Egypt announced its first Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case on Friday, making it Africa’s first documented infection. “This is not unexpected and South Africa remains vigilant for cases of COVID-19,” South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) said in a tweet on Saturday. (Watch video below on how ready South Africa is for the […]

South African parents have been urged to inform and warn their children about a “ridiculous new challenge” happening at schools. The latest TikTok challenge – called the Tripping Jump Challenge or Skull-Breaker Challenge – has already swept the world, and has now sadly arrived in South Africa. The challenge involves two so-called friends standing on […]

In December, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the sentences of thousands of prisoners were being shortened. Since the announcement, Pollsmoor Prison has released 887 offenders, according to Ntobeko Mketshane, area commissioner of the prison. On Thursday, a large contingent of Pollsmoor officials, accompanied by senior police and officials from the Department of Home Affairs, hosted […]

If you weren’t lucky enough to be one of the world record-breaking spectators at the Match in Africa on 7 February in Cape Town, South Africa… or if you just want to relive the magic – here are some select video highlights of the celebrity match, and photos of the incredible event that had long […]

Eskom announced on Sunday that it would stop rotational loadshedding at 21:00, but that sadly the “probability of loadshedding during the week remains”. Eskom said it was able to stop tonight’s Stage 2 loadshedding because the emergency generation reserves had adequately recovered. South Africa’s power utility said that the load shedding over the weekend had […]

Young African actress Nikita Pearl Waligwa, who starred in Disney’s Queen of Katwe, has tragically passed away in Uganda at the age of just 15. According to international reports, she had been suffering from brain cancer. She was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016, but thanks to Queen of Katwe’s director Mira Nair […]

Cape Town Water Crisis déjà vu floods over me as I step into Shanghai’s Pingwu Road and see the long line of people outside the pharmacy. We’re eight days into our self-imposed Coronavirus quarantine and my husband and I have finally decided to leave the apartment… writes Anique Kruger who has been living and teaching […]

Check out Oti Mabuse on the Graham Norton Show, having a great belly laugh about the confusion a South African accent can cause! The SA Expat – who has become famous in the UK on ‘Strictly’ – was appearing on the popular BBC show to talk about her latest programme, ‘The Greatest Dancer’. Fellow Graham […]

There is a current shortage of avocados in South Africa, pushing prices up… but watch below as this kind stranger pays hundreds and hundreds of rands for a bunch of avocados that were really on sale for R50. The man behind the generosity is most likely Businessman Malcolm X who has given away millions in […]

To save these threatened seahorses, we built them 5-star underwater hotels… Venture beneath the ocean and you’ll see schools of fish and other alien-like species that may take your breath away. But one species in particular is an enigma in the marine world: the shy, elusive seahorse. Approximately 50 species of seahorse are found worldwide, […]

Anti-drug trafficking groups say an increasing number of South Africans are getting arrested abroad for drugs smuggled through O.R. Tambo International Airport. This Sunday Carte Blanche investigates the status quo at the airport, as well as celebrating Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi, remembering Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala and finding out why a popular Western […]

Joseph Shabalala was the affable leader of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a men’s group that sang isicathamiya, a traditional Zulu genre of South African a cappella. Even with heavy hearts at his passing, a lot of South Africans know they are much richer for his time in the world. For the group he formed, for making […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa teed off this morning with South African golfing star – Simthandile “Sim Tiger” Tshabalala – who is fast becoming a legend at all of eight-years-old! The President met Sim Tiger at the Atlantic Beach Golf Estate this morning. The young boy is already a phenomenal young golfer, who has flown the flag […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says while it welcomes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that municipalities will be allowed to purchase power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), it’s meaningless unless timelines are swiftly announced; and has urged Ramaphosa to stop the government fighting the City of Cape Town in court and allow the Mother City […]

South African solo rower John Dempster of Watering The Mind just finished the World’s Toughest Row, the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge (TWAC). John completed the 3,000 mile Atlantic crossing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean in 63 days and 9 hours,14 minutes. The Proudly South African rower said it “feels good” […]

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has demanded that the City of Cape Town take immediate action against the sewage pollution in Milnerton lagoon. OUTA announced on 11 February that it had sent a letter to the City to ask for a meeting. The objective of the meeting is to present residents’ solutions to the pollution […]

Here’s the full State of the Nation  Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday 13 February 2020: It is 30 years since Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela walked out of the gates of Victor Verster Prison, a moment in our history that signalled perhaps more vividly than any other that freedom was at hand. As he stood […]

The South African Government plans to regulate the commercial use of hemp products this year, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday to a great deal of excitement. Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) before a joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament, President Ramaphosa said government will […]

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) created chaos at the State of the Nation Address tonight, infringing on the rights of all those who wanted to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his address… and delayed the President’s speech by almost an hour before the Speaker of the House Thandi Modise announced that the proceedings in the […]

Watch President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA) live here. Before the President has even got a chance to speak, EFF Leader Julius Malema and his colleagues have argued with the speaker that former President FW de Klerk should be removed from Parliament. Malema says he has blood on his hands. […]

Not quite sure where the time has gone, but somehow my logbook told me it had been a month since my last flight… writes marine conservation photographer Jean Tresfon. With the forecast looking good for Wednesday I planned to head around the Peninsula and see what marine life was in evidence, hopefully even spotting some […]

With just over an hour to go before President Cyril Ramaphosa tables the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the spotlight is on praise singer Masingita Shibambu, who is tasked with ushering in the President into the Parliamentary chambers. Over the years, the 19-year-old has perfected her craft at Sunday school, parties and funerals of […]

Democratic South Africa has skeletons in the closet that it needs to address. One of these is the death of Dag Hammarskjöld, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) in a plane crash shortly after midnight on 17 to 18 September 1961. The plane went down as it approached Ndola, a mining town in Northern […]

Dear Family and Friends, When I put my fingers into a black china bowl of water in the sink to scoop out what I thought was a leaf, I found myself holding a small black scorpion… writes author Cathy Buckle in her latest Letter from Zimbabwe. A yelp of alarm, a few unrepeatable swear words […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to use his State of the Nation Address Thursday evening to respond to burning issues such as load shedding and gender-based violence; unpack the progress that has been made by government over the past year and chart plans for the year ahead. Parliament officials have been hard at […]