The Reserve Bank has increased interest rates in South Africa by 50 basis points, a move that was expected and has been met with a mixed response, although the markets immediately reacted positively with the rand strengthening. The announcement was made on Thursday by Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago. According to news reports, this means the rate at […]

JOHANNESBURG – A total of 230 frogs – 80 bull frogs and 150 rain frogs – destined for Taiwan and hidden in small plastic containers have been confiscated at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport and brought to the National Zoo in Pretoria, according to a statement released by the zoo on Thursday. The amphibians were sent […]

Cape Town-based journalist Sarah Khan recently embarked on a week-long road trip through Namibia with three other women, and wrote about the experience for The New York Times. Along the way she learnt 10 (and a half) lessons. Lesson 1. The Namibian sun is every bit as potent as you’ve heard. 2. As soon as […]

The city of Cape Town will donate to charity all the unclaimed cell phones it has confiscated from people caught talking on hand-held devices while driving. “While the Safety and Security Directorate initially considered auctioning the cellphones, we have subsequently decided to give the cellphones to community-based organisations like neighbourhood watch groups instead,” mayoral committee member for […]

LONDON – Two South Africans sentenced alongside Nelson Mandela to life in jail were given the Freedom of the City of London on Wednesday in recognition of their fight for freedom and racial equality, as were the lawyers who defended them at trial. Ahmed Kathrada and Denis Goldberg received the award with fellow South African George Bizos and Lord Joel Joffe […]

Dan Mace is a young surfer and film maker from Cape Town who has made some incredible movies already (check his YouTube page for proof), but now it’s #TheRainbowChain that’s on his mind. In a new video the 25-year-old says that even though corruption, crime and racism seem to be at an all-time high in South Africa, […]

JOHANNESBURG – The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is opening a new office in Cape Town, the JSE said in a statement on Tuesday. The JSE said the move was to enhance its service to clients, build and strengthen relationships, and provide accessible support to the market. The city has increased its footprint in the financial services […]

JOHANNESBURG – Thousands of people joined the Democratic Alliance in the March for Jobs in Johannesburg on Wednesday, a horde of blue T-shirts crowding the streets into the city to bring attention to the estimated 8.4 million unemployed in the country. Addressing the crowd, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the party wanted to make job creation […]

A KwaZulu-Natal SPCA says it has been overwhelmed with support to save a 36-year-old female orangutan that has been languishing away – a “caged tragedy” – in a zoo near Pietermaritzburg reportedly owned by circus owner Brian Boswell. “We thank you for your responses to our plea for her release,” the Kloof and Highway SPCA […]

JOHANNESBURG – The first wide-ranging show of the artist Henri Matisse in South Africa will be presented in Johannesburg later this year, the French Embassy in South Africa said on Monday. The show, “Rhythm and Meaning”, will run at the Standard Bank Gallery from 13 July to 17 September. It will be the fourth major exhibition […]

Yes, the boerboel, aka the South African mastiff, is making its first appearance at Westminster, the Westminster Dog Show, that is, the premier dog show in the United States. The Boerboel named Oblio comes from Chesapeake, Virginia, and is apparently about 15 months old. According to a news report late last year, he is the first Bred […]

A ban on the hunting of leopard in South Africa has been imposed by the Department of Environment Affairs for the rest of 2016, and it will then reassess the situation, according to news reports. The department said that conservation authorities in the various provinces were told that leopard hunts should not be authorised in 2016, and […]

JOHANNESBURG – The billboard erected in Johannesburg at the launch of the #DAforJobs campaign this month to protest unemployment in South Africa has been vandalised and destroyed, the DA said on Monday. The DA said it wanted the ANC to confirm or deny that it was behind the destruction, according to news reports, which quoted a party spokesman as […]

Almost 700 people were caught in traffic roadblocks in Cape Town over the weekend, as part of a new campaign by the city to crack down on road offenses, according to news reports. The new 18-member team – including members of the city’s Traffic Service, Metro Police, Law Enforcement and the Western Cape Traffic Department – will conduct […]

The BBC cricket correspondent and Olympics equestrian commentator Jonathan Agnew was caught driving without a license outside Johannesburg, and said a corrupt policeman took everything except R20 that he emptied out of his pockets, according to news reports and Agnew’s tweets about the incident. On Friday, when South Africa was playing England at Centurion, Agnew was apparently […]

In February the low-cost African airline fastjet will be expanding what is expected to be a growing list of flights around Africa, when it flies two new routes from Zimbabwe to Johannesburg. Johannesburg is already a destination for fastjet from Dar es Salaam and will be the first international destination for fastjet Zimbabwe, according to recent news reports. […]

The online campaigning group Avaaz has gathered more than 1 million signatures worldwide against Yahoo Japan for allegedly allowing the sale of ivory online. Avaaz launched the campaign accompanied by a horrific photograph of an elephant with its tusks and trunk severed, with the words, “Yahoo – stop your deadly ivory trade!” In an open letter […]

In mid-2015 it was reported that the massive Gauteng Provincial Government Precinct (Kopanong Precinct) in central Johannesburg may finally be moving ahead. The project involves the “rehabilitation, development and management” of 21 buildings in the historic heart of Johannesburg at a projected cost of R5 billion. This is certainly exciting news, writes James Ball of The Heritage Portal, but […]

Hiker Alistair Hill and his friend Carla had read about a great hike in the latest Go! magazine stretching along the famous now-unused train track from Wilderness to Victoria Bay. Little did they realise it would be a hike not to remember, although their experience has started a dialogue on how to deal with crimes like this […]

A KwaZulu-Natal municipality in South Africa has awarded scholarships to 16 young women who are virgins and who will undergo tests throughout the course of their studies to prove that they remain “pure”. This was the condition given to the 16, who were awarded the Maidens Bursary Award from the UThukela District Municipality. According to news reports on Friday, the […]

Chaos broke out in Kempton Park on Saturday after police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets following the death earlier of a Nigerian man in police custody. A large group gathered outside the private hospital, as shown in this video: According to various reports, Nigerians at the Arwyp Medical Centre in Kempton Park said the 38-year-old man, […]

It was 1966. Racial divisions were growing more entrenched in South Africa by the day but the issue was still little publicised abroad. A young black South African woman, however, was raising her voice against apartheid while cutting a swathe through the international music scene, opening doors for women, especially black women in years to come. She was the 34-year-old […]

HOBART, AUSTRALIA – A South Africa rapper has been jailed in Tasmania, Australia, for indecently assaulting a fellow artist who was asleep in her hotel room, it was reported. Brian Simiso Zwane, who performs as OkMalum­Kool­Kat­, was trying to get a fine so that he could leave the country on Friday, but he was given a month-long jail […]

Foreign direct investment in South Africa fell by 74 percent in 2015 to $1.5 billion, according to a new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released on Wednesday. “Central Africa and Southern Africa saw the largest declines in FDI,” UNCTAD said. “The end of the commodity ‘super-cycle’ had an impact on resource-seeking […]

For any expat living in the United Arab Emirates, it is one of the hardest things to watch – wild animals, often from Africa, not living in the wild and free but being kept in small private zoos and gardens and coddled like pets. Well, that might soon be a thing of the past. According to news reports […]