There has been outrage in South Africa in the past week over the alleged “secret abuse” by President Cyril Rampahosa of the Ministerial Handbook to dish out expensive perks to ministers and deputy ministers. (See video below.) UPDATE: Ramaphosa withdraws Ministerial Handbook. Opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has exposed how due to Ramaphosa’s amendments to […]

A coalition of Cederberg-Eerste (CE), Democratic Alliance (DA) and Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) in the Cederberg Municipality yesterday won the by-election in Lamberts Bay / Leipoltville (Ward 5) convincingly. In a joint statement today (Thursday), the coalition said its first task is “to assess and repair the damage caused by the ANC and the […]

The “resolute resistance” of Johann Ferreira, CEO of long-distance bus operator Intercape, in the face of unabashed official bullying was to be commended, Makhanda High Court Judge John Smith has said. Last week we reported that the Eastern Cape High Court ordered Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula to protect Intercape, a long-distance bus company. On Friday Judge […]

The fee for a new adult South African passport is due to increase from R400 to R600 if you’re applying within SA and to three times as much – R1,200 – if you’re applying abroad, which will come as a shock to South African expats who currently wait months for new SA passports, whilst those […]

Here’s what’s coming up on Carte Blanche this weekend. You can watch the show on Sunday 9 October in South Africa on DStv Now or stream it overseas in most countries from 11 October if you’re abroad. Deadly Coal Run Carnage and death stalk the coal road as drivers put profits before lives. War in […]

The Department of Correction Services (DCS) confirmed in a statement on Friday that the “former State President, Mr Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, has been released from the system of Correctional Services.” Zuma’s 15 months sentence expired today, Friday 7 October. The JGZuma Foundation tweeted: “It’s OFFICIAL. H.E President Zuma is now a FREE man.” The Constitutional […]

The South African government is considering various options regarding the contentious matter of land under traditional leadership and part of the land tenure system including Ingonyama Trust, said Deputy President David Mabuza. “These would be finalised by Cabinet, and will be considered alongside the resolutions of the Communal Land Summit which was held in May […]

Police in Mpumalanga have taken three people in for questioning in relation to the gruesome murder of a German tourist in White River on Monday afternoon, Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed during a visit to the scene of the crime on Wednesday. They are co-operating. Cele was accompanied by Police National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, […]

The following speech was delivered today by the DA Johannesburg Leader, Dr Mpho Phalatse, during a live broadcast. Dear South Africans, and in particular, the residents of Johannesburg, I am Dr Mpho Phalatse, Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, and I’d like to share with you my views on the recent developments in the […]

The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has made the “tough decision” to drop animal welfare as a focus area for funding in 2022/2023, a decision that some organisations say is ignorant and unfair. Others say that the application for NLC funding is laborious and simply not worth applying for. The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has excluded […]

South Africa’s richest province, Gauteng, is set for new leadership following the resignation of Premier David Makhura on Tuesday. Makhura announced that he will step down from the position after serving the provincial government for the past eight years and is expected to have his last day in office on Thursday. “I have handed a […]

The Equality Court today granted leave to appeal in the civil rights organisation AfriForum’s Kill the Boer hate speech case against the EFF, Julius Malema and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi. This application comes after the Equality Court declared in August that the chant Kill the Boer is not hate speech. Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer for strategy […]

“The silence by the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Naledi Pandor, on the ANCYL’s illegal entry into Ukraine and the subsequent annexation of Ukraine territory by Russia, equates to a tacit approval of these illegalities by the South African government,” says DA Shadow Minister of International Relations, Darren Bergman. In a statement today, Bergman […]

Democratic Alliance Leader John Steenhuisen delivered the following address during a live broadcast, concerning the ANC taking control of Johannesburg… After months of efforts to destabilise coalitions across the country, today the ANC succeeded in seizing control of Johannesburg. I warned precisely, a few weeks ago, that this is what is transpiring in the background… […]

Given the unpredictable performance of Eskom’s fleet of coal-fired power stations, President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted that the country will not be able to eliminate load shedding in the short term. Just this week in South Africa Eskom is implementing Stage 3 load shedding between 00:00 and 16:00 until Thursday, while Stage 4 load shedding […]

SAA’s board chairperson has denied that South African Airways’ future is at risk. John Lamola today dismissed claims that the state-owned carrier – which was once the pride of the nation – is facing liquidation due to delays in the conclusion of the strategic equity partnership (SEP) transaction with Takatso Consortium. Lamola said the media […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will be cutting short his overseas trip to return home to South Africa to deal with the Eskom crisis which has plunged SA into Loadshedding (pre-planned power cuts) Stage 6. In a media briefing this morning, Eskom admitted that the powerlessness could get even worse, with unplanned blackouts that would take South […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa met with US President Joe Biden in the White House in Washington DC on Friday (September 16), with both leaders set to discuss global stability and climate change during talks. Biden, who has led an international coalition to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the near-seven month war in Ukraine, […]

US president Joe Biden’s invitation to South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa to meet at the White House, and the latter’s acceptance, are positive signs of renewed cooperation. But they do not suggest a return to the 1990s era of heady optimism between the two countries. By John J Stremlau, University of the Witwatersrand. These two […]

DA Leader John Steenhuisen delivered the following keynote address at the RMB Morgan Stanley Investor Conference in Cape Town today. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, For those of you who have travelled here from out of town, welcome to beautiful Cape Town, where spring is apparently still deciding whether it has arrived or not. This […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth enjoyed a “warm friendship” with South Africa’s President Nelson Mandela, who once joked about her weight on a visit to Buckingham Palace – an unheard of liberty attesting to the strong bond between the freedom fighter and the monarch, Mandela’s private secretary Zelda la Grange said. By Wendell Roelf. […]

The DA has today submitted a petition signed by 32 000 South Africans opposing the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa’s giant flag project which they say is “wasteful”. “The announcement of the R22 million project was followed by an immediate nation-wide uproar. And rightly so,” says Tsepo Mhlongo – DA Shadow Minister […]

South Africa’s Jacob Zuma is taking a top reporter to court. The verdict could affect journalists’ rights. By Anton Harber, University of the Witwatersrand South African journalism organisations this week rallied around well-known journalist Karyn Maughan when former president Jacob Zuma initiated a private prosecution against her. Zuma faces 16 counts of corruption for taking a […]

The ANC Parliamentary Caucus has issued the following statement on the “matter of an outstanding follow-up and supplementary questions to the President arising from Question time on 30 August 2022”. The ANC Caucus says it is not surprised by the “factually misleading statements” made on social media platforms by the leader of the United Democratic […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s outright refusal to answer a question around the Phala Phala debacle posed to him in today’s sitting of the National Assembly, is indistinguishable from the horror South Africans witnessed in the Zuma era where both the Presidency and the Speaker broke parliament to shield a sitting president from accountability… writes JOHN STEENHUISEN, […]