President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on all those countries that have imposed travel bans on South Africa, and other Southern African countries, to urgently reverse their decisions… and to rather help in making sure everyone gets vaccinated. “There is no scientific justification for keeping these restrictions in place. We know that this virus, like all […]

British Transport Police have confirmed that they are investigating an incident on the London Underground in which a man with a South African accent shouted at a Muslim man to stop praying because the noise was invading his privacy. The video has been viewed over 1.1-million times on Instagram, where user ‘imjustbait’ uploaded it 24 […]

South Africa’s tourism and hospitality sector claim they have lost over R1-billion in travel bookings for travel between December 2021 and March 2022 in the past 48 hours, as a result of the travel bans instituted globally against the destination since it announced that it had sequenced a new variant, now known as Omicron. However […]

Dr Angelique Coetzee, who was one of the first South African doctors to suspect a new Covid-19 variant was in the country, says the “hype” around the variant – now known as Omicron – is out of proportion as the symptoms are mild. Dr Coetzee, who is also the Chairperson of the South African Medical […]

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) has confirmed that it has identified the Omicron variant in at least 13 of the 61 Covid-19 positive passengers who arrived in Amsterdam, from South Africa, on Friday. RIVM said in a statement on its site on Sunday that of the 624 passengers who arrived on two […]

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he chatted with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday, to discuss the challenges posed globally by the new COVID-19 variant – Omicron – and ways to work together to deal with it and reopen international travel. Last night in addition to the bans on southern African travel, England […]

Oscar Pistorius has been secretly moved to a prison in Gqeberha (previously Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, so that he can have a meeting with the parents of the late Reeva Steenkamp whom he was convicted of murdering. The disgraced Paralympian, who shot the former model to death in the early hours […]

Johannesburg, 27 November 2021: The following are the latest requirements for travel to or via the Netherlands from South Africa, as issued by the Dutch government, following the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, Omicron. Test requirements for travellers from South Africa on KLM All passengers travelling on KLM from South Africa, irrespective of their […]

An Airbus A340 plane has landed in Antarctica for the first time in history, according to Hi Fly, the boutique aviation company behind the flight. On Monday (November 22), Captain Carlos Mirpuri and his crew flew the aircraft from Cape Town in South Africa to Antarctica and back, in a 2,500 nautical miles journey that […]

Britain’s Health Minister, Sajid Javid, has confirmed that two cases of the new Covid-19 variant – Omicron – have been detected in Britain. Both patients had recently travelled from Southern Africa. Javid said: “Late last night I was contacted by the UK Health Security Agency. I was informed that they have detected two cases of […]

We all need some good news in South Africa, and this Sunday on Carte Blanche, the show will be celebrating Capetonian Chris Bertish. Chris is the ultimate waterman. From surfing death-defying waves to paddling solo 4500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, he has set several world-first paddle records. And he has an exciting – and […]

JOHANNESBURG, 27 November 2021: Air France says it has taken note of the French authorities’ decision to suspend arrivals from South Africa (and six other southern African countries) for a period of 48 hours as of November 26. As a result, Air France is cancelling its flights from Johannesburg to Paris (AF 995) on November […]

South Africans on two KLM flights to Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands were allegedly herded like sheep yesterday into a small waiting area, after sitting on the tarmac for three hours, and later abandoned by KLM staff and left without food, blankets or access to their medicines while they waited crowded together – with no […]

South Africa confirmed on Thursday that it has detected the new Coronavirus variant B.1.1.529 in the country. Yesterday, Friday 26 Nov, the WHO designated it a ‘Variant of Concern’ (VOC) and named it Omicron. Here’s everything you need to know about Omicron: The variant was discovered through collaborative efforts with private laboratories and the Network […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) is sadly bracing itself for mass booking amendments from residents of various countries across the world, following announcements by several regions – including the UK, US and EU – that they will be imposing travel restrictions in and out of South Africa due to the newly discovered Covid-19 Variant of […]

Johannesburg, 26 November 2021 – On Friday morning the Dutch government announced that South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe have been flagged as a “very-high-risk area where there is a COVID-variant of concern”, Omicron. This means passengers flying KLM from South Africa to the Netherlands will only be permitted to board if they […]

B.1.1.529 has a name. Omicron. The 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. After a special assessment today by a Technical Advisory Group to assess if B.1.1.529’s mutations could alter the behaviour of the Covid-19 virus, the new variant – identified in South Africa this week – was designated as a Variant of Concern (VOC) by […]

Belgium says it has detected its first cases of the new ‘super-variant’ B.1.1.529, which South African scientists yesterday announced they had identified in SA. Guardian reporter Ben Quinn tweeted that it was identified in an “unvaccinated young woman who developed mild flu-like symptoms 11 days after traveling to Egypt via Turkey”. She did not report […]

SA Rugby and Rassie Erasmus, SA Director of Rugby, said in a statement yesterday – 25 November – that they “wish to apologise to the match officials appointed to the first Test of the Springboks’ Series against the British & Irish Lions.” In a statement on SA Rugby announcing the about-turn, they said: “We also […]

It sure feels like Black Friday for South Africans as the world moves to ban travel to and from the country, following the confirmation yesterday by South African authorities that a new “dramatically different” variant has been identified in the country. The variant – B.1.1.529 – has over 30 mutations according to SA scientists and […]

The South African government says it has noted the announcement by the United Kingdom (UK) to temporarily ban all flights from the Southern parts of Africa, including South Africa, from entering the UK due to the detection of a new Coronavirus variant, B.1.1.529. South Africa confirmed on Thursday that it has detected the new Coronavirus […]

The South African travel and hospitality industry has reacted with outrage at the UK’s decision to temporarily ban travel to and from South Africa, placing SA on its Red List from midday UK time today. SATSA slammed the decision, with its CEO David Frost saying: “It is far too early to tell what the impact […]

It was inevitable. Within hours of the South African Health Department and NICD confirming that a worrying new variant – B.1.1.529 – has been identified in South Africa, the UK (which only recently removed SA from its Red List) has announced that it is temporarily banning flights from South Africa. Israel has also put a […]

Renowned bioinformatician, Professor Tulio de Oliveira, has issued a plea for billionaires and financial institutions to help Africa and South Africa control and extinguish worrisome variants… such as the B.1.1.529 variant, identified in South Africa, which was confirmed on Thursday, and which apparently has over 30 mutations (compared to Delta which only had two). Prof […]

With the help of corporates, volunteers and the public, Ladles of Love smashed their target and made a staggering 57,140 sandwiches in less than eight hours at the Jetty 2 in the V&A Waterfront. All of this was done to raise food and funds for beneficiaries around the Cape Peninsula which they supply bulk food […]