India and South Africa’s official cricket bodies have taken the difficult joint decision to not make any tickets available for the upcoming Proteas vs India tour. This is to protect both the players and the tour, said Cricket SA. The matches  – due to begin in less than a week – will however be broadcast […]

Il Divo baritone singer Carlos Marin has tragically passed away at the age of 53 after reportedly contracting Covid-19 in the UK. The Spanish singer, who was born in Germany, had fallen ill on 7 December. He had been admitted to hospital in Manchester a few days ago, and had been intubated and placed in […]

South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, has tested positive for COVID-19. The Minister tested positive on Saturday, 18 December 2021, after experiencing mild symptoms. According to the Presidency, “Minister Mantashe is in good spirits and he is currently in self-isolation.” The Presidency said on Friday that President Cyril Ramaphosa is also […]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The World Trade Organization is close to resolving a dispute over how to spread COVID-19 vaccines more widely and fairly, but is facing an “orchestrated effort” – including deliberate leaks – to block a deal, the body’s chief said on Thursday… By Philip Blenkinsop. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters she had […]

You wouldn’t be surprised to see a game of snakes and ladders under the Christmas tree… but imagine the shock for a Western Cape family, when they saw a real live snake IN their Christmas Tree. And it wasn’t just any snake. It was a boomslang… which is of course named for the fact that […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South Africans to get vaccinated to avoid severe illness or death from Covid-19, as he recovers from the viral infection. According to Reuters, his office said on Monday that the President is “still showing mild symptoms and has had to delay a booster vaccine he was due to receive this […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has tested positive for Covid-19 today (Sunday 12 December 2021), and is receiving treatment for mild symptoms of the viral infection. According to the Presidency, the President started feeling unwell after leaving the State Memorial Service in honour of former Deputy President FW de Klerk in Cape Town earlier today… although he […]

A South African traveller, who flew from Cape Town via Germany, on his way to the Netherlands, has shared his unfortunate experience and offered some advice for others contemplating a trip to Europe. For obvious reasons he’d like to remain anonymous. We’ll call him Jannie. Jannie told SAPeople he had been studying in the Netherlands, […]

A convicted fraudster wanted by the Portuguese Government has apparently been hiding out – particularly in luxury hotels – in South Africa. He was arrested this morning in Umhlanga Rocks, north of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Portuguese authorities have praised South African law enforcement for his swift arrest. The South African Police Service (SAPS) said Joao Manuel […]

Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse (from the DA) has issued a statement correcting “malicious” Mayoral Committee announcement rumours. She said reports have been circulating in the media regarding exorbitant costs associated with the meeting, which was postponed. Yesterday ANC Johannesburg secretary Dada Morero issued a statement calling on “the Barbie doll Mpho Phalatse to publicly state […]

The South African National Parks (SANParks) has today (Sat 11 Dec) warned social media users about a video being shared which shows a severely injured White Rhino cow. The video is distressing to watch, warned SANParks. The gruesome discovery of the badly mutilated female rhino was made by SANParks’ rhino dehorning team on Thursday, in […]

A whale carcass was sadly found washed ashore in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday (Thurs 9 Dec). By nightfall the carcass, which had beached amongst rocks on the Sea Point shoreline, had been removed. Jacques du Toit, City of Cape Town Environmental Management representative, said it’s “very difficult to say what the cause of death […]

Heartless poachers have brutally shot dead four rhinos at a private game reserve in South Africa, and horrifically wounded a fifth with a shot to the head – just to saw off their horns for cash. The ruthless gang used high-powered rifles fitted with silencers to butcher the herd and even sawed off a fibreglass […]

South Africa has recorded 22 391 new COVID-19 cases, representing a 29.8% positivity rate. This means there are now 3 093 452 laboratory-confirmed cases since the outbreak, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Thursday. This as there has been 19 988 045 tests conducted. Gauteng recorded the highest number of infections after 11 […]

Vultures across Africa and the globe are experiencing population declines. This is no different in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – the southernmost breeding range of three of the tree-nesting Vulture species. (See video below.) KZN’s vulture population contributes significantly to South Africa’s breeding population, located within the breeding range for all three tree […]

Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula is demanding an apology and R2 million from GroundUp’s reporters Raymond Joseph and Masego Mafata and from the Daily Maverick. This follows the publication last Monday of our (GroundUp’s) article The minister, the Lottery boss and the luxury R5.6 million home by the Daily Maverick. The letter of demand from Mbalula’s […]

While initial laboratory experiments in South Africa have shown that the Omicron variant can “partially evade” protection from the Pfizer vaccine, the news is still better than expected and more promising than many headlines that went out on Tuesday night around the world. Alex Sigal, a professor at the Africa Health Research Institute, announced the […]

Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has paid tribute to the late former struggle veteran, Ebrahim Ebrahim. “It is with a very heart that I learned of Ebrahim Ebrahim’s passing,” the Minister tweeted on Monday. Sisulu described the former Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, affectionately known as Ebie, as a committed member of the African […]

The South African Health Department has withdrawn access to EVDS data since October… By James Stent The National Department of Health has blocked access to data from the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) to researchers from the South African Medical Research Council (MRC), the Western Cape health department, and university-affiliated pandemic research groups. This means […]

PORT EDWARD, South Africa (Reuters) – South Africans took to their beaches around the country on Sunday to protest against plans by Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company Shell to do seismic oil exploration which conservationists say will threaten marine wildlife such as whales, dolphins, seals, turtles and penguins on the pristine coastal stretch of […]

The Gauteng Health Department in South Africa has spent over R1-million – R1,064,420 to be exact – on e-tolls for its vehicles since January last year, according to the DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, Jack Bloom. Bloom was given the information by Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi in a written reply to Bloom’s questions […]

The fourth wave has sparked an increase in hospital admissions in children under the age of five, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). In a briefing led by Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, the NICD’s Dr Waasila Jassat said there has been a rise in children who are in hospital for COVID-19 […]

Two hippos at a zoo in Belgium have tested positive for Covid-19. Fortunately the animals appear to have only a mild form of the illness. Antwerp Zoo said on Facebook: “Our hippos Hermien and Imani have tested positive for COVID-19.” The zoo said that despite the positive test, the animals – aged 41 (Hermien) and […]

SOUTH AFRICA (Reuters) – A South African high court, in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape, on Friday struck down an urgent application brought by environmentalists to stop oil major Royal Dutch Shell starting seismic surveys to explore for petroleum systems off the eastern seaboard’s popular Wild Coast. The applicants, which included Greenpeace Africa and fishermen, […]

British tourists reacted with fury on Thursday as they boarded the first British Airways (BA) flight home from Cape Town since Boris Johnson cancelled all flights back to the UK from South Africa last Friday. They were further angered by the disruption and chaos brought to their holidays when BA sent out a text late […]