Invasion biologist Prof Dave Richardson of Stellenbosch University (SU) is the 2012 recipient of the John FW Herschel Medal, a top award of the Royal Society of South Africa. The prestigious award honours Richardson’s multidisciplinary contribution to science in South Africa through his internationally recognised work on the ecology and management of invasive species. The award is […]

A celebrated batsman and an accomplished bowler, South African-born all-rounder Basil D’Oliveira passed away in England, his adopted country for over four decades. He died on 19 November, aged 80, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. The global cricketing community has reacted to the news with grief, and tributes have been carried in press publications […]

The prestigious Sydney Film Festival now has South African expertise to take it to greater heights, with the appointment of local programmer Nashen Moodley as its new director. Moodley, the former film programmer of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), brings a wealth of experience to the Australian event, after a decade at the helm of the […]

Table Mountain has been announced as one of the New7Wonders of Nature along with the Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo and Puerto Princesa Underground River. In 2008, Table Mountain was identified as one of 440 magnificent natural sites selected by the New7Wonders Foundation to enter the three-phase New7Wonders of Nature contest. In […]

Scott Ramsay is writing a blog, Year in the Wild, as he travels through South Africa’s national and provincial parks. He posts about his experiences and observations daily and keeps the conversation going with friends and followers via Facebook and Twitter. Increasingly drawn to the call of the outdoors, the former sales rep packed up his belongings, and […]

Capetonian Jo Maxwell – also known as ‘The Queen’ by those close to her – talks to sapeople about her brilliantly unique sleeping  bag invention…which tends to put a smile on everyone’s face. Jo invented The Good Night and God Bless Waterproof sleeping bags back in 2005 as a temporary emergency measure for night shelters, […]

A South Africa-based company has launched a new search engine which is run purely on green energy. In addition, through a number of strategic partnerships, the company – Ads4Trees – will be planting 1 tree for every 500 searches conducted by users. The search engine is linked to a fully-featured pay-per-click ad network and is […]

In a bid to develop a thriving entrepreneurial hub, Cape Town city management is encouraging citizens to improve their business knowledge with the hosting of Cape Town Entrepreneurship Week (CTEW) later this month. The event, which is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, will take place at the Cape Town City Hall between 15 and 21 November. […]

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, has had a ‘whale’ of a time in South Africa where he was accompanied by his wife Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall. South Africa, a member of the Commonwealth, was included as one of the Prince’s destinations in his Autumn Tour 2011, along with Kuwait, Qatar, and […]

Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio are poised to jet into Durban for the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in three weeks time. They’ll be joined at the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) by a glittering assortment of other celebrities including movie star and fomer Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former US vice-president and active environmental […]

South African veteran sports photographer Wessel Oosthuizen has been honoured at an exhibition in New Zealand, where his image was rated second out of 120 submissions. Oosthuizen’s photo was part of the Union: The Heart of Rugby exhibition at Auckland City Hall, which took place during the recent Rugby World Cup. The display was viewed by […]

Social media has gone mainstream in South Africa, with both individuals and businesses embracing the available platforms and the average age of users steadily increasing as more people become connected and networks mature. These and other findings were released in a study by Fuseware and World Wide Worx, titled South African Social Media Landscape 2011. The publication throws […]

A South African artist is using art to bring about social change and transform the suburb of Woodstock in Cape Town with colourful murals. Ricky-Lee Gordon, known by his pseudonym Freddy Sam, is best described as a creative activist who initiates projects to inspire people and change lives. “It is my intention to explore my community […]

South African fine arts graduate Roelf Daling is this year’s winner of a prestigious national competition that encourages artists to think creatively about using cement as an artistic medium. The Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) Young Concrete Sculptor Awards (YCSA) is a long-standing concrete sculpture event on South Africa’s art calendar. The YCSA has been running for […]

President Zuma has urged the international business community to “look towards Africa and invest in employment-creating growth”.  Zuma was addressing international businessmen, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, during his trip to the G-20 Summit in Cannes, South of France. South Africa is the only country from the African continent in the G-20 (Group of Twenty), […]

Jewellery design students from the Durban University of Technology (DUT) have proven their creative worth by coming third in the PlatAfrica 2011 design competition. The competition, sponsored by Anglo Platinum (Amplats) in conjunction with Metal Concentrators and Johnson Matthey, culminated in an awards ceremony at Arena Royale in Fourways, Johannesburg, on 22 October 2011. The theme for this year’s […]

Eastern Cape-born Cecil Afrika, top points and try scorer in the 2010/2011 HSBC Sevens World Series, was recently named the International Rugby Board‘s (IRB) Sevens Player of the Year. The award ceremony took place at the Vektor Arena in Auckland, New Zealand on 24 October, following the successful completion of the seventh Rugby World Cup which was […]

Team South Africa put in an impressive performance at the 20th Precision Flying World Championships, recently held in North West province, demonstrating how accurately and safely local pilots can handle aircraft without the aid of modern technology. South Africa came second in the team landing category, with squad member Hans Schwebel being named the runner-up […]

A kind-hearted South African motor cyclist, who rescued a calf, is becoming an internet sensation after his good deed was captured on his helmet’s camera (helmet-cam)…and uploaded to the web. Johan Gray (46) was participating in the Amageza 2012 (endurance race) rally qualifier in Gauteng when he noticed a calf struggling in a steep-walled canal. […]

The 20th Precision Flying World Championships, sponsored by Brand South Africa and currently under way in North West province, will see 14 teams from around the world covering miles of unforgiving terrain to prove their unaided aviation prowess. The international teams, mainly from Europe, arrived in the country on 17 October 2011 for practice and orientation, as […]

South African production Skeem scooped the coveted Audience Choice Award at the recent Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF), showing that locally directed motion pictures pose stiff competition among industry heavyweights. The festival ran from 13 October to 22 October 2011. Made by South African Tim Greene, Skeem was pitted against films with big-name directors like Martin Scorsese, Wim […]

When visual artists Hannelie Coetzee and Usha Seejarim decided to establish the Such Initiative in 2009, a participatory public art organisation, they had no idea that the project would generate so much interest. The idea came about in 2009 when Coetzee and Seejarim were sharing studio space. “We realised that if we work together we could […]

South Africans Stefanie Botha and Angela Shields have shattered all stereotypes by competing as the only all-female rally racing crew in the country for 2011, showing they’re every bit as skilful and capable as their male counterparts. The two are currently competing in the eight-round 2011 South African Rally Championship and are one of four […]

South Africa’s Prof Malegapuru Makgoba has been elected vice-president of the International Council for Science (ICSU), one of the most prestigious international bodies of its kind in the world. “I feel humbled and inspired to be given such an opportunity,” says Makgoba, vice-chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). The professor, who is a trained physician […]

Take a young man out of his small hometown, put him on the road and see how far he will go. Many will guess that if he has enough determination, he will go further than he could ever imagine. This can surely be said of nanotechnology expert Professor Thembela Hillie of the Council of Scientific and […]