Stay informed and up to date with the latest news in South Africa by reviewing all major headlines on Tuesday 12 November. After a full week of victory celebrations, it’s back to business for the World Cup-winning Springbok squad. As South Africa’s water crisis deepens, relief in the form of rainfall is expected to quench […]
Melanie Verwoerd: Food or SAA? Time for government to prioritise
2019-12-04 05:00 The drought affecting our farming communities and by extension our food security should take priority over rescuing SAA, says Melanie Verwoerd. (Tebogo Letsie, City Press, file) Multimedia · User Galleries · News in Pictures Send us your pictures · Send us your stories Very few of us would notice […]
Monday’s weather: A scorcher to kick off the week
Monday is set to be another scorcher across most of South Africa, says the SA Weather Service. Warnings: Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over western and central Free State, the eastern parts of the Northern Cape, eastern and central North West, Central Karoo of the Western Cape and the interior of the Eastern […]
South Africa’s Karoo drills and prays as taps run dry
GRAAFF-REINET, South Africa (Reuters) – South Africa’s Karoo region has always been parched – it means land of thirst in the language of its earliest inhabitants, the Khoisan hunter gatherers. Yet nothing prepared residents of its oldest town, Graaff-Reinet, for their worst drought in more than a century. As the dry spell entered its fourth […]
Saturday’s weather | The heat continues
The hot weather and high temperatures being experienced in parts of the country are expected to continue over the weekend, according to the South African Weather Service. Warnings Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over the interior of the Northern and Eastern Cape, Central Karoo of the Western Cape as well as the western and […]
Karoo drills and prays as taps run dry
South Africa’s Karoo region has always been parched – it means land of thirst in the language of its earliest inhabitants, the Khoisan hunter-gatherers. Yet nothing prepared residents of its oldest town, Graaff-Reinet, for their worst drought in more than a century. As the dry spell entered its fourth year, tap water turned brown and […]
Eskom South Africa’s largest risk, says IMF and National Treasury
In a press statement released by the National Treasury on Monday 25 November 2019, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded after a visit to South Africa, that the country’s largest economic risk is Eskom, among other challenges like weak economic growth. The IMF visited South Africa from 6 to 21 November 2019 to discuss economic […]
Farmers in Western Cape to get R50M in drought relief funding
Local government have also approached the Department of Agriculture for an additional R147 million for further drought support. The Western Cape government has authorised the released of R50 million in emergency drought relief. The funds will assist farm communities in the Central Karoo District, Matzikamma and Little Karoo and is specifically for food support for […]
Agriculture association offers boxed donations to struggling Karoo farmers
After a cold welcome in a room of empty chairs at what was meant to be a regular meeting for the Cape Women’s Agriculture Association (CWAA) in the Karoo, the event’s organisers realised their community is facing a massive problem: the drought. CWAA’s Karen Barnard said the organisation understood their community was going through a […]
The women making waves in wine, Part One: A shift towards elegance
Natasha Williams of Bosman Family Vineyards. Photo: Supplied Over the past decade there has been a quiet shift in the style of wines produced by South African winemakers; the heavy wood is gone and the rough tannins have been toned down. The past five years have seen a more pronounced shift towards elegance and style […]
Chinese South Africans fight hate speech | Opinion
HATE SPEECH Twelve individuals are before the Equality Court for hateful and discriminatory speech directed at the Chinese community. Not only was the speech harmful and degrading, it also deepened old wounds. The effects of such discrimination is deeply hurtful. Yet, much of this suffering has been rendered almost invisible. The case, which was brought […]
Wesgro assists job creation in the Western Cape tourism industry
Wesgro announced that it helped facilitate R10,73 billion into the Western Cape’s economy for the 2018/2019 financial year. In addition, Cape Town and the Western Cape’s official Tourism, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, assisted in generating close to 4 000 jobs for the province. Wesgro’s Commitment and Collaboration “Wesgro has an unwavering commitment to growing […]
Imminent fracking in the Karoo is pitted against climate change | Cape Times
On August 8, the special report on Land and Climate Change was released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), citing that the consequences of the climate crisis on land and food systems will be dire, and the most vulnerable will be hardest hit unless fossil fuels are phased out immediately. Communities in the […]
A life of poetic activism | Arts and Culture
“That’s my activism; linked to my poetry,” says late poet, journalist and editor Sandile Dikeni in Guava Juice Generation, a video clip credited to Funiwe Gxavu and NR 75 Pictures. READ MORE: Sandile Dikeni, poet and radio broadcaster “My point of fame wasn’t really how eloquently I could articulate an anti-apartheid stance in strict political […]
Tackling the legendary Karoo passes in Ford’s latest 4x4s
Road tests / 15 November 2019, 2:05pm / Willem van de Putte I was thinking about this recently, not so much about its political content, although that’s never far off in our current climate, but about our land being beautiful. I’ve been fortunate to see many gorgeous parts of South Africa, which was recently the case again when […]
Equipment, food supplies needed after break-in at Karoo community centre
Grassroot Hope in South Africa runs a number of life skills projects for the kids of Richmond. A robbery has ‘cleaned them out’. Grassroot Hope In South Africa (GHISA) is committed to helping the children of the small town of Richmond in the Northern Cape Karoo achieve their full potential. The area has a huge […]
Western Cape weather: Karoo thunderstorms, Garden Route rain forecast
The Western Cape is due to receive some much-needed rain, raising dam levels and soaking the earth before summer’s heat sets in. The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has predicted heavy rainfall in the Karoo, Overberg and Garden Route; the first drops of which are due to make landfall on Tuesday morning. The downpour, which […]
The real water crisis: Not understanding what’s needed
A serious multi-year drought in parts of South Africa’s Northern and Eastern Cape provinces has seen a number of small towns threatened by total water supply failures and livestock farmers facing financial ruin. In other parts of the country, heatwave conditions and the late onset of rains have caused local supply failures. Although the dams […]
The real water crisis: Not understanding what’s needed
A serious multi-year drought in parts of South Africa’s Northern and Eastern Cape provinces has seen a number of small towns threatened by total water supply failures and livestock farmers facing financial ruin. In other parts of the country, heatwave conditions and the late onset of rains have caused local supply failures. Although the dams […]
British star Ed Stoppard on filming in South Africa, working with Rolanda Marais, and preparing for his thrilling TV role in Trackers
Cape Town – “I went to South Africa when I was about 20,” British actor Ed Stoppard tells me during our 15-minute Skype conversation. “I was on my way to Zimbabwe and Malawi, and I flew into Joburg,” he adds. It’s early on a Thursday morning, and he’s sitting in a what looks like a […]