As the Johnny Clegg Tribute concert at Emmarentia Dam has had to be postponed due to Covid Lockdown, the producers are taking this show online for his fans on Friday 31st July… which is a bonus for all the Scatterlings of Africa who will be able to watch too now! Johnny Clegg had the special […]

Across the world, but especially in Africa, the rangers who protect the game reserves, wildlife and nature in them – battling poachers and trafficking on a daily basis – are being celebrated, recognised and thanked today, World Ranger Day. In the last year, at least 137 rangers have died in the course of their duties. […]

A second planeload of German engineers, technicians and other experts whose skills are urgently needed has arrived in Johannesburg, as Germany works with South Africa to kickstart the economy and assist in projects in the Eastern Cape and at Eskom, among others. “Second JumboJet with engineers, technicians and experts has just touched down in Jo‘burg.” […]

Members of a residents association in Sunbird Park in Kuilsriver, Cape Town, are at loggerheads with a community activist running a soup kitchen in the area. The residents want the soup kitchen closed. In June, we reported on Latifa Jacobs’s soup kitchen which she runs from the front of her parents’ house in Lovebird Walk. […]

While the Gauteng government deals with a PPE tenderpreneur scandal, with everyone from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson and the MEC for Health for the province placed on special leave over questionable contracts, the Western Cape government today published the first of what it said would be regular procurement disclosure reports. The province’s Minister of Finance […]

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 […]