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, […]

Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, today highlighted the implications of controversial Pastor Steven Anderson’s proposed visit to South Africa this month… and announced that the American and members of his church are prohibited from entering the country. Anderson has also been declared a “prohibited person” in SA. In a media briefing today, Gigaba said they had […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A police investigation into South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is destabilising the government and creating uncertainty across Africa’s most industrialised economy, deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas said on Tuesday. Gordhan declined last month to obey a police summons linked to the inquiry into whether he had used a tax service unit […]

JOHANNESBURG – President Jacob Zuma has complied with the Constitutional Court order to #PayBackTheMoney! In a statement, issued today by the Presidency, it said the South African President has paid over the amount of R7,814,155.00 to the South African Reserve Bank. The payment was ordered by the Constitutional Court of South Africa in respect of the personal […]

The Democratic Alliance is delivering its corruption-fighting message in South Africa and around the world, with DA leader Mmusi Maimane telling CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that the DA promises to end corruption in the country. (Watch video below.) Maimane told Amanpour “what South Africa needs at this point in time, is stable leadership in the Presidency.” In the […]

Shadow Minister of Finance, David Maynier, kept yesterday’s promise of “I’m going to roast rogue Minister Mosebenzi Zwane tomorrow in Parliament”… but it was DA’s Chief Whip John Steenhuisen who truly ranted, raging at the Speaker of the National Assembly for not making Zwane answer the question. “You are trampling on the Constitution again,” he accused the […]

PRETORIA – The Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, has continued his impressive Magufuli-esque cost-cutting campaign… announcing today that he has put an immediate stop to all purchases or leasing of luxury cars for politicians and senior officials. Msimanga says: “A Hundai i20 or Toyota Corolla can do the same job for a politican as an […]

South African President Jacob Zuma is facing calls from ANC supporters to step down, following his party’s worst election results since the end of Apartheid in 1994. In this Reuters video, reporter Ivor Bennett says although there is still a lot of support for Zuma in the country, the voices of dissent are growing. Protesters – […]

JOHANNESBURG – Supporters of the #OccupyLuthuliHouse protest, which was to go ahead this morning albeit scaled down, have been urged to stay away as fears mounted this morning that it could lead to bloodshed like Marikana. According to witnesses, the entire precinct of the ANC headquarters, Luthuli House, was on virtual lockdown Monday morning with a huge police presence […]

From slavery to colonialism and school rules: a history of myths about black hair… “Your hair feels like pubic hair.” That was one of the first insults that someone hurled at my hair. She was a junior at my school. She would touch my hair and repeat this sentence to all present. I had to […]

When an elite crime-fighting unit investigates a member of Cabinet, what does the rule of law require? In South Africa the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) have been circling finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Two main narratives are emerging to explain the ongoing saga. The first is that the minister may have committed some […]

PRETORIA – In a move that echoes that of Tanzania’s cost-cutting President Magufuli, the new Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, has today announced two immediate measures to cut costs for the new administration. In a statement released Wednesday by the Democratic Alliance (DA), it said the Mayor has put a stop to all inaugural parties, and catered […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Treasury and state-owned Eskom clashed on Monday over a probe into coal contracts between the power utility and a company linked to the wealthy Gupta family that is accused of holding undue political sway over President Jacob Zuma. The row further scarred relations in a government rocked by a police […]

JOHANNESBURG – In what is becoming a conversation through the media, the Gupta Family has responded to statements made on Sunday by Democratic Alliance (DA) Shadow Minister, David Maynier… warning that this media narrative being metered out by Maynier “without any basis of wrong-doing” could put others off investing in South Africa. Following the Gupta Family […]

South African opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), have both welcomed the news that the Gupta family will exit their shareholding in all their businesses in SA by the end of 2016. The EFF said it welcomed the news “with caution”, whilst the DA said the family’s claim that […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan could be charged with graft as soon as this week, the City Press newspaper reported on Sunday, citing senior sources in the police, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the tax service.   The AFP news agency quoted an NPA spokesperson as saying “there is no […]