GENEVA – Two South African sisters who were imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, initially without charge, described their ordeal on Tuesday in an effort to give a voice to the voiceless as they said they had brought a complaint to the United Nations. Yumna Desai, a former English teacher at the University of Ha’il in northern […]

Contrary to popular belief, more South Africans are returning home than public perception. When SAPeople published a blog recently from an expat who was moving with her young family back to SA after several years in the UK, there was an outcry. How could she do such a thing? But it turns out – according […]

South Africa will have no sides in the semi-finals of Super Rugby for only the second time in 16 years, but it could unfortunately be just the start of the country’s declining fortunes in the competition as teams are decimated by player departures. There have been mitigating circumstances to the failures in 2019 with the […]

In an April 2019 episode of the Money Show on talk radio 702, host Bruce Whitfield explored why South Africa’s economy was “in trouble”. “Brain drain” – the long-term departure of skilled people from a country – was part of the discussion. “For every one professional immigrating to South Africa, eight professionals are leaving our shores,” said Johannes Wessels, a guest […]

Here’s the line-up of hot topics that the Carte Blanche team tackle this Sunday 23 June – watch here if you’re in SA and available to stream from Tues 25 June on Showmax International for South Africans abroad in many countries: The War Underground A young couple is found gunned down on the side of […]

An awesome South African doctor – Dr Ryan Coetzee – is bringing smiles to children in hospital in Northern Ireland, and to social media users around the world as a video capturing him singing as he goes about his work has gone viral. UTV Northern Ireland said: “Dr Ryan is the Singing Doctor and the […]

Thanks to popular demand, here are more ‘Expat Tax’ questions submitted by SAPeople members, with answers kindly provided by the expert tax team at Tax Consulting South Africa. Dear SAPeople Members, Thank you for your questions on South African tax and exchange control. We will give each answer a specific response, answering the question posed. […]

South African Michelin star chef Jan Hendrik is bringing his international culinary expertise back to home soil. The Michelin Chef A flourishing international career and the culinary world’s most sought-after accolade – South Africa’s first Michelin-star chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen has been living the dream. His restaurant in France has been awarded the […]

After 20 years living abroad, we’re moving back to South Africa to raise our family on a farm… writes Lauren from Wild Country Farm Blog. If anyone had suggested this idea to me 12 months ago, I’d have called you a raving lunatic. Land reforms, an election year in South Africa, fluctuating exchange rates, the […]

There is a lot of misinformation circling in the South African expatriate community about the amended expatriate tax law taking effect on 1 March 2020 and the process of Financial Emigration… writes Melanie Browne. We often have clients approach us where they have been subjected to scaremongering or solicited by “one-man” bands promoting their own […]

Winning the Cricket World Cup is the holy grail for South Africa’s national team. But with every tournament, it’s remained out of reach. What will it take to turn the team’s fortune around? Watch this and more on Carte Blanche this  Sunday 26 May, in South Africa; and available to stream from Tues 28 May […]

With South Africans who live or work abroad facing the imminent introduction of “expat tax”, there has been a lot of scaremongering and confusion. Recently the expert tax team at Tax Consulting South Africa kindly offered to answer SAPeople members’ questions. Here you will find a selection of the questions submitted and answers by Jerry […]

On last night’s episode of Carte Blanche, presenter Derek Watts discovered that the ‘Great Migration’ from South Africa is increasing sharply and is no longer confined to the ‘White Flight’. Young black professionals leaving South Africa are now outnumbering their white counterparts… although Home Affairs says this is to be expected since the black population […]

The ever-growing number of South African expats living in Thailand are about to get a major taste of home, with a new SA-flavoured restaurant in Bangkok due to open its doors to the public within a fortnight! The restaurant – Shebeen – is billed as the first fully-fledged South African restaurant to open in Bangkok. […]

Amid the high crime rate, loss of job security, and political uncertainty, South Africans are leaving the country in significant numbers looking for greener pastures. On tonight’s episode of Carte Blanche (available for expats to stream from Tuesday), presenter Derek Watts looks at the rising number of skilled and educated South Africans – from medical […]

Starving, infected with various diseases and some eating their own faeces, over 25 horses have had to be put down after being in the ‘care’ of the South African Army Special Infantry Capability Unit at the SANDF’s Potchefstroom base last year. In addition to those 25, a further 22 horses rescued from the base also […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah is on holiday… but that hasn’t stopped him continuing to work! This week he appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show talking about everything and everyone from Oprah to Donald Trump. The 35-year-old SA expat, who is now based in New York, offered some rare praise for  President Trump… as […]

A South African citizen has tragically died in a small plane crash in Dubai, along with three Britons. According to a statement from the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, the small plane crashed south of Dubai airport killing the pilot, co-pilot and two passengers. The accident which happened at around 19h30 local time caused the airport, […]

Have you ever kept a travel journal? Here is mine – an African in America, from when I arrived in the U.S. of A a little while back. Oh what a place… writes Audrey Kruger. Getting off the plane Whoa mense! Hierdie plek is incredible! America! A-merr-rica! Getting off the plane and heading to immigration […]

All votes cast by South Africans abroad on 27 April 2019 made it back to the IEC in South Africa on time to be counted towards SA’s national elections! Phew! This will come as good news to those South African expats who travelled hundreds, sometimes thousands, of kilometres to make sure they cast their vote. […]

There’s welcome news for South African expats in Poland and South African retailer SPAR Group Ltd announced on Wednesday that it is in the final stages of talks to buy a controlling stake in Polish retail chain Piotr i Pawel group. Spar is seeking to boost its European operations, said Reuters. “The SPAR group has […]

This week US (and international) audiences of Trevor Noah’s The Daily Show were treated to more South African news than usual. There was the Caster Semenya decision (watch Trevor’s reaction here) and the SA National Elections. In one video, Trevor exposed Americans to the anti-immigration sentiment in South Africa. Sharing footage from South Africa, Trevor […]

This week on The Daily Show, South African expat and comedian Trevor Noah shared his views on the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to uphold an IAAF rule that would require fellow South African, athlete Caster Semenya to take testosterone suppressants to compete in the women’s division in her best events – the 800-m […]

South African expats voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic Alliance (DA), with the party scooping a 74.45% victory in the ‘out of country’ category. South Africans living or travelling abroad voted on 27 April 2019, some driving overnight or flying long distances to cast their vote. According to the IEC there were only 19,882 votes cast […]

South African expat Gareth Flanagan has tragically been told he may never walk again, after he broke his neck diving into shallow water during a 10-day holiday back home to scatter his brother Conor’s ashes. The 21-year-old chef (who moved to Australia with his family when he was still at school) had already been in […]