As South Africans go “bok” today on the eve of the Rugby World Cup 2015, a fantastic hashtag is trending in the country on Twitter. It’s #BokMovies and some of the titles are so classic you’d want to watch the movies! The Incredible Schalk #BokMovies pic.twitter.com/0AxKex7yMm — WarrenK (@MrSmithMachine) September 18, 2015 Here are our Top […]

In his first 10 days after taking over one of the most popular late-night shows in the United States, comedian Stephen Colbert has had two South Africans as guests – billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and comedian Trevor Noah. Colbert, who left his own Colbert Report on Comedy Central to take over The Late Show from David Letterman, began […]

LONDON – Malaria death rates have plunged by 60 percent since 2000 – or 6.2 million lives saved, the vast majority of them children – according to a joint World Health Organization-UNICEF report released today. “Global malaria control is one of the great public health success stories of the past 15 years,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO. […]

NEW YORK – The rhino documentary ‘Horn’, directed by South African filmmaker Dr Reina-Marie Loader, has won the 2015 award for Best Conservation Film,  the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival has announced. The film highlights the social causes that drive people to poaching and shows that the conservation of rhinos can be a problem solver for […]

More than 24 hours after the open letter to President Jacob Zuma was published online by Yusuf Abramjee, head of Crime Line and co-founder of Lead SA, people continue to madly, desperately or just humourously tweet their responses. In his letter, Abramjee focused largely on crime in the country and the plight of the police. Among other things, he wrote, […]

PRETORIA – Oscar Pistorius cannot afford a new trial, his lawyer said yesterday, two days before the athlete’s case is to come before a review board that will decide whether he can spend the rest of his five-year jail sentence under house arrest. Lawyer Barry Roux said on Wednesday that Pistorius’ “financial ability” for a new trial was […]

It seems everyone’s chipped in with their two cents’ worth of advice for the Springboks… but this has to be the cutest compilation of tips we’ve seen. South African photographer Carla Shannon, who’ll be watching the Rugby World Cup (RWC) from her living room in Krugersdorp, teamed up with her 18-month-old nephew Jonah Turner for this pictorial tribute to […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Top share index climbed to a one-week high on Wednesday, with SABMiller surging about 20 percent after news that AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, was to make an offer to acquire the British firm, the world’s No. 2. SABMiller said Anheuser-Busch InBev had informed it that it intended to make an […]

While it has elements of a Los Angeles architect’s dream, a sci-fi fable and a real-life mansion facing Sydney Opera House, a new family home getting a lot of media attention is actually on the slopes of a ridge in Johannesburg. Called Kloof Road House, the large four-bedroom black edifice, with its steel walls, huge windows and […]

The most experienced Springbok side ever are bracing themselves for a different kind of challenge when they face Japan in their Rugby World Cup opener in Brighton on Saturday. Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer on Wednesday named Jean de Villiers as captain of the national side for this very important match against a team South Africa […]

Following the spate of photographs posted on social media of bad drivers in South Africa (and those littering out of their car windows), a driver for a food company has quickly experienced the wrath of social-media-using drivers and been suspended from his job. Facebook user Duane Michael Dillon posted on Tuesday about the incident in Fish Hoek, […]

PRETORIA – A petition allegedly signed by 3,000 people in South Africa and abroad in favour of the release of Oscar Pistorius from prison has been rejected by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Michael Masutha, it was reported on Twitter on Wednesday. Pistorius’ release was put on hold by the South African government less than a […]

HARARE – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has mistakenly repeated the same speech in parliament that he made during a state of the nation address on 25 August, it was reported on the BBC on Tuesday. His spokesman told the state-run Herald paper the error was because of a mix-up in the president’s secretarial office, the BBC said. […]

The first official trailer from ‘The Jungle Book’ has been extremely well received around the world, including in South Africa where it is trending in the Top 10 on Twitter. Since Disney uploaded the video to YouTube yesterday, it has received over 2 million views, and is being touted as “wild”, “spectacular”, “terrifying” and “fantastic” […]

Inspiring South African businessman, former crime journalist, speaker, co-founder of Lead SA and recipient of the National Order (amongst many other accolades), Yusuf Abramjee has written a powerful letter to President Zuma, a man he has met many times, imploring him to listen to his people who are “terrorised and persecuted” and to truly tackle the country’s devastating […]

ZURICH – A Bloemfontein architect, Johann Beukes, died in Switzerland on Monday in an assisted suicide with the help of the local organisation Dignitas, according to news reports, which said he was the fifth South African to have used the Swiss group in a medically assisted death. DignitySA, which advocates legalising medically assisted suicide in South […]

A social media post highlighting the kindness of a police constable in Cape Town has caught the attention of his bosses at headquarters (HQ) who congratulated him on Twitter yesterday evening. The unnamed constable’s photo and story has been shared on Facebook (FB) over 7,000 times and attracted over 26,000 likes since it was uploaded by […]

Several hundred South African wine farms have gathered in Cape Town this week to showcase their vintages and labels in one of the biggest wine shows the country has seen. Cape Wine 2015, which kicked off yesterday, is being held under the banner of Wines of South Africa (WOSA) through to Thursday this week. The […]

CAPE TOWN – Two people reportedly died and 32 were injured this evening when a double-decker bus caught fire in Onverwacht Road, Strand, in the Western Cape. The SA Police Service said petrol bombs were thrown at the bus in Lwandle. According to the ER24 Emergency Medical Service, when paramedics arrived on the scene the bus was engulfed in […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African fashion retailer Truworths International said on Monday it was in talks with privately owned shoe chain Office about acquiring the British company. Though the South African retailer has clothing stores in Ghana, Nigeria and Botswana, it makes the bulk of its profits and sales in its home market where consumer […]

Several parts of the Cape Peninsula’s parks have reopened to visitors, six months after devastating fires tore across Table Mountain and vast stretches of Constantia and Silvermine, and engulfed the mountainside above Muizenberg and False Bay. All of the Cape Peninsula, including Silvermine (which reopened yesterday), Table Mountain and the beaches as well as Cape Point, fall […]

President Jacob Zuma has presented an update to foreign ambassadors and high commissioners resident in South Africa today. In his address, the President discussed South Africa’s standpoint on various African and foreign policy issues…including his opinion on who’s to blame for the current refugee crisis and whether Al Bashir should be allowed to attend a conference in […]

According to a list compiled by BuzzFeed, four of the world’s most secluded hotels are in Africa. The list was put together by the website’s Photo Essay Editor Gabriel H. Sanchez who describes the 22 locations as “perfect for people who hate people”. The list – which begins with “pretty much the most photogenic hotel in the world” Explora […]

After achieving a consecutive five weeks with no loadshedding (otherwise known as power outages), parts of South Africa were plunged into darkness tonight as loadshedding kicked in again. Some welcomed the familiarity of loadshedding, re-igniting their relationship with candles…and joking that they had just begun to start experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Others were confused about which […]

CAPE TOWN – A new draft bill to tackle cybercrime in South Africa is being introduced, according to ZDNet. The proposed laws, which impose sentences of up to 25 years in jail, make phishing and ID theft crimes for the first time. South Africa will join Kenya and Nigeria as the latest country in Africa to have legislation […]