South African expats around the world showed how deep their passion for South Africa is by braving inclement weather (including Storm Hannah in the UK), enduring long overnight treks and some spending a fortune they can barely afford… to make their way to one of the 121 foreign missions to cast their vote in the […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has (finally) ended the tenure in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of advocates Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi, as recommended by the Mokgoro Enquiry into the fitness of the two officials to hold office. The President took this action on Thursday, 25 April 2019 after studying the findings and recommendations of the […]

South African expats will tomorrow head to the country’s high commissions, embassies and consulates-general around the world to cast their votes in the national and provincial elections. The date, 27 April, coincides with exactly 25 years to the day South Africans first voted in the first democratic elections in 1994. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), […]

Tanzania on Tuesday denied blocking the publication of a critical International Monetary Fund report that accuses President John Magufuli’s government of undermining economic growth with “unpredictable and interventionist” policies. In the leaked report, seen by Reuters last week and which the IMF said was not made public after Tanzanian authorities did not consent to its […]

The Ramaphosa Village graveyard in Patensie, Eastern Cape, is in a sad state. GroundUp found pigs rooting in the graveyard, headstones knocked over, and graves vandalised. Villagers use the unfenced property as a shortcut. A number of shacks have also gone up on the very edge of the cemetery. A legal dispute lodged by a […]

Poor people in South Africa often feel that the only way they can be heard is to protest. The past few days have shown that not even this gets them a hearing. Protests in the townships and shack settlements where most poor people live in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Cape Town are in the news. These […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s push to reduce rural poverty and quell growing anger over unequal access to property faces further delays after a member of an advisory panel on the issue on Friday rejected key aspects of the plan. Land ownership is a controversial and emotive issue in South Africa where racial […]

The year 2019 marks South Africa’s silver jubilee and, as the young democracy marks this milestone, the Department of International Relations (DIRCO) has taken stock of the country’s foreign policy. To assess the country’s foreign policy, the department appointed an 11 member review panel, chaired by former Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad, a year ago. […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa faces escalating unrest if the governing African National Congress (ANC) party retains power in next month’s election and fails to introduce major reforms, Mmusi Maimane – leader of the country’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) – said on Thursday. In the most hotly contested election since the end of […]

The Electoral Commission has agreed to extend voting hours at some foreign missions on 27 April to accommodate Jewish voters celebrating the Sabbath. “The decision to extend voting hours at these missions followed a request from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) to accommodate Jewish voters who will be celebrating the Sabbath on […]

With little faith in their government, Zimbabweans took the rescue effort into their own hands after Cyclone Idai hit the Chimanimani region. Steve Kretzmann reports… The first rains in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai fell on Chimanimani on 12 April, once again isolating the town nearly a month after floods and mudslides left at least […]

The ruling ANC party has congratulated South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and record-breaking athlete Caster Semenya for being named amongst TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019. The ANC said: “We are a proud nation.” The annual prestigious list, published by the international magazine, includes TIME’s “most influential pioneers, leaders, titans, artists and icons […]

Brand South Africa has announced the appointment of Thulisile Manzini as the new Acting Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect. Manzini is tasked with marketing a positive brand image for South Africa domestically and internationally. Her appointment comes amidst a number of organisational challenges, amongst which is the suspension of Kingsley Makhubela as CEO, who […]

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) latest election advert, which was first screened on Sunday night, has become their fasted viewed content ever… with over 50,000 views on social media in less than 12 hours. Some said they thought it was a Nando’s ad. “For a moment there, I thought I was watching a Nandos advert.?” said […]

Johanna Ditsela lives in Alexandra within sight of the gleaming skyscrapers of South Africa’s main financial district, Sandton, but has existed in squalor for 30 years. Unemployed and in her 50s, she picks her way along a stream full of sewage, dead rats and empty beer bottles to reach the cramped concrete and corrugated iron […]

Pope Francis, in a dramatic gesture after an unprecedented retreat at the Vatican, knelt to kiss the feet of South Sudan’s previously warring leaders on Thursday as he urged them to not return to a civil war. Dropping to his knees, he appealed to the men – President Salva Kiir, his former deputy turned rebel […]

The latest research into the voting preferences of South Africans finds that trust in the country’s president is the single most important predictor of the potential party choices at the ballot. If voting behaviour follows suit this could be the key to understanding the success of the African National Congress (ANC) on election day, May […]

A Johannesburg Fire Department paramedic, Kim Williams, has penned a letter to all South Africa’s politicians with a plea to stop the blame game. Kim, who works mostly in the townships and squatter camps, told SAPeople she felt compelled to write this letter because she feels passionately for the communities she serves and the way […]

The Red Ants have demolished the first structures of a new land occupation near the N2 close to Reddam House school. On Monday, GroundUp reported that people had started marking out plots. On Tuesday evening, the first shacks were built. On Wednesday morning at about 8am, the Red Ants arrived with armed security to demolish seven […]

Violent protestors are blocking the N2 between Somerset West and Cape Town, as they carry out a “land grab” on a private piece of property, opposite a school in the area. As reported by SAPeople, the illegal land invasion began last Tuesday when people began knocking posts into the land to stake their claim on […]

Barney Mthombothi, former editor of the Financial Mail in South Africa, tweeted on Wednesday: “We’re waking up to a different country this morning. Something awful happened last night. Prompt and decisive action, not words, is required. In a word, leadership #GangsterState.” What happened is that a group of protesters, many wearing ANC gear, disrupted a […]

South African YouTuber Lasizwe (Dambuza) points out the differences between the EFF, DA and ANC (or FFE, DNA and NAC)… For the few who don’t possess good old fashioned South African humour, Lasizwe stresses: “This is a PARODY!” He also says he is not affiliated to any political party. WATCH The Difference Between the ANC, […]

Parents of children at a school in the Western Cape, South Africa, have been shocked to discover that an illegal land grab is apparently taking place across the road from their children’s school. The land grab is happening on the N2, in Somerset West, next to Gordon’s Bay. A mother, whose son is a learner […]

Newspaper reports in South Africa over the weekend claim that there is evidence that former President Jacob Zuma has been hiding millions of missing dollars -belonging to the late Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi – at his residence at Nkandla; and that he has now moved the money to the Kingdom of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland). Reports […]

A South African court has ruled that Mozambique’s former finance minister Manuel Chang can be extradited to the United States, where he is wanted on charges related to a $2 billion debt scandal, one of Chang’s lawyers said on Monday. The ruling will effectively serve as a recommendation for South Africa’s justice minister, who has […]