Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has responded to questions sent to him by the SA Police Hawks division, apparently regarding a so-called rogue unit in the SA Revenue Service (SARS) during Gordhan’s term as head of SARS. In a statement, issued today by the Ministry of Finance, Gordhan replied (full statement below): I have responded to the […]

BEAUFORT WEST – A wily lion named Sylvester has escaped Karoo National Park by crawling under an electric fence – his second escape in less than a year – and is said to be roaming a mountainous area nearby, with a growing public outcry for parks authorities not to shoot him. SANParks was quoted in the media on […]

The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, is to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Africa on Wednesday, the EFF has announced. Malema will graduate with a BA in Communications and African Studies at a ceremony at the university. In an interview last year Malema said that once […]

Two South African priests – one of them the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox church of Johannesburg and Pretoria – were among the passengers of an EgyptAir plane en route to Cairo from Alexandria that was hijacked on Tuesday and rerouted to Cyprus, according to news reports. All the passengers were released and the suspected hijacker […]

US comedian Kevin Hart, who is touring South Africa, said Cape Town blew him away from the moment he arrived in the city. He arrived in the country on Friday for his “Kevin Hart What Now?” tour, taking in Cape Town, Durban (Monday) and Johannesburg (Wednesday). The kinetic, very funny, hugely popular (27 million followers on Twitter), […]

Barely two weeks after a horrific terror attack on a beach resort in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, a collective of singers in the country have come together to sing words telling the terrorists that they won’t give in to fear after the attack. The Grand Bassam attack left at least 16 people dead when the terrorists, apparently […]

A new investigative report has drawn together information that either directly or circumstantially connects the Gupta family to numerous key players in Eskom and Transnet. The Friday report by Amabhungane, the investigative arm of the Mail & Guardian, included an extensive chart that was republished on Twtter of the links that “are indisputable in some cases, and circumstantial […]

A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) has grown from 82 on Wednesday to over 150, endorsing a statement which condemns the killing of a Wild Coast resident who opposed the mining of a stretch of the Eastern Cape shore by an Australian mining house. The statement calls for mining to be suspended while an investigation […]

Lots of people might make fun of Klippies and Coke, but South Africa’s Klipdrift Brandy has just taken the top award in an international brandy competition. The World Brandy Awards announced on Thursday that Klipdrift Premium was its best brandy of the year. It also won for best brandy aged 2-3 years. Van Ryn’s Distillers […]

Actress Charlize Theron recently put her Hollywood apartment up for sale, at a price of $1.75 million. It was reported that Theron, who is soon to be seen in “The Huntsman: Winter’s War”, the sequel to “Snow White and the Huntsman”, bought the apartment nine years ago for $2 million. It was advertised by Beverly […]

British Airways will start flying to Cape Town from Gatwick airport later in 2016, adding to the existing daily flights from London’s Heathrow, the airline announced on Thursday. The (northern hemisphere) winter-only flight, which starts in November, will join the two flights a day that already fly to Cape Town from Heathrow. BA also flies twice daily to […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African fashion retailer The Foschini Group said on Thursday it had acquired all the shares in high street chain Whistles for an undisclosed sum. Foschini, which last year bought clothing, footwear and accessories retailer Phase Eight, said in a statement it has acquired Whistles’ 46 stores and online retail business through its […]

One swim to Robben Island is a feat, but Capetonian Theodore Yach, who did his first Robben Island swim 35 years ago, has completed the famed 10-kilometre crossing for the 100th time. Yach, who is 58 and was met at the finish by his wife and two sons, used the swim to gather funds for six charities and causes, all […]

So is Trevor Noah making the grade as host of “The Daily Show” or not? Six months after taking over from Jon Stewart, the jury, as they say in the US, is out. While a recent segment has got more than 600,000 views on Youtube in just over a week – about Donald Trump – a major […]

Anyone watching news reports in England, the US or Australia these days might be struck by a growing phenomenon – South African accents. More and more journalists from South Africa are either taking the anchor seat on leading international news programmes or reporting for them from hot spots around the world. Whether it’s on an […]

Musician/comedian Deep Fried Man has released a new  video called “Gupta Bling”, based on singer Drake’s mega-selling “Hotline Bling” and which riffs on the relationship between President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family. “You used to call me on my cell phone, To discuss that nuclear deal,” starts Deep Fried Man, rather than Drake’s “You used to call me […]

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia said on Tuesday it will send a team to retrieve a piece of debris found along the southern coast of South Africa to check whether it could belong to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The wreckage, discovered near the town of Mosselbay on Tuesday, could be from an “inlet cowling” of an […]

Suzelle in her latest DIY video tackles a more serious subject – water restrictions and water usage – but it turns out to be funnier than many of her funny videos. And she’s ably helped by Western Cape leader Helen Zille. Suzelle and Zille offer lots of tips on how to save water – don’t […]

The answer: Both men were wrongly identified in pretty crazy ways – and it came to light on social media on the very same day. Last month, on 4 February, it was pointed out on Twitter that the Democratic Alliance’s Mmusi Maimane was identified on an SABC news report as none other than ANC leader, President […]

The highly popular Cape Epic mountain bike race was barely over this weekend when 100 early bird slots for the 2017 event were sold in just nine seconds, the organisers said. “People around the world were obviously ready to press the ‘submit’ button when they opened at at 3pm,” said race CEO Lynn Naudé. “And […]

The popular BBC series “Call the Midwife” – which many are discovering and growing addicted to, now that “Downton Abbey” is over – will be shooting in South Africa in April, according to news reports. The series, loosely based on a true story by Jennifer Worth and set in London’s East End starting in the […]

There’s a great future in South Africa…but you must have a plan. Here’s mine: 1. There are many places much worse than South Africa….with grinding poverty, authoritarian governments and failed states. People still, somehow, make a life for themselves and their loved ones. Maybe there’s a lesson there for us. 2. Africa’s political leadership is […]

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One of South Africa’s foremost jazz musicians, Carlo Mombelli, has just released his 12th studio album, “I Press My Spine to the Ground”. He is a bassist and composer who also teaches at the music school of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. His album features Kesivan Naidoo (drums), Mbuso Khoza (vocals) and Kyle […]

On my recent visit back to South Africa for two weeks, something really bothered me for a number of reasons. I was at morning market in Sedgefield (near Knysna), which is fantastic and has a unique group of visitors – many foreigners. I had taken out my camera and was walking around with the camera bag open […]