Traders who missed the peak tourist season say that despite the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night that beaches are now open once again, the damage has been done. Thembisile Ngidi, who has plied her wares on Durban beachfront for 15 years, says the busiest days of the year are in December, and this season they […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation at 20h00 today, Monday 1 February 2021, on developments in relation to the country’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Watch below. Today’s address follows meetings in recent days of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC) and Cabinet. Several South Africans are preparing to […]

Disinformation, bad science and fake news have spiked to unprecedented levels as the globe has been battered by COVID-19 for over a year. This week Carte Blanche takes some of South Africans’ most frequently asked COVID-19 questions to some of the country’s top scientists. You can watch the show on Sunday 31 January in South […]

Acting KwaZulu-Natal Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Kwazi Mshengu has urged motorists to be extra vigilant on the roads as heavy rains continue to batter parts of the province. The rains are causing extensive damage to bridges and other transport infrastructure. Mshengu said that the department is currently quantifying the extent of the damage […]

The Department of Health has discouraged the use of Ivermectin vaccine for management of COVID-19, until the study on its efficacy and safety is concluded. In a statement on Thursday, department spokesperson Popo Maja said that the National Essential Medicines List Committee (NEMLC) COVID-19 Sub-Committee has carefully considered all available evidence on the treatment or […]

COVID-19 has now killed more than 43 000 people in South Africa after 555 more patients succumbed to the respiratory disease on Thursday. According to the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, 249 fatalities were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal, 150 in the Eastern Cape, 70 in Gauteng, 45 in the Western Cape, 21 in Mpumalanga and 10 in […]

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has confirmed the long-awaited news that the first consignment of one million COVID-19 vaccines is expected to land on South African shores on Monday. The first batch is scheduled to leave India on Sunday, 31 January, and arrive at OR Tambo International Airport on 1 February 2021. The Minister broke […]

From now until 31 March 2021, customers who take up the Showmax 3 for 1 deal will pay for a one-month subscription and receive an additional two months. The offer is available across all packages including Showmax, Showmax Mobile, Showmax Pro and Showmax Pro Mobile. Showmax Pro subscribers have access to everything on Showmax as […]

“Emotionally, we are not coping. Seeing death at this rate every day is not normal,” says Mosima Doreen Mabeba, a nurse working in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a provincial hospital in Limpopo. Many health professionals are battling to cope emotionally with the surge in Covid-19 cases. Some feel they are not getting adequate […]

Qatar Airways has signed an interline agreement with Fly Mango, further expanding its presence in South Africa as the largest international carrier to operate from the region, it has announced. The agreement provides Qatar Airways’ passengers with eight additional connections via Johannesburg and Cape Town; and will see Qatar Airways operating 26 weekly flights from […]

Talented South African artist – Fourie Ackermann – has used Lockdown to brighten up the rustic village of Friemersheim… and he’s done such a fantastic job, with beautiful large wildlife murals bringing the walls to life, that tourists on the Garden Route are now visiting simply to view his incredible artwork. Fourie told SAPeople that […]

There has been an incredibly special sighting of a female Cheetah with three new cubs in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP). The sighting  of the cubs, believed to be around two-and-a-half months old, was made recently by The Wildlife ACT monitoring team on the iMfolozi section of the Park. This female Cheetah, known as CF23 (Cheetah Female […]

Over 4 000 Temporary Disability Grant reapplications have been assessed in KwaZulu-Natal, since the process commenced this year. The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) in KwaZulu-Natal said more beneficiaries are heeding the call to visit the offices to reapply for Temporary Disability and Care Dependency Grants in the province. The reapplication process, which commenced […]

I moved overseas to Germany in 2014, but like approximately 820,000 other SA ex-pats, my family still live in South Africa writes Anelia Heese. In order to stay in touch, we had to become experts in the nuances of digital communication. On a video call in my kitchen, I will ask my tannie how to […]

A doctor in the Eastern Cape has developed a relatively simple device that could save the lives of many! The local doctor from Frere Provincial Hospital will be featured on Carte Blanche this Sunday. Presenter Derek Watts says: “While South Africa focuses primarily on the vaccine rollout, another vital element – oxygen – is somewhat […]

I wrote this on my personal Facebook page a few days ago, and from the responses realised that other South African ex-pats might be also affected by, or experiencing, this dynamic and so thought to share it writes Sandy Jonker Geyer. Last Tuesday COVID-19 took a much-loved member of our family. Buyiswa Zibi, a beautiful […]

The Cape High Court in South Africa has set four provisional liquidators the task of tracking down assets that can still be found after the mammoth Mirror Trading International (MTI) shut down in December. The shut down came about after numerous investors were unable to withdraw their money. Smoke and Mirror Trading International (MTI) Marketed […]

Armed men have killed at least six rangers and wounded several others in an ambush in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Virunga national park. This park is a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas. Staff working in the park have often come under attack. Judith Verweijen and Esther Marijnen – experts on armed mobilisation and […]

The African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) has confirmed the acquisition of provisional 270 million vaccine doses for African countries, with at least 50 million being available for the crucial period of April to June 2021. The 10-member AVATT, which was established by African Union Chair, President Cyril Ramaphosa in August, on Thursday confirmed this […]

The Department of Basic Education has made the decision to delay the opening of schools by two weeks, announced Dr Reginah Mhaule, Deputy Minister of Basic Education, in a media briefing on 15 January. This decision includes both public and private schools, including those private schools that have already opened. School management teams (SMT’s) will […]

Minister of Small Business Development, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says she is “appalled” at the “misinformation peddled” by the Democratic Alliance (DA) about the expenditure of the small business COVID-19 relief funds. The DA recently issued a statement claiming the Department of Small Business Development has only allocated 8% of the funds meant as COVID-19 relief for […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has made four senior appointments in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). “These appointments are essential for the efficient functioning and rebuilding of the NPA as part of the fight against serious crime, including sexual and gender-based crimes and corruption, and as a contribution to deepening the capability of the state,” the Presidency […]

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, says she is greatly saddened to learn about Professor Mohammad Karaan’s passing. Karaan was a former Dean of the Faculty of AgriSciences at Stellenbosch University (SU) and a champion of agriculture and rural development. The department has described the Professor as a giant in South Africa’s […]

A study published in the journal Nature by Serina Chang and her colleagues in November 2020 used American cell phone data to identify the places where people are most likely to contract SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Using anonymised cell phone application location data from the SafeGraph Covid-19 Data Consortium, mobility data from Google and infection data from The New York […]

COVID-19 is showing no signs of slowing down in South Africa, with the death toll now exceeding 35 000.   The Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, reported a new record for most COVID-19 deaths in a single day since the outbreak. This after 806 people lost their lives to the respiratory disease on Wednesday. According to the […]