South Africa’s foreign affairs department – DIRCO – has terminated the employment of its Chief Financial Officer, Caiphys Ramashau, who was embroiled in the controversial (and hugely wasteful) R118-million New York Pilot project. The axing comes at the end of a disciplinary case which had been instituted against Ramashau. The ex-CFO faced charges related to […]

Desperation to win the election hit a low on Friday, 1 October 2021, when a DA councillor in Nelson Mandela Bay was held up at gunpoint while erecting DA posters in New Brighton. The criminals were allegedly linked to the ANC, according to the DA’s Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson, Andrew Whitfield. The incident was witnessed […]

Why would more than 600 journalists from 117 countries collaborate on a global investigation of jaw-dropping scope? Find out tonight as Carte Blanche previews what is set to be the largest journalistic collaboration in the world to date – the Pandora Papers! With millions of leaked documents, Carte Blanche joins a global investigation into the […]

Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has extended the validity period of legally issued visas or asylum permits, which expired during the lockdown period, to 31 December 2021. In a statement on Thursday, Home Affairs announced that the Minister has also approved the resumption of Identity Document (ID) and passport applications. Directions communicating these amendments, […]

There were scenes of jubilation at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport as the first official flight from South African Airways (SA) took off on Thursday morning. SAA employees sang and danced after the months of uncertainty. WATCH SAA flight take off for first time in over a year The first #SAA flight has officially taken […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The Pietermaritzburg High court in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on Tuesday resumed a trial that has dragged out for years over a $2 billion arms deal involving former president Jacob Zuma, whose legal team sought to remove a prosecutor they accused of bias The trial over the 1990s deal was meant to start […]

Johannesburg’s newly elected Executive Mayor, Jolidee Matongo, has tragically died in a car accident in Gauteng, South Africa. Matongo was allegedly on his way home from Soweto where he had been engaged in the ANC’s election campaign, headed by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Matongo was elected just last month, following the death of former Mayor Geoff […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa was booed and chased away by the Naledi community in Soweto today, during the ANC’s voter registration drive. The residents, who are apparently living without power, accused the ANC of only caring about them when it comes time to vote. People in Soweto reportedly protested outside Ramaphosa’s family homestead, demanding better service […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent his condolences on the passing of Professor Hlengiwe Buhle Mkhize, the Deputy Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. Mkhize passed away today at the age of 69. The cause of death has not been disclosed. The President extended his condolences to the family, […]

The DA has reported a suspicious hijacking, of sensitive National Lotteries Commission (NLC) information, outside their Cape Town office. The incident took place on Monday at 13:00. “A courier service arrived at the DA Federal Head Office in Cape Town to deliver a USB drive with sensitive information that we had requested from the National […]

The Democratic Alliance(DA) notes President Ramaphosa’s announcement of a move to Lockdown Level 2… writes DA Leader John Steenhuisen. And while we welcome this easing of restrictions, we call on him to go further and commit to an end date for all lockdown restrictions as well as the State of Disaster. The only possible reason […]

South Africans will head to the polls on 1 November 2021 to elect the political leadership of the country’s 257 municipalities, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has announced. The announcement of the election date came after the Constitutional Court on Friday refused the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) application […]

While both the DA and Afriforum have been outraged by the decision announced on Sunday to grant medical parole to Jacob Zuma, the response from President Cyril Ramaphosa has been to the contrary. The DA said today it will be taking legal steps to have the decision reviewed as it believes it was “unlawful”, while […]

Former President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma has been placed on medical parole, the South African Department of Correctional Services (DCS) confirmed on Sunday afternoon. The decision was made after the Department viewed Zuma’s medical report, and is based on the former SA leader having an “illness” that “severely limits” his daily activity or self care. For […]

South Africa’s Constitutional Court today dismissed the application from the IEC (Electoral Commission) to postpone SA’s local elections… although the date may be changed up to 1 November. In order to allow for registration to reopen, the Constitutional Court declared the proclamation of the current election date, 27 October, by Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs […]

The South African government says it is not able to accommodate citizens of Afghanistan seeking refuge in the country. The Middle Eastern country has been facing violence and instability, culminating in a mass exodus of Afghan citizens looking for safer regions to live in, with the United Nations Refugee Agency estimating that at least half […]

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has again urged all South Africans over the age of 18 to get vaccinated against COVID-19… as the country is expected to enter a fourth wave of the virus in November. In an update to the nation on the vaccination rollout, Dr Phaahla said: “We have opened [vaccinations] for everybody above […]

Police have arrested seven suspects in connection with the recent shocking murder of senior Gauteng Department of Health finance official, Babita Deokaran, who was a key whistle-blower in the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) scandal. The swift breakthrough in the case – thanks to information received by the investigating team – was confirmed by National Police […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will travel to Germany tomorrow – Wednesday, 25 August 2021 – to attend a G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) meeting in Berlin on 26 and 27 August. President Ramaphosa has been invited by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. The G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) was initiated under the G20 German Presidency in 2017 […]

Law enforcement agencies are on high alert and say they are ready to ensure the safety and security of South Africans, amid threats of a “National Shutdown” on Monday. National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJOINTS) spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Netshiunda said that law enforcement agencies have, through the NatJOINTS, put measures in place to […]

The South African Cabinet, which held a virtual meeting yesterday, said in a press statement today that it welcomes the renaming of Brandfort in the Free State to Winnie Mandela, “in honour of the Struggle and liberation icon who was banished to the town during the height of apartheid”. Plans to unveil the name were […]

Nixon’s decision to delink the dollar from gold still hounds the IMF, South Africa and Africa. Five decades ago this month, US President Richard Nixon informed the world that the US would no longer honour its commitment to exchange US dollars for gold on demand. The commitment had been the foundation of the international monetary […]

At least 50 people marched to the Phoenix Police Station under the banners of the African United Activists and Qina Mhlali Movement in Durban at the weekend. A group of 50 people marched to the Phoenix Police Station to demand justice for those killed and attacked during the July unrest. They want a judicial commission […]

Immigrants whose shacks were gutted by a fire in Briardene informal settlement, north of Durban last month, have started rebuilding their homes thanks to the assistance of non-profit organisation Refugee Social Services. Last week, GroundUp reported that South African victims of the fire were rebuilding, but immigrants, who had been living in the settlement for almost ten […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, testifying at the Zondo corruption inquiry on Wednesday, said he chose to “remain but resist” rather than resign as deputy president when allegations of widespread corruption surfaced under his predecessor Jacob Zuma. Ramaphosa, Zuma’s number two from May 2014 to February 2018, has made the fight against corruption a pillar […]