On Monday, before leaving for CHOGM in London, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of his Special Envoys for Investment – tasked with “hunting down” potential investors in SA – and announced the appointment of Trudi Makhaya as his new Economic Advisor. For those who have never heard of Trudi before, Sanele Zondi […]

At a Bilateral Meeting between President Rampahosa and British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday she pledged £50-million over the next four years, and said the UK is ready to support South Africa’s transformation. A Downing Street spokesperson said the British PM described the relationship between the UK and South Africa as “strong and deep, both […]

Queen Elizabeth II welcomed South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa to Windsor Castle on Tuesday 17 April 2018, where she presented him with letters exchanged between her and former President Nelson Mandela. The letters between the British monarch and Madiba marked South Africa’s re-entry to the Commonwealth in 1994. President Ramaphosa is joined in the UK […]

A total of 510 people lost their lives across South African roads over the 2018 Easter period, Transport Minister Blade Nzimande said on Tuesday. Announcing the 2018 preliminary Easter Road Safety Report at Parliament’s Imbizo media centre, Minister Nzimande said the main contributory factors to road fatalities from 29 March to 9 April were related […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is “alarmed” by the six farm attacks which have occurred in South Africa in the last 72 hours. Dianne Kohler Barnard, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Police, said in a media statement on Tuesday: “Attacks on anyone who lives on or visits a farm – have increased once again. […]

Twenty-four years into democracy and we still have people who live fearful because of what skin colour they were born with. Rituals and spiritual philosophies about albinism have led to brutal murders, especially of children. This is despite the campaigns initiated around South Africa to curb the attacks on people with albinism. It is no […]

Many South Africans across the globe have mixed feelings about the suggested renaming of Cape Town International Airport after the struggle icon, Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela… although a poll on the EFF’s timeline showed 93% of its followers supported the call. However it appears the Airport is more likely to bear another Mandela’s name. Economic Freedom […]

Following recent marches and reports in foreign media about a ‘genocide’ in South Africa targeted at white farmers, the DA Abroad has issued a statement strongly condemning the orchestrated narrative. “There have recently been numerous reports from Australia and Belgium media, as well as various protest action against an alleged “white genocide” taking place in […]

The headline on the Zimbabwe Herald could not have made it clearer: “Police tighten noose on Grace Mugabe.” The newspaper, for 37 years the mouthpiece of Robert Mugabe’s government, is now the voice of the new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa. He replaced Mugabe when the long-time leader was deposed in late 2017. Over the last couple […]

The DA party has denied reports that the party has taken a decision to charge Cape Town Mayor, Patricia De Lille, over her attendance of the EFF’s Memorial Service in honour of Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. “These reports are simply untrue,” said Refiloe Nt’sekhe, DA National Spokesperson, in a media statement Thursday. De Lille’s attendance at the […]

According to EFF leader Julius Malema, women can actually do better than men. In a tribute to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Malema said she proved that when she stood alone in the ’80s while the men went ‘under the table’. The Commander-in-Chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters said the first female president of South Africa must come […]

Family, friends, government officials, the diplomatic corps and ordinary South Africans came in their numbers on Wednesday to bid the woman who became known as the face of the South African liberation movement, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, goodbye in song and praise. Memorial in Soweto remembers anti-apartheid activist Winnie Mandela #WinnieMandelaMemorialhttps://t.co/iyRYVjONX8 pic.twitter.com/Koyrpcekyf — BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) […]

The civil rights organisation AfriForum today filed criminal charges of corruption, fraud, theft, extortion and forgery against Shaun Abrahams, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), and six other senior members of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). “This follows after AfriForum received an anonymous letter that elaborates on allegations of serious criminal conduct. In this […]

China’s decision to suspend presidential term limits is still reverberating around the world. The announcement, made after a vote by China’s parliament in March, prompted some commentators to draw comparisons with “third termism” in Africa, when leaders flout democratic conventions to stay in power as long as possible. These concerns certainly resonate on a continent where leaders […]

South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has finally been directed to prepare a comprehensive report and strategy on managing the endlessly long queues at their offices across the country. The directive has come from the top – from Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba who has apparently been inundated with calls from members of the […]

Former South African president Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, delivered a heartfelt tribute to ‘Mother of the Nation’, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at the African National Congress (ANC) memorial ceremony in Khayelitsha on Monday. A rose has been plucked from our garden of heroes. One whom we all called Nobandla‚ Mangutyana‚ Mam Winnie or simply Mummy is […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa is unquestionably a great negotiator who knows precisely what to say and when to say it… writes Chris Moerdyk. So it is a mystery to me why he and his cabinet team have allowed so much fake news and misinformation to do the rounds without any significant reaction. Take the land issue, […]

On Monday, 9 April 2018, Democratic Alliance (DA) Free State Leader, Patricia Kopane and several other DA ministers will conduct an oversight at Vogelfontein Housing Development in Bethlehem, South Africa. It is alleged that ANC Secretary-General, Ace Magashule, meddled in a housing project in the Free State to ensure that a Chinese company, Unital Holdings […]

Watch fans and supporters of former South African President Jacob Zuma attempt to support him in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, yesterday, as he faces 16 charges for his involvement in the arms deal – two of corruption, 12 of fraud, one of money laundering, and one of racketeering. It is alleged that Zuma or his family members received […]

Deputy President David Mabuza said today that Solomon Mahlangu’s commemoration should serve as a launch pad for a society-wide reflection on the steps the country must take to build a non-racial society. “Such [discussions are] particularly important in the context of the centenary of President Nelson Mandela’s birthday,” Deputy President Mabuza said on Friday. He […]

Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in South Africa in 1652. Who of my generation does not know this? It was drilled into all our minds at primary school. And even if we were not lucky enough to go to school, the mythology certainly did not pass us by. The version of history taught to us started […]

The South African Presidency has withdrawn their appeal against the court judgement ordering former President Jacob Zuma to personally pay the legal costs, estimated at R10 million, for trying to block the release the State of Capture report. DA Federal Council Chairperson, James Selfe, said he welcomes the withdrawal. “While this is a victory for […]

Here’s this week’s Carte Blanche line-up, which was screened for South Africans in SA on Sunday and is available for expats from Tuesday on Showmax International. Car-T Cell Therapy  A South African family was devastated when their daughter was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.  Since her diagnosis three years ago, 6-year-old Mia Cara has undergone months […]

I am so appalled by some white trash know-nothing comments about Winnie Madikizela Mandela, that I need to weigh in… writes award-winning writer, and Nelson Mandela’s authorised biographer, Charlene Smith.  If Madiba could forgive and honour her, and then not punish white South Africans for what we put her and others like her through, how DARE […]

No other woman – in life and after – occupies the place that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela does in South African politics. A stalwart of the African National Congress (ANC), she nevertheless stands above, and at times outside, the party. Her iconic status transcends political parties and geographical boundaries, generations and genders. Poets have honoured her, writers […]