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 […]

It was a beautiful day when Nelson Mandela and I met at his home in the late 1990s to brainstorm the programme of the Smile Foundation, writes Marc Lubner, one of SA’s leading philanthropists and Group CEO of Afrika Tikkun. As we fired off ideas at one another, our former president fell quiet for a […]

From his humble beginnings living in the backroom of a baseball clubhouse to walking out on the field as the first continental African to play Major League baseball, Gift Ngoepe’s life sounds like it’s been taken straight out of a Hollywood script. His story of passion meeting destiny is captured in the new documentary Africa’s […]

I left South Africa with my young child in October 2019 because of the worsening economy, minority group-killings and daily dangers such as high-jacking, robberies, theft and rape… writes an SA mom, who prefers to remain anonymous. It’s a daunting thing to raise a child under these circumstances… and not knowing with certainty if your […]

The successful rescue of a dog stranded on Table Mountain has gone viral in South Africa. During a time when the nation is yearning for good news, this beautiful story hit the spot. The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon, 16 June, when Wilderness Search And Rescue (WSAR) were activated just before 15h00 by a […]

For anyone who’s been lucky enough to visit Dalebrook Tidal Pool in Kalk Bay, South Africa, recently – they would have witnessed the breathtaking – almost spiritual – scene of stone sculptures rising stoically against the backdrop of  the beautiful Western Cape skyline. There are at least 50 of them, created with love by a […]

To take the shortest route to the shops and to school, shack dwellers of Elias Motsoaledi informal settlement in Soweto had to cross a deep gully with a polluted stream. Although only a few metres wide it could be treacherous. In the summer rains, it was prone to flooding. People fell and had to have […]

Two good friends and passionate golfers – South African Laurence Wells, who caddied on the European Tour for over 15 years and Australian Brian Nilsson who is still caddying on the same tour since 2000 – have teamed up away from the fairways of the world during the Coronavirus pandemic, to auction some of their […]

A Bloemfontein mother’s open letter to the SA president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is striking a chord with South Africans around the nation. Writing in Afrikaans, Cathy de Lange, a blogger and owner of Meringue Mama, says she knows the chance of the president reading her letter is very slim, but that the message was heavy on […]

A short film by a South African expat about the empowerment, courage and inspiration that can come from immigrating has been nominated for multiple awards at a film festival in the United States. The film – ‘Helen’s Birthday’ – looks at positive immigration, and tells the true story of South African expat Helen April’s journey […]

Joseph Shabalala was the affable leader of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a men’s group that sang isicathamiya, a traditional Zulu genre of South African a cappella. Even with heavy hearts at his passing, a lot of South Africans know they are much richer for his time in the world. For the group he formed, for making […]

There are many forms of hatred and exclusion in our world. There is fear of strangers, fear of foreigners, fear of other races, fear of people with other languages, cultures or religions… says former ConCourt judge Edwin Cameron. On the basis of many of these fears, we build exclusions. We ostracise people. We push them […]

To SAA Airlines, I flew out of LAGOS / NIGERIA with your airline last night – writes Louis de Jager – and I just wanted to say it was unbelievable!!! THE SERVICE WAS INCREDIBLY GOOD!!!! My back was hurting and I couldn’t walk, so I had to get help between flights – I had a […]

Three years ago, I had just survived an extremely rare form of brain cancer that put me in a group of less than 120 recorded survivors in the history of the planet… writes renowned South African speaker, endurance athlete and stage four cancer survivor Richard Wright. Earlier that year when I was told that I […]

At the end of winter 2019, we have a lot to be negative about… writes Steve Hall. And not just in South Africa. Europe has no clue, Britain has no plan, and The US, it would seem, has no morals. If there was a single country doing well right now, their celebration will be short […]

I am not sure how to tell this in a FB-length post, at least at the level of emotional turbulence with which this happened… writes award-winning South African novelist, playwright and journalist Steven Sidley. On Friday night we have a dinner party [in Johannesburg, South Africa]. A few friends over for chicken and wine. Seven […]

A talented young rugby player in Grade 11 has been selected to compete in Argentina with the South African Apcan team… but his ‘rainbow’ family – who adopted him when he was a baby – sadly don’t have enough money to pay for the trip. He’s not giving up on his dream though. Tim believes […]

Cindy September, Western Cape creator of the Fallen Angels’ List (which pays tribute to those who have been killed in South Africa), has compiled another List today – on her 40th birthday – that celebrates life. As she reached this latest milestone in her life, Cindy asked herself: What lessons have I learned? “Here’s my […]

My name is Cindy September and I am the woman behind The List of Fallen Angels. I hail from Robertson, a small town in the Western Cape, and I was raised by two very socially conscious parents, both teachers, who during the Teachers’ strike in 1993, would rally my sisters and I to attend marches… […]

Dear South Africans – many of you have had enough with the crime, corruption, and lack of opportunities you face every day… writes Canadian expat, living in SA, Phil Maloney. Nobody can fault you for wanting to leave. I’ve had several friends already pull the trigger, several more who are in the middle of planning […]

A Port Elizabeth woman, Lindi-Mae Humphreys, has shared the harrowing details of her near abduction on Tuesday 27 August in the hope that her reaction will help prevent at least one abduction, one rape, one hijacking or one murder. In a Facebook post on Thursday evening, Lindi-Mae (who owns a swim school in PE), revealed […]

Kindness is contagious. Especially with children, writes South African expat, best-selling author and motivational speaker Trevor Romain. It’s amazing how empathetic children can be, especially when inspired to be so. Over the years of working with children, I have discovered that sometimes all a child needs, to be empathetic and kind, is permission and a […]

It’s been exactly two years since local residents spotted a black and white cat being callously placed into a storm water drain by an unidentified man, near to the Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha, South Africa. The clinic had already closed for the day… but luckily two members of staff were still on site when […]

A group of Capetonian firefighters who saved the life of a little baby in South Africa two weeks ago, enjoyed a tearful reunion with the baby and her grateful mom last week. The firefighters, based at Belhar fire station, made national news on 1 June with their lifesaving heroics… when they were called on to […]

Lizzy was born on the other side of town, on a farm called Noorspoort, owned by the legendary Craven family. “I learnt from my mother how to bake and cook. She in turn learnt it from old Mrs Maria Craven, [rugby legend] Doc Danie Craven’s wife. “Later on I worked on another farm at Baroe, […]