Here’s what’s coming up on Carte Blanche tonight, Sunday 05 May, in South Africa, and available to stream from Tues 07 May for South Africans abroad in many countries. Tasmin Pepper and the First All-Woman Racing Series With a global audience of 1,7 billion people, Formula 1 is one of the most popular motor sports […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), although heading for defeat in May 8 national elections, pledged to forge coalitions with smaller parties to break the dominance of the ruling ANC, especially at the local level. South Africans vote for a sixth time since the end of apartheid in 1994, and […]

South Africa, as the old tourism slogan used to boast, is a world in one country: a land made remarkable by the diversity of its people, its cultures, its landscapes, its fauna and flora… writes Gus Silber. But away from the glossy brochures, the ad campaigns, the YouTube influencer videos, the truth is a little […]

It would be surprising if race played no part in South African elections. The country’s colonial and apartheid past ranked alongside America’s Deep South as among the most racist social orders in the world. If religious polarisation is also considered, South Africa often compared with Northern Ireland and the Israel-Palestine conflict. The slogan “rainbow nation” […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) appears headed for victory in next month’s election, as President Cyril Ramaphosa seeks to strike a reforming tone, with three opinion polls showing support ranging between 51 and 61 percent. The three pollsters, which used different methodologies and turnout assumptions for the May 8 parliamentary vote, […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africans voting for a new national parliament on May 8 will have 48 parties to choose from – more than at any election since the end of white minority rule in 1994. Many more political parties are contesting elections for nine provincial legislatures to be held on the same day. The African […]

It’s pleasing that the latest World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters without Borders rates the state of press freedom in South Africa as “satisfactory”. Satisfactory is the second best category after “good”. South Africa is on par in the “satisfactory” category with countries like Australia, Canada, Spain, France, Italy, the UK, Austria and Uruguay. […]

The Nelson Mandela Foundation and Afriforum are opposing each other in the Johannesburg Equality Court. The Nelson Mandela Foundation is asking the Equality Court in Johannesburg to declare the display of the old South African flag hate speech and harassment under the Equality Act. The case is likely to set the boundaries between constitutionally-protected free […]

Photos and stories have poured in from SAPeople members around the world who voted overseas in the SA elections on Freedom Day, 27 April 2019. Here we’ve selected just four messages that reveal the heart and passion of South African expats worldwide, still inextricably linked to their beloved homeland… Sonja VanNiekerk DeBeer, Venezuela – “The […]

Charles Back had an unusual response to a farm attack that almost killed him. Unusual because he refused to let it start a race-based furore. Unusual because of his calm in the wake of such trauma… writes Elana van der Watt. Then again, much of what Back does as an owner of the Fairview powerhouse […]

South African expats around the world showed how deep their passion for South Africa is by braving inclement weather (including Storm Hannah in the UK), enduring long overnight treks and some spending a fortune they can barely afford… to make their way to one of the 121 foreign missions to cast their vote in the […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has (finally) ended the tenure in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of advocates Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi, as recommended by the Mokgoro Enquiry into the fitness of the two officials to hold office. The President took this action on Thursday, 25 April 2019 after studying the findings and recommendations of the […]

South African expats will tomorrow head to the country’s high commissions, embassies and consulates-general around the world to cast their votes in the national and provincial elections. The date, 27 April, coincides with exactly 25 years to the day South Africans first voted in the first democratic elections in 1994. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), […]

Tanzania on Tuesday denied blocking the publication of a critical International Monetary Fund report that accuses President John Magufuli’s government of undermining economic growth with “unpredictable and interventionist” policies. In the leaked report, seen by Reuters last week and which the IMF said was not made public after Tanzanian authorities did not consent to its […]

The Ramaphosa Village graveyard in Patensie, Eastern Cape, is in a sad state. GroundUp found pigs rooting in the graveyard, headstones knocked over, and graves vandalised. Villagers use the unfenced property as a shortcut. A number of shacks have also gone up on the very edge of the cemetery. A legal dispute lodged by a […]

Poor people in South Africa often feel that the only way they can be heard is to protest. The past few days have shown that not even this gets them a hearing. Protests in the townships and shack settlements where most poor people live in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Cape Town are in the news. These […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s push to reduce rural poverty and quell growing anger over unequal access to property faces further delays after a member of an advisory panel on the issue on Friday rejected key aspects of the plan. Land ownership is a controversial and emotive issue in South Africa where racial […]

The year 2019 marks South Africa’s silver jubilee and, as the young democracy marks this milestone, the Department of International Relations (DIRCO) has taken stock of the country’s foreign policy. To assess the country’s foreign policy, the department appointed an 11 member review panel, chaired by former Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad, a year ago. […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa faces escalating unrest if the governing African National Congress (ANC) party retains power in next month’s election and fails to introduce major reforms, Mmusi Maimane – leader of the country’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) – said on Thursday. In the most hotly contested election since the end of […]

The Electoral Commission has agreed to extend voting hours at some foreign missions on 27 April to accommodate Jewish voters celebrating the Sabbath. “The decision to extend voting hours at these missions followed a request from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) to accommodate Jewish voters who will be celebrating the Sabbath on […]

With little faith in their government, Zimbabweans took the rescue effort into their own hands after Cyclone Idai hit the Chimanimani region. Steve Kretzmann reports… The first rains in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai fell on Chimanimani on 12 April, once again isolating the town nearly a month after floods and mudslides left at least […]

The ruling ANC party has congratulated South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and record-breaking athlete Caster Semenya for being named amongst TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019. The ANC said: “We are a proud nation.” The annual prestigious list, published by the international magazine, includes TIME’s “most influential pioneers, leaders, titans, artists and icons […]

Brand South Africa has announced the appointment of Thulisile Manzini as the new Acting Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect. Manzini is tasked with marketing a positive brand image for South Africa domestically and internationally. Her appointment comes amidst a number of organisational challenges, amongst which is the suspension of Kingsley Makhubela as CEO, who […]

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) latest election advert, which was first screened on Sunday night, has become their fasted viewed content ever… with over 50,000 views on social media in less than 12 hours. Some said they thought it was a Nando’s ad. “For a moment there, I thought I was watching a Nandos advert.?” said […]

Johanna Ditsela lives in Alexandra within sight of the gleaming skyscrapers of South Africa’s main financial district, Sandton, but has existed in squalor for 30 years. Unemployed and in her 50s, she picks her way along a stream full of sewage, dead rats and empty beer bottles to reach the cramped concrete and corrugated iron […]