A South African expat, living in Australia, has spoken this week about how shocked she was at 51 to discover she was not only donor conceived, but that her mom’s gynaecologist (who was also her Godfather) was actually the donor and therefore her biological father. In an interview with SBS in Australia, Fiona Darroch reveals […]

SAPeople editor Jenni Baxter sat down with Adrian Roos MP (DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Home Affairs) and Justin Adams (DA Abroad UK and Europe Chairperson) to discuss the critical situation SA citizens abroad are facing in obtaining their South African passports from Home Affairs and the SA embassies. To assist South Africans abroad the […]

While President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South Africans to proudly celebrate Heritage Day – on Thursday 24 September – by taking on the Jerusalema Dance Challenge, SA will actually not be the first country to use the gospel hit song for national celebrations (watch video below)… In Papua New Guinea, which marked its 45th Independence […]

SAPeople has collaborated with the Democratic Alliance (DA) to petition South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister to resolve the passport renewal application crisis that is currently brewing abroad. SAPeople is inundated daily with cries for help from South Africans abroad who are unable to contact their own Embassies, and whose passports are expiring – putting their […]

A video filmed in the UK has gone viral on Twitter, showing a man with what appears to be a towel wrapped around his waist, on a construction site, yelling at a white-skinned South African (something he mentions) who is not in view. It appears that the South African may have been the foreman on […]

South African citizens in the UK, with passports that are expiring, have inundated SAPeople with desperate messages after saying they have been unable to get hold of anybody at the SA Embassy in London for months. Phones have gone unanswered. Offices have been closed. And since around 12 August, the website no longer exists. We […]

A lekker new South African restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, has been opened “in loving memory of our old President Mr Mandela”. The fast food restaurant – Madibaz – was launched on Nelson Mandela’s birthday, 18 July, and is aptly called Madibaz! The South African Ambassador in Thailand, Geoff Doidge, performed the honours to officially open […]

Naked Wines has launched an exclusive case to raise over £225,000 to support  South African winemakers affected by the strict ban on domestic alcohol sales. The online wine retailer launched the online crowdfunding event this week – to raise funds for South African winemakers impacted by Covid restrictions in the country The South African wine […]

My name is Jayne Fraser*, and I’m reaching out to SAPeople readers as I am facing a crossroads in my life. I live in Cape Town with my husband and younger daughter, Suzi. Suzi graduated last year and is concentrating on her career in the arts. My eldest daughter, Marianne lives in the city where […]

The Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, recently announced a further extension of visas for foreign nationals in South Africa. However, in the words of the Democratic Alliance (DA), he has “bizarrely refused” to make any provision for South Africans abroad whose passports will expire as a result of the extended lockdown. The DA is […]

A South African expat in Canada, Dr Walter Reynolds (45), was tragically attacked and killed at his medical clinic in the city of Red Deer in Alberta, Canada on Monday morning. The region is popular with SA expats, sitting halfway between Calgary and Edmonton. There has been an outpouring of love, grief and donations from […]

Birthday wishes have poured in for South African expat and Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron. Her African Outreach Project (CTAOP) said: “As we continue to push forward through these challenging times, there is NO ONE we’d rather have leading our tribe. Your sharp wit and sense of humor always keeps us on our toes. Your integrity […]

A beautiful BnB in Spain – Almijara Residence – which is owned by South African expats Paul Tilly and Maurice Jonker, has been voted the fifth best Bnb in the whole of the European country. A delighted Paul, who grew up in Zimbabwe, announced the news on social media today, saying: “As years go, 2020 […]

Many South Africans living abroad are losing the right to work, receive healthcare and remain legally resident in foreign countries because the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has been unable to process their passports and other crucial documents in a timely manner, says Democratic Alliance (DA) Abroad Leader, Dr Rory Jubber. While passport renewal applications […]

For South Africans returning home from abroad during the current pandemic, it is now possible to apply to self-quarantine at home during the 14-day mandatory quarantine period. (See self-isolation application form at bottom of page.) Previously South Africans returning to SA had to remain in state-assigned quarantine facilities. Now it’s possible to apply to spend […]

South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs has announced additional categories of passport applications that will be accepted at DHA offices during lockdown. The categories include applications by SA citizens who need to take up employment abroad, who need to be reunited with their families abroad, who need to take up permanent residency abroad or who […]

Children born in other countries are entitled to South African citizenship as long as one parent is South African, the Constitutional Court has ruled. A seven-year legal battle is finally over and the court has ruled that the Department of Home Affairs must immediately recognise as citizens Yamika Chisuse, born in 1989 in Malawi; Martin […]

South African Springbok rugby player, Eben Etzebeth, has extended his contract with French Rugby Club Toulonnais for three more seasons. The delighted club announced on Thursday that since Etzebeth still has one year of his current two-year contract remaining, it now means that he’ll play for Toulon (which is in southern France) until June 2024. […]

People returning to South Africa from abroad may now apply to self-isolate for a fixed period rather than staying in quarantine facilities provided by the state, according to new regulations published in the Government Gazette. AfriForum, which has campaigned for four months against compulsory quarantine in state facilities, welcomed the announcement but cautioned that the […]

Former Capetonian Stelio Savante, is an actor/producer who has been living in the USA for over 30 years where he has now accumulated over 125 film and television roles, and close to 100 theatre roles in his career. But it is Savante’s three new projects – releasing very soon – that have been making headlines […]

On their ninth wedding anniversary, Monaco’s Prince Albert II and his South African expat wife, Princess Charlène, have shared a few special family portraits on their social media channels. On the day of their anniversary – Thursday 2 July – they shared a gorgeous photo taken at the Royal Palace with their children, Prince Hereditary […]

It’s happened again. In spite of holding all necessary legal documentation from the South African Embassy in China, 23 South Africans have been refused permission to board a connecting flight on Air Asia from Guangzhou in China to Kuala Lumpur, after which they would be repatriated home to SA. Some, who had spent their last […]

Most of the South Africans stuck in Panama, who issued an urgent plea on 8 June for help in getting home to SA, have made it back just in time, and are happily ensconced in quarantine… thanks in large part to the incredible support of embassy staff in Panama and Mexico, who went above and […]

South Africans who have been stranded abroad for months were finally – and with great relief – set to return home today from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on a TUI Airlines flight… however, at the last minute they have been informed that the flight is not cleared to land in South Africa! A few days ago, […]

Pleas for DIRCO to help South Africans stranded abroad, or stuck in SA with jobs abroad, have increased as many run out of money, medicine and hope. The DA today issued a call for Dirco to liaise better with embassies in helping get citizens home; and AfriForum this morning issued urgent court papers in an […]