The South African Reserve Bank has cut the repo rate by 50 basis points, and from 22 May it will be 3.75 percent. SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago made the announcement on Thursday following a Monetary Policy Committee meeting. The cut is the third since the advent of COVID-19 in the country in March, when the […]

Due to repairs that have been made to Eskom’s power grid during lockdown – although not major repairs – there will be much less loadshedding this winter than anticipated. In a virtual press conference addressed by most of the top brass of the utility, it was stated that instead of a possible 31 days of […]

The International Space Station of NASA can be viewed from various points in South Africa over the next week, but remember that it’s early in the morning while it’s still dark. The ISS is visible because of the sun reflecting off its exterior. In Cape Town, look up during the early morning hours from about […]

At least seven employees of the SA Revenue Service have tested positive for COVID-19, four of them in the Western Cape and one still in ICU, SARS has said in a statement. SARS said it learnt ‘‘with concern” that by yesterday two more two additional positive COVID-19 cases had been found. It said that besides […]

The country’s first public advocate for children and guardian of their rights will take up her post from 1 June, Western Cape Premer Alan Winde announced today. The Children’s Commissioner is Christina Nomdo. Winde said this was an incredibly important role, as the person was tasked with monitoring, researching, investigating, lobbying and reporting on children and […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the government recognises that there have been criticisms of the way it has handled the lockdown and every South African has a right to to take this matter to the courts. “There has been, and will continue to be, robust and strident critique of a number of aspects of […]

Small, medium and macro enterprises in South Africa should watch out for fraudulent agencies purporting to be entities of the Department of Small Business Development and trying to extract fees out of them. “It has come to the attention of the department that an unknown company is requesting food producers and agro-processors to send through […]

Crime in the Cape Town city centre during lockdown has dropped by 73 percent compared with last year, according to statistics released by the Cape Town Central City Improvement District. Only 94 crime incidents were reported from 26 March 2020 to 15 May 2020, compared with 340 during the same period last year, said CCID […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa is today meeting with the President’s Coordinating Council to deliberate preparations for moving most of the country to COVID-19 alert Level 3, the presidency said. Alert Level 3 will entail more extensive reopening of the economy and the lifting of restrictions on the movement of people and goods, according to the statement. […]

An Nguni bull has been sold for a record price of R310,000, far above the last record set in 2005, during an auction that was held on WhatsApp. The news was reported last week on the NetAuctions Facebook page. It said the record price was paid for an Nguni bull bred by the Nandi Nguni […]

Within three days of it going on stream, more than 3.5 million people have applied for the new special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant of R350. The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) started taking nationwide applications for the grant on Monday. As of today, 3,585,040 applications were received. Applications were currently being assessed […]

The North West province’s Department of Health has suspended four senior officials over allegations of tender irregularities, one of which amounts to almost R11 million. Two suspensions relate to a building contract at the Mmbatho Nursing College, the other two to a security contract whose financial loss is still being calculated. Two senior officials, including […]

T-shirts, closed-toe shoes and crop bottoms were the buzz words on South African social media today, after the Minister of Trade Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, released a bizarre and inexplicable list of clothing you can and cannot buy under Level 4 lockdown regulations. “Bizarre,” “Kafkaesque,” “mad,” “Soviet-type regulations,” “petty,” “monumental embarrassment,” “a mockery,” “East […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address South Africa tonight at 8.30 p.m. about the ongoing measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, almost three weeks since he made his last appearance before the camera. “20 days later!” the DA’s shadow minister for trade and industry tweeted after the announcement today. Many other world leaders have appeared […]

In a bid to alleviate the burden on indigent households during the COVID-19 pandemic, Eskom is reminding qualifying members that they should apply for the free electricity they are entitled to, despite the fact that at least 200,000 households who have already qualified are not using it. Eskom today launched a campaign to raise awareness […]

Deeds offices across the country will reopen on Wednesday 13 May under strict guidelines, with only conveyancers allowed in the buildings, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has announced. All services would be available and all lodgements accepted, but only conveyancers would be allowed to enter the building, and in big offices […]

The Unemployment Insurance Fund has  paid out R11 billion in benefits to over two million employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the past month. A total of 161,567 companies launched claims on behalf of their workers over the course of the last month. The funds were disbursed through the COVID-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief […]

A man dressed in an ANC shirt, with tags to an ANC event, was arrested by police after he was caught sleeping in his BMW with an empty glass in hand, a bottle of Glenfiddich nearby and food parcels in the back that were meant for the poor. Well done to this JMPD officer. I […]

The popular Farmer’s Weekly magazine, in business since 1911, will carry on publishing as normal, even though ten of its sister publications are on the block. Yesterday, Caxton Magazines announced that ten of its publications, including People, Bona, Rooi Rose and Your Family, would close. “Although things will evolve for us over the next few […]

The Roger Federer Foundation is donating $1 million to provide nutritious meals to 64,000 vulnerable young children and their families through its partners in Africa while schools are closed, the foundation announced today. On his Twitter page, the tennis star – whose mother Lynette Federer is a South African Expat – said, “Now more than […]

After numerous complaints that members of the South African government are preventing businesses from getting COVID-19 financial relief because of racial criteria, especially the minister of tourism, the Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni today said he could not support a policy position that excluded some people based on the colour of their skin. Mboweni’s statement […]

The publishers of Rooi Rose and numerous other once popular magazines today announced they would no longer be publishing those titles, barely a week after the publishers of Cosmopolitan and House & Leisure also said they were closing. Caxton Magazines will no longer be publishing Bona, Country Life, Essentials, Food & Home, Garden & Home, […]

Well-known KwaZulu-Natal snake expert Nick Evans helped the driver of a semi get a 2.5-meter black mamba that was caught in the truck’s engine. “It’s a big black mamba,” Evans said on first identifying the snake. “Not what I was expecting.” When he pulled him out, Evans said the snake was about 2.5 metres long. […]

An ANC councillor in Limpopo was caught red-handed selling fake travel permits to people for as much as R800, according to the National Prosecuting Authority. Less than two weeks ago, another ANC councillor in Limpopo was arrested for breaking the lockdown regulations by having a birthday party, videos of which were posted online. In the […]

In a salute to the frontline workers in the fight against the Coronavirus the members of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra have created an incredible video of Cape Town seen from a drone while they play the “Intermezzo” from the opera “Cavalleria Rusticana.” It is part of a series of lockdown concerts by the […]