In line with market expectation, the Reserve Bank of South Africa has cut the repo rate by 100 basis points to 5.25% per annum, Governor Lesetja Kganyago announced on Thursday. “The MPC decided to cut the repo rate by 100 basis points. This takes the repo rate to 5.25% per annum, with effect from 20 […]

And the People Stayed Home, a prose poem by Kitty O’Meara, has been going viral since early March 2020 since the retired American teacher and chaplain published the beautiful poem on her blog, under the post title: In the Time of Pandemic. An Italian journalist Irene Vella has claimed it is a translation from her […]

South Africa’s ‘Patient Zero’ – the first person diagnosed with the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in South Africa – has recovered enough to leave hospital. Authorities in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) said today that “South Africa is conquering Coronavirus” and that the patient, along with his wife who was also hospitalised with Coronavirus, have both recovered enough to […]

More than 1,700 people aboard a cruise liner in Cape Town Harbour are into their fourth day (Wednesday) of being quarantined on the luxury vessel. The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) confirmed yesterday that the vessel – MV AidAmira – as well as another vessel – ironically called MV Corona – which were both in the […]

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has taken the world by surprise. The good news is that tremendous scientific and technological advances have permitted scientists to understand a lot about this virus in a short amount of time. Within just two months of the first case, […]

Quarantine blog. Day 1, 17 March 2020. Corona updates from deepest China! Since the Indian government (where I’m normally based at this time) has cancelled all visas and banned foreign entrants, my partner Debs and I had to pull all the trips we were offering up until November and make a quick plan… writes South […]

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday night that in line with a European Union decision all Schengen borders will be closed from midday tomorrow, Tuesday 17 March 2020, for 30 days. The President urged all French citizens outside of the EU to call their local French Embassy if they wish to return home. Macron said: […]

Dear Fellow South African, The world is in the throes of a public health emergency on a scale not witnessed in over a century… writes President Cyril Ramaphosa in his latest letter to SA citizens. The spread of the coronavirus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19, has been alarmingly swift and widescale, and is […]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has today – Sunday 15 March 2020 – declared a National State of Disaster… in order for SA to focus on preventing and reducing the outbreak of the Corona virus. The number of COVID-19 infections in South Africa has risen to 51, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Sunday, rising […]

The 114 South Africans evacuated by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) from China’s COVID19-hit Wuhan City have touched down in Polokwane, in Limpopo. The group arrived shortly after 10:30am on a South African Airways (SAA) flight. About 20 minutes after landing, the first passenger disembarked the aircraft and was swiftly escorted to one […]

Italians unanimously burst into song in Siena, finding a way to connect with each other… even during isolation and quarantine. But they weren’t the only ones. All over Italy – from the north down to Naples, there were similar scenes filmed this week, of the Europeans joined in unison – singing ballads, singing the national […]

US President Donald Trump officially declared a National Emergency (“two very big words”) on Friday, 13 March 2020, as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus rose above 2,000 in the USA, with the death toll reaching 41. To unleash the full power of the Federal Government in this effort, today I am officially declaring […]

South Africa’s Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that the Ranch Resort in Polokwane will host the 122 repatriated South Africans from Wuhan, Hubei Province, in China. On Trip Advisor the resort is rated as ‘Excellent’. “Three sites were identified. Of the three sites that were shortlisted, The Ranch Resort was selected. An agreement has […]

Could COVID-19 cause a global economic meltdown? That’s the burning question asked by South African current affairs show Carte Blanche, this Sunday 15 March 2020 at 19:00. You can watch the show on Sunday in SA on DStv Now OR – if you live abroad (in most countries), you can stream it overseas from Tuesday. […]

As the issue of repatriation of foreign nationals from China grabs the headlines in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent in the wake of the spread of COVID-19, there are some important lessons that can still be drawn from events 102 years ago in 1918 when an earlier epidemic, of so-called Spanish flu, arrived […]

WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Wednesday evening, 11 March 2020, that as the number of cases of COVID-19 (novel Coronavirus) have increased by 13 times in the past fortnight, the situation is now officially a pandemic. “In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of COVID-19 cases, the […]

Fiumicino International Airport in Rome, Italy – known as ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ Airport – is usually one of the busiest airports in Europe with an estimated 43 million passengers passing through the airport in 2018. But today – Wednesday 11 March 2020 – parts of the airport looked like a ghost town. As Italians go […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa last night hailed the South African team travelling to Wuhan, China, on a repatriation mission, as heroes who carry the pride and hope of the nation. The team comprising members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and a medical team from the Department of Health left for Wuhan, the epicenter […]

The business rescue practitioners (BRPs) of South African Airways (SAA) have issued a notice advising employees of the intention to begin retrenchment consultations. In a statement, the BRPs said they have been engaging with SAA unions in relation to the process and the intention to begin the consultation process. “Our intention has always been to […]

Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize on Sunday morning confirmed the third case of corona virus in South Africa. The third person is the wife of Patient Zero, the Hilton father who was the first person diagnosed with the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in South Africa. The KwaZulu-Natal couple had returned from a ski trip to Italy […]

The South African government has dismissed reports contained in a Mail & Guardian article that South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers are not willing to travel to Wuhan, China, to repatriate citizens. Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS) Acting Director-General Phumla Williams said the article is misleading and misinforms readers and the public about […]

The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize and the NCID (National Institute of Communicable Diseases) will hold a media briefing at the epicentre of South Africa’s Coronavirus outbreak – in Hilton, near to Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. This comes following the announcement yesterday of South Africa’s first confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus that is currently […]

South Africans should not panic but rather be alert. That is the advice from President Cyril Ramaphosa following the announcement of the first case of the Coronavirus in the country. The President has assured the nation that the SA government is and will continue to demonstrate urgency and caution as South Africa deals with its […]

As coronavirus hit South Africa today with the first confirmed case, and continues to spread around the world, anxiety is rising. Shoppers fearful of quarantine measures have been stocking up on supplies to last out a week or two of isolation. Recent days have seen reports of shortages of hand sanitiser in shops around the […]

According to a BBC documentary, very few fishermen in Jacobs Bay (Jacobsbaai) on the West Coast, South Africa, will be able to survive if the China lockdown continues for much longer. Speaking to fishermen, some of whom have fished these Atlantic Ocean waters for 25 years, they say they’re now struggling to pay rent, power […]