Three Huey helicopters, a spotter plane, and fire fighting crews have been dispatched this afternoon to fight a fire that has broken out along one of South Africa’s iconic scenic roads – Boyes Drive – in the direction of Lakeside. SANParks – Table Mountain National Park – issued an alert saying: “?Boyes Drive Fire? Table […]

A wild elephant in the Greater Kruger, South Africa, joined a couple of Mbizi Lodge guests from Belgium at the lodge’s swimming pool last week! “It was a magical experience,” Wilfried Schildermans told SAPeople. He, and his wife, Linda Gevaerts stayed cool, calm and collected while the elephant enjoyed a pleasurable drink from the pool. […]

South African swimmer Chad le Clos has achieved what had appeared impossible… winning the 100m Butterfly today to become double World Champion at FINA (World Aquatics) in Melbourne, Australia. Just days ago Chad won the 200m Gold… after four years of a dry spell. Chad won back the 100m Gold in a time of 48.59, […]

A Fish Hoek home, adorned with 200,000 Christmas lights, is bringing joy and the festive spirit to Cape Town, South Africa. Photos of the house at 3 Lady Grey Street have gone viral around the world as Reuters reports that visitors of all ages have “come in droves” to enjoy the spectacle. Matthew Haines and […]

Meet Thinus van der Westhuizen, the fourth* South African chef to be awarded a coveted Michelin star! The 33-year-old is the head chef of 99 Sushi Bar in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the first establishments to be awarded a Michelin star in the Middle Eastern country for the inaugural […]

A super yacht worth around $521-million and owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch is heading for Cape Town, according to a CNN report and details on MarineTraffic.com. MV Nord, which is known as one of the world’s most luxurious megayachts, had been spotted in Hong Kong earlier this month (11 Oct), after sailing from Russia. […]

South African singer Jesse Clegg announced the profoundly sad news on social media today (8 September 2022) that his partner Dani Cooperman has passed away, after a year-long battle with cancer. Jesse, son of legendary musician Johnny Clegg, lost his father to cancer just three years ago, in July 2019. He and Dani had been […]

The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) has announced its decision to retire popular Elephant Charley (or Charlie) from the Pretoria National Zoological Garden. SANBI said it is pursuing options for Charley to retire in a suitable wildlife sanctuary or similar setting. “This decision follows a number of considerations, among others, the elephant’s advanced age,” […]

A year ago, a former Canadian journalist, now living in South Africa, found a man selling authentic Canadian Mounty style hats on the streets of Parkhurst, Johannesburg. He was blown away by the great quality of the hats. “I bought one, but could never find him again,” Douglas Mason wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. This […]

On April 1 the number of rhinos poached in Hluhluwe-uMfolozi Park, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), since the 1st of January was 60. It’s just one month later, and that already horrific number has shockingly jumped to 94 (actually 95, as of yesterday). Imagine how many rhinos will now not be born because of those that have been […]

A South African expat has made history by being crowned Miss Ireland, becoming the country’s first black beauty queen to hold the title since the competition’s inception in 1947. Twenty-six year old Pamela Uba was named Miss Ireland on Sunday, after a lengthy 18-month wait as Miss Galway for the final contest, delayed by the […]

Incredible South African (and British) endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh has completed his gruelling Climate Swim in Greenland, undertaking 7.8 kilometres in icy cold water to raise awareness about rising temperatures, and help focus attention on the world’s climate crisis. Taking to social media after the insanely challenging swim – which he calls the ‘coldest swim […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah and free language app Duolingo have partnered to bring Zulu and Xhosa to the world in early 2022. The exciting announcement was made on Friday, 20 Aug, at Duolingo’s annual conference. What is Duolingo? During the past decade Duolingo (which also has a website and a premium version if you […]

Three Floors by Nanni Moretti is one of the reasons it is always such a pleasure to attend the Cannes Film Festival. It exposes you to films you wouldn’t normally see at your local cinema. And Moretti is always a sure thing in Cannes – a feel-good, even when what’s happening on the screen is […]

If you’re religious you may not want to see Benedetta. It’s shocking. But then again, if you’re religious perhaps you may want to see Benedetta… if you can overlook the shocking aspects and enjoy the over-riding film that is huge and brave and beautiful (with breathtaking artistic cinematography). Playing at the Cannes Film Festival this […]

Red Rocket is fantastic delve into the character of an ex-pornstar who tries to return home to Texas, to the woman he left behind, to start fresh. But the once easy money of being a porn star keeps luring him off the track of the straight and narrow. The film stars Simon rex as Mikey […]

At this year’s Cannes Film Festival there’s a surprise that’s a delight – a documentary out of competition about American movie star Val Kilmer, much of which he filmed himself during his life; and in which he stars bravely. It is a raw and emotional journey watching the film. You’ll feel that you’ve befriended Val […]

‘Bergman Island’ is a stunning film for anybody who’s ever loved the legend of the late and great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Or even been a fan of his late movie star daughter Ingrid (who graced the Cannes Film Festival poster not that many years ago). The film takes you on a journey to excellence […]

My Octopus Teacher has WON the Oscar! A huge win for South Africa’s tiny octopus. Whoop whoop! The mesmerising underwater doc, which was filmed in the Cape Peninsula waters, emerged as the winner of the Best Documentary Feature category at the 93rd Academy Awards last night. The film charts the special relationship a man develops […]

The Snail and the Whale, directed by Max Lang and South Africa’s Daniel Snaddon, has won the Annie Award in Los Angeles for Best Special Production, which recognises excellence in animation. Animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish and produced by Magic Light Pictures, The Snail and the Whale (which is currently streaming on Showmax across most […]

Fabulous South African filmmakers Susan Scott and Bonné de Bod have scooped multiple awards at an international festival for their latest enchanting film, Kingdoms of Fire, Ice & Fairy Tales (available to view on Showmax). Known for their acclaimed first film STROOP, which documented South Africa’s rhino poaching crisis, director Susan Scott and television presenter […]

A romantic honeymoon in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Kalahari, South Africa, nearly turned into a heart-stopping disaster when the newly wed couple’s gorgeous 1970s VW Beetle wouldn’t start. And there just happened to be two lions only a couple of metres away from them. The kind Samaritan who ingeniously managed to help them, shared […]

A South African expat living in The Netherlands is on a mission to gain legal guardianship of her late sister’s children. The two young children from Boksburg – Kebi (12) and Khanyi (10) – tragically lost their mother two years ago when she died after an extremely short illness, suspected to be meningitis. The children […]

The first time I took a British friend to the Wild Coast she fell asleep in the back of our 4×4 and woke up where we had parked on the beach, near the shore. She opened the door… and got the fright of her life! A herd of cows was sitting around the vehicle. She […]

Cape Town extreme open water swimmer and motivational speaker Ryan Stramrood (46) has broken a World Record for a False Bay Crossing, completing the 33km swim solo in just 8 hours and 39 minutes on Thursday 18 March. More than 25 people have attempted the gruelling swim – across shark-infested waters – but Ryan is […]