Every day, Zwelakhe Mnomiya from Gqamu in KwaZulu-Natal walks about 20km to and from school. The grade 11 learner is among dozens of children who make the journey on foot to Gcotoi High School in rural Kranskop. According to Gcotoi High, more than 100 learners walk between 11 and 20 km to and from school […]

The stranding of the MV Wakashio is one of the biggest environmental disasters in the history of the western Indian Ocean. While the full scale of the disaster is not yet known, the 1,000 tons of oil and diesel that leaked close to one of the greatest marine treasures of Mauritius threatens to destroy this […]

Western Cape photographer Nigel Riley captured these amazing photos of huge waves hitting Harbour House restaurant in Kalk Bay, South Africa, today. The South African Weather Service (SAWS) had predicted that the Cold Front, which arrived in the region yesterday, would bring strong winds and big waves of up to 6 metres today… but nobody […]

The exciting annual Encounters South African International Documentary Festival is happening again this year, but for the first time you can watch it from the comfort of home, and all the 50 films are free (with the option of a donation). It runs 20-30 August. Many incredible award-winning docs from around the world will be […]

Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, how well has South Africa done at limiting infections, and how big a deal is the pandemic anyway? To answer that, we need to think about how the data actually works and doesn’t work. We are not 5th worst Dashboards like Bing and Worldometer report that South Africa has the fifth-highest number […]

A COVID donation of medical material and personal protection equipment from the French government arrived in South Africa today. The donation consists of single-channel infusion pumps, material for intensive care units and medical isolation gowns, worth a total of R 1,8 million, according to a post by the French Embassy on Twitter. “France stands with […]

A protest against farm murders is taking place in Mookgophong, Limpopo today in response to the spike in farm murders in the region and to farm attacks nationwide in South Africa; and coinciding with the appearance in court today of suspects in the murder of ‘Oom’ Alwyn van Zyl (79), who was brutally murdered on […]

As predicted by the South African Weather Service, the cold front that made landfall on Monday afternoon in the SW Cape has moved over larger parts of South and Southern Africa in the past 12 hours. Here snow can be seen falling this morning in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. #snow in Queenstown. EC at […]

South Africans are reeling today after the tragic death of  six children and three adults in what was meant to be a happy family get-away near Kgalagadi Trans-Frontier Park. The nine people – including one entire family – perished in a devastating fire at luxurious Blinkwater Lodge in the Northern Cape. All the deceased were […]

With bare hands, residents removed septic tanks from communal chemical toilets, loaded them on shopping trolleys and emptied them at the exit of N7 at Dunoon, near Milnerton, CapeTown, on Sunday. The residents from Ekuphumuleni informal settlement have not had their toilets cleaned for three weeks after they stopped a newly appointed contractor, Sanitech, from […]

It’s been bitterly cold in Cape Town today with howling winds… and perhaps even snow. A video is going viral on WhatsApp showing people on Table Mountain picking up snow from the pathway. Watch below. (Update: watch snow in South Africa and Lesotho today, 18 August 2020.) The guy filming what seems like snow can […]

Questions have been raised about the suicide in custody on Sunday of one of two men arrested in connection with the murder of five women in Mthwalume in KwaZulu-Natal, after he told police there were more bodies to be found. The Democratic Alliance has called for an investigation. The two men, aged 35 and 40, […]

The sound of Thandeka Ngobeni crying could be heard in the background despite the loud clunking and banging noises as shacks around her were being demolished on Monday morning in Gauteng, South Africa. The attempts by dozens of families to occupy land near the Heidelberg highway in Tsakane’s extension 11 were stopped on Monday. The […]

With South Africa moving to alert level 2 at midnight, President Cyril Ramaphosa has cautioned South Africans against letting their guard down by not observing COVID-19 health and safety protocols. South Africa moves to level 2 of the lockdown at midnight, in a move that will see many restrictions lifted. “With this comes increased risk […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his heartfelt condolences following the passing of anti-apartheid activist Paul David who passed away on Thursday, 13 August 2020, at the age of 79. “The passing of Paul David as the last member of the Consulate Six is a great loss to our country and especially to the people of […]

South Africa’s move to level 2 of the lockdown is a step in the right direction, says the South African Medical Association (SAMA). “This is the correct decision by government and signals a major shift in the country’s response to the Coronavirus. We are happy with this decision and believe it will go some way […]

Researchers have found evidence in a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) cave, in South Africa, that back at the dawn of the human species – over 200,000 years ago – people prepared beds for themselves to sleep on, according to a study published in Science magainze. Wits University in Johannesburg says in a news release that the researchers […]

Not everyone’s impressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on Saturday evening, in his address to the nation, that South Africa will move into Lockdown Level 2 with many regulations relaxed, including a lift on the ban on cigarettes and alcohol, and the opening of borders for inter-provincial travel. While some rejoiced – and looked forward […]

Following one of the longest lockdowns in the world, South Africans are rejoicing after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced tonight the country is moving to Lockdown Level 2 on Monday at midnight, removing nearly all restrictions. This means that economic activity can resume. The bans on the sale of tobacco and alcohol are lifted, and liquor […]

An increasing trend recently has been the sight of South Africa receiving aid and services from other countries, most of it free, but at least once paid for. A country that should be delivering help to the rest of the continent and further afield is now the one needing assistance. Germany – Technical experts  On […]

South African golfing legend Gary Player has revealed that his beloved wive Vivienne is recovering from pancreatic cancer. Gary did not give details about when and how Vivienne was diagnosed, but said it had been a “massive shock” to him and their family. (Recently Gary and his eldest son were embroiled in a legal dispute […]

Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs – Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma – has today signed an extension to the already extended National State of Disaster (Covid-19). The State of Disaster was due to end today, but has now been extended a further month to 15 September 2020. According to the Government Notice 765 published in […]

To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, Charles de Gaulle and Martin Luther King, it takes a crisis to show the mettle of a true leader. And if anyone in South Africa has proved that over and over again during the past five months, it would be Western Cape Premier Alan Winde. Inasmuch as Cyril Ramaphosa has […]

Former DA Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, has announced that his new political party will be launched on 29 August… while former DA Leader Mmusi Maimane has also spoken out about the new kind of leadership required in South Africa. Maimane, who now leads One South Africa Movement – a grassroots activist movement aiming to unite a […]

The predation of livestock by carnivores, and the retaliatory killing of carnivores as a result, is a major global conservation challenge. Such human-wildlife conflicts are a key driver of large carnivore declines and the costs of coexistence are often disproportionately borne by rural communities in the global south. While current approaches tend to focus on […]