South Africa is making its best wines ever, according to British journalist and wine master Tim Atkin, who managed to put together his latest report during the pandemic and gave two wines a perfect score of 100 points. “Rather than just a few individuals, what we have now is a constellation shining bright above us […]

South Africa’s recovery rate has now jumped to 88.9% after 573 003 patients recuperated from COVID-19. Meanwhile, novel Coronavirus cases have hit 644 438 after 2 007 infections were identified on Thursday, while the death toll stands at 15 265. Of the latest 97 fatalities, 26 are from Mpumalanga, 21 from Gauteng, 17 from KwaZulu-Natal, 15 from […]

Five young boys have been nicknamed ‘The Magnificent 5’ by the Animal Welfare Society of South Africa, after their caring rescue of a timid Labrador. The Animal Welfare Society (AWS) of South Africa – which offers a range of veterinary services to the underprivileged and disadvantaged communities of Cape Town – said the group of […]

Classmates at a school in Cape Town, South Africa, are inspiring the nation with their kind gesture for a friend in need. Seventeen-year-old Tashreeq Doovey, from Hanover Park, was recently robbed of his cellphone when he suffered a seizure while he was walking home. Not only is he a matric student, but also the sole […]

The clichéd adage “boys will be boys” has, over the ages, normalised unbecoming behaviours. It has also socialised young men into thinking that being a man could entail getting away with reckless behaviour, even the use of violence and aggression to assert power. In her analysis of violent masculinities in post-apartheid South Africa, feminist scholar Pumla […]

In May 2017 we (GroundUp) took photos of Cape Town’s dam levels at the height of the drought. This is what the Berg River looked like then: And this is what it looked like on Saturday: And below is what Theewaterskloof, which can hold more than half of Cape Town’s water at capacity, looked like […]

The Game Rangers Association of Africa (GRAA) says it applauds the decision announced in Zimbabwe yesterday to ban mining in national parks. The Association says it had noted with “great alarm” the reports that Special Mining Grants had been issued to mine coal within Hwange National Park. The decision was announced on Tuesday by Zimbabwe’s […]

In a debut novel that has been called “stunning,” “sparkling,” “compelling” and “engrossing” by reviewers in England, South African Helen Moffett has taken a minor character from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” and breathed life into her, creating “an enjoyable, even racy addition to the drawing-room industry of novels riffing off Austen.” The novel is […]

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 campaign spearheaded by Western Cape photographer Angela Gorman has been launched to urgently save Muizenberg’s iconic Beach Huts before they “crumble into the sand”. Angela told SAPeople that despite being renovated in 2017, the usually photogenic and very Instagram-able huts, are now in a state of total disrepair… as can be seen from Angela’s […]

A band of citizens in inner city Johannesburg this weekend became the latest private grouping trying to make an impact on the often-overlooked and dire garbage situation plaguing the streets, and they took to one of the worst-hit areas, Hillbrow. “The CleanCitySA Adopt a Street Volunteers Network was successfully launched in Hillbrow today,” CleanCitySA said […]

On the first Saturday of September every year, International Vulture Awareness Day is celebrated – a time to not only reflect on the importance of vultures and the essential role they play in a healthy ecosystem, but also a time to spread awareness and take action… writes Chris Kelly, Species Director – Wildlife ACT These […]

The University of Cape Town (UCT) has retained its spot as Africa’s top university, despite a drop of 19 places, tying at 155th among more than 1 500 institutions in the 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, which were published on Wednesday, 2 September 2020. The annual THE World University Rankings assesses institutions […]

In a bid to sell more South African wine overseas, a new matchmaking portal has been launched to bring together buyers and sellers of Western Cape wine. Cape Export Network is a platform for South African wine producers to freely advertise their products and connect them with international importers and buyers of wine, and has […]

Away from the beaches and lagoons for which the seaside town of Plettenberg Bay is famous, at 8am on a Saturday morning in the industrial area, crowds of people gather with their dogs, which run around playing, barking and causing a ruckus alongside their owners who are queueing down the street. It is overcast and […]

Bafana Ndhlovu (43), better known as the ‘child whisperer’, has worked with horses for the last 36 years… and after a freak accident that destroyed his vehicle (see photo below), the horse-riding community has come together to help him get back on his feet. Born to the stables Bafana’s love for horses started at the […]

At the height of the Covid-19 outbreak in the Western Cape, a project was implemented that saved lives, and has the potential to save many more. As the epidemic escalated, it became clear that the disease was hitting people with diabetes especially hard. A study looking at over 15,000 Covid-19 infections showed that of every […]

South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza says he has learned with shock and dismay, of the brutal murder of farmers, Glen and Vida Rafferty. The couple was murdered on their farm, in Normadien in KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend. Previously, Deputy President Mabuza has condemned violent attacks on farmers and people in rural farming communities, stressing […]

After announcing four other original productions in July, Showmax has said it will be involved in another two new international co-productions: an epic African mythology series “Blood Psalms,” with Canal+ International, and the Megan Fox action movie “Rogue.”   “This continues a move towards co-productions from Showmax’s parent company, MultiChoice, which partnered with HBO on […]

On the 6th of July I started a fundraiser for a desperately poor community in Allemansdrift B in Mpumalanga, South Africa, after engaging in a long messenger chat with a former charity worker called Kelly about this community and the work she and Lydia (a community resident and village elder) were trying to do… writes […]

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway was due to open on Tuesday 1 September, but thanks to the surprise snowfall on South Africa’s iconic mountain yesterday and this morning, the cableway opened earlier to allow excited residents a chance to view the winter wonderland for themselves. The Cableway company said on Facebook: “Understandably due to the excitement […]

While signs of spring are appearing visibly in the West Coast National Park and Franschhoek (see the photos below of flowers and snow), the mountains above the town and in Stellenbosch are even snowier than the freak snowy conditions on Table Mountain today. Everyone is being told to bundle up. Temperatures in Sutherland are reported […]

Capetonians awoke to an extremely chilly day today… although nobody quite expected it to snow, what with the start of Spring being just days away for South Africa. UPDATE: Photos of snow on Table Mountain, Sunday 30 Aug. But Table Mountain Aerial Cableway has confirmed it truly snowed this morning on Cape Town’s famous mountain. […]

“I had over 200 children coming to me saying they are orphans and are hungry. I couldn’t turn them away so I started cooking for them,” says 71-year-old Sylvia Mvumvu from Alexandra, Johannesburg. Mvumvu was born in Johannesburg and has always lived in Alexandra. She has been running a non-profit organisation (NPO) called Siyondla Umphakathi […]

This Sunday Carte Blanche investigates the situation in Standerton, South Africa, that has shocked the nation. Video footage this week of the streets of Standerton in the Lekwa municipal district in Mpumalanga, showed how the residents and municipal workers are burning fires late into the night and dumping their rubbish right outside the municipal buildings. […]