A peaceful protest is planned against farm murders and violence on Friday 16 October, in Senekal in the Free State, South Africa… where last week an angry crowd of farmers stormed the Senekal court holding cells when two suspects appeared in connection with the brutal murder of young farm manager Brendin Horner. Later a police […]

South Africa has recorded 888 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of detected cases to 693 359. “Regrettably, we report 83 more COVID-19 related deaths – 17 from the Eastern Cape, 43 from the Free State, two from KwaZulu-Natal, 11 from Gauteng and seven from the Western Cape. “This brings the total number of […]

Shoprite Checkers (Pty) Ltd (Shoprite) has agreed to stop enforcing exclusivity provisions in its long-term exclusive lease agreements with its landlords against small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and speciality and limited line stores. This is according to a consent agreement between the Competition Commission (the Commission) and Shoprite. “In effect, this agreement stops Shoprite […]

Within the media and popular culture of the global north, cities like Johannesburg are often presented as a site of trouble. They’re the source of the immigrants, drugs, violence, poverty, disease and environmental crisis that worry nervous citizens of more “developed” cities. Even when they take centre stage in international media production, global south cities […]

The Expropriation Bill 2020 has been submitted to Parliament for introduction. The bill, which is set to replace the Expropriation Act of 1975 that is inconsistent with the Constitution, was gazetted on 09 October 2020. The bill is part of the work of government in ensuring that a comprehensive land redistribution for agricultural purpose, human […]

The South African government has initiated a process to formalise and regulate the country’s large, yet informal minibus taxi industry, with a view to making it viable and free of violence. The government envisions the industry being restructured “along legally recognised business units” that pay corporate tax and comply with labour laws. Formalisation will eventually […]

This Sunday Carte Blanche investigates what it means to be able to cross a borderline with no passport controls or customs checks. South Africans living in small towns along the eastern Free State’s highly porous border with Lesotho are under severe pressure as farm attacks, stock theft and violence escalate. You can watch the show […]

Eskom’s maintenance efforts, which will help reduce load shedding, are likely to bear fruit next year, says Eskom Chief Executive Officer André de Ruyter. Speaking at the two-day Joburg Indaba that concluded on Thursday, de Ruyter said plans are in place to enable Eskom to achieve operational stability and, subsequently, significantly reduce the risk of […]

A former police officer, Post Office cleaner and two civilians were arrested on Wednesday, for alleged corruption and extortion, following a sting operation between the Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation Unit and Provincial Anti-Corruption Unit. This comes after the Virginia Post Office manager in the Free State was allegedly approached and lured by one of her […]

Anyone who benefitted off of the VBS bank heist will sleep less peacefully from tonight, because its former chief financial officer agreed to a deal to cooperate with the National Prosecuting Authority. For his cooperation, Phillip Truter will have three years suspended on his 10-year sentence. Truter will cooperate with the NPA in its investigations […]

Thousands of workers and union supporters downed tools in support of a nationwide strike on Wednesday. In Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth memorandums were handed over to government representatives (protests reportedly took place in other cities, but these were the ones our reporters witnessed). The largest union federations participated in the strike, including […]

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, created in 1945 through an act of parliament, turned 75 yesterday – its diamond jubilee. Working quietly in the background all the years, its scientists have developed numerous innovations that have helped move not only Africa but the world ahead. The CSIR has become well known well known […]

The civil rights organisation AfriForum addressed the community of Senekal today and branded farm attacks and murders in South Africa as a form of terror. This announcement came after the recent brutal murder of Brendin Horner (22) on a farm outside this town, said AfriForum. Representatives of AfriForum formed part of the crowds who came […]

Property investment of almost R14 billion underpins the Cape Town CBD’s resilience in the face of the devastating health and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report. The State of Cape Town Central City Report 2019 – A Year in Review (SCCR), the eighth and the biggest so far, was published today […]

Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, says he has convened an inclusive meeting involving senior immigration officials and ports of entry managers to address challenges and confusion arising from the implementation of regulations pertaining to travel into South Africa. Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane was also consulted and fully endorses its outcome. Visa free status The visa […]

Several groups and individual farmers are expected to gather in Senekal, South Africa, today to support the community as two suspects in the murder of Paul Roux farm manager Brendin Horner (22) appear in the Senekal Magistrates Court. Brendin’s body was discovered tied to a pole in the Paul Roux district, Free State, on early […]

Cape Town entrepreneur, Shannon Smuts Brauer, will find out this week – on Thursday – if she has been shortlisted to the Top 10 in Chinese business mogul Jack Ma’s 2020 Africa Business Heroes Competition. Brauer – a former MasterChef SA Season 2 contestant – is the only South African who made it into the […]

PRETORIA – The National Commissioner of the South African Police, General Khehla John Sitole, and other senior officers met today with Agri SA, TLU SA and AfriForum in an effort to address matters of criminality affecting rural communities, and said that helicopters, drones and mounted reservists would be used more to tackle rural crimes. The […]

The South African Judge Albert Hoffmann has been elected president of the 168-member International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for the next three years. The ITLOS was established by the United Nations in 1982, with an international framework for law over “all ocean space, its uses and resources.” Based in Hamburg, Germany, there […]

South Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, has been elected as the chair of the ministerial body tasked with finalising negotiations on the terms for the commencement of the preferential trade under the African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Patel takes leadership of the African Ministers of Trade (AMOT) three months prior […]

South African consumers will breathe a sigh of relief at the pumps as the price of petrol is set to decrease by between 23 and 32 cents a litre. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) said the price of a litre of 93 (ULP and LRP) will come down by 23 cents while a […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday launched the Mooikloof Mega Residential City in Tshwane, Gauteng, which is geared to address the housing needs of the “missing middle”. The public-private partnership development seeks to assist the missing middle — people who earn too much to qualify for fully subsidised housing, but who don’t earn enough to afford debt-financed […]

After a decade-long struggle to register with the United Nations, AfriForum has received confirmation it is now officially registered with the UN’s Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC, as an NGO with special advisory status. AfriForum said that it would “take a strong view,” in any ECOSOC meetings it attended in future, on subjects like expropriation […]

It’s been an incredible week for anyone interested in the sight of politicians and businesspeople being arrested, charged and even sent to jail for their role in state capture and corruption. Friday ended with the bizarre news – even for South Africa – of a former police chief of KwaZulu-Natal “at large” after not turning […]

The government will release 700,000 hectares, the equivalent of 7000 square kilometres, of vacant state land in the next two weeks and lease it to qualifying applicants. The vacant or underutilised land is made of of 896 farms in all provinces except the Western Cape and Gauteng, according to a statement today by Agriculture, Land […]