Everyone needs a laugh these days, and here’s the trailer for the perfect TV series to deliver – Tali’s Joburg Diary, the hilarious third instalment of the first ever Showmax Original – named SA’s Best Comedy for two seasons in a row at the SAFTAs. Showmax just dropped the trailer – showing Tali trying to […]

Stage 4 loadshedding – South Africa’s word for planned power outages – was implemented early this morning, while most South Africans were still asleep. For Capetonians, fortunately, only Stage 2 was implemented. This will change to Stage 3 at 16:00, followed by Stage 4 overnight from 22h00. Eskom said the load shedding was implemented at […]

South Africa’s Professor Tulio de Oliveira has received huge praise at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany. The globally acclaimed bioinformatics scientist has been singled out for his sterling genomic sequencing work that led to the discovery of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. SA’s Health Ministry congratulated Prof de Oliveira who has been “praised […]

Scientific breakthroughs can happen in the strangest ways and places. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin because of mould growing on a Petri dish left out while he was on holiday. Chinese monks in the 9th century wanted to make a potion for immortality: instead, they discovered gunpowder. By Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University and Jan Carlo […]

Grant paid within eight days of application. By Raymond Joseph Former National Lotteries Commission chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba personally recommended a R4.8-million grant, supposedly for a rural soccer tournament, to a company of which his wife was a director. R3-million of this money helped buy a luxury home for the NLC’s former board chairperson. […]

The DA has won its battle to force President Cyril Ramaphosa to withdraw amendments he secretly made to the Ministerial Handbook back in April. While South Africans face loadshedding and water shortages, the amendments planned to force taxpayers to foot the bill for the ministers who helped create the crisis to enjoy free electricity and water. […]

There has been outrage in South Africa in the past week over the alleged “secret abuse” by President Cyril Rampahosa of the Ministerial Handbook to dish out expensive perks to ministers and deputy ministers. (See video below.) UPDATE: Ramaphosa withdraws Ministerial Handbook. Opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has exposed how due to Ramaphosa’s amendments to […]

City of Cape Town says the cause is probably growth of algae. By Liezl Human. The fish die-off in the polluted Milnerton Lagoon in Cape Town on 8 October was the result of algae growth, says the City of Cape Town. The City said the growth of algae had depleted oxygen in the water. The […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the “phenomenally successful” official State Visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this weekend has paved the way for billions of dollars’ worth of investments to flow into South Africa. The visit to the Middle Eastern country was aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and trade relations between the two countries. The […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah appeared on The Tonight Show this week, opening up about his decision to leave The Daily Show, people mistaking him as The Weeknd during Halloween in New York, and his new documentary series The Turning Point, which starts on 23 October and takes a deeper dive into the news behind […]

British-South African endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh – who is currently swimming across the Red Sea (the first person to ever do so!) – has swum into Sharm El-Sheikh with an urgent message for world leaders, who will be gathering at the Egyptian resort in three week’s time for this year’s crucial UN Climate Summit (COP27). […]

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has said he can no longer indefinitely pay for the critical satellite services in the Ukraine, which his company SpaceX has been funding, at a cost of $80-million so far. He has allegedly asked the Pentagon to start helping to fund the service. Fans of Musk, who was born […]

Reuters – Robbie Coltrane, the larger-than-life Scottish actor who played Hagrid, Hogwarts’ giant caretaker, in the Harry Potter films, died on Friday (October 14) at the age of 72, his agent said. His agent Belinda Wright announced in a statement: “My client and friend Robbie Coltrane OBE passed away on Friday October 14. Robbie was […]

Tourists from around the world have had to wait in customs on average for at least three hours at OR Tambo International Airport due to the piloting of a new biometric system, according to the DA that says it has been alerted to these delays in tourists being able to reach the public arrivals area. […]

The Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden is a spectacular showcase of flora from South Africa’s arid and semi-arid regions. Located in Worcester, the garden is famous for its kokerboom, succulents, aloes and bright coloured vygies (when in season). And with a brand new braille trail, these attractions have become more accessible than ever. A braille […]

Here’s what’s coming up on Carte Blanche this weekend. You can watch the show on Sunday 16 October in South Africa on DStv Now or stream it overseas in most countries from 18 October if you’re abroad. Mammabearsteffs Behind the decks her grey hair is backlit by laser lights. She whoops at the crowd and […]

KZN-based comedian Rory Petzer has come up with some classic tips on questions to ask on a first date if you’re in Durban, South Africa. As he says: “Dating is different in 2022. ?????” In a 50″ video, Rory says the tips are for those in Durban, and in South Africa in general. Gone are […]

Forté Entertainment is currently casting for the second season of HOW I GOT HERE, a documentary TV series where second-generation Americans and Canadians embark on the adventure of a lifetime: travelling with a parent back to their country of origin to explore their culture, immerse themselves in local customs, and reunite with loved ones. And […]

Each time the United Nations gathers to debate and vote on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it becomes more obvious that the vast majority of the international community condemns the invasion and wants the conflict to stop. But what is also becoming clear is that the world is hopelessly divided as to how to bring the […]

JOHANNESBURG – Comedy Central announced today that Trevor Noah will be hosting his final episode of ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah’ on Thursday, December 8th. Leading up to his last day, the Emmy®-winning franchise will celebrate Noah’s seven-year run with a look back at his greatest moments. The award-winning late-night franchise will then return […]

A coalition of Cederberg-Eerste (CE), Democratic Alliance (DA) and Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) in the Cederberg Municipality yesterday won the by-election in Lamberts Bay / Leipoltville (Ward 5) convincingly. In a joint statement today (Thursday), the coalition said its first task is “to assess and repair the damage caused by the ANC and the […]

(Reuters) – The world’s richest man, Elon Musk who was born and brought up in South Africa, has scented a new opportunity to capitalise on quirky products, launching a perfume called “Burnt Hair” that  sold 10,000 bottles to earn a million dollars in just a few hours. By the time Musk went to sleep on […]

Fugitive Ruth Lawrence, who has been on the run for eight years for the double murder of two best friends has agreed to return to Ireland to face the music. She has been hiding in South Africa for the past eight years. Dubliner Ruth, 42, was dramatically arrested in South Africa last week after a […]

PARKTOWN – The Serious and Violent Crime (SVC) unit in Gauteng has arrested Johannesburg’s most wanted suspected arsonist. The notorious criminal – known as the ‘Sandton Arsonist’ – is linked to murder, residential burglary and 25 counts of arson committed in Johannesburg northern suburbs in the past two years. The arrest took place at around […]

JOHANNESBURG (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – For more than a decade, musician Thomas Nhassavele has been busking next to the parking payment machine at Johannesburg’s Rosebank Mall, South Africa, where drivers often dropped their change into his guitar case. By Kim Harrisberg But Nhassavele’s takings have dwindled in the past year or two as growing numbers […]