Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has responded to questions sent to him by the SA Police Hawks division, apparently regarding a so-called rogue unit in the SA Revenue Service (SARS) during Gordhan’s term as head of SARS. In a statement, issued today by the Ministry of Finance, Gordhan replied (full statement below): I have responded to the […]

BEAUFORT WEST – A wily lion named Sylvester has escaped Karoo National Park by crawling under an electric fence – his second escape in less than a year – and is said to be roaming a mountainous area nearby, with a growing public outcry for parks authorities not to shoot him. SANParks was quoted in the media on […]

President Jacob Zuma’s working visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken trade and economic relations between South Africa and each of the countries to a higher level, said the President on his return to South Africa on Tuesday. The president said bilateral relations were further cemented. The president visited Saudi Arabia first, where […]

Thanks to increased awareness of road safety, and a stepped-up presence of traffic officers on South African roads this Easter Weekend, the number of fatalities nationwide has drastically decreased by 46 percent from 287 last year to 156 this year. In a press briefing this morning, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters credited the traffic officers’ zero-tolerance […]

The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, is to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Africa on Wednesday, the EFF has announced. Malema will graduate with a BA in Communications and African Studies at a ceremony at the university. In an interview last year Malema said that once […]

Two South African priests – one of them the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox church of Johannesburg and Pretoria – were among the passengers of an EgyptAir plane en route to Cairo from Alexandria that was hijacked on Tuesday and rerouted to Cyprus, according to news reports. All the passengers were released and the suspected hijacker […]

The DHL Stormers leapfrogged the Cell C Sharks for the top spot in the African Group on the Vodacom Super Rugby log table in the early hours of Sunday morning as they defeated the Jaguares in Buenos Aires to the delight of South African fans in Argentina, while the Cell C Sharks suffered their first […]

Cape Town has again made it into Trip Advisor’s Top 25 Destinations in the world…however, at number 20, this is a drop of ten places from last year which may be because of the stringent immigration laws which were implemented last year. The full 2016 Awards Winners were recently announced by Trip Advisor on their […]

PRETORIA – The office of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a statement in response to several media queries regarding the allegation that he had met with business people – including billionaire Johan Rupert – following the appointment of Des Van Rooyen, and the subsequent appointment of Pravin Gordhan, as minister of finance in South Africa. The […]

Barely two weeks after a horrific terror attack on a beach resort in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, a collective of singers in the country have come together to sing words telling the terrorists that they won’t give in to fear after the attack. The Grand Bassam attack left at least 16 people dead when the terrorists, apparently […]

A new investigative report has drawn together information that either directly or circumstantially connects the Gupta family to numerous key players in Eskom and Transnet. The Friday report by Amabhungane, the investigative arm of the Mail & Guardian, included an extensive chart that was republished on Twtter of the links that “are indisputable in some cases, and circumstantial […]

A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) has grown from 82 on Wednesday to over 150, endorsing a statement which condemns the killing of a Wild Coast resident who opposed the mining of a stretch of the Eastern Cape shore by an Australian mining house. The statement calls for mining to be suspended while an investigation […]

Lots of people might make fun of Klippies and Coke, but South Africa’s Klipdrift Brandy has just taken the top award in an international brandy competition. The World Brandy Awards announced on Thursday that Klipdrift Premium was its best brandy of the year. It also won for best brandy aged 2-3 years. Van Ryn’s Distillers […]

It’s all happening underwater in Stellenbosch this week as South Africa plays host to the Underwater Hockey World Champs. The round robin action kicks off this morning, with the SA teams looking good after achieving individual team wins against Argentina, Australia, Canada and France during the warm-up games earlier this week. The event, which began on Monday, and sees […]

South African surfer Bianca Buitendag beat six-time World Champion Stephanie Gilmore from Australia today, to secure herself a place in Round 3 of the Rip Curl Women’s Pro at Bells Beach in Australia… on what must have been a difficult day for the 22-year-old. It was a year ago today that Bianca’s father, former provincial surfer Colin Buitendag, tragically […]

British Airways will start flying to Cape Town from Gatwick airport later in 2016, adding to the existing daily flights from London’s Heathrow, the airline announced on Thursday. The (northern hemisphere) winter-only flight, which starts in November, will join the two flights a day that already fly to Cape Town from Heathrow. BA also flies twice daily to […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African fashion retailer The Foschini Group said on Thursday it had acquired all the shares in high street chain Whistles for an undisclosed sum. Foschini, which last year bought clothing, footwear and accessories retailer Phase Eight, said in a statement it has acquired Whistles’ 46 stores and online retail business through its […]

PRETORIA – The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department has called on international travellers, who will be visiting South Africa during the Easter holidays, to comply with the country’s import requirements for agricultural and related regulated products. “Compliance will assist our country in preventing and/or minimising the potential risk of introducing alien invasive species, foreign pests and […]

More than half of South Africa’s population is urbanized – as much as 64 percent, in fact – and most of these people are under the age of 40, according to recently released figures. Based on the 2015 City Brand and the Mastercard African Cities Growth indices, South Africa’s five major cities are home to over 15 million residents. Johannesburg, […]

Anyone watching news reports in England, the US or Australia these days might be struck by a growing phenomenon – South African accents. More and more journalists from South Africa are either taking the anchor seat on leading international news programmes or reporting for them from hot spots around the world. Whether it’s on an […]

My best friend died in a field of cosmos one Easter in South Africa. She was thrown from the back of the car in which she was sitting, as it hurtled into a broken-down vehicle ahead of it. She was on her way back to Joburg from the bush, and admiring the flowers seconds before they […]

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia said on Tuesday it will send a team to retrieve a piece of debris found along the southern coast of South Africa to check whether it could belong to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The wreckage, discovered near the town of Mosselbay on Tuesday, could be from an “inlet cowling” of an […]

South African President Jacob Zuma has jetted into Europe, on a day when the continent has again been shocked by terrorist attacks. The Islamic State (IS) group has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks, in Brussels today that killed more than 30 people, and injured over 180. A South African teenager, studying in Europe, told SAPeople he and […]

The Gupta family said today in a statement that it welcomes the decision of the ANC to investigate the alleged capture of the state by any business entities. In response to the release of the ‘Statement of the African National Congress following the National Executive Committee meeting held 18-20 March’, the Gupta family said: “The Gupta […]

South Africans have long known how fantastic DJ Black Coffee is…but this weekend the Durbanite got the ultimate ‘cool’ seal of approval – from American star P Diddy, who posted photos and videos of Black Coffee on various social media platforms. The 40-year-old SA house trailblazer – born Nkosinathi Maphumulo – was killing it yesterday from Arcadia Spider […]