It’s been a tumultuous year filled with uncertainty, social distancing, lockdowns and travel restrictions with South Africans finding ways to escape, travel and connect with the real world. And What We Watched 2020 – this year’s South Africa viewing trends on Netflix – reflects those high and lows. This year, South Africans more than doubled […]

Durban-based Creative Director Anthony George Kirkwood was on his way back from a project on Tuesday when he noticed smoke in the distance and could tell there was a “big problem”. What he was seeing was the massive explosion at Zeta Chemicals in Otto Volek Road in Pinetown, South Africa, that has sadly left 13 […]

Despite a recent slight decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, greenhouse gas emissions continue to accumulate in the atmosphere. They are projected to rise again once the economy recovers. The current pledges by governments across the world to reduce emissions are insufficient to keep global warming within safe levels (that is, below 2°C). Although with […]

Local brewers and mixologists are capitalising on the opportunity which South Africa’s rich plant life presents by developing unique beverages for local and international markets… enhancing sensory experiences for tourists and locals alike. Find out more below including their fabulous recipes for Rooibos Spritz and Table Mountain cocktail! SA’s first black female brew-master creates new […]

An extensive and sobering report, Serial Rape in South Africa, has been published revealing the extent and brutality of the rape crisis in SA. The report, published by Afriforum, contains devastating rape statistics and has used news reports, available data, research performed by various institutions, court cases and other sources. According to the latest annual […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed sadness at the recent death of South Africa’s ambassador to Senegal, Lenin Magigwane Shope. In a statement issued on Saturday, the Presidency said ambassador Shope passed away at his official residence in Dakar, Senegal, earlier last week. President Ramaphosa offered his sincere condolences to Shope’s mother, Ma Gertude Shope, a […]

The South African Department of Health has issued an urgent announcement to all parents and learners who attended Ballito Rage event in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) to get tested for COVID-19 after it was identified as a super-spreader event. Anyone who attended a Ballito Rage event is a ‘contact’ “We confirm that we have now identified a […]

About 70 parents, teachers, learners, and community members gathered at Heathfield High School in Cape Town on Wednesday night to support the principal, who faces disciplinary action after refusing to open the school during the Covid-19 pandemic peak. The principal of Heathfield High School in Cape Town, Wesley Neumann, faces a disciplinary hearing from today. […]

One night in August, in a quiet suburban complex in Port Elizabeth, Selina and Stanton Ingram spent the evening at home together with their children, twelve-year-old Tammy and seventeen-year-old Matthew. Little did they imagine that this would be the last time they would be together as a family… A Poisonous Pesticide Just a few hours […]

The number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa has topped 800 000, after 4 400 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus. This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases to 800 872 since the first case was reported in March this year. Meanwhile, 94 more people succumbed to the respiratory disease which pushes the death toll to […]

Locust outbreaks are currently plaguing South Africa in parts of the Free State, Northern Cape and Western Cape, fuelled further by strong winds, according to Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza. “Control measures are currently being implemented to curb the spread of the locusts. The current strong winds are aiding the fight […]

South Africa’s Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, has invited the public to join the National Reading Coalition’s first virtual book club reading session, which will be launched on 14 December 2020.   At the launch of the virtual book club, readers will discuss the book, Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. “The objectives of this reading session are […]

The Coronavirus continues to spread in South Africa as cases jumped to 796 472 after 4 173 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the death toll has now risen by 65, bringing the tally to 21 709 since the outbreak. Of the latest deaths, 30 were recorded in the Western Cape, […]

A fabulous large painting of Muizenberg’s iconic beach huts was completed this weekend by talented artist Cliffy Brown, as a captivated crowd watched at the Blue Route Shopping mall in Cape Town, South Africa. The large 2.5 x 1.5 metre painting is based on a photo by Western Cape photographer Angela Gorman, and whoever buys […]

South Africa faces a quadruple burden of disease: HIV, tuberculosis (TB), non-communicable diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and injuries. South Africa has more people living with HIV than anywhere else in the world. Around 13.5% of the country’s total population has HIV. Many of these patients are co-infected with TB and are also at […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling on the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi to ensure that 41,156 Grades 1 and 8 learners that have not yet been placed for the 2021 academic year are placed before 10 December 2020. According to Lesufi, the department has received 220 000 online applications for Grades […]

It’s said that there’s almost nothing you can’t buy on the black market. This week on Carte Blanche, the SA current affairs show finds out that in the streets of Cairo in Egypt, where poverty is rife, there’s another more terrifying industry – the sale of human body parts… The Illegal Trade of Human Organs […]

There are 3 069 more people who contracted Coronavirus in South Africa, which pushes the cumulative total of COVID-19 cases to 778 571. Meanwhile, 88 more people succumbed to the respiratory disease, which brings the deaths to 21 289. Of the latest fatalities, 33 were recorded in the Eastern Cape, 25 in Free State, 18 in […]

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has launched the latest National List of Occupations in High Demand (OIHD) in South Africa. “This list is updated every two years, and marks an important step towards helping us understand better the needs of the labour market, and signals opportunities where our students and graduates […]

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, says the department is working tirelessly to salvage what is left of the academic year after the COVID-19 pandemic affected learning institutions across the globe.   Speaking during a media briefing on Thursday, Dr Nzimande said the pandemic and national lockdown caused serious disruptions to the […]

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, says his department is closely monitoring the Eastern Cape to quell the resurgence of cluster outbreaks in the province. Mkhize is on a two-day visit to the Eastern Cape, which kicked off on Thursday and is set to wrap up on Friday. The visit, Mkhize said, is set to focus […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the SA government is in the process of drafting a Bill on the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Council, which is expected to be in Parliament early next year. “I consider the establishment of this Council, which is part of the Declaration on Gender-Based Violence in 2019, […]

South Africa has a long tradition of using plants for medicinal purposes. Some of these, such as Aloe ferox (bitter aloe), Sutherlandia frutescens (cancer bush), Aspalathus linearis (rooibos tea) and Kiggelaria africana, have been studied as sources of useful compounds. But most still need to be scientifically validated as treatments for particular diseases. Medicinal plants are […]

Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the head of the inquiry into allegations that the South African state was “captured” and repurposed to benefit private interests during former president Jacob Zuma’s tenure (May 2009 to February 2018), has dismissed Zuma’s application for his recusal. The former president, who stands accused of having facilitated grand corruption, had […]

The South African government has reiterated its commitment to investigating and swiftly extraditing fugitive evangelical couple, Shepard and Mary Bushiri, who daringly escaped from the country while facing criminal charges. The couple was on a R200 000 bail each, and the conditions included not being able to travel beyond Gauteng or the North West. However […]