South African singer Belinda Davids flew the flag high for SA, making it to the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent. On Saturday night she blew the nation away with her rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” on BGT. BGT said: “Not many people can take a Whitney Houston song and make it sound even […]

Anyone following the Ellen Degeneres story? In short, our Be Kind hero was found to be lacking in leadership skills, and some staff outed her for an unhappy work environment… writes Kim Nicola Stephens (a Cape Town mom of three, and Sport & outdoor communication consultant). Then it escalated to racism, and paedophilia and eating children. I’m […]

Here’s the latest update from Allemansdrift B (in Mpumalanga, South Africa) where over 600 families were facing starvation until the kind intervention of strangers on three continents who have bandied together to bring food, hope and now water to the local residents. It started in South Africa with retired housekeeper Lydia Mashaba (nearly 70) who […]

A second earthquake has been recorded in the Western Cape this morning, Sunday 27 September 2020. It has also transpired that the rattling windows and thunder sound that many Capetonians reported hearing last night were from a smaller earthquake in Cape Town, and not effects from Saturday night’s larger 6.2 magnitude earthquake off the South […]

Residents of Cape Town were Saturday night told to “exercise caution” after an earthquake of 6.2 magnitude was measured off the South African coast. A WhatsApp Advisory message went viral at around 20h10, announcing the earthquake had struck approximately an hour before on Saturday, 26 September 2020. The message said that according to the US […]

“One tap in 26 years.” That was one of the comments on social media after the Alfred Nzo Municipality in the Eastern Cape posted a video on this week showing a ceremony to announce the installation of a single tap for a village. The views (61,000 so far) and comments haven’t stopped running since then. […]

For the first time in its 77-year history a British animal welfare organisation has awarded a gold medal for honorable service to a rat, an African Giant Pouched Rat named Magawa working to detect landmines in Cambodia. UPDATE JANUARY 2022: Landmine detection hero rat Magawa has sadly died.   In 2016, the same medal, also […]

After stunning rains across Cape Town this winter, the largest dam serving the region, Theewaterskloof, started overflowing today, for the first time since 2014 and barely two-and-a-half years after Day Zero loomed. (Update 28/09/20: Theewaterskloof dam has not yet officially overflowed. It turns out it only appeared to do so because of the wind blowing […]

South Africans around the country (and world) answered President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call to take up the Jerusalema dance challenge for Heritage Day on Thursday. Here are just three of the many, many videos posted by wonderful, proud and fun-loving South Africans. For different reasons, these three are amongst the best… WATCH Woodside Sanctuary’s Perfectly Imperfect […]

Princess Charlene of Monaco sparkled in silver at a fundraising gala on Thursday evening, 24 September, besides stars that included Sting, Johnny Depp, Naomi Campbell, Rebel Wilson, Sienna Miller, (American model) Alton Mason, designer Tommy Hilfiger and many more. While the rest of the world is holding most events online, the South African expat’s husband […]

Tatjana Schoenmaker has broken the 12-year-old short-course South African record in the 200m breaststroke. Schoenmaker accomplished the feat at the Regional Short-Course Championships in Pretoria. She finished in 2min 18.20sec to lower the mark set by Suzaan van Biljon in 2008 of of 2:18.73. Schoenmaker’s time would have placed her fifth in the 2019 world […]

A former pro rugby player, Zane Kilian, appeared in a Cape Town court in South Africa today under heavy security charged with the murder on 18 September  of Anti-Gang Unit cop Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear (52). Kilian (spelt Killian by some media outlets), 39, was charged at the Bishop Lavis magistrate’s court with murder, conspiracy […]

After the former minister Mosebenzi Zwane made some startling admissions at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture today, admitting to not knowing the laws of his department while he was MEC, the Democratic Alliance said the noose of justice was closing in on Free State politicians like himself and former premier Ace Magashule. […]

Independent solar and wind power generators, among others, will in future be allowed to sell electricity to Eskom, which will hopefully break the cycle of loadshedding that has afflicted the country and its potential for progress. Rules were gazetted today allowing the procurement of 11,813 MW of electricity and storage from independent power producers (IPPs). […]

This Sunday Carte Blanche digs into murky waters to find out The Truth About 5G. You can watch the show on Sunday 27 September in South Africa on DStv Now or stream it overseas in most countries from Tues 29 September if you’re abroad. The Truth About 5G Fifth-generation cellular technology is the next frontier […]

Parliament has dismissed the Citizen newspaper’s claims that it will fully open for physical meetings on 5 October 2020. In a statement on Thursday, Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said the report is replete with blatant falsehoods and fictitious references. “As if these fabrications were not bad enough, the story further claims that the ‘regular Cabinet […]

Each year, Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng goes on a hike with the UCT Mastercard Foundation Program Scholars. The initiative, built on the premise that all young people, no matter their starting point in life, should have the opportunity to obtain a quality education and pursue their aspirations, provides full-cost scholarships to young Africans pursuing first-time undergraduate […]

On 9 April, sex worker and activist Robyn Montsumi was arrested on a drug charge and held at the Mowbray police station. A few days later she died in police custody. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) is investigating what is allegedly a suicide by hanging. Sex worker advocacy groups are demanding an update on the investigation. […]

As we celebrate Heritage Month, South Africa – a melting pot of cultural diversity – continues to embrace its haunted history of racial divisions through a citizenry that displays a will to triumph over adversity… often with humour – like the recent Chicken Licken advert that lightened the gloomy environment, brought smiles to South Africans… […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has thrown his weight behind the empowering of women in Africa by giving them enabling tools to build themselves a financially secure and independent future. President Ramaphosa was speaking during a high-level virtual panel, G7 Partnership for African Women’s Financial Inclusion on Wednesday. The panel also featured philanthropist Melinda Gates, Queen Máxima […]

The Competition Tribunal has approved The Foschini Group to acquire Jet stores subject to conditions, while seller Edcon has said that it would maintain its big branch of Edgars in downtown Johannesburg, which has been there for 90 years and is being renovated, a major impetus to the central business district. It was reported earlier […]

Biltong and Chappies, Mrs Balls and Bobotie. These are a few of our favourite things. Celebrating South African Heritage Day today, The Kiffness has produced a song about his (and most South Africans’) lekker-ist things to eat. He says: “Happy Heritage Day! ?? … Here’s a song about some of the South African things I […]

A South African expat, living in Australia, has spoken this week about how shocked she was at 51 to discover she was not only donor conceived, but that her mom’s gynaecologist (who was also her Godfather) was actually the donor and therefore her biological father. In an interview with SBS in Australia, Fiona Darroch reveals […]

Since the first Blitzkriek Braaikaaster was created a couple of years ago, more than 100 Stainless Steel guitarbraai-grids have been made by Klein Karoo cowboy craftsman Bert Lintvelt and two special people who’ve become like family to him – Werner van Eik (Boetie), a local Ladismith gardener, and his cousin farm girl Lenovia van Eik […]

The Springboks will begin their defence of the Rugby Championship with an away match against Argentina – in Brisbane – before a ‘home’ game against the Wallabies in Sydney, it was announced overnight as SANZAAR unveiled the competition fixtures. South Africa’s participation in the event still has to be confirmed but SANZAAR has revealed the […]