Since South Africa’s highest court decided Tuesday to allow the private use of marijuana, these are just some of the jokes and memes that South Africans have been sharing:

The release of crime statistics in South Africa always triggers great angst among ordinary citizens, and obfuscation on the part of the South African authorities. This year was no exception. In their latest release of crime statistics, the South African Police Service seem to have tried to downplay crime rate increases (and exaggerate crime rate […]

An independent team has been appointed to investigate the cause of the sad death of two learners in Gauteng, South Africa, yesterday. The deceased were siblings – a 10-year-old in Grade 4, and a seven-year-old in Grade 1. Both were at Kumalo Primary School in Katlehong. The elder child allegedly first complained in class of […]

In delivering today’s Crime Statistics for the 2017/2018 financial year, Police Minister Bheki Cele called the rate of murder “scary”. Fifty-seven people are murdered in South Africa every day, a statistic – he says – that requires more stringent action by the police. Sounding despondent, he said the stats are “nothing to write home about, […]

According to a report in South Africa’s Sunday Times today, former President Jacob Zuma and a handful of top ANC officials, are secretly plotting to topple President Cyril Ramaphosa. The ANC officials are named by the paper as including ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule, former North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo, ANC Women’s League Secretary-General Meokgo Matuba […]

Australia managed to crack their first win of the Rugby Championship with a 23-18 victory against South Africa in Brisbane, Queensland, on Saturday. For a change the Springboks were leading (just) at half-time… but the Australians managed to work hard at Lang Park and secure the win, breaking their four-match losing streak. In an exciting […]

Tesla shares tumbled more than 6% to $263.24 on Friday after the electric car company’s CEO, South African expat Elon Musk, smoked marijuana on a webcast. (Watch below.) He also wielded a sword, and his company announced its recently-appointed accounting chief had resigned because of “discomfort” with the attention on Tesla, and the pace of […]

A South African mom and grandmother took on armed hijackers in her drive-way and won! Watch below. The Alberton woman (42) told News 24 she was no hero and just did what she thought was best to protect her teenage daughter, who was a passenger in the car. The family has been receiving counselling, since […]

CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation could hit property prices and trigger a banking crisis, the chief executive of Nedbank warned parliament on Friday. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Aug. 1 that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) planned to change the constitution […]

This week’s episode of Carte Blanche reveals more on State Capture, patients taking control of Diabetes, the important first 1000 days of a child’s life, and a hitman ‘Hired to Kill’ by an accused murderer in jail. The show is available to South Africans abroad from Tuesday 11 September 2018 – if you subscribe to […]

A South African expat living in the US recently discovered she was a sperm donor child. She is now on a mission to find the former Wits Medical School student who donated his sperm. Another South African expat, a medical practitioner living in the UK, was once a sperm donor from Wits. Below they each speak […]

Burt Reynolds, whose good looks and charm made him one of Hollywood’s most popular actors as he starred in films such as “Deliverance,” “The Longest Yard” and “Smokey and the Bandit” in the 1970s and ’80s, has died at age 82. Reynolds died on Thursday morning at the Jupiter Medical Center in Florida, his manager, […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised a new investigation into a water ministry contract with German software firm SAP on Thursday, citing allegations that public money was spent unlawfully. The investigation by South Africa’s Special Investigating Unit (SIU) comes after the country’s anti-graft agency said in March it was conducting its own […]

The Johannesburg Zoo has announced the sad passing of Kinkel, a popular 35-year-old male elephant who died on Tuesday morning. The Zoo said it is in mourning for the legendary elephant which was born in the wild, but due to an injury from poachers landed up living in the zoo because he couldn’t be returned […]

JOHANNESBURG – The City of Joburg is heartbroken today as the death toll in the fire at the Department of Health has risen to three firefighters. The brave firemen paid the ultimate sacrifice, losing their lives while trying to rescue others and extinguish a fire which broke out on the 23rd floor of the Bank […]

A Gauteng firefighter, trying to rescue others, has tragically died after slipping off the balcony of the 23rd floor of a burning building in Johannesburg, South Africa. City of Joburg EMS (Emergency Medical Services) tweeted: “Sadly one of our own has fell from the building and has since passed on.” Earlier incorrect reports in local […]

The African National Congress says the latest figures from Statistics SA represent an urgent call to action for all South Africans to rally behind a common vision of growing the economy and job creation. The figures show that the South African economy moved back into a technical recession with a negative growth rate of (-0.7%) […]

The Botswana government has issued a statement refuting local and international reports of an alleged elephant poaching massacre that has resulted in the carcasses of 87 slain elephants being found near the Okavango Delta wildlife sanctuary. The 87 carcasses have been counted by Elephants Without Borders (EWB), a conservation nonprofit organisation that has been contracted […]

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday revealed the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures fell by 0,7% in the second quarter of the year 2018… and, judging from the comments on Twitter, South Africans realised they can no longer blame former President Jacob Zuma. These latest figures have pushed the country into a recession – […]

Today many South Africans – including the Democratic Alliance (DA) – rushed to convey their condolences to Miguel Louw’s family, as the decomposed body of a child was found in Phoenix yesterday near to where he went missing. However, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has asked the public not to jump to the conclusion […]

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Two South African peacekeepers were wounded in a rebel ambush near the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, their U.N. mission said on Tuesday. The attack on Monday, on the outskirts of the city of Beni, underscored the challenges authorities face in tackling […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan issued evacuation advisories for more than a million people and canceled hundreds of flights as Typhoon Jebi sliced across the west on Tuesday, cutting power, overturning cars and killing at least six people. Jebi, or “swallow” in Korean, was briefly a super typhoon and is the most powerful storm to hit […]

PRETORIA (Reuters) – South Africa entered recession in the second quarter for the first time since 2009, data showed on Tuesday, in a stinging blow to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to revive the economy after a decade of stagnation. Statistics South Africa said the economy contracted by 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter, led by declines in the […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – At least eight people were killed in an explosion at a South African munitions depot in Somerset West, near Cape Town, but the cause of the blast was still unknown, a fire and rescue official said on Monday. The blast occurred at Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) depot, a joint venture between Germany’s […]

Kevin Anderson is unfortunately out of the US Open, the super tall South African being brought down to earth in round four by Austria’s Dominic Thiem on Sunday afternoon. But it’s not all bad news for South Africa as Philip Henning won through to the second round of the US Open Juniors. Thiem stretched 2017 […]