As allegations continue about whether President Cyril Ramaphosa knew that a R500,000 contribution to his 2017 presidential campaign came from the scandal-plagued company Bosasa, the Independent Electoral Commission has appointed a chief of party funding to oversee that political parties in future disclose contributions above a certain amount. The IEC named George Mahlangu as the […]

Almost four years after stepping in from private enterprise to try help save the floundering and disastrously inept South African Post Office, Mark Barnes has quit the post, citing differences on a future strategy for the structure of the SAPO. In a statement today, the SAPO said it was with regret that it announced Barnes’s […]

One day after Eskom’s soaring debt was disclosed to the public and the same week that unemployment figures reached record highs, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has come under fire for spending R100,000 for each of 35 delegates to attend an International Labour Organisation meeting in Geneva in June. In a statement today, the DA said […]

As pressure mounts from all sides on the public protector Busiswe Mkhwebane and questions are raised about her ability to be the government’s legal watchdog, parliament will in September discuss a request to investigate her fitness to hold office and then “map out a way forward,” it was announced today. Numerous public statements about Mkhwebane’s […]

The South African arms manufacturer Denel, trying to claw its way back from years of maladministration and alleged deals benefiting the Guptas, is taking legal action to recover losses made during that time, according to the CEO Danie du Toit. In a statement today Du Toit said Denel had already received several reports concerning improper […]

The mammoth task of unbundling Eskom has been given to the chief of the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants, Freeman Nomvalo, who the Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan today named as the utility’s new chief restructuring officer. In a statement from the institute, Nomvalo said its board had agreed to a request from […]

Adding to the battles facing the public protector Busiswe Mkhwebane, her deputy has said she didn’t consult him on the controversially “flawed” ABSA-SARB report, and that there were lessons to be learnt from the recent setbacks Mkhwebane has been dealt in court. “I don’t know anything about the Absa report, sitting here as the Deputy […]

Since the Economic Freedom Fighters’ launch in 2013, it has only had one leader, Julius Malema, although according to party chairman Dali Mpofu that could change as early as December. After Mpofu was interviewed by Power FM’s Aldrin Sampear today, the radio station said the advocate believed it was unlikely Malema would stand as president […]

South Africa’s unemployment rate has risen to 29 percent, the highest level record since the quarterly labour force survey was introduced in 2008, although it had reached 29,3 percent in 2003, the Department of Statistics announced today. A total of of 15.5 million people are not economically active, about 2.7 million of them discouraged work […]

JOHANNESBURG – Barely two days before Ukrainian visitor Ivan Ivanova was stabbed to death while hiking in Cape Town, the Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said the government was paying attention to the issue of safety in the country that had been raised by potential visitors. Kubayi-Ngubane told the Real Estate Development Summit on Friday last […]

The population of South Africa rose by 900,000 in the past year, and now stands at 58.8 million, according to figures released today by the Statistician General Risenga Maluleke. He said the main driver of population growth was births, but immigration also contributed. Of the total, 51 percent were female and 49 percent male. About […]

PRETORIA – In another blow to the public protector, a judge of the North Gauteng High Court today interdicted Busiswe Mkhwebane or her office from enforcing remedial action she had recommended the president take against Pravin Gordhan, pending a judicial review of Mkhwebane’s report against Gordhan. The decision was handed down by Judge Sulet Potterill, […]

A new facility that rehabilitates wild animals that have been injured or abandoned, with a view to returning them to the wild, has been opened at Shamwari Private Game Reserve, outside Port Elizabeth. At the R5 million (or $350,000) facility, the animals are treated before being released back to the wild, Shamwari said in a […]

In an affidavit submitted to the state capture inquiry, and now made public, President Cyrial Ramaphosa has given details of his meetings with the Gupta brothers and Gavin Watson, the head of Bosasa, the company at the centre of many of the state capture allegations because of allegedly bribing numerous government departments for work. The […]

The cigarette maker Philip Morris has opened a flagship store in Johannesburg, hoping to promote its heated tobacco product IQOS, according to the company. The store for IQOS, which stands for I Quit Ordinary Smoking, is in Sandton. South Africa, with an estimated 7 million smokers, is the only market in Africa where the company […]

The crack all-women anti-poaching team the Black Mambas, who have helped reduce poaching in their territory near Kruger National Park by 75 percent, and their founder have won two of four prestigious awards at a world tourism conference in Johannesburg, once again highlighting their environmental successes. At the African Resilience Summit, which was held yesterday […]

The capacity of dams serving Cape Town have risen above 70 percent, an astounding gain of almost 10 percent over the past two weeks and almost three times as much as during Day Zero in 2017, according to the City of Cape Town. Heavy rains over the Western Cape during the last few days have […]

Dr. Reuel Khoza has been appointed as the first non-political chairman of the state-owned Public Investment Corporation, the largest asset manager in Africa, the Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni announced at the new board’s inaugural meeting today. Khoza is a former chairman of Eskom and Nedbank, and the author of numerous books. A new 13-member […]

The head of the Independent Power Producers Office, Karen Breytenbach, who has overseen more than R200 billion invested in renewable projects in South Africa since 2011 – at a time when the country has been trying to move away from coal energy – has been asked to vacate her position early because of what the […]

The former minister of tourism Derek Hanekom today confirmed that he met with the Economic Freedom Fighters, after allegations were made by EFF leader Julius Malema that Hanekom was one of two ANC leaders who in 2017 provided inside information in a bid to unseat former president Jacob Zuma. Hanekom, a staunch supporter of Cyril […]

The International Monetary Fund’s latest report on the World Economic Outlook has predicted that South Africa will continue to have a slower growth that much of sub-Saharan Africa, even slower than previously anticipated. In its report, “Still Sluggish Global Growth,” which was released today, the IMF predicted growth in South Africa of 0.7 percent in […]

JOHANNESBURG – The progress in South Africa since 1994 – the growth of the black middle class, access to education and basic services, and a decline in poverty – has been undermined more recently by stagnant growth, flagging investment, maladministration and corruption, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a sober but uplifting speech today. Addressing a […]

Travel between Germany and more parts of South Africa will be easier, now that Lufthansa and Mango, the low-cost subsidiary of South African Airways, have started a code-sharing agreement. In 2017 Mango took over certain routes from SAA, such as such as Durban, Port Elizabeth and George. Because it did not have the same interline […]

CAPE TOWN – In a combined operation of metro police and traffic cops, a record number of arrests were made over the past week in Cape Town, South Africa, including hundreds of taxi owners and drivers who hadn’t paid fines, drunk drivers, and people in illegal possession of drugs and unlicensed firearms, according to a […]

The Constitutional Court today upheld an order against Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to personally pay a portion of the legal costs in a matter involving the South African Reserve Bank. “This court holds that the Public Protector’s entire model of investigation was flawed and that she was not honest about her engagements during the investigation,” […]