The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is “disgusted” after carefully studying South Africa’s revised ministerial handbook… which in effect has very little change to the 5-star lifestyle afforded Ministers at the South African tax payers’ expense (not to mention retired ministers too!). According to Leon Schreiber, DA Shadow Minister for Public Service and Administration, the […]

The Council Meeting called for Wednesday 11 December 2019 is illegal, and any decisions taken at that meeting are null and void, according to the Democratic Alliance’s  Mike Moriarty, Gauteng Provincial Chairperson “Whether or not one agrees with the ruling made by the Chair of Chairs, Alex Christians, last Thursday, 5 December 2019, regarding the […]

The South African Government has conveyed its condolences to the family and friends of struggle stalwart, Prof Ben Turok. “Government mourns the passing of this great patriot and great South African whose resilience and courage inspired the fight for freedom across South Africa and Africa,” a statement issued by the Government Communication and Information Systems […]

The board of South Africa’s national airlines recently took a unanimous decision to go into voluntary business rescue. The step removes the threat of the directors being sued by creditors for reckless trading – for now, at least. The airline told its staff two weeks ago that it wouldn’t be able to pay staff salaries. […]

Nicholaas E B Delport, a Warrant Officer in the South African Police Service (SAPS), has published a post (that’s going viral) in defence of the many amazing, dedicated, hard-working and honest SA police officers in the country. Delport, who works in the Division Forensics said he needed to get this off his chest after a […]

The unprecedented stage 6 rolling blackouts, announced by Eskom on Monday, have been reduced to Stage 4 (which is still not fun for those experiencing it!). In a statement, the opposition party – the Democratic Alliance (DA) – said this evening’s announcement that for the first time in South Africa’s history, Eskom would implement Stage […]

The economic outlook for 2020 is gloomy for us in South Africa… writes Andrew Robinson. Our GDP is shrinking, our economy is stagnant and we’re teetering on a rating downgrade. Our state-owned enterprises are failing, we have an above-average public sector wage bill and substantial budget deficit. And while the official stats don’t show an […]

Incessant rains which hit the country last week are impacting coal handling and operations, could lead to load shedding for the rest of the week, Eskom said on Monday. “We are beginning to experience flooding at some power stations, which is impacting coal handling and operations which could further lead to capacity load losses and […]

The DA’s Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa and Speaker Katlego Mathebe are back in their offices in Tshwane today, after being removed at a Special Council yesterday in a vote of no confidence. This morning the North Gauteng High Court suspended the resolutions taken by the African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) at the […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lost its second metro in two days, as Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa was voted out of office in Tshwane in a motion of no confidence on Thursday evening. Yesterday, the DA-led coalition lost its hold in Johannesburg after the ANC’s Geoff Makhubo was elected the city’s new mayor (to replace the […]

Mongameli Bobani was today ousted as Nelson Mandela Bay’s mayor after the majority of parties voted in favour of a motion of no-confidence, which had been brought by DA Councillor Morne Steyn. Many Port Elizabeth residents have welcomed the news, saying he left a “trail of destruction”. Nelson Mandela Bay Caucus Chairperson Athol Trollip (who […]

Geoff Makhubo has been elected new mayor of Johannesburg, putting the city back in the hands of the ANC, after the DA’s Herman Mashaba resigned in October. Mashaba resigned following the appointment of Helen Zille in a top DA position (which also led to the resignation of DA leader Mmusi Maimane). Of the 268 votes […]

Passions are running high in South Africa about a proposed new curriculum for education about sexuality in schools. Aimed at children in grades 4 to 12, it’s intended for roll out in public schools in 2020. Concerns raised by parents, schools and civil society organisations include that elements of the curriculum are not appropriate for […]

Namibia’s incumbent President Hage Geingob has won the 2019 presidential election – following Wednesday’s vote – with 56.3% of the vote, the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) said on Saturday Nov. 30, 2019. Geingob, Namibia’s third leader since the sparsely populated and mostly arid country freed itself from South Africa in 1990, was seeking a […]

South Africa’s Karoo region has always been parched – it means land of thirst in the language of its earliest inhabitants, the Khoisan hunter gatherers. Yet nothing prepared residents of its oldest town, Graaff-Reinet, for their worst drought in more than a century. As the dry spell entered its fourth year, tap water turned brown […]

JOHNANNESBURG – A South African court on Friday rejected an appeal by former president Jacob Zuma that sought to prevent his prosecution on corruption charges over a $2 billion arms deal. The ruling paves the way for Zuma’s long-awaited trial to start in February 2020. Zuma, in office from 2009-2018, had previously applied for a […]

Tom Moyane, former commissioner of South African Revenue Service (SARS), appeared for the first time in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court today in the private prosecution case against him. Advocate Gerrie Nel, Head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, is prosecuting Moyane in this case. The date for Moyane’s first appearance has been set for 11 December […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated that the South African government’s attempts to reconfigure and split Eskom into three divisions is not aimed at privatising the embattled power utility. These measures, he said, are rather aimed at stabilising the utility and getting it back on its feet. “We are not going to privatise Eskom,” he said, […]

South Africa’s rand firmed in early trade on Monday, as traders continued to chase the high yield offered by local assets after S&P Global Ratings decided to downgrade the country’s credit outlook instead of lowering its sovereign rating. The rand was 0.41% firmer at 14.6750 per dollar by 0620 GMT, compared with an opening level […]

HARARE – Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga returned home on Saturday after spending four months in China receiving medical treatment for an unknown illness, state-owned media reported. Chiwenga, the 63-year-old former general who led a coup against the late Robert Mugabe two years ago, has spent a large part of the year away from work, […]

The Office of the Chief Whip in Parliament has issued a statement following the arrest of ANC Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Bongani Bongo, who was arrested this morning in Cape Town, South Africa. “We are aware that the MP was arrested by the Hawks on allegations of […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA) on Sunday appointed John Steenhuisen as interim leader a month after the country’s main opposition party was thrown into chaos by the sudden resignation of Mmusi Maimane. Maimane, who was appointed as leader to broaden the traditionally white liberal party’s appeal to black voters, quit in October in […]

Cuba has unveiled a statue of South Africa’s late President Nelson Mandela in Havana, to commemorate the historic ties between the two countries. Fernando Gonzalez, President of the NGO Cuban Institution of Friendship with Peoples, said: “For us it is a very special moment… we had been waiting a long time for the bust here. […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead a South African delegation to the 11th BRICS Summit to be held in Brasilia, Brazil, from 13 – 14 November 2019. BRICS is the association of the five major emerging countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which together represent about 42% of the global population, 23% […]

ArcelorMittal’s South Africa unit said on Monday it would close its steel operations at Saldanha Works in the south of the country because it could no longer compete in export markets. The company, majority-owned by ArcelorMittal, announced in September that it could close some operations as part of a review aimed at strengthening long-term sustainability amid cheap imports, rising costs […]