If you’re travelling to South Africa, please take note – South African Airways (SAA) on Tuesday announced the prohibition of the use of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 mobile phone on all of its flights as of this week. “SAA has taken a decision to prohibit the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. The decision has been […]

Last week Western Cape photographer JUSTIN SULLIVAN reported on a beautiful and peaceful candlelit vigil at CPUT (Cape Peninsula University of Technology). Today he witnessed the contrast. An outbreak of violence at the University of Cape Town (UCT). “It was terrible to see violence erupt on UCT Campus this afternoon,” he says, “especially after my previous […]

At about 6:30am Monday morning about 30 student protesters blocked Baxter Road outside the University of Cape Town’s Tugwell and Leo Marquard residences. This is the main stop of the university’s shuttle service. The protesters eventually swelled to about a hundred people. At times private security moved the protesters out the road, but the protesters […]

Sometimes fans can spoil a good thing, and a post published yesterday on Facebook as a presumably well-intentioned salute to the good that the Democratic Alliance (DA) is doing in Joburg, is currently backfiring. The post – which appears to show how much the DA has cleaned up the streets of Joburg since they took over […]

Wildlife photographer Shane Wolf got the fright of his life when this elephant crashed into him during a safari visit to Zimbabwe last year. Writing on his Instagram page – @wolfography – Shane said: “My #1 experience from 2015 is none other than my close encounter with an elephant in Mana Pools Zimbabwe. These animals are among […]

South African sporting legend – and Technical Director of the SA Football Association (SAFA) – Neil Tovey (54) has suffered a heart attack. In a press statement, SAFA said his brother Mark Tovey confirmed the incident, adding that the former Bafana Bafana captain was in critical condition and doctors were battling hard to stabilise him. […]

While there’s a Jaws-like video that’s going viral right now (watch below), a passionate 14-year-old South African is doing his utmost to change public perception of sharks. The viral video – viewed on YouTube over nine million times in the past couple of days – was filmed off Guadalupe Island and shows a “very rare occurrence” […]

University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) students have been quick to distance themselves from the violent incidents which occurred in Braamfontein, South Africa, Friday night… where an SABC van was set alight, bottles were thrown at passing vehicles and students were allegedly shot with rubber bullets by police. One student – Arnold Maflow – tweeted just […]

While most South Africans were concerned Friday with farewelling Advocate Thuli Madonsela on her last day as South Africa’s Public Protector, and many were eager for her to reveal the results of her State Capture report (which she has given to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, for ‘safekeeping’), others were caught up in #ScienceMustFall… […]

While South Africa’s President Zuma has extended condolences to the people of Thailand following the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, there are many South Africans in the country who are as heartbroken and “gutted” as the locals. One South African, who has been living in Thailand for years, wrote: “RIP Your Majesty You are a […]

The South African President’s son, Edward Zuma, has released a media statement accusing Finance Minister Gordhan Pravin of being a “cry baby”, and outgoing Public Protector Adv Thuli Madonsela, and her “handlers” as being in “panic mood”. Supporting his father, the President’s son also took part in a radio interview late Thursday evening on Power […]

The relatively trivial nature of the charges against South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, and the way in which the prosecution has been pursued, leads to the conclusion that this is a trumped up charge. It also suggests that Gordhan is being prosecuted for reasons unrelated to the law and order mandate of the body […]

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane claims that the motive behind the summons – issued by special police unit, the Hawks, to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan – is because of an impending nuclear deal with a Russian delegation… which is allegedly in the country. In a tweet early Thursday, Maimane said: “We are reliably informed that there is high […]

South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, along with former SARS (SA Revenue Services) officials Ivan Pillay and Oupa Magashula, are being charged with fraud. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the three accused men have been informed of the decision and have been served summonses to appear in court on 02 November 2016. The […]

JOHANNESBURG – Photos of a Catholic Priest in Braamfontein, with blood streaming down his face, went viral today on social media. He had been hit by a rubber bullet during #FeesMustFall protests. Police claimed it was a stray bullet. Hylton White, a Faculty Member at Wits University, was there just before it happened… White wrote on Monday […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 – 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 […]