JOHANNESBURG – University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) workers and students sang ‘Voetsek’ outside Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court Wednesday morning, after police asked them to move. The scene came following the denial of bail for Wits University SRC leader Mcebo Dlamini (32). Watch below. Dlamini, one of the #FeesMustFall leaders, was arrested on Sunday morning – at a Wits […]

Last week Western Cape photographer JUSTIN SULLIVAN reported on a beautiful and peaceful candlelit vigil at CPUT (Cape Peninsula University of Technology). Today he witnessed the contrast. An outbreak of violence at the University of Cape Town (UCT). “It was terrible to see violence erupt on UCT Campus this afternoon,” he says, “especially after my previous […]

PRETORIA – South African Police Services (SAPS) say they have arrested 567 persons in 265 cases relating to the student protests over fees at the country’s institutions of higher learning and training. SAPS acting National Commissioner General Kgomotso Phahlane said at a briefing in Pretoria on Monday the arrests were made from 1 February 2016 to […]

JOHANNESBURG – Oakbay Investments – the holding company for the Gupta family’s businesses in South Africa – has announced the sudden resignation of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nazeem Howa with immediate effect. In a statement this evening, Oakbay said after a period of illness Howa is stepping down, “due to health issues and medical […]

Sometimes fans can spoil a good thing, and a post published yesterday on Facebook as a presumably well-intentioned salute to the good that the Democratic Alliance (DA) is doing in Joburg, is currently backfiring. The post – which appears to show how much the DA has cleaned up the streets of Joburg since they took over […]

South Africa is playing host Monday to the 30th Anniversary Service of the late Mozambican President Samora Machel, who died in a plane crash over South African soil on 19 October 1986, along with 34 others. Only nine survived the crash at Mbuzini, Mpumalanga. Questions still hang over the crash today, with some suspecting it was not […]

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have opened a criminal case against the “Gupta Criminal Syndicate” on Sunday in South Africa… and revealed they “fear that due to their connection to high office, the suspects will temper with evidence and crucial witnesses.” The charges pertain to the so-called ‘State Capture’ by the Gupta family, including ‘money […]

Mmusi Maimane called on ANC ministers to make their voices heard and support a call for South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma to step down or be recalled; and called on all South Africans to be in Pretoria on the 2nd of November. “We all need to stand together in this time of crisis,” Maimane said. Maimane’s […]

After what some media in South Africa have labelled a ‘dark week’ – in which SA student protests turned violent, vehicles were burnt in Braamfontein, the Public Protector was prevented from releasing her State Capture report before leaving office, a summons was issued for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Rand dropped – there have been a couple […]

Congratulations to Johannesburg’s former Mayor Parks Tau who has been appointed President of world body United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the umbrella body of local governments around the world. UCLG, which has its headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, is the equivalent of the United Nations (UN) for local government. It represents over 240,000 towns and regions, 175 […]

Adv Thuli Madonsela woke up this morning feeling like a team captain “that has completed an epic race and survived by grace”… and by this evening she had inspired many others to start on a similar race, with grace, to achieve a better more equal, less discriminatory South Africa for all. South Africa’s former Public […]

University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) students have been quick to distance themselves from the violent incidents which occurred in Braamfontein, South Africa, Friday night… where an SABC van was set alight, bottles were thrown at passing vehicles and students were allegedly shot with rubber bullets by police. One student – Arnold Maflow – tweeted just […]

Social media and mainstream media have been quick to post images and videos of fires being set and violence being perpetrated during South African student protests… but where were these reporters on Wednesday night when the flames that burnt were from a candlelit vigil and the gathering was beautiful and peaceful? Photographer JUSTIN SULLIVAN offers his views… […]

As South Africa thanks Advocate Thuli Madonsela for the incredible job she did at protecting the country from corruption, at being the Public Protector we could only have dreamed of having… here are some wise words from the lady herself that may help us move forward without her. Outgoing Public Protector, Adv Thuli Madonsela, on life and […]

The South African President’s son, Edward Zuma, has released a media statement accusing Finance Minister Gordhan Pravin of being a “cry baby”, and outgoing Public Protector Adv Thuli Madonsela, and her “handlers” as being in “panic mood”. Supporting his father, the President’s son also took part in a radio interview late Thursday evening on Power […]

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane claims that the motive behind the summons – issued by special police unit, the Hawks, to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan – is because of an impending nuclear deal with a Russian delegation… which is allegedly in the country. In a tweet early Thursday, Maimane said: “We are reliably informed that there is high […]

Cape Town band The Kiffness has ‘created’ a guide for dummies on White Privilege, which starts with the question “Does White Privilege exist?” Band member David Scott wrote: “I thought of this thing in the bath. It’s mainly to help me make sense of my thoughts on my position as a white guy in SA, but […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it welcomes the “unusual decision” by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) Wednesday that it would prefer to hear oral arguments in open court in President Jacob Zuma’s application for leave to appeal the decision of the Gauteng North High Court (see Court Order below). The DA said Zuma “must take responsibility… and not […]

President Jacob Zuma has spoken out again in support of South Africa’s Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, although for many South Africans it sounded like empty rhetoric. The President urged the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) to conduct the matter – of Gordhan being summonsed to appear in court on charges of fraud – with the necessary “dignity […]

EFF leader Julius Malema has called on South Africans to support democracy by taking to the streets of Pretoria on the day that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will appear in court on charges of fraud, 02 November 2016. Malema’s call came Tuesday, following the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) announcement that Gordhan and two former colleagues from the SA Revenue Services […]

South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, along with former SARS (SA Revenue Services) officials Ivan Pillay and Oupa Magashula, are being charged with fraud. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the three accused men have been informed of the decision and have been served summonses to appear in court on 02 November 2016. The […]

JOHANNESBURG – Photos of a Catholic Priest in Braamfontein, with blood streaming down his face, went viral today on social media. He had been hit by a rubber bullet during #FeesMustFall protests. Police claimed it was a stray bullet. Hylton White, a Faculty Member at Wits University, was there just before it happened… White wrote on Monday […]

Social media users are calling on fellow South Africans to share the following letter, sent by an academic at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) – Dr Kelly Gillespie – to South Africa’s Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan at 6.40pm Monday night… Dear Mr Pravin Gordhan I wonder if you have any sense of what my […]

Here is the full statement from the Presidency: President Jacob Zuma has written to the Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, requesting her to allow him or his legal representative to question other witnesses, determined by the Public Protector, who have appeared before Public Protector. President Zuma was given two days before the meeting that took […]

PRETORIA – Acting National Commissioner Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane said Monday that despite “intimidation” from protesting university students, police across the country will continue to do their duties wherever needed, and that South Africa was “far from a state of emergency” regardless of the rolling protests at universities, that have in recent days turned violent… including a […]