We were making progress until 2011. So what happened? Uyinene Mrwetyana’s murder set off a wave of protests across the country. The release of the latest crime statistics confirmed perceptions: South Africa is becoming more violent; the number of murders has increased every year since 2012. When it comes to crime stats, murder is a […]

The South African Government has prioritised border control and security to deter illegal immigration, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. “We proceed from the principle, as does every other sovereign state that all who live in South Africa must be legally permitted to do so. Police and immigration officials who take bribes in return for making cases […]

A team of Special Envoys has been dispatched by President Cyril Ramaphosa to several African countries to deliver a message of reassurance in light of the recent attacks on foreign nationals. “The Special Envoys will deliver a message from President Ramaphosa regarding the incidents of violence that recently erupted in some parts of South Africa […]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was booed by the crowd gathered today for the funeral of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. The Master of Ceremony was forced to intervene to appeal to the crowd to give Ramaphosa a chance to speak. Their reaction follows the wave of deadly riots and xenophobic attacks in South Africa […]

Mobs have attacked foreign-owned businesses on the streets of at least three South African cities in recent days. This has caused outrage across Africa. There have even been retaliatory attacks. The South African government, under pressure to protect her large international migrant community, quickly defused the attacks. Such attacks are not new. For more than […]

Economic Freedom Fighter Julius Malema’s words on xenophobic attacks and South African men has touched a nerve around the country… and with expats around the world, including South African comedian Trevor Noah. Noah posted the video with a tweet saying: “I don’t always agree with Julius Malema but this statement on Xenophobic attacks in SA […]

South Africans are fighting back against gender based violence (GBV) and President Ramaphosa is promising a life sentence, no bail or parole for those who murder and/or rape women. The Carte Blanche team investigates this and more on Sunday 8 Sept. (and available for South Africans abroad in most countries to stream from Tuesday 10 […]

“Violence against women has become more than a national crisis. It is a crime against our common humanity.” These are the words of President Cyril Ramaphosa as he addressed the nation on Thursday evening through a national broadcast on radio and television on matters of public and gender-based violence (GBV) that have gripped the country. […]

The South African embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, remains temporarily closed after threats led to fears for staff safety, International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor told Reuters. The threats came after attacks this week on foreign-owned businesses in South Afria caused a diplomatic spat. She said South Africa was in constant contact with Nigerian authorities to try […]

A book whose author has refused a R600 000 000 bribe is a book that comes highly recommended. But be warned. The book, After Dawn: Hope after State Capture, is devoid of all autobiography, except one page mentioning Mcebisi Jonas’s feeling of loss when being offered that bribe. The book contains no biographical details. They […]

CAPE TOWN – South African business leaders on Wednesday urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to push through reforms faster to lift the economy and curb investment outflows, as executives and policymakers gathered for a continental economic summit. Frustration is building in South Africa. Ramaphosa has promised sweeping reforms, but growth remains below 1% a year and […]

JOHANNESBURG – The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has called off the country’s friendly soccer international against South Africa in Lusaka on Saturday after riots in Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria left at least five people dead. South African police arrested more than 80 people and confirmed the five deaths as violence intensified on Tuesday, […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will today participate in a Japan-South Africa Business Forum at the Nissan Global Headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. This engagement by the President forms part of his working visit to Japan, where he arrived on Tuesday to participate in the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development. President Ramaphosa will use the business […]

Conspiracy theories have arisen in South Africa following the reported death of Bosasa boss Gavin Watson in what appeared to be a horrific car accident early on Monday morning, near Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Some question the ‘suspicious’ nature of the accident – the apparent speed the vehicle was travelling in around a […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africans could start withholding their tax payments due to years of corruption which might force the country to seek an international bailout, the chief of the revenue service said on Monday. South Africa has seen revenue collection fall sharply since 2015 due to weak economic growth and maladministration, leading President Cyril Ramaphosa […]

South Africa’s proposed switch to universal health coverage – known as the National Health Insurance (NHI) program – will be managed in a fiscally responsible way, a senior presidential aide told Reuters, forecasting the landmark reform would cost the state $2.2 billion per year by 2025/26. Meanwhile President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed in the National Assembly […]

The South African Finance Ministry has warned the public against a scam doing the rounds, in which claims are made that Deputy Minister David Masondo will offer people funding for their business. The scammers are on various platforms purporting to be the Deputy Minister. “The Deputy Minister of Finance would like to alert the public […]

CAPE TOWN – South Africa should discuss using worker pension funds to finance development and infrastructure projects, a proposal that has the backing of the country’s largest labour federation, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday. In its 2019 poll manifesto ahead of the May general election, the African National Congress (ANC) mentioned investigating prescribed assets […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday afternoon answer questions in Parliament for the first time since his election as President in May 2019. The President’s office said he will brief the National Assembly on government’s efforts to deal with the challenge of slow economic growth and high unemployment. The President is constitutionally mandated to periodically […]

A South Africa court on Thursday awarded a second punitive costs order against the country’s top anti-corruption official, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, after finding an investigation conducted by her office showed “gross negligence”. Pretoria High Court Judge Ronel Tolmay ordered the Public Protector’s office to pay 85% of the costs of the Democratic Alliance and the Council for […]

In the book of Esther, the Bible tells a story from the 5th century BCE, when the Jews were in exile in Persia. The Persian king, Ahasuerus, had installed a Jewish woman, Esther, as his queen at the time that one of the king’s ministers started a genocidal programme against the Jews. Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, […]

The Presidency has confirmed that it is aware that confidential banking information of the contributors to and recipients from the CR17 campaign has been leaked to the media. In a statement released on Saturday evening, the Presidency said the information supposedly held only by the Public Protector, includes bank statements of third parties, which record […]

JOHANNESBURG – Lawyers for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have asked a court to seal financial records held by the Public Protector, the country’s corruption watchdog, because they were obtained unlawfully, online news site Times Live reported on Friday. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said in July that Ramaphosa had “deliberately misled” parliament about a 500,000 […]

South Africa published its draft National Health Insurance (NHI) bill on Thursday, with one senior official estimating universal healthcare for millions of poorer citizens would cost about 256 billion rand ($16.89 billion) to implement by 2022. The bill creating an NHI Fund paves the way for a comprehensive overhaul of South Africa‘s health system that would be one of […]

The two men convicted of murder in the Coligny sunflower case, Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte, have been granted special leave to appeal directly to the Court of Appeals in Bloemfontein. UPDATE 27 Nov 2020: Coligny 2, Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte acquitted on all charges. The father of one of the men broke the […]