Africa loses at least $50 billion a year — and probably much, much more than that — perfectly lawfully. About 60 percent of this loss is from aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations, which organise their accounts so that they make their profits in tax havens, where they pay little or no tax. Much of the remainder […]

Durban’s legendary landmark hotel, the Blue Waters, caught fire this morning in KwaZulu-Natal, with smoke billowing from the building. According to reports the incident caused disruption in the North Beach area of the coastal city. SAfm News said that police attending a conference at the hotel were able to help evacuate the 200 guests and 120 staff […]

Eskom has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with French multinational electricity company Engie to start construction of the Kathu Solar Park project in Northern Cape, it has been announced. It is expected to be operational in late 2018, providing 100 MW of power. “The Kathu Solar Park project supports South Africa’s strategy of increasing the […]

DUBAI – Investec Bank, a lender in the aviation market, has closed a $1 billion operating lease transaction with Emirates Airline, it said on Monday. The deal will pay for the delivery and sale and leaseback of four A380-800s, the world’s largest passenger jet, Investec said in a statement. Investec Aviation Finance has around $5 […]

While Johannesburg and Cape Town attract a growing number of new residents daily, they do not come anywhere near the explosive growth taking place in other parts of Africa. A recent report published by the World Economic Forum – which has its Africa summit in Kigali, Rwanda, from Wednesday – listed the three cities in Africa with a population […]

A 813-carat diamond named The Constellation and mined in Botswana has been sold for the highest price ever paid for a rough diamond, its owners said – more than $63 million. The Canadian Lucara Diamond Corporation said in a statement on Monday that the diamond, recovered from the Karowe mine in Botswana in November 2015, had […]

“The Last Face,” a movie about the relationship between an aid worker and a doctor in a wartorn African country that was shot in South Africa and stars Charlize Theron, is one of the most anticipated movies to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this week. The world-famous French festival runs from May 11-22. “The Last […]

There’s no stopping South African rider Brad Binder as he clinched his second Moto 3 GP win yesterday, Sunday 9 May, with Binder telling journalists “the Championship is looking good!” The 20-year-old won the French Moto 3 grand prix at the legendary Le Mans’ Bugatti circuit, extending his lead in the race for the world championship title. Last month […]

The Guptas, friends of President Jacob Zuma, have reportedly paid $30 million for a mansion in an elite area of Dubai, according to a report in City Press this weekend that it said was confirmed by two sources. The house is in Emirates Hills, according to City Press. Emirates Hills is a gated community apparently named […]

The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, Sunday reported back on the progress of the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros – the South African government’s multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary strategy to combat the threat posed by rhino poaching – announced by Cabinet in August 2014; and released the latest rhino statistics. The minister also confirmed that South Africa […]

Today’s Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa reports that Public Protector Thuli Madonsela fears for her life after being informed that a hit had been put out on her. Madonsela, who has become a popular heroine in the country due to her bravery in standing up to and exposing corruption, allegedly received a tip off last […]

The love-him-hate-him presenter from CNN with the distinctive delivery, Richard Quest, is at South Africa’s tourism Indaba again this year, taking place in Durban from Friday to Monday. He kicked off the show with a frank interview with Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom. The Indaba is arguably the most attended travel show in Africa (with 1047 exhibitors, 1856 buyers […]

Government has welcomed the ratings agency Moody’s announcement confirming South Africa’s long-term government bond and issuer ratings, after months of speculation that the country could be downgraded to junk status. The department of finance has reportedly been going out of its way to show the international ratings agencies it is committed to fiscal responsibility since late […]

The new head of the SA Post Office, Mark Barnes, must be smiling today. A strike that could have crippled the already embattled state agency that he has been trying to make viable could not even muster a few hundred supporters. “It’s great news and to be honest it’s a victory for common sense. It’s a […]

Rescuing wild animals is a long-haul occupation, as Louise Joubert of SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary knows. But a few weeks ago, a more than four-year-long cheetah project – which had lots of heartache in between – came to fruition, with the birth in the wild of at least six cheetah from parents that had been rescued. “We […]

President Jacob Zuma has condemned the burning of 23 schools in Vuwani in Limpopo in protests that have turned violent and which he describes as suspicious. Today it has been reported that 50 schools in the area have been closed indefinitely, affecting almost 30,000 pupils (26,987 to be exact). The South African president said: “I wish […]

Addressing the House of Assembly that was almost half empty, because most of the opposition (due to a boycott of him) plus many ANC members (because who knows why) were not there, President Jacob Zuma today told the speaker to get the house in order. He spoke about how South Africa’s dignity was compromised by the […]

Five Zimbabwean men have been successfully growing crops on land abandoned as unprofitable in Malmesbury. The landowner, N7 Meat, gave up farming crops on the land, claiming losses of over R1 million. Albert Zinhanga and four friends met the landowner when buying an ox for slaughter at N7 Meat in 2014. Noticing fallow land, they […]

In an unprecedented move, eight opposition parties, including the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters but excluding the Inkatha Freedom Party, will boycott President Jacob Zuma’s speech in Parliament on Thurday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said in a statement signed by the party leaders. They said it would be “an empty speech of an utterly […]

Rhodes University students have produced a powerful video – DISRUPT – following the #RUReferenceList and #RUInterdict that serves to continue the conversation surrounding the mistreatment of rape survivors on campus, and to expose the ways in which the university management and police have allegedly failed them. The film also exposes a culture in South Africa in […]

NEW YORK – “Lesedi la Rona,” the largest gem-quality rough diamond discovered in more than 100 years, will be auctioned in London next month and is expected to sell for $70 million (£48.2 million), international auction house Sotheby’s said on Wednesday. Ahead of the auction on June 29, the 1,190-carat diamond, its name in Botswana’s […]

Parliament descended into chaos for a few minutes on Wednesday as the Economic Freedom Fighters tried to prevent President Jacob Zuma from addressing the assembly, despite warnings from the Speaker Baleka Mbete, who finally told the EFF to leave the chamber. It was reportedly the first time Zuma had appeared in the assembly since two […]

A story doing the rounds on social media has it that President Jacob Zuma will get a luxury jet, the most expensively kitted-out one in the world, a Boeing 747-8 with all the trimmings. It’s a good story but totally fabricated. On 22 April, in fact, Armscor, the acquisition arm of the SA Defense Force, […]

At Port Elizabeth Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, where Christopher Panayiotou, 28, stands accused of murdering his wife, Jayde, two groups of women picketed against each other. Outside, holding placards with ‘Justice for Jayde’ written on them, the Democratic Alliance Women’s Network (DAWN) stood silently at the main entrance to the court. “This is to raise awareness […]

The Union Buildings might seem the obvious place to put Parliament if it were to move from Cape Town, but it appears the mayor of Pretoria/Tshwane has other ideas. He is talking about the old Boer War fort at Klapperkop. During this year’s state of the nation address by President Jacob Zuma it was suggested that […]