A year ago, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we predicted that school closures in South Africa would result in learning losses. A loss of contact learning time would lead to lower educational outcomes, and the losses would be higher in no-fee schools (serving children from low income families) than in fee-paying schools. Now […]

The COVID-19 crisis has revived discussions on localising vaccine manufacturing to the African region to reduce the dependence on imports. The fact that Africa is lagging so far behind on the COVID-19 vaccination compared with Europe and North America has highlighted the importance of the issue. Most African countries depend on the WHO-sponsored COVAX scheme, […]

South Africa has reported 9 160 new COVID-19 cases, said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). There were 36 858 COVID-19 tests conducted on Monday. This translated to a 24.9% positivity rate, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1 832 479. Of the latest infections, the majority were found in Gauteng (6 […]

South Africa’s internationally renowned opera singer Pretty Yende has described a horrific account of her experience at the hands of police officials at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris yesterday, Monday 21 June 2021. Yende (36) is in France to perform in La Sonnambula opera at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. It was just five years […]

South African professional cyclist Stefan de Bod will be flying the flag high for SA during this year’s Tour de France 2021 in what is a dream come true for the 24-year-old. Yesterday, he was announced as a Tour de France team cyclist for Astana Premier Tech. On Monday, Stefan said on social media: “First […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) and its COVAX partners are working with a South African consortium to establish its first COVID mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub. The SA consortium comprises Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of universities and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The move follows WHO’s global call […]

Melville’s 7th Street in Johannesburg, South Africa, has been named the 12th coolest street in the world in a Time Out survey which was based on the opinions of 27,000 city-dwellers worldwide. It’s the first time Time Out has featured a Coolest Street guide, and Main Road, Kalk Bay, in the Western Cape was also […]

As Covid-19 cases rise rapidly, Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi claims that hospitals are “still able to cope with the pressure at this stage”… but it’s an open secret in the province, amongst concerned friends and family, that some patients are being turned away. Others are sitting for two days in a chair, waiting for […]

An investigative team has revealed that sadly, the ‘diamonds’ that fortune seekers thought they had found in a village near Ladysmith, South Africa, were nothing more than quartz crystals. The team was deployed to investigate and identify the stones in KwaHlathi village following a ‘diamond rush’ last week which saw over 1,000 people from around […]

Photos are pouring in from around South Africa and the world, with the words “Baboons Belong” written on the palms of people’s hands, to raise awareness for a vastly improved management of these iconic animals in the Western Cape who currently face death if they don’t behave according to a set of what some people […]

There was joy for Wayde van Niekerk but more frustration for Caster Semenya at the Continental Tour Silver event meeting in Madrid on Saturday night. Van Niekerk, the current 400m Olympic champion, finished second in 44.56 seconds and although he was headed across the line by Colombia’s Anthony Zambrano (44.51), both men easily dipped inside […]

AfriForum has sent a formal PAIA application to the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 (MAC) and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to obtain documents and information from these organisations that relate to their review of ivermectin for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. As much of the country enters a third wave […]

With Lockdown restrictions eased since last year, the rhino poaching war has certainly heated up in South Africa. The last seven days have been hectic – a suspected rhino poaching kingpin gunned down just before appearing in court, three suspected poachers arrested in separate incidents (with tourists helping report them), and at least 21 poaching […]

For the first time in history, the entire country of South Africa may soon be lit up. Eskom has never been able to provide power to 100% of the population. And while the state-owned enterprise has battled to keep existing lights on, it has been unable to spend the time and energy needed to resurrect […]

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced Friday afternoon (18 June 2021) that South Africa’s long jumper Luvo Manyonga has been banned for four years. The AIU said in a tweet: “The Disciplinary Tribunal has banned South African long jumper Luvo Manyonga for four years from 23 December 2020 for whereabouts failures, his second violation of […]

Fabulous South African soprano – Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha – has won the Song Prize at the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2021. The 27-year-old rose to victory – against finalists from Madagascar, Wales, South Korea and Austria – with a mix of popular Lieder, South African song (in Xhosa!) and spirituals. “Masabane Cecilia […]

Despite video interviews, sworn statements and even the BBC reporting on the record-breaking birth of ten babies in South Africa to a mom from Tembisa township, it turns out it was all a hoax. The mother – Gosiame Sithole – apparently was not even pregnant, according to several reports in SA. Pretoria News, owned by […]

The Late Late Show host, James Corden, has released extra footage from the popular Friends Reunion (watch it in SA here)… that includes the actors singing along to the TV show’s theme song, the Rembrandt’s “I’ll be there for you”. In the extra video, broadcast last night, James is seen heading to the Warner Brothers […]

Kenneth Kaunda, the former president of Zambia, who has died in hospital in the capital, Lusaka, at the age of 97, was the last of the giants of 20th century African nationalism… writes Gavin Evans, Birkbeck, University of London. He was also one of the few to depart with his reputation still intact. But perhaps […]

The City of Cape Town has been selected from 630 applications, from 99 countries, as one of 50 Champion Cities to Advance in the Global Innovation Competition. The Comp is aimed at identifying the Most Transformative Urban Solutions during the Covid-19 Pandemic.  Cape Town was named as one of the 50 finalists in the 2021 Global […]

A keeper was mauled to death yesterday by a rogue Siberian tiger at a predator park near Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) in South Africa, after the electric fence to its enclosure was turned off for maintenance. The tiger then went on to kill another tiger. Jasper, a male Siberian tiger, scaled the 12-foot high fence […]

The tenth anniversary of the royal wedding of Prince Albert II of Monaco, to former South African athlete Charlene Wittstock, is being commemorated in the principality with the issue of three new stamps. The first features a photo of the couple on their wedding day 10 years ago, in July 2011. The second is a […]

Botswana has announced the discovery of a diamond which they say is the third largest in the world. The whopping 1,098.3 carat diamond, was found on 1 June 2021. Holding the precious stone, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi commended Debswana Diamond Company’s discovery, their largest to date. The largest diamond ever was discovered in South Africa […]

JOHANNESBURG, 16 JUNE 2021 – Following the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa last night that South Africa is now in Lockdown Level 3, with a stricter curfew (of 10pm) imposed, the Flight Centre Travel Group has reassured its travellers that they will still be able to board their flights and complete the last leg of […]

South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza says negotiations with the manufacturers of Sputnik V and Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines are at an advanced stage. The Deputy President said this when he responded to oral questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Tuesday. “Further interventions being implemented to save lives are ongoing. Negotiations with vaccine […]