JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday challenged in court a ‘Rogue Unit’ report by the Public Protector (SA’s anti-corruption watchdog) that instructed President Cyril Ramaphosa to take unspecified disciplinary action against Gordhan. Gordhan launched an urgent application to set aside the Public Protector’s report, calling it “dishonest” and “reckless”. Last […]

Provincial roads in Middelburg in the Eastern Cape are posing a threat to residents and the economy, according to a DA Councillor with the Inxuba Yethemba municipality, Handri Vorster. Vorster claims that Church Street, in particular, is in such a bad shape that “some motorists are forced to drive on the pavement” resulting in several […]

The independence of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is paramount – providing an important check on government-controlled fiscal policy, SARB Deputy Governor Kuben Naidoo stressed on Tuesday. Naidoo’s comments – made during a public lecture – come following a high-profile row over the role of the bank. The row has seen a division in […]

The Economic Freedom Fighters’ decision to no longer vote with the Democratic Alliance in the cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane threatens the collapse of both. But several journalists and editorials think the EFF has overplayed its hand and the DA will be the one to benefit. In an opinion piece today for News24, editor Adriaan […]

NIAMEY – The leaders of almost all of Africa’s 54 nations have gathered in the capital of Niger this weekend to launch a continental free-trade zone that could take Africa into a new era, creating a $3.4 trillion economic bloc. The massive new commercial bloc, known as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), is […]

South Africans were left a little surprised by a Twitter war – aka Twar – that went down on Friday between none other than Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and Gauteng Premier David Makhura. Following comments made by Makhura regarding e-Tolls (the user-pay system on Gauteng’s freeways), Mboweni lambasted him about long-term returns, the similarity to […]

Pravin Gordhan violated the constitution by setting up a so-called “rogue unit” when he was commissioner of the country’s tax services, SARS, and the unit carried out illegal intelligence operations, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said Friday. “There is further evidence at my disposal of the unauthorised interception of private communications of prominent members of society […]

The South African government has said it learnt with “deep regret” about the tragic loss of life following an airstrike on a migrant detention centre in Tripoli, Libya, that killed at least 44 people, mainly migrants. Over 130 more were left wounded according to the UN (United Nations) mission to Libya. For migrants who are […]

Billions in mining royalties intended to uplift poor communities are potentially being squandered, stolen or diverted due to in-fighting and maladministration of these funds. That’s the conclusion of Mmashudu Masutha and Deborah Mutemwa-Tumbo, authors of Corruption Watch’s Mining Royalties Research Report 2018, which examined communities in Limpopo and North West provinces and found that the payment […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has responded to a notice issued by the Public Protector regarding an investigation into his alleged violations of the Executive Ethics Code. The investigation relates to a payment of R500 000 from Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson to the President’s election campaign for the ANC presidency. At the end of May 2019 the […]

Throughout the world, people who follow politics are fixating on leaders. South Africa follows the trend and so President Cyril Ramaphosa has become an obsession. Ramaphosa, of course, replaced Jacob Zuma, who was associated with patronage politics and “state capture”, handing over public power to (wealthy) private people. Ramaphosa’s presidency was greeted with brief enthusiasm […]

Increased foreign investment in South Africa will be high on the agenda when President Cyril Ramaphosa joins other international leaders for the annual G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, tomorrow and on Saturday. It is the G20’s twentieth anniversary. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Presidency said South Africa would try secure financial and other […]

Twenty-six police officers in South Africa have been killed since the beginning of 2019, and the government has pledged to take action to find the guilty parties and bring them to justice. Nine people have already been given life sentences for these crimes. Addressing a post-Cabinet media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday, Minister in the […]

Daniel Mminele will retire as deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank at the end of the month after 10 years in the job, the Reserve Bank said on Thursday, making him the third member of its policy committee to quit the regulator recently. Mminele’s retirement follows the departure of fellow deputy governor Francois […]

Protests continue to rock parts of South Africa with one fatality reported last night in the Western Cape, and a road dug up in the North West province. ANC member Andiswa Ndevu tragically died in a motor accident on Tuesday night, trying to escape violent protestors. Ndevu, a single parent and member of the ANC […]

Contrary to popular belief, more South Africans are returning home than public perception. When SAPeople published a blog recently from an expat who was moving with her young family back to SA after several years in the UK, there was an outcry. How could she do such a thing? But it turns out – according […]

JOHANNESBURG – Jacob Zuma – who was unseated as South African president last year over corruption allegations – will attend the Zondo judicial inquiry into government corruption that took place during his tenure… even though he believes it is prejudiced against him, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC) party forced him […]

The videos of a soldier called Mabena that have been going viral in South Africa the last few days, have triggered a memory from 1963 in the country’s former president Jacob Zuma. Zuma took to Twitter to share the memory of when he was arrested and interrogated in a police cell in Pretoria. He said: […]

African countries running up debt they won’t be able to pay back – including to China – should not expect to be bailed out by western-sponsored debt relief, the United States’ top Africa diplomat warned. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank began the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in 1996 to help the […]

South Africa’s Reserve Bank will probably cut interest rates next month or in September to boost the country’s economy, a Reuters poll found on Friday. A median forecast from 24 economists, polled this week, suggests the economy will grow 0.6% this year, slower than last year’s 0.8% and weaker than the 1.1% predicted in a […]

How did you feel about #Sona, and how is it possibly not the top story? #ZindziMandela’s comments on Twitter made more impact than #Sona2019.  #Zindzi started a heated discussion surrounding land just before the Presidential event and Twitter rose to her defence while others were furious at her commentary (which included insults like calling white […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand weakened against the dollar in early trade on Friday, as markets digested President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address (SONA) which some analysts said lacked detail on how he plans to fix the ailing economy. At 0640 GMT, the rand traded at 14.3800 per dollar, 0.2% weaker than its […]

We gather here at the start of the 6th Democratic Parliament, 106 years to the day after the Natives Land Act – one of the most devastating acts of dispossession, pain and humiliation – came into force. We recall the words of Sol Plaatje on that tragic event, when he said: “Awakening on Friday morning, […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa urged South Africans on Thursday night to dream of a better South Africa and to each take part and contribute to making the dream a reality… rather than standing on the sidelines and criticising (which is kind of what EFF leader Julius Malema did afterwards, referring to the President’s dreams as nothing […]

In a speech delivered at a time of great economic difficulty, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced seven priorities that he believes will fast track South Africa’s path to prosperity. Delivering his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament on Thursday evening, the President said the time for idle talk was now over – […]