A new documentary series on ITV about South Africa has infuriated South Africans living in the UK. The first episode of the On Assignment series was aired last night. According to viewers, it showed white South African farmers practicing at a rifle range, and included an interview with a distressed woman who said she had […]

South Africa has recalled its ambassador to Israel, following an attack on the Gaza border which left 55 Palestinians dead and 2,700 wounded… on a day in which the United States opened a controversial embassy in Jerusalem. South Africa condemned “the indiscriminate and grave manner of the latest Israeli attack”. Turkey also recalled its ambassador from […]

Recent actions by US President Donald Trump’s administration are severely straining relations with South Africa’s new government led by President Cyril Ramaphosa. And relations between the two governments are likely to worsen. The first blow was last month’s threat by Trump’s UN Ambassador Nikki Haley that countries unwilling to tow the US line would be […]

A former nurse from Soweto, Thato Maketekete, has opened a new South African shop in Ontario, Canada – with all the best SA goodies to cure the homesick blues! Mrs Balls chutney, Bakers Biscuits, Ouma rusks, bush tea, Maizena, Tastic, ProNutro, ProVita, Ingrams cream, Lux soap, biltong, boerewors, African clothes, shoes and jewellery. You name […]

Gauteng police have reportedly launched a manhunt for an unknown number of suspects after an elderly couple – Fanie and Colleen Engelbrecht – were killed on their farm Welgevonden, Westonaria, on the West Rand, South Africa. UPDATE 17 July 2020: Farm attackers sentenced for murder of Fanie and Colleen Engelbrecht. The SABC says details of […]

A bomb device was discovered on Sunday night at the Imam Husain Mosque in Verulam, South Africa, where one man was killed and two injured during a horrific attack at the KwaZulu-Natal mosque on Thursday. Reaction Unit South Africa reported on social media that it had evacuated several residences in the Ottawa area and cleared […]

  The DA says it will call for a full disclosure on the status of funding for South African Airways (SAA)… given that a further bailout of R5 billion, its third cash injection in just one year, may have been sourced. Alf Lees MP – DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Finance – said that on […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says education remains the most effective tool in bridging the chasm of inequality in South Africa. “It is through education that we can realise the goal of a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society,” President Ramaphosa said. He was speaking at the graduation ceremony at the University of Mpumalanga in Mbombela on Saturday, […]

The Wolwerivier settlement is the only immediate option the City of Cape Town can offer families facing eviction from Albert Road, Woodstock, Councillor Brett Herron told the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. Herron, who was Mayoral Committee member for Transport and Urban Development, urged the 14 tenants facing eviction from Albert Road, Woodstock to […]

Legendary South African photographer Masana Samuel “Sam” Nzima has passed away at the age of 83. Nzima died on Saturday evening, 12 May 2018, at Rob Ferreira hospital in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. Nzima was most famous for his emotive and iconic photograph of Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying the fatally-wounded Hector Pieterson (12), while Hector’s devastated sister Antoinette ran […]

This Sunday’s episode of Carte Blanche is packed with all the latest hot topics in South Africa – De Lille vs The DA, Protea Glen Land Grabs, Murder By Appointment and Being Transgender. South Africans abroad can watch this show (and many more) by subscribing to Showmax International, where this episode will be available to stream from Tuesday 15 […]

On Friday two political leaders from different parties were assassinated in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and a third was assassinated in front of his family on Monday… sparking fears that political killings which previously plagued the province are “rearing their ugly head” again, as the country prepares for the National Election next year. The African National […]

The South African government says it will fast-track land reform while waiting for the Parliamentary process to unfold (whereby the Constitution is due to be amended to pave the way for land expropriation without compensation). Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane says the department will use the existing legal framework to fast track […]

A new study on second language learning has recently taken the media by storm. A range of headlines – from the BBC to the Daily Mail and The Guardian – all trumpeted the depressing message that it’s impossible to become fluent in a foreign language after around age ten. All of these reports dramatically misrepresented […]

An elephant calf that has been in the care of the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) in South Africa for the past 16 months, has been successfully introduced to the resident Jabulani herd. The introduction took place in early April 2018, and the great news is that the calf will remain with the herd going forward! In November […]

Mogalakwena Municipality’s Council has agreed to purchase a brand new vehicle for its Mayor, Andrina Matsemela, that will apparently cost R1 million… despite the poverty-stricken municipality’s huge service delivery shortcomings, claim the DA. Korny Dekker, DA Councillor in Mogalakwena, said the DA has unambiguously opposed this decision, which was taken during a special council meeting yesterday. The Mayor’s existing […]

South African Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel says the department has made a proposal to global clothing retailer H&M to consider buying goods from local suppliers. “Last year, H&M, the world’s second largest clothing retailer, marketed a sweatshirt with offensive language. “When we engaged H&M in the weeks that followed, we noted that they imported […]

The South African Cabinet has extended well wishes to the Muslim community as they begin fasting for the holy month of Ramadan next week. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, as they spend time deepening their spirituality. Ramadan in 2018 will begin on the evening of May 15 and will end on the […]

Former South African Western Cape Police Commissioner Arno Lamoer has been sentenced to six years in prison for corruption. Lamoer appeared in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on Thursday where he was handed an eight year sentence, two of which were suspended. The police commissioner was found guilty of corruption in February […]

The deadline for written submissions on the proposed review of Section 25 of the Constitution – in order to allow for land expropriation without compensation – has been extended by two weeks until 15 June 2018. This extension will make the period for written submissions a total of 60 days given to the public to make […]

The DA has declared that “we have not and will not offer to keep Patricia de Lille on as Mayor of the City of Cape Town”. In a media statement on Thursday, Natasha Mazzone – Deputy Chairperson of Federal Council – clarified: “We have offered to agree, in order to prevent any further unnecessary legal delays, […]

Following public outrage over the murder of Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) student Zolile Khumalo,  the South African Minister in the Presidency for Women and Children, Bathabile Dlamini said that there are many women who are being abused by their boyfriends, and urged them to speak up. Dlamini was addressing a large crowd of young […]

One person has died, and two have been hospitalised, after a horrific attack at the Imam Hussain Mosque in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa, on Thursday afternoon. Three balaclava-clad men, believed to be Egyptian nationals, allegedly stormed the mosque  this afternoon, 10 May 2018, wielding knives. They slit the throats of the two people who […]

Blood Lions, the explosive documentary that’s attracted global attention since it premiered in 2015, is now available to South Africans worldwide, by subscribing to Showmax. The film blows the lid on what many consider a shameful industry in South Africa, with SA’s own Lion Whisperer Kevin Richardson urging everyone to see the film for themselves. […]

South Africa’s founding President Nelson Mandela was on this day, 24 years ago, inaugurated as Head of State. (Watch Madiba’s speech below.) Mandela took the Oath of Office as the first President of a democratic dispensation at a ceremony held at the Union Buildings. The day followed the historic 27 April 1994 elections, which saw […]