The Gauteng Provincial Government is gearing up for the worst-case scenario as the second wave of COVID-19 infections rears its ugly head in the province. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Premier David Makhura said Gauteng is now the second most affected province in the country in terms of active Coronavirus cases after KwaZulu-Natal. The province […]

Healthcare workers will be first in line for inoculation after South Africa secured 1.5 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine which will be rolled out this month. According to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, the country will receive one million doses of the vaccine in January, while the rest of the batch will arrive […]

Every evening the Minister of Health publishes a statement with the confirmed Covid-19 infections and deaths over the previous 24 hours. Wednesday 6 January has the worst figures yet: 844 deaths and 21,832 new cases. 452 of those deaths occurred in the Eastern Cape and 149 in the Western Cape. The official Covid-19 death toll […]

The price of petrol in South Africa is set to increase by between 40 and 43 cents a litre this week. In a statement on Monday, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) said the price of 93 (ULP and LRP) will go up by 43 cents, while that of 95 (ULP and LRP) […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has pointed out that in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement this evening, in which he has returned South Africa to Lockdown Level 3, the President has “still neglected to speak with clarity and certainty” on the acquisition and provision of the coronavirus vaccine. ”We understand that the resurgence in Covid-19 cases is […]

South Africa has breached the one million mark of COVID-19 cases in South Africa, after 9 502 new cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 1 004 413 cases. A total of 214 COVID-19 related deaths were reported, with 123 in the Eastern Cape, 17 in Gauteng, 13 in KwaZulu-Natal, five in […]

The South African Post Office (Sapo) has advised its customers not to pay self-appointed queue marshals a fee for a place in front of the queue when visiting their branches. “Customers are advised not to pay the fee demanded by these queue marshals, and to report such incidents to the South African Police and to […]

South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza delivered the following Christmas message to the nation… Fellow Compatriots, The end of the year is a special time for everyone. It marks the pinnacle of individual and collective journeys we have traversed in the course of the year. It is a time to reflect on where we are, […]

The Western Cape High Court has extended beach opening hours, but has judged in favour of keeping the Garden Route’s beaches closed for the festive season, as announced by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa last week (along with all beaches in the Eastern Cape). The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it notes the ex tempora judgement […]

As thousands prepare to travel long-distance, operators say they need help with masks and sanitisers. Though numbers are down because of Covid-19 job losses, about 20,000 people are expected to travel from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape this year. Taxi associations say they are taking precautions but need help from the authorities. Taxi […]

The novel Coronavirus continues to spread rapidly amid the second wave of infections, with the country recording another 9 131 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours. This is after South Africa topped the 10 000 mark of new cases on Wednesday — for the first time since August. Meanwhile, 184 people succumbed to the respiratory […]

Epidemiologist and Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 in South Africa, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, has been awarded the 2020 John Maddox Prize. Prof Karim was named joint winner with Dr Anthony Fauci from the US. President Cyril Ramaphosa was one of the first to congratulate Prof Karim, saying: “It is an honour […]

The Democratic Alliance has not only welcomed the judgement against the tobacco ban imposed in South Africa during Lockdown, but has called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire the person behind the ban, COGTA Minister Dlamini-Zuma. Yesterday three judges of the Western Cape Division of the High Court found that Regulation 45 of the Disaster Management […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed sadness at the recent death of South Africa’s ambassador to Senegal, Lenin Magigwane Shope. In a statement issued on Saturday, the Presidency said ambassador Shope passed away at his official residence in Dakar, Senegal, earlier last week. President Ramaphosa offered his sincere condolences to Shope’s mother, Ma Gertude Shope, a […]

John Steenhuisen – Leader of the Democratic Alliance – has urged South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend corruption-accused Secretary-General, Ace Magashule, at the NEC meeting this weekend… or expose his promised words that ANC members charged with corruption need to step aside, as hollow. Three months ago, when the Covid-19 procurement scandal was exposed, […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has questioned Judge Desai’s independence following the circulation of images on social media, during the past week, which appear to depict the Western Cape High Court Bench member in what is alleged to be an ANC meeting. According to the Constitution, the responsibilities and confines of SA’s Judiciary state: “The Courts […]

South Africa is today – 1 December 2020 – assuming the rotating monthly presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). “This will be South Africa’s second Presidency during its two-year (2019-2020) elected term on the council. December will also be South Africa’s final month on the council during its current term,” said the Department […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling on the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi to ensure that 41,156 Grades 1 and 8 learners that have not yet been placed for the 2021 academic year are placed before 10 December 2020. According to Lesufi, the department has received 220 000 online applications for Grades […]

The South African Government has condemned the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist, Dr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh (59), on Friday, 27 November 2020. Dr Fakhrizadeh was travelling in a vehicle when he was shot and killed in an ambush in northern Iran. According to the New York Times, both US and Israeli intelligence long believed that Fakhrizadeh […]

There are an estimated 14,357 homeless people living on the streets of Cape Town, and more than R744 million a year is spent on homelessness. These findings were made in a study, “The Cost of Homelessness in Cape Town”, conducted by the NGO U-turn, with help from Khulisa Streetscapes and MES. A study on the cost of homelessness in […]

Civil rights organisation AfriForum and trade union Solidarity have announced they will lay a criminal charge at the Lyttelton police station in Centurion, Gauteng, against Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), tomorrow morning (Wed 25 November 2020). The charge follows after Malema’s recent remarks and threats against the South African Police Service […]

Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the head of the inquiry into allegations that the South African state was “captured” and repurposed to benefit private interests during former president Jacob Zuma’s tenure (May 2009 to February 2018), has dismissed Zuma’s application for his recusal. The former president, who stands accused of having facilitated grand corruption, had […]

The disturbing phenomenon of farm murders in South Africa needs to be stopped, says the DA Abroad. The recent spate of farm attacks saw 5 farmers murdered in a space of 5 weeks in the Free State alone. Beyond this there are many incidents of attacks across the country, as the rural security situation appears […]

Western Cape musician and entertainer David Scott, aka The Kiffness, has posted a video exploring the parallels between Germany’s Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and the EFF’s Julius Malema in their rise to power. “Is it fair to compare Malema to Hitler?” The Kiffness tweeted, after the Democratic Alliance (DA) tweeted last Monday (9 Nov): “The […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa tonight extended the National State of Disaster to 15 December 2020, and announced a Resurgence Plan with interventions to curb the further spread of Covid-19 infections, expressing concern at the lax behaviour of some South Africans as the pandemic continues to grip the country and world. His announcement unleashed an […]