19 h. ago Heartache turns to hope as South Africa seek to shake ‘chokers’ tag in WTC final | Daniel Gallan

The Proteas choking when it matters most is a tale as old as the country itself as history again weighs heavy on their World Test Championship hopesA South African cricket fan’s standout World Cup catastrophe will depend on when they were born. Baby boomers cite the time, back in 1992, when Brian McMillan was left needing 22 runs off one ball after rain in Sydney washed away any hope of a chase. Millennials are forever haunted by Alan Donald’s dropped bat in that tied semi-final in 1999. Gen Zs must still be wondering how Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller failed to get over the line with 30 needed off as many balls in last year’s T20 final.The Proteas choking when it matters most is a tale as old as the country itself. Longer, in fact, if you consider that Nelson Mandela was elected president two years after this story began. And throughout it all, one antagonist has loomed largest. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon calls for Elon Musk to be deported immediately

Steve Bannon, chief strategist for the first seven months of Trump's first term, has called for a full investigation into South African born Elon Musk's immigration status

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5 d. ago The Spin | Why neutrals should back South Africa against Australia in WTC final

Wealth of Big Three is skewing Test cricket and a big win for Australia at Lord’s would only emphasise this gulfOn a recent episode of The Grade Cricketer podcast, the hosts, Sam Perry and Ian Higgins, tore lumps out of South Africa in a foul-mouthed tirade about the World Test Championship final against Australia. Perry predicted a finish “inside three days” and Higgins, practically thumping the table, said: “If I don’t look at a scorecard and South Africa are three for spit my TV is going through the window.” Cue big alpha chuckles and main-character knee slaps.I know they were joking, skewering Australian arrogance as much as South African frailty, and that they have built a formidable brand that runs on side-mouthed jibes and hyperbolic bluster. Still, the lizard part of my brain lit up in protest. How dare they dismiss my countrymen? I wasn’t alone in taking offence. Continue reading...

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6 d. ago More white South Africans arrive in the US under a new refugee program

Officials and advocacy organizations say a second group of white South Africans has arrived in the United States under a refugee program announced by the Trump administration

Events

6 d. ago Trump admin plans to resettle ‘thousands’ of white South Africans in US this summer, report says

‘We won’t be talking about dozens of arrivals, but hundreds and perhaps thousands,’ a state official has revealed

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8 d. ago Edinburgh Rugby fail to make history as season ends sharply amid emotional farewells on Highveld

Everitt’s men lead at break - but South Africans roar back in play-off

Events

1 week ago Oscar Pistorius's father reveals he and his son barely speak after ongoing row over killer Olympian's guilt

Disgraced Paralympian Pistorius, 38, served nine years behind bars for horrifically shooting his lover Reeva Steenkamp dead at his South African home.

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1 week ago A South African woman is sentenced to life in prison for selling her young daughter

A South African woman has been sentenced to life in prison for selling her 6-year-old daughter

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1 week ago Trump’s unfounded attack on Cyril Ramaphosa was an insult to all Africans | John Dramani Mahama

If we want to solve injustices in Africa today, we cannot forget the injustices that shaped our shared history John Dramani Mahama is the president of the Republic of GhanaThe meeting at the White House between Donald Trump and the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, was, at its heart, about the preservation of essential historical truths. The US president’s claims of white genocide conflict with the actual racial persecution and massacres that took place during the two centuries of colonisation and nearly 50 years of apartheid in South Africa.It is not enough to be affronted by these claims, or to casually dismiss them as untruths. These statements are a clear example of how language can be leveraged to extend the effects of previous injustices. This mode of violence has long been used against Indigenous Africans. And it cannot simply be met with silence – not any more.John Dramani Mahama is president of the Republic of Ghana Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago South Africa denies trying to bend the rules to give Musk's Starlink preferential treatment

South Africa has denied accusations that a draft policy watering down Black ownership requirements for tech firms was proposed to benefit the Starlink business of white South African-born billionaire Elon Musk

Politics

1 week ago 'How did you get here?' A large elephant seal is found lumbering along a South African street

A large elephant seal took a wrong turn and was seen lumbering along a street in South Africa on Tuesday

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1 week ago South African actor Presley Chweneyagae, who starred in Oscar

Presley Chweneyagae, the South African actor who gained international recognition for his leading role in the 2005 film Tsotsi,has died

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1 week ago Man swims 62 miles around Martha’s Vineyard to press for protections for sharks

Jaws was filmed on island in 1975, stoking fears of marine animal that swimmer Lewis Pugh is now trying to protectA British-South African endurance athlete crossed the finish line of his 62-mile (100km) multiday swim around Martha’s Vineyard on Monday, becoming the first person to swim all the way around the island off the coast of Cape Cod.Lewis Pugh, 55, began swimming multiple hours a day in the 47F (8C) water on 15 May to raise awareness about the plight of sharks – as the film Jaws nears the 50th anniversary of its cinematic release. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Endurance swimmer closes in circumnavigation of Martha’s Vineyard ahead of ‘Jaws’ 50th

A British-South African endurance swimmer is closing in on the finish line of his 62-mile swim around Martha’s Vineyard

Politics

2 w. ago Whatever happened to Elon Musk? Tech boss drifts to margins of Trump world

The president’s billionaire backer was ever-present at the start of Trump’s term but is now pulling back from politics – and Republicans want to keep it that wayThe Oval Office was crowded, with reporters cautioned not to collide with the Resolute Desk. Standing beside them, dressed in black, was Elon Musk, billionaire ally of Donald Trump and head of his government efficiency drive.“Elon is from South Africa – I don’t want to get Elon involved,” the US president told his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, during a discussion about crime against white farmers. “He actually came here on a different subject: sending rockets to Mars. He likes that better.” Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Hundreds of workers trapped deep underground in South African gold mine

Rescuers are attempting to provide food to the trapped workers in the three-kilometre-deep Kloof gold mine near Johannesburg

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2 w. ago Nearly 300 workers trapped deep underground in South African gold mine

Around 289 workers are trapped in the three-kilometre-deep mine

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2 w. ago South Africa’s president praised for ‘calm demeanour’ during Trump meeting

In an Oval Office encounter in which the US president made false claims of ‘white genocide’, Cyril Ramaphosa kept his coolTrump’s ‘white genocide’ claims ignore the reality of life and crime in South AfricaMany South Africans praised their president Cyril Ramaphosa for staying calm when Donald Trump ambushed him in the Oval Office with a video purporting to back up his false claims of a “genocide” against white Afrikaner farmers.Others asked why Ramaphosa, who brought ministers, golfers and a billionaire with him, chose to walk into what he knew was likely to be a trap. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Trump’s evidence of South Africa ‘white genocide’ contains images from Democratic Republic of Congo

Other images displayed by Trump during meeting with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa were false or misleadingThe evidence of supposed mass killings of white South Africans presented by Donald Trump in a tense White House meeting on Wednesday were in some cases images from the Democratic Republic of Congo, while footage shown during the meeting was falsely portrayed as depicting “burial sites”.“These are all white farmers that are being buried,” said Trump, holding up a print-out of an article accompanied by a picture during the contentious Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago The Guardian view on the US and South Africa: Trump looks to his base and partners look elsewhere | Editorial

The president’s cynical ambush of Cyril Ramaphosa was not about American interests but racial grievancesThe most telling moment of Donald Trump’s meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa was not the cynical screening of footage promoting false claims of “white genocide” in South Africa. It was when a reporter asked the US president what he wanted his counterpart to do about it. Mr Trump replied: “I don’t know.”Leaders enter the Oval Office uneasily, especially since the kicking administered to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The South African president came armed with gratitude, two golf stars, a billionaire and compliments on the decor – and kept a cool head and a straight face as he was ambushed. Mr Ramaphosa later described it as “robust engagement”. But, in truth, it was a clash of two worlds rather than an interaction.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, ...

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