South Africa

Alcohol producer Diageo SA has called on Finance Minister to consider a stay of the annual 6%-plus increase in excise duty on spirits when he tables the 2026 Budget Speech in Parliament next week

The news regarding 500 green anacondas actively living and breeding in Zeekoevlei Nature Reserve, widely posted on social media, is fake, Cape Town authorities said, adding that no state of emergency or restrictions are in place, urging not to share it

The chief of staff of the Department of Social Development, appointed - underqualified - at the age of 22, resigned without facing disciplinary hearing

Barrydale has earned the title of South Africa’s Best Small Town to live in, followed by White River and Jeffrey's Bay, according to the 2025 Daily Maverick survey: readers nominated their favourite small towns across the country

As beaches in Durban closed yesterday, one of the busiest beach days of the festive season, it took the police two hours to actually remove people from the surf; swimming after 6pm is prohibited by municipal laws as lifeguard shifts end

Authorities must do more to tackle “xenophobic” protests that have been blocking access to hospitals to undocumented foreigners; members of group Operation Dudula have for months refused access to non-South Africans at clinics in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal

Farmers are relieve by the lifting of US sanctions on many agricultural products, including macadamia nuts, of which South Africa is the world's top producer; wine and grapes are still hit by the measures

The University of Fort Hare council has urged higher education and training minister Buti Manamela not to proceed with appointing an independent assessor, saying the university is already taking steps to stabilise itself and address recent unrest

South Africa will receive R2bn (€99 million) over six months from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to sustain existing HIV and Aids programs

National data governance is entering a news chapter as President Ramaphosa officially put South Africa’s Statistics Amendment Act into effect; the law will reshape how SA collects and manages national statistics and data and set census every 10 years

South African National Defence Force SANDF has reportedly begun the repatriation of troops and equipment deployed in Lubumbashi, DRC, after the capture of Goma, amid growing tension with the Union concerning unpaid allowances for troops in DRC

An NGO has taken South African government to court over a backlog of hundreds of thousands of late birth registration, with people waiting years for a response from Home Affairs; no birth certificate means restricted access to healthcare and education