A Gauteng teenager was rescued at Camps Bay in South Africa yesterday evening by an incredibly brave and selfless NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) crew, after he became entangled in his kite and was swept out to sea in extremely rough and dangerous conditions. Eighteen-year-old Shane Keenan, from Fourways in Johannesburg, had been flying a large kite […]

Top South African cycling outfit Team MTN-Qhubeka has received an invitation to participate in the 2015 Tour de France – the first African team ever to do so in 101 years.The 22 teams riding in the race were announced by the Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) last week. Along with the 17 World Tour teams, five […]

South African batsman AB de Villiers wrote his name indelibly into cricket’s history books when he produced one of ODI’s greatest innings against the West Indies at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. De Villiers hit eight fours and 10 sixes to reach his century in just 31 balls, erasing New Zealander Corey Anderson’s previous […]

Most of us in South Africa are aware that as cute as it sounds, cuddling a lion cub is a no no. It just feeds the ‘Canned Hunting’ industry (where lions that are no longer cute are turned in to soft targets for wealthy hunters to kill). But did you know that taking part in […]

A South African production company has filmed a beautiful documentary series that showcases not only the beauty of Africa, but also the hard-working conservationists on this continent who are protecting and caring for our wildlife and our land. They are The Wild Bunch. (Watch the promo reel below.) Thelma Roos and Robert Waldron, from Wild Dog Productions, […]

The absence of Africa’s two most successful teams – Egypt and Nigeria – makes this edition of the Africa Cup of Nations one of the most open ever. There are favourites of course – Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and even a resurgent South Africa – but with some of the biggest stars of African football […]

South Africa’s sunny coastal cities have a longstanding and fun tradition to usher in each new year: fireworks over the ocean on New Year’s Eve, and then everyone – but everyone – flocks to the beach on New Year’s Day. YouTube user Chris Wright captured all of this at the Port Elizabeth beachfront in Nelson […]

President Jacob Zuma says government has and will continue to go back to basics and use the prescripts of the Freedom Charter to improve the lives of all South Africans. Delivering the January 8 statement at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday during the ruling African National Congress’s 103rd anniversary celebrations, the President said to achieve […]

The African Union (AU) has strongly condemned what it has labelled the despicable attacks that the Boko Haram terrorist group continues to commit in various parts of Nigeria. AU Commission Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma slammed the attack in Maiduguri, also in Borno state, during which a 10-year-old girl was used to detonate a bomb at […]

Durban is stepping out of the shadow of Cape Town, traditionally South Africa’s tourist Mecca. Durbs, as it is affectionately known, is a melting pot of Zulu, British colonial and Indian culture – and it is seventh on the New York Times list of places to visit in 2015. In 1962, Nelson Mandela was captured […]

A British couple from Penrith fell in love with South Africa during a visit from the UK last November (2013). Daniel Sencier and his wife Beverley loved SA so much they moved into a house in Northcliff, Johannesburg, and remained in the country as temporary residents and set up a UK-registered e-learning company called e-percetum. During their time in South […]

The life story of Nelson Mandela, a powerful tale of a charismatic lawyer and human rights activist whose work to dismantle apartheid landed him in prison for 27 years before he ultimately became the country’s first democratically elected president, has been told time and time again. Films of his journey have been made for the […]

As international tourists and South Africans from around the country head to the coast for their summer holidays, the NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) has released a selection of photographs to show swimmers exactly what rip currents look like. And even if you’re a seasoned swimmer – it’s worth taking a look because sometimes the […]

If the history of South Africa is in large part one of racial divisiveness, today it can also be seen as the story of the creation – from tremendous diversity – of a single nation. Sections in this article: Earliest inhabitants Colonial expansion Diamonds and British consolidation Gold and war Union and the ANC The […]

South Africa has a vast system of natural reserves established to protect the country’s indigenous plants, animals, landscapes and associated cultural heritage, ranging from the vast flagship Kruger National Park – occupying an area larger than Swaziland – to the tiny Bontebok National Park in the Western Cape. These are managed by South Africa National […]

As an Indonesian official reports that the missing AirAsia plane may be at the bottom of the sea, a South African publicist and PR on holiday in Asia has described the ‘uncomfortable’ feeling at airports in Asia right now as he heads to Singapore, the same destination that Flight QZ8501 was en route to yesterday when it vanished from […]

Adventurers, travellers and others can follow the Madiba route by ticking off 27 landmarks across South Africa, learning more about his legacy along the way. Following in Nelson Mandela’s footsteps, the journey is expected to encourage tourists who were inspired by the anti-apartheid freedom fighter and father of the nation, to visit South Africa and […]

By 2035, half of Africa’s population will be living in urban areas. Megacities that will sprout to house this population will strain infrastructure and exert pressure on the environment. Cape Town, Africa’s greenest city, is planning for that future. The Mother City, as it is known in South Africa, is the greenest city on the […]

It’s summertime in South Africa, and time to head for the beach. The country has more than 2 500 kilometres of coastline, stretching from the cold waters off the arid West Coast region, southwards around the tip of Africa, and heading up again all the way to the lush St Lucia estuary in the east. […]

A group of South Africans  gathered in London last week to sing Christmas Carols including Silent Night…and its Afrikaans version “Stille Nag…Heilige Nag”. The SA Gemeente London’s ‘Kerssangdiens’ was held on the 7th December at City Temple in Holborn and everyone you see on stage is proudly South African. “Whilst all in South Africa are […]

Somewhere between Wellington and Paarl in the dark hours of early morning a few nights ago – Robyn Gwilt and a couple of other photographers were enjoying “the smell of Africa and sheep, and the cold wind making our cheeks glow pink!” They had set out from Cape Town at 11 pm to find and photograph […]

It’s the Christmas Song that’s swept South Africa this season – the local-is-lekker version of Twelve Days of Christmas. And it’s not just the melody and words that make it so great…but the way it’s changing perceptions, and making a Summer Christmas just as cool and ‘real’ for kids as the snowy winter one they see in […]

British photographer Richard Humphries, who recently won an award for his graphic photographic portrait of “South Africa’s Rhino War”, describes the poaching scenes he witnessed in the Kruger National Park as nothing less than a “full-on war”. Richard has a history with South Africa, having lived in the country, with his wife Jill, for three years from […]

Congratulations to South African actor Stelio Savante for winning the Award of Merit as leading actor for Once We Were Slaves. The film, with Stelio in the lead role, premiered at LA Shorts Fest this past July. The short film is directed by Dallas Jenkins and is the story of an influential event 2,000 years ago, from […]

A letter of thanks from an injured Dutch tourist to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in South Africa [see below] has touched the nation, gone viral on social media, and filled SA citizens with immense pride in the country’s rescue workers, many of whom are volunteers. The incident occurred last month, on 10 November, when a 31-year-old orthopaedic surgeon from […]