Covid-19 is a fast-moving epidemic with new knowledge emerging daily. President Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister Zweli Mkhize and others have shown outstanding leadership in rapidly implementing public health measures to address it. But there’s one important step they still need to add, which we hope will be supported across the country: encourage the wearing of home-made […]

On Easter Sunday (April 12, 2020), you can watch Italian global music icon Andrea Bocelli performing live at the magnificent Duomo cathedral of Milan (we’ve got the video for you at the bottom of the page – you can set a reminder for 7pm SA time). Here’s a taste of what you can expect: https://www.facebook.com/andreabocelli/videos/334935860800275/ […]

South Africa has recorded 410 recoveries from Coronavirus, according to Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize. Speaking on Friday, Dr Mkhize said that SA currently has 2,003 confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) with sadly 24 deaths. Since the lockdown came into effect at midnight on 26 March, the rate at which new cases have been […]

The entire country is in a shit situation to put it simply, people are worried, jobs are at risk and our economy is taking a massive dive. Where to from here… writes filmmaker and photographer Kierran Allen. South Africa has overcome so much hate and negativity and we have still seen the light on the […]

This week, Carte Blanche investigates how South Africa is ramping up the Covid-19 testing in the face of rising cases of Coronavirus in the country… and how face masks are becoming the new normal. You can watch the show on Sunday 12 April in South Africa on DStv Now or stream it overseas in most […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has encouraged the millions of South Africans, who are commemorating Good Friday, to take courage and strength from the message of Easter as the country deals with COVID-19. The President on Thursday, 9 April announced a two-week extension of the previously announced 21-day national lockdown, which is part of efforts to slow […]

A helicopter apparently being used by private military contractors from South Africa who have been assisting the Mozambican army against Islamist insurgents in the north of the country had to make an emergency landing after the chopper was damaged, possibly by enemy fire, according to reports from the region. Numerous attacks by the rebels have […]

DA Leader John Steenhuisen says the Democratic Alliance would prefer a “gradual phasing out of the current lockdown over the coming weeks, as opposed to a continuation of the severe and economically-crippling regulations we currently see.” Steenhuisen’s statement follows President Ramaphosa’s announcement that South Africa’s lockdown will be extended to the end of April. The […]

The public debate on strategies to tackle COVID-19 often unhelpfully positions health and economic considerations in a diametric fashion – as trade-offs. In fact, economic policy has health consequences. And health policy has economic consequences. The two need to be seen as parts of a coherent whole. In the case of South Africa, the country […]

A Durban organisation has made sure that a group of homeless people do not go hungry… at a time when  their suffering has been intensified by lockdown conditions in South Africa, reports filmmaker and photographer Kierran Allen. The Umbilo Business Forum (UBF), a voluntary membership and non-profit organization, delivered the first load of food – […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Cabinet will over the next three months take a pay cut of 33% in their salaries – as government ups the ante on the fight against the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. The drastic move was announced by President Ramaphosa on Thursday evening, while addressing the nation on the […]

Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, over 240 leading animal welfare and conservation organisations from around the world have this week called on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to publicly confirm the link between live wildlife markets and the serious threats to human health; and to also recommend that governments worldwide permanently ban live wildlife markets […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa tonight announced an extension to the current 21-day national lockdown by an extra two weeks to the end of April 2020. The President thanked South Africans for their patience and said “I have to ask you to make great sacrifices” and to continue this little bit longer to help prevent the possible […]

Watch South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa below as he addresses the nation on Day 14 of SA’s 21-day Lockdown, which began at midnight on 26 March, to curb the spread of the deadly Coronavirus. UPDATE: South Africa’s Lockdown period extended by 2 weeks to end April, and Ministers Take Pay Cut! WATCH LIVE | Day […]

SINGAPORE – A South African man who was caught in Singapore trying to smuggle 11 pieces of rhino horn to Vietnam has been sentenced to 17 months in prison, the severest sentence yet for the crime. In a report in the Straits Times today, it said that 45-year-old Thurman Shiraazudin Aiden Matthews was in transit […]

South African-based Blood Lions and the Humane Society International are two of the 241 conservation bodies around the world that have appealed to the World Health Organisation to publicly confirm the serious threat of live wildlife markets to human health, as evidenced by the Coronavirus pandemic. In a joint interview this week, some of them […]

A video capturing the sound of South Africans in Sea Point, Cape Town, singing the National Anthem – as they do every night during Lockdown – has not only sent goosebumps around the world, but is now leading to impoverished families being fed during this challenging period. The video posted by Cape Town resident Shelley […]

Drive-through tests for the Coronavirus have started at numerous Dis-Chem locations around the country. At Dis-Chem’s Centurion outlet, where the idea was first prototyped, store manager Johan Pienaar reported that the number tested today would likely eclipse the 16 tested yesterday. He said that most people testing were doing so merely as a precautionary measure, […]

The mayor of Welkom, Nkosinjani Speelman, has been suspended because of “blatant racism” when he referred to members of the coloured community as “boesman.” Authorities should investigate this. This senior officer -possibly an @SAPoliceService officer orders to “skop and donder.” @SANDFCorpEvents @_SANDF_ pic.twitter.com/KCXPGNf4D5 — Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) April 7, 2020 Speelman used the word on […]

Mduduzi Manana, whose lunch-during-lockdown Instagram post led to the temporary removal of a cabinet minister yesterday, is again in the spotlight after a video surfaced showing him wandering around a luxurious house, sometimes in a Versace robe, posing with perfumes and racks of shoes as he is attended to by a butler and a maid. […]

The Bambazi High School in Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal went up in flames on Wednesday late afternoon, before 17h00; sadly not the first South African school that’s been torched during SA’s 21-day lockdown. Elijah Mhlanga, Spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education, tweeted on Wednesday evening that “so many schools (have been) destroyed during this lockdown. It’s […]

The public broadcaster and the Department of Basic Education have launched a COVID-19 learner support initiative in an effort to limit the impact of the lockdown on the school calendar. The multimedia learner support initiative, the SABC and the DBE said in a joint statement, is part of the broader efforts to prevent the total […]

A young Spanish tourist, who so enjoyed his trip to SA, has reached out to help a South African tour operator through the tough times. Gilda Swanepoel from Eenblond Tours said she was blown away by an unexpected foreign payment she received last week of almost R4,000 from Alex Blanco. “Alex did five tours with […]

South Africa’s COVID-19 related deaths have risen to 18. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced the latest Coronavirus figure on Wednesday, after five more deaths were sadly recorded. As at 8 April, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stands at 1,845. This is an increase of 96 from the previously reported cases. Gauteng leads with […]

Environment minister Barbara Creecy’s decision to allow vastly expanded West Coast beach mining in South Africa has prompted sharp criticism from environmentalists, reports John Yeld for GroundUp. Appointed at the end of May last year, Creecy, minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, was seen as a new broom, particularly after making a number of […]