Cape Town held its 22nd International Kite Festival over the weekend, with awesome creations flying high in Muizenberg, as seen here in photos taken by ZAAHID APPOLES. The annual festival attracts kiters from around the world, as well as thousands of locals who come to enjoy the kites and family entertainment. The event is hosted […]

There’s one more exquisite reason to visit the Western Cape – a magnificent rose garden with 80 different rose varieties was opened today at Vergelegen Estate in Somerset West. The wine estate, which is over three centuries old, already has 18 beautiful gardens over 10 hectares and draws at least 100,000 visitors annually, half of whom are […]

Isn’t this gorgeous… and only in South Africa (well, maybe other parts of the continent too). Jana Coetzee, a nurse with a heart as big as Africa, posted these photos of herself at work in the pediatric oncology unit at Netcare Unitas Hospital in Centurion, Pretoria. Her caption read: “When your patient doesn’t want to leave you […]

PRETORIA – The total number of children born in South Africa is declining, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Thursday. They also revealed the most popular names for babies with Junior heading the list for boys, and Precious for girls. The most popular baby name for males in 2015 was Junior, followed by Blessing and […]

With its evening gowns, celebrity judges and tears of joy, the beauty pageant in Kenya’s capital was like others elsewhere, except for one thing – all 20 contestants who strutted, sashayed and swaggered down the catwalk had albinism. In the world’s first contest of its kind, 10 men and 10 women competed in the Mr […]

The first trailer for ‘Mandela’s Gun’ has just been released, ahead of its world premiere on Friday night, 28 October, when it opens the inaugural Joburg Film Festival. The film stars SAFTA-winner, Tumisho Masha, as the first South African to play Nelson Mandela in the lead role of a major film. Mandela’s Gun is both a spy thriller […]

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma fell asleep in Parliament yesterday during Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s very important mid-term budget speech! Parliament cameras caught the 74-year-old President napping at around one hour and 14 minutes into the speech at the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon Other ministers (some of whom appeared to nod off momentarily as well) […]

CAPE TOWN – The #FeesMustFall march to Cape Town Parliament today turned violent when police and protesters clashed throughout the afternoon in the CBD, resulting in several terrifying scenes including an incident at MacDonalds fast food restaurant. Photographer JUSTIN SULLIVAN witnessed and photographed a “terrifying incident [which] occurred at the MacDonalds, where a family sitting close […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain on Tuesday gave Heathrow Airport the green light to build a new $22 billion (18 billion pounds) runway, ending 25 years of indecision with the most ambitious option available to boost global trade links following the vote to leave the EU. Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, had been battling with its smaller […]

If you’re looking for a taste of home, savour this video – with majestic scenery, wonderful wildlife, South African sunsets… and to top it all, a reading of ‘The Real Africa’ poem that will give you goosebumps. The footage was filmed around Durban, St. Lucia wetland and the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve. Rhys Scott-Dawkins produced the video for his company, […]

The old Top Gear team reckon they visited South Africa the most “because the three of us like coming here more than anywhere else in the world”. During an interview in South Africa, when Jeremy Clarkson was still part of the team, he and teammates James May and Richard Hammond said they can’t even decide which city is […]

South Africa’s most iconic rock singer, PJ Powers, will tour the UK to launch an online mentoring programme for disadvantaged South Africans… in an initiative that would make Nelson Mandela proud; and which is set to inspire a new way of giving that lets South African expats contribute to the homeland they still love so […]

A terminally ill little boy’s dream came true in Durban recently, thanks to the efforts of Little Fighters Cancer Trust, GEMS, Netcare 911, uShaka Marine World and King Shaka International Airport. Seven-year-old Muhammad Hussain, from Port Elizabeth, is sadly suffering from terminal cancer. He has been battling for his life since the tender age of six months […]

While student #FeesMustFall protests have swept university campuses around South Africa, polarising those who support the movement and those who don’t; one student’s efforts to bridge the gap and conquer all with love has gone viral. Since posting on social media, Rynaard de Goede’s video “Love overcomes” has been viewed over 30,000 times on YouTube and […]

The polarising effects of #FeesMustFall are now pervasive in the academy, and probably beyond. Academics turn on each other, as do their schools and faculties. Whole universities are pitted against one another – the “Wits option” vs the “UCT option”. Some academics are accused of being blindly supportive of “the innocent students” and parading their […]

South Africa’s two 2016 Olympic gold medallists – Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya – have been nominated for the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) World Athletes of the Year Award! The public has until 1 November to cast our votes!!! Wayde won the 400 metres in Rio (breaking a world record!) and his […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says the ANC has to choose: it’s either Zuma or South Africa. The opposition party is once again tabling a motion of no-confidence in South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma in the National Assembly. The DA said: “It is our duty, as the official opposition, to defend the well-being of our country […]

Top South African referees Craig Joubert, Marius van der Westhuizen and Jaco Peyper have each been tasked with taking charge of two Test matches in the November internationals. World Rugby said Joubert will officiate the clash between Wales and Australia at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 5 November and the Test between Fiji and […]

If you’re travelling to South Africa, please take note – South African Airways (SAA) on Tuesday announced the prohibition of the use of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 mobile phone on all of its flights as of this week. “SAA has taken a decision to prohibit the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. The decision has been […]

South Africans have one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Passports in the World! And the most powerful passport on the African continent. That’s right! South African citizens are able to enter a full 90 countries across the world without a visa, and able to gain a visa on arrival at a further 31 countries. This […]

Cape Town’s skyline is set to transform over the next few years with proposed luxury hotels and a skyscraper that’ll boast breathtaking 360 degree views over South Africa’s – and one of the world’s – favourite holiday destinations. According to Pam Golding Properties, there is an unprecedented surge in property investments in Cape Town’s CBD (central business district), with projects valued […]

At a time when decolonisation, part of which involves changing the content of what’s taught, is dominating debate at many universities, the discipline of mathematics presents an interesting case. But it’s not obvious how mathematics can be decolonised at the level of content. This means that those within the discipline must consider other aspects: curriculum processes, […]

Sometimes fans can spoil a good thing, and a post published yesterday on Facebook as a presumably well-intentioned salute to the good that the Democratic Alliance (DA) is doing in Joburg, is currently backfiring. The post – which appears to show how much the DA has cleaned up the streets of Joburg since they took over […]

South Africa is playing host Monday to the 30th Anniversary Service of the late Mozambican President Samora Machel, who died in a plane crash over South African soil on 19 October 1986, along with 34 others. Only nine survived the crash at Mbuzini, Mpumalanga. Questions still hang over the crash today, with some suspecting it was not […]

Wildlife photographer Shane Wolf got the fright of his life when this elephant crashed into him during a safari visit to Zimbabwe last year. Writing on his Instagram page – @wolfography – Shane said: “My #1 experience from 2015 is none other than my close encounter with an elephant in Mana Pools Zimbabwe. These animals are among […]