South Africans can breathe a sigh of relief as the planned loadshedding today, Sunday 13 December, has been cancelled. Eskom said in a statement on Sunday morning that it was pleased to announce that the emergency generation reserves had sufficiently recovered overnight and subsequently no loadshedding would be required. “Eskom thanks the people for their […]

Eskom announced some good and bad news to South Africans on Saturday evening. The bad news is the loadshedding will continue on Sunday between 06h00 and 23h00. The good news is that it will be  reduced to Stage 1, thanks to the recovery in the emergency generation reserves showing “significant progress”. South Africa’s power utility […]

Well-known South African actors and filmmakers Anel and James Alexander will be hosting a beautiful benefit show, all the way from their home in Hollywood! Local and international artists like Rubber Duc, Nathan Smith, Ziya, Christiaan Baartman, Sincerely Anne, Petronel Baard, Brad + Nicole (from the USA) and Stefan Jansen have given up their time, […]

A black rhino in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, that was struggling to walk, with a giant splinter stuck in his foot, has had the obstruction removed thanks to the awesome work of world-famous wildlife vet Dr William Fowlds and his great team. According to Buffalo Kloof Private Game Reserve, the black rhino was spotted […]

The Democratic Alliance has not only welcomed the judgement against the tobacco ban imposed in South Africa during Lockdown, but has called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire the person behind the ban, COGTA Minister Dlamini-Zuma. Yesterday three judges of the Western Cape Division of the High Court found that Regulation 45 of the Disaster Management […]

This week Carte Blanche meets a 100-year-old survivor of another global pandemic – the Spanish Flu – which swept across the globe in 1918. You can watch the show on Sunday 13  December in South Africa on DStv Now or stream it overseas in most countries from Tues 15  December if you’re abroad. STORIES OF […]

It’s an early Christmas for Eskom which has struck a deal with service provider ABB to recoup over R1.56-billion which had been irregularly paid by the power utility to the Zurich-based industrial giant. According to the SA government news service “ABB was fingered in suspicious payments relating to contracts awarded in 2015 involving the control […]

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced with “great disappointment” that it has taken the difficult decision to reduce its operations from South Africa to Amsterdam with effect from 13 December 2020. UPDATE 16 December: KLM resumes planned flights after SA authorities revise air crew regulations. KLM said in a statement on Friday: “On 3 December […]

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has today set aside the decision to rewrite the Mathematics Paper 2 and Physical Sciences exams, following a leak of the exams papers. Judge Norman Davis ruled in favour of AfriForum and the organisation’s co-applicants who were four matriculants. The court ruled that the decision of Minister Angie […]

Ace Magashule’s former bodyguard has been convicted by the Free State High Court of the theft of a Pierneef painting from Magashule’s office during his term as the province’s Premier. The painting by well known South African painter JH Pierneef is estimated to be worth around R8-million. Although Magashule’s former bodyguard Ricardo Mettler claimed to […]

New COVID-19 cases have grown by 53.4% in the Western Cape in the past seven days, according to Premier Alan Winde; and as trauma cases and Covid-19 cases ‘collide’ hospitals are fast filling up. On top of that, trauma admissions increased by 36.2% in November, said Winde. “When this is combined with a 400% increase in […]

A Pretoria resident has reached out for help in finding a law firm in South Africa that would love to be part of a young student’s amazing story of hope and faith. And judging by the thousands of South Africans who have liked, shared and commented on the post, this good news story is about […]

The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) in South Africa has made it clear that it will rule against companies that make unproven medical claims, even if those companies are not members of the ARB. ARB is a self-regulating authority, and its members join it voluntarily. There has been an ongoing debate dating back to the ARB’s […]

South Africa is “grappling” with a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, according to the Health Department, after recording 8 166 more infections, bringing the total number to 836 764 since the outbreak. “Today, we wish to reiterate our plea to South Africans to heed the threat of the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases identified,” said […]

Eskom has ‘urged’ the South African public to reduce their usage of electricity as the system is severely constrained, with a “high probability of loadshedding”. ​The power utility said in a statement on Thursday evening: While no loadshedding is anticipated, Eskom would like to warn the public there is a high probability of loadshedding should […]

On Tuesday Forbes announced that South African expat Elon Musk has become the second richest person in the world, after his fortune surpassed that of LVMH luxury brand chairman Bernard Arnault (by less than half a billion). The only person with greater wealth is reportedly Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos. UPDATE 7 Jan 2021: Elon Musk […]

Durban-based Creative Director Anthony George Kirkwood was on his way back from a project on Tuesday when he noticed smoke in the distance and could tell there was a “big problem”. What he was seeing was the massive explosion at Zeta Chemicals in Otto Volek Road in Pinetown, South Africa, that has sadly left 13 […]

South Africa’s brand new airline, LIFT, has officially lifted off… and landed to a plane hero’s welcome with a water salute landing at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. The airline will be flying in and out of Cape Town seven days a week. Wesgro – Cape Town & the Western Cape – tweeted “The […]

Miss South Africa organisers announced on Thursday which beauty queens will be representing South Africa on the international stage in the three major pageants – Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss Supranational. Shudufhadzo Musida will represent SA at Miss World Reigning Miss South Africa, Shudufhadzo Musida (24) from Limpopo, who was crowned in October, will […]

The directors of a mystery non-profit company which has received more than R7-million in Lottery funding have refused to say what the company does. Venalor is a non-profit company which has received more than R7 million from the Lottery. But neither the company nor the National Lotteries Commission will say what the company does or […]

South Africa has officially hit the second wave, with 6 709 COVID-19 new cases reported in the last 24 hours pushing the total number of cases to 828 598. In a special briefing on Wednesday night, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said the country now meets the resurgence criteria formulated by scientists and modelling teams. […]

A video of a shark caught today by fishermen at Fish Hoek Beach in the Western Cape, South Africa, is going viral. It shows the tender moment a fisherman strokes the shark as he joins fellow ‘trekkies’ to return the shark to the ocean. Maria Wagener, admin of the Fish Hoek Beach Facebook page captured […]

As the Western Cape saw another 91 patients enter hospital in the past 24 hours, the local government is pleading with citizens to refrain from attending large private functions and parties which can so easily become superspreader events. On Wednesday evening, Premier Alan Winde reminded residents that their action can help protect the health system […]

While steady progress has been made in curbing COVID-19 related plunder, non-compliance continued to plague the disbursement of relief funds and procurement of goods and services, an Auditor-General (AG) report has revealed. According to SA News the “sordid tale” is contained in newly appointed Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke’s office’s second COVID-19 relief funds audit. The first […]

Despite rumours, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala says no formal decision has been taken around the possible closure of the South African province’s fabulous and famous beaches over the festive season. “At this stage there is no decision the provincial government has taken or contemplating to take with regards to the closure of beaches. This may […]