As of May 2014, South Africa’s visa regulations changed, and many non-South Africans are still unclear how these changes affect people entering South Africa and applying for work permits. The matter of families travelling with children has particularly gotten some media attention (and due to some controversy, this part of the new regulations didn’t go into […]

Travel tips seem to be a dime a dozen these days and most people probably know it all when it comes to booking and organising their next holiday, or at least think they do. But what about travelling when you are migrating? Suddenly it’s a whole new ball game as you aren’t just thinking about […]

She didn’t mean to…but she did. South African Oscar-award winning actress Charlize Theron invited President Obama to a strip club. To be fair she was trying to fill an awkward pause in the conversation. And she just blurted out the invitation when he mentioned that appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show helped him reach a […]

For a bunch of South Africans abroad, they’ve found a fantastic way to earn money, see the world…and have some fun. It’s like a fantasy. The Disney Fantasy. Sonnike Smit from Witbank, along with over 50 other South Africans, is working aboard the fourth ship in Disney’s Cruise Line fleet, the Disney Fantasy. “We travel […]

When South Africans get together it’s always a jol. And they always braai! Check out this fun-loving video, filmed recently at a bazaar in Seoul. “If there is one thing any true Saffa loves it’s Braai, and boy do we take it seriously!” says blogger and vlogger Heshina Pillay who uploaded the video to YouTube. […]

Back in the day when I lived a relatively normal life, I ended up sat in one of those stiff, four-walled office interviews where the interviewer asked me — quite originally — where I saw myself in five years’ time. Bored by the question, I sat there rather straight-faced, stared out of the window and […]

It is said that if you live long enough, you will experience most things twice — my grandpa, poor man, had the misfortune to live through two World Wars. There’s another adage: if you keep something long enough, it will come back into fashion. Both of those apply to the new / old trend in our country […]

Starfish Greathearts Foundation, a charity working with children in South Africa orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS, are holding an inspirational evening of jazz and classical music alongside traditional songs from South Africa this evening. The event – ‘Hope and Harmony’ – promises a wonderful line up of musicians, including: Queen of Afro-Jazz Pinise […]

Congratulations to South African entrepreneurs Jeff Paterson and Oliver Du Toit who won a major business competition in the UK today, and are now poised to revolutionise the way the world exchanges foreign currency! And thanks to all those South Africans who voted to ensure they secured a spot in the top three and were able to pitch […]

Some of it is obvious, like the view from Table Mountain, and some of it is not, like street vendors and school uniforms. I grew up in Germany and now live in the USA. Here are the 30 things I remember most fondly from our expat life in South Africa: [vc_button title=”1″ color=”default”] Hadedas Hadedas […]

Trevor Noah isn’t the only South African ‘Trevor’ export to hit US shores. First there was Trevor Jones (now 66), an orchestral film score composer from Cape Town whose credits include ‘The Last of the Mohicans’. And then there was fellow musician and film score composer Trevor Rabin (now 61) who is again making news this […]

After celebrating a landmark victory against the Reserve Bank last year and pledging the millions he won to help other South Africans who can’t afford their own constitutional court cases, South African billionaire expat Mark Shuttleworth has today lost that legal battle. And since the figure that he paid the Reserve Bank was R250-million, just R4-million more than what […]

The new immigration regulations concerning travelling with children in and out of South Africa, implemented on 1 June 2015, have caused some confusion and a flood of questions. Here’s a guide that should make it simple and hassle-free so that you can focus on having a holiday while the SA government can focus on ensuring […]

At the South African March in London today, a new movement was launched – SAY We Can. According to the March organisers the movement is a community platform for global South Africans – who share in the same values – to have their say and contribute to the restoration of not only government effectiveness in […]

South Africans in the UK will be marching in London tomorrow, in support of those back home, with Trafalgar Square playing its part in hopefully once again bringing about positive South African transformation. The expats in the UK will be standing united in support of basic human rights back in their homeland, South Africa. The march will […]

So now we have established that most of us expats are not hell bent on taking the country to the dogs, let’s talk about why we upped sticks and left. I come from a family of expats. Mum is English, Dad from South Africa but raised in Kenya and Zambia, grandparents from SA and the UK. […]

A couple of die-hard South Africans overseas, who have risked everything to follow their dream, are on the verge of something “enormous”… and would appreciate our voting help to get a chance to pitch their concept to Richard Branson. UK-based entrepreneurs Jeff Paterson and Oliver Du Toit, both from Johannesburg, have created a machine that millions of travellers will want to […]

There is a name on the American website GhostTowns.com that looks very familiar: Randsburg, California. Not far away is – you guessed it – Johannesburg! There’s also CapeTown…and over the Atlantic, in France, is a town called Durban. Randsburg, California The small town of Randsburg is nearly a ghost town today (although one reference puts the population at […]

In response to all the open letters bashing expats…I’d like to say there are so many sides here. Yes, you get the expat hell bent on taking South Africa down, but to be honest – living as an expat and having family living as expats all over the world – these people are few and far between. […]

Every time I see yet another article from another South African moaning about the negativity of expats, and clearly writing with their rose-tinted glasses on, I get angry. Really angry. Hulk angry. The overwhelming theme of South African bloggers and writers lately seems to be the attack of the expat. How dare we leave South […]

Some of my best friends are expats. No, really. I’ve been through two waves of people leaving South Africa for various reasons, to the extent that I remember lying awake at night wondering who my future children would have as playmates. (I’m pleased to report that their social life has survived.) So now I have […]

‘Joburg Expat’ Eva Melusine Thieme, author of this article, grew up in Germany and has lived in Singapore, the United States and Africa. Four continents and counting. As frustrating as it can be to move households across continents or to navigate the incomprehensible currents of the Department of Home Affairs to obtain your visa, or to find […]

South African expat, Major General Bernadus Groenewald, is making headlines in Fiji, Australia and New Zealand with his bravery. Groenewald, who happens to be the Commissioner of Police in Fiji, confronted five thugs at a Suva restaurant, armed only with a chair! In a story headlined “Heroes of the Night”, the Fiji Times said the […]

In celebration of the 22nd New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) an exciting line-up of over 25 films from more than 15 countries from Africa will be screened 6-12 May 2015. It is thrilling to see how the vision for Africa – from Burkina Faso to Botswana, from Ghana to South Africa – is being […]

A poem by Faieza Mx, now living in Queensland, Australia… I want to wake up to the Majestic Table Mountain Always standing, Always there, Never failing Its beauty astounding As it watches over Cape Town The ocean so blue… Camps Bay, Strand, Boulders Sea Point I want to go home to gaardtjies shouting ‘hullo, hullo, […]