Reports have come in of chaos at voting stations where South African voters have forgotten to take their ID books along with them. It is compulsory to have your green bar-coded ID book (or smart ID card or temporary identity certificate) with you in order to vote. According to one voter, Sharika Assad, many people […]

Thank you Google for the special Doodle today, honouring the 2014 South African Elections! The doodle features the search engine’s letters in the colours of the South African flag with a flag-covered ballot box in the centre. Unfortunately the doodle is only visible to those using the South African version of the search engine – […]

On the eve of the 2014 South African Elections, Paul Christie has written the following poem for fellow South African voters… A South African Election (Read to the tune of “An English Country Garden”) How many promises do you see In a South African election? How many lies do they televise In a South African […]

A kitesurfer from Spain has created a wonderful video of Namibia in which he exquisitely captures the wildlife, the people, the natural beauty…and of course his passion – the kiteboarding…out on the wide open seas. David Romeu uploaded his video to Vimeo with this message: “Skeleton Bay is an amazing surf and kite spot; only […]

After the excitement of South Africans abroad voting last week, locals get their turn tomorrow to Make their Mark. Here are some answers in plain English for all those who may have questions about Election Day. Many of those who go to the polls tomorrow to vote for the first time will be too young to […]

It’s unusual for one writer to write about another, but a post on my Facebook page last night grabbed my attention. My FB friend and tweetpal Jani Allan posted a recent interview with someone called Glen Larmer on New Zealand’s RadioLive. So why am I writing about her? SAPeople readers will be familiar with Jani’s […]

American singer-songwriter Pharrel William’s hit “Happy”has spawned so many different versions of Happy-ness around the world from China to Cape Town…with the latest city to join in being Johannesburg. But now there’s another version that’s going viral -starring a bunch of dogs and a very serious and talented cat! The producers of the Johannesburg Happy version were given […]

A backlash has already begun to President Jacob Zuma’s latest claims that the Nkandla upgrades were a necessary security measure after his house was burned and his wife was raped. At an ANC breakfast this morning, the South African President made the revelation that his wife had been raped over ten years ago at his […]

It was a huge day for South Africans around the world on Wednesday 30 April 2014 when the country’s expats had their turn to vote for South Africa. For many it was an emotional experience that even touched the people back home. Here is a collection of just some of the comments, pictures and videos […]

The excitement and pressure is mounting now for South Africans in South Africa to make an effort to vote this coming Wednesday. Many have already indicated that after witnessing the effort that expats went to to get to voting stations that were often many hours’ drive (even flights) away from them…they are now determined to […]

SAPeople sent an email to all the political parties contesting the 2014 South African Elections, offering each the opportunity to tell us why South Africa should vote for them. So far we have heard back from one (see below)…We look forward to hearing from the others, and will print their 550-words or less as soon as […]

CNN seems determined to make those of us far from South Africa’s autumn sunshine even more homesick than we were. It has published a list of top 10 sensational wine farms. Journalist Claire Hu notes on CNN that “I’ve spent a decade visiting the most famous vineyards around the world. For sheer beauty, the winelands of […]

Highveld 94.7 is at it again. This week radio presenter Darren Simpson phoned SANRAL to complain about a genuine e-tolls bill that demanded almost half-a-million rand to be paid. Darren phoned the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) call center and, as you can hear, the operator was not very impressed. (To be fair, Darren barely […]

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan has promised a continued focus on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) when the African National Congress (ANC) is returned to power after this month’s general elections. The ANC is expected to win a sizeable majority again this year, as it has done in every election since 1994. Even the most optimistic opposition […]

A Cape-Town video production house created a video called “Sh*t South Africans Say” back in 2012… which gets resurrected annually and goes viral all over again. The video captures all the usual suspects from ‘eish‘ and ‘kif‘ to ‘boet‘ and ‘just now’, but also includes another phrase some South Africans are prone to saying: “guess […]

Why vote? Am I eligible to vote? Where do I vote? What are my rights as a voter? Read our plain English answers to these and many more questions about South Africa’s 2014 elections. Jump to: Before election day On election day After election day Before election day 1. Why vote in the elections? By […]

The response to this year’s general elections from South Africans living abroad has been, in a word, underwhelming. As reported by SAPeople this morning the authorities have hardly gone out of their way to make it easy for its far flung citizenry to exercise their democratic rights and this may be partly responsible for the […]

Right now, the little town of Bedford in the Eastern Cape is frantically a-bustle under its normal serene exterior. The Old Gaol is being festooned. Various kitchens around town are being tarted up. Wine is being ordered in. Guest house duvets are being fluffed. The newly-renovated Duke of Bedford Hotel is looking too grand for […]

Tomorrow South Africans overseas will get their opportunity to vote in the South African elections; but it’s come with a lot of frustration, heartache and pain…amidst accusations of apathy Disappointingly, only a little over 26,000 expats have registered to vote. If all of these people turn up tomorrow to vote, they would only be able […]

Taking Stock, a South African documentary exploring the “conflicted connections between business and family, community, and country” is within touching distance of getting made. The Kickstarter-funded project needs to raise just a further $150 within the next three days. The documentary will be filmed over June this year and will take an in-depth look into the life […]

Freedom Day meant a lot to a LOT of South Africans today. Twenty years of freedom and democracy, joy and heartache. Here, a few South Africans share their feelings… Message from Lawrence Hilton: I wrote a blog two years ago to celebrate Freedom Day and my Mom’s life called Happy Freedom Day! Out the blue […]

Congratulations to expat Jan Greeff for officially making it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest consecutive barbecue marathon by an individual. Jan, who hails from Stellenbosch, began his braai master attempt at 7am on Thursday morning and is still at it right now, as he aims to set the new record […]

This Freedom Day, as you settle round the braais, maybe with a beer or two, or hunker down to watch the sport or whatever it is you do on a Sunday, take a minute to cast your mind back 20 years to when you stood in those long queues to cast your first “proper” vote. […]

The books team at the Sunday Times has put together a list of the top South African books that they believe give readers insight into the country’s transition into a free and democratic nation. Here we highlight the past 20 years of winners of the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award, South Africa’s premier literary award. Named for […]

There’s something deeply adventurous about rootling around an old Karoo farm junkyard, clutching a camera and a very big stick. The camera is for when the morning light falls softly on the red rump of an ancient, pensioned-off Massey Ferguson tractor. The very big stick is for the Cape Cobra – the dreaded geelslang – […]