Two of Africa’s largest economies and its two biggest tourist destinations, South Africa and Morocco, put the official stamp on the re-establishment of diplomatic relations this week, when ambassador Youssef Amrani presented his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa. Amrani called it a “watershed.” Morocco’s last ambassador left 15 years ago, and relations have been icy, […]

Some of Cape Town’s rivers and canals are so polluted they are essentially open streams of sewage, and although the City of Cape Town is aware of this, the water and waste directorate has vastly underspent its budget for the past two financial years. Participants in the annual Peninsula Paddle, an event organised by scientists […]

What started 14 years ago as an annual weekly event to get South Africans to visit the country’s 19 main national parks for free for a day has just finished its latest season, with well over 113,000 – double the figure for 2018 – taking advantage of the offer. SA National Parks Week, which ran […]

As if marathons weren’t hard enough already, today in South Africa, an accountant, an entrepreneur and a boxing executive were among 20 friends running the Cape Town Marathon – with saplings strapped to their backs. The group are promoting the planting of native trees amid a nationwide push to replace invasive species with indigenous one […]

With several violent and tragic incidents occurring around South Africa recently, it’s a welcome relief to see there’s one corner of the country where the people are uniting to make things better… voluntarily. Where the locals are creating more than just a better, prettier town. They’re building pride and hope. Karoospace.co.za writer and local Karoo […]

Sea level rise caused by global warming is already causing damage to public and private coastal property in Cape Town. In some areas retreat to higher ground may be necessary. The coast at Milnerton particularly is being affected by erosion, with the public beach under City of Cape Town jurisdiction already having been washed away […]

Three people were arrested after a lion cub was found in their possession in a home in Athlone, Cape Town, the South African Police Services said in a statement today. Detectives from the Organised Crime Investigations unit followed up on information about a cub that was being transported from Thabazimbi, in Limpopo, to the Western […]

The crack all-women anti-poaching team the Black Mambas, who have helped reduce poaching in their territory near Kruger National Park by 75 percent, and their founder have won two of four prestigious awards at a world tourism conference in Johannesburg, once again highlighting their environmental successes. At the African Resilience Summit, which was held yesterday […]

In a major win for anti-fracking groups in South Africa, the Supreme Court of Appeals ruled this week that the minister for mineral resources did not have the authority to implement regulations promulgated in 2015 for petroleum exploration and production. Civil rights organisation AfriForum and the Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG) had appealed against the […]

A message of gratitude from a visitor to the Kruger National Park for a couple, who quite literally may have saved her and her partner’s life, has gone viral on social media in South Africa and abroad. It was only Mbali Zitha’s second visit to the Kruger when the unthinkable happened – a flat tyre. […]

Botswana has reinstated trophy hunting after a 5-year moratorium on the practice. In the wake of evidently declining wildlife numbers, former president Ian Khama imposed the ban in early 2014. Elephant numbers had plummeted by 15% in the preceding decade. The hunting industry had been granted a total quota of between 420 and 800 elephants […]

The South African national flag will fly at half-mast at every station in the country from 1 – 7 May 2019, according to instructions from President Cyril Ramaphosa, as a mark of respect and in observance of seven days of national mourning for people who lost their lives due to the floods that have ravaged […]

More than 50 people were killed in southern and eastern parts of South Africa after heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides, authorities said on Wednesday. Rescue workers were digging through collapsed homes and other buildings in coastal areas of KwaZulu-Natal province, where the death toll stood at 51, local officials said. There are also over […]

Extreme weather events, such as Cyclone Idai that has recently devastated Beira, Mozambique, and Hurricane Harvey that hit Houston, USA, in 2017 are the types of climate extremes that cities increasingly have to prepare for. Cities, particularly those with extensive informal settlements in the developing world, are being hit hard by these new climatic realities. […]

BEIRA, Mozambique – Hundreds of thousands of people are in need of food, water and shelter after Cyclone Idai battered Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. And, as of today (Tues), at least 843 people had been reported killed by the storm, the flooding it caused and heavy rains before it hit. View the factbox at the […]

Kenyans have taken to social media to protest against what they claim is illegal sand harvesting off Diani beach, one of the country’s most popular coastal areas. The Conversation Africa’s Moina Spooner spoke to David Obura about why this is an issue. Is sand harvesting a problem on the Kenyan coast? The harvesting of sand […]

The Marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) is a local alternative to the Jacarandas and Madagascan Flamboyants. Jacarandas and Flamboyants are some of my pet peeves when it comes to gardening and trees. Not only are they aggressive invasives throughout Southern Africa, but they are also messy and destructive trees writes Nick Bredenkamp. Jacarandas roots are very […]

Johannesburg is famous for having one of the largest urban forests in the world, but now the South African city faces losing much of that extraordinary and beautiful 10-million tree canopy as a tiny beetle threatens to cause one of South Africa’s largest ecological tragedies. ‘Garden Style’ author Melanie Walker reports on the current crisis, […]

Once upon a time… in a beautiful forest on the magical Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains… writes Sheryn Nader who took these beautiful photographs of nature’s delight in South Africa’s newest world heritage site. Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains in Mpumalanga was officially declared a World Heritage Site in July 2018, becoming South Africa’s 10th World Heritage site, and the […]

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. president in 2020 but will instead launch an effort aimed at combating climate change, he said this week. A billionaire who could have sunk millions of his own dollars into a campaign, Bloomberg had publicly toyed with running and has […]

In this 14 minute video account the Red Bull Air Force takes to the skies from the Drakensberg Mountain Range in South Africa flying down the Sentinel and the Eastern Buttress. On this first-time journey, they attempt to base jump and wingsuit fly various iconic locations around the country. Experience the Red Bull Air Force […]

Government is set to launch a ground-breaking initiative that seeks to mobilize all South Africans to become more environmentally conscious. Dubbed the Good Green Deeds Campaign, it hopes to galvanize individuals in the private sector, labour, NGO’s, interfaith formations and society at large to clean South Africa. The campaign, which will be led by the […]

The City of Cape Town – and southwest Africa more generally – experienced its worst drought on record between 2015 and 2018. With fresh rains as well as careful water management, the city has now emerged from this environmental and economic emergency. The final consequences of the drought might never be known for certain. This […]

Stefan Graunke aka Coastal Ghost is a man on a mission: to stop at as many beaches as he can to collect as much rubbish as possible – a trip that will take him 2780kms around the South African Coastline. And you’re invited… “The more hands the better so come and join us for some […]

AfriForum launched its Anchor Town Roadshow in Pretoria on Monday. During this launch week, AfriForum personnel will pick up garbage in streets, paint road signs and clean up and deforest areas, as well as visit an animal shelter to present donations from the public. The Anchor Town Roadshow is a campaign aimed at creating a […]