All online sales except cigarettes and alcohol will be allowed with immediate effect, according to government regulations published today by the Minister of Trade Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel. The opening came after a legal challenge by several lawyers and civil society group Dear South Africa. DearSA said on Facebook today, “After DearSA set a […]

Eskom has received offers from a group of engineers, all former employees, who want to contribute their skills free of charge to help rebuild the organisation. Eskom said in a statement yesterday that the offers were unsolicited, and that many of the group – which one news report numbered at 60 – were former employees […]

In a hard-hitting speech where he said the government’s continued, irrational and unexplained lockdown was destructive and going to devastate many more lives than were necessary, Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen said citizens were being treated like common criminals. “Much of the hardship we’re going through is unnecessary,” Steenhuisen said in an online speech today, […]

The French company Thales has lost its last bid to avoid going to trial for allegedly offering Jacob Zuma a bribe to protect the company against any prosecution that might arise out of the R60 billion arms deal 15 years ago, according to news reports today. In its decision, the Constitutional Court dismissed Thales’ appeal […]

PRETORIA – A Tanzanian illegal masquerading as an employee of the United Nations appeared in court on Monday for fraud after allegedly posing as, among other things, the representative of a programme giving young South Africans opportunities abroad and the distributor of personal protective equipment. The SA Police said in a statement that Dr Mort […]

The Western Cape has a higher incidence of Coronavirus cases than other provinces because it has been rigorously targeting and tracing potential cases and identifying clusters, rather than testing randomly, according to Premier Alan Winde. The province has recently been identified in the media as the “epicentre” of the pandemic in South Africa because of […]

There could be no better time than right now, in the midst of the Cornavirus pandemic, to watch the thrilling yet sickening new film “How to Steal a Country.” The main thought that goes through your head – watching how the Gutpas systematically took down the government with the cooperation of Jacob Zuma – is […]

A director of the board of Brand South Africa and ANC councillor has been suspended after allegations of breaking the lockdown by having a birthday party with friends. At the same time, 131 security force members, councillors and government officials have been arrested for violation the Coronavirus regulations. Tebogo Mamorobela was suspended pending an investigation […]

The mayor of Welkom, Nkosinjani Speelman, has been suspended because of “blatant racism” when he referred to members of the coloured community as “boesman.” Authorities should investigate this. This senior officer -possibly an @SAPoliceService officer orders to “skop and donder.” @SANDFCorpEvents @_SANDF_ pic.twitter.com/KCXPGNf4D5 — Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) April 7, 2020 Speelman used the word on […]

Mduduzi Manana, whose lunch-during-lockdown Instagram post led to the temporary removal of a cabinet minister yesterday, is again in the spotlight after a video surfaced showing him wandering around a luxurious house, sometimes in a Versace robe, posing with perfumes and racks of shoes as he is attended to by a butler and a maid. […]

The minister who flouted lockdown rules to have lunch with friends has been censured by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and put on two months special leave – one month unpaid. The president said he was “unmoved” by the mitigating factors she tendered to him and said she must make a public apology to the nation. Minister […]

A picture on social media of a South African cabinet minister having a casual meal with friends while the country is in lockdown has resulted in calls for her to resign or be fired by President Cyril Ramaphosa, especially after countless citizens have been arrested or even beaten for breaking the same law. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, […]

A small chartered plane from Zimbabwe that had not been authorised to land at O.R. Tambo International Airport during the lockdown and was carrying only one passenger, an Italian-South African, was told to return to Harare after police intervened. The plane landed at midday on Wednesday, according to the Department of Transport, and the passenger […]

Eskom said it expects no leadshedding during the lockdown for the Coronavirus, after usage went down substantially since Friday. Some of the planned maintenance to the aging system could not be carried out during lockdown, however, because workers on site have to be kept to a minimum. “We anticipate further demand reduction for the duration […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will today – Sunday 29 March 2020 – see off the 112 repatriated South African citizens who will be reunited with their families after all testing negative for coronavirus at the end of their quarantine at the Ranch Resort in Polokwane. The group was placed under quarantine at the resort from 14 […]

South Africa has been downgraded to subinvestment (Ba1) status by Moody’s, on the same day the country went into a 21-day lockdown. That means the country is now rated junk by the big three ratings agencies, Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. The other two agencies downgraded South Africa in 2017 already. “The South African government faces […]

The first two deaths from the Coronavirus in South Africa announced earlier today were two women aged 28 and 48, according to two separate statements, although the results of the one patient, who was admitted to hospital only yesterday, still have to be confirmed. “Today, we woke up to the sad news that we, too, […]

South African National Parks has confirmed that a French tourist visiting Kruger National Park tested positive for the Coronavirus. He is the latest of several foreign tourists who have been found to have the virus while travelling around the country. The tourist was part of a group of six who arrived in the country on […]

The first two deaths from Coronavirus in South Africa have been reported, two women in the Western Cape, according to statements released today, as the number of positive cases in the country went over 1,000. “This morning we wake South Africans up with sad news that we now have our first deaths resulting from COVID-19,” […]

With the words “You are the defender of the lives of our people,” President Cyril Ramaphosa, dressed in army fatigues as the commander in chief of the South African National Defence Force, addressed soldiers last night before they began their task of assisting the police enforce the 21-day lockdown starting across the country at midnight. […]

The number of positive Coronavirus cases in South Africa has risen to 927, up 218 from a day earlier, according to the NICD. The increase yesterday was 155. The upward trend in new infections is continuing, according to the figures released by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, which said in a statement late today […]

Across Africa distribution has started of over 1 million Coronavirus test kits and tons of protective clothing donated by the Chinese billionaire founder of the AliBaba Group, Jack Ma. Fewer than 3,000 cases of Coronavirus have been reported across Africa’s 1.2 billion people, a relatively low number in global terms. A possible cause is that […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa, as chairman of the African Union, is leading a teleconference today among African leaders to come up with a coordinated plan for the continent – where 2,746 positive cases have been recorded – on how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. “Today’s consultative meeting is aimed at developing a common response of […]

The South African president Cyril Ramaphosa tested negative for the Coronavirus, his office said in a statement today. The president submitted for testing as a precautionary measure upon the advice of his physicians on Tuesday and received his results last night, according to a statement released by the presidency. “The Presidency has deemed it necessary […]

A group of 17 lions and tigers rescued from circuses in Guatemala made it to South Africa before the lockdown, in what the rescue organisation Animal Defenders says was “one of the luckiest breaks ever.” The cats landed in South Africa nine weeks ago, which seems like a long time, but the Coronavirus was already […]