JOHANNESBURG – South Africa will hold parliamentary elections sometime between May 7 and August 5 next year, the Electoral Commission (IEC) chairperson announced on Wednesday… increasing the likelihood that the vote will be in May, which is President Cyril Ramaphosa’s preference. A voter registration weekend will be held in January. The commission briefed the media […]

Next year, South Africans will go to the polls in the National Elections to have their say in the country’s future. Most South Africans abroad still care passionately about their country and their loved ones back home, and while they may have many different reasons for being overseas, they still deserve to be able to […]

JOHANNESBURG – Credit Suisse has pulled out of South Africa after more than a decade as part of Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam’s bank-wide revamp, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. Wealthy South Africans and a few blue chip SA companies will continue to benefit from Credit Suisse’s services from overseas offices. Switzerland’s second […]

Many people do not know that the two minutes silence and its association to Armistice Day (11th hour of 11/11) or Remembrance Sunday has a South African origin. It is one of our greatest gifts to humankind, yet most South Africans are completely oblivious of it… writes Peter Dickens. The featured image above, taken in […]

MELBOURNE – Cricket Australia (CA) is considering a demand by the players’ union that ball-tampering bans on former captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft be lifted immediately, the governing body’s CEO Kevin Roberts said on Wednesday. CA has come under pressure from the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) to end the bans following the […]

A KwaZulu-Natal school has made waves at an international water conservation competition, winning two top awards. Representing South Africa at the Water Explorer 2018 in London last month, Ebomvini Primary School, received the Innovation and Students’ Choice awards. Learners from 11 participating countries including Turkey, Germany and Malta, agreed that Ebomvini’s projects were creative. They […]

DAKAR – A shocking FOUR out of six endangered black rhinos – that were relocated to Chad from South Africa – have tragically died, possibly of starvation, the two countries and an NGO said. The six rhinos were transferred from South Africa in May, re-introducing the species into Chad for the first time since it […]

Dan Plato has been elected as Cape Town’s new mayor during a special council sitting on Tuesday… and has already outlined his vision for the Mother City. Plato clinched the top spot by a majority, receiving 146 votes in council. His election follows the stepping down by former mayor Patricia De Lille. Plato thanked those […]

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 […]