South Africa’s Paralympic team have headed off to Japan for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Here’s a guide to the events our 34 SA athletes will be competing in, along with an explanation as to what each category classification means. But first, here’s a wonderful message from Olympic gold-medal winner, Tatjana Schoenmaker for the SA Paralympic […]

According to research conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the South African economy could face massive losses of more than R181-million every week it’s on the UK’s ‘red list’ for travel. The comprehensive study conducted by WTTC, reveals the staggering consequences the UK ‘red list’ represents to the South African Travel & […]

UK celebrity Michaela Strachan says her dogs were poisoned by crystal meth in Cape Town, South Africa, where she is based… and they are apparently not the first dogs to overdose on Tik. The 55-year-old TV presenter, who has been living in South Africa since 2002, said she had to rush her pet pooches Rio […]

A team from the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) is investigating a luxury coach crash which claimed the lives of at least 28 people, including about three children and a baby boy, at Kei Cuttings in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, yesterday (Monday 16 August). According to the RTMC, the crash occurred when a luxury […]

AfriForum, which originally launched a medal fund on 10 August for Olympic and Paralympic medallists, says it has now joined hands with Atterbury Trust’s medal fund so that the athletes can receive their rewards collectively. (See details at bottom of page if you’d like to contribute.) The fund-raising amongst South Africans for Olympic medallists – […]

If you missed Saturday’s match where South Africa beat Argentina 32-12 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, here are some of the highlights below… The Springboks built on an encouraging first half in which they held a 21-9 lead over Los Pumas to outscore the visitors three tries to none. This followed on a triumphant […]

At least 50 people marched to the Phoenix Police Station under the banners of the African United Activists and Qina Mhlali Movement in Durban at the weekend. A group of 50 people marched to the Phoenix Police Station to demand justice for those killed and attacked during the July unrest. They want a judicial commission […]

Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been “inundated with messages of love, support and concern” since undergoing unspecified surgery in hospital on Saturday. Zuma’s Foundation said all the messages have been “well received and appreciated”. According to the SA Department of Correctional Services (DCS), Zuma will also be having “other procedures scheduled for the coming […]

Today, South African Red Bull KTM rider Brad Binder won the Austria MotoGP in spectacular fashion – braving out heavy rain – in front of 86,000 spectators. This was his second win in the premier class, since making the move up in 2020. MotoGP tweeted: “You really had to see it to believe it!” and […]

You may have an illegally-sourced succulent in your home… In an illicit trade rivalling that of rhino horn and perlemoen poaching, massive hauls of succulents are being stripped from delicate ecosystems in South Africa’s outermost corners by rare plant collectors with the help of local guides. This week Carte Blanche investigates the latest trend that […]

Phumelela Mbande has a dream. The young Olympic star from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, who was given an opportunity to play hockey when she was young, now wants to pass it forward and get involved in hockey clinics, teaching hockey in disadvantaged communities. Phumelela recently returned from the Tokyo Olympics, where she represented SA as […]

For anyone outside of the continent of Africa who thinks it never rains or snows down in Africa… take a “Look at all of that SNOW! ❄️❄️❄️“ (as Afriski Mountain Resort in Lesotho, Southern Africa, says). Watch snow videos below. As predicted by the South African Weather Service, two winter systems breezed in making this […]

The snow has arrived in bucketloads in Southern Africa, transforming ski resorts into a winter wonderland that looks more like the Alps than Africa! About 10cm of snow fell at Semonkong Lodge in Lesotho, and the good news is, it’s still falling! Definitely a winter wonderland across Lesotho today. Semonkong Lodge, Place of Smoke, says: […]

It’s hard to believe that Tatjana Schoenmaker nearly gave up after failing to qualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016. But fortunately, she followed her own advice: to refocus and keep going! Celebrating Tatjana Schoenmaker   Tatjana’s gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics’ 200 metre breaststroke was the first individual swimming record to be broken […]

VANRHYNSDORP, South Africa (Reuters) – Come December, when farmers near Cape Town harvest rooibos leaves, they will become the first generation to grow and sell a tea with a unique regional status, a designation awarded to other such products as French champagne or Irish whiskey. (Watch video below.) As many proud South Africans already know,  […]

The health department’s official Covid death toll for 2020 was 28,500. But this is less than half the actual Covid death toll for last year, Medical Research Council (MRC) and University of Cape Town (UCT) researchers explain in an article published in June. The official data, by and large, only include confirmed Covid deaths in hospitals. The […]

Several anomalies, pointing to a dysfunctional provincial department, have been revealed as many ill residents in Gauteng continue to wait for the full reopening of the Charlotte Maxeke hospital… after the fire that wreaked havoc at the hospital earlier this year. The last Charlotte Maxeke hospital fire audit was back in 2017, and appears to […]

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned of two winter systems that will affect the country into the weekend. The first winter system with snow The intense cold front that made landfall in the Western Cape on Thursday, spreading to the Eastern Cape, will move to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Mpumalanga, and the eastern parts of […]

Fourteen African Wild Dogs were last week translocated from South Africa to Malawi, in what is a historically significant occasion for the conservation of Southern Africa’s most endangered carnivore… writes Pippa Orpen, Wildlife ACT. With support from non-profit organisation Wildlife ACT and other partners, the translocation was undertaken through a collaboration between the Endangered Wildlife […]

The title of the book I compiled with Colin Bell, ‘The Last Elephants’, was less predictive than a warning — elephants on the continent were in big trouble, with populations plummeting. Two years later it was time to see how they were doing… writes DON PINNOCK, DAILY MAVERICK. The state of elephants in Africa is in […]

Immigrants whose shacks were gutted by a fire in Briardene informal settlement, north of Durban last month, have started rebuilding their homes thanks to the assistance of non-profit organisation Refugee Social Services. Last week, GroundUp reported that South African victims of the fire were rebuilding, but immigrants, who had been living in the settlement for almost ten […]

The South African Police Service (SAPS) were yesterday seen re-enacting the tragic events of 11 April 2021 when SA rapper AKA’s girlfriend, Anele Thembe, allegedly fell to her death from the tenth floor of the Pepper Club Hotel. A Cape Town resident said the police cordoned off the area yesterday beside the hotel as part […]

Last week a couple of videos went viral showing outraged Russian people responding to clips of South Africans discussing how much they love to eat ‘Russians’. Of course the South Africans were referring to a tasty type of sausage found in SA. But the Russian people appeared to not realise this… Today all is revealed […]

Health workers at Groote Schuur have given fascinating insight into how one of the biggest and most famous hospitals in the country adapted to the unprecedented demands of the Covid-19 pandemic… writes James Stent.  Professor Lance Michell and colleagues have published a paper in the Southern African Journal of Critical Care explaining how the intensive […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, testifying at the Zondo corruption inquiry on Wednesday, said he chose to “remain but resist” rather than resign as deputy president when allegations of widespread corruption surfaced under his predecessor Jacob Zuma. Ramaphosa, Zuma’s number two from May 2014 to February 2018, has made the fight against corruption a pillar […]