“While filming interviews for our story on the installation of suburb surveillance cameras, our presenter and crew were held at gunpoint and robbed!” says an incredulous Carte Blanche. The Carte Blanche team was filming an insert about tech platform Vumacam’s installation of CCTV cameras across Johannesburg (see above) in the latest fight against crime in […]

At least 417 people have died in Mozambique after Cyclone Idai led to catastrophic flooding, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Saturday. And hundreds of thousands of children who survived need urgent help. (Updated from 293 deaths to 417.) “We’re going to have to wait until the flood waters […]

Sadly at least 2,000 Amur Falcons perished after a massive hail storm swept through Newcastle in South Africa on Thursday evening. BUT, thanks to the kindness of human intervention, almost 900 have survived. Rescuers rushed to the devastating scene of the Falcon roost – at the Farmer’s Hall in the middle of Newcastle – late […]

South African born aquatic ecologist Dr Jackie King has been named the 2019 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for her game-changing contributions to global river management. Her work has advanced the scientific understanding of water flows, giving decision-makers methods and tools to assess the full range of costs and benefits when managing or developing river systems, […]

Over 1,000 falcon birds are reported to have been injured or died overnight after a massive hail storm swept suddenly into Newcastle in South Africa, wreaking havoc in the space of just 15 minutes (see photos below). Fortunately for the quick thinking of local caring residents, more of the birds – which have migrated to […]

Collectors from America and Europe are scouring Cape Town’s booming art scene in search of deals as diverse as an expressive oil painting by South Africa’s Irma Stern or a sculpture assembled from bottle caps by Ghana’s El Anatsui… with a record being broken this week at an art auction. Dozens of venues, including the […]

LUSAKA – Zambia banned an energy drink, which is also sold in South Africa, on Wednesday after it was shown to have been adulterated with the male sex booster Viagra, according to authorities in Ndola, the city of manufacture. The prohibition followed a complaint from Zambia’s medicine regulator in December suggesting that the drink – […]

Raw excrement, condoms and sanitary products regularly spill into homes and parks for many South Africans… who  are just some of about 4.5 billion people globally without safe sanitation, promised for all by 2030. Residents are lobbying for urgent rehabilitation of sewage works by South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation, widely criticised for lack […]

BEIRA, Mozambique – Rescue workers plucked more survivors from trees and roofs to safety on Thursday, a week after a cyclone ripped through southern Africa and triggered devastating floods that have killed hundreds of people and displaced hundreds of thousands. A priority for Thursday was pushing into flooded areas that had not yet been surveyed, […]

As South African news reports “darker days ahead” and “no lights, no water”, it’s time to shed some light – and humour – on SA’s infamous “load shedding” (known to the rest of the world as power cuts). Today South Africans braced themselves for another round of rotational Stage 4 load shedding which will got […]

One of South Africa’s finest wildlife photographers – and international expedition leader – Marlon du Toit was a special guest on Monday evening’s The Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon. Watch below as Marlon, who co-owns Wild Eye, describes safaris in Africa and the story behind some of his exquisite photos… including the plight of the […]

Brave rescue teams from South Africa have saved 167 people using air support in the Buzi district of Mozambique, an area which was particularly hammered by Cyclone Idai over the weekend. But more help is desperately needed as storm victims are still hanging onto poles and trees in flooded areas, in a desperate bid to […]

MAPUTO/HARARE – Cyclone winds and floods that swept across southeastern Africa affected more than 2.6 million people and could rank as one of the worst weather-related disasters recorded in the southern hemisphere, U.N. officials said on Tuesday. Rescue crews are still struggling to reach victims five days after Cyclone Idai raced in at speeds of […]

South Africa’s Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday he cannot say yet when rolling blackouts will end, as power utility Eskom struggles with capacity shortages that threaten to thwart efforts to boost economic growth. Eskom supplies more than 90 percent of the power in South Africa but has suffered repeated faults at its […]

South Africans often complain that SA hardly ever makes international news, but yesterday the country featured prominently in news around the globe for three main reasons: load shedding, Ramaphosa stuck on a train, and a high profile politician arrested for killing a whistle blower. “Chaos across South Africa as blackouts roll into third day” This […]

Former Steinhoff chairman and top shareholder Christo Wiese said on Monday he is open to negotiations over his $4 billion claim against the South African retailer, days after it revealed the scale of devastating accounting fraud. Steinhoff said on Friday that an independent report had found it overstated profits over several years in a $7.4 […]

South Africa’s state utility Eskom will make more power cuts this week as it struggles with capacity shortages that threaten to stymie President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to boost investments and economic growth. Eskom supplies more than 90 percent of the power in South Africa but has suffered repeated faults at its coal-fired power stations, along […]

“I have always prided myself in writing objective and truthful articles” says Tossie Beukes. One of four defamation cases against seven critics of controversial Australian mining company Mineral Commodities (MRC) and its South African operations has been dropped. A linked criminal defamation case against one of the seven has also been withdrawn. The cases, totalling […]

Marlon du Toit, one of South Africa’s finest wildlife photographers – and an International Expedition Leader – will be a guest star on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon tonight in the US. (Expats can watch on NBC on Monday evening, while South Africans back home can watch tomorrow on Comedy Central – see details […]

The loadshedding crisis in South Africa, which has dragged on (and off) for around 11 years is not so much a power failure, say some, as a failure of power. And therefore no joke – of which there are many, it being South Africa and all – captures the ineptitude of those controlling South Africa’s […]

The 13th of March 2019 may have been an ordinary day for most but not for a 35-year-old male patient, who had previously lost his hearing in a car accident. In a pioneering surgical procedure using 3D-printed middle ear bones, developed by Professor Mashudu Tshifularo and his team at the University of Pretoria (UP), the […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African state utility Eskom stepped up rolling blackouts (aka the dreaded load-shedding!) over the weekend as it lost 900 megawatts of electricity imports from neighbouring Mozambique, which was hit this week by a cyclone. Eskom, which generates nearly all of the power for South Africa, said that it had cut 4,000 megawatts, […]

HARARE – Cyclone Idai has killed at least 64 people in eastern Zimbabwe and destroyed homes, bridges and roads, making rescue efforts difficult, a government minister said on Sunday. The tropical storm has already pounded neighboring Malawi and Mozambique where at least 111 people died in floods and heavy rains as the cyclone approached. Mozambique […]

Here’s what’s coming up on Carte Blanche‎ tonight in South Africa (Sunday 17 March 2019), and from Tuesday (19 March) for South Africans living abroad. Stream it here. Limpopo Child Gangs A video showing a group of youngsters kicking and dragging Thoriso Themane emerges, sending shockwaves throughout the country. Themane, a young man from Limpopo, […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has included two prominent politicians – who were linked to corruption under former President Jacob Zuma – in its list of candidates for parliament ahead of May’s election… but a senior source allied to President Cyril Ramaphosa said tainted former officials are unlikely to make it […]