JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that closing down state-owned South African Airways (SAA) could collapse the country’s public finances as the government would have to service its debts immediately. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said last week that his preference would be to close down the debt-ridden airline. But Ramaphosa told […]

COPENHAGEN – South African police on Monday arrested a Danish woman accused of stealing 111 million crowns ($17 million) of Danish government funds intended for the most vulnerable in society, the Danish state prosecutor for financial crime said. The case, seen by many Danes as a symbol of the decline in confidence in once trusted […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Ministry of Public Enterprises said on Sunday that state-run South African Airways (SAA) should reduce its cost base and prepare for a strategic equity partner in the near future. The Public Enterprises ministry said the airline should stop all fraudulent contracts, address its cost base, discipline those implicated in corruption and […]

Firefighters have been battling raging fires on South Africa’s scenic Garden Route for eight days now. These hauntingly beautiful photos by Marie Morley capture the “apocalyptic skies” that have resulted from fires which stretch over 70,000 ha with a frontline of over 100km. We are immensely grateful to all the firefighters who have been out there […]

LONDON  – South Africa’s formidable forwards can lay the platform to topple England in their opening match of the November international series at Twickenham on Saturday, captain Siya Kolisi believes. The Springboks selected an experienced and muscular pack, arguably their first-choice selection, and a backline with plenty of flair but one that is light on […]

CAPE TOWN – South African researchers say they have made bricks using human urine in a natural process involving colonies of bacteria, which could one day help reduce global warming emissions by finding a productive use for the ultimate waste product. The grey bricks are produced in a lab over eight days using urine, calcium, […]

JUBA  – Retired South African Colonel William Endley was released from prison in South Sudan on Friday, with his face showing the pure joy – and relief – to have escaped the death sentence he was given earlier this year. Endley was one of two associates of rebel leader Riek Machar whom South Sudan freed […]

A young South African pilot is taking the internet by STORM! Tumi Carter Katisi’s story – about her dream to fly for South African Airways – went viral within a couple of hours, after it was posted on Facebook by Humans of New York (which is posting stories from Johannesburg at the moment). Within four […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s new Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Thursday that struggling state-run South African Airways (SAA) should be closed down, adding however that decisions over the future of the state carrier were not under his remit. SAA, which has not generated a profit since 2011, survives on state guarantees and is regularly […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has fired the suspended head of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Tom Moyane, the Business Day newspaper reported on Thursday, citing president spokeswoman Khusela Diko. Judge Robert Nugent, who is heading an inquiry into Moyane, had recommended the suspended tax chief should be removed from office for […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africans overwhelmingly support changing the constitution to allow land to be expropriated without compensation, parliament said on Thursday, announcing the findings of a draft report that followed public hearings on the issue. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress has made the acceleration of land redistribution a key issue ahead of 2019 […]

With heavy hearts, the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital announced Thursday morning that the baby pangolin – named Menina – that they were trying so desperately to save with a world first technique, has sadly passed away. “We’ve spent just over a week fighting for a baby pangolin that barely stood a chance due to the […]

The South African Government says it has welcomed the decision by South Sudan President Salva Kiir to pardon death-sentenced South African William Endley. Endley, a former South African National Defence Force (SANDF) colonel, was in February sentenced to death for espionage and conspiring to overthrow the government. He was sentenced along co-accused, James Gatdet, a […]

A top-level police investigation into allegations of a paedophile ring – involving senior members of the apartheid-era National Party government, including former Defence Minister Magnus Malan  – is underway. The allegations are contained in the book The Lost Boys of Bird Island, written by former policeman Mark Minnie – who died in mysterious circumstances just a […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba should be disciplined for lying under oath about the wealthy Oppenheimer family’s attempt to open a private airport immigration facility, the country’s official anti-corruption watchdog – the Public Protector – said on Wednesday. This is the latest setback for Gigaba, who said on Sunday that he […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s biggest insurer Sanlam Ltd announced a series of deals on Wednesday to meet so-called affirmative action rules, including the sale of a 5 percent stake to black investors and staff for up to R8.6 billion ($583 million). Companies in South Africa have to meet quotas on black ownership, employment and procurement […]

Hydrologists from the Department of Water and Sanitation say the country will not experience drought over the next three months, even though below normal rains are forecasted. The experts met in Tshwane recently – as they do annually – to discuss their state of preparedness for floods during the rainy season. “The country will definitely […]

Home Affairs is once more embroiled in a legal battle. On 21 September court papers were filed against the Minister and Director General for declaring a visa application by a Zimbabwean child fraudulent and banning him for five years from returning to South Africa. As a result of the department’s action, Wadzanai Bello has been […]

Investigations by Werksmans Attorneys on mismanagement at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) for the 2014/15 financial year have raised more red flags about security at the beleaguered state-owned entity. The leaked reports substantiate previous investigations by the Public Protector, Auditor General and National Treasury. They reveal that hundreds of millions of rands […]

Children in Powerline informal settlement were left without open land to play on after a massive land occupation in December. The children had to play on rubbish dumps or under power lines as the only municipal park is half a kilometre away and caters for hundreds of children from sections NU8 and NU10. To discourage […]

Fires continued to rage across the Southern Cape in South Africa on Tuesday, as firefighters battle against windy conditions that keep changing. In its latest update, the Garden Route District Municipality complimented the South African Police Service (SAPS) for being an asset. The municipality said SAPS “confirmed a lot of information and have been a […]

JOHANNESBURG – The South African central bank – the Reserve Bank – said on Tuesday that it has started the process of winding up VBS Mutual Bank, which was caught up in a corruption scandal earlier this year. A report commissioned by the Reserve Bank this month titled “The Great Bank Heist” found that R1.9 […]

A 50-year-old father was gunned down outside his son’s school in Green Point on Tuesday morning at 07h35. His eight-year-old son was injured in the incident and has been taken to hospital, said the South African Police Service (SAPS). According to local reports the man has been named as Advocate Peter Mihalik, who has represented […]

BEIJING – China unveiled new rules on Monday that would allow the use of rhino horn and tiger parts for some medical and cultural purposes, watering down a decades-old ban in a move conservation group WWF said could have “devastating consequences”. China’s State Council issued a notice replacing its 1993 ban on the trade of […]

CAPE TOWN – South African former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk was discharged from a three-night hospital stay after recovering from a lung ailment, his foundation said on Monday. De Klerk, 82, was hospitalised over the weekend for treatment of pneumothorax, “an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between […]