South Africa’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has gazetted an extension of the National State of Disaster on COVID-19 until 15 November 2021. The Ministry said the decision was taken following consultations with relevant stakeholders and Cabinet approval. “The extension takes into account the need to continue observing all […]

Eskom suspended loadshedding on Thursday morning, following six days of rolling blackouts throughout South Africa. The State-owned power utility said it has used the past six days to repair generating units and conduct its maintenance programme. “While Eskom teams have returned some generation units to service… we have unfortunately suffered further breakdowns during the period. […]

Over 10 million adults in South Africa have been fully vaccinated, as of Monday. This comes after 139 899 either received the one dose of the Johnson & Johnson or two-dose Pfizer vaccine. This means there are now 10 059 118 eligible citizens who are fully jabbed, which translates to 25.28% of the country’s adult […]

Takesure Ranjisi worked as a waiter in Gqeberha for three years before he was retrenched in the 2020 lockdown, without any notice and with no payout, he says. He gave up trying to get Unemployment Insurance Fund money as his former employer did not cooperate. Ranjisi decided to set up his own pizza takeaway – […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared November 1 as a public holiday to give all those going to cast their ballots an opportunity to do so. The date is the day of Local Government Elections, where eligible voters will cast their vote for councillors who will represent them at local level. “The President calls on all […]

Over the last couple of decades, factors influencing the success of first-year university students have been comprehensively studied and researched. These studies focused on a wide range of factors including personal characteristics, school performance specifically Grade 12 (Matric) entry points and school subject choices. The research also considered study characteristics like lecture attendance, tutorial attendance […]

Matt Sates continued his storming form at the second leg of the FINA World Cup series in Budapest, Hungary, over the weekend. His haul of five gold medals guided the South African team to third place on the medal table behind the USA and Australia. The Pietermaritzburg teenager claimed another clean sweep of the individual […]

You can watch Carte Blanche on Sunday 10 October in South Africa on DStv Now or stream it overseas in most countries from Tuesday 12 October if you live abroad (in most countries). Here are this week’s must-watch topics: The Mysterious Case of Dead African Penguins Penguins are an endangered species spending most of their […]

Over 260,000 more people have died in South Africa since May 2020 than expected. This is according to researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC), who estimate that 85 to 95% of these “excess” deaths are directly from Covid. This is nearly three times as high as the official Covid death toll published by the […]

Wolfgat restaurant in the small fishing village of Paternoster – a two-hour drive from Cape Town – has been named as the 50th Best Restaurant in the World! The fabulous west coast eatery, enjoyed by none other than South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, has also been named as Africa’s Best Restaurant in the latest awards […]

Voting for the World Travel Awards closes on 24 October and Cape Town is once again up for a host of awards, including the World’s Leading Festival & Event Destination 2021, a title it currently holds. To make sure that the City of Cape Town retains this prestigious accolade – which helps boost the local tourism […]

Hank Biasatti was the first athlete born outside of the US to play in the NBA, way back in 1946. Born in Italy and raised in Canada, Biasatti spent a season with the then Toronto Huskies playing six games before being drafted by the Celtics prior to the 1947 season. He played a grand total […]

South Africa’s foreign affairs department – DIRCO – has terminated the employment of its Chief Financial Officer, Caiphys Ramashau, who was embroiled in the controversial (and hugely wasteful) R118-million New York Pilot project. The axing comes at the end of a disciplinary case which had been instituted against Ramashau. The ex-CFO faced charges related to […]

South Africa has now crossed the 18 million mark for administered COVID-19 vaccine doses. This comes after the government distributed 184 324 in the past 24 hours. According to the Department of Health, this means the country has now given 18 073 784 vaccines since its rollout programme. Meanwhile, as of Monday, the number of fully vaccinated […]

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, has announced a marginal decrease in the prices of petrol, while the price of diesel is expected to increase. Motorists are expected to pay four cents less per litre for 93 octane petrol, one cent less for 95 octane petrol per litre and at least 22 cents more […]

Why would more than 600 journalists from 117 countries collaborate on a global investigation of jaw-dropping scope? Find out tonight as Carte Blanche previews what is set to be the largest journalistic collaboration in the world to date – the Pandora Papers! With millions of leaked documents, Carte Blanche joins a global investigation into the […]

Meet Dolly, the sheep with a prosthetic leg in South Africa, and her friends. According to a Fallen Angels Farm co-ordinator Karen Hoffman, her foot was caught in a snare and part of her leg had to be amputated. Karen says Dolly’s got “more friends than any sheep I know”… WATCH Dolly the sheep’s new […]

Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has extended the validity period of legally issued visas or asylum permits, which expired during the lockdown period, to 31 December 2021. In a statement on Thursday, Home Affairs announced that the Minister has also approved the resumption of Identity Document (ID) and passport applications. Directions communicating these amendments, […]

Poker is a very popular hobby in South Africa. Early Dutch settlers banned all games of chance in 1673, and in 1965 further legislation was passed further restricting gambling, though exempting horse racing. It was not until 1996 that gambling became legal, and regulated, in the most developed country in Africa. Since then, resort-style casinos […]

World Rugby Sevens has on Tuesday named four South Africans in its Dream Team for the Canada Sevens in Edmonton. This comes after the Blitzboks’ World Series glory in Canada. The South Africans, who make up over half the dream team, are: JC Pretorius, Selvyn Davids, Siviwe Soyizwapi and Muller du Plessis. World Rugby Sevens […]

The United Kingdom says it will consider Covid-related data provided by the South African government’s scientists in its next review of the dreaded Red List of countries, which will be updated within 14 days. According to the Health Department, SA government experts had a meeting with their UK counterparts over the red list of what […]

International World Rabies Day is on the 28th of September and the Mdzananda Animal Clinic, Khayelitsha, aims to vaccinate 1000 dogs in one day. This is after the recent identification of rabies-infected dogs in the Khayelitsha area, the first since 1994 in the Western Cape. What is Rabies? Rabies is a deadly virus that can […]

Spring has arrived and South Africans are enjoying another long weekend with this year’s Heritage Day falling on Friday, 24 September. Here are some brilliant ideas on how to enjoy South Africa and get rejuvenated to help you make it through to the end of the year. The question is, where is a great place […]

This Sunday’s Carte Blanche broadcast has something for everyone. You can watch the show on Sunday 26 September in South Africa on DStv Now or stream it overseas on Showmax International in most countries from Tues 28  September if you’re abroad. CELEBRATION: South Africa’s Paralympic Heroes When you meet Ntando Mahlangu, a young unassuming man […]

Los Angeles-based South African expat Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong has announced the launch of an ambitious initiative to build the capacity for advanced health care in Africa. It’s the ultimate gift to the land he still loves (like many expats, ‘Jerusalema’ made him homesick!). It is an incredible gesture… and as President Cyril Ramaphosa said at […]