South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, along with former SARS (SA Revenue Services) officials Ivan Pillay and Oupa Magashula, are being charged with fraud. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the three accused men have been informed of the decision and have been served summonses to appear in court on 02 November 2016. The […]

JOHANNESBURG – Photos of a Catholic Priest in Braamfontein, with blood streaming down his face, went viral today on social media. He had been hit by a rubber bullet during #FeesMustFall protests. Police claimed it was a stray bullet. Hylton White, a Faculty Member at Wits University, was there just before it happened… White wrote on Monday […]

Social media users are calling on fellow South Africans to share the following letter, sent by an academic at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) – Dr Kelly Gillespie – to South Africa’s Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan at 6.40pm Monday night… Dear Mr Pravin Gordhan I wonder if you have any sense of what my […]

Here is the full statement from the Presidency: President Jacob Zuma has written to the Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, requesting her to allow him or his legal representative to question other witnesses, determined by the Public Protector, who have appeared before Public Protector. President Zuma was given two days before the meeting that took […]

PRETORIA – Acting National Commissioner Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane said Monday that despite “intimidation” from protesting university students, police across the country will continue to do their duties wherever needed, and that South Africa was “far from a state of emergency” regardless of the rolling protests at universities, that have in recent days turned violent… including a […]

As South Africa faces a crisis in its universities – with protests having raged across the country since the Minister of Education announced ‘varsities could increase their fees by up to 8% – President Zuma has called on the parents of protesting students to get involved. One mother – ANGELA CARR LAMBSON – has heeded the […]

Fezeka Kuzwayo, the woman who accused President Jacob Zuma of rape, sadly passed away in South Africa yesterday. Her family said in a statement Sunday: “It is with our deepest sorrow that the Kuzwayo family announces the passing of our daughter Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo. In our family she was lovingly known as Fezeka, and in […]

PRETORIA – Outgoing Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela has reported that her meeting on Thursday with South African President Jacob Zuma, and his legal team, was “cordial”. The meeting in Pretoria formed part of her investigation into alleged involvement of the Gupta family in such matters as the hiring and firing of Cabinet Ministers, securing of state contracts and other improper and perhaps […]

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has, on the recommendation of the National Assembly, appointed Advocate Busisiwe Joyce Mkhwebane as the new Public Protector for a period of seven years, with effect from 15 October 2016. The President – who recently had to pay back some of the costs of his Nkandla homestead upgrades thanks to a […]

The 2016 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) has been released today. It is the 10th release by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, and reveals overall significant improvement in governance over the past ten years across Africa, with unfortunately deterioration in Safety and Rule of Law holding progress back. Sadly South Africa is one of those that has deteriorated […]

It’s the debate that keeps giving. Here are just three of the many takes on the first 2016 debate between American Presidential candidates Donald Trump (Republican) and Hillary Clinton (Democrat): 1. With Afrikaans Accents Ja nee! This video was uploaded by Afrikaans4Dummies: “When Donald Trump, the bombastic billionaire reality TV host we all know and […]

Although South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has called for unity in addressing the current university fees crisis in South Africa, which has seen student protests raging on campuses around the country, his words appear to have distanced students even further… with many on Twitter calling his speech a “fail” and “empty”, displaying “no leadership”. Speaking […]

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson referred to the continent of Africa as “country” while delivering a speech on his first three months as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.  Speaking at the Conservative Party conference, Johnson said: “For all its difficulties, life expectancy in Africa has risen astonishingly as that country has entered the global […]

The South African Broadcasting Corporation’s Hlaudi Motsoeneng has captured the country’s attention again with a new SABC appointment and quotes and claims that go beyond normal big or perhaps even pig headedness! But the country’s Public Protector and opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA) will be investigating his appointment. Yesterday, after it was announced that Hlaudi – […]

Newly elected Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has revealed that over the past three years, the previous (ANC) administration spent R190 million of public money on travel. In the last financial year alone, R73 million was spent on travel, according to the Democratic Alliance’s Mashaba! This revelation is just one of the latest from the DA, exposing […]

CAPE TOWN – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said today that the situation in South Africa is like a snooze button on an alarm clock. “The country has to wake up. The sleep is over,” he said. Speaking at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation Heritage Day banquet, Gordhan also joked – in response to a joke made by […]

KIMBERLEY – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says Heritage Day gives South Africans an opportunity to reflect on their history, their cultural heritage, their rituals and their languages. “It obliges us to pay attention to the values upon which we seek to build a united and prosperous nation,” he said on Saturday. Speaking at the national Heritage […]

An extremely concerned Winnie Madikizela-Mandela spoke candidly in South Africa today about the need for her party, the African National Congress (ANC), to “introspect” and work out where it went so wrong, and to incorporate a new “layer of fresh leadership”. (Watch video below.) Speaking at a press conference with former Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand […]

South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande has announced it is up to the country’s universities to “individually…determine the level of (fee) increase that their institutions require…”. But he cautioned that no university’s fees should be raised by more than 8% for 2017. This follows a blanket freeze on fees in […]

In the early hours of this morning a group of humanitarians placed 2,500 used lifejackets in Parliament Square, London… to highlight the plight of refugees. South African expat BEV TROMP captured these photos of the sombre scene. “Each lifejacket represents three human lives lost trying to escape war & find refuge,” says Bev. “Madiba would have had […]

PRETORIA – Government says it has noted with concern media reports that protesting students at the University of Stellenbosch have been injured after clashing with security on campus (see below). Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Acting Director-General Donald Liphoko on Friday echoed the Department of Higher Education and Training’s assurance that the matter of student […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has warned that South African President Jacob Zuma’s nuclear deal will be disastrous for the country. It will literally bankrupt us, diverting billions of rands from poverty reduction projects, while producing a nuclear white elephant in two decades’ time, claim the DA. But it will make a lot of money for […]

PRETORIA – The Presidency has refuted media reports that President Zuma and his Deputy favour a jet set lifestyle, reiterating that they prefer to use aircraft within the South African Air Force (SAAF) fleet. The Presidency on Wednesday said allegations made by aviation experts in the media that President Jacob Zuma prefers chartered aircrafts are not true. “The […]

PARLIAMENT – Jacob Zuma complained today in Parliament that he is “abused”. He was responding to Julius Malema’s earlier verbal attack on him, in which the Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader said Zuma, as a “criminal of note”, should not be allowed to address the House. Malema said “We won’t listen to Zuma, the criminal” and accused […]

PARLIAMENT – Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader, Julius Malema, said today in Parliament that President Jacob Zuma should not be allowed to speak in the House as he is “single-handedly” corrupting and collapsing South Africa due to his own personal interest. Malema that the President had broken his Oath of Office and had acted out of the Constitution, […]