In an effort to curb COVID-19 infections, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has dispersed 1265 tankers and 134 water trucks throughout the Free State province. This is to ensure people are able to wash their hands, a critical measure in preventing the spread of the virus. The department is not only supplying municipalities […]

South Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 3 465 as of Tuesday. The total number of tests conducted are 126 937 of which 5 427 were done in the last 24 hours. Provincial breakdown is as follows: Gauteng – 1199 Western Cape – 1010 KwaZulu-Natal – 671 Eastern Cape – 345 Free State – […]

Even the opposition party – the Democratic Alliance (DA) – has welcomed President Ramaphosa’s announcement on Tuesday night of a suite of economic support measures to counteract the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on individual South Africans, on businesses and on the SA economy as a whole. Announcing a R500-billion extraordinary budget for coronavirus response, […]

A shopkeeper, one of his customers, and a former police officer – who they call their ‘Godmother’ – have been keeping people in Merriespruit, Free State, feeling merry with generous hand-outs of food parcels during South Africa’s lockdown. The three unlikely amigos in Virginia have been helping put food on the table, and a smile […]

Here are the details for the final repatriation flight from Europe for South Africans stuck abroad. Please pass on to any South Africans you know in the region (including the UK and Ireland) who may want to make their way to Germany to fly home. South Africans in Egypt are also advised to urgently contact […]

The One World, Together at Home global concert – organised to raise funds to fight the COVID-19 pandemic – has raised over US$127 million. The eight-hour concert which took place on Saturday – and featured South African DJ Black Coffee – was co-organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with Global Citizen’s Hugh Evans and […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation this evening – Tuesday, 21 April 2020 – on additional economic and social relief measures that form part of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The President’s address comes as a result of recent deliberations at Cabinet, the National Coronavirus Command Council, the President’s Coordinating Council, and […]

South Africa on Monday confirmed four new COVID-19 deaths, leading to a total of 58 people who have succumbed to the virus to date. According to a statement released by the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, the country now has 3 300 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 121 510 tests having been conducted in both […]

The Kiffness has done it again – with The Sound of Sirens (Sound of Silence Lockdown Parody). Watch below… Dave Scott (aka The Kiffness) said it’s “a song for all those in lockdown with cabin fever”. It’s already had over 100,000 views on YouTube with most people giving it the thumbs up. Dave joked: “The […]

A passionate South African former golf caddy, Laurence Wells, is auctioning a flag signed by legendary golfer Tiger Woods when he won the British Open… to raise money for the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK where Laurence now lives. It costs only £10 to stand a chance to win the flag, signed by […]

After many unanswered calls by government departments, the Public Service Commission has appealed to them to update contact details on their websites so citizens can reach them. Many have not been updated despite lockdown being in effect for three weeks already. The PSC said it has been inundated with unanswered calls and unreachable numbers. The […]

As I accompanied members of a community-sponsored, volunteer-based feeding scheme around Pretoria recently, I saw several communities who might have been of different races. But they had one thing in common – they are desperately in need of food as they reel under the economic effects of lockdown in South Africa. We arrive at the […]

There is no word to describe a parent who has lost a child… writes Hayley Reichert from Home Away From Home. The closest word that is used among those who have experienced such a loss, is ‘Vilomah’, a Sanskrit word that means ‘against a natural order’. One such angel is nine-year old Max Claase, a […]

The South African government should massively ramp up its “insufficient” spending to cushion the country from the economic and social ravages of the Covid-19 lockdown and the pandemic, says the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) in a policy document. The think tank has released a detailed emergency rescue package which it says the state should […]

As the taxi industry counts the costs of the COVID-19 pandemic, intergovernmental consultations on a Taxi Industry Relief intervention are at an advanced stage. This was confirmed by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula during a virtual meeting with the National Taxi Alliance (NTA) on Sunday. “The Departments of Transport, Small Business, Labour, Trade and Competition as […]

Albert Camus was a 20th century French Algerian thinker who won the Nobel Prize for his literary works. These days it is his novel The Plague that has naturally been receiving attention. In this essay I instead consider what Camus’ philosophical classic, The Myth of Sisyphus, reveals about the status of our lives with COVID-19. […]

What strategy should South Africa follow to contain the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus after the current 35-day lockdown? Any strategy should be informed by the trajectory of the disease, the effectiveness – or otherwise – of the current lockdown and how the particularities of the country will interact with the virus. These include high […]

South Africa has confirmed a total of 3 158 COVID-19 cases, having conducted 114 711 tests to date. Gauteng is still leading with 1 148 people testing positive for the virus, followed by the Western Cape at 868 cases. KwaZulu-Natal has 617 cases of COVID-19, the Eastern Cape province has 293 cases, Free State has […]

Loyal South African Airways (SAA) staff are begging the South African public to please support them in persuading the government to not turn its back on the airline. Listen below to a heartbreaking message from one of the airline’s pilots to South Africans to take to social media and help #SAVESAA. According to reports, the […]

To obey lockdown regulations, Batyi tries to keep her family inside her corrugated iron shack in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. “I worry a lot about them catching coronavirus,” says Nozakuthini Batyi. “I make my kids stay in my yard or lie in bed throughout the day.” As a means to ensure her kids stay indoors, she […]

South Africa has 3 034 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 903 recoveries and 52 deaths, the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said on Saturday. Mkhize held a virtual briefing on Saturday evening, where he released the country’s latest COVID-19 statistics. Gauteng has the majority of COVID-19 cases at 1 101, while the Western Cape has […]

Today – Saturday 18 April – some of the biggest names in music have come together for the One World: Together at Home concert, to generate further funds for the Solidarity Response Fund. But – says the WHO – it’s not just to raise funds… but “to bring the world together, because we’re one world, […]

Watch British singer James Blunt’s moving tribute to the brave workers in the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic, following his father’s lifesaving kidney transplant in January. The world-famous musician, who first released The Greatest, in October 2019, has released a new version containing visuals celebrating the ‘brave and powerful’ workers on the frontline of the […]

There have been numerous videos posted of wild animals taking advantage of lockdown in South Africa, but this has to be one of the strangest. Posted on Twitter today, a kudu was seen wandering through a street in Pretoria. There was no explanation of how it could have got there. We will update you if […]

A captain and his crew pleaded guilty to attempted murder after throwing two terrified stowaways into the shark-infested Indian Ocean, off the South African coastline, to avoid catching coronavirus from them. Skipper Cui Rongli watched as his crew built a makeshift raft roping together sealed plastic drums and plywood, then stopped his ship to dump […]