Professor Thuli Madonsela is known for her gentle kindness, her daily words of inspiration on Twitter, and her mature handling of the State Capture Report, which she compiled during her time as South Africa’s Public Protector. But this weekend she surprised her followers with something not quite her usual style. Madonsela posted an image, with […]

EUGENE, Oregon (Reuters) – South Africa’s Olympic and world champion Caster Semenya put aside controversy and ran the fastest women’s 800 metres of the year at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting on Saturday. Semenya, whose middle-distance running career could be under threat because of a new IAAF hyperandrogenism rule, clocked one minute 55.92 seconds […]

JOHANNESBURG, May 26 (Reuters) – Veteran hooker Bismarck du Plessis has been recalled to South Africa’s squad for four tests against Wales and England in June as new coach Rassie Erasmus also named the three Du Preez brothers in a 43-man squad on Saturday. Du Plessis, 34, won the last of his 79 caps at […]

Rassie Erasmus, the SA Rugby Director of Rugby, has included 17 uncapped players in his first Springbok squad of 43 for the four Tests next month, against Wales in the USA and Castle Lager Incoming Series at home against England. The Bok squad consists of a mixture of exciting new players who have performed well […]

Saturday, 26 May, marks exactly 100 days since President Cyril Ramaphosa was elected into office. As he sees the end of his first one hundred days at the Union Buildings, the president’s score-card is a mixture of optimism in the future of the country – coupled with harsh economic realities, wage strikes, tax increases and […]

Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga was reportedly hijacked in the early hours of Saturday morning after dining with friends in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa. Social cohesion advocate Yusuf Abramjee took to Twitter to ask people to share a photo of the Mayor’s car in an attempt to retrieve it. He said it is a grey Mercedes […]

A video has surfaced Friday night showing an armed attack on a vehicle at a Caltex fuel station in Delft, South Africa, which reportedly led to one fatality. Swift police action has reportedly already led to two arrests. The video was uploaded by safety advocate Yusuf Abramjee. It was believed at the time to be […]

JOHANNESBURG, May 25 (Reuters) – S&P Global Ratings affirmed South Africa’s sub-investment grade credit rating and kept its stable outlook on Friday, saying the country’s improved economic growth remained tentative and that the government’s debt burden was still on a rising path. S&P rates South Africa’s foreign currency debt ‘BB’ and its local currency debt […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Soccer’s World Cup organizers divided fans by releasing the tournament’s official song on Friday – a fast-paced dance tune titled “Live It Up” featuring American actor and rapper Will Smith. Some on social media asked how the tune’s Latin American feel fitted in with the tournament’s host country Russia – and compared […]

The fab team at BrightVibes Africa have put together this awesome video to remind us of all the amazing things about Africa that make it so spectacular! Plus – to celebrate on this Africa Day – watch Thabo Mbeki’s moving ‘I am an African’ speech… WATCH Celebrating Africa’s Beauty on Africa Day https://www.facebook.com/BrightVibesAfrica/videos/962046253979821/ Nine Interesting […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Film mogul Harvey Weinstein appeared in handcuffs in a New York court on Friday to face charges of rape and other sex crimes against two of the scores of women who have accused him of misconduct, ending his reign as a Hollywood kingpin. Weinstein, the 66-year-old co-founder of the Miramax film […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised an investigation into allegations of irregularities and unlawful conduct at several government departments, the presidency said on Friday. The decision is the latest by Ramaphosa to tackle alleged corruption and misgoverance in the administration of his predecessor Jacob Zuma, who was forced from office in […]

Excited Capetonians reported viewing five waterfalls on Table Mountain today as a good downpour was finally received. As predicted by the South African Weather Service (SAWS), heavy rain fell on Thursday in the Western Cape, bringing much needed water to the region which has become famous worldwide for its dire drought, the longest in Cape […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – An inquiry into allegations of influence peddling revolving around former president Jacob Zuma and his businessman friends – the Gupta family – will begin formal public hearings in August and could take two years or more, the head of the commission said on Thursday. The allegations around Zuma, forced from office in […]

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has suspended SA Express’s Air Operator’s Certificate (AoC) and the airline’s Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO) approvals. In addition, SACAA has also suspended the Certificates of Airworthiness (CoA) of nine of the 21 aircraft being operated by the airline. “This effectively means that as of today [Thursday, 24 May], […]

In the backdrop of extensive media coverage of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel – commemorated by Palestinians as the naqba (catastrophe) – it’s important that the 70th anniversary of South Africa’s own tragedy should not pass unnoticed. That is the election of May 1948 which brought the National Party […]

South African Airways (SAA), SA Express and Mango are to be merged, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Thursday. The minister also revealed that an intervention team, which he put in place at SA Express last week, has already uncovered two dodgy deals. One is a R67-million per month fuel contract which was entered […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The leader of South Africa’s North West province resigned on Wednesday in the face of pressure from President Cyril Ramaphosa and weeks of violent protests against his rule over the platinum-rich region. The pressure on Supra Mahumapelo is evidence of Ramaphosa’s drive to root out graft since he replaced former president Jacob […]

Leading by example, the President who likes to walk… has shown he not only walks the walk, but talks the talk. Today President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he has decided to donate half of his Presidential salary towards a soon-to-be established fund that will be launched on July 18 – the birthday of former President […]

Proteas batsman, AB de Villiers, today announced he will retire from all forms of international cricket with immediate effect… after 14 years of a sterling Proteas career. WATCH Ab de Villiers: “I’ve made a big decision today” I’ve made a big decision today pic.twitter.com/In0jyquPOK — AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) May 23, 2018 “I will always […]

Meghan Markle’s dog has become one of the unexpected feelgood stories of the Meghan and Prince Harry’s Royal Wedding. Thousands of people shared a photo over the weekend, which showed Meghan’s Beagle – named Guy – spotted sitting in the car next to the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II! The picture was reportedly taken […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Scandal-hit South African retailer Steinhoff has repaid about 2 billion euros ($2.34 billion) of its debt in Africa after its local unit used the proceeds of a fundraising to pay back 16 billion rand ($1.26 billion) in shareholder loans. The retailer has been fighting for survival after it discovered accounting irregularities in December […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A criminal gang in South Africa who kidnapped a teenage boy on Sunday are demanding a ransom in bitcoin crytocurrency of nearly $120,000, police said. Katlego Marite, 13, was dragged into a car while playing with two friends near his home in Witbank, a town in the eastern province of Mpumalanga, on […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand staged a modest recovery on Tuesday, as the dollar retreated after a recent rally. At 1505 GMT the rand traded at 12.5900 to the dollar, up 0.7 percent from the previous day’s close. The South African currency was around 2.5 percent stronger than a five-month low struck on Monday, […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa looks likely to implement land redistribution under existing laws rather than by changing the constitution following a ruling party summit, in an approach more palatable to investors, analysts said on Tuesday. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who came to power in February when former leader Jacob Zuma was ousted by his own […]