Xolisa Shenxani (18) from Sir Lowry’s Pass Village in Cape Town, has had his heart set on becoming a commercial pilot from a young age despite coming from a disadvantaged background. “I used to look up into the air and see helicopters fly over my house but I didn’t know what they were. I thought, […]

Caster Semenya has said the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) breached confidentiality regulations ahead of her appeal hearing on Monday where she is fighting for her athletics future. The South African 800-metres double Olympic champion is seeking to overturn a new set of IAAF regulations that are aimed at lowering the testosterone levels of […]

Following the conclusion of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) and the debate by Members of Parliament – the focus now turns to the 2019 Budget. On Wednesday, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is scheduled to deliver the 2019 Budget Speech and introduce the associated Bills during the plenary sitting of the National […]

Former Land Bank chief executive officer Philemon Mohlahlane, 63, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding the entity of six million rand. His co-accused, Member of Parliament Ruben Mohlaloga, 45, and attorney Dinga Rammy Nkhwashu, 41, were on Thursday also handed 20 and 24 year imprisonment sentences, respectively, by the Pretoria Specialised […]

Following the successful Armed Forces Day celebrations in six different provinces since 2013, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will descend to the City of Cape Town this month to honour the bravery of sons and daughters of our country who lost their lives in the fateful 1917 sinking of the SS Mendi. The […]

The Department of Environmental Affairs will from Monday embark on a week-long robust public awareness drive to urge South Africans to protect and conserve wetlands in the North West province. According to the department, the campaign forms part of South Africa’s activities in marking the World Wetlands Day celebrated on 02 February 2019. This year’s […]

Former ambassador to Iran, Yusuf Saloojee, was arrested by the Hawks on Thursday and subsequently made a brief court appearance at the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on the same day facing charges of corruption. Saloojee, 75, has been a subject of the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation unit following allegations that he allegedly partook in […]

“We are losing profits. Our clients are impatient and always in a hurry. They can’t wait for about two and a half hours.” Toni Burton started Zizamele Ceramics in 2008. Located in Masiphumelele, a small township in the south of Cape Town, she employs nine people. She has trained them to do ceramics. She and […]

South African firm Bosasa has applied for voluntary liquidation after its lenders said they would close its accounts due to reputational risk, the firm said in a statement on Monday. “The extensive reputational damage in the past few months, occasioned by negative media reports, has resulted in financial institutions determination that the… group poses a […]

South African Airways (SAA) has reached a settlement with Comair following a protracted legal battle, saying it paves the way for the airline to reach financial sustainability. “The finalisation of this case marks the conclusion of one of the disappointing legacy matters that dragged on for far too long and was overdue. The current airline […]

The Traffic Law Enforcement Committee has invited members of the public to provide comments on the future and direction of road traffic law enforcement in South Africa. The Committee was set up in 2017 by the Minister of Transport. To date, it has engaged with a wide range of organisations consulting on the way forward […]

Business should inform curricula to prepare South Africa for the fourth industrial revolution, writes Business Unity SA CEO Tanya Cohen. In any other society, a youth unemployment rate of upwards of 30% would give policymakers and administrators sleepless nights. But the slow pace of reform in higher education and the seeming absence of a broad-based, […]

Despite the low probability of power cuts today Eskom is still facing myriad challenges that have affected its ability to meet demand. President Cyril Ramaphosa pulled no punches on Thursday when he detailed what needs to be done to get the power parastatal back on track. There is a low probability of load shedding today, […]

South Africa’s efforts to curb rhino poaching continue to produce results, with 2018 figures revealing that incidents had dropped to 769, down from 1 028 in 2017. This, said the Department of Environmental Affairs, is the third consecutive year that South Africa has seen a decline in rhino poaching and the first time in five […]

A well known animal shelter in the Free State, which has received thousands of rands worth of donations from the public, is the focus of an investigation by popular South African current affairs show, Carte Blanche, this Sunday (17 Feb). The show will be available to stream from Tues 19 Feb for South Africans abroad. (14-day Free Trial). This […]

Parliament is set to schedule an urgent debate on the energy crisis amid rolling power cuts. Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete has conceded to a request from Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Natasha Mazzone seeking an urgent motion for debate on the Eskom energy crisis to be placed on the Order Paper of the […]

Struggling state-run power firm Eskom subjected South Africa to the worst power cuts in several years this week, after a decade of missteps when electricity sales stagnated and costs soared. The outages expose the risks to Africa’s most industrialised economy from Eskom’s virtual monopoly and the failure of successive governments to take on labour unions […]

Fake credentials have become a global problem. The National Student Clearinghouse, a US NGO that offers a degree verification service, reports that falsified academic credentials are a serious, prevalent and ever-increasing problem. In 2015 the New York Times reported on a billion-dollar industry consisting of 3 300 “diploma mills”. These were fake universities that sold […]

“The gold is right here in the soil”. Located between Marievale military base and Nigel is an old gold mine, Vlakfontein, where informal miners extract gold from the mine dump. “The gold found at this old mine is very easy to extract and in a good month one can make R10,000 or more,” explains Mozambican-born […]

If people are not willing to invest in a country, it is almost impossible to generate new jobs, writes Professor Vimal Ranchod.   South Africa’s unemployment rate is one of the highest in the world. It is consistently measured above 20%. This is a national crisis that feeds two of the country’s other big socio-economic […]

South Africa’s Treasury head Tito Mboweni is likely to appease rating agencies and squeeze a tenth of a percentage point off his previous budget deficit forecast for next financial year, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday. The poll taken in the past week suggests Mboweni will announce a deficit target of 4.1 percent of gross […]

Yesterday President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Competition Amendment Bill, which will strengthen regulations against anti-competitive behaviour in industrial markets. The bill, which was approved by the National Assembly in October 2018 and endorsed by the National Council of Provinces in December 2018, is a step in the right direction for SMEs, economic inclusion […]

The Department of Public Enterprises said Wednesday that South Africa’s power utility Eskom is struggling to keep its mainly coal-fired plants running due to coal shortages and poor maintenance, with 40 percent of breakdowns a result of human error. The department, which oversees Eskom, also said in a presentation to parliament that Eskom was technically […]

South Africa is not planning to privatise embattled power utility Eskom after the firm is split into three separate entities of generation, transmission and distribution, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday. “At no stage has the president said, or the government indicated, that there would be privatisation of any of these entities or […]

As South Africa joins the globe in celebrating World Radio Day, Communications Deputy Minister Pinky Kekana says the country must harness the power of radio to promote social cohesion. “There is a growing need for us as a country to harness the power of radio to promote nation-building projects. The protection of our indigenous languages […]