DURBAN – President Jacob Zuma has received the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Strategic Defence Procurement Packages, also known as the Arms Deal Commission, the presidency said in a statement on Wednesday. The commission, chaired by Judge Willie Seriti, was established in September 2011 to investigate allegations of fraud, corruption, impropriety or irregularity in the multibillion-rand arms deal. “The […]

A camera system has been designed to track wildlife and trap poachers in conservation areas and protect some of their most endangered species, according to the Zoological Society London (ZSL) and their co-developers. ZSL and its partners have created Instant Detect, which they say could be a critical tool in the fight against rhino-poaching. The camera […]

PRETORIA – Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha has dismissed a petition submitted by lawyers representing the Abathembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2009 for various crimes, to reopen his case in Mthatha High Court. The Minister on Tuesday said he was unable to find anything contained in the aforesaid […]

There may be a new player on the entertainment block in 2016, with numerous reports saying that the well-known U.S. streaming company Netflix will enter the South African market as early as January. Streaming provider Netflix, which shows movies and TV series, some of them originally made, said in January 2015 that it was planning to enter South […]

CAPE TOWN – Measures introduced earlier this year to protect the endangered penguins in Simonstown after a spate of killings have been effective so far, according to the city of Cape Town. The city said in a statement on Tuesday that at least 40 penguins were killed in 2015 before it introduced measures to protect them, and […]

Following recent reports of several families a day being turned away from boarding their South Africa-bound planes from Heathrow Airport, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has issued a press release refuting the claims. The DHA said it “has noted reports about UK-based travelers to South Africa experiencing serious problems as a result of our immigration regulations. We wish […]

The tiny town of Johannesburg in California doesn’t often make the news, but it did earlier Saturday when a magnitude 3.7 earthquake hit the area, followed by one of 3.8, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquakes were fairly minor, and no damage was reported, although they did feature on several U.S. news reports. Johannesburg, an old mining […]

The South African cabinet has agreed to go ahead with a controversial 9,600 MW nuclear procurement programme, according to a Government Gazette notice released by the Department of Energy on 21 December. The Gazette notice released by Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Peterson, in consultation with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, said her department would […]

PRETORIA – A North Korean diplomat who used the privileged diplomatic postal bag of his country to illegally smuggle rhino horn out of the country has been expelled from South Africa, according to news reports. The man, Park Chol-jun, apparently left the country on 11 December. According to one report, Park was arrested on 3 May in […]

PRETORIA – South African Airways has been told to go ahead with the deal that had been backed by former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene before he was sacked by President Jacob Zuma, it was announced on Monday night. The transaction will see SAA swap the purchase of 10 A320 aircraft for a lease of five […]

It isn’t often that major news publications write editorials about a government not their own, or take its leader to task. But in the last few days both The Economist in Britain and The New York Times have written severely critical pieces about President Jacob Zuma. While many local publications have criticised Zuma over the events that unfolded […]

WASHINGTON — Barely six months after the killing of Cecil the Lion with a bow and arrow in Zimbabwe by a U.S. hunter caused international outrage, President Barack Obama will on Monday introduce a law that reclassifies the protection status of lions and clamps down on the importation of certain sport-hunted lions, according to news […]

Former finance minister Trevor Manuel has finally broken his silence about the sudden sacking by President Jacob Zuma of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene almost two weeks ago and the subsequent chaos in the markets that analysts have said cost South Africa billions. In an open letter published on Sunday, Manuel spoke about “shock” and “breach of trust”. He said […]

Usually when rhinos are in the news, it’s for only one reason – poaching. But the media is suddenly focusing on a very different kind of rhino, a golden one that is more than 700 years old, and they’re asking, “Will South Africa let it leave the country?” The figurine – made of gold foil and tacked […]

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga on Thursday acknowledged the scandal of jobs for sale in schools across South Africa – an issue raised by a newspaper last year – and said that criminal cases will be started to stamp out the “widespread” practice. After City Press reported in April 2014 that teacher and principal posts were being […]

JOHANNESBURG – A document stating that the embattled South African Airways should urgently apply for business rescue or face liquidation – which Business Day tried to publish before SAA filed an interdict – can be published, the High Court in Johannesburg has ruled. Judge Roland Sutherland on Thursday laid aside the 24 November interdict that tried to […]

John Magufuli was elected president of Tanzania in late October. Since then many around the world have been electrified by the honesty and goodness of this man, who is that rarity – a leader who actually has the interests of his country and its people at heart. In South Africa, with protests demanding #ZumaMustFall after […]

DURBAN – Former Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, now South Africa’s ambassador to Australia, has been charged with corruption for allegedly accepting more than R10 million in kickbacks, according to news reports. Ndebele, who was a minister from 2009 to 2012, appeared in court in Durban on Tuesday and was released on R10,000 bail. The charges, which […]

Thousands of South Africans across the country joined together on Wednesday to get President Jacob Zuma to step down, as they walked through various cities chanting “Zuma Must Fall”. The major protests were in Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg and some went on for several hours, disrupting traffic in parts of the cities on the public holiday, […]

The African National Congress said on Tuesday it did not discuss the removal of President Jacob Zuma after he replaced finance minister Nhlanhla Nene with a lowly backbencher, which caused South African markets to go into a tailspin and the rand to spiral down. ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte told a news conference on Tuesday that Zuma […]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, said it would list its shares on the Johannesburg stock exchange as a “domestic” stock, removing a potential hurdle in its planned $100 billion-plus takeover of SABMiller. AB InBev said in a statement on Monday it intended to list there in mid-January, with a “domestic” classification, […]

New Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, only appointed on Sunday night, lost no time addressing media on Monday, apparently trying to quell the local and international concerns raised by President Jacob Zuma’s sacking of Nhlanhla Nene last week and replacing him with a virtual unknown, which caused the rand to tumble and SA financial markets to […]

Barely days after firing Nhlandhla Nene as finance minister and appointing unknown David van Rooyen in his place – and sending the South African economy into a downward spiral –  President Jacob Zuma has fired Van Rooyen and appointed Pravin Gordhan to fill the post. The presidency issued a statement on Sunday night confirming the […]

Just over a year ago, a photo of the Johannesburg mail centre went viral – it was in chaos – and things have hardly got better for the parastatal in 2015. But 2016 could see a massive change, with the head of a major JSE-listed financial company taking over the crippled mail service in a few weeks’ time. In November it was announced that […]

Mmusi Maimane, leader of the opposition, has today called on all South Africans to “take their destiny into their own hands, and stop Jacob Zuma before he destroys what is left of our democracy and our economy.” In a special Bokamoso edition this morning, and in the video below, the DA leader stressed that “when I […]