A baby springbok named Missy is the luckiest Bokkie in South Africa. She has been saved not once, but twice, by a Stilbaai farmer who has the hugest heart. It all began on 23 October 2019… as South Africa’s Springbok team was making headlines in their final campaign to secure the Rugby World Cup in […]

World record holder and Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk continued his comeback from an injury-enforced layoff when winning the 400m title at the Free State Championships under difficult conditions in Bloemfontein on Saturday. In cold, wet and windy conditions, Van Niekerk floated out the blocks and coasted around the track to secure a convincing victory […]

South Africa’s Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele, has had a busy and sad day paying his respects to two children, tragically killed in separate incidents in the Western Cape… but both revealing a society that is broken. Eight-year-old Tazne van Wyk was killed by a neighbour she thought was a friend, earlier this month. […]

Residents and tourists to Cape Town in South Africa have been enjoying the most exciting day of the Cape Town Pride Calendar today – the Parade and Mardi Gras which marks the final day of the 10-day Cape Town Pride festival. Fabulous floats and live performances created the perfect atmosphere at this year’s parade in […]

The winds are howling in the Western Cape, bringing large waves to the coastline, and hampering firefighting efforts overnight. Nigel Riley captured these amazing photos of the waves at Kalk Bay Harbour on Saturday morning. “The South Easter is back,” he said. #DutoitskloofFire Meanwhile the Du Toitskloof Fire continues to burn and spread for the […]

The Dusi Canoe Marathon pre-race favourites, Andy Birkett and Khumbulani Nzimande, took the men’s honours while Cana Peek and Christie Mackenzie won the ladies stage despite a few incidents on Thursday. Euro Steel’s Birkett and Nzimande played their cards close to their chests during the first half of the stage and while the Cape crew […]

The large Du Toitskloof fire in Paarl, South Africa, has continued to rage for a fourth day, its billowing clouds of smoke visible over Cape Town. The fire broke out on Tuesday, and while firefighters managed to get another fire at Franschhoek under control, the Du Toitskloof Fire has continued to blaze, with strong winds […]

For two months late last year, the deadly antibiotic resistant CRE (Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae), ravaged the maternity ward of Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng killing 10 babies. But this wasn’t the first time that a number of infants have died in the same period inside a public health facility in South Africa. Carte Blanche investigates the hospitals […]

Supporters of 70,000 sheep facing a horrendous journey to Kuwait, as well as the sheep themselves, were dealt a devastating blow today when the court decided not to step in and prevent the live export of the sheep from South Africa. The live export of sheep for Kuwait-based meat supplier Al Mawashi is due to […]

Five men stood in court today accused of the brutal execution of Heila Kilian in April 2018 on a homestead just outside Stilbaai (Still Bay) in the Western Cape, South Africa. Witness Shaun Vorster described the terror and torture of the night’s events. The crime – almost two years ago – was so horrific it […]

Beyers Coetzee had a dream to see the elephants of Mawana Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, live out their days in peaceful co-existence… writes Louzel Lombard Steyn. He hoped to establish a reserve where ecology and community thrived. In the end, it was a dream he gave his life for. The 45-year-old conservationist was […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has at last directed the repatriation of South African citizens from Wuhan city in Hubei province, China… as other news comes to light that two South Africans working aboard the Japanese Diamond Princess Cruise Ship have tested positive for Coronavirus (Covid-19). According to a statement from the SA Health Department, 12 of […]

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the tragic murder of seven-year-old Emaan Solomons – and a 31-year-old man – in Ocean View, Cape Town in South Africa, earlier this week. The community, near Kommetjie, was devastated and angered when the young girl was shot whilst playing in her own yard… caught in the […]

In a segment on his award-winning The Daily Show, South African expat and comedian Trevor Noah says: “The coronavirus is the worst global pandemic since Baby Shark” and asks (with tongue in cheek): “Is this how we die?” The talk show host also shares footage from around the world on leaders responding to the epidemic […]

The prohibition of waste pickers from accessing the Coastal Park Landfill Site near Muizenberg saw an initial confrontation with security guards on Tuesday 18 February escalate to a group of about 100 people fighting to get in at about 7pm – sunset – last Wednesday 19 February. Reinforcements were called in the next day and […]

The Basic Education Department (DBE) has suspended with immediate effect the serving of canned pilchards as part of the national school nutrition menu across all schools in the country. The decision follows a recent order by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications that all formal wholesalers, retailers and informal traders remove and stop selling the […]

On Friday 28 February 2020, Capetonian marathon swimmer, musician and mother-of-three Carina Bruwer will attempt to swim approximately 20km to cross Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth, in support of Muzukidz, an organisation that offers underprivileged children the opportunity to learn the violin. If successful, Carina will be the first woman and the second person […]

South Africa’s Blood Lions documentary makers have welcomed China’s announcement of an unprecedented ban on the consumption of wild animals as food… but point out it should be permanent, and not only applicable when the world’s focus is on the threat of the new coronavirus. And it should definitely include lion bones which carry the […]

A South African expat couple who own the Karoo Farm Shop in Killinick, Wexford, have won the Best Cafe Award in Ireland for their region. The Irish Restaurant Awards are known as the Irish Food Oscars, according to the Restaurant Association of Ireland. An elated Clint and Nessa Engelbrecht posted a photo with the award […]

Between Germiston and Benoni is an open metal dump where more than 20 women survive by collecting scrap metal. Daily they pick through heaps of metal waste dumped by companies on the East Rand, looking for copper, stainless steel, zinc and brass. There are no ablution facilities and the women have to use the bush […]

In December 2017, the change to the foreign employment income exemption was promulgated into law. This has widely become known as the “expat tax”. The exemption at that point was capped at R1mil, meaning that South African tax residents earning foreign employment income above this threshold would no longer be exempt from tax in South […]

The heartbroken father of a 7-year-old child who was shot dead while she played in her yard at Ocean View, Cape Town, on Tuesday night; has spoken about how he found his little girl (whom he referred to often as his ‘princess’ on Facebook)… as if she was waiting for him before she passed away. […]

Numerous groups marched to Parliament or picketed outside the gates on Wednesday, ahead of the budget speech by Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni. Cry of the Xcluded Hundreds of protesters under the banner of Cry of the Xcluded marched to Parliament as well as the civic centre demanding that government deal with the crisis of […]

The South African Government has set aside R16.4 billion to repay guaranteed debt for the struggling airline SAA, the National Treasury said on Wednesday. This comes after the SAA Board placed the airline under voluntary business rescue in December last year after the struggling state-owned entity was unable to meet financial obligations. “Since 2008/09, SAA […]

Small informal retailers are a ubiquitous feature of any developing country’s urban landscape. Known as spaza shops in South Africa, they are an important, even vital, component in the townships. Numbering over 100,000 across the nation, they make critical contributions to local food security, self-employment and community cohesion. In the last decade, the sector has […]