Loyiso Basso says he left a life of drugs and crime after he realised he was wasting his life and making his mother suffer. The 30-year-old opened a restaurant in Makhaya, Khayelitsha. It has been running for two years. Pamela Mkhabela, a neighbour, says: “People used to be so scared of him [Basso], but now […]

Following the latest spate of murders on the notorious Cape Flats in the Cape Town, the South African government has decided to send in the army. The move has been welcomed by many who want to see an end to the rampant violence, crime and gangsterism in the province. Cape Town is ranked among the […]

As most know by now, SARS is grappling to increase revenue for their coffers, looking to South Africans who earn foreign income to subsidise the deficit… writes Jonty Leon, Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa and Financial Emigration Legal Manager. Seafarers versus SARS As of 1 March 2020, the amended exemption on […]

Imagine walking through a lush tropical forest. You hear a rustle overhead, and a half-eaten fruit plops onto the trail. You lock eyes with a howler monkey, before he gives a soft grunt and moves higher into the trees. These magical, fleeting connections with a wild animal can be the highlight of a holiday. Wildlife […]

Billions in mining royalties intended to uplift poor communities are potentially being squandered, stolen or diverted due to in-fighting and maladministration of these funds. That’s the conclusion of Mmashudu Masutha and Deborah Mutemwa-Tumbo, authors of Corruption Watch’s Mining Royalties Research Report 2018, which examined communities in Limpopo and North West provinces and found that the payment […]

I am always the first to defend South Africa… writes Yaffa Abadi. It has happened countless times. I sit around a Shabbat dinner and the host asks me, “so…how is it living in Johannesburg?” I jump up and say, wow, Johannesburg is a special place. I love it. The shock is almost palpable. They are […]

The people in Zimbabwe are hurting right now because we love this place so much and we can’t bear to see it like this… writes entrepreneur Anton Bhana. People are tempted to leave and some are leaving, but to be honest nobody really wants to leave. We love this place. Even those who have left […]

Throughout the world, people who follow politics are fixating on leaders. South Africa follows the trend and so President Cyril Ramaphosa has become an obsession. Ramaphosa, of course, replaced Jacob Zuma, who was associated with patronage politics and “state capture”, handing over public power to (wealthy) private people. Ramaphosa’s presidency was greeted with brief enthusiasm […]

Multi-coloured balloons, knitting wool and the sound of children chattering filled the Manenberg Library, Cape Town, on Wednesday morning. The suburb has been plagued by gang violence and deadly shootings. In the midst of this the public library has been a safe haven for children living nearby. The library hosts programmes and fun activities to […]

The ocean around Cape Town is so polluted that pharmaceutical and industrial chemical compounds are accumulating in the flesh of fish caught off the coast. Scientists from the University of the Western Cape’s chemistry department have found that fish caught by small scale commercial fishers in Kalk Bay are contaminated by antibiotics, pain killers, antiretrovirals, […]

In an April 2019 episode of the Money Show on talk radio 702, host Bruce Whitfield explored why South Africa’s economy was “in trouble”. “Brain drain” – the long-term departure of skilled people from a country – was part of the discussion. “For every one professional immigrating to South Africa, eight professionals are leaving our shores,” said Johannes Wessels, a guest […]

On Saturday Lizzy Mathiso woke up to find the crèche she owns and runs in Lwandle in shambles. Two classrooms which cater for 54 children were destroyed. She was one of many people living in Cape Town’s informal settlements to have their shacks destroyed or damaged and to find themselves without electricity after a severe […]

Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC have been returned to power. But what agenda will he set for the months and years ahead? Watch The State of the Nation address wherever you are on DStv Now. The State of the Nation Address (SoNA) is typically one of the highlights of the political calendar. In February this […]

Almost 40 plant species have gone extinct in the Western Cape since 1900, making it one of the hot spots for plant extinction on the planet. A new study, published in journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, found that across the world about 600 trees, flowers, and fruit-bearing plants have died out since 1900, a rate […]

Sometime back in 2003, I was standing toe-to-toe with a Sutherland sheep farmer after his deeply rutted middelmannetjie road had nearly ripped the guts out of our little low-slung sedan… writes Chris Marais. We’d come to do a magazine story on some aspect of the guy’s farming enterprise, but the issue of his bad road took […]

A teacher was shot dead inside the school premises of Masuku Primary School in Folweni, south of Durban, on Tuesday morning. Sibonakaliso Nyawose, 48, was a head of department, teaching Mathematics in Grade 7. He had been at the school for the past four years and had over 20 years of teaching experience. A witness, […]

Dear Mr President Ramaphosa, please fix the sole of South Africa….❤️??writes businessman and regular SAPeople contributor Stan Sanetra. I bought a new pair of shoes only two weeks ago. I undid the shoe laces… placed my one shoe on the heel of the other, and proceeded to push the shoe off. The sole of the […]

It was D-Day+6 when South African statesman, Field Marshal Jan Smuts, was also to cross over to Normandy, accompanying the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill by his side… writes Peter Dickens. To this point Smuts had played a pivot role in not only the planning and strategy behind Operation Overlord and the Normandy campaign, he also […]

Fruit and vegetable vendor Norris Phaswana started earning money from trading when he was 15. Today, Phaswana, 44, sells fruits and vegetables from his old Toyota Hilux bakkie, in Kruger Street, Louis Trichardt. He supports a wife and eight children from his business. He comes from Nzhelele, about 30 km from Louis Trichardt. The family […]

Lubabalo Kondlo is the world champion at the game of draughts. He is on a mission to develop and spread the game in South Africa. He spends much of his time teaching the game to university students and township children. Kondlo, who hails from New Brighton in Port Elizabeth, became the World Checkers and Draughts […]

Across the world, migratory animals like wildebeest – which rely on movement to find food, water and calving grounds – are under threat. This is mainly because their migration routes are being cut off by fences, settlements, farms, roads and other developments, and the areas where they roam are getting smaller. The animals also face […]

“How can I cast my vote when I’m still sharing stream water with dogs and cows?” asks Zwelihle Zimu. He is one of the residents of Sweetwaters in Ebaleni in Pietermaritzburg who fetch water from a nearby stream. There are no communal taps and the water tanker comes only once a week, says Zimu. “We […]

The NSPCA has laid criminal charges against Jan Steinman, a lion farmer in North West, for several contraventions of the Animal Protection Act after 108 lions, caracal, tigers and leopards were found in filthy and parasitic conditions. Inspectors of the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) found 27 lions with severe mange, two lion cubs unable […]

Charles Back had an unusual response to a farm attack that almost killed him. Unusual because he refused to let it start a race-based furore. Unusual because of his calm in the wake of such trauma… writes Elana van der Watt. Then again, much of what Back does as an owner of the Fairview powerhouse […]

“Simo spent his birthday cold, lying in the mortuary”, a heartbroken Cora Kwepe, great aunty of Zonnebloem NEST Senior School learner, Simo Kwepe, told GroundUp on Thursday. Simo was killed on a Cape Town Metrorail line last week Friday, 12 April. He would have celebrated his 17th birthday on Sunday, 14 April. Kwepe said one […]