South Africa

Carlos Lopes: why is money dearest where Africa needs it most?

Africa gets about 23% of the climate finance it needs and pays two to three times more to borrow for solar and wind. The economist says it is time to change the terms.

Johannesburg28 October 20261 min read

Ten under-30s running for South Africa's councils

From Soweto to rural Eastern Cape, young candidates from ten parties say decisions about their future should not be made without them.

Johannesburg27 October 20261 min read

Liza Key, who ran Johannesburg's boldest film festival, dies at 71

She led the Weekly Mail Film Festival, made documentaries and trained new screenwriters through her Scrawl programme.

Johannesburg27 October 20261 min read

South Africa's digital VAT plan can learn from Rwanda and Uganda

SARS wants real-time e-invoicing by 2030. Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia have shown what digital tax records can do, and what else it takes.

Pretoria27 October 20261 min read

World record, World Cup title: how Pieter Coetzé got there

The South African backstroker won 10 medals and broke the 50m world record. His coach first met him at 16.

Pretoria26 October 20261 min read

Gqeberha breaks ground on its first new acute hospital since 1985

The R528m Baywest Private Hospital, built by local doctors, will open with 120 beds and 28 specialists.

Gqeberha26 October 20261 min read

Cape Town study finds genes that may flag children at risk of severe COVID

Researchers studied 333 South African children and found 82 genes that could help tell severe COVID from mild, and shared patterns with RSV and TB.

Cape Town26 October 20261 min read

More CO₂ is making Kruger's grasses grow faster

Grass growth in Kruger National Park rose 28% between 1989 and 2021. Researchers say it matters for grazing and fire, but won't offset climate change.

PANM26 October 20261 min read

Africa's credit agency is about $3.5 trillion, not just ratings

Africa has about $4 trillion in domestic capital and fewer than 4,000 credit ratings. A UCT expert explains how AfCRA can put that money to work at home.

Cape Town26 October 20261 min read

Johannesburg men run in purple briefs to get other men screened

The Hollard Daredevil Run puts prostate cancer, South Africa's most common cancer, out in the open. Studies show many men know little about it.

Johannesburg24 October 20261 min read

Africa holds over half the world's cobalt. Processing it at home is the prize

Wits geoscientists say refining Africa's critical minerals locally could create 2.3 million jobs and lift continental GDP by about 12%.

Johannesburg24 October 20261 min read

Angola's Wiliete knock champions Sundowns out of the Champions League

A 1-1 draw at Loftus Versfeld, after 0-0 in Angola, sends the Angolan side to the group stage on away goals.

Pretoria24 October 20261 min read

A R10,000 budget and a gallery of gifts: the ConCourt at 30

South Africa's Constitutional Court built one of the country's great art collections almost entirely from donations.

Johannesburg23 October 20261 min read

Nominate your green heroes: M&G awards open for 2026

South Africa's longest-running environmental awards want people, communities and businesses solving climate, water, energy and waste problems.

Johannesburg23 October 20261 min read

Koeberg Unit 1 is back on South Africa's grid

Eskom restored a unit at Africa's only nuclear power station six days after a protection system safely shut it down.

Cape Town23 October 20261 min read

South Africa's 'Top 100' plan to sell more to China duty-free

China's zero-tariff window runs to April 2028. Trade minister Parks Tau wants firms to turn interest into deals.

Pretoria23 October 20261 min read

San master trackers help scientists read ice-age lion tracks

On South Africa's southern Cape coast, Ju/'hoansi trackers from Namibia confirmed the only fossil lion tracksites known in southern Africa, one about 70,000 years old.

PANM23 October 20261 min read

A Black South African POW and a German ace: the novel Starlorn

Poet Stephen Symons's debut novel imagines the wartime friendship between a Luftwaffe pilot and a South African prisoner of war in the North African desert.

PANM22 October 20261 min read

Africa's cave bats can outlast climate change if they have homes

A Wits-led study finds the climate long-fingered bats need could shrink by up to 64%, and only about 2% of suitable caves sit where that climate will last.

Johannesburg22 October 20261 min read

A new packhouse lets Moretele farmers sell vegetables further

North West's agriculture department has opened its third packhouse, in Mogogelo village, with tunnels, a borehole, a generator and mobile cold rooms.

Mogogelo22 October 20261 min read

NSFAS: 868,626 students have applied, and 71% are women

South Africa's student funding scheme has a 31 October deadline with no extensions. Most applicants are university hopefuls from grant-receiving households.

Pretoria22 October 20261 min read

Limpopo's R19.7bn water pipeline gets quarterly ministerial checks

Water Minister Pemmy Majodina will visit MCWAP-2A every quarter to keep the 140km Crocodile River pipeline to Lephalale on time and on budget.

Lephalale22 October 20261 min read

South Africa cuts fuel levy as pump prices hit records

Diesel drops by R3 a litre and petrol by R1.50 from 4 November to 1 December, funded by money returned from the Central Energy Fund.

Cape Town22 October 20261 min read

Addo Elephant Park gets a R136.5m makeover

New family units, a spa, a solar plant and a community lodge are part of SANParks' upgrade of one of South Africa's best-loved parks.

Addo22 October 20261 min read

South Africa plans free small ATM withdrawals and one shared network of 30,000 machines

The Reserve Bank wants every ATM unbranded and open to all, a national cash utility from March, and free low-value digital payments, to cut a cash bill of R88.5bn a year.

Pretoria20 October 20261 min read

Kruger's train hotel keeps its two Michelin Keys

Kruger Shalati, the hotel on a bridge over the Sabie River, is still among the South African properties recognised by the Michelin Guide, and credits staff from around the park.

Skukuza20 October 20261 min read

Graaff-Reinet renaming still stands, minister says, as a fake message spreads

Gayton McKenzie says he has withdrawn none of the Eastern Cape name changes and no court has ruled, contrary to a message circulating on WhatsApp.

PANM20 October 20261 min read

Premier and Cabinet cycle nearly 200km to give 300 bicycles to Western Cape schools

The provincial government's annual cycle tour handed bikes to 42 mostly rural schools and neighbourhood watches, and remembered a 16-year-old cyclist killed last month.

Saldanha Bay20 October 20261 min read

Johannesburg's debt relief scheme closes on 31 October

More than 18,000 residents have applied to clear R2bn in old municipal debt. The city stresses that relief is not automatic and current bills must still be paid.

Johannesburg20 October 20261 min read

Reel to Reality asks what makes "An African City" in Johannesburg and Cape Town

The sixth edition of the African and diaspora film festival opens with Jazz Infernal, adds a screenwriting studio and revisits the acclaimed Isithunzi, starring Thuso Mbedu.

Johannesburg20 October 20261 min read

Why South Africa's Constitutional Court judges wear green

Given R10,000 and the job of "décor", two of the court's first justices chose bottle green over the old black and red, and a Makhanda family firm made the robes.

Johannesburg20 October 20261 min read

Wise wins approval to move money for South Africans

The Reserve Bank has formally appointed the money-transfer company as a limited foreign exchange dealer, nearly a year after conditional approval. No launch date has been set.

Johannesburg20 October 20261 min read

South Africa's newest national park is made of farms whose owners kept their land

Grasslands National Park, declared over 10,226 hectares of the Eastern Cape Drakensberg, protects a vital water source through agreements with farmers rather than fences.

Rhodes20 October 20261 min read

At 85, Navi Pillay says she is not done yet

South Africa's Nobel Peace laureate says she will keep "fighting for victims" — and calls on Europe to stand up for the International Criminal Court.

THE HAGUE19 October 20262 min read

South Africa closes the "photo swap" loophole behind a passport fraud ring

Two more former Home Affairs officials have been arrested over passports sold to foreign nationals for up to R100,000. Biometric checks now link applicants to their own photographs.

Pretoria19 October 20261 min read

Four habits that keep you safe online, from South Africa's Film and Publication Board

Use different passwords, switch on two-step verification, stop before you click, and install updates. "Cybersecurity is not about being paranoid but about being prepared."

PANM19 October 20261 min read

Gardens, chickens and fruit trees: how the Karoo marked World Food Day

In Prince Albert, Leeu-Gamka and Klaarstroom, 106 households, three schools and two community projects got help to grow their own food.

Prince Albert19 October 20261 min read

Western Cape bets on Europe and clean power as US tariffs bite

Exports to the US fell 16.2% in a year, but European buyers have stepped in. The province wants 200,000 export jobs by 2035 and says renewables will help its goods meet green rules.

Cape Town19 October 20261 min read

Neimil, the Johannesburg label stitching African stories into clothes and cushions

Started by two people with day jobs in 2018, the brand makes everything in-house and cut for African bodies. Next stop: a showcase in Paris.

Johannesburg18 October 20261 min read

Stellenbosch hosts the world's Wagyu breeders as South Africa's premium beef grows

The 2026 World Wagyu Conference brought scientists, breeders and industry leaders to the Western Cape, which sees the breed as a source of jobs, investment and exports.

Stellenbosch18 October 20261 min read

Wolsey Barnard, who led the programme that brought power to four million homes, has died

The physicist ran South Africa's national electrification programme for 13 years and was the founding head of its radioactive waste agency.

PANM18 October 20261 min read

No dead sardines for a month off South Africa as scientists test for a virus

The acute die-off appears to be over. A precautionary catch limit runs to 30 October, and a survey from early November will give the first independent count of the stock.

PANM18 October 20261 min read

"Madlanga Commission" is South Africa's word of the year; "clock it" wins online

The Pan South African Language Board also named the South African Sign Language sign for "Oh, I see" its sign of the year.

PANM18 October 20261 min read

A West Rand community station gets a R2m studio, and a job before the elections

Rainbow FM, which broadcasts in six languages to more than 100,000 listeners, received new equipment from the Media Development and Diversity Agency.

Roodepoort18 October 20261 min read

R65m from the Lotteries Commission to get South Africa ready for the 2027 Cricket World Cup

The grant will upgrade stadiums in six host provinces and pay for development projects in all nine, including Cricket South Africa's 70 hubs.

Cape Town18 October 20261 min read

Where Africa's scientists can see single atoms: Gqeberha's microscopy centre turns 15

Nelson Mandela University's electron microscopy centre, the only one in Africa with a double aberration-corrected microscope, has new scanning microscopes and a move into biomedical imaging.

Gqeberha18 October 20261 min read

In Thembisa, a clean-up becomes a stand for women's safety

The Love Your Street campaign cleared ground next to a police station in an area where the bodies of several women were recently found. Minister Ntshavheni says safe streets are everyone's job.

Thembisa17 October 20261 min read

South Africa's election body lets 32 more parties onto the ballot after the ANC ruling

After the Constitutional Court ordered 181 ANC candidates restored, the IEC extended the same relief to parties in the same position. The 4 November vote goes ahead as planned.

Pretoria17 October 20261 min read

Kruger's restaurants get new operators and a fresh look

New concepts are coming to Lower Sabie, Pretoriuskop, Berg-en-Dal and Skukuza after a competitive tender, with temporary dining in place during refurbishment.

PANM17 October 20261 min read

Twenty young conservationists are ready to work. They need laptops

Nature Connect has placed 198 graduate interns since 2016. This year's 20 need working laptops for their research, logbooks and reports, and the charity is asking for donations.

Cape Town17 October 20261 min read

Special-needs pupils in Gqeberha win a national prize for turning plastic into sports gear

Cape Recife High School's "Brick Beasts" built a machine that turns old bottles into 3D-printing filament, then printed shin pads, kicking tees and foot cups for children in wheelchairs.

Gqeberha17 October 20261 min read

South Africa will ask the climate summit to triple money for adaptation

At COP31 in Türkiye next month, Pretoria will push for a 2035 target and more funding for loss and damage, including a $20m plan to restore flood-hit Kruger.

Johannesburg17 October 20261 min read

NJ Ayuk tells Africa's energy industry to stand against xenophobia

The African Energy Chamber's chairman told African Energy Week that unity cannot be preached in conference rooms while division grows in the streets.

Cape Town17 October 20261 min read

Transnet signs a R6.6bn deal to keep its locomotives running

Wabtec will supply parts, expertise and digital monitoring for two of the freight utility's main locomotive fleets, as South Africa works to recover its rail freight.

PANM17 October 20261 min read

Goodbye to the green ID book, a document that carried South Africa's history

Close to 15 million South Africans still use it. It is to be phased out by 2028, and banks have already processed more than 574,000 Smart ID applications.

PANM17 October 20261 min read

The father and son moving Cape Town's wild bees to safety

Since 2018 the Cape Honeybee Conservancy has relocated more than 250 colonies from homes and walls to farms, where they pollinate crops and native plants.

Cape Town17 October 20261 min read

Masemola returns as South Africa's police chief after charges are dropped

President Ramaphosa has lifted the national police commissioner's suspension. Prosecutors found no reasonable prospect of a conviction, and he is back at work on Monday.

Pretoria17 October 20261 min read

Ramaphosa opens a zinc plant that doubles a Northern Cape mine

Vedanta's Gamsberg Phase II lifts ore capacity from 4 million to 8 million tonnes a year. The president wants the next step to be refining the zinc at home.

Aggeneys17 October 20261 min read

Pretoria's trains are back, and riders are returning

PRASA has rebuilt 865km of overhead power lines and 51 substations in Gauteng. Passenger trips grew 36% in a year, and Pretoria trains run 97.5% on time.

Pretoria17 October 20261 min read

Limpopo beats its investment target with R138bn in pledges

The province aimed for R120bn at its sixth investment conference. Earlier pledges have already turned into R71bn of real investment and almost 24,000 jobs.

PANM17 October 20261 min read

Chef Reuben Riffel brings fire-cooked game to Franschhoek, aiming to double visitors

Flame and Game, backed by R1.5 million from the Western Cape's tourism fund, will add ten jobs and buy from local game farmers, growers and wine farms.

Franschhoek16 October 20261 min read

Soap and water could save South African children, minister says

Nearly 3,000 children under five died of diarrhoea, flu and pneumonia in 2024. On Global Handwashing Day, the government asked parents and teachers to make clean hands a habit.

Soweto16 October 20261 min read

East London's science park now supports more than 71 young companies

South Africa's only science park inside an industrial zone hosts Science Minister Blade Nzimande on Friday, as the government looks for ways to turn research into products.

East London16 October 20261 min read

Africa Energy Week deals reach $10bn, but delegates want jobs too

From Angola's oil assets to Senegal's gas, Cape Town's energy conference has produced billions in deals. Participants say the resources must also build industries and employment.

Cape Town16 October 20261 min read

Durban finishes R232.6m of flood defences for its industrial south

A rebuilt canal, a new sea outfall and a sports field that doubles as a flood basin are meant to protect Prospecton, one of the country's manufacturing hubs.

Durban16 October 20261 min read

South Africa opens Disability Rights Awareness Month with a walk to the Union Buildings

People with disabilities, officials and campaigners will walk from Church Square on Friday to call for equal rights and an end to the barriers that keep people out.

Pretoria16 October 20261 min read

South Africa's intercity buses get their first new coaches since 2010

PRASA has added 17 long-distance coaches with lane assistance and stability systems, and plans 78 more by 2030.

Pretoria16 October 20261 min read

Sixty-five people in Gqeberha receive the birth certificates they never had

Home Affairs' Services on Wheels brought late birth registration to Motherwell, giving people the legal identity they need to reach government services.

Gqeberha16 October 20261 min read

South Africa wants waste treated as a business, not a burden

Recyclers could get licences in 90 days, and producers' recycling bodies may have to put 40% of their fees into infrastructure. Fifty-six recycling firms have already had R200m of support.

PANM16 October 20261 min read

Gauteng starts repairs on seven Tshwane bridges

Work on bridges over the Hennops River and on the R511 and R514 will repair rails, joints and concrete and widen some approaches.

Pretoria15 October 20261 min read

Navi Pillay dedicates her Nobel to survivors and asks the world to defend its courts

The South African jurist, 85, learned of her prize in the Nuremberg courtroom where the post-war trials were held. She wants collective action, not statements, for international justice.

Nuremberg15 October 20261 min read

Ramaphosa to open a zinc expansion that puts a Northern Cape mine among the world's largest

Phase II of Vedanta's Gamsberg operation at Aggeneys lifts output to about 500,000 tonnes of zinc a year and is expected to sustain up to 1,000 jobs, most of them local.

Aggeneys15 October 20261 min read

Nine in ten South African homes now have electricity, up from 77% in 2002

Ahead of the 4 November local elections, Africa Check's factsheet shows how far connections have come, where the gaps are, and how sharply reported power cuts have fallen.

Johannesburg15 October 20262 min read

South Africa marks World Food Day in the North West with a push for farm innovation

Under the theme Innovate Today, Nourish Tomorrow, the national celebration at Tosca Village on 16 October will launch food security projects in a province where parts face food insecurity.

Tosca15 October 20261 min read

Tired of waiting for a government house, a 67-year-old built her own

Nomonde Mboyi has spent three years and her pension building a mud-brick home in the Eastern Cape. The state house promised to her after a 2019 storm is still a foundation.

Mbizana15 October 20262 min read

South Africa's universities told to teach for a world shaped by AI, and to build Africa's own

Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela said assessment must test judgement, not just answers, and that Africa needs AI in its own languages and on its own data.

Pretoria15 October 20261 min read

A record 2.65 million South Africans apply to vote early

Special vote applications for the 4 November local elections are up 131% on 2021. Most home-visit applicants are women over 60.

Pretoria15 October 20261 min read

Young Africans must move from promise to power, Agenda 2063 symposium hears

At JCI Sandton's fifth Agenda 2063 symposium, speakers from the Presidency, AUDA-NEPAD and Afrobarometer agreed the plans exist. The test now is delivery, with young people given real authority.

Johannesburg15 October 20263 min read

South Africa wants its old earphones and chargers back

On International E-Waste Day, the government urged households to recycle small electronics. The country produces more than 360,000 tonnes of e-waste a year and recycles about a tenth.

Pretoria15 October 20261 min read

South Africa's border agency brings in data to catch stolen cars

A new Vehicle Targeting System at Lebombo will pick out vehicles for inspection by intelligence, not at random.

Komatipoort14 October 20261 min read

South Africa aims for 520,000 technical college students

The government is also funding 700,000 students through its aid scheme this year, and offering full scholarships to China, Germany and Hungary.

Pietermaritzburg14 October 20261 min read

Seven million trees in six months: South Africa's planting drive

The government says 7.1 million trees have gone into the ground since April, against a goal of one billion. The Western Cape has planted the most.

Pretoria14 October 20261 min read

The scientist who brought South Africa's cattle vaccine home

Dr Faith Peta has spent 20 years rebuilding the country's ability to make its own foot-and-mouth vaccine. The first local doses went out in February.

Pretoria14 October 20262 min read

Electric car convoy rolls into Durban as SA Auto Week opens

KwaZulu-Natal wants a share of the investment and jobs as South Africa's car industry moves towards cleaner vehicles.

Durban14 October 20262 min read

World tourism body honours South Africa after record 10.5 million visitors

Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille received a global award in Malta for bringing government and business together to grow the industry.

Pretoria14 October 20261 min read

South Africa shuts its iron ore railway for ten days of repairs

The 861-kilometre line from Sishen to Saldanha is getting new rails, sleepers and signalling, as the state prepares to let private operators run trains on it.

Saldanha14 October 20261 min read

A record 962,832 South Africans sit school-leaving exams

The matric exams began on Tuesday and run to 26 November. Ministers want a pass rate above last year's 88% and have warned against phones in the exam room.

Pretoria14 October 20261 min read

'Not old-style paternalism': South Africa's terms for Europe

The foreign minister says Africa wants European capital and technology to process its own minerals, and warns that the EU's carbon tax could cost the continent $25bn.

Pretoria14 October 20262 min read

South Africa's cervical cancer vaccine is working

Infection with the virus behind the disease is 83% lower among teenage girls who were offered the jab. Now a doctor born two kilometres away is taking same-day screening to rural Mpumalanga.

Bushbuckridge13 October 20263 min read

South Africa's healers are running out of plants

One in ten of the country's plant species is used as medicine, and 154 of them are at risk. A deputy minister wants healers to grow what they pick.

Durban13 October 20262 min read

Tongaat leaves the Johannesburg bourse after 74 years

The sugar producer will be delisted on 3 November. With it, 2026 will have seen 13 companies leave the exchange and only two arrive.

Johannesburg13 October 20261 min read

South Africa to demand money, not more paperwork, at nature summit

Nearly half the country's ecosystem types are threatened. Its delegation heads to Armenia arguing that poor countries should not borrow to protect wildlife.

Johannesburg13 October 20262 min read

Families moved for a coal mine got 5% of what they lost

A study of 115 households near Somkhele, in KwaZulu-Natal, counts R80 million in lost land, crops and livestock against R3.6 million paid. The mine disputes the research.

Durban13 October 20262 min read

South Africa's government sounds the alarm on AI fraud

Cloned voices, deepfake video and machine-written phishing are changing cybercrime, a senior communications official warns. His advice: verify before you pay.

Pretoria13 October 20262 min read

A missed click could keep 181 ANC candidates off the ballot

South Africa's top court is weighing whether failing to press a final 'submit' button is reason enough to exclude a party's candidates, three weeks before local elections.

Johannesburg13 October 20262 min read

Australia close in on victory as Proteas lose four

South Africa ended day four of the Durban Test on 102 for four, more than 300 runs adrift. Matt Renshaw followed his 190 with 82.

Durban13 October 20261 min read

South Africa's deputy police chief quits before hearing

Shadrack Sibiya resigned as his disciplinary case was about to begin. The police say it will be recorded as a dishonourable discharge. He is in custody on separate charges, which he denies.

Johannesburg13 October 20261 min read

South Africa to fingerprint asylum seekers online

A biometric platform due on 10 November is meant to stop rejected applicants filing again. The minister says the appeals backlog is about 120,000 cases.

Pretoria13 October 20262 min read

Ramaphosa: 2.5 million hectares for Black farmers, with deeds

South Africa's farm exports hit a record R270 billion last year. The president says Black farmers produce about a tenth of commercial output.

Pretoria13 October 20262 min read

World's mapping standards body meets in Africa for first time

The Open Geospatial Consortium opens four days of meetings in Cape Town today. Its standards sit behind the digital maps on every phone.

Cape Town12 October 20261 min read

What a Masekela record says about South Africa's migrants

An essay in Daily Maverick reads the credits of two 1970s albums as a record of what the rest of Africa gave South Africans in exile.

Johannesburg12 October 20262 min read

Smith's four catches leave South Africa chasing the game

The Proteas were bowled out for 284 in reply to Australia's 390 at Kingsmead, and Steve Smith took a Test fielding record on the way.

Durban12 October 20261 min read

Maps show where a forgotten African bean will grow

Researchers simulated 49 seasons across South Africa and Eswatini to find where bambara groundnut gives a reliable harvest. October planting came out best.

Durban12 October 20262 min read

Hunters lose court bid against animal wellbeing law

South Africa's Constitutional Court has upheld rules that make the wellbeing of wild animals part of how they are managed and used.

Johannesburg11 October 20261 min read

South Africa to ask a court to oversee its asylum fix

A new registration system is promised by 10 November. Thirty people have been arrested over the unrest, and deportations of those with no claim will continue.

Pretoria11 October 20262 min read

From Luthuli to Pillay: South Africa's Nobel peace line

Navi Pillay is the fifth South African to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The first four were honoured for ending apartheid. She is honoured for what came after.

PANM11 October 20262 min read

Diaspora

What South Africa's asylum ruling does and doesn't do

The court judgment behind a week of unrest gives no one the right to stay. It gives them the right to be heard. An explainer.

PANM11 October 20262 min read

South Africa's police vow arrests over asylum riots

Twenty-four cars were burned outside Home Affairs offices in Soweto and Durban. The department says it pulled its asylum directive because staff and the public were at risk.

Pretoria11 October 20261 min read

Diesel is up 80% this year. In the Western Cape, 71,000 children's school transport is at stake.

Bus operators who carry pupils for the provincial government say they are running at a loss. A one-day strike left nearly 22,000 children without transport, days before final exams.

Cape Town11 October 20261 min read

A Durban chef moves his poké kitchen into the cowshed of a museum of African art

Thomas Wright started Poké Box from a friend's pantry the week South Africa locked down. Its third home is the Phansi Museum.

Durban11 October 20261 min read

Racist slur in a private chat is still hate speech, court says

South Africa's appeal court has ruled that using the k-word is unlawful whoever hears it. A businessman must apologise and pay R500,000.

Bloemfontein10 October 20261 min read

South Africa's state lender put R23.4bn into 48 Black firms

The Industrial Development Corporation's funding for Black industrialists went to manufacturing and other value-adding sectors last year, the trade minister says.

Pretoria10 October 20261 min read

South Africa left R4.9bn of grant money unspent

The social development department calls it a saving. MPs call it a failure, in a country where 23 million people live below the poverty line.

Cape Town10 October 20261 min read

Jali and Nyatama chase Marumo Gallants for unpaid money

A South African court has refused to treat the club's bid to protect its R2.3 million monthly league grant as urgent.

Johannesburg10 October 20261 min read

Diaspora

Pretoria mob threatens to burn traders in their shops

Anti-immigrant groups forced foreign-owned shops to close near a refugee office. A reporter was assaulted. A Nigerian trader of 24 years was among those shut out.

Pretoria10 October 20261 min read

Court orders ANC to put Lungisa back on its list

A judge found the party's secretary-general had no power to strike the mayoral hopeful from the Nelson Mandela Bay list. The election is on 4 November.

Johannesburg10 October 20261 min read

South Africa's Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize

The 85-year-old jurist, a former UN human rights chief, was honoured for defending international law at a time when its courts are under attack. She dedicated the prize to survivors.

Oslo10 October 20261 min read

Nortje takes two in an over on his Test return as South Africa have Australia 187-6

The fast bowler had not played a Test for three years. Bad light ended the first day in Durban two hours early.

Durban10 October 20261 min read

South Africa's HIV prevention jab has reached 71,000 people. It needs to reach a million a year.

Researchers who studied the rollout of prevention pills say the new twice-yearly injection will not sell itself: people hear about it from people, not from billboards.

Johannesburg10 October 20261 min read

The fish that feed the world's fish farms are being taken from African plates, investigation finds

From South Africa's anchovy boats to fishmeal factories in Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania, an Outlaw Ocean Project report traces what farmed seafood costs the coasts that supply it.

Cape Town10 October 20262 min read

The Mthatha designer telling African stories without the clichés

Xolela Madlanga builds her patterns from lines and shapes. She is one of 15 creatives chosen from 700 for a French-backed incubator.

Mthatha10 October 20261 min read

Kruger's former 'crown prince' ranger is convicted of killing a rhino, ten years on

Rodney Landela was once seen as a future leader of the park's rangers. A court has found that he and a state veterinary technician shot a white rhino in 2016.

Skukuza10 October 20261 min read

Fifty-two miners have died in South Africa this year, already more than in all of 2025

The mining minister called it a "deeply concerning regression" after last year's record low of 41 deaths.

Johannesburg10 October 20261 min read

Zuma is in hospital, and his party's election campaign is built around him

The MK Party says the former president had a routine check-up. President Ramaphosa says he has been unwell. Local elections are approaching.

Pietermaritzburg10 October 20261 min read

Australia return to South Africa for a Test series for the first time since ‘Sandpapergate’

The world's two top-ranked Test sides meet in Durban from Friday. South Africa are without Kagiso Rabada, and Anrich Nortje plays his first Test in more than three years.

Durban9 October 20261 min read

Sol Plaatje at 150: the writer who gave Black South Africa its first English novel

Born on 9 October 1876, he was a newspaper editor, translator of Shakespeare into Setswana and the first general secretary of what became the ANC. New books are bringing his letters and writing back into print.

Kimberley9 October 20261 min read

South Africa's five-year plan against hunger met 11 of its 65 objectives

An evaluation found the plan was never funded and the council meant to lead it never met. The government disputes the finding that political will was lacking.

Johannesburg9 October 20261 min read

South African court strikes down Black ownership code for law firms

The Gauteng High Court found the trade minister approved the rules without properly assessing them. It did not rule on whether the code itself is lawful, and sent it back to him.

Johannesburg9 October 20261 min read

South Africa withdraws asylum directive after days of violent protests

Home Affairs says the instruction, issued to carry out a Constitutional Court ruling, overwhelmed refugee offices and put officials at risk. Vehicles were torched in Durban and Soweto.

Johannesburg9 October 20261 min read

Kruger National Park to get a quarter of its power from renewables without building on park land

Under a sponsorship deal, clean electricity generated elsewhere will be delivered through South Africa's national grid. SANParks calls it a pilot that could extend to other parks.

Skukuza9 October 20261 min read

Diaspora

Vigilantes confront asylum seekers as South Africa reopens its refugee system after six years

About 15 members of an anti-migrant group tried to block people queuing at the Durban reception office. Only 20 applicants were processed that day.

Durban8 October 20261 min read

Ramaphosa presses Kiir on South Sudan's December election

South Africa's president, who chairs the African Union committee on South Sudan, told Salva Kiir that political, security and logistical problems must be settled before the 22 December vote.

Tshwane8 October 20261 min read

South African court rejects Kemi Seba's immunity claim, clearing a path to extradition

The activist, wanted in Benin after backing a failed coup, said he was a diplomat for Niger. The court found no evidence he was ever accredited in South Africa.

PANM8 October 20261 min read