NBC has published video footage from 30 years ago, filmed just days after Nelson Mandela was released from prison – on 11 February 1990 – after serving 27 years. NBC News’ Tom Brokaw met with Mandela at his home in Soweto where Mandela spoke honestly about the loneliness of life in prison and the friends […]

For two months late last year, the deadly antibiotic resistant CRE (Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae), ravaged the maternity ward of Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng killing 10 babies. But this wasn’t the first time that a number of infants have died in the same period inside a public health facility in South Africa. Carte Blanche investigates the hospitals […]

About 150 protesters marched to Parliament on Monday to mark the first day of the two-day Real Jobs Summit, part of the Cry of the Xcluded campaign over unemployment. On Sunday participants in the campaign staged a performance of a play at the V&A Waterfront amphitheatre about unemployment, climate change and domestic violence. The play was […]

Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement (ABM) marched in support of land expropriation without compensation and amending the Constitution on Monday. Protesters handed over a submission, in the form of a memorandum, on the Amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution. Deadline for public comment is Friday. About 1,000 supporters marched from King Bhekuzulu Park to Durban City […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) insists its support is not in freefall, as suggested by a Daily Maverick article today, and that the stats in the article are outdated and irrelevant. Solly Malatsi MP – DA National Spokesperson – said in a statement Monday: “The basis of Ferial Haffajee’s alarmist claim (“DA support in free fall, […]

Nearly six years after the Lottery gave R13 million to establish a “Carnival Heritage Museum” intended to celebrate the colourful history of Cape Town’s minstrels, the museum still does not exist. The annual minstrel parade through the streets of Cape Town dates back to 1890, with South Africa’s minstrels inspired and influenced by American minstrel troupes who visited Cape Town […]

Journalists in the United States and South Africa have questioned a recent claim by US Presidential hopeful Joe Biden. The former Vice President has remarked on at least three occasions in the past fortnight that he was arrested during the ’70s in Soweto… on his way to Robben Island to pay a visit to Nelson […]

Owing to unplanned breakdowns, Eskom will continue to implement rotational load shedding going into the weekend. In a statement on Friday, the power utility said unplanned breakdowns have increased the shortage in generation capacity. “Eskom will continue implementing Stage 2 rotational load shedding until Sunday at 6am owing to unplanned breakdowns that have increased the […]

Echoes of apartheid-style exploitation of workers have resurfaced in recent years in South Africa. Debates around these malpractices were given fresh impetus four years ago with the release of a documentary, Bitter Grapes. Produced by Danish journalist Tom Heinemann, it featured workers from South Africa’s winelands. Bitter Grapes cast light on wide-ranging exploitation. Hardships included […]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today warned against land expropriation without compensation in South Africa. Speaking during Wednesday morning’s session of the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Africa – which is being held in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia – Pompeo said expropriation without compensation would be catastrophic for South Africa’s economy and the country’s […]

An existing wind farm is crying foul after the government last month gave the conditional go-ahead for a massive new wind farm project on an adjoining property on the West Coast Peninsula near Vredenburg. The West Coast One wind farm, that has been operating since 2015, says the huge turbines of the recently approved Boulders Wind Energy […]

There are about 85 South Africans currently stuck in China, despite wanting to be evacuated and returned to South Africa in light of the outbreak of the new Coronavirus, according to the Democratic Alliance (DA). In a statement today, Darren Bergman MP – DA Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation – said whilst the DA […]

Helen Zille, Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA), has announced that she is closing her Twitter account, after several racist and derogatory responses to a tweet she posted on Saturday evening (15 Feb 2020), which featured her grand-daughter. In the post, Zille’s granddaughter is seen preparing a chicken for dinner, during one of South Africa’s […]

Watch the live streaming below as Dudu Myeni’s son Thalente Myeni testifies at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry. Today allegations of corruption at Richards Bay’s Mhlathuze Water are under the spotlight. Earlier, despite confirming his company Premier Attraction 1016 was promised R2-million to complete a project with a certain timeframe, that involved client Optics and […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says while it welcomes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that municipalities will be allowed to purchase power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), it’s meaningless unless timelines are swiftly announced; and has urged Ramaphosa to stop the government fighting the City of Cape Town in court and allow the Mother City […]

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has demanded that the City of Cape Town take immediate action against the sewage pollution in Milnerton lagoon. OUTA announced on 11 February that it had sent a letter to the City to ask for a meeting. The objective of the meeting is to present residents’ solutions to the pollution […]

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) created chaos at the State of the Nation Address tonight, infringing on the rights of all those who wanted to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his address… and delayed the President’s speech by almost an hour before the Speaker of the House Thandi Modise announced that the proceedings in the […]

Watch President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA) live here. Before the President has even got a chance to speak, EFF Leader Julius Malema and his colleagues have argued with the speaker that former President FW de Klerk should be removed from Parliament. Malema says he has blood on his hands. […]

With just over an hour to go before President Cyril Ramaphosa tables the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the spotlight is on praise singer Masingita Shibambu, who is tasked with ushering in the President into the Parliamentary chambers. Over the years, the 19-year-old has perfected her craft at Sunday school, parties and funerals of […]

Democratic South Africa has skeletons in the closet that it needs to address. One of these is the death of Dag Hammarskjöld, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) in a plane crash shortly after midnight on 17 to 18 September 1961. The plane went down as it approached Ndola, a mining town in Northern […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to use his State of the Nation Address Thursday evening to respond to burning issues such as load shedding and gender-based violence; unpack the progress that has been made by government over the past year and chart plans for the year ahead. Parliament officials have been hard at […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa is being urged to announce on Thursday – when he delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) – that he will send the Copyright Amendment Bill back to Parliament for reconsideration. If nothing else, it would be an ideal opportunity to announce some good news “amidst the doom and the darkness”, […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his deep sadness at the passing of Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala. “The passing of Joseph Shabalala is a terribly sad moment for a nation and a world in whose ears the isicathamiya and mbube crafted by Ladysmith Black Mambazo will ring for generations to come,” said President Ramaphosa. […]

A coding project called TANKS – which originated at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa – will be flying the flag high for SA, sharing the global stage at UNESCO’s Mobile Learning Week in Paris early March. Of 250 submissions from across the world, it is the only project invited to a plenary session […]

As South Africa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) approaches – Thursday 13 February at 19h00 – and South Africans long for some positive direction, here’s an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, penned by M&C Saatchi Abel Group founder Mike Abel… Dear Mr President, I write this letter on the last day of January […]