South Africa’s failure to support the United Nations resolution calling for Russia to withdraw from Ukraine was a low-point in our foreign policy. By Nathan Geffen   No person who thinks of themself as progressive, left, or pro-democracy can in good faith be neutral about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia faced no existential threat from […]

The DA has today – Wed 29 June – laid criminal charges, requesting that the ANC be investigated for systemic and calculated racketeering activities over a multitude of years. In a press statement, DA MPs Cilliers Brink and Natasha Mazzone said the ANC has “acted like a criminal syndicate”. “Exactly a week ago, the final […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday arrived in Bavaria, in Germany, to participate in the G7 Leaders’ Summit at the invitation of the host, Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The G7 has been making headlines as the leaders (from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, US and EU) forged a stronger resolve to support Ukraine in ending […]

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla is being called on to issue an immediate public apology to South Africans for his Department’s insults to those who opposed the draft health regulations relating to Covid-19. ‘Anti-progressive’, ‘instigating terrorism’ and ‘sabotage’ is how the Health Department officials called about 300 000 law-abiding SA citizens who exercised their democratic […]

The infamous Guptas – a family on the run from the long arm of the law. Now, they could be just months away from extradition to South Africa. It was the scandal that broke a presidency, and rocked a nation to its core, starting with the landing of a private plane at the Waterkloof Air […]

“I want to reassure, and indeed remind this House that accountability is a responsibility I have never shirked or shied away from,” South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday, during his reply on The Presidency Budget Vote Debate 2022 in Parliament, Cape Town. “When I was elected four years ago, I promised I would […]

While South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza stressed yesterday that law enforcement agencies should be allowed to investigate the robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm without any interference, and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola reminded South Africans that the President, as a victim of crime, has a right to be treated fairly by the justice system… […]

(Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended the country’s top anti-corruption official – Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane – to pave the way for an inquiry by a parliamentary group into her ability to hold office, the government said on Thursday. Public Protector Mkhwebane, a constitutionally mandated anti-corruption official, was appointed in 2016 by Ramaphosa’s […]

UN Climate Change News – This year’s Bonn annual UN Climate Change Conference kicked off today, designed to lay the groundwork for success at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Governments are meeting for the first time since the conclusion of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow last November, at which the operational details of […]

The President is facing a crisis of credibility and cannot hide behind procedural smokescreens to avoid presenting South Africans with the full truth around the money that was stolen from his farm (Phala Phala), and the subsequent cover-up… writes DA Leader John Steenhuisen. There is no aspect of any police or other investigation that prevents him […]

Security Agencies are investigating a death threat, sent to Director-General in the Presidency, Phindile Baleni, by mail last week. While the government has reiterated its commitment to fight corruption, even in the face of threats of violence, the decision to share the death threat letter and a bullet with the world has been questioned. The […]

Russia’s ‘brutal war’ on Ukraine must stop as soon as possible, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said today – Tuesday 24 May – during his official visit to South Africa. With host, President Cyril Ramaphosa, besides him, the German leader said he looked forward to discussions with SA’s President about some of the huge issues facing […]

There have been calls in South Africa – on social media and in the political arena – for swift action over the video of a student urinating over the belongings of another student at Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape. Most are calling for the perpetrator’s expulsion, and a petition on Change.org has already gathered […]

South Africa’s judicial commission into state capture, known as the Zondo Commission, recently handed over the fourth part of its voluminous and scathing findings to President Cyril Ramaphosa. As a fact-finding commission, it had to determine if there were facts that were relevant for prosecutorial purposes related to “state capture” and corruption during the reign […]

The court record in AfriForum’s case against the R50 million Cuba donation, shows the grand total of the donation to actually be R350 million and not just R50 million. This was revealed after Afriforum’s legal team requested the court record as part of its review application. According to the record, the government has agreed to […]

Over 200 people marched from Empire Road in Parktown to picket outside the Constitutional Court on Thursday, where a landmark case is being heard that will determine whether blind people in South Africa get better access to versions of published works in, for example, braille. Blind SA, represented by SECTION27 is arguing in support of […]

The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture is reportedly on a mission to install a 100-meter giant flag to the tune of R22 million. With some joking that this is Arts Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s version of a ‘Fire Pole’ (similar to former President Jacob Zuma’s ‘fire pool’), the DA goes a little further to say […]

The Northern Gauteng High Court in Pretoria today rejected a leave to appeal application lodged by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) against an interdict obtained by AfriForum preventing the South African foreign affairs department from donating R50 million to Cuba. AfriForum defended Judge Neukircher’s original ruling and opposed the application on the grounds that […]

Now back in sunny South Africa after spending the past six days in Ukraine, DA Leader John Steenhuisen has compiled this report on the situation in Ukraine and what it means for SA: I’m speaking to you from Cape Town on a beautiful autumn morning in the Mother City, and on a day like this […]

A New York Times article has caused fury amongst many South Africans calling it a “BS hack piece with no facts”. Sadly, many of those pointing out the errors, are actually proving the journalist right – that many white South Africans were “shrouded in misinformation” and oblivious to what was happening right in front of […]

Former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe, one of the saner voices in the ruling African National Congress (ANC), has recently given voice to heresy. He has said that the time of the ANC in power is coming to an end. By Roger Southall, University of the Witwatersrand. The party that has dominated South African politics […]

What is the ultimate song to celebrate Workers’ Day? Many will suggest “The Internationale” which had its roots as a poem written in the aftermath of the Paris Commune in 1871 by Eugène Pottier, a transport worker. Set to music a few years later, it became the anthem for the wider progressive movement. It served […]

Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader John Steenhuisen has arrived in Lviv, in western Ukraine, on a six-day fact-finding mission. The South African politician is not the only one visiting Lviv this weekend, as film actress Angelina Jolie – who is special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – surprised locals when she was […]

In less than 40 days, two of the most critical dams that supply Nelson Mandela Bay with water will be empty, leaving a third of the Metro without water… facing a Day Zero situation similar to that which Cape Town experienced a couple of years ago. The Churchill and Impofu dams, currently at a combined […]

Immigrant truck drivers say they live and work in fear of being attacked by people claiming to be part of xenophobic groups. By Kimberly Mutandiro. Immigrant truck drivers say they work in fear of being attacked by anti-immigrant groups. The drivers we spoke to say they had previously been attacked by groups of men accusing them […]