After reports were sent to cabinet, water test results have not been released for five years. A countrywide water shortage is a decade away unless urgent action is taken to rehabilitate and preserve our rivers and catchment areas, fix and maintain crumbling infrastructure, and implement water re-use. Without intervention, South Africa faces a deficit of […]

We all want beautiful gardens, but it’s possible to have a lovely garden and have little impact on the world we live in. In fact, with the pressure of rural development on nature reserves, it’s our obligation to create new safe zones in our suburbs for bugs and birds, writes Nick Bredenkamp, South African freelance game […]

Water supply in the Eastern Cape is set to improve with the launch of the Mzimvubu Water Project’s advanced infrastructure. The R113 million advanced infrastructure project in Esiqhungqwini village in Tsolo will also contribute to job creation in the rural area. This infrastructure will allow easy access to the dam site and water treatment works, […]

Technology has made a tremendous difference in the world, in areas as diverse as health and education, and pretty much everything in between. But is technology the weapon that will ultimately eradicate animal poaching and save various species from eradication? It’s not a silver bullet, but it certainly has potential. That’s why Vulcan – a […]

The Department of Environmental Affairs will from Monday embark on a week-long robust public awareness drive to urge South Africans to protect and conserve wetlands in the North West province. According to the department, the campaign forms part of South Africa’s activities in marking the World Wetlands Day celebrated on 02 February 2019. This year’s […]

South Africa’s efforts to curb rhino poaching continue to produce results, with 2018 figures revealing that incidents had dropped to 769, down from 1 028 in 2017. This, said the Department of Environmental Affairs, is the third consecutive year that South Africa has seen a decline in rhino poaching and the first time in five […]

South Africa is historically a water scarce country, and prolonged droughts coupled with infrastructural decay have led us to start considering water conservation as a priority. As recent events in the Western Cape suggest, climate change is a reality and will affect us all. The question is, what can we do about it, writes Craig […]

Staying at a hotel on the Thai island of Koh Samui in 2015, South African born Meghan Kerrigan noticed the four bottles of water she was given every day were clogging her bin with plastic. Outside her door, Chaweng beach was smothered in rubbish. It was then that she and Kohler brothers, Ryan and Matthew, […]

A nearby community is convinced it is, but test results are inconclusive. Are residents of a Cape Town neighbourhood being poisoned by one of the city’s main waste treatment plants? A Carte Blanche exposé in January said yes. Residents of Sandvlei were shown suffering with sores and tummy infections. Scientists too have warned that the plant is […]

There’s a team of kind humans in South Africa who are currently taking on a mammoth task to help save hundreds of dehydrated and starving baby Flamingo chicks. The newborns are being stranded… abandoned by their parents as the dam water in the once magnificent Kamfers Dam has all but dried up. The dam, just […]

If you’re a South African expat living in the United States, look up into the night sky on Sunday and – if it is clear – you may witness the so-called “Super Blood Wolf Moon” total lunar eclipse, which will take a star turn across the continental US during prime time for viewing. The total […]

Following a deadly tsunami in Indonesia that struck coastal towns on the Sunda Strait on Saturday, 22 December 2018, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has urged South Africans with family members in Indonesia whom they cannot contact or locate, to contact the department’s 24-hour switchboard number at 012 351 1000. […]

To celebrate their 25th birthday, Engen management and employees embarked on a number of clean-up initiatives around the country – including beach clean-ups in coastal areas and river clean-ups for inland areas. In Cape Town, 100 employees were transported to Blaauwberg Nature Reserve yesterday where they spent the morning cleaning the area to make it […]

LUSAKA – Zambia has revived plans it suspended two years ago, after protests by animal rights activists, for the controlled slaughter of up to 2,000 hippos over the next five years, its tourism minister said on Monday. Charles Banda said the hippo population could not be supported by the water levels in the Luangwa river […]

South African department store chain Woolies announced Monday that it will remove single-use plastic bags from one of its Cape Town stores during a six-month trial period… in a bid to end plastic pollution. From November, Woolworths – which also has operations in Australia and New Zealand – will not offer any plastic bags at […]

Fabulous South African flowers and incredible exhibits are on display of this year’s Witness Garden Show in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. Regular SAPeople contributor Lorraine Scholfield was there and captured these stunning photos… The Garden Show is open from 9am to 5pm daily, and ends tomorrow – Sunday 9 September 2018. Proteas First… Blushing bride proteas Pincushion […]

We often think of Proteas as being Proudly South African (afterall, the King Protea is South Africa’s national flower), but how many of you knew that they’re actually widely distributed throughout the southern hemisphere… in places such as Australia, Tropical Africa, South America, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Malaya? This family apparently dates back […]

Here’s a message of caution for anyone planning on visiting the gorgeous fields of wildflowers in the Western and Northern Cape at the moment… check the vicinity carefully before you lie down amongst the petals to pose for a photo! What looks like a beautiful gentle scene could actually have turned into a tragedy. Capetonian […]

Every day, Ranger units encounter suspected poachers in the Kruger National Parks with up to three incursions with poachers taking place in the park daily. The SANParks rangers, have a huge responsibility on their shoulders and work tirelessly and risk their lives to safeguard our rhinos. Just last month, field ranger Respect Mathebula paid the […]

International actress Pearl Thusi and Humane Society International/Africa are exposing the ugly truth behind the “Snuggle Scam”. South African actress and wildlife advocate Pearl Thusi is collaborating with Humane Society International/Africa to warn residents – and especially travellers to South Africa – not to visit tourist attractions that offer lion cub petting and lion walks. […]

We have analysed the data, and can now answer this question. Much has been argued about the causes of the 2017 Cape Town water crisis. Is it the drought? Is it climate change? Is it population growth? Is it lack of foresight by national government or local government? Is it the rich? Is it the […]

“You feel so invigorated after a long walk through the cherry orchards of the Matroosberg mountains in Ceres!” says regular SAPeople contributor Nigel Riley, who captured the stunning photos on this page… South Africa received its biggest snowfall in ten years this week… #beautiful snow #beautiful Cape Town https://www.facebook.com/snowreportsa/posts/1582472298546785 Snowboarding, Matroosberg: https://www.facebook.com/SAPeople/videos/10155354904831949/ Video from Matroosberg Thursday […]

Burre Burger, founder of Droogtehulp, is urgently seeking help from fellow South Africans on behalf of farmers in the Eastern Cape and Southern Cape who are broken and desperate. Watch videos below. Despite the downpours in South Africa earlier this week, the heartbreaking photos and videos on this page – taken this week, on Monday […]

Forty shacks caught fire in two different areas of Johannesburg leaving many homeless, while a woman and baby have tragically died in township fires in the Western Cape… all believed to be a consequence of residents battling the intense cold front, which gripped parts of South Africa this week. Shacks alight. Mandela Park, Hout Bay. […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fossils of two amphibians that lived within the Antarctic circle 360 million years ago are forcing scientists to rethink the origins of land vertebrates, including where these pioneers first appeared and the climatic conditions that spawned them. Scientists said on Thursday they have unearthed partial remains of primitive Devonian Period amphibians named […]