plan to implement it fully by 2022. This is one of the steps taken by government to improve education in the country. Government is piloting the Coding and Robotics Curriculum for Grades […]

The South African government will this year intensify efforts to stabilise and re-purpose the country’s state-owned enterprises to support growth and development, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced. Delivering the 2020 State of the Nation Address on Thursday, the President said government is working to ensure that all SOEs are able to fulfil their developmental mandate […]

Here’s the full State of the Nation  Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday 13 February 2020: It is 30 years since Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela walked out of the gates of Victor Verster Prison, a moment in our history that signalled perhaps more vividly than any other that freedom was at hand. As he stood […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says fixing the fundamentals and deepening the reforms Government has already made, should put the country on course to achieve inclusive growth. The President said this when he delivered his State of the Nation Address during a joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday evening. He said this as the country’s economy remained […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that government will soon undertake far-reaching economic reform measures aimed at resuscitating the country’s economy. “We need to fix our public finances. Our debt is heading towards unsustainable levels, and spending is misdirected towards consumption and debt-servicing rather than infrastructure and productive activity. “We cannot continue along this path, nor […]

To improve the quality of general and specialised police investigations, government will be establishing a Crime Detection University in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria. This was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday evening, when he took to the podium in Parliament to deliver the State of the Nation Address. He said his plans for investment […]

The South African Government plans to regulate the commercial use of hemp products this year, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday to a great deal of excitement. Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) before a joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament, President Ramaphosa said government will […]

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) created chaos at the State of the Nation Address tonight, infringing on the rights of all those who wanted to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his address… and delayed the President’s speech by almost an hour before the Speaker of the House Thandi Modise announced that the proceedings in the […]

Watch President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA) live here. Before the President has even got a chance to speak, EFF Leader Julius Malema and his colleagues have argued with the speaker that former President FW de Klerk should be removed from Parliament. Malema says he has blood on his hands. […]

With just over an hour to go before President Cyril Ramaphosa tables the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the spotlight is on praise singer Masingita Shibambu, who is tasked with ushering in the President into the Parliamentary chambers. Over the years, the 19-year-old has perfected her craft at Sunday school, parties and funerals of […]

Democratic South Africa has skeletons in the closet that it needs to address. One of these is the death of Dag Hammarskjöld, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) in a plane crash shortly after midnight on 17 to 18 September 1961. The plane went down as it approached Ndola, a mining town in Northern […]

Dear Family and Friends, When I put my fingers into a black china bowl of water in the sink to scoop out what I thought was a leaf, I found myself holding a small black scorpion… writes author Cathy Buckle in her latest Letter from Zimbabwe. A yelp of alarm, a few unrepeatable swear words […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to use his State of the Nation Address Thursday evening to respond to burning issues such as load shedding and gender-based violence; unpack the progress that has been made by government over the past year and chart plans for the year ahead. Parliament officials have been hard at […]