South African tennis star Raven Klaasen is through to the doubles final of the Australian Open after he and his American partner Eric Butorac cruised past eighth seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor in the semi-finals in Melbourne on Thursday. It has been a marvellous run for the unseeded pair, highlighted by their 7-6, 6-4 […]

South African actor Stelio Savante has just joined the cast of one of Peter Greenaway’s most highly anticipated films, Eisenstein in Guanajuato, which begins principle photography early 2014. The film highlights ten days during Eisenstein’s stay in Mexico that shook his life up. Greenaway is a four time Palme d’Or nominee, won “Best Artistic Contribution” at Cannes […]

Nthabiseng Hibbert is an ordinary South African woman who, for the past two decades, has lived in a modest home in Katlehong, one of the country’s largest – and poorest – black urban townships, some 35 kilometres east of Johannesburg. Fluent in English, Afrikaans and Sesotho, only one thing sets her apart from her neighbours: […]

In many of the photographs of Nelson Mandela, there is a familiar blonde woman standing to one side, a quiet but unmissable presence. The woman is Zelda La Grange, Mandela’s personal assistant, private secretary and rock. Her story is one that reflects the history of South Africa. She grew up with all the privileges of […]

The shortest distance between Mozambique and Madagascar is about 500 kilometres – a long way. But not long enough to deter two South Africans from swimming the distance over a month in March, in what will be a world first. No-one has swum this stretch of the Indian Ocean, and no-one has swum this distance […]

Casting real life gangsters in iNumber Number was a clever move; it turns the feature film into a believable slice of life that has caught the eye of Universal Pictures. The American movie studio has optioned the remake rights. It’s a fast-paced action thriller, in which the characters spiral into an abyss of corruption. In the iNumber Number world, the […]

The Sharks are coming to London! The KwaZulu Natal rugby union team will be playing Saracens on the 25th of January 2014 at 3pm as part of their preparations for the upcoming Super Rugby campaign. This clash of the hemispheres will take place at the Allianz Park which is situated in the Barnet Borough of London. The […]

Steven Bantu  Biko would have been 67 years old today. But he died at the hands of the apartheid security police at the age of 31. He was born just outside King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape in 1948 and was a tall, handsome man with a charismatic personality. Biko was a founder member of […]

“The world has lost a visionary leader, a courageous voice for justice, and a clear moral compass. By showing us that the path to freedom and human dignity lies in love, wisdom and compassion for one another, Nelson Mandela stands as an inspiration to us all,” says Kofi Annan, the former secretary-general of the United Nations and the […]

His ragged pants and vest and grimy headband make Samson the kind of kid you cross the road to avoid. Too-big boxing gloves and the inflexibility of his stare do not help dispel the notion that Samson is a bully bruising for a fight. First impressions would be wrong though. Nine-year-old Samson lives on the […]

Madiba’s journey home to his village of Qunu, where he will be buried on Sunday, began at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday 10 December as a glass-sided hearse carried his flag-draped coffin through the streets of the capital to the Union Buildings. There, the seat of government and the scene of his inauguration […]

Innovative products and ideas from South Africa have transformed lives; South African inventors have made pool cleaning simpler with the Kreepy Krauly; South African doctors (including Dr Chris Barnard) have made heart transplants possible, and a young South African, Ludwick Marishane, has made it possible to bathe without water. Innovation proposes novel solutions to everyday needs, and helps […]

  Clay is usually used to make bricks or mould beautiful ceramic creations. It’s not something most people think of putting into a jar and using as a cosmetic. But Adolphina Setsena, one of the winners of the South African Breweries Foundation Social Innovation Awards of 2013, finds it as natural as brushing your teeth […]

South African author Anita Pouroulis has won one of children’s publishing’s top awards for her picture book ‘Oh, What a Tangle’.  The former primary school teacher from Bedfordview in Johannesburg won the Best World Children’s Book Award at the China Children’s Book Fair in Shanghai earlier this month. ‘Oh, What A Tangle!’ was released in the […]

A chance to work with Hollywood A-list actor Uma Thurman is on the cards for one lucky up-and-coming South African filmmaker with the Jameson First Shot competition. Thurman is set to bring a fresh spin to the competition, both as a skilled actor and as the first woman to take on the lead role for the […]

Nadine Gordimer turns 90 today and can look back on a life that has won her praise and honours as South Africa’s most acclaimed living author. She is a celebrated writer who is more widely read outside South Africa than at home. Lauded internationally as an icon of white liberal resistance to apartheid, she voted […]

It turns out that while South Africa is hotly debating the pros and cons of fracking in the Karoo, Botswana has gone right ahead with gas extraction and quietly opened up vast areas which include some delicate ecosystems. The development has allegedly gone unchecked, and poses a grave impact on the rights of the people, […]

Through mud and rain, the Springboks played an awesome match against Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday 17 November, claiming a 28-0 victory! It’s the first time in two years that the Scots have been left scoreless.  The South African tries in Edinburgh were scored by Willem Alberts, Willie le Roux, JP Pietersen and Coenie Oosthuizen; […]

If you’re in London – make sure to get down to GJ’s in Wandsworth on the 30th November for a Save the Rhino fundraising event.  It’s sure to be a fun day for the whole family. Tickets are £5 per adult and kids under 10 are free. Starts at 13:00.

A work by South African artist Paul Emmanuel has been included in France’s official state commemoration of the centenary of the First World War next year. Emmanuel’s The Lost Men France was selected by a multidisciplinary committee of World War One experts from France and elsewhere. The programme, which was launched in Paris on 7 November, begins […]

South Africans Misty and Dylan Weyer received a warm welcome at Cape Point on 1 November after completing a gruelling two-month mountain biking trip along the Dragon’s Spine – from Beitbridge, southern Zimbabwe, to Cape Town’s Cape Point, via neighbouring Lesotho – to raise funds for children with cerebral palsy. The couple, who hails from […]

Everyone has dreams; for Paul Modjadji that dream is to help people reach their full potential. The Brand ambassador for the City of Tshwane and the Daring to Dream movement, Modjadji is the driving force behind the project. As a big dreamer himself, his story, to live his dream has resulted in him dancing on […]

Sigourney Weaver is the latest big-name star to join the cast of Chappie, Neill Blomkamp’s movie about a kidnapped robot. Production started in Johannesburg this week. Blomkamp, the South African writer and director whose debut movie District 9 attracted a best movie Oscar nomination in 2010, will direct Chappie from the screenplay he wrote with […]

The award-winning Elelwani, the world’s first Tshivenda-language feature film, will have a special run at Johannesburg’s Cinema Nouveau from 1 to 7 November before opening in South African cinemas in January. The November run will ensure that the film can be considered for next year’s South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas), says Helen Kuun, chief […]

Loyiso Bala may be known unofficially as South Africa’s king of R&B, but now the much-loved entertainer has added an official title to his name: he has been appointed South African UNAids Goodwill Ambassador. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) made the announcement on 21 October. As a goodwill ambassador, 34-year-old Bala will […]