With the latest announcement of petrol price increases and ongoing power cuts (aka loadshedding), popular South African tiktokker Sami Hall says it may be time to start using donkey carts… or emigrate. BUT she admits (with a laugh and a snort!), she has Stockholm Syndrome and is in love with her captors… so she would […]

The Financial Action Task Force has placed South Africa on a list of countries under increased monitoring, commonly known as the grey list after it failed to address all of the shortcomings of money laundering and the financing of terrorism that the task force identified in its 2019 evaluation of the country. The decision has serious […]

National Hawks Head, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, has commended the Directorate’s Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team for seizing R30 million worth of suspected illicit cigarettes in Limpopo. In a multi-disciplinary sting operation with the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Limpopo, the Hawks, the South African National Defence Force and South African Revenue Services pounced […]

At least six elephants have been gunned down in less than five months in northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). And in January, a tourist viewing boat came under fire by armed gunmen in KZN. Elephant monitor, Suzette Boshoff, was on the boat that day. She says: “They came to Africa for a beautiful African experience, and they […]

Beàtha Groenewald, secretary of the North-West University’s (NWU) Potchefstroom Student Campus Council (SCC), has resigned after NWU’s alleged bully behaviour made her position unbearable. Groenewald was initially dismissed on 13 February after a decision was made that students from town residence would be excluded from the Puk’s welcoming function, based on their racial composition. She […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) announced today – Friday 24 Feb – that they are closely monitoring the path of cyclone Freddy and relying on updates from the South African Weather Service (SAWS), which has warned that parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga might be affected. All camps in the Kruger National Park (KNP) – with […]

South Africa’s Big Concerts has called out US reseller Viagogo for their “false and misleading representations to South African consumers”. Viagogo has already been called out by Australia, Italy and New Zealand for its allegedly harmful practices. Big Concerts claims that Viagogo uses Google advertisements to create an impression that it’s a legitimate seller of […]

A distraught uncle from Zithulele Village near Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape says it was the smell of a decomposing corpse and flies that led the family to his niece’s body after she was swept away during flooding a week ago. Thousands of families in the OR Tambo District Municipality are stranded and cut […]

South Africa’s Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, announced on Thursday, the first death linked to the recent cases of cholera detected in South Africa, as the number of laboratory-confirmed cases rises to five. Earlier this month the department had announced three cases of cholera identified in South Africa. The first cases were reported at […]

Australian neighbours, friends and colleagues have paid tribute to South African grandparents Linda (66) and Ernest Gielink (70) who tragically died in a suspected murder-suicide in Perth a few days ago. Their bodies were found on Sunday evening by their daughter at their Cooloongup home, after she battled to get hold of them for a […]

For South Africans abroad who are unable to view the Andre de Ruyter interview in our earlier article (because the video has been blocked to anyone outside SA), here’s a version you should be able to view in most countries. WATCH Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter’s explosive interview and shocking revelations about corruption in high […]

As South Africans reel from Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter’s explosive interview about corruption in high places (bringing SA to its knees with power cuts), it’s time to also pay tribute to those people and things that have lightened the loadshedding load. SA author, Cape Town mom, and outdoor communication consultant Kim Nicola Stephens pays […]

South Africa’s current electricity crisis has been described as “a perfect storm”. A number of factors have converged to reach this point: an ageing and inadequately maintained fleet of coal power stations, delays in upgrading the Koeberg nuclear power station and significant failures at the recently built Medupi and Kusile coal power stations. Since the […]

Health activists demonstrating in Cape Town for a rise in the tax on sugary drinks were disappointed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s announcement in his Budget speech that the tax would be frozen for two years. Godongwana said this was “due to the difficult operating environment for the sugar industry from the impact of flooding […]

Outgoing Eskom CEO André de Ruyter is to leave Eskom with “immediate effect”, Eskom said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening. (Watch the full Andre de Ruyter’s full interview that led to his sudden exit from Eskom.) This follows an explosive interview which was posted to YouTube by Orca Media, in which De Ruyter […]

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has announced with “deep sadness” the passing of beloved baboon, Van Damme… after the adult male sustained severe injuries in a fight with another baboon. The SPCA said it “deeply regrets to announce the euthanasia of the adult male baboon WF8, better known to locals and his fans as […]

Showmax has released the first trailer for Stella Murders, a new true crime documentary from David Enright and IdeaCandy, the director and production company respectively behind the breakout hit Devilsdorp, one of Showmax’s ten most streamed titles of 2021, which sold internationally and won the 2022 SAFTA for Best Made for TV Documentary. New Showmax Original true crime […]

The tragedy of the SS Mendi was marked on Tuesday (21 Feb) by the people of Portsmouth, in the UK, with a memorial service for the 647 men, mainly black, who lost their lives in the English Channel on the way to France to fight for the allied forces in the First World War. South […]

A middle-aged woman tragically bled to death at her Britstown home in the Northern Cape of South Africa, over the weekend, due to the unavailability of a state ambulance to ensure that she was able to access medical care. Sadly, the 52-year old woman’s family did not have R1,500 to call for the private ambulance […]

At the Tourism Portfolio Committee today, it was revealed that the three South African Tourism Board members that replaced those who recently resigned have been irregularly appointed by the Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu. “By her own admission, the three resignations were submitted at the beginning of February on a Wednesday and she replaced the resigned Board […]

North West Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC, Nono Maloyi, has urged communities throughout the province, especially those in low-lying areas, to exercise caution as the province continues to experience above-normal rains. “The North West province, like many other parts of the country, has been receiving heavy rains in the past days, causing flooding […]

Everyone is vulnerable in some way, whether it’s to natural disasters, chronic diseases or hunger. But some are more at risk than others because of what they are exposed to socially, economically and environmentally. This phenomenon is known as social vulnerability. It refers to the attributes of society that make people and places susceptible to […]

Earlier this month, Cape Town’s average water usage exceeded one billion litres a day for the first time since 2014. The City of Cape Town’s current water usage target is 850-million litres a day. Last week, usage averaged 950-million litres a day. More needs to be done to reduce Cape Town’s water usage, an expert […]

The South African government is to challenge a Pretoria High Court order that directs Home Affairs to grant asylum to 22 asylum seekers from Afghanistan. Home Affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi blames an American NGO – The Lifeline Foundation – for the High Court’s ruling, and says the NGO is trying to undermine South Africa’s […]

In the small community of Kirstenhof, South Africa, a heartwarming story is unfolding. Daryn Sutton, a 56-year-old resident, is taking action to help Kerneelz, his friend’s beloved old frosty-faced dog. Daryn, who is partially deaf-blind says he relates to Kerneelz who is stone deaf and partially-blind… Kerneelz, a Boxer in his 14th year, has recently […]