LONDON – Cape Town was voted the favourite city in the world and South Africa the third-favourite country in the Telegraph newspaper’s annual travel awards, based on what it calls the most comprehensive, wide-ranging and reliable travel survey in Britain. The ceremony was held on Tuesday. The survey, which is reportedly based on the responses of 75,000 people, named Cape Town as […]

The South African rand has hit its strongest level in four months – reaching R14.65 to the dollar at its best – after the sacking of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene by President Jacob Zuma in December sent the financial market and the currency tumbling. It closed trading on Tuesday at about R14.7. In early January the currency slipped to as low as […]

Nhlanhla Nene, the finance minister who was sacked in December by President Jacob Zuma, causing the financial market and the rand to plummet, has broken his silence for the first time, suggesting he will take up a new job shortly. “Watch this space,” he said. In the exclusive interview with eNCA, Nene said he had been […]

After a lifetime of being isolated from the world, the Atlantic island of St Helena, where Napoleon was exiled and died, had its first major flight from Johannesburg land this weekend. The flight, chartered by Air Safety Support International to bring its team of five personnel to St Helena to assess the airport, touched down on Sunday morning […]

Many South Africans abroad have heard that question, “Do you have lions in the streets?” Well, on Sunday it (possibly) came true with the appearance of one on the late-night streets of Braamfontein, in central Johannesburg. But it’s still unclear whether it was a hoax or the animal was part of a movie or ad production. The […]

As predicted, Allister “Toetie” Coetzee has been named as head coach of the Springbok rugby team for the next four years! Oregan Hoskins, president of SA Rugby (SARU) said Coetzee’s appointment ushers in an exciting new era for rugby in South Africa. The 52-year-old former Springbok assistant coach succeeds Heyneke Meyer at a time when a number […]

PRETORIA – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that he wanted to “correct the incorrect impressions” spreading in the media that he believed churches should not get involved in politics. Ramaphosa said in a statement that he welcomed “the robust manner in which the churches and all other religious formations have engaged the government on […]

The Congress of the People, under former ANC leader Mosiuoa Lekota, has withdrawn from parliamentary activities following the African National Congress’s refusal to take action against President Jacob Zuma. In announcing this, the party also took a swipe at Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Constitutional Court ruled unanimously on 31 March that Zuma had failed […]

NAIROBI – The World Bank on Monday lowered its 2016 sub-Saharan African growth forecast to 3.3 percent from a previous forecast of 4.4 percent in October, citing plunging global commodity prices. The bank said the commodity price rout, particularly for oil which fell 67 percent from June 2014 to December 2015, as well as weak […]

South African actress, Hollywood star and Oscar winner Charlize Theron remembered the folks back home when accepting her Best Female Performance award at the MTV Movie Awards last night. The 40-year-old was presented with the award for her brilliant portrayal of Imperator Furiosa in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. After thanking director George Miller, the film’s incredible […]

The city of Johannesburg’s garbage-collecting division Pikitup has reached a deal with workers, who have been striking illegally for almost a month, which meant the clean-up of the city could begin on Monday. The strike caused tensions to rise in the city, with trucks that kept going out being fired upon at one point, according […]

SpaceX, the space rocket company owned by South African-born Elon Musk, made history on Friday by successfully landing part of its Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The rocket was launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and sent a cargo capsule to the International Space Station. The landing had been attempted several […]

The rhino of South Africa just got a new hero in their corner – South Africa’s popular and much trusted Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela – thanks to the passionate persistence of Jamie Joseph, founder of Saving the Wild, which connects conservationists engaged in Africa’s poaching crisis. Jamie, who has been working full-time on the rhino poaching crisis for years, announced […]

Following the announcement of their resignation from their South African company Oakbay Investments and Oakbay Resources and Energy on Friday, it has emerged that the Guptas allegedly fled South Africa on Thursday evening. It has been reported in local press this morning that the Gupta brothers, Ajay and Atal, were seen leaving South Africa with “mountains of luggage” […]

Proving old friendships never die, a South African expat living in Canada has offered her kidney to her former schoolmate in Johannesburg, whom she hasn’t seen for decades. And together they are now on a journey to make sure Di gets the kidney she desperately needs, and that awareness is raised about live kidney donations. […]

Several irate South Africans have taken to social media to complain about the fact that after living at the same address for over 20 or 30 years, they are suddenly receiving an SMS from the Electoral Commission (IEC) informing them that the IEC does not have their address. The IEC has been sending the text messages […]

Two of the Gupta family have resigned their positions in the family’s South African company, and President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane has quit one of its subsidiaries, after what was described in a statement on Friday as a “sustained political attack”. The resignations from Oakby Resources and Energy were of Atul Gupta and Varun Gupta, who the statement said would resign with […]

South Africans have been called on to set aside Saturday 16 April 2016 to hold “organised discussions” and brainstorm the best way to bring about the resignation of President Jacob Zuma. The call for action to “secure” Zuma’s resignation was made by a group of African National Congress (ANC) veterans, academics and representatives from unions, […]

South Africans can now apply for their Smart ID Card and Passport online, thanks to a collaboration between the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and four major banks – ABSA, FNB, Nedbank and Standard Bank. However there are no plans just yet to roll it out for South Africans abroad (see below.) President Jacob Zuma officially launched […]

Cape Town has most of the top expensive streets in South Africa, according to a new survey, which put six of the country’s top 10 costliest addresses on the Atlantic Seaboard side of the city. Three were in Johannesburg. Top out of the list is Nettleton Road, high above Clifton, which, with a value of almost R45 million, was almost […]

Only days after global accounting firm KPMG and Sasfin Bank announcned that they were no longer doing business with the Gupta family, First National Bank has done likewise. According to a statement on Wednesday by the Gupta’s Oakbay Investments, it demanded  an explanation from Jacques Celliers, CEO of FNB, “for the closing of the Company’s accounts. […]

The local government elections, possibly the most important ever in South Africa’s 21 years under the African National Congress, will take place on 3 August, it was announced on Wednesday. The announcement was made by President Jacob Zuma a day after he survived a motion to impeach him in Parliament. The elections will be a […]

Barely hours after the ANC quashed a vote to impeach President Jacob Zuma in Parliament on Tuesday, numerous representatives of unions, churches and other civic bodies came together to organise action for the “removal of a corrupt president”. “Anger and urgency is growing,” the group said in a statement released afterwards. “Ever larger numbers of […]

The Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad will run a flight to Johannesburg for three months over the northern hemisphere summer, filling the gap left when embattled carrier South African Airways cut the route from its offerings last month. These will be added to the flights to the region already operated by Qatar Airways and Emirates, which both […]

In a day of mounting criticism of President Jacob Zuma, a heated and long debate in Parliament, and unusual partnerships to get him removed from power, the opposition parties saw a motion to impeach Zuma fail against an ANC majority. At the same time, respected former finance minister Trevor Manuel said it would be in the interests of the […]