Droogtehulp, a non-profit organisation that strives to help farmers, is also helping make truck drivers dreams come true in South Africa. The photos below say it all as Aaron, a truck driver from Mpumalanga saw the beach for the very first time in his life… at the age of 46. Droogtehulp CEO Burre Burger said […]

Tourism and hospitality establishments across the country welcomed the news that leisure travel inside provinces has been opened up by government, and the 9 p.m. curfew has been extended to 10 p.m. to make it easier for restaurants to cater to customers. “Intra-provincial travel will go a long way in saving the livelihoods of many,: […]

Hundreds of community members turned up today outside the magistrate’s court in Hartswater in the Northern Cape of South Africa, where five suspects appeared for the murders of Breggie (73) and Danie Brand (83) and their daughter Elzabie (54) which has shocked the nation. The peaceful protesters from Hartswater and surrounding communities carried posters condemning […]

Many South Africans living abroad are losing the right to work, receive healthcare and remain legally resident in foreign countries because the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has been unable to process their passports and other crucial documents in a timely manner, says Democratic Alliance (DA) Abroad Leader, Dr Rory Jubber. While passport renewal applications […]

As the Gauteng MEC for Health and his wife take a four-week leave of absence, joining President Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, while an investigation is carried out into whether they or their families benefitted off provincial government PPE contracts, a former minister’s daughter has been exposed as having a company that scored a R2.7 million PPE contract. […]

The former Commissioner of Correctional Services, Linda Mti, and four others have appeared in the Pretoria Specialized Commercial Crimes Court in connection with charges relating to four tenders worth over R1.8 billion awarded to the now infamous Bosasa company of Gavin Watson, who died in a car crash late last year. The company allegedly went […]

British supermarket chain Waitrose has put its weight behind South African wines, launching a campaign to support the SA wine industry and farmers who are struggling under current strict regulations that ban the sale of alcohol in the country. As revealed in a Carte Blanche investigation in May, the Lockdown laws have cost the Cape […]

“If you see a [taxi] driver not wearing a mask during a trip, report him,” warns Themba Kubheka, secretary of the Greater North Taxi Association in Durban. Taxi bosses and associations have warned drivers to wear masks and practise good hygiene during trips. They are encouraging commuters to report drivers who are not adhering to […]

A leopard that apparently escaped from a wildlife reserve and was wandering around Klipgat township northwest of Pretoria has been safely captured. As can be seen by the videos posted online (see below), the wild cat was wandering through the streets and finally hid under a vehicle. Details of where it came from have not […]

Toyota South Africa is to invest R2.5 billion on the production of ‘hybrid synergy drive’ or petro-electric cars at its Prospecton plant in Durban, its first hybrid in Africa, a move that was today welcomed by the KwaZulu-Natal government. Ebrahim Patel, the minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, said during his department’s budget vote last […]

The South African Police Service said today that it had received numerous requests that people attending the funeral of African National Congress stalwart Andrew Mlangeni outside his Soweto house on Tuesday be arrested for contravening the lockdown regulations, and was investigating the complaints. “The Regulations in terms of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 […]

The director general of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, Sam Vukela, had been placed on precautionary suspension after being implicated in massive overspending on three state funerals and appointing unqualified people in the department. A Price WaterHouse Coopers report implicated Vukela in the R76 million expenditure on the state funerals of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, […]

The South African National Editors’ Forum has condemned the ANC MP Boy Mamabolo for allegedly threatening to shoot a reporter from Sunday World and kick in his testicles. SANEF said that Mamabolo threatened reporter Ngwako Malatji after he called to get his side of the story alleging that Mamabolo made unsavoury remarks about President Cyril […]

Dear Family and Friends writes Cathy Buckle from Zimbabwe. I write this letter from a bitterly cold Zimbabwe where tension is high and people are anxious. There are 300,000 civil servants in Zimbabwe. A month ago they were promised a “cushioning” allowance of US$75 a month for the next three months and pensioners would get […]

Trucks are backed up in long queues at the Beitbridge border with Zimbabwe, with some drivers complaining that they have been stuck for three days. When GroundUp visited the area on Tuesday 28 July, the queue of trucks crossing into Zimbabwe or on their way to Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania stretched […]

The Cape Town leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – provisionally scheduled for 4-6 December this year – has been cancelled due to the ongoing and dynamic global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Rugby announced on Wednesday. The Dubai leg of the Series – with which the Cape Town event is paired […]

South Africans have been delighted to wake up this morning to the Emmy Nominations which were announced last night, with Trevor Noah’s show (The Daily Show) scooping six nominations, reality show Survivor (of which many of the crew members are South African) being nominated for Outstanding Cinematography For A Reality Program, and several popular TV […]

In support of World Tiger Day (29 July), Blood Lions has released an explosive video that puts the focus on the international trade in tiger body parts and makes the link to South Africa’s legal lion bone trade, in their latest campaign movement. Since 2008, nearly 7,000 lion skeletons weighing a total of around 70 […]

The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has given more than R15 million in funding to a dormant organisation in rural Limpopo, some of it for a mysterious music festival in Mpumalanga. More than R15 million was paid to a dormant Limpopo organisation by the National Lotteries Commission in 2017 and 2019. About R5 million of it […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah says he is feeling “tired and scruffy, but blessed and fulfilled”. His US show – The Daily Show – for which he had to leave SA shores to be based in New York – has been nominated for six Emmy Awards. Yes, SIX! The nominations – from over 10,000 entries […]

Eskom welcomed the Johannesburg High Court judgement today for the power utility to recover a R69-billion equity injection, in a phased manner over a three-year period, ruling that NERSA may not deduct the injection from Eskom’s allowable revenue. The decision means Eskom may now apply to increase tariffs. Eskom said in a statement that prior […]

Three small businesses that won awards in 2019 for their innovation are among the tourism operators that Cape Town is helping weather the economic fallout of COVID-19. The board of Cape Town Tourism has also given their own salaries to fund small tourism businesses during the lockdown. African Authentic Experience, a tour operator; Tees and […]

The bodies of murdered retired farmers Daniel (Danie) Brand, 82, and wife Hybrecht (Breggie), 73, have been found by police searchers about 10km away from the body of their daughter Elizabeth (Elzabie), 53. All three are believed to have been attacked and kidnapped on Sunday at the smallholding where Elzabie’s parents lived in Hartswater in […]

If you haven’t heard it yet, the song “Jerusalema” that has people around the world humming and dancing (#JerusalemaDanceChallenge), composed by South African Master KG and accompanied by vocalist Nomcebo Zikode, has been viewed more than 50 million times on YouTube. (See videos below.) The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, today congratulated […]

The International Monetary Fund has approved a R70 billion ($4.2 billion) loan for South Africa to help the country manage the immediate consequences of the fallout from COVID-19. The Conversation Africa’s editor, Caroline Southey, asked Danny Bradlow at the University of Pretoria to shed some light on what South Africans should expect. What conditions has […]