The Democratic Alliance says it remains steadfast in its commitment to change in eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), despite yesterday’s chaotic Council meeting which was stormed by ANC supporters. The meeting on Monday had elected a Speaker and the Executive Committee before it ran into trouble, according to the DA. “The ANC had clearly realised that […]

The following speech was delivered by the new DA Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor, Tania Campbell, during her acceptance speech at the Ekurhuleni Inaugural Council meeting. Watch video below. Speaker, fellow councillors and residents of Ekurhuleni, I am humbled by the faith and trust placed in me as the Mayor of our great city, Ekurhuleni. It is […]

The DA’s Dr Mpho Phalatse has been elected the Mayor of Johannesburg, after ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba pulled out of the mayoral race leaving just Dr Phalatse and the ANC’s Mpho Moerane. Mashaba said he was putting country first, politics last. “The election of both Dr Phalatse and Cllr Vasco Da Gama (as Council Speaker) […]

As the Johannesburg metro council meets today to swear in councillors and to elect a Mayor and Speaker, Helen Zille has explained in a statement why those urging the DA to support a multi-party minority coalition are misguided in her opinion. The coalition would include backing Action SA’s Herman Mashaba as mayor. Mashaba, who yesterday […]

South African Airways (SAA) says there are no “reasonable prospects” of Mango Airlines succeeding if it takes to the skies again this December. Mango, which is a subsidiary of SAA and is government-owned, is currently undergoing business rescue after it was grounded in July following years of financial instability. “[T]here are no reasonable prospects of […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a four-day national period of mourning, and that the National Flag be flown at half-mast as a mark of respect for the late former Deputy President FW de Klerk. The former Deputy President passed away on Thursday, 11 November 2021, after an extended illness suffering from a form of cancer. […]

In the opening days of the COP26 international climate conference, a financing partnership was announced between South Africa and a consortium consisting of France, Germany, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU). The partnership aims to support South Africa’s just transition to a low carbon and climate-resilient economy and society. Essentially a just […]

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has this morning commenced the National Investigative Hearing into the July civil unrest. At least 300 people were left dead with at least R25 billon in damages done to businesses and public infrastructure when the unrest rocked the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. “The unrest has indeed deepened unemployment, […]

Before passing away today, former SA President FW de Klerk filmed a message for all South Africans in which he unequivocally apologised for the pain and suffering caused by apartheid. He said despite apologising on several occasions, that while some believed him, others didn’t. He admitted that in his younger years he defended “separate development” […]

South Africa’s last white President, FW de Klerk, has passed away at the age of 85. The FW de Klerk Foundation released the following statement on his passing: It is with the deepest sadness that the FW de Klerk Foundation must announce that former President FW de Klerk died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye […]

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has commenced payments to the Workers Affected By Unrest (WABU) Relief Scheme and has so far disbursed R6.4-million to 1 402 workers that were affected by the July 2021 unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. In a statement on Monday, the department said the payments were made from applications received from […]

Dozens of climate justice activists gathered outside Parliament as part of a global day of action on Saturday. Climate activists picketed outside Parliament on Saturday demanding government take drastic action over climate change. The Rural Women’s Assembly criticised the COP26 talks in Scotland for excluding the voices of small-scale African farmers and others most affected […]

Athol Williams is a South African hero. The speaker, author and advocate – who hails from Mitchell’s Plain – was the first person to earn Masters degrees from five of the top universities in the world. He’s also an award-winning author and poet; and a passionate South African who couldn’t keep quiet when he saw […]

Energy investments will help overcome the debilitating load shedding (power cuts) that South Africa is currently experiencing, as new electricity generation capacity comes online, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. In his weekly newsletter to the country, the President said that energy continues to be an area of growth in South Africa as the 25 preferred bidders […]

This Sunday Ina Bonnette speaks openly about her horrific ordeal – in which her then husband and his three accomplices raped and tortured her, and murdered her son in the room next door. Known as the Modimolle Monster, her ex Johan Kotze – who is now in jail – violently attacked her just over eight […]

For South Africans who groaned when Stage Two load shedding was implemented on Friday morning, things got a little worse this afternoon as Eskom implemented Stage Four power cuts from 2pm. The loadshedding has been caused by “numerous issues” and further shutdowns at power stations. Total breakdowns have cost the grid at least 17 000MW […]

IEC South Africa has released the final results of the Local General Elections in SA. At the podium, IEC Chairperson Glen Mashinini says the #LGE2021 has tested the nation in many ways. Among the challenges faced by voters, included #COVID19, the short time frame to conduct the elections, bad weather, power outages, and logistics. The […]

A video going viral on Twitter this week is winning hearts and votes for uMngeni’s new Mayor-Elect, Chris Pappas. “I love him, such passion, this is what we need” said one local. Many added: “What a great speaker”, while one tweeted: “Holy cr*p. Who is this guy, tjoooo, ANC is in trouble in KZN.” The […]

South Africans are facing another round of power cuts despite promises from South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, that it would keep the lights on. Unexpected breakdowns and scheduled maintenance at various generation plants have been blamed for reduced generation capacity. These have compromised the stability of the national power grid. Since this affects everyone in […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will later today attend the announcement of the final results of the 2021 Municipal Elections, which are likely to show the ANC with less than 50% of the vote for the first time since 1994. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) will make the announcement after South Africans headed to the […]

With the first day of vote counting still underway in the 2021 Local Government Elections, more than 50% percent of the votes have been counted. According to the Electoral Commission (IEC) dashboard at 19:19 on Tuesday, 51% of the national vote count had been completed, with the African National Congress (ANC) leading with 46.4% support, […]

The African National Congress (ANC) has emerged as the early frontrunner in the wake of Monday’s 2021 Local Government Elections, with results confirming the party had secured three local municipalities. The Local Government Election results started trickling in on Monday night at the Results Operation Centre in Pretoria, as soon as voting stations closed at […]

As of 18h00 on Monday, 1 November 2021, voter turnout in South Africa at the local government elections was unfortunately at an all-time low of just above 23%, according to SABC researcher Ronesh Dhawraj. Ronesh tweeted: “Only 6.8 million of the 26.2 million registered voters have turned up to cast their ballot for the #2021MunicipalElections. […]

More than 250 local elections will be held in each one of South Africa’s municipalities on 1 November. More than 10,000 councillors have to be elected. For this reason, more than 95,000 candidates have been nominated, including more than 1,500 independent candidates. How they have communicated it to the public during their campaigns has been […]

The number of political parties in South Africa has increased significantly from the 19 that participated in the first democratic election in 1994. Both 2011 and 2016 saw the number of political parties grow. But this year the number has increased exponentially. Over 500 are currently registered with the Independent Electoral Commission. Over 300 will […]