Eskom interim Chairman, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, has been appointed to serve on the 12-member expert panel of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board for the first COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. In a statement on Tuesday, the power utility congratulated Makgoba who also serves as South Africa’s Health Ombud on his appointment. “We are proud that […]

Showmax is launching a new service, Showmax Pro, which bundles the existing Showmax entertainment service with music channels, news, and live sport streaming from SuperSport. Showmax Pro features all Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, and PSL games as well as a wide range of live sport events including IAAF Athletics, professional boxing, and the […]

Four policemen in Worcester were arrested after allegedly taking money from shopkeepers to avoid being arrested for selling cigarettes. The police said today that detectives from the Western Cape Provincial Anti-Corruption Unit arrested two Warrant Officers, aged 45 and 48, and two Sergeants,, aged 43 and 53 on Monday. The policemen were identified and linked […]

South Africa’s beloved Siya Kolisi was named as the Most Influential Person in rugby by UK-based magazine, Rugby World, adding to a list of accolades received by the Springbok captain since he guided South Africa to Rugby World Cup glory last November. Rugby World publishes a list of the most influential people in the game […]

The Democratic Alliance has said it would refer a number of social media posts that seemingly glorify farm murders and attacks to the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate for hate speech. Diane Kohler Barnard, Shadow Minister of State Security, said the DA had made an undertaking to report what it believed to be […]

The mayor of Johannesburg, Geoff Makhubo, has been accused by his predecessor Herman Mashaba of giving himself a raise while cutting the budgets of numerous urgently needed services in the city. “This proposed budget is nothing short of a disaster for the residents of Johannesburg, and promises the complete collapse of service delivery infrastructure,” said […]

More than 30,000 illegal firearms taken off the streets have been destroyed in smelters in Vereeniging, the South African Police said today. Over 33,000 firearms have been destroyed in the first half of 2020, including 30,913 handguns, 1,452 rifles and 894 shotguns, as well as 725 firearm parts. Most of the guns were seized during […]

Over 622 youth from around the world have signed a letter calling on the South African Government to phase out captive predator breeding in South Africa. To commemorate Youth Day in South Africa, leading conservation organisation Blood Lions and Youth For Lions sent a letter on Friday to various Ministers of the South African Government […]

The Competition Tribunal has slapped pharmacy group, Dis-Chem, with a R1.2 million fine for excessively overpricing surgical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes after the company was found guilty following complaints registered by the public. The Tribunal found that Dis-Chem contravened the Competition Act for charging excessive prices for three types of surgical face […]

South Africa’s Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has called on unions to convene their own bilateral meetings to finalise the South African Airways (SAA) restructuring plan. In a statement issued on Monday, the department said after withdrawing from the Leadership Consultative Forum (LCF), the department has had bilateral discussions with all unions, and is now […]

North West Premier Job Mokgoro has expressed condolences at the passing of the province’s Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs MEC, Gordon Kegakilwe, who on Monday succumbed to a short but serious COVID-19-related illness. Kegakilwe was admitted with COVID-19 pneumonia on Sunday afternoon at the Vryburg Private Hospital. Upon admission, the MEC was immediately […]

The consulate of Belgium has closed its office in Johannesburg and will reopen on 13 July in Pretoria, where the embassy is located. Belgium’s office in South Africa also handles all diplomatic business for Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. “We realize that with this move, the distance to the consulate is increasing for some […]

The eighth suspect arrested over allegations of the R2 billion fraud at VBS Mutual Bank, Phillip Truter, appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes court today to face 47 charges of fraud, theft, money laundering, corruption and racketeering. Truter, the former Chief Financial Officer of VBS, was in quarantine when the other seven, including […]

At least 1,544 public servants who were involved in doing business with the state are to have action taken against them, according to the minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu. In June Mchunu said he had written to the government departments about employees who had failed to disclose their financial interests or the […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is in possession of what appears to be a government document that describes the Covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity for the “macro re-organisation of the state”, and proposes to make the Command Council system a model for government beyond the lockdown, and could see South Africa’s nine provinces scrapped. […]

A British Falklands war hero, who was well known in South Africa as being part of the ‘Dagga Couple’, has been shot dead on his small holding in South Africa, bravely defending his partner from a gang of four armed robbers. Retired Royal Navy sailor Julian Stobbs, 59, was shot a number of times in […]

Following GroundUp’s report two weeks ago about how Elisa Khumalo, who is 104-years-old, had to go to the toilet in the open, two toilets have now been built for her. Khumalo who lives in Mndozo village in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, used to have to relieve herself in a roofless pit latrine with broken walls. Hearing of her plight, […]

South Africa has now recorded a confirmed 196,759 Covid-19 cases, as of 5 July 2020, according to SA’s Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize… and with 8,773 new cases recorded overnight, it is likely that in the next 24 hours the South African stats will surpass 200,000. Dr Mkhize said: “Regrettably, we report a further 173 […]

The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation on Thursday published a wonderful photo of Archbishop Tutu and his wife Leah as they celebrate their wedding anniversary. The Foundation said: “Congratulations to our dear Founders, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Mrs Leah Tutu. Today they celebrate 65 years of marriage! ??????” The Foundation has also posted […]

There’s good news for South Africans still stranded in the US and UK as South African Airways has received approvals to operate flights between London and Johannesburg, and Washington and Johannesburg. This will also benefit those South Africans stuck in SA who need to get home to jobs and families abroad. The proposed dates for […]

Several hardhitting videos on Twitter by businessman and global speaker Vusi Thembekwayo have gone viral, with him blaming ANC government corruption for the devastation the country now faces and saying that South Africa could otherwise have survived the COVID pandemic.  The videos originated from one longer video he had filmed live on Facebook Watch on […]

The Stormers rugby team spent today at the Brackengate temporary hospital in Cape Town helping to put the finishing touches to the hospital, and were thanked by Western Cape Premier Alan Winde for being out in the community and spreading awareness about COVID-19. “The team helped to move in beds and furniture, set up and […]

The National Treasury has reiterated its stance that it will not bail out South African Airways, apparently in direct conflict with Pravin Gordhan, who seems hell bent on saving the airline from liquidation. In its response to public submissions to the Supplementary Budget, the treasury today released a brief programme on what the next steps […]

A teenage schoolgirl in South Africa, Anika de Beer, tragically died on Tuesday in an aircraft she was flying solo, just days before her 17th birthday… which is tomorrow. This was her second solo flight. Just recently Anika’s delighted mum Rika and dad Andries had presented their daughter with a traditional bottle of champagne after […]

Zackie Achmat, activist and co-founder of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), stressed the need for more openness and activism during the Covid-19 crisis in South Africa. He was speaking during a webinar on Thursday in which he received the 2018 International AIDS Society (IAS) President’s Award. The award was handed to him, virtually, by outgoing […]