A German international “trouble shooter”, whose work usually involves James Bond-type situations, has been hailed a hero after saving the lives of three swimmers in less than a year, on the same South African beach. Former police officer Bjorn Birr von Bismarck, 49, has risked his own life on each occasion to rescue the stricken […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa says the COVID-19 vaccine is quick and painless. “At first I was a bit terrified of this long needle that was going to be embedded into my arm. But it happened so quickly, so easily. It was just a prick on my flesh and I really did not feel much pain.” […]

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Qatar Airways continues to be the leading global carrier connecting South Africa by operating one of the largest and most reliable networks in the region. Having become the largest international carrier during the early stages of the pandemic, the airline has applied its knowledge of global passenger flows and booking trends […]

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, a leading global cruise company which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, yesterday announced an extension of its current suspension of global cruise voyages as the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic. The suspension now includes all voyages on Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania […]

South Africans, who have had to adjust to loadshedding schedules and been urged to use as little electricity as possible, have now been informed that the price of the electricity they do get will be rising by 15%. The North Gauteng High Court has ordered that an amount of R10 billion be added to Eskom’s […]

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, says the SA government has offered the African Union (AU) the AstraZeneca vaccine doses that South Africa procured from the Serum Institute in India. This comes amid reports that South Africa had asked the Serum Institute to take back the one million doses that arrived earlier this month after a […]

The first delivery of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in South Africa. The vaccine, which has been approved by the South African Health Products Authority, arrived at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Gauteng on Tuesday night. According to the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), the consignment is being moved to […]

Afriski was hit by its most brutal flood ever, with 60mm of rainfall measured in 30 minutes… which is equivalent to one-tenth of Johannesburg’s annual rainfall in half-an-hour. This is the first time that flooding has occurred at the Lesotho resort since it opened its doors in 2000. The damage to internal roads, infrastructure and […]

The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, has congratulated South African filmmakers for the short film “Address Unknown” which has been selected to participate in the 2021 Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) taking place in Los Angeles in the United States. This is America’s largest and most prestigious black film festival. It was […]

Desperate job-seekers are falling victim to fake job posts on Facebook, Indeed.com, and other platforms that pretend to offer stable employment. Scammers are targeting desperate job-seekers, promising jobs. The fraudsters use Facebook, Indeed.com, Careers.24.com and other platforms including SMS. Some charge “administrative” fees, others ask candidates to pay for online “police clearance” checks. SAPS says […]

Tanzania’s health minister said earlier this month that the country has no plans to procure COVID-19 vaccines. Moina Spooner, an editor with The Conversation Africa, asked Catherine Kyobutungi, African Population and Health Research Center, to explain Tanzania’s COVID-19 response and why it’s problematic. Why has the decision been taken not to vaccinate? Tanzania has had […]

De Mist station in Uitenhage, which was waist-high in weeds, has been cleaned — but not by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). After GroundUp published pictures of the filthy station, members of the political party Freedom Front Plus cleaned it up. Volunteers from political party Freedom Front Plus have cleaned up the […]

Showmax just dropped the trailer for Tali’s Baby Diary, the long-awaited sequel to Tali’s Wedding Diary. Watch the video at the bottom of this page. Tali’s Baby Diary has just released its trailer Sequel to the first ever Showmax Original, which broke viewing records and won multiple SAFTAs Julia Anastasopoulos (SuzelleDIY) is back as Tali: […]

DJ Fresh and Euphonik have announced in a statement on Monday evening that the allegations against them have been dropped. The joint statement reads: We are pleased to state that, after considering all of the evidence collected while investigating the claim made by Ms Madikizela against us, the Chief Prosecutor has dismissed the allegations on […]

There’s a cute cat video that’s been going viral on Facebook and YouTube in South Africa and around the world, with some misinformation. The video shows two cats – a grey cat and a black cat – walking with their tails entwined through the snow. It’s so heartwarming it’s attracted over 11-million views on TikTok, […]

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has declared the law which governs the communication surveillance activities of the country’s intelligence community unconstitutional. The case was based on evidence that the state spied on investigative journalist Sam Sole, of amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism, while he was communicating with a source in the National Prosecuting Authority. The judgment […]

Harry (36) and Meghan (39), the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have announced that they are expecting their second child. Their happy news came on Valentine’s Day, 14 February 2021… exactly 37 years after Princess Diana announced she was pregnant with her second baby, who turned out to be Prince Harry. The news was delivered […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for charges to be brought against former President Jacob Zuma as he has refused to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture this week. Zuma previously announced through his legal team that he intended to ignore the summons of the Commission, and the judgement of the Constitutional […]

The South African Government may be depriving some towns of the efficient municipal services they deserve, but despite potholes popping up across the nation, they can’t dent SA citizens’ sense of pride and community. There’s a growing initiative in South Africa for the residents of some towns to rally together and fix their own town. […]

It was the last day of school of 2020. For months my colleagues and I had been taking measures to prevent getting ill with Covid. But on this day in December, all our efforts to keep the school safe went out the window. And, while I cannot prove it, I believe a deadly price was […]

Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, has appealed to travelers to ensure that they have all the requisite travel documents, including valid COVID-19 tests, when they present themselves to officials at the country’s borders. “Truck drivers should adhere to laws, regulations and agreements in place in the border area. This will go a long way […]

South Africa continues to see fewer COVID-19 cases, with deaths showing signs of slowing down, with only 78 reported in the last 24 hours. This brings the death toll to 47 899, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said on Sunday. Of the latest fatalities, 37 are from Gauteng, 15 from Western Cape, 10 from Free […]

The South African government halted the roll-out of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine this week following a study led by Wits vaccinologist Shabir Madhi, which found that it did not protect against mild to moderate Covid-19 in a local trial on account of the variant of the virus, 501Y.V2, that is dominant here. A pre-print of […]

A study published on Friday, led by authors from the South African National Blood Service, shows that a large percentage of the population has likely already been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and that there are striking differences in prevalence between blacks and whites. Over seven days between 7 and 25 January, 4,858 blood donors were tested […]

A family from Hoedspruit have captured the amazing moment that a Kruger National Park river, in South Africa, went from being a dried-up river bed to a raging torrent. Watch the video below. Rulene Stephens told SAPeople: “It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience! I’ve seen many rivers come down, but nothing like this.” The incident […]