Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said Africa remains the ideal destination for investment by international mining companies when he opened the 2016 Mining Indaba at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Monday. “I am optimistic that as investors and analysts present here, you will evaluate the investment prospects of the continent appropriately and take a […]

JOHANNESBURG – Arguments have begun in the Constitutional Court over the Nkandla case, and whether President Jacob Zuma defied Public Protector Thuli Madonsela by not following recommendations she made after an investigation into public money spent on his residence at Nkandla. The case was launched by the Economic Freedom Fighters, and their advocate Wim Trengrove […]

If anyone in Britain has not heard about how cheap South Africa is for a holiday, the Spectator has published an article reminding them that “There may never be a better (or cheaper) time to visit South Africa”, adding that “Jacob Zuma’s economic mismanagement has a benefit for tourists: it’s as if a whole country […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Illovo Sugar said on Monday it has received a non-binding expression of interest from its largest shareholder Associated British Foods to acquire the rest of the company’s shares. ABF, which holds a 51.35 percent stake in Illovo, intends to make an offer of 20 rand (0.8593 pounds) per share for the […]

Why now? Will he really #PayBackTheMoney? How much of it will he pay back? These are some of the questions on the lips of many South Africans. These questions come after President Jacob Zuma’s surprise announcement that he would pay back part of the R246 million of public money that was improperly spent on his private homestead at Nkandla. […]

South African beauty queen and former Miss World title holder, Rolene Strauss has married the love of her life, D’Niel Strauss (founder of Orientis Venture Capital). The 23-year-old posted the Ecclesiastes 3:1 Biblical passage to her facebook page this morning: “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” She then added […]

Congratulations to South African teenager Leroy Mokgatle who has won the audience choice award and a scholarship at the international ballet competition “Prix de Lausanne” held in Switzerland. Leroy’s prestigious scholarship award is only the second awarded to a South African in the competition’s 44-year history, and the first for SA in 28 years. Non-profit dance […]

The name of the Gupta family is suddenly on everyone’s lips in South Africa. Barely a day after EFF leader Julius Malema demanded that the Guptas leave South Africa “with immediate effect” – because of their apparently strong influence over President Jacob Zuma and for benefiting unduly off government contracts – a report has appeared saying that the wealthy family […]

Some 20 starving lions stranded in a zoo in war-torn Yemen are on the verge of dying as an animal aid agency tries to beat the clock to save them, a conservationist in South Africa who is involved in the negotiations said. The lions are in the town of Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest, which has been besieged by […]

The South Africa government is considering its continued participation in the International Criminal Court (ICC) with caution and if it withdrew from the body would do so in a responsible manner. International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane on Thursday reiterated the view that the ICC, also known as the Rome Statute, unfairly targets the […]

The Democratic Alliance has promised to cut the number of government departments down to 15 from the present 35, part of a programme that would apparently save the country R4.6 billion a year. At a press briefing on Wednesday the DA’s Mmusi Maimane said South Africa had one of the largest cabinets in the world‚ with a […]

Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, has strongly rejected President Jacob Zuma’s proposal to pay back some of the money on his residence at Nkandla, and has once again called on people to march on the Constitutional Court on 9 February, when the EFF’s case against Zuma is to be heard. In a […]

In support of World Cancer Day on 4 February, and the international awareness campaign it promotes, the Proteas will play a Pink One Day International on 12 February that Cricket South Africa hopes will raise R1 million. This will be the the third time the Proteas have donned pink for the cause. According to CSA, previous events have raised almost R500,000 for […]

LONDON – UK prosecutors have extradited a British company director almost a decade after he fled to South Africa to avoid a jail sentence for fraud-related offences, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on Wednesday. Raymond Nevitt was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail in 2008 for masterminding a 3.5 million pound […]

PRETORIA – Residents of a house in Villeria got a surprise visitor in their back yard this week, when a 1.5-metre, 4.5-kilogram water monitor that had possibly escaped capture took refuge in their pool before the zoo came to rescue the reptile. The monitor was first discovered behind the family’s rubbish bin before it scurried into the pool, the […]

A Scottish man and an Irish woman lost their lives in a yachting accident off the Western Cape early on Monday, after a survivor swam to shore and raised the alarm, the National Sea Rescue Institute said. The NSRI expressed its sincerest condolences to the families and friends of George Mills, 61, and Rachel Daly, 49. […]

After all the jokes, the marches, the petitions and the videos – it appears that President Jacob Zuma has made the first step towards possibly paying back some of the South African tax payers’ money that was used to fund renovations at his private Nkandla residence. The news broke late Tuesday night in South Africa […]

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Congress on Monday passed the Electrify Africa Act, which aims to bring electricity to 50 million Africans by the year 2020. The act was under deliberation for two years and now goes to President Barack Obama to be signed, according to news reports. The bill will provide a framework for a […]

Dumisani Gwala is the rhino-poaching kingpin you’ve never heard of. Gwala is currently awaiting trial to take place at Mtubatuba courthouse and now YOU have the power to help put him in jail. Gwala is the leader of KwaZulu-Natal’s biggest rhino-poaching syndicate, and it is believe about 80 percent of the horns in the province go […]

South African Airways will stop flying between Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi, a route that was opened in March 2015. The Minister of Finance said in a statement on the weekend he had granted approval for SAA to cease operating the route, which has not performed as expected. SAA’s interventions to improve the financial performance on this route […]

BEAUFORT WEST – A woman who was driving past Beaufort West on Sunday was arrested after trying to bribe a traffic officer, it was reported. Apparently the 51-year-old woman would have received a R700 fine for the speed she was going at, and she offered to pay the traffic officer R200. The issue of bribery […]

A 37-year-old British pilot working for an anti-poaching unit in Tanzania has been fatally shot by poachers while flying over a poaching scene in his helicopter, according to news reports. The Friedkin Conservation Fund said Roger Gower, from Birmingham, was tracking poachers on Friday in the Maswa Game Reserve. He was apparently shot through the […]

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Southern Africa is moving towards greater acceptance of sexual and gender minorities though there is still a long way to go, the United States’ first special envoy for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people said on Wednesday. Randy Berry, an openly gay senior U.S. diplomat, was speaking […]

A low-flying South African Air Force Gripen jet that circled a neighbourhood of Johannesburg on Thursday got people tweeting excitedly and taking videos of the seemingly errant plane. And then it was back again on Friday. “Wonderful to hear and see the #Gripen #Fighterjet flying over Randburg this evening again!” was one tweet. Another tweeter said […]

Watch out, Netflix users, your days of making merry – that is, if you access hundreds of extra TV and movie titles from the U.S. – may be over. The company has announced plans to stop people around the world from watching Netflix programmes outside their territory. Many Netflix subscribers around the world have been bypassing regional restrictions […]