The largest oval vivid fancy diamond ever to appear is headed for sale in Hong Kong next month, where it is expected to fetch $30 million to $35 million. The internally flawless blue diamond, at 10.10 carats, was mined in South Africa and is one of a collection of 11 cut by jewellers De Beers […]

President Jacob Zuma has – quite unusually – for the second time in less than 24 hours said that he does not know a senior former ANC MP who said the Guptas offered her a ministerial job, and insists that she did not accompany him to China in 2010, when news reports at the time […]

Maybe it was a result of the heavy rains earlier, which left parts of Rustenberg flooded, but a crocodile seems to have gone astray and found its way on to the N4 near the town. “Crocodile at the Kroondal turn-off,” tweeted Trapspotter on Tuesday night. He gave the details of a nearby crocodile farm to be […]

A video depicting South African police officers appearing to abuse a motorist – which went viral on Facebook Tuesday – has led to positive action. Within 12 hours of being uploaded by fellow motorist Carmen Bell, the post had been viewed over half a million times. Bell who didn’t know the motorist – Raymond van der […]

President Jacob Zuma said he has no recollection of Vytjie Mentor, a former ANC member of parliament, and so he cannot comment on her allegation that the Guptas offered her a ministerial job while Zuma was in the next room. “The Presidency has received media enquiries about a reported comment on social media by former […]

A US animal rights group has said it will pursue its lawsuit against the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for granting permits to three American zoos that imported 17 elephants it alleges were stolen from Swaziland and spirited out of Africa before a court hearing on the case. The animals have been taken in by the […]

BLOEMFONTEIN – The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa has dismissed the government’s appeal against a Gauteng High Court ruling that Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir should not have been allowed to leave South Africa in June 2015 and should have been arrested. Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court to stand […]

A month-old baby in dire need of heart surgery in the war-torn country of Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula has been evacuated by a South African mercy flight and flown 16,000 kilometres to safety and surgery after other countries were unwilling to risk going into the area. A team of South African medical aviation evacuation specialists […]

Within days of a social media campaign being mobilised to raise awareness and show support for the family of murdered teenager Sinoxolo Mafevuka, two men – aged 21 and 26 – have allegedly been arrested in connection with the crime. Nineteen-year-old Sinoxolo was brutally raped and murdered two weeks ago in Khayelitsha, a township in the […]

GRAND BASSAM, Ivory Coast – Ivory Coast soldiers armed with assault rifles patrolled the deserted beaches of a resort town on Monday, a day after gunmen from al Qaeda’s North African branch killed 16 people. The raid was the third high-profile attack by Islamist militants in West Africa since November, but the first on Ivory […]

JOHANNESBURG – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says the newly launched National Sex Worker HIV Plan is about citizens’ rights and affirming the equal worth of every citizen. “It is about affirming the rights of all South Africans to life, dignity and health, regardless of their occupation, sexual orientation and circumstances,” said the Deputy President on […]

The fast-growing company Uber has been in the news quite a lot lately, as it further entrenches itself as a taxi and transport alternative in several South African cities. So what’s the deal? The process is fairly simple. You join Uber as a customer via your phone on the Uber app, and it costs nothing […]

South Africa’s gorgeous Candice Abrahams was crowned Mrs World in Dongguan, China, tonight! Watch video below. Candice – who hails from Honeydew in Johannesburg – competed with 45 other married women from countries around the world to make it to the semi-finals with Mrs Poland, before winning the title. Candice is a model, fashion blogger, wife to […]

A former policeman who was kicked off the force has appeared in court in Bushbuckridge along with three accomplices after being caught in Kruger National Park – in full view of holiday makers – allegedly on the way to poach rhino, according to news reports on Friday. A spokesman for the Hawks reportedly confirmed that the […]

JOHANNESBURG – A South African teenager has found debris which will be sent to Australia for testing as part of the investigation into the disappearance of a Malaysian Airlines plane two years ago, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) said on Friday. Liam Lotter, 18, told South Africa’s East Coast radio he found the […]

For anyone overseas feeling homesick for South Africa, or even for someone in Cape Town feeling lus for some views of the Kruger Park or the Blyde River Canyon, Google Maps is partly answering the call. Short of taking a trip on a second’s notice, you can click on Google’s newly launched South Africa, the Mzansi […]

Parliament – or at least the African National Congress side of the house – on Thursday approved a 4.5 percent raise for President Jacob Zuma. Zuma now earns R2,874,851 a year, which means he gets R7‚876 a day or R239‚568 a month. The Democratic Alliance’s Chief Whip, John Steenhuisen, was visibly angry about Zuma getting a raise after firing finance […]

Business Day associate editor Sam Kokeli saw Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday, after the deputy president wrapped up a week of answering questions in Parliament. And both of them were sitting in economy class on the South African Airways flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Ramaphosa is the second high-ranking member of government to attract attention for […]

The tragic and redemptive story of Amy Biehl, the American Fulbright scholar who was living in South Africa when she was attacked by a township mob in Cape Town and stabbed to death, will be made into a film backed by Tyler Perry and some other US movie luminaries. According to news reports on Thursday, the movie, titled […]

Janusz Valus, the man who shot anti-apartheid activist Chris Hani in cold blood outside Johannesburg on 10 April 1993 and was sentenced to life in jail, has been granted parole. A judge in Gauteng North High Court said that Valus must be released within 14 days. The Department of Justice last year resisted Valus’ parole application, saying […]

DUBAI – Falcon Private Bank plans to expand in Africa and will look at opportunities arising from Barclays’ planned sale of its African assets, a senior executive at the Swiss bank told Reuters. Barclays said last week it would sell a 62 percent stake in Barclays Africa, its South Africa-based subsidiary, as it attempts to […]

A rare and beautiful orchid – that was last seen in the Western Cape 50 years ago  – has been discovered in the Fernkloof Nature Reserve. According to Fernkloof Indigenous Nursery the species was last seen in the Western Cape in 1966. On their Facebook page yesterday, the Nursery announced that the plant had been […]

Eighteen young elephants have been spirited out of Swaziland under “devious” circumstances to be taken to three US zoos before a court case could be heard about the damage that would be inflicted on the animals, according to an animal rights organization. Animal rights group Friends of Animals said in an open letter posted online on […]

For the second time in two months an employee of South African Airways based at OR Tambo International Airport has been arrested for extorting money from a foreign national who was denied entry into the country due to invalid papers.   Gloria Ntombi Sidumo (42), an SAA employee, was arrested together with a security officer […]

Three young men have been arrested by police in connection with the fatal assault on 16-year-old Franziska Blöchliger, according to news reports on Wednesday. The reports quoted Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut of the Cape Town police. “The circumstances surrounding the case are still under investigation and no further information can be released at this stage‚” he was […]