Yesterday, Tuesday 9 November, a giant puppet called Little Amal – who was created by a South African company – was centre stage at the Glasgow COP26 talks. After walking thousands of miles across Europe from Turkey, Little Amal reached the COP26 talks to raise awareness of the plight of refugee children on the front […]

Elon Musk hinted on Oct. 31, 2021, perhaps jokingly, that he might be willing to donate US$6 billion of his fortune to pay for hunger relief. But there was a catch: The United Nations would have to prove that it can solve world hunger “right now.” His comments responded to a challenge U.N. World Food […]

There’s light at the end of the tunnel! Eskom has announced it will REDUCE loadshedding to Stage 3 from 05:00 on Wednesday until Friday 05:00. Thereafter Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented as previously communicated until 05:00 on Saturday. In a media briefing on Tuesday (watch below) Eskom Group Chief Executive, André de Ruyter, announced […]

South African soprano Elza van den Heever has been named as a recipient of the 17th Annual Opera News Awards. The 42-year-old will be celebrated, along with two other singers from the US, for her achievement in opera at the Awards Gala on 3 April 2022. Elza – who is based in France and is […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South African officials are investigating an alarming rise in seal deaths along the west coast near Cape Town, with malnutrition one potential cause. A Reuters photographer saw scores of seal carcasses on beaches in Cape Town and along the rugged Atlantic Ocean coastline north of the city last week. Several more […]

Shell – multinational oil and gas company – has announced it will start a seismic survey in search of oil or gas deposits from South Africa’s beautiful Morgans Bay to Port St Johns on December 1 at the earliest. The survey will include a vessel operated by Shell Exploration and Production SA’s hirelings, Shearwater GeoServices, […]

A farm attack in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), last night was allegedly ‘facilitated’ by load-shedding (electricity power cuts in South Africa). “The attack was facilitated by the Eskom load-shedding that was on at the time and which had shut down some cell phone networks where cell phone tower backup batteries had been stolen,” says Alf Lees, […]

Some staff members at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (CMJH) in South Africa are picketing today to protest the daily thefts of their cars… which they say management is ignoring. Jack Bloom, DA Shadow Minister of Health in Gauteng says: “I have spoken to nurses who tell me that two or more cars are stolen […]

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has commenced payments to the Workers Affected By Unrest (WABU) Relief Scheme and has so far disbursed R6.4-million to 1 402 workers that were affected by the July 2021 unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. In a statement on Monday, the department said the payments were made from applications received from […]

South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services has confirmed that convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius is being considered for parole, eight years into his imprisonment for killing his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013. Her parents have indicated they would be willing to meet with him in the Victim Offender […]

Athol Williams is a South African hero. The speaker, author and advocate – who hails from Mitchell’s Plain – was the first person to earn Masters degrees from five of the top universities in the world. He’s also an award-winning author and poet; and a passionate South African who couldn’t keep quiet when he saw […]

With the relaunch of a double-daily service between Cape Town and Durban, kulula.com says it has fully restored its pre-COVID route network. In the case of the Cape Town and Durban service, capacity has actually increased, says Desmond O’Connor, kulula.com Chief Commercial Officer. Pre-COVID, the airline operated one flight per day on the route. Daily […]

Durban University of Technology was forced today to close some campuses following violent “protest action” that resulted in damage to property. DUT said in a statement: “Earlier this morning, a group of protestors from a student political organisation turned extremely violent and damaged DUT property, thereby threatening and compromising the safety and security of our […]

Great weather conditions, record-breaking fundraising and a determined group of Ambassadors made for a memorable Rhino Peak Challenge this year – a unique challenge aimed at raising vital funds for Endangered species conservation. On the morning of 6 November, 44 brave individuals set their sights on summiting Rhino Peak in the Southern Drakensberg – a […]

Early this morning, Monday 8 November, Princess Charlene was warmly welcomed back to Monaco by her husband Prince Albert II, their six-year-old children – twins Prince Heir Jacques and Princess Gabriella – and her sister-in-law Princess Stephanie. After so many months away from her new home, it was no surprise that the Monaco Palace said […]

The DA is “deeply concerned about the anti-democracy protests” in Isipingo today, says DA Durban South Constituency head, Tim Bruteseth. In a statement on Monday afternoon, Bruteseth says that it was “ANC sponsored protestors” who blocked the northern and southern end of the main arterial road running through the Isipingo CBD, about 19 km south […]

The South African Police Service (SAPS) detectives in Motherwell are investigating the tragic and mysterious death of three children aged between just four-months-old and 11-years-old… who died not long after eating two-minute noodles. It’s alleged that the children had accompanied their grandparents to New Brighton to visit relatives on Saturday. “They stayed over and on […]

Eskom has unfortunately started implementing load shedding Stage 4 in South Africa from 13:00 Monday afternoon… and Stage 4 is set to last until 05:00 on Friday, after which it will be downgraded to Stage 2 until 05:00 on Saturday. This comes after the power utility announced on Sunday that it expected to continue with […]

The first South African Muslim film shot in Afrikaans, Barakat, has been selected as South Africa’s official submission for the 94th Annual Academy Awards (the Oscars!). It’s an award-winning film that brilliantly explores how a family moves on after the death of a father. Uniquely South African, yet absolutely universal. Watch the trailer below and […]

Energy investments will help overcome the debilitating load shedding (power cuts) that South Africa is currently experiencing, as new electricity generation capacity comes online, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. In his weekly newsletter to the country, the President said that energy continues to be an area of growth in South Africa as the 25 preferred bidders […]

South Africa’s famous and ultra-luxurious Blue Train has derailed. The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning at Union Station in Elandsfontein, near Germiston, Gauteng. Fortunately there were no passengers on board. Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) confirmed that 19 empty coaches of one of the Blue Trains derailed at the Union Station Loop […]

Johannesburg media witnessed the return of live theatre on Sunday, in an emotional fairytale night for all, as they watched the stars of pantomime Cinderella light up the Joburg Theatre stage for the first time in far too long. Gauteng publicist Georg Knoke was there… “Yiphee! The stages of South Africa are opening up again! […]

Eskom has announced that “regretfully” Stage 2 loadshedding – which is just a pretty word for rolling power cuts – will continue throughout the week ahead from 05:00 on Monday until 05:00 on Saturday. Since the power system remains “volatile and unpredictable”, Eskom cautioned that “higher stages of loadshedding may be required” (as happened last […]

Charlize Theron says she has no regrets over the projects she’s starred in or turned down. But when it comes to her career, Charlize says she’s most proud of its longevity. The 46-year-old Oscar winner made her professional debut in the 1995 direct-to-video horror film Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest, and over the […]

South Africa is one of the leading countries in Africa in terms of COVID vaccine rollout, along with Mauritius, Tunisia and Morocco. It has, however, had its fair share of challenges. Shabir A. Madhi has been a key player in shaping the country’s response. Ina Skosana and Ozayr Patel asked him for an assessment of […]