No fewer than 15 Springboks – with a combined total of 522 Test caps worth of experience between them – have opted to return to South Africa in the last year. First to have their passports stamped by local customs were JP Pietersen and Ruan Pienaar, who returned to South Africa last year during the […]

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has recuperated from COVID-19 and is back in the saddle today, at the same time that the Western Cape’s new positive cases have dropped to below three other provinces. The Western Cape was the epicentre of the virus in South Africa early on during the pandemic, mostly because of – […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone the spotlight on injustice in the world while also exposing risks that have been ignored for decades, says United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres. He said the 26 richest people hold the same wealth as half the global population; and 100 million more people could be pushed into extreme poverty and […]

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 […]

It was a beautiful day when Nelson Mandela and I met at his home in the late 1990s to brainstorm the programme of the Smile Foundation, writes Marc Lubner, one of SA’s leading philanthropists and Group CEO of Afrika Tikkun. As we fired off ideas at one another, our former president fell quiet for a […]

In a time long before the coronavirus pandemic affected almost every country in the world, one brave South African family decided to take on the African continent. The foursome travelled over 47 000 km, crossing 29 countries on the African continent in a green truck powered by waste vegetable oil! Africa Clockwise This Sunday, Carte […]

As the country observes Mandela Month, the Department of Water and Sanitation has reiterated a call upon South Africans to take part in the Clear Rivers Campaign, to protect water resources and keep them pollution-free at all times. The Clear Rivers Campaign takes place in the month of July as part of promoting volunteerism in […]

While many safari lodges wait for lockdown on tourism to be lifted so they can take in guests again, life remains busy. For several lodges in Bela-Bela a few weeks ago, staff were faced with the enormous task of saving a giraffe that was trapped in a swimming pool. According to a post on Facebook, […]

She was the first to step out of the limousine, onto the red carpet, and into the mansion in The Bachelor SA Season 2. She was the first to wow the #BachelorNation with her larger-than-life, what-you-see-is-what-you-get personality and big smile; and the first to kiss hunk Marc Buckner. Now she’s getting another chance to find […]

CAPE TOWN – Good news for rugby fans as SA Rugby and the British & Irish Lions confirmed on Wednesday that the 2021 tour to South Africa will go ahead as scheduled. The eagerly awaited series visits some of the most impressive stadiums in world sport and culminates in three Test matches against the newly […]

I think a lot of us were reeling yesterday from the President’s speech on Sunday night, writes Sam Cohen. Let’s remember today to be kind. If you have a friend who is a drinker, please be kind, they are angry and hurt. If you haven’t seen your family in months, please be kind to people […]

From his humble beginnings living in the backroom of a baseball clubhouse to walking out on the field as the first continental African to play Major League baseball, Gift Ngoepe’s life sounds like it’s been taken straight out of a Hollywood script. His story of passion meeting destiny is captured in the new documentary Africa’s […]

M-Net’s newly acquired British shows will be right up your alley: including The Chase and Love Island S6 (yes, the one filmed in Cape Town – it begins airing in early August), with classics Coronation Street and Emmerdale both coming to M-Net City later this year. While you’re waiting for them to kick off, check […]

South Africa’s most adorable ‘chatterbox’ – six-year-old Taylor Morrison from Durban – is back with more gems of wisdom for South Africans. Watch her latest video below. Taylor has been entertaining her older brother and family – and the nation – since she was just two, with her video outbursts telling it like it is. […]

Stories of war and tales of the law; Celtic druids and German sailors; traitors and patriots. Horror movies, a wrestling comedy and a local movie about Sophiatown. Here are the highlights of what’s new to stream on Showmax in July.   International Series Britannia S1 & S2 In 43 AD, the Roman Army – determined […]

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 […]

A partnership between the Department of Social Development has resulted in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in South Africa donating $1.4 million that will go towards the procurement of 20 000 food relief packages. The contribution comes as the global Coronavirus pandemic takes its toll on the most vulnerable across the […]

An amateur astronomer in Centurion, South Africa, has discovered a new storm over the planet Jupiter that is now being called after him, Clyde’s Spot, according to NASA. On May 31, Clyde Foster was imaging Jupiter with his telescope when he noticed a new oval-shaped spot in an area where several storms, including the Great […]

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and Rassie Erasmus, SA Rugby’s director of rugby, on Tuesday thanked South Africans for answering the Springboks’ call to help raise funds to help with hunger alleviation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Springboks’ #StrongerTogether for R32-12 fundraising campaign finished on a high note with over a R1 million raised when the […]

Eskom interim Chairman, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, has been appointed to serve on the 12-member expert panel of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board for the first COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. In a statement on Tuesday, the power utility congratulated Makgoba who also serves as South Africa’s Health Ombud on his appointment. “We are proud that […]

South Africa’s beloved Siya Kolisi was named as the Most Influential Person in rugby by UK-based magazine, Rugby World, adding to a list of accolades received by the Springbok captain since he guided South Africa to Rugby World Cup glory last November. Rugby World publishes a list of the most influential people in the game […]

Following GroundUp’s report two weeks ago about how Elisa Khumalo, who is 104-years-old, had to go to the toilet in the open, two toilets have now been built for her. Khumalo who lives in Mndozo village in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, used to have to relieve herself in a roofless pit latrine with broken walls. Hearing of her plight, […]

You have to admit, the resemblance between South Africa’s Spanish/Portuguese singer Miguel Pregueiro and South Africa’s famous expat comedian Trevor Noah is uncanny! If you haven’t seen it yet, watch the video below where TikTok star Miguel explains how fans have asked him if he’s Trevor’s twin… and he tries to figure out why people […]

A South African teacher in China is being awarded for his awesome teaching methods that have resulted in his class performing brilliantly. Ndumiso Chili has such a positive attitude to life that he’s gathered over 2,600 followers on Twitter as he tweets pictures of his graduation, his gratitude, and his dedication to staying fit and […]

Last year, I wrote a post called 24 Weird Things About South Africa… writes Phil Maloney who lived for a few years as a Canadian expat in SA. It exploded, with the original post going viral, and then subsequent reposts of it on other pages also going viral. There were, of course, several people who […]