The South African government says it is working tirelessly to deal with the danger of fake news in the fight against COVID-19 and the vaccination plan. Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, believes that while social media is beneficial for communicating, it can be easily hijacked to spread false claims about inoculation. […]

As most South Africans know, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa published a number of name changes for towns, cities and airports in the Eastern Cape, in the Government Gazette, on Tuesday. Today the department released an official statement about the name changes. “The transformation of the naming landscape is a critical […]

South Africa kick-started its first phase of the vaccination rollout programme using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine a week ago Wednesday. Here the Health Department answers some of the burning questions about who will get it first; why it is a good choice for the country; why pregnant woman cannot get the shot and how […]

Silwerskerm Best Actress winner Lea Vivier (Wonderlus, The Day We Didn’t Meet) is the lead in the new Showmax Original DAM, a small-town psychological thriller from four-time SAFTA winner Alex Yazbek that’s now streaming.  In DAM, Lea stars as Yola Fischer, who returns from Chile to a small town in the Eastern Cape to bury […]

The drug whoonga has plagued South African communities for at least a decade, yet only gained significant public attention when it appeared more visibly in the inner-city and surrounding suburbs of Durban, the major city in the country’s KwaZulu-Natal province. Also known as nyaope, whoonga is a street concoction of B-grade heroin, rat-poison (strychnine) and […]

Everything is falling apart in Kannaland: water supplies, sewage, rubbish collection. Even the Ladismith city hall is in a mess in this Little Karoo municipality marked by strange political alliances and in-fighting. The municipality includes Ladismith, Zoar, Calitzdorp, and Van Wyksdorp. A brief trip by GroundUp to Ladismith and Zoar revealed serious municipal service failures, […]

If you’re missing SA, here’s a behind-the-scenes weekend at Manyoni Private Game Reserve… packed with exquisite panoramic and aerial views of the reserve in the heart of Zululand, South Africa. Filmmaker Anthony George Kirkwood gives viewers a glimpse of Etienne Gerber’s life as the reserve’s Head of Law Enforcement, running the anti-poaching unit. It’s a […]

South Africa’s low-cost airline kulula.com today announced that it will restart its operations at Lanseria International Airport from 1 April 2021, servicing its Durban and Cape Town routes. Similar to the re-introduction of its other routes, kulula.com will commence with a limited schedule, adding additional frequencies over the next couple of months. Customers are now […]

British Airways (operated by Comair) has announced the reopening of bookings for daily regional flights between Johannesburg, South Africa, and Harare, Zimbabwe, with one-way fares starting from R995, including taxes and surcharges. Bookings for the regional route are open from today and will start operating on 28 March 2021. Desmond O’Connor, Executive Head of Revenue […]

The world needs a laugh right now, and Netflix has selected South Africa’s Loyiso Gola to deliver just that. The sharp-witted comedian is back with his sharp wit and critically acclaimed comedy hour, Unlearning, which will debut globally on 23 March 2021. Gola is the first African to have a solo full hour of stand […]

South Africa’s vaccination programme is gaining momentum, with over 15 000 healthcare workers having already received their Johnson & Johnson shot in five days. “South Africa is rapidly moving to protect its highly valued healthcare workers through the Sisonke Early Access Programme,” said the Health Department. According to the latest data, there are 15 388 […]

Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, will announce the results of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in Pretoria on Monday. The matric exams concluded on 15 December 2020 after a strenuous academic year. The release of the matric results have been approved by Umalusi, the Quality Council in General and Further Education and Training. […]

In commemoration of World Pangolin Day today – 20 February 2021 – Investec has announced plans to fund and support the first dedicated pangolin veterinary ward in Africa in partnership with the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital (JWVH). “Pangolins are currently the world’s most trafficked non-human mammal. In 2019, 97 tonnes of scales were trafficked from […]

There is hope for terminally ill patients as Cancer Immunotherapy living trials are being conducted with South African patients. Watch Carte Blanche on Sunday as the current affairs show meets the inspirational team. INSPIRE    The Living Trials – Cancer Immunotherapy Takes Off  For over 150 years, doctors have tried to stimulate the body’s immune […]

Proud South African Walter Jackson, who is currently living in the USA, has posted this video from Arizona with tips on how to braai (or barbecue) like a South African! Like any good South African abroad, he’s stuck to his “nou gaan ons braai” attitude… despite the freezing cold snow that’s currently blanketing parts of […]

Free State Agriculture (FSA) have expressed outrage at the announcement made during the State of the Nation Address Debate, by former Minister of Agriculture Tina Joemat-Pettersson, that MK veterans will receive expropriated farms. “This is nothing more than a repetition of Zimbabwean land policy,” said the FSA, accusing the ANC have hanging out “their Zimbabwe […]

KLM South Africa has announced that with effect from 23 February 2021 the following passengers will be accepted on flights from South Africa to Amsterdam, regardless of their final destination:  Dutch nationals, Schengen State and other EU residents, Dutch Antilles residents, Medical staff, Seafarers and Airline crew. There is no change to the flights that are currently […]

In June last year, GroundUp wrote about pensioner Amos Khumalo, who used his state pension to build a bridge so that his wife could safely cross a fast flowing stream to Bara taxi rank from Elias Motsoaledi informal settlement in Soweto. A bridge built by a pensioner in a Soweto informal settlement has washed away. PPC cement […]

Fatalities in South Africa continue to rise with 230 more people dying from COVID-19 on Thursday, according to the SA Health Department. Of the recent fatalities, 122 occurred in Limpopo, 27 in KwaZulu-Natal, 24 from the Eastern Cape, 21 from Gauteng, 19 from the Western Cape and 10 from Mpumalanga. Only Free State recorded single-digit […]

The South African Police Service (SAPS) this week seized unregistered medicines – suspected to be Ivermectin – worth a market value of R126 million at the OR Tambo International Airport. The unregistered medicines which are believed to be Ivermectin were mainly found to be in tablet form. The discovery of the tablets was made by […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has revealed that the group of “supposed” MK vets, operating under the banner of Tlhapi Zizi (Pty) Ltd, who have been controversially allocated Ivan Cloete’s farm, are ANC-connected individuals and people who already own farms. “This raises very serious questions on the fairness and transparency of the process that was used […]

Free State Health MEC Montseng Tsiu on Wednesday received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The buoyant Tsiu, who is a professional nurse, took the vaccine alongside Dr David Motau, who is the Head of the Department of Health in the Free State. “MEC Tsiu and HOD, Dr Motau, felt the need to take the […]

The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has commended the speedy arrest of Dimakatso Ratselane’s husband in connection with the brutal attack on the Lesedi FM presenter. Ratselane was allegedly attacked, stabbed multiple times and left for dead by her husband on 11 February in the Free State. Preliminary investigations showed that Ratselane’s husband was the […]

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, a leading global cruise company which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, yesterday announced an extension of its current suspension of global cruise voyages as the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic. The suspension now includes all voyages on Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania […]

Afriski was hit by its most brutal flood ever, with 60mm of rainfall measured in 30 minutes… which is equivalent to one-tenth of Johannesburg’s annual rainfall in half-an-hour. This is the first time that flooding has occurred at the Lesotho resort since it opened its doors in 2000. The damage to internal roads, infrastructure and […]