Two of Africa’s largest economies and its two biggest tourist destinations, South Africa and Morocco, put the official stamp on the re-establishment of diplomatic relations this week, when ambassador Youssef Amrani presented his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa. Amrani called it a “watershed.” Morocco’s last ambassador left 15 years ago, and relations have been icy, […]

So much has been happening on the train front in South Africa the last few months – new trains being built, shiny new blue engines and coaches spotted around the country, a government “war room” started to cut down delays and identify problems, plans announced to fence urban lines to stop vandalism – it’s hard […]

The South African National Parks (SANParks) today announced three successful operations in the Kruger National Park (KNP), where six suspected poachers were arrested since the beginning of October 2019. During the operations, three heavy calibre hunting rifles were confiscated and the majority of suspects were thankfully arrested before shooting any animals. In the same period, […]

Eskom’s stage 2 load shedding will cost the Western Cape economy R150 million per day, according to WC Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier. The fact is that the load shedding announced by Eskom today will damage the economy in the Western Cape, he said in a statement on Wednesday. “The impact of […]

After almost two years of disputes between various stakeholders over the presence of African Wild Dogs in Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa, the park is once again home to a free-roaming pack… wrties Tamlyn Jolly from the Zululand Observer. While the original, 14-strong pack of dogs was relocated to a nearby game reserve – […]

South Africa is having a good year at the International Emmys: first The River was nominated as best Telenovela and now Zog, animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish for the UK’s Magic Light Pictures, is up for Best Kids’ Animation. Co-directed by two-time Oscar nominee Max Lang (The Gruffalo and Room On The Broom) and […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa will face loadshedding today as state power firm Eskom – which many South Africans refer to as Eish-kom – said it will cut up to 2,000 megawatts of power from the national grid on Wednesday due to a shortage of generating capacity. Eskom said on Twitter that the power cuts would […]

The trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma has been postponed to 4 February next year. His trial will then proceed after a 15-year delay. The former president faces charges of corruption, money laundering and racketeering linked to the multi-billion rand arms deal at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Today Zuma appeared alongside representatives of […]

Elections are moments of reckoning. They can either project a party onto a new trajectory or force a party into introspection. South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has experienced both scenarios in the last two decades. In the 1999 elections it increased its support by almost 8%. For the next 14 years […]

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is expected to make an announcement soon that unabridged birth certificates (UBC) will no longer be required for overseas tourists travelling to South Africa with children. This will come as a huge relief to not only the many potential visitors who have been turned back from travelling to South Africa… […]

JOHANNESBURG – Former South African president Jacob Zuma will appeal a high court decision to deny him a permanent stay of prosecution on charges related to a $2 billion arms deal, his lawyers said on Tuesday. Zuma, in office from 2009-2018, had applied for a permanent stay of prosecution for alleged fraud, racketeering and money […]

The Ndlovu Youth Choir surprised fans at the Mall of Africa on Monday with a brilliant performance of Shosholoza… that is yet again inspiring South Africans everywhere. The Ndlovu Youth Choir, who recently flew the flag internationally on America’s Got Talent, dedicated the goosebump performance to the Springboks who are currently playing in the Rugby […]

On a frigid September morning in Mkumbi, a remote village in the Pondoland region of the Eastern Cape, 63-year-old Sizane Nompethu rose at dawn and walked at a brisk pace down a rocky path to work her family’s small plot of land, just as she had every day since she was 15. “I am old […]

In the hillside Pondoland village of Manhlaneni, a small delegation from the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform stepped into a dimly-lit rondavel where a group of women sat on upturned beer crates removing the leaves from dense bunches of cannabis. One of the women passed a large handful of green buds […]

South Africa won the 2019 Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens tournament, beating Kenya 15-14 in the final match on Sunday in Tunisia. South Africa and Kenya are both now entitled to participate in a qualification tournament for the World Rugby Sevens Series. The day started at 09:30 with South Africa beating Morocco 42-00. South Africa next […]

LONDON – South Africa’s embattled state-owned airline is open to outside investment and in talks with a number of potential partners, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday. South Africa’s economy has come under ever growing pressure as the government grapples with lacklustre growth, high unemployment and a heavy debt burden, especially from state-owned enterprises such […]

There’s been a flurry of #imstaying jokes being shared on social media after David Scott from The Kiffness was banned for highlighting that a large portion of the South Africans on the #imstaying page are not actually in South Africa. The Kiffness said on Sunday morning that he had been banned for submitting what he […]

LONDON – The Lord Mayor of London Peter Estlin will arrive in Johannesburg tomorrow for meetings with investment partners and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, kicking off a 5-day trip in South Africa and Kenya, the City of London said in a statement today. “The UK Government is seeking to become Africa’s biggest G7 investor, and […]

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA – At least three mortar bombs were fired on Sunday at Mogadishu’s international airport, injuring at least six people in the compound where several embassies are located, a diplomatic source said. The missions of the United Nations and African Union, as well as several embassies, are based inside the perimeter fence. The Horn […]

Eastern Cape Police in South Africa have warned the Uitenhage community to guard against physically picking up or handing any strange or foreign objects that they recover at the Strelitzia Dam… after residents discovered three old – but lethally dangerous and still live – mortars on Friday! The local residents had no idea how dangerous […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived on Sunday in London, United Kingdom, for a two-day working visit. The President will deliver the opening address at the 6th Financial Times Africa Summit on Monday, 14 October 2019. The summit is being held at Claridge’s in London. On the sidelines of the summit, President Ramaphosa is expected to engage […]

MUMBAI – India maintained their formidable home record by (unfortunately!) crushing South Africa by an innings and 137 runs in the second test at Pune to clinch the three-test series with a match to spare on Sunday. Made to follow on, South Africa were bundled out for 189 in their second innings in a little […]

South African wheelchair athlete Ernst Francois van Dyk raced into third position on Sunday 13 October 2019 at the Chicago Marathon in the Men’s Wheelchair Race. It’s an incredible feat considering Van Wyk only arrived in Chicago on the eve of the competition! With no mention of jetlag, a very positive Van Wyk wrote on […]

YOKOHAMA, Japan – Winger Kenki Fukuoka produced two pieces of individual brilliance as a high-paced Japan advanced to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals – where they’ll face South Africa next weekend – for the first time with a 28-21 victory over Scotland at Yokohama on Sunday. The win ensured Japan finished top of Pool A […]

TOKYO – Japan sent tens of thousands of troops and rescue workers on Sunday to save stranded residents and fight floods caused by one of the worst typhoons to hit the country in recent history, which killed 18 people and briefly paralyzed Tokyo. There were also 13 people missing, public broadcaster NHK said, as Typhoon […]