In these challenging times I would like to share the power of hope, trust and connection with you… writes Kate Crossland, a South African expat in the UK who has been a longtime SAPeople contributor.  On the 6th of June I replied to a comment on an SAPeople post of Mr President’s weekly letter. He […]

When you’re used to the standard 9-5 working day, you might find your mind wandering towards faraway destinations in those inevitable moments of boredom. Not many of us have the money or the time to drop everything and travel the world. Travel is expensive and entails a lot of hidden costs. But what if you […]

This Sunday Carte Blanche Carte Blanche captures the amazing journey of Cape Town-based animation pioneers Triggerfish Studios… the award-winning studio behind two of the five highest-grossing South African Feature Films of all time. The current affairs show also investigates how an Investor’s dream became a financial nightmare, and the impact Covid 19 has had on […]

Hundreds of community members turned up today outside the magistrate’s court in Hartswater in the Northern Cape of South Africa, where five suspects appeared for the murders of Breggie (73) and Danie Brand (83) and their daughter Elzabie (54) which has shocked the nation. The peaceful protesters from Hartswater and surrounding communities carried posters condemning […]

Many South Africans living abroad are losing the right to work, receive healthcare and remain legally resident in foreign countries because the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has been unable to process their passports and other crucial documents in a timely manner, says Democratic Alliance (DA) Abroad Leader, Dr Rory Jubber. While passport renewal applications […]

The illegal trade in cigarettes in South Africa has been booming for decades but when lockdown regulations banned the sale of smokes, it increased demand in the black market like never before. Overnight, furious smokers became blue-collar criminals illegally purchasing cigarettes from their neighbourhood dealers. But small-time dealers lead to high-stakes criminal syndicates. Now in […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today, Monday 27 July,  launched two #StopFarmAttacks websites – one in Afrikaans and the other in English – and called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to retract his comment denying farm murders. The website contains an open letter to the South African President urging him to apologize for his “untrue and […]

South Africa’s Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has tested positive for COVID-19. The Minister received his results on Saturday, 25 July 2020. This was the Minister’s second test since the outbreak of this virus. “Minister Patel is in good spirits and is in self-quarantine, and will continue to work from home. Those that […]

Two men have been arrested over the sale of cigarettes in the Northern Cape of South Africa, in contravention of the Disaster Management Act regulations. Meanwhile in Gauteng over 600 people were arrested over the weekend in a blitz on those breaking the #Covid19 regulations. Members of Springbok Public Order Police arrested the first male […]

For months, train stations went silent as the national lockdown in South Africa forced millions of commuters to stay home, but on the railway tracks, opportunistic criminals went to work targeting state facilities that had been left non-operational. Looting on the Train Tracks In a special investigation produced by Nicky Troll, Carte Blanche goes deep […]

On this week’s African Voices Changemakers, South Africans will get a chance to find out more about their very own Zozibini Tunzi, as CNN International’s Arit Okpo meets the reigning Miss Universe. Despite having her reign interrupted by the pandemic – at a time when Tunzi should have been travelling the world –  she says […]

Children born in other countries are entitled to South African citizenship as long as one parent is South African, the Constitutional Court has ruled. A seven-year legal battle is finally over and the court has ruled that the Department of Home Affairs must immediately recognise as citizens Yamika Chisuse, born in 1989 in Malawi; Martin […]

The #ServeUsPlease peaceful protest announced for Cape Town will now have national movements in several cities across the country today. The protests will be held simultaneously, from 10am to 12pm on Friday 24 July. In response to the South African government’s Covid-19 restrictions on the hospitality, tourism, food and alcohol, entertainment, media and affiliated industries, […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will tonight brief the nation on developments in South Africa’s risk-adjusted strategy to manage the spread of Coronavirus. (You can watch below.) “The President’s address follows a number of meetings of the Cabinet and the National Coronavirus Command Council,” said the Presidency on Thursday. The President’s address is scheduled to get underway […]

The DA says it condemns a vicious attack on Betrus Kotze – the second in months – on his farm at Tinmyne in the Mokgalakwena municipality in Limpopo, yesterday late afternoon. Kotze was ambushed at his cattle kraal, tied up and “viciously attacked”, according to Jacques Smalle, DA Provincial Leader. The farmer suffered serious injuries, […]

Three people have declined to serve on a government panel. That’s not exactly news. But, given who they are and the panel on to which they were invited, their refusal has exposed major fault lines in South Africa’s treatment of wild animals.   The high-level panel was set up by the Minister of Environmental Affairs, […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it has noted with grave concern the illegal protest that is currently underway at Tshwane House by members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU). The protest has led to the destruction of public property in and around Tshwane House. The DA says the protest is as a result […]

Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa! I’m writing to you for a number of reasons and I hope you eventually see this letter. But I also hope many other South Africans see it too… writes Mark Sham, an entrepreneur and CEO of Suits & Sneakers (which provides informal learning content). On Tuesday, 14 July 2020, I made […]

The Queen conferred the Honour of Knighthood on Captain Tom Moore at an Investiture at Windsor Castle on Friday 17 July, announced the Royal Family page today, featuring the below photos. ‪In April, World War Two veteran, Captain Sir Tom Moore embarked on 100 laps of his garden with the aim to raise £1,000 for […]

In a time long before the coronavirus pandemic affected almost every country in the world, one brave South African family decided to take on the African continent. The foursome travelled over 47 000 km, crossing 29 countries on the African continent in a green truck powered by waste vegetable oil! Africa Clockwise This Sunday, Carte […]

I was one of the thousands who watched Nelson Mandela, the South African liberation struggle hero, leave prison on 11 February 1990, and then mount the podium in front of Cape Town’s City Hall, expressing the hope that the apartheid government would agree to negotiations so that there might no longer be the need for […]

As the country observes Mandela Month, the Department of Water and Sanitation has reiterated a call upon South Africans to take part in the Clear Rivers Campaign, to protect water resources and keep them pollution-free at all times. The Clear Rivers Campaign takes place in the month of July as part of promoting volunteerism in […]

While many safari lodges wait for lockdown on tourism to be lifted so they can take in guests again, life remains busy. For several lodges in Bela-Bela a few weeks ago, staff were faced with the enormous task of saving a giraffe that was trapped in a swimming pool. According to a post on Facebook, […]

Gauteng’s Community Safety Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Mapiti Matsena – who fought tirelessly for the safety of the province’s residents – was allegedly stabbed to death at his house in Doornpoort, Tshwane in South Africa on Wednesday evening. The motive for his murder is as yet unknown, and the suspect (who has not been identified) is […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it has reported the “racist behavior of well-known diamond ponzi schemer, Louis Liebenberg” to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). This comes after a video clip of Liebenberg, imitating “Cyril” (Ramaphosa), speaking crudely and inferring that being black gives you license to be corrupt, has been circulating on social […]