Government has welcomed two high court judgments dismissing challenges related to the Disaster Management Act and its regulations. On 26 June, the Western Cape High Court dismissed an application that sought to challenge the constitutionality of the National Coronavirus Command Council as a subcommittee of Cabinet. In a separate case, the Gauteng High Court dismissed […]

South Africa’s President – and Chairperson of the Africa Union – Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated Dr Lazarus Chakwera on his historic election as the President of the Republic of Malawi. Dr Chakwera posted a short message on Twitter on Sunday evening, saying: “It’s an honour.” President Ramaphosa has also congratulated all stakeholders for the success […]

Nature intended rhino to have horns… but thanks to an insatiable and totally misguided belief that that horn can cure illnesses, the rhino in Pilanesberg reserve have just been dehorned in the world’s largest rhino dehorning operation ever. It took nine days, two helicopters and 30 ground support staff per team (there were two teams) […]

Former Miss World, Anneline Kriel, has posted a message about ageing that has touched thousands of South Africans across the country, with over 5,000 liking her post since it was published yesterday. Anneline, who was once married to the late South African hotel magnate Sol Kerzner, posted two photos of herself – one from ‘then’ […]

As predicted by the South African Weather Service (SAWS), a cold front made landfall this morning in the South West Cape, bringing with it sheets of hard rain and gale force winds… reminding locals why it’s known as the Cape of Storms. SAWS cautioned residents to keep checking for alerts and “stay safe”. “Rain is […]

The South African cabinet has said it supports the establishment of a new airline out of South African Airways and has backed the concerted efforts to mobilise funding from various sources that could see the proposed carrier take off. The mobilising of funding would include potential equity partners, government said in a post-Cabinet meeting statement. […]

It’s been a long week… so here, simply for your viewing pleasure, are some fabulous photos from Western Cape photographer Robyn Gwilt. Robyn says: “My niece has been asking for pix of proteas and yesterday I ran into my favourite Protea farmer Lindsay Madden, from the farm Heilfontein in Tesselaarsdal in the Hemel en Aarde […]

Whether you pour one litre of water into a bucket riddled with holes, or a thousand litres, the outcome will be the same: There will be no water left. So writes Theo de Jager, head of the SA Agri Initiative (SAAi) and president of the World Agricultural Organisation. The bottom line of Finance Minister Tito […]

It’s one of the most controversial poaching prevention measures, but dehorning rhinos to reduce their value for poachers, is a method that some conservationists believe simply must be employed. So when South Africa went into lockdown, two small expert teams in the Pilanesberg National Park in the North West, which has suffered several rhino poaching […]

All across South Africa there are amazing people stepping up to help each other though Lockdown. Many motorists are now travelling with extra food to give to the increasing number of homeless people begging at traffic lights. Strangers across the land are cooking or donating to help starving families in townships. But it’s not only […]

Saai, an organisation that represents the interests of family farmers, will be in the Western Cape High Court in early August 2020 on behalf of farmers and farmworkers to have the government’s regulations on the banning of legal tobacco sales declared unconstitutional and invalid. The case will be heard together with nine other applicants, headed […]

Cinemas, restaurants, theatres and casinos can start operating again, albeit under strict conditions, after having closed for three months in the COVID-19 enforced lockdown. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, on Thursday signed and gazetted an amendment to the regulations for the advanced COVID-19 alert level 3 lockdown. Restaurants have […]

It’s happened again. In spite of holding all necessary legal documentation from the South African Embassy in China, 23 South Africans have been refused permission to board a connecting flight on Air Asia from Guangzhou in China to Kuala Lumpur, after which they would be repatriated home to SA. Some, who had spent their last […]

Zeblon Vilakazi, a professor who is “globally recognised for his scientific work,” has been selected to replace Professor Adam Habib as the next vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Witwatersrand. He will take over his role on 1 January. Professor Vilakazi’s appointment was announced today by the Council of the University of the Witwatersrand […]

The government has promised that the calamitous journey of its Medupi power plant, said to be the fourth-biggest in the world and first started in 2007, will be over this year and its sister plant Kusile completed in 2023. This was stated when Deputy President David Mabuza answered a question in Parliament today. He said […]

Two nurses at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday shared the heartbreaking reality of their working lives right now, during these Covid-19 times… when a coronavirus cure is still but a dream, and being admitted to ICU is a nightmare for the patients, their family who can’t visit and the medical staff […]

After the arrest of eight of the top officials of VBS Mutual Bank last week for their alleged involvement in the plundering of R2 billion from the bank, the first member of a municipality has been arrested. The acting CFO of the Merafong Municipality west of Johannesburg, Thys Wienekus, was arrested earlier today for his […]

If you’re in South Africa, give yourself a dose of good-old feel-good series on the DStv Now app. All these series are in their first season on DStv and are building up to boxsets on Catch Up, so you don’t need to worry about episodes expiring before you get to them. Climb under the covers […]

The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in South Africa is increasing exponentially since the relaxation of stringent regulations, as the economy opens for more industries to operate, says the SA government.   South Africa recorded 103 more deaths and 5 688 new positive cases on Wednesday – the country’s single biggest jump since the Coronavirus […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested a debate in the National Assembly on the “scourge” of farm attacks and murders across rural South Africa, many of which have been “particularly heinous in nature with brutal torture”. These attacks, they say, are a “national emergency” which must be addressed as a matter of urgency. In a […]

On Monday it was announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa had referred the contentious Copyright Amendment Bill back to Parliament on the basis that a number of its provisions are unconstitutional. This was 15 months after it had been passed by Parliament, more than 3 years after it had been formally introduced, and 9 years after […]

The Department of Public Enterprises has welcomed the court judgment, which will see the creditors’ meeting to vote on the #SAA business rescue plan, go ahead as planned today. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has welcomed the judgment to strike off the roll an urgent court application by SA Airlink. The airline this week […]

Two female officers and one senior male officer from the Tshwane Metro Police Department have tested positive for COVID-19. The 51-year-old, a senior superintendent and a 37-year-old female constable, tested positive on 17 June 2020 at Number 1 Madiba Street. The building was closed for two days to allow for the disinfection process to take […]

South African Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has approved plans for the resumption of football. “The plans of the Premier Soccer League have been approved, considering the mitigation strategies and plans in relation to the level 3 risk adjusted strategy in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture said […]

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille says the South African government has so far spent R17-million to procure quarantine sites. Responding to a question when Ministers in the Economic Cluster fielded oral questions in the National Assembly, De Lille said there was a need to find a bigger balance between finding private and […]