The precious heritage site and its rich history are being poorly served… By Daniel Steyn. The official symbolism of the Robben Island Museum, adopted early in its existence, is “the triumph of the human spirit over adversity”. But after 24 years in existence, the museum is substandard. GroundUp took a socially-distanced, reduced capacity tour in […]

Three years ago South Africa introduced Africa’s first major tax on sugar-sweetened beverages based on grams of sugar. The tax now stands at about 11% of the price per litre… by Karen Hofman, University of the Witwatersrand. We assessed the impact in recently published research. We found that the health promotion levy coincided with large […]

Hot 91.9FM announced today that Sam Cowen, presenter on “Joburg’s Hottest Breakfast Show” will be leaving the station on Friday 30 April. Sam announced on air and posted on Facebook this morning: “For the past few months I’ve been living the best of both worlds, being on the breakfast show of the city’s hottest station […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says demands the immediate retraction of the racist statement issued by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) on its twitter handle @DPE_ZA. “We also call for the immediate suspension of the DPE Director General, Mr Kgathatso Tlhakudi, in whose name the statement was issued,” said Ghaleb Cachalia MP – DA Shadow […]

Hollywood filmmakers and movie stars have joined forces with Humane Society International (HSI) to produce a powerful short film, #SaveRalph, to end cosmetic testing on animals around the world, including South Africa. Although banned in 40 countries, the practice of testing on animals is still legal in most of the world, and is even making […]

According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s Presidential Employment Stimulus has assisted to create 8 000 new jobs. Launched in October last year in response to the economic impact of the pandemic, the Presidential Employment Stimulus is designed to support a spectrum of opportunities, focusing on job creation through public employment; job retention in vulnerable […]

South African diver Karen van den Oever recently broke the world record for women’s deep cave diving, diving down to 236.04 metres at Bushmansgat Cave in the Northern Cape. The previous record – set by Joburg-based Verna van Schaik in 2004 – was 221 metres. According to Deeper Blue, the dive, on 26 March 2021, […]

With long queues at clinics in South Africa and Covid-19 restrictions, women struggling to access health services are turning to an illicit market for birth control pills. The pills are widely used and freely distributed in Zimbabwe, but smuggled into and sold in South Africa. Birth control pills freely distributed in Zimbabwe are being smuggled […]

A total of 23 013 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, with 931 new cases, representing a 4% positivity rate, the Health Department said on Sunday. Meanwhile, a further 66 people died due to Coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 53 322 to date. According to Health Minister, Dr Zweli […]

South Africa’s  beloved My Octopus Teacher won one of the most coveted prizes at the BAFTA Film Awards 2021 in London on Sunday… scooping the Best Documentary prize at the British Academy Film Awards. Watch below as the Seachange team excitedly – and tearfully – accept the honour. Co-Director Pippa Ehrlich said the team had […]

South African rapper AKA’s fiancée Anele (Nellie) Tembe tragically passed away in the early hours of Sunday 11 April 2021, following a fatal incident. No details have yet been given about the incident. UPDATE 10 February 2023: AKA has been shot dead outside a nightclub in Durban. AKA (whose full name is Kiernan Jarryd Forbes) […]

On the same weekend that “Moffie” was nominated for an outstanding debut at the British Academy Film Awards, it was released at select theatres in America and on streaming platforms like Apple, with a powerful new trailer. Watch the new Moffie trailer below: Viewers in SA and outside of the US and Canada can watch […]

The South African film director Michael Matthews, who directed the critically praised “Five Fingers for Marseilles,” has seen his first film for Hollywood, the audience favourite “Love and Monsters,” get an Oscar nomination for best visual effects. The film will be available on Netflix on 26 April. Watch the trailer: The movie, which was released […]

A KwaZulu-Natal farmer, who was left disabled by a farm attack 20 years ago, was killed in a second brutal farm attack in South Africa on Friday evening. His mother tragically found him strangled in his bedroom on Saturday morning. The man – 46-year-old Neil McKay – has been described as a “gentle and friendly […]

Popular South African general practitioner and well known radio host Dr Sindi van Zyl, has sadly passed away after battling Covid-19 for much of this year. Earlier this month, Dr Sindi’s husband Dr Marinus van Zyl, issued a plea for donations to help cover her hospital costs after she’d been on ventilator support for over […]

South African swimming champion Chad le Clos has won the battle of the ages, claiming the men’s 200m butterfly title at the National Championships being held in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) this week. It’s incredible to be referring to Le Clos as ‘the senior’ as he was still only 20 when he pipped Olympic legend […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has, on behalf of the Government and people of South Africa, expressed his deep condolences to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, on the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. As the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip was the longest-serving consort in the […]

A romantic honeymoon in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Kalahari, South Africa, nearly turned into a heart-stopping disaster when the newly wed couple’s gorgeous 1970s VW Beetle wouldn’t start. And there just happened to be two lions only a couple of metres away from them. The kind Samaritan who ingeniously managed to help them, shared […]

The Showmax series “DAM” as well as two M-Net crime series, “Lioness” and “Legacy,” will be presented at next week’s international TV marketplace in Cannes, MIPTV. All three are being represented by UK-based company Fugitive, which struck a deal with MultiChoice to  distribute their original scripted series internationally. The MIPTV media market, which is being […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has met in Maputo with other high-level leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to assess the growing Islamic State-linked threat in the region. Carte Blanche delves deeper this week, speaking to South Africans who survived the most recent horrific attack in Palma. This follows as eyewitness accounts and disturbing video […]

SADC Heads of State have reiterated commitment to contribute towards the efforts of bringing about lasting peace and security, as well as reconciliation and development in the Republic of Mozambique. This comes amid a spate of attacks in the country’s Cabo Delgado Province in the last two weeks. The leaders condemned the violence during this […]

A new report reveals that water pollution across Cape Town’s rivers, vleis and estuaries has been getting steadily worse for 40 years, except for a few years. A new report shows that Cape Town’s rivers, vleis and estuaries have been getting worse for 40 years, with the exception of a few years. In the rivers, […]

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has announced that the second phase of South Africa’s vaccination rollout will begin on 17 May. This, he said, is thanks to the millions of vaccine doses that are expected to land in South Africa in the next coming weeks. Dr Mkhize said the country has secured a combined 51 […]

The Royal Family says: “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.” […]

A British man has launched a petition to allow a black South African hero from World War II to finally – and posthumously – be awarded the prestigious Victoria Cross (VC) he so deserved.  Job Maseko became a war hero when he used a home-made bomb to blow up a Nazi ship. He was nominated […]