It doesn’t rain much around Beaufort West, but when it does it often comes in the form of fast-rushing water. And so the recent rains in the Karoo, it seems, made a hole in part of the fence that keeps all the critters in the Karoo National Park in. And that’s how a 3-year-old resident lion is said […]

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. […]

The Kind Man or Woman is the new hero in South Africa. In what is becoming a trend, more touching stories of generosity, honesty and care are been shared on social media recently. Here are just two… A few hours ago Margaret Hirsch, Chief Operations Officer for mega appliance store Hirsch’s, posted a wonderful story of generosity on Facebook…which […]

Local Capetonian Robbie Ragless, who only recently started fishing, got a bigger ‘catch’ than he was hoping for when he went out on the boat last Friday. He captured the footage in the video above at around midday, near Robben Island, when a pod of hundreds – maybe even thousands – of dolphins suddenly appeared. Robbie […]

Nerine Gardiner takes the cake. Well actually, she gives the cake…to all kinds of deserving people. Nerine is the wonderful ‘girl’ behind “Girl with Cake”, a beautiful initiative run on the belief that everyone deserves a cake made with love. Nerine lovingly bakes the most exquisite and delicious cakes (see her website for photos and […]

The Daily Maverick Nando’s Gathering is one of the highlights of the year on the conference circuit and this year’s theme, Game Changers, brings together some of South Africa’s top influencers and put them under the spotlight. Today’s influencers include Premier David Makhura, Julius Malema, Mmusi Maimane, Zwelinzima Vavi, Dr Iraj Abedian, Riaan Manser, Dr Martyn […]

In little reported news last week, Mauritius became the second country in Africa to get a woman leader…not a politician but a world-renowned biologist who has addressed the esteemed TED series of lectures. Ammenah Gurib-Fakim was inaugurated without contention on Friday, after being appointed by the Mauritian parliament. She becomes the sixth president of the […]

Check out this aerial drone video which captures some of the most majestic, scenic drone footage in Cape Town, South Africa, starting inland and moving over Table Mountain, Signal Hill and Rhodes Memorial. Then it pans on to picturesque Long Beach, Cape Town, where the drone hangs out with some cool surfers at the 2014 Billabong Junior Series. Next […]

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 […]

Check out these awesome photos, taken by Gale McAll, at sunrise in Kalk Bay a few days ago when the ocean was wild and massive waves rolled in…sometimes quite unexpectedly. “This young man was walking to the end of the pier when an enormous wave appeared…” says Gale. “He turned around and started running…and so did I […]

Over 500 starfish were saved yesterday, quite fittingly on World Oceans Day, thanks to the awesome community spirit in Fish Hoek, a community which rallied together in March to fight the Cape Fires. “It is NEVER dull and boring in the Deep South of Cape Town,” says photographer Robyn Gwilt who captured most of the […]

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 […]

A couple of days ago billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson tweeted that after going through airport security he thanked a security worker who turned to him with a look of shock and said: “That’s the first time in three years that anybody has bothered to say thank you.” It sounded crazy, but South African facebook user Charne […]

From a tent meeting in Emalahleni (Witbank) to a school hall in eThekwini (Durban); from a synagogue in Parktown to a church funeral in Port Elizabeth, I find a strain of concern, an urgency that was not there before. Our people are worried. They are black and white, middle class and struggling. It is a […]

On the 26 of September 2015 South Africa’s comedic firebrand, the progeny of a South African mother and a ‘chocolate loving’ Swiss father, Trevor Noah will replace John Stewart as the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. In doing so the ‘day-walker’ has become the talk from Tinsel Town to Tulbagh. But few outside of South […]

Kalk Bay delivered huge waves and big seas yesterday afternoon, as evidenced by these spectacular photographs taken by Robyn Gwilt. “Yesterday after much promising, there was ‘delivery’!” she says. “A few of us got wet, but hey… what’s a little water in your boots when there are waves and deep swells around? The power of […]

After a few years of `drought’ the sardines have returned to the South Coast in all their glory. The KwaZulu-Natal coastline in South Africa has always been home to one of the world’s greatest natural marine phenomena – the Sardine Run – which is also referred to as the Greatest Shoal on Earth. Every winter, between the […]

For South Africans abroad who have been curious to see the controversial new movie, Treurgrond, starring the equally controversial South African entertainer Steve Hofmeyr, it is available to watch wherever you are in the world. (Watch video below.) Scatzy.com, a provider of South African content worldwide, has once again provided South Africans abroad with a locally-made movie at […]

South African athlete Bianca Buitendag surfed her way into second place at the Fiji Women’s Pro yesterday. She and Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons battled it out for top prize in heavy conditions on the final day. Ultimately it was Fitzgibbons who triumphed, showing sheer determination to win the event (for the second year in a row) by overcoming a […]

Freshlyground’s new music video showcases a kaleidoscope of South African faces and scenes (yes, there’s a braai) that will have you feeling emotional without quite knowing why. As images are flashed on screen, they tug at the heartstrings with faces that show the struggle, the pain, the pride, the play, the passion, the love…the people. […]

Professional kitesurfer Nick Jacobsen made an amazing jump off the top of Richard Branson’s Necker Island on Sunday. The subsequent video includes cool footage as the Danish kitesurfer launches himself from 131 feet above sea level. (Watch above.) Nick became widely known as a daredevil in kitesurfing circles after he jumped off a crane in South Africa […]

It’s a kind of crazy question…with a kind of brilliant answer. How to help solve a trio of problems – child road deaths, fatal fire accidents at home and pollution – in one simple step? The answer: a school bag made out of recycled plastic that has a solar light on it.  As Rethaka – the […]