If you recognise these words – “Alan! Alan! Alan! Oh wait, that’s not Alan. It’s Steve!” – you’ve probably watched the BBC’s ‘Funny Talking Animals – Walk on the Wild Side’ before. In fact you’ve probably watched it a few times! The show was aired on BBC One back in 2009…but is still as popular […]

So this is a true Karoo Moment… Jules and I are sitting on the front stoep of the Karroo Theatrical Hotel. We’re spending the entire afternoon on this stoep, drinking much wine and shooting the breeze with the innovative hotel owners, Mark Hinds and Jacques Rabie. But lest you think we’re a bunch of old […]

Four friends from the UK won the trip of a lifetime to South Africa earlier this year. The two couples flew out to South Africa in April for a fortnight of exploring the country – from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal, and then to the Western Cape. Married couple Lucy and Andrew (both Project Managers and both […]

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has wished a Happy Diwali to all. In a message published on The Presidency website this morning, Zuma says: “We would like to extend good wishes to the Hindu, Tamil, Gujerati and other communities who celebrate Diwali or Deepavali, as it is also known. “Diwali honours the triumph of light over […]

The travel experts at Lonely Planet have placed South Africa second in their list of the world’s best-value destinations! In an article by Tom Hall, much of this value is attributed to “currency fluctuations” – the fallen Rand has made the hidden and unhidden treasures of South Africa more affordable to more foreigners than it has been […]

Good Morning, Mr Mandela is a memoir verging on a romance of sorts between Zelda la Grange and her boss, Nelson Mandela, a man who she served with dedication for 17 years as his personal secretary. It is a fiercely honest account of her emotional metamorphosis – from a conservative and prejudiced white racist South African, […]

Here’s photographic proof it’s not just humans who like whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears! Award-winning South African photographer Rob Tarr captured this tender scene during a trip through the Kruger National Park. “We’re so spoiled to have such a magnificent nature area available to us,” said Rob. “And every visit to the Kruger always […]

A UK couple who fell in love with South Africa during a holiday here last year, have captured the scene of an eagle with its prey in the Kruger National Park…and would appreciate it if a wildlife expert could identify the prey for them. “We saw this large eagle drop from the sky ahead of us,” […]

A very cool art installation has been erected on the Sea Point Promenade in Cape Town. It’s called Rhinosaur, and when you first see it you won’t know why.  Bev Tromp,  a South African expat who recently holidayed in Cape Town from her new base in the UK, took these photos and said, “At first it looks like a […]

As the developers of the super-cool Maboneng Precinct in Johannesburg, led by Jonathan Liebmann, take hold of Durban and transform the Rivertown district into a similar wonderland of galleries, restaurants and boutiques…it’s worth noting that Durban already has some pretty cool places, with three restaurants having been launched in the last month or so that are sure […]

A week ago today a fire spread through the Kya Sands Settlement in Johannesburg, destroying 500 shacks and leaving approximately 2,000 people homeless. Photojournalist Brett Field visited the site a couple of days later, once the rest of the press had packed up and left, and what he found was the true story of Africa that […]

Fashion designer, pop star, wife of the world’s most famous football player – and now UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador – Victoria Beckham has pledged to help the “wonderful” young women  in Soweto and to raise awareness about the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV. The former Spice Girl was moved to make the announcement during her […]

Over the years, there is one observation I’ve made about black people in various social situations. Amongst fellow black people, we don’t feel the need to explain ourselves; we just ‘get’ each other, even if we’re from different cultural backgrounds. When you’re a black person amongst white people though, there seem to be a million […]

A South African-born Australian teenager, Troye Sivan, has been named as one of the 25 most influential teens in the world! The 19-year-old internet sensation, who lives in Perth when he’s not travelling the world, was listed on Time Magazine’s annual list of the 25 Most Influential Teens on the planet…alongside such notables as Pakistani youth activist Malala […]

One of the most popular videos on Facebook at the moment features a brilliant water park in South Africa, although most people don’t realise it’s in SA. They think it’s in Wisconsin, or Tennessee or even Brazil, maybe Sweden. The video, which has been shared by over a quarter of a million Facebook users in the […]

The Solms Delta wine estate in Franschhoek, in the Western Cape, goes by a tag line that says the farm is much more than just a wine estate. True to its word, Solms-Delta does not only produce classical wines, but classical music as well. The wine estate is located in the picturesque Franschhoek Valley, a […]

A set of five limited-edition lithograph prints of Robben Island prison scenes painted by South African statesman Nelson Mandela over 13 years ago fetched £13 500 – over R240 000 – at Bellmans Auctioneers in West Sussex, England, on Wednesday 8 October. Mandela, who died last year at the age of 95, spent 18 of […]

Saxby Superspar staff, with the help of South African singer Kevin Leo, surprised shoppers in Centurion last weekend with a Flash Mob performance of “Shosholoza” (watch video below). Kevin wrote the following message on Twitter and Facebook last Saturday (October 4, 2014): “Kom gou oor na Centurion Saxby Spar toe. Gaan 11:00 saam met die […]

Congratulations to South African comedian Trevor Noah who has just been appointed as one of the newest members of Comedy Central’s ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’, in the USA. Trevor posted the following message for his fans on Facebook a couple of hours ago: “Thank you so much for all your love and support. Being a […]

South African athlete Themba Madima is coming second in an international Paco Rabanne Invictus competition…and needs us to vote for him every day for the next four days to help push him into first place! If he wins, a foundation for underprivileged communities in South Africa will benefit. The winner of the Invictus Award, which is in its second […]

Two of the most iconic theaters in New York City are celebrating the 20th anniversary of apartheid’s demise and Nelson Mandela’s inauguration by showcasing one of the country’s most explosive new exports, culture. Singers and artists are gracing events backed by Carnegie Hall and Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater starting this week and running through November. The […]

The #ProteaFire campaign was launched tonight with a moving TV commercial that’s guaranteed to give goosebumps to most South African cricket fans. (See below.) After the live television broadcast, South African cricketer Lonwabo Tsotsobe tweeted a photo with the proud message “We are South Africa, we represent each and every individual in SA! We play fr […]

I’m a presently-lapsed Anglican boy who once attended a Dutch Reformed church service, somewhere in a dusky Mpumalanga coal town, just so I could sit next to a certain farmer’s daughter. I was almost charged with Attemped Kerfuffling! And I never saw that girl again. But now that I’ve begun my middle-aged meanderings through the vast […]

Suzelle, the DIY Goddess who has taken YouTube by storm with her lekker South African accent, fab humour and brilliant DIY tips, has released the latest video in her “bitesized DIY webseries”. This one’s about batteries. Boring? No! First, she teaches her fans how to check if your battery is dead or alive. Take the battery […]

There was barely a dry eye at Ellis Park Stadium last Saturday (4 October) when former Springbok rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen walked out on to the field at half-time. If you missed it, the video is below… Last year, Joost – who was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) in 2011 – told BBC […]