JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Renowned South African photojournalist David Goldblatt, who documented the impact of apartheid on the lives of ordinary people, died on Monday from cancer aged 87. Born of Lithuanian immigrants in Johannesburg’s gold reef, Goldblatt gained international recognition in the 1960s and 70s as apartheid laws took hold in South Africa, culminating in […]

ATHENS (Reuters) – A 5.5 magnitude earthquake shook the southwestern area of the Peloponnese in Greece in the early hours of Monday. Its epicenter was offshore, 26 km (16 miles) west of the town of Methoni at a depth of 30.4 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no early reports of serious damage or injuries, […]

Tourists from around South Africa, and the world (including stars like Mariah Carey), have for years made their way to Mooiberge strawberry farms in the Western Cape… where visitors can pick the fruit from the fields and enjoy the scenic landscape. It’s a day’s outing for many that leaves a lifetime of good memories. But […]

British singer, and song writer, Ed Sheeran will be touring South Africa for the first time in March 2019 and Mzansi people can’t keep calm. Sheeran – who has sold 40 million albums worldwide – will be performing at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 23 March 2019, and Cape Town Stadium on 27 March […]

Marvel Studios’ Black Panther director Ryan Coogler has urged African Americans to visit Africa. He says the experience for him, during the filming of the blockbuster, was “life-changing”. Coogler was speaking at the BET Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night, where Black Panther won Best Movie (and South Africa’s Sjava won BET Viewers’ Choice for […]

South African hip hop musician, Sjava has walked away with a BET Viewer’s Choice ‘Best International Act’ award. Sjava’s real name is, Jabulani Hadebe. He was nominated together with Nigerian singer, Ninola and Kwesi Arthur of Ghana. The BET awards took place on Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. South African musicians Cassper […]

South Africa is playing a pivotal role in a new GPS app that can find anyone anywhere. The innovative geocoding tool, which has been developed in the UK, is using a village in Limpopo, which has no conventional addresses, as part of its pilot scheme. The founders of the new app – what3words – have […]

Most of the young South Africans who became trapped in a nightmare in China will be flying home to their relieved parents this week… although two will remain for questioning. Just a week ago the plight of the 51 youngsters was featured on Carte Blanche  – in an investigation which revealed how they had been hired […]

The African National Congress in Limpopo has officially announced the top five executive committee on Sunday. This follows the electoral conference that is underway in the province. Premier Stan Mathabatha, who still remains in his position, was unopposed as provincial chairperson. Florence Radzilani has been elected as his deputy, while Soviet Lekganyane is the provincial […]

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa escaped unhurt after an explosion rocked a stadium where he was addressing a political rally on Saturday, a month before the country is due to hold its presidential elections. Watch below. However, vice presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi and a minister sustained minor injuries following the blast […]

The Board of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants’ (SAICA) says it has noted the statement issued by Khaya Sithole, which makes mention of allegations against SAICA’s acting CEO and executive team.  The SAICA Board said it distances itself from all the allegations and wishes to reiterate its support for its whole leadership team. […]

A home in Cape St Francis, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, was burned to the ground on Thursday evening. Fortunately, the family escaped just in time. Sara Jane Smith, NSRI St Francis Bay station commander, said her crew was activated on Thursday night just after 20h00. Local community members, volunteer groups and Fire […]

Martizburg College in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, this week honoured its longest standing member of staff, Joseph Hlela… by naming a walkway after him, at the prestigious South African school. The school said Joseph was employed by College from 1950 to 1999, with a short one-year break in 1988 when he took retirement. “His 49 years of service […]

The South African government says it regrets the withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. “This development is indeed worrisome and goes against the letter and spirit of multilateralism and the Charter of the United Nations, of which the US was one of the founding countries,” the Department of International […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa‘s government is considering layoffs and early retirement packages for staff in the public sector to avoid breaking its pledge to cut spending after unions clinched above-inflation wage increases, the Treasury said on Friday. Under a deal reached in May, the government will raise salaries of public sector employees, including teachers, police, and […]

Why does South Africa not fall off the precipice? Economists are clear that if this economy does not grow soon, the prospects of new jobs are dismal and rising unemployment will be our fate… writes Prof Jonathan Jansen. Educationists are clear that if the decline in education quality and the high drop-out rates continue, schools […]

The South African National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) and other unions have met with Eskom on Thursday, but the wage increase dispute – which has resulted in load-shedding in SA – has not yet been resolved. The Eskom employees have reduced their wage increase demand to 9 percent. Eskom had initially offered the workers a […]

The South African National Congress secretary-general Ace Magashule officially announced on Thursday the new appointment of North West Premiere, Job Makgoro. Magashule said Makgoro will be sworn in on Friday. This follows the early retirement of former premiere Supra Mahumapelo last month. Mahumapelo resigned last month, following protests over his managing of the province and […]

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi claimed today that the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill and the National Health Insurance (NHI) Amendment Bill will introduce measures that will lift a financial burden from beneficiaries who are subjected to high healthcare costs. However the DA says no amount of spin will make NHI a success. After Dr Motsoaledi […]

When Free Speech is counter-attacked by intense scrutiny, intimidations and death threats because of unpopular views, we should all be concerned as that’s not how Constitutional democracy operates, write Neo Nino Mofokeng. Shashi Naidoo is yet another high profile South African who has been scrutinised, viciously attacked by the popular left and in the extreme, […]

This coming Sunday Carte Blanche joins forces with a United Nations arms expert in a special investigation spanning three continents to reveal the origin of weapons confiscated along the Kruger National Park’s border fence with Mozambique… and unmask the real architects behind the poaching of rhinos in Africa. (The programme will be aired in SA only.) […]

South Africa’s Police Minister Bheki Cele and National Commissioner Khehla Sitole recently announced a new “high density stabilisation intervention” to tackle crime. The strategy focuses on cash-in-transit heists, car hijackings, murder, house robberies, and gang and taxi violence. It includes the deployment of desk-based police officials to the streets, particularly in “identified hotspots”, while dedicated […]

PRETORIA (Reuters) – South Africa‘s current account deficit widened more than expected in the first quarter to register its largest shortfall in two years as the trade balance swung to a deficit after a steep decline in exports, the central bank said on Thursday. Investor sentiment in South Africa picked up after President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged to clean up poor […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) on Tuesday announced the arrest of two field rangers suspected of being involved in rhino poaching. The two suspects were based at the Houtboschrand section and are alleged to have shot and dehorned a white rhino in May 2018. Stroop documentary filmmaker Bonné de Bod said: “This is not the […]

In this week’s episode of Carte Blanche, the current affairs show investigates if the man running for the position of Public Protector can clean up the rot in the Hawks department, SA youths stuck in China, cash-in-transit heists and amazing projects at Tygerberg. This week’s episode is now available to South Africans abroad if you subscribe […]