DURBAN, South Africa – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed to create more jobs, boost economic growth and address racial inequalities at a rally on Saturday to launch the ruling party’s parliamentary election campaign. The vote, expected in May, will be a test of whether Ramaphosa has been able to reverse a decline in support […]

HARARE – Zimbabwe will introduce a new currency in the next 12 months, the country’s Finance Minister said, as a shortage of U.S. dollars plunges the financial system into disarray, forcing businesses to close and threatening unrest.  The southern African nation abandoned its own hyperinflation-wrecked currency in 2009 at the height of an economic recession, […]

Award-winning South African photographer Justin Sullivan has captured on film some of the frightening scenes from yesterday’s Day from Hell in the Overberg, South Africa, where three large runaway fires were fuelled by strong winds pounding the coastline at gusts of close to 100km/h… creating an inferno. Justin was on the scene in Betty’s Bay on Friday […]

For many residents in Franskraal and Hermanus, in the Western Cape, today was a day from hell… as three fires burned out of control in the Overstrand, and strong winds of 60 to 80 km/h forced aerial support to be grounded and and fuelled the inferno. Residents were evacuated. Buildings, including houses, were destroyed. And […]

ATHENS – The ancient monuments in Athens got a rare dusting of snow on Tuesday as temperatures across Greece hit record lows, bringing transport to a standstill in some areas. While early morning tourists at the Acropolis were treated to a snow-globe scene, locals had to contend with roads made impassable by ice and many […]

Coming Up on Carte Blanche this week on Sunday 13 Jan in South Africa, and available to stream from Tues 15 Jan for South Africans abroad. (14-day Free Trial). Eskom Lights Out Amid debts of R480-billion, coal supply constraints, hundreds of corruption charges and management instability, Eskom is now chopping jobs to save money. The power utility limps […]

Popular former American NFL hero, Tim Tebow, and South Africa’s gorgeous former Miss Universe Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters are engaged to get married! In a message to Demi-Leigh (23) on Facebook, 31-year-old Tim announced: “Thank you for saying YES and making me the happiest man in the world. You’re the love of my life, and I can’t […]

An Afrikaans message on Facebook by a farmer’s daughter, Bella Bok Marais, has been going viral the last couple of days – shared by thousands of South Africans and Namibians. For thos who don’t speak Afrikaans, here’s a rough English translation: “If you call your dad… and you can hear such a big farmer’s heart […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Reserve Bank will leave interest rates at 6.75 percent on Jan. 17, all 27 economists polled by Reuters in the past four days said, but rising inflation means it is likely to hike them in May. May’s expected hike to 7.00 percent would follow a surprise increase by the bank two […]

JOHANNESBURG – State-run South African airline SA Express, which has seen several executives suspended over corruption allegations, hopes to break even by the end of the financial year, its spokesman said in a radio interview on Friday. He was speaking ahead of the relaunch of the airline’s flights from Cape Town to Bloemfontein, after its […]

PRETORIA – Over 30 pieces of rhino horns were seized at the OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) Thursday morning during an on-going operation into ridding the airport of criminal activities. The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement that recent reports of the detection of Rhino Horns in the East, originating from Southern Africa, […]

AfriForum’s drone has helped the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the arrest of three suspects in Bloemfontein. AfriForum said in a press statement on Thursday that the Bloemfontein Crime Intelligence had contacted them on 8 January 2019 to request the use of the organisation’s drone. The drone was needed for aerial surveillance of a house, in […]

WINDHOEK – Namibia has suspended meat imports from South Africa due to the outbreak of the highly contagious foot and mouth disease, state broadcaster, NBC, said on Wednesday. The disease, which causes lesions and lameness in cattle and sheep, was detected in a northern district of Limpopo province, South Africa’s agriculture department announced this week. […]

JOHANNESBURG – Sibanye-Stillwater said on Thursday its bullion output in 2018 would be lower than forecast after almost half of the employees down tools since mid-November in a wage strike that has killed four employees at its South African gold operations. The miner said it expected 2018 production to come in at 1.1 million ounces […]

Home Affairs helps Asisipho Sosibo get a birth certificate just in time to compete in March… The new year has kicked off to an exciting start for Special Olympics participant Asisipho Sosibo from Durban. In November, GroundUp reported that Sosibo, 15, was one of 50 athletes selected to represent South Africa at the Special Olympics World Summer […]

Andrew Patterson (39) from Sea Point, Cape Town, climbed Table Mountain every day in 2018 to raise funds for three non-profit organisations; Habitat for Humanity, One Heart for Kids and The Sunflower Fund. Through the wind, rain, freezing temperatures, clouds and sun, Andrew was committed to his cause and hoped to inspire South Africans to […]

Award-winning South African flutist and composer Wouter Kellerman and singer songwriter Lady Zamar have collaborated to create a unique cover version of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s ‘Shallow’ from ‘A Star is Born’. Watch below. Shallow received a Golden Globe earlier this week for Best original Song, as well as four Grammy Award nominations, including […]

South Africa’s opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) claims that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has stolen their election slogan “One South Africa For All”. In a statement Wednesday evening, DA Spokesperson Solly Malatsi said: “The DA notes the fact that the ANC has stolen our election slogan: “One South Africa for All’ which we […]

Woolworths South Africa has apologised to Ubuntu Baba founder Shannon McLaughlin for copying her baby carrier (although they didn’t quite use the word “copying”). It was thanks to social media, and her blog post going viral, that Shannon finally received a response from Woolworths. According to the post – “Dear Woolworths, you have some explaining […]

South Africans across the country have been outraged by a photo that’s gone viral showing black learners in a Grade R classroom at Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke, in the North West, sitting at a separate table to the white learners. One mother told TimesLive that the teacher had sent the photo on a WhatsApp group and “all […]

The Patagonian desert in southern Argentina is a harsh environment. Little seems to thrive on its seemingly endless red plains and parched land. Yet in this unlikely place there is a unique bilingual community. It’s made up of the Afrikaans and Spanish-speaking descendants of the about 650 South African Boers, who came to Patagonia in […]

A fire, which has already claimed one life, has continued to rage across parts of the Overstrand in South Africa, causing ecological devastation and threatening the safety of residents. However, winds have fortunately died down today. Last night a mother of two young children in Gordon’s Bay took to Facebook to express her fear as […]

DAKAR – Egypt will host the 2019 African Nations Cup finals, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed after a meeting of their executive committee in Dakar on Tuesday. They will stage the expanded 24-team event in June-July after initial hosts Cameroon were stripped of the tournament last month over concerns at the slow pace […]

Zolani Mahola, the lead singer of Freshlyground, is lending her support to the South African Bone Marrow Registry for a cause close to her heart. The ‘Give a Little, Save a Life’ campaign, launched on donations based crowdfunding platform, BackaBuddy, aims to raise R300 000 to assist four local children who are in dire need of a life-saving […]

Positive laboratory results have confirmed Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in cattle in the Vhembe District of Limpopo, South Africa, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Tuesday. In a statement, the department said samples were collected during a disease investigation after reports of cattle with lameness were received. The positive location is […]