PRETORIA (Reuters) – South Africa entered recession in the second quarter for the first time since 2009, data showed on Tuesday, in a stinging blow to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to revive the economy after a decade of stagnation. Statistics South Africa said the economy contracted by 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter, led by declines in the […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – At least eight people were killed in an explosion at a South African munitions depot in Somerset West, near Cape Town, but the cause of the blast was still unknown, a fire and rescue official said on Monday. The blast occurred at Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) depot, a joint venture between Germany’s […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping offered another $60 billion in financing for Africa on Monday and said Chinese companies will be encouraged to invest no less than $10 billion over the next three years, but he also warned against “vanity projects”. Speaking at the opening of a major summit with African leaders, Xi […]

Music lovers in Durban and surrounds have been deeply shocked at news that Simon Milliken, former Principal Double Bassist of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, met with a violent death on Friday afternoon (August 31, 2018). Milliken retired from the Orchestra last year, but continued to perform on an ad hoc basis with his former colleagues, […]

A rich trove of cave paintings in South Africa going back perhaps 20,000 years is being erased. In caves along the Great Kei River and at the confluence of the White (Cacadu) and Black Kei rivers in the rural Eastern Cape, there is a wealth of rock art paintings. They are not well known and […]

PRETORIA (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund gave its full backing to South Africa’s land reform plan on Thursday, as long as the highly contentious process is transparent and based on the constitution. The Fund’s senior resident representative in South Africa – Montfort Mlachila – told Reuters that the reform must not damage farm output […]

Reigning Miss South Africa 2018, Tamaryn Green, has bravely spoken about her battle with Pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB) after staying silent for years, fearing the stigma that surrounds the illness. “It was the 23rd of June 2015 when I was diagnosed with pulmonary Tuberculosis,” she says, “and just like that my life changed.” In a campaign […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says today was a victory for “good governance and service delivery” in Tshwane, as the motion to remove Mayor Solly Msimanga failed (the ANC withdrew its motion of no confidence, and said it’s going to court)… but that it will request an urgent meeting with the Economic Freedom Fighters’ leaders. In […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African clothing and homeware retailer The Foschini Group (TFG) said on Thursday it was launching one of its African retail brands in Australia to test appetite outside its traditional market. The move announced by outgoing CEO Doug Murray and his successor, Anthony Thunström, aims to show whether TFG’s local brands can […]

The civil rights organisation AfriForum has formally requested the National Police Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole, to investigate the claims made by a member of a notorious prison gang that Julius Malema, leader of the EFF, came to see them in prison to encourage the committing of farm murders. In a recorded interview between an agent […]

The explosive BBC World News documentary about rhino poaching in South Africa, which premiered around the world a couple of weeks ago, is now available to watch on YouTube. See below. The show lifts the lid on the alleged links between rhino poaching in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, and the alleged corruption within KZN courts […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – At least ten people died after a bus traveling from South Africa’s Cape Town to the Eastern Cape overturned in the early hours of Thursday morning, traffic officials said. The accident occurred at around 2 a.m. (2400 GMT) 50 kilometres outside Beaufort West, a town in the semidesert Karoo region. Another […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Solidarity, a union representing high-skilled workers, said on Thursday that it has agreed a three-year wage deal with state power utility Eskom, bringing an end to weeks of negotiations that led to load shedding (otherwise known as power outages). The much larger National Union of Mineworkers earlier said it had […]

South African-British endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh has made front page news in the UK, bringing much needed attention to the plight of the English Channel. Pugh, South Africa’s well known ocean advocate, completed #TheLongSwim of the English Channel yesterday. He didn’t just cross it like ‘normal’ people. He swam the entire LENGTH of the Channel. […]

JOHANNESBURG – At least two people were shot dead and foreign-owned shops were looted as violence erupted in the South African township of Soweto on Wednesday, police confirmed. “At this stage police are trying to diffuse the situation but it seems as if it will escalate to other areas,” the police spokesman for Gauteng, Lieutenant […]

JOHANNESBURG – Trading resumed at two of South Africa’s biggest shopping malls on Wednesday following bomb threats, after police found no explosive devices at either location. The Mall of Africa, located between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and the Sandton City mall in Johannesburg’s Sandton district both closed after reporting bomb threats. “Police searched and nothing was […]

As reported by SAPeople a week ago, Lawrence Kananji became South Africa’s number one hero when he bravely rushed to rescue an elderly woman in Cape Town who was being attacked and robbed… without thinking of his own safety. Now, his boss at Engen has acknowledged Lawrence’s heroism and selfless act by taking him out […]

A South African man, Tyron Lee Coetzee – who was arrested for drug smuggling in Vietnam in 2016 – yesterday received the death sentence in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s led to calls from the South African government for travellers to please ensure they know the foreign laws before travelling to a country. An official […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) said on Tuesday an expropriation bill passed by parliament in 2016, enabling the state to make compulsory purchases of land to redress racial disparities in land ownership, has been withdrawn. The bill, which had not been signed into law, was withdrawn to allow an ongoing process […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s mainly white Solidarity union has given Sasol a 48-hour notice to strike over the energy giant’s plan to launch a share ownership scheme exclusively for black staff, the union said on Tuesday. Sasol plans to sell 25 % of its local operations to mainly qualifying black employees in a R21-billion […]

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia has seized rhinoceros horns worth nearly $12 million bound for Vietnam, in its largest haul of such contraband, officials said last week. Wildlife experts say Malaysia is a major transit point for the illegal trafficking of endangered species to other Asian countries. Officials acting on a tip-off seized 50 horns, […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Britain will use its international aid budget to boost its own interests while also seeking to deepen trade ties with Africa, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday, countering critics who say aid funds would be better spent at home. May, battling to unite her divided Conservative Party over her plan […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Britain supports South Africa’s land reform programme provided it is carried out legally, Prime Minister Theresa May said in Cape Town on Tuesday, adding that she would discuss the issue with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. “The UK has for some time now supported land reform. Land reform that is legal, […]

LIMPOPO: South African Police in Letsitele, outside Tzaneen, have launched a massive manhunt for the suspects involved in the killing of three lions at a farm in the Letsitele Policing precinct. The incident took place on Sunday, 26 August 2018. It is alleged that the farm manager was patrolling the camp when she noticed that […]

PRETORIA – South Africa has cancelled plans to add 9,600 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power by 2030 and will instead aim to add more capacity in natural gas, wind and other energy sources, the energy minister announced on Monday. Africa’s only nuclear power has an installed capacity of 1,860 MW but plans under the government […]