The South African embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, remains temporarily closed after threats led to fears for staff safety, International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor told Reuters. The threats came after attacks this week on foreign-owned businesses in South Afria caused a diplomatic spat. She said South Africa was in constant contact with Nigerian authorities to try […]

A book whose author has refused a R600 000 000 bribe is a book that comes highly recommended. But be warned. The book, After Dawn: Hope after State Capture, is devoid of all autobiography, except one page mentioning Mcebisi Jonas’s feeling of loss when being offered that bribe. The book contains no biographical details. They […]

My name is Cindy September and I am the woman behind The List of Fallen Angels. I hail from Robertson, a small town in the Western Cape, and I was raised by two very socially conscious parents, both teachers, who during the Teachers’ strike in 1993, would rally my sisters and I to attend marches… […]

Here are the series, movies and documentaries we’re most looking forward to watching in September. International series Now Apocalypse | First on Showmax Ulysses and his friends are awkwardly navigating coming of age in Los Angeles. But he is plagued by dark, premonitory dreams that have him paranoid about the end of the world … […]

Sea level rise caused by global warming is already causing damage to public and private coastal property in Cape Town. In some areas retreat to higher ground may be necessary. The coast at Milnerton particularly is being affected by erosion, with the public beach under City of Cape Town jurisdiction already having been washed away […]

Christo Bothma (54), a plant maintenance Manager from Potchefstroom was kidnapped by a terrorist group in Djibo, Burkina Faso, on the 23rd of September last year, 17 days before he was expected to return home to South Africa. Now, almost a year later his family are not sure if he is dead and alive, and […]

Team SA started today with 66 medals at the 12th African Games. Below is a full rundown of how the South Africans have fared in Rabat and Casablanca in Morocco. There were also more medals today from Nita Scholtz, Esti van Tonder, the women’s K2 500m, the men’s and women’s K4 500m (gold), Chanel Simmonds […]

A terrified community in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, has been reassured that the government is fixing damaged fences to protect them from wildlife attacks, while it has sadly been revealed that 12 of 13 escaped lions have died. One is still on the loose, terrorising the community while game rangers try to track it down. […]

South Africa’s proposed switch to universal health coverage – known as the National Health Insurance (NHI) program – will be managed in a fiscally responsible way, a senior presidential aide told Reuters, forecasting the landmark reform would cost the state $2.2 billion per year by 2025/26. Meanwhile President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed in the National Assembly […]

The South African Finance Ministry has warned the public against a scam doing the rounds, in which claims are made that Deputy Minister David Masondo will offer people funding for their business. The scammers are on various platforms purporting to be the Deputy Minister. “The Deputy Minister of Finance would like to alert the public […]

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) today agreed to protect giraffes for the first time by listing the species on Appendix II, which will now regulate international trade in giraffe parts (which occurs in South Africa), such as hides, bones and meat. Today’s decision now […]

Deputy President David Mabuza has welcomed the High Court judgment restricting the use of South Africa’s old apartheid flag. Deputy Judge President of the South Gauteng Division of the High Court, Justice Phineas Mojapelo, delivered the judgment in the Equality Court on Wednesday. He ruled that the gratuitous display of the apartheid flag demonstrates a […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday afternoon answer questions in Parliament for the first time since his election as President in May 2019. The President’s office said he will brief the National Assembly on government’s efforts to deal with the challenge of slow economic growth and high unemployment. The President is constitutionally mandated to periodically […]

The first vote at the 18th meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties has delivered a historic win for African elephants to end the cruel practice of removing live elephants from the wild for export to captive facilities. CITES is the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Iris Ho, senior wildlife specialist […]

With perfect weather forecast all along the Overberg coastline, Thursday was the perfect day to conduct the first Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit aerial southern right whale survey for 2019… writes marine conservation photographer Jean Tresfon. I arrived at the airfield early and was already warming up the gyrocopter on the apron before sunrise when […]

Standing in snaking queues – whether at Home Affairs, collecting a social grant, or a visit to a congested clinic – is a boring and time-consuming task many South Africans find themselves doing more often than they like. After hearing numerous complaints by peers and gogos in his community, 29-year-old Koketso Denny Nkuna from Burgersfort […]

In the book of Esther, the Bible tells a story from the 5th century BCE, when the Jews were in exile in Persia. The Persian king, Ahasuerus, had installed a Jewish woman, Esther, as his queen at the time that one of the king’s ministers started a genocidal programme against the Jews. Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, […]

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, will on Thursday host the 2019 South African Women in Science Awards (SAWiSA) to recognise the participation of women in research. Now in its 15th year, the prestigious awards recognise and reward excellence by women scientists and researchers, and profile them as role models for younger […]

With exactly 540 days as the incumbent President, it has become increasingly clear that with the absence of any meaningful policy reform, and ongoing radical socialistic policies by Cyril’s ANC, Ramaphosa’s so called ‘New Dawn’ has been a hoax from the beginning, peddled by an eloquent speaker that we have all been deceived by, writes […]

Expect a new crop of exclusives, as well as a bunch of shows that are fresh from DStv. Top international series and, of course, exciting local programming – it’s all ready to stream.  Here’s what to look forward to in August from Showmax. Plus, don’t forget that you can also stream selected sports events live […]

The National Council of SPCAs has the formidable task of ensuring the nationwide protection of all animal species from abuse, neglect, and cruelty. One of the most effective ways to do this, is through the courts. Sadly, in the fight for justice, the plight of animals is often ignored or found at the bottom of […]

Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has condemned the attack on law enforcement agencies in Johannesburg, describing it as an attack on the State, which cannot be accepted. “What happened [last] Thursday when law enforcement agencies were attacked with stones by street traders and hawkers, is not acceptable. Any attack on law enforcement agencies… cannot […]

Cash strapped South African consumers will have to fork out more at the pumps as the petrol price is set to increase by 11 cents on Wednesday. South Africa‘s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe announced that a litre of 93 and 95 (ULP and LRP) will rise by 11 cents. The price […]

Here’s the line-up of hot South African topics that the Carte Blanche team are investigating this Sunday 4 August (and available for South Africans abroad in most countries to stream from Tuesday 6 August). Bradley Steyn and the Strijdom Square Massacre Former uMkhonto weSizwe and apartheid police spy Bradley Steyn is still haunted by the […]

From discovering a two-headed shark, to searching for the original Jaws, Shark Week on DStv Now is packed with fascinating shows from the Discovery Channel. Did you know that you have a better chance of being killed by a lightning strike than being attacked by a shark? Or that some sharks are the same size […]