As South Africa enters Day 7 of a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, Eskom has announced that it will double maintenance work at its plants. “With the COVID-19 national lockdown in full effect, Eskom has experienced a significant reduction in demand for electricity. “Electricity usage has dropped by between 7 500MW and 9 000MW since the lockdown […]

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has rescinded the directions allowing 100% loading capacity for taxis with immediate effect. The decision follows concerns raised about the 100% loading capacity and the utilisation of masks as a mitigation measure. “The public was without comfort with these measures and urged that we reconsider. After our announcement of catering for […]

Shenzhen has passed a groundbreaking law to ban the consumption and production of dog and cat meat, the first city in China to do so. The ban – which also addresses the wildlife trade – has been welcomed by longtime anti-dog meat trade campaigners Humane Society International as a watershed moment in efforts to ban […]

Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize last night conveyed his condolences to the family of a 45-year-old teacher from Platt Drive Primary in Isipingo, who passed away on Tuesday after testing positive several days ago to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Speaking on Wednesday evening, the Minister urged all South Africans to please stay home and said, with […]

Although the major banks in South Africa have announced they are offering payment relief to their loyal business and personal customers suffering during Lockdown, a video has been going viral on social media in which it is pointed out that using this approximate three-month “payment holiday” (April to June) may not be necessary if you […]

Plans by the Gauteng Department of Social Development to house homeless people at public school hostels have been halted by the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (FEDSAS). FEDSAS says their members were not consulted and raised several concerns about how this move would impact those schools. On 25 March, the department released […]

Lockdown has hit informal sector workers hard… Shamir Arendse busks for a living, playing his trombone at what is usually a busy intersection in Cape Town. WATCH VIDEO: COVID-19: A busker without an audience in Cape Town Published originally on GroundUp © 2020 GroundUp.

Tributes have poured in for award-winning scientist Professor Gita Ramjee, who passed away on Tuesday in an Umhlanga hospital in KZN, South Africa, from the novel Coronavirus COVID-19. According to local reports, Prof Ramjee had complications arising from asthma and pneumonia. Her sister Asmita Parashar, who is based in India, said on Twitter: “My sister, the […]

Sixteen criminals have been arrested in the CBD since the weekend, mostly for breaking into city centre businesses that are closed due to the national lockdown. Well known Bob’s Bar, Harrington’s, Revelas Fisheries and Liny’s Baby shop were all targeted. CCID Safety & Security manager Mo Hendricks says the crimes were sporadic and opportunistic, and […]

A dusting of snow may fall on the highest-peaks of the central and southern Drakensberg this afternoon, and more snow may be on the horizon for Easter, according to the team at Snow Report SA. “Last year SnowReportSA forecast snow for April and the forecast proved to be correct, with some wonderful photographs being sent […]

Ironman Europe has taken to social media to highlight the incredible achievement of a South African woman who  ran 316 laps at home (along with swimming and cyling) in her determination to raise money for a friend’s wheelchair, no matter what. On Sunday 29 March, Charlotte Raubenheimer was meant to line up at Hobie Beach […]

Nothing brings out the humour in human beings quite like a calamity. After the terrible reality has sent in – months in lockdown? – the jokesters start coming out. And do we need them! Here is the latest batch of memes and jokes about the Coronavirus and the lockdowns around the world, some of the […]

The first planeload of foreign nationals being repatriated back to their homeland has taken off from South Africa, following Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s announcement yesterday that amendments would be made to the Lockdown regulations, allowing for the repatriation of foreigners back to their countries, and of South African citizens and residents abroad, back home on […]

Mary Oppenheimer-Slack, the daughter of former Anglo American chairman Harry Oppenheimer, and her daughters have contributed R1 billion to the Solidarity Fund created to fight the spread of the Coronavirus in South Africa. “We join all South Africans in expressing our profound hope that, together, we can overcome this grave challenge to South Africa and […]

Welcome to the Lock Up/Down Cartoon. As we are going to be cooped up at home for the next few weeks, Piet Frans (aka Pieter Kruger) has decided we should still try have some fun. Kruger is a former lawyer who spent 13 years in The Hague prosecuting war criminals at the Yugoslav War Crimes […]

With South Africans set to mark Easter Weekend under Lockdown and unable to go to church, Easter services will be coming to them instead. Various religious groups are going to be able to tune in to their Easter services during the COVID-19 lockdown from the comfort of their homes, thanks to a collaboration between the […]

As the number of fatalities from Coronavirus went up to 4, possibly 5, the increase in the number of positive cases rose only slightly on the previous day, by 46, according to the latest briefing on the pandemic by the Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize. Despite the unexpectedly low rate of increase – 1,353 cases […]

Although our current three-week lockdown will temporarily suppress transmission in the South African epidemic, it won’t eradicate it. And if we just go back to business as usual, we will have endured the lockdown for nothing, writes Alex Welte. Those of us trying to model the Covid-19 pandemic should try to be humble; there is […]

South Africans stranded abroad will be allowed to fly home, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has confirmed at a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon. At the same briefing, DIRCO Minister Naledi Pandor asked those South Africans abroad who are not stranded or distressed to please consider rather remaining where they are. She said that data collected […]

The petrol price in South Africa will come down by between R1.88 and R1.76 a litre inland in South Africa… although as some are saying “The drop in petrol price during the Lockdown is like a bald man winning a hairbrush” ? The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has announced a R1.88 cent decrease in […]

With over 38,000 people worldwide who have died from Coronavirus, South Africans are urged to take the current lockdown seriously. Watch live below as Ministers representing the COVID -19 National Command Council update the nation on the status of the COVID 19 lockdown in South Africa. WATCH Inter-ministerial committee media briefing on COVID-19

For South Africans stranded abroad, and their distraught families back home, there is hope… as DIRCO, the DA and other organisations – including SAPeople – work together like never before in what is now “truly an SA Project”. In an exclusive interview on Tuesday morning, DA Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Darren Bergman, […]

The publishing and internet giant Naspers has donated R1.5 billion to the government’s effort to fight the Coronavirus, it was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last night, after three other contributions of R1 billion each were made by captains of business. Naspers said in a statement that R500 million would go to the Solidarity Response […]

Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, has called for harsh action against men who raped and murdered a woman, after allegedly posing as soldiers deployed for the 21-day lockdown. “I am deeply concerned about criminals who take advantage of the national lockdown to rob and murder innocent citizens. We want women and […]

Two elderly people tragically passed away on Monday in South Africa  while queuing for what was the first day of grant payments to the elderly and to people with disabilities. “I express my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the deceased. Both of them were confirmed to be social grant beneficiaries […]