South Africa’s proposed switch to universal health coverage – known as the National Health Insurance (NHI) program – will be managed in a fiscally responsible way, a senior presidential aide told Reuters, forecasting the landmark reform would cost the state $2.2 billion per year by 2025/26. Meanwhile President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed in the National Assembly […]

The South African Finance Ministry has warned the public against a scam doing the rounds, in which claims are made that Deputy Minister David Masondo will offer people funding for their business. The scammers are on various platforms purporting to be the Deputy Minister. “The Deputy Minister of Finance would like to alert the public […]

Team SA were in action across two codes at the African Games in Rabat and Casablanca on Thursday – swimming and table tennis. South Africa started the day with 14 medals but had claimed another 13 in the pool in Casablanca by the end of the day to climb to a total of 27. It […]

CAPE TOWN – South Africa should discuss using worker pension funds to finance development and infrastructure projects, a proposal that has the backing of the country’s largest labour federation, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday. In its 2019 poll manifesto ahead of the May general election, the African National Congress (ANC) mentioned investigating prescribed assets […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa is likely to absorb extra financial support for the struggling power utility Eskom with new revenue and expenditure measures in the next mid-year budget review, with departmental budget cuts an option, ratings agency Moody’s said on Thursday. “In any event, Moody’s sees the government’s room to maneuver as extremely constrained,” Moody’s […]

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) today agreed to protect giraffes for the first time by listing the species on Appendix II, which will now regulate international trade in giraffe parts (which occurs in South Africa), such as hides, bones and meat. Today’s decision now […]

The African National Congress in Johannesburg has failed – again – to unseat the popular Democratic Alliance mayor, Herman Mashaba, withdrawing its motion of no confidence at the eleventh hour. “It seems the ANC in Joburg had no confidence in their own motion of no confidence…,” Mashaba said afterwards. As late as yesterday the ANC […]

Three people were arrested after a lion cub was found in their possession in a home in Athlone, Cape Town, the South African Police Services said in a statement today. Detectives from the Organised Crime Investigations unit followed up on information about a cub that was being transported from Thabazimbi, in Limpopo, to the Western […]

Deputy President David Mabuza has welcomed the High Court judgment restricting the use of South Africa’s old apartheid flag. Deputy Judge President of the South Gauteng Division of the High Court, Justice Phineas Mojapelo, delivered the judgment in the Equality Court on Wednesday. He ruled that the gratuitous display of the apartheid flag demonstrates a […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday afternoon answer questions in Parliament for the first time since his election as President in May 2019. The President’s office said he will brief the National Assembly on government’s efforts to deal with the challenge of slow economic growth and high unemployment. The President is constitutionally mandated to periodically […]

South Africa’s Ndlovu Youth Choir, who hail from Limpopo, are through to the semi-finals of America’s Got Talent, the worlds biggest show! “We’re living the dream and loving every moment of it. Thank you to everyone who loves and supports us, we love you back! ??????? #agt” the elated choir wrote on social media on […]

Conservationists and some African countries (not South Africa) have this week called on the international community to urgently help prevent the risk of a “silent extinction” of the African giraffe which lives in SA and other countries across the continent. The call came yesterday at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in […]

South Africa has sufficient water in storage, provided it is used wisely, the Department of Water and Sanitation has said. “With two months to go before the first summer rains, South Africa’s dam levels have risen to nearly 70%, a sign that large parts of the country will not relapse to the dry conditions that […]

The IT chief at the South African Revenue Service who was severely criticised – and ridiculed – for her 2018 interview on SABC in which she replied to some probing questions by saying “Ma’am, can you give me protection from yourself?” has been put on precautionary suspension. Mmamathe Makheke-Mokhuane was placed on precautionary suspension with […]

In a ruling that could have major repercussions for Jacob Zuma in the controversial multibillion-rand arms deal of the late ’90s, a judge at the Gauteng High Court today set aside the R140 million, four-year Seriti inquiry, which found that there was no corruption in the arms deal. The commission, set up in 2011 by […]

JOHANNESBURG – More than 18 months after racial flames were fanned when several old South African flag were displayed on Black Monday, a day meant to highlight farm murders, a judge of the Gauteng High Court has ruled that the banner’s gratuitous display constitutes hate speech. Judge Phineas Mojapelo ruled that the gratuitous display of […]

The loving list of names below represents the beautiful souls of women and girls who have tragically been murdered in South Africa. The list was begun by Cindy September on the group SA Women Fight Back, and from today will be hosted on this dedicated page on SAPeople. If someone you love was killed in […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African coal mining town, Kriel, has been identified by satellite data from US space agency NASA as having one of the highest sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions in the world. The only place with higher emissions is Russia’s Norilsk smelter complex. Scientists say that excessive exposure to SO2 particles causes long-term respiratory difficulties […]

With South Africa’s very own Ndlovu Youth Choir, from Limpopo, reaching the quarterfinals of American TV show ‘America’s Got Talent’, expats living in the US have been called upon to vote for the homegrown stars. To advance through the competition to the Finals, the young choir needs enough votes from the audience – at the […]

Three rhino poachers in South Africa have been successfully convicted and sentenced at the Skukuza Regional Court on charges related to rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park (KNP). Jeffrey Mathebula was arrested in 2015 and convicted of trespassing in a national park. He was this last week fined R10 000.00 or two years imprisonment […]

The first vote at the 18th meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties has delivered a historic win for African elephants to end the cruel practice of removing live elephants from the wild for export to captive facilities. CITES is the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Iris Ho, senior wildlife specialist […]

As the standoff between President Cyril Ramaphosa and the public protector continues – and the intrigue grows more intricate, in what is being seen as mischievous moves to destabilize his leadership – the president said he remains focused on the job he was chosen to do for South Africa. “I was elected by the people […]

A total of 12,921 people died in road collisions in South Africa in 2018, the Minister of Transport Fikile Mbablula said this weekend, introducing a new law meant to tackle reckless driving with a demerit system that can result in drivers having their licenses taken away. Highlighting the tragic problem of reckless driving in the […]

The Springboks held their nerve to keep their 2019 unbeaten season alive with a hard-fought 24-18 victory over Argentina in a Castle Lager Incoming Series match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. Rassie Erasmus, director of rugby at SA Rugby, said afterwards that it’s nice to learn when you’re winning ugly. Sbu Nkosi scored both the […]

DHAKA – Bangladesh has today appointed South Africa’s Russell Domingo as their head coach, succeeding Steve Rhodes who exited after the team finished eighth in the World Cup last month. Domingo, who coached South Africa to the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup in 2014 and the 50-overs World Cup in 2015, has signed a […]