After an extremely tough night fighting the #DeerParkFire on the mountain slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, firefighting volunteers from Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS) have been successfully stood down… and can now head out to their day jobs. But in Paarl, flames which began yesterday, are blazing and at least one building structure has […]

The Baboon Technical Team (BTT) has issued a plea to residents in the Western Cape to please NOT feed the baboons. Some well-meaning residents have wanted to help the baboons after fires ravaged the mountains around Cape Town last week, burning many of the pine trees in the Tokai Forest where the baboons lived. However […]

Less than a week after fires ravaged mountain slopes in the Western Cape, new life is beginning in the midst of the devastation…as shown by these photos taken a couple of days ago by South African trail runner Ryan Sandes. Sandes took the photos during a “morning adventure” up Black Burn Ravine. He said that after […]

Cinematographer/Photographer Calvin Munhuweyi has compiled a beautiful video tribute to the brave men and women in the fire services who have fought against the raging fires in Cape Town these past few days; while participants and spectators in Sunday’s Cape Town Cycle Tour are being urged to wear Red in solidarity. Calvin shot the footage […]

Many South Africans from around the world have said how difficult it is to be watching the #MuizenbergFire from afar, so we asked three photographers in Cape Town to allow us to share their experiences this week, so that others can feel a little closer. Thank you Tammy Lieberman, Shawn Benjamin and Andy Nix. Tammy Lieberman, Tammy […]

Flames destroy buildings, monuments and precious archives… By Ashraf Hendricks, James Stent and Nathan Geffen The burning of the University of Cape Town’s J.W. Jagger Library on 18 April could be one of South Africa’s greatest losses of memory. Many of the most precious records housed at the building may have been protected at lower […]

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has refuted  messages circulating on social media andWhatsApp… which are spreading fake news and misinformation on the #CapeFires. In a statement Saturday late afternoon, SAPS said: “Various fake news reports are being spread on social media and WhatsApp and are posing a huge threat on efforts to relieve and successfully counter the […]

Why are there so many fires in the Western Cape? This is the question so many South Africans are asking at the moment, with rumours and accusations swiftly doing the rounds on social media and around dinner tables from Cape Town to Stellenbosch. Many locals feel that the fires were never this bad, this persistent, this long-lasting. […]

Congratulations to Proteas wicket keeper Quinton de Kock for breaking the record for the fewest innings taken by a keeper batsman to reach 1,000 Test runs… which he accomplished in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday. He reached the mark during his knock of 101 on Tuesday, on day two of the Test against Sri Lanka. […]

These are the stories that proved the most popular on SAPeople.com during 2015… It was the year of the Rugby World Cup (RWC2015), xenophobia attacks and marches, Cape Fires and a spate of #MustFall hashtag campaigns from Zuma to Fees to Rain. It was also a year of goosebump moments from Springbok fans who made us […]

Following the devastating fires that ravaged the Southern Cape Peninsular in March this year, the flora is blooming and a new book, “The Cape Aflame” has been launched. The book features more than 200 iconic photographs by some of South Africa’s top professional and amateur photographers. “The Cape Aflame” tells the story of the Muizenberg Fire with first-hand accounts […]

Several parts of the Cape Peninsula’s parks have reopened to visitors, six months after devastating fires tore across Table Mountain and vast stretches of Constantia and Silvermine, and engulfed the mountainside above Muizenberg and False Bay. All of the Cape Peninsula, including Silvermine (which reopened yesterday), Table Mountain and the beaches as well as Cape Point, fall […]

Helicopter pilot and #CapeFire hero Willem Hendrik ‘Bees’ Marais will be laid to rest today. But he will never be forgotten by his friends, family and the people of Cape Town. A facebook page has been set up in dedication of ‘Oom Bees’, as he was fondly called; and a makeshift memorial of cards, letters […]

After battling raging fires in Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch since Monday afternoon, firefighters tonight thought they had managed to douse most of the flames and successfully contain the fire…but latest reports reveal that the fire is spreading. Christine De Villiers, who lives in the area, wrote to SAPeople late tonight saying “Sad news. The wind has blown the fire from Jonkershoek […]

We are heartbroken to report that a Working on Fire helicopter pilot – Hendrik Marais (known to his friends as ‘Bees’) – has lost his life fighting in the Cape Point fire today. Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS) said “we have tragically lost a brother in our firefighting family today. Hendrik Marais will be fondly remembered […]

To the relief of some – and disappointment of others – the Cape Town Cycle Tour on Sunday 8 March has been drastically shortened because of the raging fires on the South Peninsula. The race (which some still call the Argus even though Momentum and Pick ‘n Pay are major sponsors too) is renowned as the largest […]

As the City of Cape Town welcomed the drizzling rains that began to fall this morning, a new fire started up at the Cape Point Nature Reserve at Gifkommetjie and – although contained by National Parks – helicopters were grounded because of strong winds and poor visibility. Thirteen properties have now been damaged in the #MuizenbergFire. This is […]

As today is declared the hottest day in Cape Town’s recorded history the fire that began in the early hours of Sunday 1 March 2015 continues to ravage the mountain, with firefighters now battling over 14 separate fires. Temperatures today reached 42 degrees Celsius, according to the Weather Office, making Cape Town the hottest it’s been in at least […]