If you’re over 60, on a Wednesday you have privilege of appointment to renew your driver’s license at the licensing department in Edenvale. My license was due to expire so I decided I would take up the offer… writes Clare Paterson. I devised the perfect plan… …the department opens at 9am and I had a […]

All South Africans know that a trip to Home Affairs is one of the most stressful outings that you can undertake. One never knows what the queues will look like, whether the doors will close due to loadshedding, and what the service will be like. Here’s a blow by blow account by Stefanie Minnaar of […]

Meiring De Clercq, a 33-year-old sports enthusiast from Nelspruit, had his life changed forever in 2019 when a reckless taxi driver caused him to crash into a stationary truck while training for the Ironman 70.3. The accident left him with a broken back, ribs, sternum, and concussion, and he was later told by doctors that […]

The Zimbabwean government says it has put in place a range of measures to help Zimbabweans returning from South Africa. But many say they are battling to make ends meet. With the expiry of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit system looming in June, many Zimbabweans in South Africa are returning to Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe government says […]

My dad came to South Africa in his early twenties. As a British guy, he didn’t speak ‘die taal’ but as an electrical engineer employed on the power lines he worked with a lot of Afrikaans people—making life ripe for misunderstandings. Often, my dad worked out in the gramadoelas. At the end of one of […]

Nontsikelelo Zwedala, an activist at the forefront of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) protests in the early 2000s, died this month at the age of 52. We asked Zackie Achmat, TAC leader at the time that Nontsikelelo was active in the organisation, to write an obituary for her. Our soft Ntsiki, with a will of […]

There’s nothing like a Parktown Prawn in the car on the way to school. “We’re going!”—mom bellows from the other side of the house. I lightning myself out of bed. Throw on my uniform (luckily, it’s summer—no tie), lurch for my school bag (praying I packed accurately the night before), will an apple into my […]

If there is one thing I love to remember about my childhood living in South Africa, it’s beach holidays… … waking up before the sun rose, bundling into the car and staring up at the night sky as we pulled out of the driveway, barely able to contain our excitement. Soon after leaving Joburg, we’d […]

In our efforts to be the most resilient nation who always bounces back, makes a power joke or memes of it all whilst hitting send just before load shedding, I feel as South Africans we are at times numb… writes Samantha Jacobs. We have so much to feel that is mostly, largely, out of our […]

A South African mom’s heartbreaking poem, written on the plane as she left South Africa to move abroad – went viral last year… because Lindi-Mae Humphreys’ words about the pain of leaving behind everything she knew and loved struck a chord with every South African who has left their beloved country to seek a safer […]

Proudly South African expat Hayley Reichert is gatvol. Below is her passionate letter to all South Africans, revealing alleged incompetency she has witnessed within SA’s foreign affairs department, DIRCO, whilst trying to aid South Africans in escaping Russia’s attack on Ukraine.  Dear fellow South Africans, Our government does not care about us, and they care […]

Old friend… when I saw you, just a few short weeks ago, I could see that your eyes had lost their sparkle. I wished to be wrong, but I knew, right away, that this was our last meeting. I did not linger, much. You were in no need of company. Just quietly standing… I could […]

Nobody yet knows what triggered South African mom Lauren Dickason to murder her three daughters on Thursday, just over a week after they began their new life in New Zealand… but another South African mom, living in Sudan, has written a heartfelt post sharing her own near-tragic personal experience that sheds some light on mental […]

South Africa’s “First Lady” of flowers, Rosemary Ladlau, has died at her home in KwaZulu-Natal, a month before her 95th birthday. Well known local author Erica Platter has written this beautiful tribute to a remarkable woman… Messages of condolence and appreciation for Rosemary’s inspirational life, and her talents as a flower arranger and gardener, have […]

Nicci Lombard and her family are hoping for a miracle within the next 24 hours so they can return home to South Africa from Vietnam, or they will face a heavy fine which they can’t afford when their visa runs out on 2 July. Like many SA expats in Asia, their dreams came tumbling down […]

Queen Elizabeth II wowed the world yesterday with her delightful choice of outfit for her breakfast meeting with US President Joe Biden and his wife Jill. Photos of a beaming Queen were flashed around the globe… and it didn’t take South Africans long to notice that matching her smile, was a dazzling brooch she was […]

After being wrongfully arrested in June 2019, for an attempted robbery he didn’t commit, 19-year-old Sihle from Table View, Cape Town, spent eight fearful months in custody while awaiting trial. During that time – disconnected from the world – Sihle’s mom tragically died in a car accident… and the home he had always known was […]

At first glance, Deon Dreyer from Roodepoort in Joburg looks like a normal, healthy, smart and energetic young boy… but what you wouldn’t know, is that the five-year-old is still wearing nappies as a result of a serious medical condition he has faced his whole life – Spina Bifida Myelomeningocele. He was born with the […]

I really enjoyed watching four days of Sky News coverage of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations (in 2012). You have to admit that when it comes to pomp and circumstance, organisation and events, the Brits do it better than anyone else in the world… writes Chris Moerdyk. But, did you notice how Queen Elizabeth actually looked like […]

Generous South Africans have clubbed in to make a terminally ill young boy’s dream come true – to own a Playstation 5. And it’s just in time for his 12th birthday on 9 March. Shaunie Pretorius, from Benoni, was sadly diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, and terminal type of brain cancer called Brainstem Glioma, in […]

I moved overseas to Germany in 2014, but like approximately 820,000 other SA ex-pats, my family still live in South Africa writes Anelia Heese. In order to stay in touch, we had to become experts in the nuances of digital communication. On a video call in my kitchen, I will ask my tannie how to […]

I wrote this on my personal Facebook page a few days ago, and from the responses realised that other South African ex-pats might be also affected by, or experiencing, this dynamic and so thought to share it writes Sandy Jonker Geyer. Last Tuesday COVID-19 took a much-loved member of our family. Buyiswa Zibi, a beautiful […]

Sean Williams and Lovemore Robson have been inspiring Gauteng with their incredible mission to clean up the litter around Lonehill and Fourways, and protect the planet… but it’s Lovemore’s first trip to the beach that’s creating the most waves in South Africa. The duo have been cleaning up the streets of the Joburg suburbs, and […]

Perhaps it has taken a small cruel virus to open my eyes… writes Steve Hall. This invisible thing has brought a new clarity to the vision I once had but maybe didn’t notice enough. Covid-19 arrived unwanted and indiscriminate, and no amount of border protection or customs officials could stem the tragedy of its travels. […]

Dear Family and Friends writes Cathy Buckle from Zimbabwe. I write this letter from a bitterly cold Zimbabwe where tension is high and people are anxious. There are 300,000 civil servants in Zimbabwe. A month ago they were promised a “cushioning” allowance of US$75 a month for the next three months and pensioners would get […]