Anyone who has just got back to South Africa will quickly notice several things: the prices (good), the weather (fantastic), the politics (volatile), the protests (increasing). And, of course, then there’s the driving (shocking). In less than two months back in the country, after moving from New York, I’ve seen drivers… speeding at 100km/hr in 60km/hr zones, overtaking on white lines, zigzagging […]

Wondering how to celebrate New Year this year? Here are 11 fabulous and varied ways to bring in 2016 if you’re in South Africa. They may not be as famous as New York’s Time Square, London’s Trafalgar Square or Sydney’s Harbour Bridge lights…but they’re just as much – if not more – fun! 1. At the Karoo’s Festival […]

On 1 January 2013, Lorraine Loots set herself a goal: to produce one work of art a day for the next year. Two years and 730 paintings later, the results can be seen in “Paintings for Ants” and the newly launched “Postcards for Ants”. Along the way, Loots has picked up almost a quarter of a […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, U.S. – In an event that might happen a lot more often, a rocket launched into space by Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Monday night made a soft landing on Earth – rather than in the sea – according to news reports. The South African-born Musk is the chief executive officer of the California-based Space Exploration […]

It isn’t often that major news publications write editorials about a government not their own, or take its leader to task. But in the last few days both The Economist in Britain and The New York Times have written severely critical pieces about President Jacob Zuma. While many local publications have criticised Zuma over the events that unfolded […]

Miss Universe South Africa was one of 15 finalists in this year’s Miss Universe pageant on Sunday to witness one of 2015’s biggest gaffes on television when comedian Steve Harvey made a mistake announcing the wrong winner of Miss Universe – instead of Miss Philippines, he said it was Miss Colombia. The mistake was allowed […]

WASHINGTON — Barely six months after the killing of Cecil the Lion with a bow and arrow in Zimbabwe by a U.S. hunter caused international outrage, President Barack Obama will on Monday introduce a law that reclassifies the protection status of lions and clamps down on the importation of certain sport-hunted lions, according to news […]

Former finance minister Trevor Manuel has finally broken his silence about the sudden sacking by President Jacob Zuma of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene almost two weeks ago and the subsequent chaos in the markets that analysts have said cost South Africa billions. In an open letter published on Sunday, Manuel spoke about “shock” and “breach of trust”. He said […]

Usually when rhinos are in the news, it’s for only one reason – poaching. But the media is suddenly focusing on a very different kind of rhino, a golden one that is more than 700 years old, and they’re asking, “Will South Africa let it leave the country?” The figurine – made of gold foil and tacked […]

It was a crazy week, where sanity prevailed in the end. Pravin Gordhan rose, #ZumaMustFall protesters marched, the minister of education promised action against abusers of the school system, and a court ruled that SAA could not cover up a report exposing its financial woes. In all this excitement, it was easy to miss some stories, so we’ve […]

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga on Thursday acknowledged the scandal of jobs for sale in schools across South Africa – an issue raised by a newspaper last year – and said that criminal cases will be started to stamp out the “widespread” practice. After City Press reported in April 2014 that teacher and principal posts were being […]

JOHANNESBURG – A document stating that the embattled South African Airways should urgently apply for business rescue or face liquidation – which Business Day tried to publish before SAA filed an interdict – can be published, the High Court in Johannesburg has ruled. Judge Roland Sutherland on Thursday laid aside the 24 November interdict that tried to […]

Rhodes Rage, by Zapiro “In Zapiro’s 20th annual he skewers another momentous year including the drama over Rhodes and other statues, Nkandla pay back the money, spy cables, NPA shenanigans, Eskom and parastatal paralysis, union disunity, Charlie Hebdo, xenophobia, Juju’s boiler suit brigade, Godzille’s successor, cockroaches, Verwoerd’s ghost and other political creatures.” The Cape Town […]

John Magufuli was elected president of Tanzania in late October. Since then many around the world have been electrified by the honesty and goodness of this man, who is that rarity – a leader who actually has the interests of his country and its people at heart. In South Africa, with protests demanding #ZumaMustFall after […]

DURBAN – Former Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, now South Africa’s ambassador to Australia, has been charged with corruption for allegedly accepting more than R10 million in kickbacks, according to news reports. Ndebele, who was a minister from 2009 to 2012, appeared in court in Durban on Tuesday and was released on R10,000 bail. The charges, which […]

There’s been little (or lots, depending on how you look at it) that’s funny about President Jacob Zuma’s actions over the past week, as his decisions to sack one finance minister and then a second have sent South Africa’s economy and reputation reeling. But one video in particular takes a Spanish-language look – and it’s a pretty […]

Thousands of South Africans across the country joined together on Wednesday to get President Jacob Zuma to step down, as they walked through various cities chanting “Zuma Must Fall”. The major protests were in Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg and some went on for several hours, disrupting traffic in parts of the cities on the public holiday, […]

The African National Congress said on Tuesday it did not discuss the removal of President Jacob Zuma after he replaced finance minister Nhlanhla Nene with a lowly backbencher, which caused South African markets to go into a tailspin and the rand to spiral down. ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte told a news conference on Tuesday that Zuma […]

In the popular radio show hosted by Redi Tlhabi on 702, an 11-year-old named Mulanga this week called in to comment on the latest events in government, and said that “what Jacob Zuma is doing is a joke”. Tlhabi said Mulanga was the best caller she’d had this year and she was proud of her and impressed […]

Call Johannesburg what you will – ugly, the crime capital of the world, mine dump, blah blah blah – many of us have always loved it. And plenty of people who once avoided the place – staying cocooned at OR Tambo International on their flights to Cape Town or Kruger – are now venturing into this spectacular world-class city. […]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, said it would list its shares on the Johannesburg stock exchange as a “domestic” stock, removing a potential hurdle in its planned $100 billion-plus takeover of SABMiller. AB InBev said in a statement on Monday it intended to list there in mid-January, with a “domestic” classification, […]

New Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, only appointed on Sunday night, lost no time addressing media on Monday, apparently trying to quell the local and international concerns raised by President Jacob Zuma’s sacking of Nhlanhla Nene last week and replacing him with a virtual unknown, which caused the rand to tumble and SA financial markets to […]

Barely days after firing Nhlandhla Nene as finance minister and appointing unknown David van Rooyen in his place – and sending the South African economy into a downward spiral –  President Jacob Zuma has fired Van Rooyen and appointed Pravin Gordhan to fill the post. The presidency issued a statement on Sunday night confirming the […]

The movie studio dubbed South Africa’s Pixar, which made the international hits “Adventures in Zambezia” and “Khumba”, will back eight new animated movies and TV series – two more than initially intended – because the proposals it got were so good. The projects include a story about a lemming who must learn to defy his nature […]

Just over a year ago, a photo of the Johannesburg mail centre went viral – it was in chaos – and things have hardly got better for the parastatal in 2015. But 2016 could see a massive change, with the head of a major JSE-listed financial company taking over the crippled mail service in a few weeks’ time. In November it was announced that […]