At a time when athletes should be excitedly preparing for the Olympics, South Africa’s Olympic committee – SASCOC (SA Sports’ Confederation and Olympic Committee) – is mired in allegations of sexual abuse and financial mismanagement, and accused of not protecting the very athletes it’s meant to present. Carte Blanche digs deeper this weekend to find […]

Following the announcement made by Mango Airlines on Thursday 22 April that the airline is preparing to enter business rescue and pause operations, the Flight Centre Travel Group says it strongly advises all their customers to book alternative carriers for their domestic and Zanzibar flights. News broke late on Thursday evening last week that Mango […]

It snowed big-time at Afriski Mountain Resort today! This morning, the resort in Lesotho welcomed its first major snowfall for the winter season. The snow started at 2am and continued for a few hours covering the landscape around the resort with approximately 10cm of snow. All photos by Martin Schultz from Afriski… In good news […]

MADAGASCAR (Reuters) – Families have resorted to eating locusts and leaves in southern Madagascar where famine is looming, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. Following a devastating five year drought, and strong sandstorms this year, harvests have been ruined and the people are starving in a way the UN senior director of […]

DAKAR (Reuters) – Rory Young, co-founder and president of Chengeta Wildlife, was tragically killed in an ambush during an anti-poaching patrol in Burkina Faso this week. Two Spanish journalists, who were making a documentary about Rory’s exemplary efforts to protect wildlife, were also killed. Rory’s charity trained anti-poaching rangers in Africa. Born in Zambia, Rory […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is distraught by the senseless murder of Cape Town Metro Police Officer, Constable Mzuvukile Mhlengi, who was off duty and unarmed when he was shot outside his home in Phillipi yesterday. JP Smith – Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security in Cape Town – said he was “truly […]

The Zulu Queen, Her Majesty Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, who stepped in just over a month ago as the interim Regent of the Zulu nation following the death of her husband, King Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu, has herself died. She was 65-years-old. On Thursday night, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, founder of the Inkatha Freedom Party […]

Prince William and Kate Middleton have celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary by posting behind-the-scenes video footage of their happy family enjoying the kinds of things most families enjoy – strolls on the beach, climbing a tree in the park, and toasting marshmallows in a fire. It’s an unprecedented look at their private life. Kate Middleton […]

Professor Salim Abdool Karim has been appointed to the newly formed World Health Organisation (WHO) Science Council. Prof Abdool Karim presided over South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on COVID-19 before he stepped down in March. Under his leadership, MAC positioned South Africa as one of the leading nations in the emergency response to the […]

A new School of Climate Studies will be officially launched at Stellenbosch University in June 2021. Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande says with the new academic school focusing on climate change, this will hopefully enable SA’s academics and students to build a well-rounded body of scientific knowledge and skills to not only understand the […]

Twenty-five-year-old Buhle Sithela is bringing movies to children in Harare, Khayelitsha in Cape Town. By Ashraf Hendricks and Mary-Anne Gontsana. With his love of movies and experience from working at a drive-in cinema, 25-year-old Buhle Sithela has opened his own cinema in Harare, Khayelitsha. Catering to children of all ages, Sithela guarantees a safe space […]

New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio this morning announced that NYC will fully reopen on 1 July 2021. Speaking on MSNBC, the mayor said: “Our plan is to fully reopen on July 1. We are ready for stores to open, for businesses to open, offices, theaters, FULL strength.” This means New York will be […]

LONDON (Reuters) – The rand has emerged as an unlikely winner among emerging market currencies since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, despite South Africa’s unfortunately high levels of debt and unemployment. U.S. sanctions have rumbled Russian bond markets, Turkish assets have been hit by monetary policy concerns and other big developing countries such as […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday the governing party “could and should” have done more to prevent corruption under his predecessor Jacob Zuma, in highly anticipated testimony to the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture and corruption. Ramaphosa, Zuma’s former deputy, was appearing in his capacity as current leader […]

Noseweek Editor Martin Welz and his publishing company, Chaucer Publications, have been ordered to pay R330,000 in damages to attorney Leonard Katz for the publication of articles and a front cover alleging he was the “man who stole justice”. The articles related to allegations by Ian Brakspear, a Durban North businessman. Brakspear claimed that Katz, a […]

Although the country’s dam levels have begun dropping slightly as the country approaches the dry winter season in inland provinces, they are comparatively 15% higher compared to the same period last year. The Department of Water and Sanitation announced this morning that figures in their weekly report suggest that dam levels in general have risen […]

Frederick Mhangazo came to Cape Town to study. He has ended up homeless and living from hand to mouth… By Marecia Damons.Cape  The man arrested in connection with a Cape Town fire last weekend will no longer face charges of arson, the Cape Town Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday. Frederick Mhangazo, 35, was apprehended in […]

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has undertaken one of the biggest rhino dehorning operations in KwaZulu-Natal. The operation, which was funded and supported by conservation NGO Wildlife ACT, set out last week to dehorn the entire population of white rhino on Spioenkop Nature Reserve… writes Janelle Barnard, Love Africa. The dehorning of rhino populations has been adopted […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) scientists have provided an ‘alert’ saying there appears to be a “rapid build-up of a potential harmful Algal Bloom in the lower Olifants River”. The build-up is taking place at a section where the river flows through a deep gorge with a large Nile crocodile population, before it enters the […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has learned with deep sadness of the passing of financial expert and former Algerian Minister of Finance, Abderrahmane Benkhalfa. During President Ramaphosa’s year-long term as Chairperson of the African Union (AU), the President appointed Benkhalfa as one of five AU COVID-19 Special Envoys to mobilise international financial and other support for the […]

A South African woman who is devoting her life to helping animals in Mexico is pleading for help after her mother was robbed of all her money this weekend. Claudia Mamet is an angel in Puerto Angel in Mexico. She lives on a shoestring, teaches English at the local university and spends her humble salary […]

South Africans will be able to enjoy several of the Oscar-award winning movies on DStv this year. In fact Judas and the Black Messiah – for which Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor – will be available to rent for DStv subscribers on BoxOffice from Thursday, 29 April. While Covid-19 did dampen the movie-making industry last […]

South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa has paid tribute to publisher, Nadia Goetham, describing her as a literary powerhouse. Goetham passed away on Sunday due to COVID-19 related complications. “Not only did she understand the importance of books and storytelling, but she was also extremely passionate about developing others. She believed […]

The DA has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to institute an urgent Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation into allegations that the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has wasted millions of taxpayers’ money on chartered flights and luxury accommodation. The DA also calls for the minister to be suspended without compensation pending the […]

The North Gauteng High Court on Monday granted an interdict to AfriForum and Solidarity that prevents the payment of any fees from the Department of Tourism’s equity fund. The two organisations had launched an urgent application to the court after the Minister of Tourism announced that the department’s fund for the recovery of the tourism […]