Video footage has surfaced of the leopard attack which took place yesterday, Thursday 2 July 2015, in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa. Curtis Plumb, a field guide working for Nhongo Safaris – one of the Open Safari Vehicle (OSV) companies operating in the Kruger – was attacked by the leopard during a game drive. […]

The brightest stars – well, planets – in the sky over the past month have been Jupiter and Venus as they’ve danced closer together. Last night – 30 June 2015 – they were at their closest, separated by just a fraction of a degree…as can be seen in the picture below, taken at Blouberg Beachfront in the […]

“I’m innocent” is a refrain prison warders hear with such monotonous regularity, they mostly don’t listen. Zonderwater warder Levi Maphakane proved the exception to the rule. He not only listened to repeated protestations of innocence by inmate Thembekile Molaudzi – sentenced to life imprisonment on four counts including murder and robbery more than a decade […]

An American tourist and her three children were allegedly held in a detention centre at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg today and were due to be deported this evening. UPDATE: Thanks to the intervention of Gift of the Givers (GOTG), the family was released late this afternoon and allowed to enter the country. Dr Imtiaz Ismail Sooliman […]

A rhino called ‘Hope’ is making headlines around the world since she survived a brutal poaching attack, and against all odds, continues to live. Wildlife television presenter Bonné de Bod, along with cinematographer Susan Scott, is currently making ‘STROOP’ – the Afrikaans documentary feature film (with English subtitles) on the rhino poaching crisis. The filmmakers were […]

Four South African adverts scooped prizes in the Film category of the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the South of France. The awards ceremony was held in the south of France last night. South Africa won in the Silver and Bronze categories while the top Grand Prix prize went to the Leica Gallery ad from […]

The photos of an unfortunate African Rock Python, and its equally unfortunate meal – a porcupine – are making news around the world with headings like ‘Python comes to prickly end’ and ‘Snake bites off more than he can chew’.  The story of the python and the porcupine began on Sunday 14 June 2015 when one […]

The big question being asked in South Africa today is “where were you on that epic day 20 years ago?” Yes, it’s been two decades since former President Nelson Mandela walked on to that rugby field in his #6 Springbok jersey with the chants of the crowd accompanying him…”Nelson…Nelson…Nelson”. South Africans are being invited to […]

Friends, acquaintances and customers are rallying to support the family of Joe Kanyona who was tragically killed on Saturday evening in Cape Town. Joe, with his easy smile and friendly nature, was well known to customers as the doorman for the popular Beerhouse On Long. The 32-year-old has left behind his wife and their four-month-old […]

With tears and pride, Jenna Lowe’s family and friends paid tribute yesterday to the 20-year-old activist who passed away on 8 June 2015 after a bilateral lung transplant. Her mother said “Three-and-half years ago at our first fundraiser for Jenna, I said it takes a village to raise a child. “But it takes an extraordinary […]

Nobody knows for sure if the flags that appear on US shooter Dylann Roof’s jacket were photoshopped on or not. Since the shooting, some people have been sharing images claiming that the old South African flag was pasted on by “liberals” with the “deliberate intention of getting the old SA flag banned”. They show an image that purports […]

British Airways has revealed that a man from South Africa fell to his death from one of their planes heading to London yesterday morning, Thursday 18 June. The man and a companion were apparently hiding in the undercarriage of the plane which had taken off from Johannesburg on Wednesday evening. It is believed that the man […]

An emotional Jon Stewart apologised to his audience last night as he dropped the comedy to talk about the tragedy in a Charleston church in which a white 21-year-old shot dead nine black people. Stewart was presenting his popular ‘The Daily Show’, which traditionally brings a humorous take on the day’s events. South African comedian Trevor Noah is […]

The young man suspected of walking into a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and shooting dead at least nine people apparently admired Apartheid, and the picture of him being widely spread in the media has him wearing a jacket emblazoned with the old South African and Rhodesian flags. Reports said Dylan Storm Roof, 21, walked into […]

After celebrating a landmark victory against the Reserve Bank last year and pledging the millions he won to help other South Africans who can’t afford their own constitutional court cases, South African billionaire expat Mark Shuttleworth has today lost that legal battle. And since the figure that he paid the Reserve Bank was R250-million, just R4-million more than what […]

Many of us probably think of Hillbrow in Johannesburg as a no-go zone, but Nick Bauer and Mike Luptak are making a point of taking people to its very heart. And to Ponte City too. And beyond. Through their company, Dlala Nje, Bauer and Luptak offer two increasingly popular tours – This is Hillbrow and The Taste […]

In the beginning the Lowes had everything. Two great jobs. Two beautiful girls. Kristi and Jenna. Everything pretty much on track. Now so much of that is gone… Ten days ago 20-year-old Jenna Lowe passed away.  During the last few months of her life her family moved from the Western Cape to Johannesburg to be near their […]

Kevin Anderson has knocked out French Open champion Stanislas (Stan) Wawrinka in straight sets at Queens in London! The big serving South African faced Wawrinka this afternoon in the second round, on day three of the Aegon Championships, after triumphing over Lleyton Hewitt from Australia in the first round. Anderson, who is ranked 17th in the world, […]

As arguments reverberated around South Africa on what should have occurred regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC) request to arrest Omar al-Bashir, the Democratic Alliance (DA) used the moment to re-highlight its recently launched #Vision2029 campaign. In a tweet  posted minutes after it was confirmed that the Sudanese President – who is wanted on charges related […]

As the world waits to find out whether South Africa will agree to arrest one of the planet’s most wanted men or not, the conversation in South Africa seems to not be whether this man deserves to be arrested, but whether an African country should pay heed to an International court’s request. The debate is raging with […]

International celebrity and UN Special Envoy for Refugee Issues, Angelina Jolie was one of Twitter’s hottest trends this weekend after appearing at the 25th African Union (AU) Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, on Friday. (Watch video below.) Speaking at the ‘Women, Peace and Security’ luncheon, the humanitarian called violence against women a “global epidemic” which is treated as […]

At the South African March in London today, a new movement was launched – SAY We Can. According to the March organisers the movement is a community platform for global South Africans – who share in the same values – to have their say and contribute to the restoration of not only government effectiveness in […]

Messages of love and support have poured in for the family and friends of 20-year-old Jenna Lowe, the #GetMeTo21 organ transplant campaigner who tragically passed away on Monday. Here is one that says it all…and more. Penned by Vanessa Raphaely for her brave and beautiful friend, Gabi Lowe – mother of Jenna and Kristi, we […]

In little reported news last week, Mauritius became the second country in Africa to get a woman leader…not a politician but a world-renowned biologist who has addressed the esteemed TED series of lectures. Ammenah Gurib-Fakim was inaugurated without contention on Friday, after being appointed by the Mauritian parliament. She becomes the sixth president of the […]

The results of the South African Stigma Survey are set to be revealed at the 7th SA AIDS Conference which kicks off today in Durban. The Stigma survey, the largest in the world, was conducted amongst 10,700 HIV-positive people who are older than 15 in 18 districts across South Africa. The Survey was launched with the […]