The Competition Tribunal has slapped pharmacy group, Dis-Chem, with a R1.2 million fine for excessively overpricing surgical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes after the company was found guilty following complaints registered by the public. The Tribunal found that Dis-Chem contravened the Competition Act for charging excessive prices for three types of surgical face […]

South Africa’s Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has called on unions to convene their own bilateral meetings to finalise the South African Airways (SAA) restructuring plan. In a statement issued on Monday, the department said after withdrawing from the Leadership Consultative Forum (LCF), the department has had bilateral discussions with all unions, and is now […]

North West Premier Job Mokgoro has expressed condolences at the passing of the province’s Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs MEC, Gordon Kegakilwe, who on Monday succumbed to a short but serious COVID-19-related illness. Kegakilwe was admitted with COVID-19 pneumonia on Sunday afternoon at the Vryburg Private Hospital. Upon admission, the MEC was immediately […]

The consulate of Belgium has closed its office in Johannesburg and will reopen on 13 July in Pretoria, where the embassy is located. Belgium’s office in South Africa also handles all diplomatic business for Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. “We realize that with this move, the distance to the consulate is increasing for some […]

The eighth suspect arrested over allegations of the R2 billion fraud at VBS Mutual Bank, Phillip Truter, appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes court today to face 47 charges of fraud, theft, money laundering, corruption and racketeering. Truter, the former Chief Financial Officer of VBS, was in quarantine when the other seven, including […]

At least 1,544 public servants who were involved in doing business with the state are to have action taken against them, according to the minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu. In June Mchunu said he had written to the government departments about employees who had failed to disclose their financial interests or the […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is in possession of what appears to be a government document that describes the Covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity for the “macro re-organisation of the state”, and proposes to make the Command Council system a model for government beyond the lockdown, and could see South Africa’s nine provinces scrapped. […]

A British Falklands war hero, who was well known in South Africa as being part of the ‘Dagga Couple’, has been shot dead on his small holding in South Africa, bravely defending his partner from a gang of four armed robbers. Retired Royal Navy sailor Julian Stobbs, 59, was shot a number of times in […]

Following GroundUp’s report two weeks ago about how Elisa Khumalo, who is 104-years-old, had to go to the toilet in the open, two toilets have now been built for her. Khumalo who lives in Mndozo village in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, used to have to relieve herself in a roofless pit latrine with broken walls. Hearing of her plight, […]

South Africa has now recorded a confirmed 196,759 Covid-19 cases, as of 5 July 2020, according to SA’s Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize… and with 8,773 new cases recorded overnight, it is likely that in the next 24 hours the South African stats will surpass 200,000. Dr Mkhize said: “Regrettably, we report a further 173 […]

You have to admit, the resemblance between South Africa’s Spanish/Portuguese singer Miguel Pregueiro and South Africa’s famous expat comedian Trevor Noah is uncanny! If you haven’t seen it yet, watch the video below where TikTok star Miguel explains how fans have asked him if he’s Trevor’s twin… and he tries to figure out why people […]

Last year, I wrote a post called 24 Weird Things About South Africa… writes Phil Maloney who lived for a few years as a Canadian expat in SA. It exploded, with the original post going viral, and then subsequent reposts of it on other pages also going viral. There were, of course, several people who […]

On 18 July a virtual tournament using the South African-developed Android app BOATS, will kick off with prizes and incentives of over R30000.00. While having fun, learners will be educated on coding, marine pollution and COVID-19. Background Using mainly the award-winning TANKS mobile application, Prof Greyling and his team from Nelson Mandela University and Leva […]

The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation on Thursday published a wonderful photo of Archbishop Tutu and his wife Leah as they celebrate their wedding anniversary. The Foundation said: “Congratulations to our dear Founders, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Mrs Leah Tutu. Today they celebrate 65 years of marriage! ??????” The Foundation has also posted […]

There’s good news for South Africans still stranded in the US and UK as South African Airways has received approvals to operate flights between London and Johannesburg, and Washington and Johannesburg. This will also benefit those South Africans stuck in SA who need to get home to jobs and families abroad. The proposed dates for […]

Several hardhitting videos on Twitter by businessman and global speaker Vusi Thembekwayo have gone viral, with him blaming ANC government corruption for the devastation the country now faces and saying that South Africa could otherwise have survived the COVID pandemic.  The videos originated from one longer video he had filmed live on Facebook Watch on […]

A new TV campaign brought out by Proudly South African and voiced by actor John Kani is encouraging people to buy local, in order to create jobs and sustain them, especially as many businesses try to lift themselves out of the economic hole created by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The second half is about to begin,” […]

The Stormers rugby team spent today at the Brackengate temporary hospital in Cape Town helping to put the finishing touches to the hospital, and were thanked by Western Cape Premier Alan Winde for being out in the community and spreading awareness about COVID-19. “The team helped to move in beds and furniture, set up and […]

The National Treasury has reiterated its stance that it will not bail out South African Airways, apparently in direct conflict with Pravin Gordhan, who seems hell bent on saving the airline from liquidation. In its response to public submissions to the Supplementary Budget, the treasury today released a brief programme on what the next steps […]

A teenage schoolgirl in South Africa, Anika de Beer, tragically died on Tuesday in an aircraft she was flying solo, just days before her 17th birthday… which is tomorrow. This was her second solo flight. Just recently Anika’s delighted mum Rika and dad Andries had presented their daughter with a traditional bottle of champagne after […]

An analysis of financial inclusion in South Africa shows that affordability limits poor households’ access to formal financial services. In our study, which looked at people’s use of financial goods and services between 2008 and 2015, we found that there was a general increase in use. But this was severely skewed to households with higher […]

Zackie Achmat, activist and co-founder of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), stressed the need for more openness and activism during the Covid-19 crisis in South Africa. He was speaking during a webinar on Thursday in which he received the 2018 International AIDS Society (IAS) President’s Award. The award was handed to him, virtually, by outgoing […]

On their ninth wedding anniversary, Monaco’s Prince Albert II and his South African expat wife, Princess Charlène, have shared a few special family portraits on their social media channels. On the day of their anniversary – Thursday 2 July – they shared a gorgeous photo taken at the Royal Palace with their children, Prince Hereditary […]

This week, South Africa’s current affairs show Carte Blanche investigates how the outbreak of the deadly and highly contagious Parvovirus has led to the death now of around 100 puppies at a K9 police dog breeding facility in Gauteng. Killing Canines: The Parvovirus From vomiting to diarrhoea, the canine parvovirus (CPV) is a highly contagious […]

As positive cases of coronavirus peak in South Africa – with another 8,735 recorded on Thursday and 95 deaths, the country’s social media users have increasingly been urging each other to wear masks. This comes as Texas is making world headlines with a similar number of cases – over 8,000 on Wednesday – and introducing […]