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 […]

The Gauteng Provincial Government is gearing up for the worst-case scenario as the second wave of COVID-19 infections rears its ugly head in the province. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Premier David Makhura said Gauteng is now the second most affected province in the country in terms of active Coronavirus cases after KwaZulu-Natal. The province […]

The South African government has expressed sadness at the passing of Dolly Mokgatle, the Executive Director and co-founder of Peotona Group Holdings. An established business leader, Mokgatle held various leadership positions within several of South Africa’s state-owned enterprises and the private sector. She was recognised for her notable contributions towards the empowerment of women. “This […]

Tonight on Carte Blanche, presenter Macfarlane Moleli asks: “As we face a second wave, and confirmed COVID-19 infections and deaths are rising, government finds itself in a race to roll out a vaccine. But will government be able to provide the vaccine to enough people before 2021 comes to a close?” You can watch the […]

Healthcare workers will be first in line for inoculation after South Africa secured 1.5 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine which will be rolled out this month. According to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, the country will receive one million doses of the vaccine in January, while the rest of the batch will arrive […]

With many businesses expected to reopen on Monday following the festive season break, the Department of Employment and Labour has called for the observation of health and safety measures that will not expose employees to COVID-19. In a statement, the department’s Director-General (DG), Thobile Lamati, said it is crucial that industries, businesses and entities, both […]

South Africa has recorded over 20 000 new COVID-19 cases two days in a row, the latest statistics reveal. The total number of cases now stand at 1 170 590 after 20 999 people were confirmed to have contracted  Coronavirus on Thursday, which is  836 fewer infections compared to the previous day. “Regrettably, we report 441 new […]

Every evening the Minister of Health publishes a statement with the confirmed Covid-19 infections and deaths over the previous 24 hours. Wednesday 6 January has the worst figures yet: 844 deaths and 21,832 new cases. 452 of those deaths occurred in the Eastern Cape and 149 in the Western Cape. The official Covid-19 death toll […]

The City of Cape Town has shared some helpful electricity-saving measures for South Africans to try at home as their costs increases with more family members than usual likely to be home, due to the resurgence of COVID-19. With these tips, “households can start saving up to 15% on their electricity bill. It’s possible for […]

South Africa’s COVID-19 death toll has topped 30 000 after 434 people sadly succumbed to the respiratory disease in the last 24 hours. According to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, this brings the cumulative number of COVID-19 related deaths to 30 011 since the outbreak. Of the latest fatalities, 133 were recorded in the Eastern Cape, […]

A critically endangered African White-Backed vulture was tragically found poisoned, with the possibility of more vulture carcasses removed from the site in Zululand over the festive season. This comes exactly one year after an incident in the same area which later resulted in the rescue and rehabilitation of four African White-Backed vultures and one Lappet-Faced […]

Durban Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda is currently isolating at home and remains in good health after testing positive for COVID-19. According to a statement from his office, Kaunda has since urged eThekwini residents to continue to be vigilant and avoid moving around unnecessarily, or organising super-spreader events. Keep funerals below 50 and go home straight afterwards […]

I heard someone say recently: “this variant is really catchy”. My family can bear testimony to this. We have just had a markedly quiet Christmas and new year, all of us holed up with positive Covid-19 results. This came as an unwelcome surprise – no doubt as it has to the more than one million […]

South African superstar Master KG, the man behind the global hit “Jerusalema“, recently met up with the award-winning Ghetto Kids in Jinja, Uganda. The Ghetto Kids have become famous worldwide with millions watching their viral videos. The meeting was arranged by Uganda’s songstress Sheebah who started her career as a dancer. Interestingly, Master KG revealed: […]

Three suspects are expected to appear before the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court after they were caught smuggling 73.5 kg of gold at OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) in their hand luggage. The gold bars were detected by a security scanner which identified irregular images. A multi-disciplinary team was alerted by the security officials, and the […]

The price of petrol in South Africa is set to increase by between 40 and 43 cents a litre this week. In a statement on Monday, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) said the price of 93 (ULP and LRP) will go up by 43 cents, while that of 95 (ULP and LRP) […]

This week Carte Blanche investigates a shipping provider who went into liquidation in 2020 and COVID-19 got the blame… while many emigrating South Africans suffered. Shipping Swindle It’s estimated that more than 20,000 South Africans emigrate every year. Finding a reliable service to courier a life’s worth of possessions and valuables is one of the […]

Gauteng’s provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has met with representatives of the cash-in-transit (CIT) industry following a spike in the number of CIT incidents in the province. Mawela, together with his Deputy responsible for Policing, Major General Tommy Mthombeni and the Provincial Head of the Directorate for […]

Enjoying the festive season, these monkeys in Umdloti, just north of Durban, appeared to be having some quality family time when Andrea Ben captured these cute photos of them “monkeying around” yesterday. Vervet monkeys are regular visitors to many gardens along the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) coast, and residents have been encouraged by Monkey Helpline to plant […]