Two Nations in Song Linking the Dominican Republic and South Africa

by Dilon Bhana and Anisha Pemjee - TDS

1 December 2025

When Dominican soprano Stephany Ortega landed in South Africa, she said she felt as though she had arrived in the Dominican Republic. In an interview with The Diplomatic Society, she shared that the country felt familiar and that she was happy to be in Africa for the first time. “It is like I am putting together the puzzle of my roots and exploring the heritage of African music,” she said.

INTERCEPTION OF ILLEGALLY IMPORTED VETERINARY MEDICINES AT POLOKWANE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

BMA - 1 December 2025

The Commissioner of the Border Management Authority (BMA), Dr Michael Masiapato, has confirmed that on the afternoon of 26 November 2025, BMA Port Agriculture officials intercepted an aircraft from Kenya and Tanzania carrying veterinary medicines (“Berenil”) in two (2) polystyrene boxes weighing about eighty-four (84) kilograms that were allegedly in transit through the Polokwane International Airport to Pietermaritzburg Airport. The consignment was initially refused entry as it did not have the requisite import permits as provided for in Section 6 of the Animal Diseases Act 35 of 1984.

Southern Africa’s highest weather station to boost research

1 December 2025

The South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON), in collaboration with the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) at the University of the Free State, has installed the highest weather station in Southern Africa, located in the Mont-aux-Sources area of the Maluti-Drakensberg.

SA records R15.6 billion trade surplus in October

1 December 2025

South Africa has recorded a preliminary trade balance surplus of R15.6 billion in October 2025, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) said.

Vladimir Tretchikoff - The People’s Artist Who Painted Humanity into Diplomacy

By Kirtan Bhana

27 November 2025

When Alexander Pankin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, delivered his video address at the opening of the exhibition commemorating the artistic legacy of Vladimir Tretchikoff on 25 November 2025, his words carried an unmistakable truth: Tretchikoff was more than an artist — he was a bridge.

Anglo American and South Africa’s Original Sin: Between Legacy, Liability and the Search for Closure

By Kirtan Bhana

27 November 2025

As the dust settles on the Johannesburg G20, a summit that laid bare the contradictions of a world in transition, South Africa finds itself grappling with a different kind of reckoning, one buried not in geopolitics but in the very rock on which the city is built. Johannesburg, the City of Gold, owes its existence to mining. Yet mining also represents South Africa’s most enduring wound. And at the centre of this paradox stands one company: Anglo American.

Leveraging Biodiversity for Africa’s Prosperity
African Leaders Call for Urgent, Unified Action to Protect the Continent’s Natural Wealth at the Inaugural Africa Biodiversity Summit

 
26 November 2025 - African Heads of State and governments, leaders, policymakers, and partners converged in Gaborone, Botswana, for the Inaugural Africa Biodiversity Summit, a landmark gathering under the theme “Leveraging Biodiversity for Africa’s Prosperity.” The Summit held from 2-5 November 2025, hosted by the Government of the Republic of Botswana in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), marks a new era in the continent’s efforts to elevate biodiversity governance to the highest political level. 

Chinese vehicles roll in for Johannesburg G20 summit

A Jetour vehicle arrives outside the venue of the G20 Leaders' Summit as an escort for the delegation motorcade, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 22, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Guang)

As the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit made its debut on the African continent in Johannesburg, South Africa's economic hub, on Saturday, Chinese vehicles were seen shuttling between the airport, hotels and summit venues, adding a distinctive Chinese touch to the event.

Indonesia and South Africa agree on mutual visa-free travel

The agreement, reached at the highest level, is intended to expand humanitarian ties between the two countries

TV BRICS - 25 November 2025 - Indonesia and the Republic of South Africa agreed on the mutual abolition of visas. The new entry procedure was announced by Vice President of Indonesia Gibran Rakabuming Raka at a business forum in Johannesburg, ANTARA reported.

A Defining G20 Moment for Africa’s Modernization and Global Leadership
By Kirtan Bhana - TDS

25 November 2025

The 2025 G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg is historic as the first held on African soil. It was a logistical triumph for South Africa and a substantive demonstration of Africa’s accelerating transformation. The summit, preceded by 133 technical and ministerial meetings, revealed the contours of a shifting global landscape in which Africa is no longer a peripheral participant, but an emerging centre of gravity.

Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization makes significant original contributions to global sustainable development: report
   

This photo shows copies of the think tank report titled "Joining Hands to Advance Toward an Eco-Friendly Modernization -- The Theoretical Contributions and Practical Leadership of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization To Global Sustainable Development." A report focusing on the global significance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization was released at the Global Panda Partners 2025 conference in Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province on Friday. The report was co-authored by the National High-Level Think Tank of Xinhua News Agency and the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)