Grab the tissues. This is so beautiful. So South African. Yet  universal. It’s about fabulous friendship. And love. South African mom 35-year-old Gerdi McKenna – who has a five-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter – was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago. Last month one of her friends wrote an email to all […]

Congratulations to Carina Bruwer and the 14 swimmers who braved rough and cold waters yesterday to swim around Cape Point in the ‘Swim for Hope’. All the swimmers who took part in one of the world’s most extreme open water challenges successfully completed the 8 km swim AND broke male and female records along the […]

This is incredibly sad. A video has been uploaded to YouTube showing a young rhino – with its horn cut off – staggering helplessly in the Kruger National Park, before disappearing into the undergrowth. The video was filmed by tourists last week, on the 28th of February, near Phabeni Gate. They alerted the South African […]

Fifteen brave swimmers from all walks of life will take on one of the most extreme open water swimming challenges in South African waters this morning. All for charity. They’re raising money to support the Little Fighters Cancer Trust, a local charity that offers support to children with cancer and to their families. The group […]

It’s been raining down in Gauteng this morning bringing traffic to a standstill in some places. Acclaimed South African photographer Emil Wessels captured these photos next to Westdene Dam under an hour ago. At least one driver hurtling past the Dam got stuck after their engine was submerged in the flooded road. Award-winning photographer Emil […]

Congratulations to South African surfer Bianca Buitendag who has made it through to the Semi Finals of the Roxy Pro on the Gold Coast of Australia, in the first ASP World Tour event of the year. “My expectations for this year is to take every opportunity with as much excitement and enthusiasm as I can,” […]

People in cities across the world – from Hong Kong and Brisbane to Paris, London, LA and Kampala  – will be marching to save South Africa’s lions on Saturday 15th March 2014. The Global March for Lions, which will take place around South Africa as well, has been initiated by local wildlife activists who wish […]

Eish. A video posted by South African motorist Symon Scott after witnessing rather unsavoury cyclist aggression has gone viral. In the video – which Simon recorded on his cellphone on Sunday – a group of cyclists, angry with a parked vehicle, violently attack the driver. The driver, who luckily only suffered bruises, was Tyberberg student […]

In the midst of a rather bland Oscars this year, there was one actress who stood out – Lupita Nyong’o who received the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Patsey in “12 Years a Slave”. The audience had to choke back tears as she admitted “it doesn’t escape me for one moment that […]

The multi-award winning globally renowned Soweto Gospel Choir will perform at a special Nelson Mandela tribute at Westminster Abbey in London today. Archbishop Desmond Tutu will also be in attendance.  The special Service of Thanksgiving to Celebrate the Life and Work of Nelson Mandela will be held at Westminster Abbey today at 12 noon. The South African […]

U2’s ‘Ordinary Love’, which they wrote for “Nelson Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom”, lost out at the Oscars last night in the Best Original Song category to ‘Let It Go’ from “Frozen”.  (And John Travolta couldn’t figure out how to pronounce Idina Menzel’s name when introducing her ‘Let It Go’ performance.) So South Africa’s […]

Unfortunately there will be no big South African winners at the Oscars tonight, but Charlize Theron will be on stage as a presenter …and U2’s ‘Ordinary Love’ (which they will perform this evening) could win the Best Music award for “Nelson Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom”. Previous South African Winners (and those who almost […]

As the international media descend on South Africa to cover the Oscar Pistorius murder trial, his family have called for an end to “public commentary”, but whether the media are commenting on Oscar – or on South Africa – it’s unlikely to stop just yet. Oscar’s uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said that with the start of […]

Cape Town celebrated Gay Pride 2014 today, and used the opportunity to march for those around Africa who can’t – with many placards calling on other African countries (particularly Uganda) to drop their homophobic laws and attitudes. “Cape Town’s diversity came alive at the Gay Pride today,” says Corinne Gans, a Cape Town based photographer […]

The last of Reggie Yates’s three-part BBC3 series on “Extreme South Africa” will air on Monday night in the UK with a focus on one of Johannesburg’s controversial “mega-churches”, The Church of Incredible Happenings. This week the British TV presenter – who has already delved into the largest white slum in Pretoria and covered knife crime in […]

A photo of a rather full African Rock Python has caused a bit of a stir on Facebook in the last couple of days. Andy de Wet, from De Wet Enviroscaping, uploaded the above photo of the snake after it was discovered on his neighbour’s farm in the Hartebeespoort/Brits area, having just eaten a duiker […]

Former Bafana Bafana, Kaizer Chiefs and Leeds United football star Lucas Radebe returned to his old primary school to give away magazines, much to the delight of the school kids there. Inspired by Brent Lindeque’s “A South African #NekNomination” video, this was Lucas’ own Random Act of Kindness (#RAKNomination). See video below. The South African […]

Ben Affleck, Hollywood actor and director of  Iran hostage-crisis drama “Argo”, reprised one of his more serious roles this week, as expert on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a far cry from his next on-screen role as Batman! Affleck testified on Wednesday in Washington D.C. on the murder and mayhem in the DRC. […]

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will present the Budget Speech to Parliament today (26 February 2014) at 14h00 South African time. It’s been a disappointing year financially for South Africa with slow economic growth, a plummeting rand and escalating government spending. With the controversial introduction of initiatives like e-tolls, many South Africans have a lot to […]

The perenially cool Wendy Oldfield turns 50 today. Happy Birthday to one of South Africa’s most beloved rock stars! Wendy burst onto the South African rock scene at the age of nineteen in the ’80s as lead singer of The Sweatband, with the very catchy single “This Boy” (which still works today – take a […]

During the UK broadcast of tonight’s episode of Reggie Yates’ 3-part Extreme South Africa series, expats took to Facebook to post their opinions of Reggie’s visit to Khayelitsha. Carlaine Milledge described it as “a devastatingly accurate portrayal of Khayalitsha. I have no words to describe what I’m seeing” whilst Don Beukes said “I am already […]

Here’s a preview of what British viewers will see tonight on “Reggie Yates’ Extreme South Africa”. (See below.) This is the second episode in a three-part series in which the British TV presenter gets “up close and personal” with different communities in post-apartheid South Africa. Last week’s episode was met with some shock and sadness […]

The first official trailer for ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’ movie – which was largely filmed in Johannesburg, South Africa earlier this year – is ready to view! The film, starring Robert Downey Jr, is due to hit movie theaters in May next year. Marvel Entertainment uploaded the trailer two days ago for movie fans to […]

Popstar, fashion designer and wife to one of the planet’s hottest football players, Victoria Beckham jetted in to Cape Town today. She’s in South Africa to support the Born Free Africa initiative, which is meeting in the Mother City this week to highlight “South Africa’s progress toward elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV”, according […]

This is Arabella Latham’s debut single below – “Like This” – and it’s awesome. She’s 16, from Durban and  has the voice of an über cool angel. She writes all her own music and lyrics, plays guitar and sings. Here the South African schoolgirl – who’s in Grade 11 – talks to SAPeople about her first guitar, […]