An investigative directorate – tasked specifically with probing corruption and associated offences – is on the cards for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). President Cyril Ramaphosa made this announcement during his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) and the last of the fifth administration on Thursday evening. The President said the idea of the […]

Student leaders call off protests. Activities at Wits University were brought to a halt as student protests entered a fourth day on Thursday. About 200 students, led by the Wits Student Representative Council (SRC), went door-to-door across campuses, stopping lectures along the way. In its letter of demands sent to Wits management last week, the […]

State capture’s most visible effect is the breakdown of Metrorail. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) offered South Africa much hope. He spoke of plans to grow the economy, create new jobs and improve health-care. Particularly exciting was the mention of reading programmes for young learners, which we hope will make […]

South African President Ramaphosa has finally signed into law a new bill aimed at regulating the funding of political parties. It was approved by Parliament in June 2018. The Political Party Funding Bill, when it eventually becomes law on April 1, will enable South Africans to know who funds their political parties. The new law […]

French Oil and Gas major Total’s South African offshore discovery could contain 1 billion barrels of total resources and is “probably quite big”, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Thursday. Total said it had made a significant gas condensate discovery after drilling its Brulpadda prospects on Block 11B/12B in the Outeniqua Basin. “It is gas […]

CAPE TOWN – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced plans on Thursday to split struggling state power giant Eskom into three separate entities, as he sought to convince investors and voters that he will turn around a struggling economy before an election in May. Ramaphosa is balancing efforts to revive an economy burdened by government […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Thursday night that South Africans will go to the polls for the sixth general elections on May 8. “This is an opportunity for our people to exercise their hard-won right to determine the direction of this country,” the President said in a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, whilst […]

Several dozen employees of South African state power firm Eskom picketed the firm’s headquarters on Wednesday protesting against potential job cuts and a proposal to split up the ailing company. Eskom, which supplies more than 90 per cent of the power in Africa’s most industrialised economy, is struggling with around 420 billion rands ($31 billion) […]

It will be lights, camera, and action this evening as President Cyril Ramaphosa takes to the podium in the National Assembly in Parliament to deliver his second State of the Nation Address (SONA). Considered to be one of the most important events on the Parliamentary calendar, the SONA will see scores of South Africans tune […]

The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) says three security officers have been suspended for an incident in December 2018, where people were reportedly escorted from Clifton 4th Beach in Cape Town. PSIRA on Monday appeared before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs inquiry into the incident in December, where people were allegedly escorted from […]

It was in the late 1980’s that apartheid negotiations reached a sensitive stage. Former President Nelson Mandela had been diagnosed with Tuberculosis and was transferred to a house at Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. Just two years later at the SONA of 1990 the then President F W de Klerk announced that he was to […]

South African police arrested five people – including Angelo Agrizzi, witness at a judicial inquiry into alleged state capture – on charges of corruption and fraud in the awarding of government contracts, a police spokesman said on Wednesday. Agrizzi, a former executive of a private company Bosasa, testified for more than a week on how […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the State of the Nation Address at 19h00 on Thursday 7th February. SONA will be broadcast live on SABC TV and radio channels, DStv channel 408, eNCA and Parliament’s YouTube Channel Capetonians and visitors to the Mother City can look forward to clear skies tomorrow as the red carpet is […]

South Africa says it is actively playing its part to combat transnational organised maritime crime, while remaining committed to combating lawlessness at sea. Ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi, the Deputy Director-General of Global Governance and Continental Agenda at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), on Tuesday addressed a United Nations Security Council debate on transnational […]

The Hawks have arrested seven suspects – including a former correctional services commissioner and Bosasa officials – on allegations of corruption, money laundering and fraud. Wednesday’s high-profile arrests follow a marathon investigation wherein almost R1.6 billion is said to have been misappropriated in the tender processes for the procurement of various services by the Department of […]

South Africa will in the coming days unveil a package of measures to shore up state-owned Eskom’s finances and address structural issues facing the struggling power firm, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday. “In the coming few days we will be announcing a package of measures to stabilise as well as to improve Eskom’s financial, […]

Over 10 000 cattle affected by Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) have been vaccinated to eliminate the spread of the outbreak. This follows confirmed FMD in cattle in the Vhembe District of Limpopo early this year. Updating the media on the status of FMD in Pretoria on Monday, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana said […]

World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director Dr Matshidiso Moeti says thousands of lives can be saved in Africa with proper cancer prevention, early detection, access to proper treatment and care. Moeti made the remarks on Monday as the world commemorates World Cancer Day. This year’s World Cancer Day is observed under the theme “I am […]

Former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang, arrested in South Africa in connection with $2 billion in fraudulent loans, submitted an urgent bail application last week, one of his lawyers told Reuters on Monday. Chang, who has been in custody in South Africa since Dec. 29 and denies wrongdoing, had previously dropped plans to apply for […]

South Africa’s radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) will nationalise all mines by 2023 if elected this year, the party said in its election manifesto launched on Saturday. The party is using an anti-corruption, jobs creation and state control of the economy platform to challenge the governing African National Congress (ANC) in the election expected […]

The 25th Annual Investing in African Mining Indaba, which brings together more than 750 investors and dealmakers, kicks off in Cape Town this morning. The Indaba is the world’s largest gathering of mining’s most influential stakeholders and decision-makers vested in African mining. This year’s theme for the four-day indaba is ‘Championing Africa’s Sustainable Economic Development’. […]

Young South Africans spend on average R938 (US$85) a month looking for work. This astronomical cost includes transport at R558 ($41) and an additional R380 ($28) for internet access, printing, application fees, agent’s fees and even money for bribes. The picture is even more alarming when you consider the unemployment statistics. Over the last decade […]

A nearby community is convinced it is, but test results are inconclusive. Are residents of a Cape Town neighbourhood being poisoned by one of the city’s main waste treatment plants? A Carte Blanche exposé in January said yes. Residents of Sandvlei were shown suffering with sores and tummy infections. Scientists too have warned that the plant is […]

Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is receiving treatment in South Africa, the second time in four months, after falling ill last week, a privately owned newspaper reported on Monday. The health of Chiwenga, 62, is closely followed in Zimbabwe because he is widely seen as the power behind President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the front-runner to […]

South Africa’s struggling state power firm Eskom moved a step closer to narrowing a funding gap for the financial year which ends in March by agreeing to a 15 billion rand ($1.1 billion) loan with a local and international bank on Friday. Eskom is vital to the health of Africa’s most industrialised economy as it […]