Anti-apartheid struggle hero Andrew Mokete Mlangeni, who died this week at the age of 95, was the last surviving of the eight African National Congress (ANC) activists who were sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Rivonia trial in the 1960s. Mlangeni spent 20 of his 26 years in jail on Robben Island alongside fellow […]

The DA says it does not support the decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to close schools in South Africa for four weeks. “President Ramaphosa has bent the knee to all-powerful teachers’ unions, in particular SADTU, who do not have the best interests of learners at heart,” said DA Leader John. “This is not leadership. President […]

Wayne Morgan, a plumber and electrician from Roodepoort, is a recent arrival at Angel Wings, a shelter in Benoni on Gauteng’s East Rand. He has lived at the shelter for two months. He lost his job when the company he worked for shut its doors at the start of lockdown. He stayed with family and […]

The #ServeUsPlease peaceful protest announced for Cape Town will now have national movements in several cities across the country today. The protests will be held simultaneously, from 10am to 12pm on Friday 24 July. In response to the South African government’s Covid-19 restrictions on the hospitality, tourism, food and alcohol, entertainment, media and affiliated industries, […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe, in any State institution, allegations of corruption during or related to the COVID-19 national state of disaster. The President announced the signing of the proclamation during his address to the nation on Thursday evening, on developments in South Africa’s risk-adjusted […]

With South Africa entering the eye of the COVID-19 storm, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the closure of public schools for the next four weeks. Schools will close on Monday, 27 July and reopen on 24 August 2020. However, Grade 12 learners and educators will only take a one-week break and reopen on 3 August, […]

South African Springbok rugby player, Eben Etzebeth, has extended his contract with French Rugby Club Toulonnais for three more seasons. The delighted club announced on Thursday that since Etzebeth still has one year of his current two-year contract remaining, it now means that he’ll play for Toulon (which is in southern France) until June 2024. […]

Five people arrested at Kliprivier near Johannesburg may have links to the New Year’s Day attacks in Melville and Mary Fitzgerald Square, Johannesburg, which left three people dead, as well as to “extremist crimes” in other provinces. The New Year’s Day drive-by shootings in Melville, Johannesburg, left three people dead and five wounded. At the […]

Stellenbosch Wine Routes and at least 300 wineries in South Africa, together with Visit Stellenbosch, have thrown their weight behind a legal application asking evidence from the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to explain the reintroduction of a blanket ban on the domestic sale and transportation of alcohol. In an unprecedented show of […]

While action is being taken against officials in her department implicated in cases of corruption, more investigations have to be carried out into the R15 billion in irregular and wasteful expenditure uncovered by the auditor-general, according to Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. Sisulu said today that the department had heeded parliament’s call […]

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, says KwaZulu-Natal appears to be following the same trend of COVID-19 infections, as witnessed in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng provinces. Speaking during a virtual sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday, he said: “This is based on the average daily cases that we have been recording. We […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will tonight brief the nation on developments in South Africa’s risk-adjusted strategy to manage the spread of Coronavirus. (You can watch below.) “The President’s address follows a number of meetings of the Cabinet and the National Coronavirus Command Council,” said the Presidency on Thursday. The President’s address is scheduled to get underway […]

Following a controversial tweet yesterday, in which the South African government announced that the ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarettes would remain in place until the end of Lockdown, the government has clarified that it was “incorrect”. The SA Government said: “This account posted a tweet earlier (yesterday) which said that the ban […]

The South African government has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $4.2 billion. The money would come from a facility that provides financing to countries facing an urgent balance of payments need, without the need to have a full-fledged program in place. According to the IMF managing director this means that the recipient can […]

NSRI rescue swimmers, more accustomed to saving humans, yesterday saved a frightened dog that had become trapped on a rock about 30 metres off-shore at Harmony Park Resort, between Strand and Gordon’s Bay in South Africa. Thanks to the dog whisperer skills of Kyle Burns, the dog made it safely to shore. Vincent Landman, NSRI […]

On a day in which there didn’t seem to be much to celebrate, a wonderful gentleman in Fish Hoek, South Africa, rescued a duckling from the ocean, to the relief of spectators who broke out in applause. Facebook group Fish Hoek Beach posted the below video to social media describing the incident that could have […]

While the Eastern Cape has been overwhelmed by news of the collapse of its health care system, with hospitals unable to cope with the pandemic while the local government spends money on a questionable scooter programme, the Minister of Health has said it doesn’t need to be put under administration and that all provinces are […]

While President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year said the government was committed to putting properly qualified people in the right jobs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma today defended her earlier remarks that municipalities have to appoint the ‘”right cadres,” or supporters of the ANC. In June the minister of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs made the statement about […]

While safari and tourism operators hold their own protests, restaurants beg clients to return to empty spaces, and hundreds of thousands of people continue to lose their jobs, the Minister for Tourism says she will send her proposals for recovery of the sector to cabinet …. next month. The multibillion-rand tourism sector, which President Cyril […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it rejects with contempt the SA Government’s “disgraceful tweet” which has advised South Africa that the ban on alcohol and tobacco will remain in place “throughout the lockdown”. This indefinite ban could last weeks or even into 2021, says the DA. “What the government has done today is pull the […]

South Africans have been shocked by a tweet, posted by the South African Government, casually announcing that the sale of cigarettes and alcohol are to remain banned until the end of lockdown. The tweet, posted at lunchtime, says: “The ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarette will remain in place throughout the lockdown period.The […]

South African restaurants around the country are currently holding a peaceful protest, despite warnings from the SA Police Service (SAPS) yesterday that the protest might infringe on Disaster Management Act (DMA) regulation 37(1)(l). The protest (Million Seats in the Streets), planned by the Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA), includes owners placing their empty tables […]

The last surviving Rivonia trialist, Andrew Mlangeni, has passed away at the age of 95. Mlangeni, who celebrated his birthday last month, was admitted at 1 Military Hospital following an abdominal complaint on Tuesday. He passed away overnight. President Ramaphosa has since paid tribute to the fallen hero and offered his sincere condolences to the Mlangeni […]

Cape wine producers are warning of a “job massacre” because of the renewed ban on alcohol sales. Wine producers already reeling from previous bans on alcohol warn that the new total ban is the nail in the coffin for them. They doubt that table wine sales contribute much to medical emergencies from alcohol abuse. Workers […]

Residents of the Western Cape, South Africa, have been saddened to hear of two water-related tragedies yesterday. In the first, a surfer collapsed and died in Kommetjie, and in the second a man was fatally run over by a boat trailer in Hout Bay. Dave Smith, NSRI Kommetjie duty coxswain, said the NSRI crew had […]