South African legal history will be made in the Cape High Court on Tuesday where the first part of novel litigation involving a R14.25m defamation suit by mining interests against activists has been set down for hearing. The defendants argue that it is a ‘SLAPP’ suit. SLAPP is an acronym for Strategic Litigation Against Public […]

A young man in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, is making a living by carving curios from the wooden planks of discarded pallets. Inspired by his carpenter grandfather, Ulundi Mpulu started making curios. He uses discarded wooden pallets he finds in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth. He’d like to teach others to emulate his business. Ulundi Mpulu, who […]

After years of South African train stations being subjected to unsolved arson attacks and hundreds of trains being burned, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA has dismissed four senior officials over their awarding of security-related tenders. Prasa said in a statement today that this followed a disciplinary enquiry of the executives, who were in its […]

Government’s lack of transparency means analysts cannot evaluate whether a strategy is working… writes Alex van den Heever on GroundUp. The response required to address the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa could reasonably be argued to necessitate the extraordinary step to invoke the Disaster Management Act. After all, in times of crisis, even the old Roman […]

An urgent intervention and investigation of a Durban quarantine facility is being sought by both the DA and AfriForum to resolve what the opposition party calls an “untenable situation”. About 160 to 200 South Africans are currently being quarantined in Durban hotel, Coastlands… which they claim is dirty and unsafe, and where they are allegedly […]

The rand strengthened to below R17 to the US dollar today, for the first time in almost 11 weeks, after suffering record lows in April, when it went over R19. It was trading at about R16.91 late in the day. The currency was close to R14 to the dollar in late December, and was in […]

South Africa’s government is proud that its response to Covid-19 relies on science. It might be prouder if it was also guided by knowledge of how society works. When South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown began on 27 March, opposition from some quarters was inevitable. What was not expected was that the most vehement resistance would be […]

In six months’ time the world’s gaze will be trained on what is gearing up to be a contentious and hotly contested presidential election in the US. Irrespective of who emerges victorious between the incumbent President Donald Trump and the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, South Africa needs to start thinking about what it stands to […]

Although liquor sales are allowed from today, the two-month ban on the sale of alcohol, combined with a ban on exports, has had a devastating impact on the wine industry. According to figures released by Vinpro last week, about 80 wineries and 350 producers have gone out of business, and 18,000 workers have lost their […]

It has been 9 weeks since the ban on the purchase of alcohol was announced in South Africa as part of Lockdown regulations. Filmmaker and photographer Martin de Kock from MDKafrica was on the scene Monday morning to capture these photos of the long queues of South Africans as bottle stores re-opened for the first […]

A business rescue plan for South Africa Airways was leaked to the media before it could be commented on by stakeholders, such as the government and the airline’s creditors, according to the business rescue practitioners Siviwe Dongwana and Les Matuson. Reports in the media earlier today said the “leaked” report put forward a plan that […]

There is intense pressure on the South African government to lift the lockdown and open the economy. Sustainably lifting out of the lockdown is critical. But there is no roadmap. The stakes are high and there are no right answers, just ones that juggle uncertain probabilities. Diminishing growth over the past decade has weakened industry […]

Thousands of South Africans arrested for minor infringements of lockdown rules, and forced to pay admission of guilt fines (to stay out of jail), have now earned themselves criminal records. According to current affairs show, Carte Blanche, these people were going about lawful essential tasks of buying food, prepaid electricity and fetching their children. They […]

As a philanthropist rather than a psychologist I know more about people helping each other than I know about why they do it. What I know at the moment is that we’re seeing much more in the way of actual help for those affected by coronavirus than I’ve seen for any other cause, anywhere in […]

Dudu Myeni, who was chairman of the board of South African Airways for five years from 2012 and “made headline news for the wrong reasons,” has been declared a delinquent director and will not be allowed to hold directorships of other companies. Judgment was handed down in the Pretoria High Court today in favour of […]

South Africa is currently one of the world’s largest carbon emitters. And it’s increasingly being viewed as a pariah that isn’t contributing as much as it could to the international fight against global warming and climate change. With a lot of other countries now moving away from fossil fuel-based electricity, there’s considerable pressure for South […]

As the continent marks the 57th Africa Day, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa – as African Union Chair – will lead the continent’s celebrations, which include a special virtual broadcast and the Africa Day Solidarity Concert for the COVID-19 Response Fund. Africa Day is celebrated on 25 May 2020 and marks the establishment of […]

US President Donald Trump is donating his salary for this quarter to the US Health Department for COVID-19 research. White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, announced the news at a press conference on Friday. McEnany said: “The President, as you are all well aware, donates his salary to various initiatives… across the Federal Government, and […]

Locked in South Africans (#LISA) this morning (22 May) lodged papers at a Gauteng court requesting urgent court action against the South African government which is not letting all South Africans, who have jobs abroad, return to their overseas homes. Representing approximately 3,500 South Africans currently stuck in SA, the Home Away from Home organisation […]

The South African Reserve Bank has cut the repo rate by 50 basis points, and from 22 May it will be 3.75 percent. SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago made the announcement on Thursday following a Monetary Policy Committee meeting. The cut is the third since the advent of COVID-19 in the country in March, when the […]

A field hospital to deal with COVID-19 patients is being set up in Tshwane with the help of BMW, Nissan, and the embassies of Germany and Japan. Gauteng premier David Makhura made the announcement while visiting the two automakers’ manufacturing plants in Rosslyn to see how they were applying the COVID safety regulations during work […]

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) announced today that it has facilitated the repatriation by air of 5,239 South Africans stranded abroad. According to DIRCO Minister Naledi Pandor, hundreds more have also returned through the country’s land borders. As several countries went into lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, an initial 3 637 requested […]

It is around 2pm on a cold afternoon in Tsakane in Gauteng, South Africa. Two friends, Musa*, 12, and Thato*, 11, are trying to sell the last of the stock of cigarettes and rizlas which they hide in their pockets. They are not wearing warm clothes or masks, and they haven’t showered or had breakfast […]

The Unemployment Insurance Fund has paid out over R14 billion in benefits to employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The total amount disbursed since 16 April is now just over R14 billion. This excludes normal payments the UIF makes, which are R1.849 billion, said UIF Commissioner, Teboho Maruping. On Monday, the UIF, which falls […]

South Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases now stand at 16 433 with 475 071 tests having been conducted. In a statement on Monday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said of the 475 071 tests conducted, 14 198 tests had been conducted in the last 24-hours. South Africa also reported a further 22 COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total number of deaths […]