The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Free State has strongly condemned the violent incident involving adult men assaulting children at a resort. The incident was recorded and is now being widely distributed on social media. The video was shared on Twitter on Christmas Day by radio presenter Tumii Frost who said: “Family came to spend […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The death toll from a gas tanker that exploded in Boksburg, Johannesburg on Saturday has nearly doubled to 18, authorities said, adding that they’d arrested the driver and charged him with culpable homicide. The blast, which tore the roof off the emergency department at the Tambo Memorial hospital, destroyed two houses, several […]

Here’s what’s coming up on Carte Blanche this week. You can watch the show today, Sunday 25 December in South Africa on DStv Now OR stream it overseas in most countries on Showmax from Tuesday 27 December if you’re abroad. Solo’s Strength Solomzi “Solo” Nqweni was a man with big dreams: he’d moved to Scotland […]

Eskom has announced a loadshedding-free Christmas Day for South Africans. The power utility said on Saturday afternoon: « Loadshedding will be suspended at 05:00 on 25 December until 05:00 on 26 December. Thereafter, Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented until 16:00 on 27 December, whereafter Stage 3 loadshedding will be implemented.« Eskom said the suspension […]

Photographer Masixole Feni captured children at play in Sea Point, Green Point, Mfuleni, Khayelitsha Site C, Happy Valley in Blackheath, and New Beginnings in Blue Downs. After taking these photographs, he reflected on the assignment. Children everywhere Everywhere you go, children gather in groups and play. Everywhere, running, playing. Even in town, kids don’t remain […]

South African police have been called upon to leave « no stone unturned » in the pursuit of criminals who kidnapped two engineers in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) last week. The Department of Water and Sanitation said the hijacked engineers had been contracted by the Mhlathuze Water Board. They were apparently working to restore water infrastructure in […]

South African sprinter Neo Mosebi preps himself for another typical day at SPIRE Academy – first, a morning training session, followed by a day’s worth of schoolwork and classes, a second-afternoon training session, and then returning back to his dorm for a few minutes of relaxing before returning to his schoolwork in preparation for the […]

Forty-seven white-backed vultures have been killed in a mass poisoning incident in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. Another five were injured. One of the key reasons for poisoning of vultures is for use in the traditional medicine trade. The gruesome discovery of the birds – some with their heads removed – was made on Sunday (18 […]

It is always important to consider whether it’s really necessary, or not, to ask for a personal loan or get into any kind of debt. However, in contexts like the present one, where interest rates are constantly increasing, we must be even more careful when it comes to making those kinds of decisions. The credit […]

A Cape Fur Seal has been rescued near a busy shopping mall, after it appeared to be on a mission to join the last-minute Christmas shoppers in Athlone, Cape Town. WATCH videos below. The Cape of Good Hope SPCA Wildlife Department, which carried out the rescue, joked: “It seems not even Cape Town’s wildlife is […]

The GroundUp RoundUp: A Year in Photos: 1. Zubaida Adams and her family have been trading at the Salt River Market for more than 50 years. Traders at the historic Salt River Market are concerned about their livelihoods after being excluded from new City of Cape Town development plans. 2. Plant poaching has become big […]

TotalEnergies, the French energy giant, intends to drill up to ten exploration wells for oil and gas in the deepwater Orange Basin along the west coast, as well as conduct sonar surveys and vertical seismic profiling, among other operations. The explorations will span from 188 kilometres offshore to 340 kilometres from the coast. French energy […]

Stage 6 loadshedding will be implemented from 20:00 tonight, until 05:00 tomorrow morning, according to the latest alert from Eskom. (See separate Cape Town schedule below.) The power utility promised that Stage 4 loadshedding will resume at 05:00 tomorrow morning until further notice. “This is necessary to ensure sufficient generation capacity is available tonight to […]

A Field Ranger in the Kruger National Park (KNP) was unfortunately severely injured by an elephant shortly after 08h00 this morning (Tues 20 December). The unnamed ranger was on patrol in the Pretoriuskop Section, in the south-western part of the Kruger, when the incident occurred, according to the South African National Parks (SANParks). « Preliminary […]

Brisbane’s famous cricket pitch – the Gabba – has received a ‘below average’ rating from the ICC, and has received one demerit point. The dismal rating follows the first Test between South Africa and Australia, which was held at the Queensland venue, and which received much criticism from both sides. Australia won the match by […]

South Africa’s Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has issued an alert to residents and holiday travellers of rabies in high-risk areas in the country. Rabies is particularly common in the following areas in South Africa, said the department: KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) – particularly the coastal areas Eastern Cape – particularly the coastal areas […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected leader of the governing African National Congress (ANC) on Monday, overcoming the “Farmgate” scandal (referring to the robbery and subsequent cover-up at his Phala Phala farm) and paving the way for him to contest the presidency again at 2024 elections. By Kopano Gumbi, Alexander Winning […]

There’s an amazing post going viral on social media… written by M&C Saatchi Abel Group founder Mike Abel who has a knack of inspiring South Africans and lifting the nation’s spirits. His latest offering, published here with Mike’s kind permission, is pure magic: We Still On We have Stage 6 load-shedding but our mountains and […]

A freak wave at Durban’s North Beach, KZN (KwaZulu-Natal), on Saturday afternoon tragically claimed three lives and left 17 people seriously injured. According to the KZN Premier, 35 lifeguards worked diligently in a mass rescue effort, and paramedics treated more than 100 people involved in the tragedy. KZN Emergency Services spokesperson Robert McKenzie told the […]

A wild elephant in the Greater Kruger, South Africa, joined a couple of Mbizi Lodge guests from Belgium at the lodge’s swimming pool last week! “It was a magical experience,” Wilfried Schildermans told SAPeople. He, and his wife, Linda Gevaerts stayed cool, calm and collected while the elephant enjoyed a pleasurable drink from the pool. […]

Can our planet recover from climate change? Commissioning Editor, Kofoworola Belo-Osagie, asked scientists to share the reasons they believe there is hope. Jennifer Fitchett, Associate Professor of Physical Geography, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. People are starting to notice the weather and climate and to understand climate […]

A scientist with terminal cancer, who lives in Oxford in the UK, has posted a tweet that has stopped social media users mid-scroll, and elicited an outpouring of love, well wishes and compassion. On Sunday morning, Professor Mark Stokes – who describes himself as a scientist, dad and not a robot – published the following […]

LUSAIL, Qatar (Reuters) – Argentina won their third World Cup in extraordinary style on Sunday, beating France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after Lionel Messi scored twice in a 3-3 draw that featured a hat-trick for Kylian Mbappe as the holders recovered from 2-0 down after 80 minutes. By Mitch Phillips It was an incredible […]

South African swimmer Chad le Clos has achieved what had appeared impossible… winning the 100m Butterfly today to become double World Champion at FINA (World Aquatics) in Melbourne, Australia. Just days ago Chad won the 200m Gold… after four years of a dry spell. Chad won back the 100m Gold in a time of 48.59, […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress nominated just two candidates to run for its top job on Saturday, leaving President Cyril Ramaphosa facing the health minister he suspended over corruption allegations in a party vote. By Tim Cocks and Alexander Winning The winner will have the ANC’s blessing to run for president […]