After Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane resigned yesterday as head of South Africa’s main opposition party, he has today announced his resignation from the DA party and from Parliament. Maimane announced his resignation as leader of the party on Wednesday after four years at the helm, citing difficulties making the traditionally white liberal party […]

SOCHI/MOSCOW – Russia landed two nuclear-capable bombers in South Africa on a training mission on Wednesday, a flight apparently timed to coincide with President Vladimir Putin’s opening of a flagship Russia-Africa summit designed to increase Russian influence. The two Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bombers touched down at Waterkloof air force base in Tshwane on Wednesday, the […]

Below is the full speech given by Mmusi Maimane on Wednesday 23 October 2019 as he announced his resignation as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) party in South Africa: My fellow South Africans, When I was elected as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in May 2015, just over four years ago, I set […]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that the government will soon announce a permanent chief executive for state-run Eskom after the struggling power utility reintroduced rolling blackouts – known as load-shedding in South Africa – last week. The crisis-hit utility, which produces more than 90% of South Africa’s electricity, has been hobbled by […]

Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba resigned from the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday morning, and therefore also from his role as the city’s mayor, citing changes in the DA for his decision… after the appointment of Helen Zille over the weekend – as the DA’s new Federal Council Chair. He said: “I am gravely concerned that […]

In this week’s episode, Carte Blanche participates in an undercover investigation to reveal an intricate car scam, finds out how South Africa’s ports have deteriorated, interviews world renowned author Deon Meyer and discovers dog therapy for abused children. Watch on Sunday 20 Oct on DStv Now if you’re in South Africa, and stream it from […]

South Africa’s plans for additional power generation over the next decade will involve a variety of energy sources, with coal still playing a significant role as well as more renewable energy, mines and energy minister Gwede Mantashe said on Friday. Mantashe said that while the government planned to extend the life of the Koeberg nuclear […]

The trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma has been postponed to 4 February next year. His trial will then proceed after a 15-year delay. The former president faces charges of corruption, money laundering and racketeering linked to the multi-billion rand arms deal at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Today Zuma appeared alongside representatives of […]

Elections are moments of reckoning. They can either project a party onto a new trajectory or force a party into introspection. South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has experienced both scenarios in the last two decades. In the 1999 elections it increased its support by almost 8%. For the next 14 years […]

On a frigid September morning in Mkumbi, a remote village in the Pondoland region of the Eastern Cape, 63-year-old Sizane Nompethu rose at dawn and walked at a brisk pace down a rocky path to work her family’s small plot of land, just as she had every day since she was 15. “I am old […]

In the hillside Pondoland village of Manhlaneni, a small delegation from the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform stepped into a dimly-lit rondavel where a group of women sat on upturned beer crates removing the leaves from dense bunches of cannabis. One of the women passed a large handful of green buds […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived on Sunday in London, United Kingdom, for a two-day working visit. The President will deliver the opening address at the 6th Financial Times Africa Summit on Monday, 14 October 2019. The summit is being held at Claridge’s in London. On the sidelines of the summit, President Ramaphosa is expected to engage […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended his warmest congratulations to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali of Ethiopia on being awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Prime Minister Ahmed has been recognised by the Nobel Committee “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict […]

Since Zimbabwe’s land reform of 2000 – when around 8 million hectares of formerly large-scale commercial farmland was distributed to about 175,000 households – debates about the consequences for food security have raged. A standard narrative has been that Zimbabwe has turned from “food basket” to “basket case”. This year, following the devastating El Niño […]

Since the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, South Africa and Nigeria have never had an easy relationship. Over the years, as different presidents have come and gone, the two countries have often been at loggerheads for different reasons. But this was predated by Nigeria’s strong solidarity with black people when South Africa […]

Lack of accountability leads to wasteful expenditure and mismanagement, says activist. Contractors have abandoned more than 50 major school upgrade projects in the Eastern Cape after government departments failed to pay them on time. Many of these schools have been stripped of valuable materials and vandalised after being abandoned. One example is Makhanda’s Grahamstown Primary […]

OSLO – Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his peacemaking efforts with Eritrea. Ethiopia and Eritrea, longtime foes who fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, restored relations in July 2018 after years of hostility. The prize, worth nine million Swedish crowns, or around $900,000, will […]

South African former President Jacob Zuma will stand trial on corruption charges relating to a $2.5 billion arms deal after court denied him a permanent stay of prosecution on Friday. The ruling by Judge Jerome Mnguni in the Pietermaritzburg High Court paves the way for Zuma’s trial to start on Oct. 15. Zuma, who was […]

Refugees sitting outside the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cape Town say they have been victims of xenophobia in South Africa and the UNHCR should help them settle elsewhere. Carine Kavira, who says her brother was shot dead in a 2012 xenophobic attack, says she won’t leave the UNHCR […]

As South Africa’s Springbok rugby team vies for victory in the 2019 Rugby World Cup tournament, it is worthwhile to reflect on the historical substance of sports unity since 1994. South Africa held its first democratic elections in 1994. In mainstream history and school textbooks this represented a turning point that brought unity to South […]

On Monday charges were laid at the South African Police Service (SAPS) by AfriForum against the Tshwane Metro, Proco Management, Linked Thoughts Consulting and Faragamo Trading. The civil rights organisation said this follows Proco Management, Linked Thoughts Consulting and Faragamo Trading acting as go-between when three farms were sold to the Metro at prices significantly […]

Ex-South African president Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane denied wrongdoing at a graft inquiry on Monday, rejecting testimony by an official who said he was offered a bribe and a ministerial post at a meeting where Duduzane was present. Duduzane Zuma is a key witness at the so-called “state capture” inquiry set up last year to test […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa and Nigeria signed 30 trade and cooperation agreements on Thursday, weeks after a wave of xenophobic violence against Nigerian nationals in Johannesburg and Pretoria had strained relations between Africa’s top two economies. (The violent attacks also affected those from other African countries, including Zimbabwe.) In September, mobs armed with makeshift weapons […]

There is no doubt that young people in South Africa face a myriad of problems: high unemployment, poor educational outcomes, various forms of poverty, and less than ideal mental and physical health, including high rates of HIV. Young people are also often characterised as being politically apathetic, lazy, and engaged in general unrest. Young South […]

In Sunday’s special 90-minute extended broadcast Carte Blanche revisits several stories of corruption and dodgy deals from the last year to find out if revealing their truth has brought any change, and if not, why not? Interspersed between fresh investigations and gritty confrontations, South Africa’s popular current affairs show includes several follow-up inserts this week. […]