In her first major decision since being appointed six months ago, National Prosecuting Authority chief Shamila Batohi today dropped seven-year-old racketeering charges against former KZN Hawks boss Johan Booysen, in a controversial case that had always been seen as politically motivated. Bulelwa Makeke, spokesperson for the NPA, said in an interview with the SABC that […]

A four-seater plane built by twenty South African teens that left Cape Town six weeks ago has landed in Cairo, after successfully completing the 12,000-kilometre journey. Pilot Megan Werner, 17, founder of U Dream Global, which assembled the Sling 4 aircraft, said she was thrilled by the accomplishment, telling the BBC: “I’m so honoured to […]

Since taking over in May as premier of the Northern Cape – a province beset by severe problems of poverty, joblessness and poor healthcare – Dr Zamani Saul has been getting a lot of attention. And not just because he resembles – and has been asked more than 1,000 times, he says, whether he is […]

The Economic Freedom Fighters’ decision to no longer vote with the Democratic Alliance in the cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane threatens the collapse of both. But several journalists and editorials think the EFF has overplayed its hand and the DA will be the one to benefit. In an opinion piece today for News24, editor Adriaan […]

NIAMEY – The leaders of almost all of Africa’s 54 nations have gathered in the capital of Niger this weekend to launch a continental free-trade zone that could take Africa into a new era, creating a $3.4 trillion economic bloc. The massive new commercial bloc, known as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), is […]

CAIRO – In an astounding victory for Bafana Bafana, South Africa’s soccer team beat the host – and one of the favourites – Egypt 1-0 in the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday. The winning goal, just five minutes before the end of the match, was played by Thembinkosi Lorch. The loss for Egypt was […]

JOHANNESBURG – President Cyril Ramaphosa said today that South Africa could not let the economy be held back by the US-China trade war, and referred directly to the recent controversial developments around the Chinese company Huawei. “This standoff between China and the US where the technology company Huawei is being used as victim because of […]

Pravin Gordhan violated the constitution by setting up a so-called “rogue unit” when he was commissioner of the country’s tax services, SARS, and the unit carried out illegal intelligence operations, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said Friday. “There is further evidence at my disposal of the unauthorised interception of private communications of prominent members of society […]

A 21-year-old from Durban, South Africa, was the youngest out of 120 entrepreneurs named by Forbes Africa in its latest Top 30 Under 30 awards. Avthar Aniruth won in the business category. An innovative, self-taught 21-year-old, Aniruth is founder of Epic Motion Pictures and Audience Networks. “My obsession with making videos, prompted me to learn […]

In a major win for anti-fracking groups in South Africa, the Supreme Court of Appeals ruled this week that the minister for mineral resources did not have the authority to implement regulations promulgated in 2015 for petroleum exploration and production. Civil rights organisation AfriForum and the Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG) had appealed against the […]

The man whose name was synonymous with the success of Mango, the low-cost airline wholly owned by South African Airways, is to take over the CEO post again after leaving three years ago. Nico Bezuidenhout, who helped found Mango in 2006, led the upstart airline until 2016, during which time he also served two short […]

Following the deaths of two whales which got entangled in fishing gear off of Cape Town, the South African government has temporarily banned exploratory fishing for octopus in False Bay until further studies have been done and ways found to avoid such incidents in future. The lobbying group AfriOceans called the announcement a victory. “Our […]

Increased foreign investment in South Africa will be high on the agenda when President Cyril Ramaphosa joins other international leaders for the annual G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, tomorrow and on Saturday. It is the G20’s twentieth anniversary. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Presidency said South Africa would try secure financial and other […]

Twenty-six police officers in South Africa have been killed since the beginning of 2019, and the government has pledged to take action to find the guilty parties and bring them to justice. Nine people have already been given life sentences for these crimes. Addressing a post-Cabinet media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday, Minister in the […]

Just under 10.2 million people are employed in the country’s non-agricultural sector, up 76,000 from the same period last year, according to the most recent quarterly report put out by Stats South Africa. While 130,000 full-time jobs were added, 54,000 part-time jobs were lost. The non-agricultural sector excludes agriculture, forestry, hunting, fishing, the informal sector […]

Seeing one leopard is highly unusual, especially in a small game park like Pilanesberg, but Gametrackers field guide Tarryn Rae and her client saw not only one but two, who battled it out over a warthog the one had caught – only for the warthog to escape. “This was a first for me!” Rae told […]

More than half a thousand vultures, almost all of them endangered species, died from feeding on the poisoned carcasses of three poached elephants in central Botswana, it was reported last week, in what was one of the biggest wildlife poisoning incidents of its kind since 2013. Among the 537 vultures found dead at the site […]

Every day, 365 days a year, a clutch of people – with backpacks that are perhaps a bit too heavy the first day – set off for one of the most incredibly beautiful hikes in the world… writes author and SAPeople editor Ted Botha. To say ‘incredibly beautiful’ is actually selling it short. You have […]

One of the most important criteria for me when deciding whether a city is worth living in is the public transport. The less I have to use a car, the better. Me and driving are a combustible marriage… writes SAPeople’s Ted Botha. New York was perfect for this and Cape Town has a MyCiti bus […]

So the story I’m about to tell you is so New York and one of the reasons people love this place… writes author and former South African expat Ted Botha, who now lives in Joburg, but was back in New York for a couple of months. It all centres around a stray one dollar bill. I […]

I am one of those old-fashioned people who loves going by train. Give me a choice between a plane, bus, car or train, and I’ll take the choo-choo. And I blame that preference on the Trans-Karoo. Actually I’m not sure it was ever officially called the Trans-Karoo, but that’s how I came to know it. I used to travel cross-country as a schoolkid, […]

Jacob Venter got his law degree from the University of Cape Town four years ago, but he hasn’t worked in an office once. Instead he’s been scrubbing decks on a boat – and loving it. Welcome to the world of yachties, boaties and dock walkers – call them what you will, but mostly you could call them happy […]

Two of the most popular wildlife videos on YouTube, watched millions of times already, are of grown men playing with lions as if they were their pet kitties. The scenes of human-animal love are so intoxicating, it makes everyone want to go out and do the same, walk with a lion, pet a cute little cub. […]

It has been 21 years since South Africa re-established relations with Cuba, and although it has long been on some travellers’ lists (and bucket lists), now is the perfect time to think about really going there. The main reason is that the island will probably soon be flooded – with Americans. The United States has recently […]

Maybe it’s because I’m a South African, always thinking in terms of the precarious state of my country’s currency and what it can buy overseas. Or maybe it’s because I’ve been a freelance journalist for so long, scraping by on a meagre income. Either way, I’ve always sought out the free or cheap in New York […]