Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife veterinarian, Dr Dave Cooper, is the 2018 recipient of the Wild Tomorrow Fund’s Umvikeli Wildlife Protector Award. The award is for his lifetime of dedication to the care, management and conservation of rhinos and other wild animals in Africa… reports Larry Bentley from the Zululand Observer. The award recognises an individual or organisation […]

South African middle-distance athletics superstar Caster Semenya has been controversially left out by the IAFF in its shortlist of five finalists for its Female World Athlete of the Year award for 2018. The International Association of Athletics Federations on Monday announced the shortlist of five, with the winner due to be announced in Monaco on 4 […]

South Africa’s fisheries authority is in a state of crisis, paralysed by a factional war between its two most senior officials and hollowed out by a culture of corruption. This has left the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) unable to perform many of its most basic tasks, including allocating fishing rights and enforcing […]

Every country in the world wants to drive economic progress, no matter how well off they are. Just look at the Netherlands, which is paving the way to a more substantial form of living – and China, where technological innovation is at the fore. South Africa is no different. While the country has certainly moved […]

As countries around the world marked 100 years today since the end of the First World War, a South African granddaughter – Seonaid Davidson Beningfield, from KwaZulu-Natal – recalls stories of her grandfather’s bravery (of which he, like so many soldiers of that time, never spoke)… My grandfather, William Henry Boyne Davidson, was 17 years old when he […]

Next year, South Africans will go to the polls in the National Elections to have their say in the country’s future. Most South Africans abroad still care passionately about their country and their loved ones back home, and while they may have many different reasons for being overseas, they still deserve to be able to […]

Many people do not know that the two minutes silence and its association to Armistice Day (11th hour of 11/11) or Remembrance Sunday has a South African origin. It is one of our greatest gifts to humankind, yet most South Africans are completely oblivious of it… writes Peter Dickens. The featured image above, taken in […]

A KwaZulu-Natal school has made waves at an international water conservation competition, winning two top awards. Representing South Africa at the Water Explorer 2018 in London last month, Ebomvini Primary School, received the Innovation and Students’ Choice awards. Learners from 11 participating countries including Turkey, Germany and Malta, agreed that Ebomvini’s projects were creative. They […]

For my Sister, on the day she immigrates… writes Jessica Galloway. I want you to know that it’s hard and heavy some days. All the skype sessions in the world cannot come close to mom’s chocolate brownies… I want you to know that the hard days wont last forever. But they need to be lived. Leaving […]

It is common cause that the performance of South Africa’s government, led by the African National Congress (ANC), has been worse than abysmal. Under former President Jacob Zuma, ANC functionaries pillaged numerous institutions of state. They enabled state owned institutions to be looted, mismanaged the provision of basic services and presided over an alarming downward […]

This is a conversation that I have been having with clients for many years, but it is now becoming more and more prevalent in their lives… writes financial consultant Marc Sydow. To leave SA or not? It has also become quite a hot topic around the dinner table, it’s almost like we feel the need […]

Dear (Some) White South Africans THERE IS NO WHITE GENOCIDE IN SOUTH AFRICA! There is only a race of people who believe the murders of ‘their people’ should be given more attention than the murders of other races. White people need to please understand that most black people don’t hate them; we just hate their […]

With all the bad news and negativity in the media, especially when it comes to the state of our marine resources, it’s great to be able to share something rather more uplifting… writes marine conservation photographer Jean Tresfon. On Saturday, with a one day weather gap between frontal systems along the Cape south coast it […]

Luvo Manyonga was in a class of his own as he soared to an IAAF Diamond League meeting long jump record of 8.54m in Birmingham, England on Saturday, writes MARK ETHERIDGE. South Africa’s world and Commonwealth Games champion opened with a solid 8.42 at the Alexander Stadium. That was followed by two no-jumps before he […]

Summerwood Primary School, a well-resourced government school in Port Elizabeth’s Summerstrand suburb, failed to honour a netball match at John Masiza Primary in Walmer Township on 30 July, with coaches and parents citing safety concerns. In a leaked Whatsapp group conversation between parents and the school — which is in GroundUp’s possession — the grade […]

Say what you want about Helen Zille, but here is a reminder that you can’t say what you want about Helen Zille, at least not on a public platform… writes Gus Silber. Well, you can, constitutionally speaking, but it may come at a price, the bill, in this case, being R93,218.09, plus interest. That’s the […]

While statistics reveal the sad state of so many households in South Africa where children are growing up with absent fathers, there are men like 27-year-old Sabelo Malusi Thabethe whose greatest dream is to hold down his job so that he can buy a home in a safe area and take care of his daughter. […]

Millions of people will have the opportunity to see a lunar eclipse – an event popularly known in the media as a “blood moon” – on Friday July 27. Visible for most of the world including South Africa – only North America and Greenland are expected to miss out – it’s set to be the […]

CAPE TOWN – There’s an ultra-modern new building in Cape Town… which appears to be for Amazon.com. Inc, as the company ups the ante in its regional cloud battle with rival, Microsoft Corp. Amazon will be the sole tenant in the new, eight-story office building that’s nearing completion in South Africa’s Mother City, multiple sources […]

Commonwealth Games long jump champion Luvo Manyonga continued his fine form with a meeting record victory at the IAAF Diamond League event in London on Sunday, writes MARK ETHERIDGE. Manyonga led South Africa 1-2 as fellow Commonwealth medallist Ruswahl Samaai took silver. Manyonga won his third consecutive London long jump contest with the season’s best 8.58-metre […]

A well-known South African family restaurant chain has grabbed headlines with a new breastfeeding policy that allows patrons to breastfeed freely in their venues. This is encouraging because the chain has been on a list of large retail groups that have been publicly shamed for their “anti-breastfeeding” responses. The change of heart by the restaurant […]

As their contribution to the Mandela Day 67-minute campaign, a group of energetic youths from KwaNobuhle township in Uitenhage transformed a blind woman’s house on Wednesday morning. The youths had met on Facebook and established a group called Amatinarha Emayuyu. They heard about Thobeka Velele while attending a funeral in the area. Velele is blind […]

Three South African athletes won gold medals at the weekend’s inaugural Athletics World Cup in London, England, while five more individuals reached the podium in their events. On Sunday night, world long jump champion Luvo Manyonga was in fine form in his specialist discipline. With field events athletes limited to four attempts in straight finals, […]

I have been in South Africa for 12 weeks nearly now and I’ve been trying to think of a way that I can express how my feelings towards this country are, as there are so many things to talk about both positively and negatively so I think a good old-fashioned letter may well do the […]

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa escaped unhurt after an explosion rocked a stadium where he was addressing a political rally on Saturday, a month before the country is due to hold its presidential elections. Watch below. However, vice presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi and a minister sustained minor injuries following the blast […]