Protests at the Hoerskool Overvaal in Gauteng, South Africa, have been hijacked by racial bigots both black and white, turning an important legal question into a racially divisive and violent confrontation, says Democratic Alliance Leader Mmusi Maimane. He urged South Africans to pursue a reconciled SA and ignore the fringe racists who are dominating the […]

The Afrikaans internet sensation Radio Raps, as portrayed by Jonathan from the East Rand (Rikus de Beer), will now not only be available on smartphone and computer screens, but will also have his own reality TV programme, Die Radio Raps Show – available in South Africa and abroad. Fans of Radio Raps’s popular videos and voice notes can look […]

A touching moment of a group of wildlife rangers rescuing a baby elephant from a mud hole has made international news. The event took place on Saturday at Addo National Park in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The video was uploaded by Richard Gardiner who was filming from a lookout hide in the early afternoon. […]

Protests continued for a second day outside Hoërskool Overvaal in Vereeniging on Thursday. Demonstrators persisted with their demand for the school to scrap its Afrikaans-only language policy which they claim is used to exclude black learners. Learners arriving for school in the morning had to walk pass heavily armed riot police who kept watch outside […]

South African expat Julian Miller has a message for South Africa and for fellow SA expats as he leaves SA “after five glorious weeks traveling from Johannesburg to Plett to Cape Town to Pilanesberg and back to Johannesburg…” “The South African people made our holiday… especially the banter we had with everyone on a daily […]

This is our new normal in Cape Town… writes Sharon Laurenson. No matter where you live on our planet Earth, please be mindful of your water usage. Day Zero and there being NO water is becoming a real fear here. The City of Cape Town has just announced that from February we’re being reduced to […]

The City of Cape Town says it has reached a point of no return – Day Zero is now very likely, a punitive tariff is to be introduced to reduce demand and from February the restriction will be 50 litres per person per day! In a statement Thursday, Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille criticised […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to take action today to ensure that borders and airports are put on alert, in order to stop the Gupta family from trying to flee the country ahead of their reported imminent arrests. “We should not allow them to leave South Africa, and certainly […]

A South African woman has been seriously injured in an attack by a male leopard at Matopi 1 Camp on the Botswana side of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Unusually, she was inside her tent when the attack took place. This account of the attack was posted on 4x4community.co.za forum: On the night of the 4th of January my […]

An enthusiastic adventure conservationist (very) bravely helped rescue a Kudu caught in a fence in Botswana. Grant Pengilly, a South African field guide and helicopter pilot from Wild Wonderful World, says in a caption on YouTube: “After leaving the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, we came across a young male Kudu caught in a fence. “With […]

A poem written by a 12-year-old Herschel Girls’ School learner, Nina Tsinonis, is going viral since her mom, Amanda, posted it on Facebook. Parenting groups have been sharing the poem – about being a bystander to bullying – and mothers have been reading it with their school-going children… because of the poignant and powerful message […]

The Presidency has rejected allegations that President Jacob Zuma wants former AU Commission chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, to be appointed as Deputy President of the country. Dlamini Zuma recently ran for ANC President, a race that was eventually won by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa and President Zuma met on 7 January at Dr […]

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) is meeting Monday with officials from the Embassy of the United States of America in Pretoria, following the recent disturbing comments attributed to President Donald Trump. DIRCO said it will provide an opportunity to the Charges de Affaires (the second in charge) to explain the statement by […]

A week after the H&M ‘Coolest Monkey’ ad controversy made headlines and caused boycotts around the world, the DA has decided to  write to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to lodge an official complaint against the retail giant for “the racist advert involving a black child modelling a racially-insensitive hoodie”. On Saturday the EFF […]

Here’s this week’s Carte Blanche line-up, available for South Africans living abroad from Tuesday – 16 January 2018 – if you subscribe to Showmax International. (You can try their free 14-day trial first.) Watch the trailer at the bottom of page. The State Capture Inquiry State Capture: it’s the story of one shocking revelation after another, […]

We’ve just returned to Canada after spending almost four weeks in South Africa… writes Daleen Loest. We spent some time in Gauteng and then toured the Western Cape and the West Coast. Man, what a breathtaking place South Africa is! We never felt unsafe, and people were friendly, helpful and just plain awesome all the way. […]

SOUTH AFRICA – Yesterday was the 115th anniversary of the birth of the author Alan Paton, who was honoured in a Google doodle that showed him looking pensively out of a train window at hills that are lovely beyond any singing… writes Gus Silber. The doodle quite brilliantly captured Paton’s flinty, thin-lipped severity of countenance, […]

For Showmax overseas subscribers, January just got better. South Africans living abroad are able to tune in to all their favourite shows from home by subscribing here… with a host of top new series launching this month! From travel shows to historical documentaries to hilarious sitcoms to real-life, deliciously juicy talk shows, the new kykNET […]

Why is it that when the West was turning away from direct colonialism in the mid-20th century, South Africa shifted to apartheid, an intensified form of this heinous system? One of the answers lies in the country’s history of colonisation by two contending settler classes – the Dutch and the British. The Dutch, or Boer, […]

Dale Steyn has been ruled out of bowling in the ongoing Test match against India due to a heel injury sustained on the second day of play at PPC Newlands on Saturday. The fast bowler landed awkwardly in footmarks while bowling shortly before the tea break, with subsequent scans confirming tissue damage to the foot. […]

Elders, the best-selling Afrikaans book about the Camino pilgrimage in Spain by writer, journalist and TV presenter Erns Grundling, is the inspiration behind Elders: Die Camino, a documentary series launching on KykNET and Showmax this January (and available to South Africans abroad – subscribe here!). The book is based on Erns Grundling’s personal experience along the […]

Thousands visit Sea Point pool, one of the few municipal pools in Cape Town operating during the drought. Because it uses sea water, the Sea Point Pavilion has been one of the few municipal pools open during the summer school holidays. Barry Christianson photographed Capetonians enjoying this famous public space. Families from all over Cape […]

Newlywed South African expats – Marelize and Ryan – were hoping to capture the “perfect couple photo” whilst on holiday back home… but instead ended up with broken bones and a visit to hospital when they were washed off the rocks they were posing on. The couple has kindly agreed to share their video with […]

The 2017 National Senior Certificate (NSC) overall pass rate is 75.1%, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga announced on Thursday evening… although the Democratic Alliance (DA) says this is not a reflection of the true matric pass rate. The DA said: “While the pass rate of 75.1% may seem satisfactory, Minister Motshekga has not sufficiently […]

This year’s annual Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Second New Year) celebration – on Tuesday 02 January 2018 – was as brilliant as usual… providing a colourful display to the crowds, as over 13,000 dancers took to the streets of Cape Town to celebrate what’s known as the Kaapse Klopse Carnival. Oday Mtour captured these spectacular photographs… The Carnival’s […]