South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma – who has been criticised Monday for being silent while Braamfontein was brought to a standstill by student protests – has had his mind on other things. The #StateCapture probe. This evening, the Presidency announced that Zuma had written to the Public Protector asking her to provide him with witness names and the transcripts of […]

PRETORIA – Acting National Commissioner Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane said Monday that despite “intimidation” from protesting university students, police across the country will continue to do their duties wherever needed, and that South Africa was “far from a state of emergency” regardless of the rolling protests at universities, that have in recent days turned violent… including a […]

Academic studies resumed at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) this morning… but protesting students have continued to disrupt classes. In local reports, four students have so far been arrested Monday morning – see video below. Students are currently being arrested by Barratt lecture venue #UCKAR #FeesMustFall2016 pic.twitter.com/XnexYvTrtO — #ReActivated (@ActivateOnline) October 10, 2016 #Wits students moving […]

PRETORIA – South Africa has received an award in Washington for being named the best country for debt management and sovereign bond issuance in sub-Saharan Africa. “Emerging Markets Newspaper, an affiliate of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings, named South Africa the best country for debt management/sovereign bond Issuance in sub-Saharan Africa. This comes just after the World […]

KYLE ABBOTT and Tabraiz Shamsi routed Australia with the ball to set the Standard Bank Proteas up for a six-wicket victory over Australia at St. George’s Park today and a 4-0 lead in the five-match Momentum ODI Series. Abbott, Shamsi and Aaron Phangiso all came into the Proteas side for their first matches of the […]

As South Africa faces a crisis in its universities – with protests having raged across the country since the Minister of Education announced ‘varsities could increase their fees by up to 8% – President Zuma has called on the parents of protesting students to get involved. One mother – ANGELA CARR LAMBSON – has heeded the […]

Fezeka Kuzwayo, the woman who accused President Jacob Zuma of rape, sadly passed away in South Africa yesterday. Her family said in a statement Sunday: “It is with our deepest sorrow that the Kuzwayo family announces the passing of our daughter Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo. In our family she was lovingly known as Fezeka, and in […]

A South African National Parks (SANParks) employee – who took pride in showing visitors to the Kruger National Park a pride of lions – has been highly commended on social media for going that extra mile. And it turns out there are many others just as passionate at their job as him, who deserve to be acknowledged for […]

Citizens around the world have reacted with compassion to Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s words, on his 85th birthday on Friday, that he is in support of assisted death and would like that option himself. The South African living icon said: “I hope that when the time comes I am treated with compassion, and allowed to pass […]

One thing the Springboks have going for them is their awesome fans. Check out the way in which Kiwi reporter Liam Napier describes South African rugby fans at King’s Park, in Durban, on Saturday evening: “There’s nothing quite like a test in Africa. Supporters gather around the venue on the outer field hours before kickoff, […]

Springbok coach Allister Coetzee on Saturday said his team were outplayed in defeat by New Zealand in Durban on Saturday. The All Blacks recorded their biggest ever win against the Boks, breaking the 36-point margin in Pretoria back in 2003 with a 57-15 win today (that’s a margin of 42). Coetzee said he was embarrassed by the result as […]

We may not have won the rugby this evening, but Scott Bouverie from KwaZulu-Natal flew the flag for South Africa in Turkey today… where he secured third place in an intense three-day international Extreme Enduro ‘Sea to Sky’ race. Scott beat some of the best riders in the world in Kemer, Turkey, to clinch podium position […]

South African supermodel Candice Swanepoel has given birth to her first child, a baby boy named Anacã. The 27-year-old Victoria’s Secret model, and her Brazilian fiancé Hermann Nicoli, welcomed their son into the world on Friday. The happy news was revealed by her photographer friend Jerome Duran who posted a photo of a naked Candice […]

South Africa is known for its extreme income inequality, which is one of the highest in the world. Ten percent of the population earn around 55%–60% of all income, compared to only 20-35% in the advanced economies. But while the top income share is high in its own right, it pales in comparison to those […]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla./PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) – Hurricane Matthew’s winds diminished on Saturday as it headed towards the Carolinas after killing almost 900 people in Haiti and causing major flooding and widespread power outages in the southeastern United States.   As winds dropped to less than 85 miles per hour (135 kph), making it a Category 1 […]

African stories and black protagonists show diversity is on the rise at the 60th London Film Festival which kicked off on Wednesday, according to a Reuters report (watch video below). The opening film – “A United Kingdom” – tells the true story of an African king and white British woman whose marriage triggered a political crisis […]

COCOA VILLAGE, Fla. (Reuters) – Mike Ryan packed his wife, daughter, three grandchildren, two dogs and three cats into a minivan and waved as they drove off on Thursday, leaving him behind to spend the night in his coastal Florida pub. Ryan decided to stay put and guard his business despite warnings from officials from […]

(Reuters) – The coast-hugging path that forecasters expect Hurricane Matthew to take as it moves up the Atlantic seaboard on Friday and Saturday could make the storm one of the most devastating ever to hit the U.S. Southeast, according to experts. If Matthew skirts the coast of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as experts expect, […]

ORLANDO, Fla./MIAMI (Reuters) – Hurricane Matthew, carrying winds of 120 miles per hour (195 kph), lashed Florida on Friday and cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes as it hugged the state’s Atlantic coast on a northward track after killing hundreds of people in Haiti. Matthew, the first major hurricane to threaten a direct […]

According to an anonymous message on Facebook, there is currently a Russian boat docked in Walvis Bay, Namibia, with a Chinese owner and crew who are seeking permission to catch a ton of dolphins, orcas and endangered African penguins to take back to China for an aquarium. The boat is allegedly equipped with tanks and devices […]

PRETORIA – Outgoing Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela has reported that her meeting on Thursday with South African President Jacob Zuma, and his legal team, was “cordial”. The meeting in Pretoria formed part of her investigation into alleged involvement of the Gupta family in such matters as the hiring and firing of Cabinet Ministers, securing of state contracts and other improper and perhaps […]

Awesome two-time Olympian Chad le Clos swam his way into the history books yesterday as he led South Africa to third place on the medals table at the two-day FINA / airweave World Cup in Dubai. In winning the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 49.14 seconds, Le Clos claimed his 100th World Cup gold medal! […]

PRETORIA – The price of all grades of petrol and diesel increased in South Africa on 5 October 2016. The Department of Energy said, based on current local and international factors, the price of petrol (93 ULP and LRP) was increasing by 44 cents per litre; petrol (95 ULP and LRP) by 43 cents per litre while diesel […]

In a week in which Professor Jonathan Jansen described the current protests at campuses around South Africa as a “tragic movie [that] does not end well”, the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has invited all students, staff and alumni to attend a General Assembly on Friday 7 October from 11:00 to 12:30. Wits said: “It is […]

A small troop of baboons visited the home of Hermanus resident Carla Sinclair Duckitt earlier this week… and took advantage of her jacuzzi to cool down during the above average temperatures. Hermanus mascots – Mielies and MaltaBella – can be heard barking with surprise in the background. (The two dogs have their own Facebook page and travel with […]