The owners of a horse retirement and stable farm, Blue Hippo Horses Livery, sacrificed their own home and all their belongings in a desperate bid to save their animals as a devastating fire ripped through the hills of Greyton earlier this week. (Watch video below.) Simone Beckerling and Gabby van Heerden suffered a gut-wrenching loss […]

On the 17 December 2019, a devastating wildfire destroyed Lismore Winefarm in Greyton, Western Cape  – the home and livelihood of well-known pioneering farmer and winemaker, Samantha O’Keefe (48) and her two children, Quinn (14) and Keenan (16). The fire which started in the nearby nature reserve and initially posed no threat to Lismore is believed to […]

An investigation into a fire at the Majuba power station in South Africa will get going, just as soon as the facility has cooled down, says Eskom. “We will have to wait for the facility to cool down in order to start a forensic investigation to determine the cause of the fire. Once it is […]

Government is engaging with mobile operators on the best ways to reduce the high cost of data without interfering with the work of regulators, says Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams. Government’s efforts follow the release of the Competition Commission’s market inquiry report into mobile data services, which found that South Africa’s data prices […]

South African Springbok star Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira will be moving to the USA where he has signed a one-year contract with Washington’s brand new Major League Rugby franchise, Old Glory. He’s not doing it for the money… but to boost rugby in the States and help mentor young African Americans. Mtawarira confirmed the move in […]

Gauteng police uncovered an arms cache of more than 40 high calibre firearms and over 2000 ammunition in a Vanderbijlpark home in South Africa, in the early hours of Thursday morning. The police had been called to the home by a woman, on a domestic violence complaint. The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in […]

Two former Eskom senior managers are among those arrested in South Africa for alleged fraud, corruption and money laundering worth R745 million. Hawks spokesperson, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the former managers as well as two other business directors among others, were arrested in the early hours of Thursday in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng provinces by […]

The South African government says it has noted rating agency Fitch’s decision to affirm South Africa’s long-term foreign and local currency debt ratings at ‘BB+’ and maintain the negative outlook. The country’s foreign and local credit ratings by the agency, therefore, remain one notch below investment grade. According to Fitch, South Africa’s ratings are constrained […]

The government is due to announce its decision on a massive new wind energy project on the West Coast within the next two weeks. This is the proposed 140MW Boulders Wind Farm. It will consisting of 45 turbines standing 165m high. The German-owned developer plans to erect it on farmland close to Paternoster, Britannia Bay, […]

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) awarded the Komape family R1.4 million for emotional shock and grief after the loss of their five year-old son Michael, who drowned in a Limpopo school pit toilet in 2014. The award overturns a decision by the Limpopo High Court in 2018, which denied the family’s claim for damages […]

As 2019 comes to an end GroundUp reflects on another tumultuous year. South Africans came out in their numbers to protests against gender based violence. The army was deployed to the Cape Flats to assist police with gang violence. Refugees and asylum seekers were chaotically evicted from outside the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ offices in Cape Town and […]

While Durban celebrates being voted Greenest City in the World (for the green spaces in the coastal holiday town), the city is actually making headlines around the planet for its devastating plastic pollution. The UK’s Daily Mail, one of the most read media outlets in the world, said: “Waves of PLASTIC crash towards litter-strewn South […]

South Africa’s national carrier, South African Airways, has been placed in voluntary business rescue. It’s an historic moment as it’s the first business rescue attempt of a state owned entity. The decision places the country in unfamiliar territory – politically, economically and legally. What happens next will determine whether the decision was the right one […]

In a historic move, Donald Trump has been impeached… although that does not mean he will stop being the President of the United States. That is a decision that can only be made by the Senate. And in an incredible outburst he appeared to attack a widow for voting to impeach him, as if she […]

Every now and then an important film hits our screens, a film that’s not just entertainment… but which resonates with many and sends an important message that every single South African should hear and see. Moffie is one of those. The film – by acclaimed director Oliver Hermanus – has already premiered at the Venice […]

The joyous occasion in the beautiful Western Cape town in South Africa was marked by a serious and frightening theme. Barrydale held its annual giant puppet parade and performance on Sunday. Music, dance, dress-up and puppets brought the town to life as it celebrated the tenth year of this event. Titled “The Final Spring”, the […]

Tonight South African expat and comedian Trevor Noah will be interviewing Miss Universe on The Daily Show. It’s extra special since Miss Universe is of course South Africa’s own Zozibini Tunzi. (Watch video below.) Zozi and the Miss Universe page shared preview photos of the interview – which, with the way they’re both laughing and […]

With a drop in demand during the holiday period and a return of some generating units to service, Eskom is not expecting to implement load shedding today. “Eskom will continue to use emergency reserves to supplement capacity if necessary over this period,” said the power utility on Wednesday. Eskom has not load shed in four […]

Intercape, a luxury coach transport service in Southern Africa, has confirmed that eight armed robbers held up one of its buses travelling from Johannesburg to Harare (in Zimbabwe) on Saturday 7 December 2019. The incident, in which four of the gang members had apparently boarded the bus previously pretending to be passengers, occurred at around […]

Messages of support and sympathy have poured in for Samantha O’Keefe, winemaker and owner of Lismore Estate Vineyards in the Overberg, near to Greyton, South Africa, where a devastating wildfire – allegedly begun by children – has apparently destroyed both her homestead and cellar. Friends, colleagues and customers have expressed their “heartbreak” and “devastation” for […]

Most people know Robertson either as a small, drive-through town, or as the place of four fabulous wine festivals with names like Wacky Wine Weekend and Wine-on-River Festival… writes Cindy September. The town is aptly known as “The town of Wine and Roses”. But Robertson is so much more than that. It’s the town I […]

An exceptional maths and science teacher from Newcastle in South Africa – Khangelani Sibiya (known to many as KWV) – has been named Best Global Teacher of the Year at the Global Education Awards ceremony in Dubai. Sibiya, who teaches with passion and energy, was selected from 80 of the top teachers in the world […]

CAPE TOWN – New Zealand did the double at the fifth instalment of the popular Cape Town Sevens in South Africa as their men’s and women’s teams were crowned champions on a weekend where new sevens records were set in the Mother City. With a women’s tournament added to the action for the first time, […]

Eish, South Africans may have one of the sexiest accents in the world… but turns out it’s also one of the most difficult to master, even for someone who once played a magician! Watch the ‘Escape from Pretoria’ official trailer below, and you’re likely to wish Harry Potter could wave his magic wand and improve […]

This “has to be the luckiest and bravest pangolin in the world”, says Phinda Private Game Reserve conservation manager Simon Naylor. The little pangolin was abandoned, possibly run over and almost died… but thanks to luck and the dedication of a whole bunch of kind people in South Africa, he is now thriving in the […]