Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa! I’m writing to you for a number of reasons and I hope you eventually see this letter. But I also hope many other South Africans see it too… writes Mark Sham, an entrepreneur and CEO of Suits & Sneakers (which provides informal learning content). On Tuesday, 14 July 2020, I made […]

While the number of new COVID-19 cases is stabilising in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal is expected to join Gauteng as the country’s epicentre, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has warned.   “In the country, Gauteng is still at the top of the rate of infections. KwaZulu-Natal is taking over now,” Mkhize […]

The City of Cape Town’s newly built facility – meant for Covid-19 patients in Makhaza, Khayelitsha – was torched allegedly by people protesting over land on Saturday. Protesters torched the Desmond Tutu Community Hall and a new facility for Covid-19 patients in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, on Saturday. The new facility opened a week ago and damage […]

A vaccine against COVID-19 is urgently needed if we’re to stop the virus spreading and prevent potentially millions of further deaths. We’re now one step closer to that goal. Yesterday, we published early results from our clinical trial of the vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (also known as AZD1222), designed by the University of Oxford and developed […]

Denel, the largest manufacturer of defence equipment in South Africa, has announced the resignation of its Group Chief Executive Officer Danie du Toit. Du Toit will continue to render his services until 15 August, while an interim Group CEO will be appointed shortly. Denel said on Monday its board has taken far-reaching steps to stabilise […]

No fewer than 15 Springboks – with a combined total of 522 Test caps worth of experience between them – have opted to return to South Africa in the last year. First to have their passports stamped by local customs were JP Pietersen and Ruan Pienaar, who returned to South Africa last year during the […]

The Queen conferred the Honour of Knighthood on Captain Tom Moore at an Investiture at Windsor Castle on Friday 17 July, announced the Royal Family page today, featuring the below photos. ‪In April, World War Two veteran, Captain Sir Tom Moore embarked on 100 laps of his garden with the aim to raise £1,000 for […]

As a medical professional, being on the frontline, I was constantly worried about contracting COVID. And three weeks ago I tested positive for it… writes Dr Andrew Williams, a medical practitioner in the Western Cape, whose post has gone viral, in which he candidly shares his fears and guilt of contracting COVID-19 in South Africa, […]

The South African Police Service has invited former members of the force to reenlist, including for posts in the hugely overwhelmed and understaffed Hawks, whose work includes state capture cases. The SAPS will also be creating new units to deal with taxi violence, cold cases and gangs, among other things. In a statement put out […]

Nestle has announced that while it will keep producing the much-beloved Peppermint Crisp, Milkybar and BarOne, it will retire a number of its well-known chocolates, namely Milkybar Double, Milkybar Peanut, Nestlé Crunch, Milo Slab and BarOne Peanut. (Watch the video below.) Four days ago Nestle also announced the end of Chocolate Log at the end […]

South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa has paid tribute to legendary Agent and Casting Director Moonyeenn Lee, remembering her for fearlessly defending the rights of actors. “Over the years, she would travel around the world introducing producers and directors to South African actors. She consistently did everything in her power to […]

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has recuperated from COVID-19 and is back in the saddle today, at the same time that the Western Cape’s new positive cases have dropped to below three other provinces. The Western Cape was the epicentre of the virus in South Africa early on during the pandemic, mostly because of – […]

South Africa’s Eskom confirmed in a statement on Saturday that a man was fatally electrocuted in Ekurhuleni Region on Thursday night while allegedly operating an Eskom pole-mounted transformer, which is illegal. It appears the tragedy occurred in a community that was desperate for their power to be fixed. A shocking video of the incident went […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone the spotlight on injustice in the world while also exposing risks that have been ignored for decades, says United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres. He said the 26 richest people hold the same wealth as half the global population; and 100 million more people could be pushed into extreme poverty and […]

Hundreds of bikers roared down Roeland Street in Cape Town on Saturday morning to protest against farm murders. They gathered outside Parliament in leather jackets and long boots carrying placards saying: “Stop farm killings” and “No farms, no food”. Some bikers performed “donuts” (spinning around on their bike wheels). “The government is not doing anything […]

At least two people were killed and seven arrested after a botched robbery of COVID equipment and cellphones at the cargo section of O.R. Tambo International Airport today. South African Police said in a statement the men entered one of the cargo areas at about 12.30 p.m. and held the staff at gunpoint. On being […]

People returning to South Africa from abroad may now apply to self-isolate for a fixed period rather than staying in quarantine facilities provided by the state, according to new regulations published in the Government Gazette. AfriForum, which has campaigned for four months against compulsory quarantine in state facilities, welcomed the announcement but cautioned that the […]

It was a beautiful day when Nelson Mandela and I met at his home in the late 1990s to brainstorm the programme of the Smile Foundation, writes Marc Lubner, one of SA’s leading philanthropists and Group CEO of Afrika Tikkun. As we fired off ideas at one another, our former president fell quiet for a […]

In a time long before the coronavirus pandemic affected almost every country in the world, one brave South African family decided to take on the African continent. The foursome travelled over 47 000 km, crossing 29 countries on the African continent in a green truck powered by waste vegetable oil! Africa Clockwise This Sunday, Carte […]

The signs painted on the safari vehicle driving through Nelspruit clearly pointed out the lunacy of the government’s lockdown regulations. While taxis can load 14 passengers in stuffy vehicles – risking the spread of COVID – open-sided safari vehicles that are rarely filled up have been told they cannot operate. Closed since March 2020, safari […]

The two men accused of the brutal murder of Fanie and Colleen Engelbrecht were today handed two life sentences and 25 years for the murder of the elderly couple, as well as robbery with aggravating circumstances and for the possession of illegal firearms. Fanie (78) and Colleen (74) were killed on Mother’s Day in 2018 […]

An attempt by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini’s Ingonyama Trust to take control of thousands of hectares of land worth almost R1 billion, which was awarded to several communities in the greater Mthonjaneni (Melmoth) area as land restitution, has been thwarted by the courts. A claim for about 9,000 hectares of farmland in KwaZulu-Natal was first […]

I was one of the thousands who watched Nelson Mandela, the South African liberation struggle hero, leave prison on 11 February 1990, and then mount the podium in front of Cape Town’s City Hall, expressing the hope that the apartheid government would agree to negotiations so that there might no longer be the need for […]

As the country observes Mandela Month, the Department of Water and Sanitation has reiterated a call upon South Africans to take part in the Clear Rivers Campaign, to protect water resources and keep them pollution-free at all times. The Clear Rivers Campaign takes place in the month of July as part of promoting volunteerism in […]

Loadshedding, which hit most of South Africa during the coldest week in winter, has been suspended from 10 p.m. tonight, Eskom announced, saying it had successfully returned four generation units to service. “These generation units returned more than 1500MW capacity to the system, taking the total returned to the system since 10 July to 3500MW. […]