After recently strengthening and becoming the second best performing currency in the emerging markets, the Rand plummeted today to become the worst performer. This shocking drop follows the Presidency’s confirmation earlier on Monday that President Zuma has recalled Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his Deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, to cancel their UK and US investment trip to […]

Thousands have been evacuated as Category 4 Cyclone Debbie nears the Queensland coastline, and in the past half hour the state’s Police Service has urged people to please share a message ordering those in red or green zones of the Mackay Regional Council – a popular South African expat destination – to leave their homes immediately […]

PRETORIA – President Jacob Zuma has instructed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his Deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, to cancel the international investment promotion roadshow to the United Kingdom and the United States and to return to South Africa immediately. Gordhan, who was already in London, was meant to embark on a non-deal international investor roadshow in the two countries, […]

SKUKUZA – Since the beginning of March, 16 rhino carcasses have been found in the Kruger National Park (KNP)… and it has also been revealed that the Kruger is tightening security to prevent poachers entering the park as guests. Only three of the 16 dead rhino that were found still had their horns intact. Post-mortems will be done […]

Twenty-one year old Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters was crowned Miss South Africa 2017 at a gala event at Sun City on Sunday evening.  (UPDATE 27 November 2017: South Africa’s Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters has been crowned Miss Universe!) Here are 10 things you should know about Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters… She hails from Sedgefield in the Western Cape. She’s a B.Com […]

Congratulations to Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters who has been crowned Miss South Africa 2017 at Sun City Sunday evening. “She’s 21, she’s graceful and she is your new Miss South Africa,” said the official Miss South Africa facebook page. Demi-Leigh hails from Sedgefield in the Western Cape. According to her facebook page, she is a B.Com Business Management and […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it will be asking the Public Protector to investigate Eskom CEO Matshela Koko’s alleged awarding of “tenders worth R1 billion to his Impulse International, a company of which his step-daughter is a Director”. Impulse International was apparently awarded eight contracts by Eskom’s Generation unit during Koko’s tenure as the unit’s Group […]

A wildfire that began in Robertson on Tuesday is still burning today. Western Cape photographer JUSTIN SULLIVAN captured the behind-the-scenes video below as NCC Environmental Services and Cape Winelands Fire Services fought the #RobertsonBeast for three days last week. In that time 6,400 hectares burnt and 75 firefighters were on the line at any given time… preventing the loss of […]

Three South African yachtsmen are finally back on dry land, after being stuck at sea for a week on a wrecked boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The men had set out a month ago on a voyage from Durban to Wellington… but hit bad weather a week ago. A 35-foot swell and gusts of […]

PRETORIA – 18-year-old Ontlametse Phalatse has ticked off one of her goals on her wish list: meeting the President of the country. The bubbly teenager, who has captured the hearts of South Africans and well-wishers the world over, celebrates a major milestone in the life of a teenager today – Saturday, 25 March. Turning 18 is a big […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah just engaged in an awesome conversation with ‘Uganda’ (tweeps on Twitter) that’s ended with him promising to visit their country as soon as he can. It began when he denied rumours from a media outlet that he would be headlining Uganda’s first ever International Music and Culture Week in November… […]

The raging Durban Fire at Transnet Warehouse continues to burn Saturday morning, 24 hours after it began at approximately 09h30 Friday 24 March 2017. This morning, at 10h00, eThekwini Municipality reported that “since our last update, the fire has been contained to the wax area only. As more updates come from the team, we will […]

The artwork of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, mounted on the side of the Civic Centre in Cape Town’s CBD is now complete. Cape Town Mayor, Patricia de Lille, made the exciting announcement on Twitter Friday, saying: “The artwork of our Arch is complete!” In a statement last week De Lille said the new installation would honour Tutu […]

Ethekwini Municipality is working tirelessly to contain the fire that broke out in a container warehouse at Durban Harbour this morning. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, however it has been confirmed that multiple chemicals, including fertiliser, were in the warehouse and are burning. At 21h30 Friday evening, Durban’s Municipality issued […]

As the warehouse fire in Durban continues to rage, with more than 100 firefighters on the scene, eThekwini Municipality has issued an official update and tips for residents, particularly as chemicals are burning in this fire. The fire – at a container warehouse in Durban Harbour – has been blazing since this morning, with flames fanned […]

Ground crews in the Western Cape were faced with a Mammoth task that will be known as the #RobertsonBeast for months to come… writes JUSTIN SULLIVAN.   A fire reported on the 21st of March at approximately 15:00 quickly spread throughout the mountains and surrounding Farm Land. Cape Winelands lead efforts to control the blaze, with […]

DURBAN – Fire fighters are battling to extinguish a huge fire which has engulfed a container warehouse at Durban Harbour, KwaZulu-Natal. According to an eThekwini Municipality firefighter, Paul, “strong winds and water resources making things very difficult.”  Paul, who is station commander at Amanzimtoti Fire Station, says so far two people have been injured, including a […]

South Africans have had a full week of fake news thrown at them… which is sometimes difficult to discern from the other pretty outrageous news. The reports of adults behaving abominably – from an incident at Spur in front of children, to a horrific #TaxiRape in front of the victim’s 10-year-old son – are unfortunately true; but […]

Never shy to step into hot topics that affect real South Africans, here’s Nando’s latest advert as another controversial week in South Africa comes to an end. (See the Spur Incident here.) The teaser, from Nando’s, says: “Whether you’re a Xoliswa van der Merwe or a Susan Dlamini, South Africans like to #MixItUp.” Watch to […]

“Freedom did not fall from the sky, but was fought for with blood, sweat and tears.” This quote – attributed to Ahmed Kathrada – was read out by Busisiwe Nkosi, who is part of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, during an inter-faith prayer held at Liliesleaf farm in Johannesburg… the place of Kathrada’s arrest in 1963. Nkosi called […]

Shocking news has emerged today of a young boy of 10 being forced to lie with his face down in a taxi in Johannesburg, while his mother was raped for four hours. The three armed men, who tricked the mom and her son into boarding the minibus taxi, reportedly also made the mom hand over her […]

Former Springbok fly-half Joel Stransky is on the road to recovery after his horrific injuries in the Cape Epic mountain bike race. He posted a photo today from the race saying how “cool” it was to be there “watching friends come in”. He was discharged this morning. Stransky (49) has kept fans updated with photos […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Five people were killed and at least 20 injured in London on Wednesday after a car ploughed into pedestrians and an attacker stabbed a policeman close to the British parliament, in what police called a terrorist incident.   The dead included the assailant and the policeman he stabbed, while the other two victims […]

Here is the latest official update from Spur Steak Ranches, issued in the last few minutes (Wednesday 22 March 2017 at lunchtime), concerning the controversy over the incident at one of their Spur branches. This latest statement updates a previous version made yesterday, in connection with the incident between two heated customers – which was videoed […]

Despite the stunning pictures of the storm over Cape Town on Monday night, the clouds brought only enough rainfall to fuel hope that winter rains are on their way, but not enough to soak the soil and fill the dams. With today – Wednesday 22 March 2017 – being World Water Day, photographer JON KERRIN […]