Heavy rains fell in Gauteng, North West and Mpumulanga provinces in South Africa yesterday bringing a welcome inflow of enough water to fill approximately 22,000 Olympic-sized pools to the Vaal Dam. Gauteng Weather retweeted a message saying the Vaal Dam has received an “approximate inflow of 640 cumecs over past 24hrs” which “is equivalent to 22,000 Olympic swimming […]

Despite the rain, and contrary to critics’ predictions, and EFF leader Julius Malema’s call to not fill the stadium for the ANC’s 105th birthday celebrations today – the Orlando Stadium in Soweto is pretty full! In fact the atmosphere is electric and the stadium so packed that people are being allowed to occupy the pitch area […]

MPUMALANGA – The Sabie River near Skukuza in the Kruger National Park has been overflowing today after a heavy downpour of much prayed-for rain. ASHLEIGH ROBERTSON filmed the video footage below of the overflowing river, as well as the Skukuza camp site which was flooded. Ashleigh, from Hilton in KZN, filmed the overseas tourists’ tents […]

They say every dog has its day… and in South Africa that certainly seems true! Check out the video below, that’s gone viral, of a very cute Yorkshire terrier at the robots (traffic lights) in the Western Cape. Izette Soine uploaded the video just over a week ago showing Bailey. She had seen him – and his owner, Bloemfontein […]

A South African-built Hilux came second yesterday, just 44 seconds behind the winner, in Stage Five of the Dakar… currently taking place in South America. Spanish rally racer Nani Roma was in the driver’s seat, with Spanish co-driver Haro Bravo Alex, for what is touted as the toughest and greatest rally in the world, pitting about […]

In a country in which wine making is still predominantly a white, largely male profession, South Africa’s first black woman winemaker, Ntsiki Biyela, is a pioneer: her latest achievement, the creation of her own brand, Aslina. Biyela is no novice to wine making, having brought accolades to red wine producer Stellekaya for the past 13 […]

Johnny Clegg ushered in the new year with good vibes and great music at a New Year’s Eve concert at Kirstenbosch in South Africa. MARGUERITE DE VILLIERS captured the photos below… “Each picture has a lyric extract from the song ‘It’s an Illusion’ – a song which I had heard Johnny singing a couple of […]

If you put anything on the Internet these days, it lives forever and sometimes gets accidentally revived annually on social media when the same month in which it was originally released comes around again. Two years ago, in January, this hip hop version of ‘Ys Ys Baba’ was posted. This month it’s going viral again […]

The Cape Town Minstrel Carnival also known as ‘Tweede Nuwe Jaar’ is celebrated annually on 2 January. The colourful costumes, face paint, music and comical dancing bring this unique Cape Town event to life. Many thousands of people perform in the parade in one of the South African city’s biggest tourist attractions. The face painting process […]

KAGISO RABADA took 4/33 in 7 overs in his opening spell of the day to make short work of Sri Lankan resistance on the fourth morning of the second Sunfoil Test match at PPC Newlands on Thursday. His four wickets included the last three specialist Sri Lankan batsmen, one of whom, Angelo Mathews, made the […]

Watch these two videos for a glimpse of the reality for those working to fight the fires in Somerset West in South Africa. And those working to support the firefighters. Western Cape photographer Justin Sullivan – who has been in the thick of it, with the firefighters – compiled this intense footage (plus scroll down for […]

MIDRAND – The Class of 2016 has achieved an overall national pass rate of 76.2% in the 2016 National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examinations, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Wednesday, ahead of the release of matric results. The Free State was the only province that broke the 90% threshold, with 93.2% pass rate. In second […]

Congratulations to Proteas wicket keeper Quinton de Kock for breaking the record for the fewest innings taken by a keeper batsman to reach 1,000 Test runs… which he accomplished in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday. He reached the mark during his knock of 101 on Tuesday, on day two of the Test against Sri Lanka. […]

South Africans in the Western Cape have outdone themselves! After an INCREDIBLE outpouring of kindness in response to a request from firefighters for water and non-perishable food, so many donations have been received that no more drop-offs are required today for the #Helderberg fire! Thank you soooo much SA! See Video Update below of a young […]

Proteas seamer, Vernon Philander insisted that results were all that mattered after he starred with the ball to leave Sri Lanka on the ropes after two days of the second Sunfoil Test at PPC Newlands in Cape Town on Tuesday. The 31-year-old took 4/27 to move past 150 Test wickets in his 39th match for […]

NIGEL RILEY captured these beautiful photos of baboons in the Western Cape who obviously haven’t heard the City of Cape Town is trying to create baboon-free residential areas! Last year was the Summer of Fun for baboons in the area… who treated homes like “fast food” outlets (in the words of the City of Cape […]

Locals and tourists flocked to beaches around South Africa on New Year’s Day, 1 January 2017, to start the year with a fabulous day of family, friends and fun… Tragically, while most did enjoy the day – there were at least six fatal drownings reported in the West and Eastern Cape, including that of a […]

To avoid breaking your New Year’s Resolutions this year… declare them publicly, and we’ll keep track of your progress to make sure this is your best year ever! They say the best thing is to talk about and write down your Resolutions, along with your plan on how to keep them… so we’ve got the perfect form […]

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane has wished all South Africans – at home and abroad – a 2017 that comes with positive change and leadership. (See full message below.) Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader Julius Malema was equally positive, tweeting: “It will be a good new year, it must be a good new year. We […]

Happy New Year! Here are just some of the fireworks celebrations around the world: New Zealand ✨❤️✨🌟💖✨❤️✨🌟💖 H-A-P-P-Y ✨❤️✨🌟💖New Year ✨❤️✨🌟💖Auckland, New Zealand ✨❤️✨🌟💖 pic.twitter.com/ZoFaX3RmQW — The Cult Cat (@Elverojaguar) December 31, 2016 Sydney, Australia https://twitter.com/ABCNews24/status/815339327320272896 Welcome to 2017! #SydNYE pic.twitter.com/Q8RvTQkfXr — City of Sydney (@cityofsydney) December 31, 2016 Hong Kong Hong Kong celebrates the start […]

Yes, I am inherently a racist… I’ve been travelling outside of South Africa since 2011 and since then I’ve learnt a lot about the topic, not just from my point of view but from others too, writes REZEEN DANIELS. Let’s start with the term ‘coloured’. I’ve come to hate this term and have openly shared […]

BEIJING, CHINA –  WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and TRAFFIC welcomed today’s historic announcement that China will close down its domestic ivory trade by the end of 2017.   In a news release, WWF said this signals an end to the world’s primary legal ivory market and is a major boost to international efforts to tackle […]

Kyle Abbott struck the decisive early blows as South Africa’s Proteas needed just 40 minutes to take the remaining five Sri Lankan wickets and claim victory by 206 runs in the first Sunfoil Test match which finished at St. George’s Park today. Abbott dismissed Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews in the third over of the day […]

Arafat Gatabazi, a youngster who fled the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo – on foot – to find freedom in South Africa, has completed a charity swim around Robben Island to raise funds for South African charity, LifeLine Western Cape. It’s an amazing and selfless achievement for someone who couldn’t even swim when he first […]

A South African fine arts lecturer, Gabi Ngcobo, has been selected to curate the 10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art in Germany. It takes place during that country’s summer in 2018. Ngcobo has worked extensively locally and internationally. Gabi Ngcobo had been involved in collaborative artistic, curatorial and educational projects in South Africa and globally […]