Many are hailing President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech on Thursday night as one of the best in South African history. None captured the spirit as well as writer and animal rights activist, Herman H Le Roux, whose words written straight after Ramaphosa’s address to the nation have gone viral on social media, sometimes without his credit, […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is extremely concerned by ongoing violent community protests outside the Ntunjambili Hospital in Kranskop, allegedly as a result of residents not wanting Covid-19 patients to be isolated when treated at the facility. While the protest action was eventually broken up by the South African Police Service (SAPS) through the […]

After many unanswered calls by government departments, the Public Service Commission has appealed to them to update contact details on their websites so citizens can reach them. Many have not been updated despite lockdown being in effect for three weeks already. The PSC said it has been inundated with unanswered calls and unreachable numbers. The […]

The South African government should massively ramp up its “insufficient” spending to cushion the country from the economic and social ravages of the Covid-19 lockdown and the pandemic, says the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) in a policy document. The think tank has released a detailed emergency rescue package which it says the state should […]

What strategy should South Africa follow to contain the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus after the current 35-day lockdown? Any strategy should be informed by the trajectory of the disease, the effectiveness – or otherwise – of the current lockdown and how the particularities of the country will interact with the virus. These include high […]

Parliament has resumed its business with immediate effect, starting virtual meetings and cancelling the upcoming leave period for MPs, the presiding officers have announced. Parliament was suspended last month as a precautionary measure to curb COVID-19. Briefing the media on Thursday, National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise and National Council of Provinces Chairperson Amos Masondo said […]

Following reports alleging that black African nationals, in particular, are being discriminated against in China as an anti-foreigner sentiment sweeps parts of the country, blaming them for causing the second outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, South Africa’s DIRCO Minister Naledi Pandor has said she believes Chinese authorities will attend to this “awful” […]

With this week’s arrest of the Gupta brothers in Dubai, it’s worth watching ‘How to Steal A Country’ – a fascinating and shocking documentary, by an Emmy award-winning filmmaker, on the rise and fall of the Gupta family and how they managed to ‘steal’ South Africa. (Updated 8 June 2022) As hard as it is […]

Any person or small business in the tourism sector, regardless of their skin colour, can apply for financial relief from the Tourism Relief Fund, says Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane. The minister said this following Afriforum’s announcement that it had served the department with court papers calling for the review of the Tourism Relief Fund. There […]

We are a group of concerned citizens and educational activists and South African leaders, with the support of the National Association for Social Change Entities (NASCEE). We have heard Minister Motshekga’s interview on e.TV on 10 April, and understand that a Recovery Plan will be tabled to the Cabinet in the course of the week. […]

As the world staggers under the catastrophic impact of eating a wild animal, probably a pangolin, the South African government has reclassified 130 wild animals as meat. The next pandemic could be round the corner with its epicentre at the southern tip of Africa. South Africa has embarked on a mission to commercialise and commoditise […]

A Bloemfontein mother’s open letter to the SA president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is striking a chord with South Africans around the nation. Writing in Afrikaans, Cathy de Lange, a blogger and owner of Meringue Mama, says she knows the chance of the president reading her letter is very slim, but that the message was heavy on […]

Lwazi Sithole has lived on the streets of Durban for over eight years, but since the national lockdown to disrupt the spread of Covid-19, the 28-year-old has moved to the Denis Hurley Centre, and has started to rethink his life… writes Nokulunga Majola. “I had forgotten what life is like off the streets. Here at the […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his condolences at the passing of Freedom Front Plus founding leader and former Chief of the then South African Defence Force, General Constand Viljoen. Aged 86, Viljoen passed away peacefully on Friday afternoon at his farm in Ohrigstad, Mpumalanga. The President offered his sincere condolences to Risti Viljoen and the […]

One of the world’s leading news broadcasters, the BBC, has praised South Africa for its “ruthless efficiency” in fighting the coronavirus, and for its “formidable leadership”. “South Africa seems to have acted faster, more efficiently, and more ruthlessly than many other countries around the world,” says the BBC, stating that more than 47,000 have been […]

It is a fact that 70% of cars in South Africa are not insured (see AA’s research below); and for this reason, the Government is working on a plan that makes third-party car insurance mandatory in South Africa. Uninsured car problems affect both motorists and pedestrians. If an accident is carried out by a person […]

Tonight Carte Blanche visits Bloemfontein Zoo where animals were left starving after the zoo was closed down a few months ago. Some even died. Fortunately it was announced in the last week that most have now been relocated to ethical facilities. The current affairs show also investigates how COVID-19 will affect the economy here in […]

The DA says it welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement Monday evening of a nationwide lockdown and the deployment of the South African National Defence Force. DA Leader John Steenhuisen said after the speech: “These measures are of critical importance in our efforts to combat the spread of the Coronavirus through our communities and contain, as […]

As uncertainty and fear grow amid the Covid-19 virus outbreak, some farms in the Western Cape are closing their doors. This could see hundreds if not thousands of seasonal farmworkers like Elizabeth Pietersen without means to provide for their families. Pietersen said she was recently dismissed “with immediate effect” without any warning. The only explanation […]

The Cannes Film Festival has announced that it will be postponed until – it hopes – the end of June, beginning of July. The famous festival of the French Riviera had held out as long as it could in the hope that the Coronavirus pandemic would be resolved in time for the festival in May, […]

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading across the world. For those who catch it, the vast majority will experience mild symptoms, but for a few, it can cause severe disease and death. Some groups – like older people and those with pre-existing health conditions – are more vulnerable when exposed than others. Because of this, […]

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says new regulations that came into effect on Wednesday, will see all cruise and passenger ships entering South Africa through its sea ports being prohibited from disembarkation. Briefing the media at the Port of Cape Town on Wednesday, Mbalula said the regulations, which were gazetted on the same day, will assist […]

The South African government has dismissed reports contained in a Mail & Guardian article that South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers are not willing to travel to Wuhan, China, to repatriate citizens. Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS) Acting Director-General Phumla Williams said the article is misleading and misinforms readers and the public about […]

The Gauteng Executive Council has placed the City of Tshwane, in South Africa, under provincial administration following current uncertainty and instability within the municipality. Making the announcement on Thursday, Gauteng Premier David Makhura said the decision to take responsibility of all the executive powers of the City of Tshwane council was taken after an assessment, […]

While the South African economy has over the last couple of years taken a beating with a recession in SA announced today, the country’s people continue to rise above often difficult circumstances, says the SA government news site. Fourth-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures this week showed a decline of 1.4 % in the final […]