A non-profit organisation that works with teachers in the Western Cape’s poorest areas to improve the quality of teaching and learning in maths and science is getting international recognition. The Western Cape Primary Science Programme (PSP), with over 30-years’ experience in the field, received the Global Best award for science, technology, engineering and maths in […]

Every year thousands of tourists flock to the Arctic to view the psychedelic swirling skies of the aurora borealis, or northern lights. But few know that this beautiful display is actually a geomagnetic solar superstorm in our atmosphere.   This general lack of knowledge of the sun’s effect on our atmosphere is why the South […]

African music, Nelson Mandela once said, is about the aspirations of Africa. “The curious beauty of African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. You may be poor, you may have only a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope.” A collection of […]

Peter Tshisevhe is more than just a poor boy from a poor family. He is one of the best mergers and acquisitions lawyers in the world, his success allowing him to inspire and sponsor talented youngsters from his rural home of Tshakhuma. The lesson he teaches the kids he mentors is that they are more […]

South Africa’s top jazz acts, including legendary jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, will be showcasing the country’s cultural zeitgeist at the prestigious annual EFG London Jazz Festival, which kicks off today, 14 November. This year’s top South African acts will be featured as part of the SA Season in the UK, a programme which is designed to […]

Turn up the videos below and watch the Loeriesfontein dancers having a blast at the recent ‘Rieldans’ competition in Clanwilliam in the Western Cape, South Africa. Rieldans is one of South Africa’s oldest dancing styles and can be traced back to the Khoi San of the Cape. It’s danced at a highly energetic pace with […]

A Norwegian group has made a brilliant video spoof, highlighting the fact that stereotypes about Africa harm dignity, and calling on viewers to challenge the perceptions and vote for better fundraising campaigns that don’t perpetuate debilitating myths of Africa. The video opens with a scene from a “reality show” in which volunteers race to throw food at “starving” […]

The much-anticipated trailer for Chappie is finally here! And it looks like South African Canadian writer-director Neill Blomkamp has got his mojo back.  Blomkamp has returned to his much-loved bizarre sci-fi roots that earned his directorial debut District 9 an Oscar nomination. His second film Elysium, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, was less enthusiastically received. But […]

For the next three months an African country will be run by a white man, the first since Paul Berenger became prime minister of Mauritius in 2003. The death of President Michael Sata in a London hospital on 28 October has elevated his deputy, 70-year-old Dr Guy Scott, to the most powerful office in Zambia. […]

After years of talking about it, months of organising it, and one crazy day of filming it – Durbanite Marc Williams has produced a Zombie short film just in time to get us in the mood for Halloween. The film – which lasts about six minutes – took Marc an entire year of on and off editing…but […]

The 2014 edition of the HSBC Expat Explorer survey spins a really good story for South Africa. Expatriate workers looking for a balance between work and a decent family life rated South Africa the second best destination in the world, after New Zealand. The annual survey measures four categories: earnings, lifestyle, raising children and the […]

Most of us, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, have complained at some point about the ‘thieving’ monkeys in South Africa who brazenly enter our homes and steal our bananas. But deep down we’re secretly a little fond of them. We admire their agility, apparent humour and ability to outwit us! And we quite enjoy the fact that […]

That South Africa punches well above its weight in the global luxury travel market was again confirmed with the release of this year’s prestigious Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards.The country garnered the top spot in the best 100 hotels and resorts, and Cape Town was voted fourth out of the world’s 25 must-see cities. […]

Dr Buyisiwe Sondezi, a student at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), is the first woman in Africa to be awarded a doctoral degree in experimental physics of highly correlated matter. Sondezi graduated as a Doctor of Physics at UJ in September this year. The title of her thesis was “The physical properties of ferromagnetic CeTX […]

A very cool art installation has been erected on the Sea Point Promenade in Cape Town. It’s called Rhinosaur, and when you first see it you won’t know why.  Bev Tromp,  a South African expat who recently holidayed in Cape Town from her new base in the UK, took these photos and said, “At first it looks like a […]

As the developers of the super-cool Maboneng Precinct in Johannesburg, led by Jonathan Liebmann, take hold of Durban and transform the Rivertown district into a similar wonderland of galleries, restaurants and boutiques…it’s worth noting that Durban already has some pretty cool places, with three restaurants having been launched in the last month or so that are sure […]

Fashion designer, pop star, wife of the world’s most famous football player – and now UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador – Victoria Beckham has pledged to help the “wonderful” young women  in Soweto and to raise awareness about the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV. The former Spice Girl was moved to make the announcement during her […]

The Solms Delta wine estate in Franschhoek, in the Western Cape, goes by a tag line that says the farm is much more than just a wine estate. True to its word, Solms-Delta does not only produce classical wines, but classical music as well. The wine estate is located in the picturesque Franschhoek Valley, a […]

A set of five limited-edition lithograph prints of Robben Island prison scenes painted by South African statesman Nelson Mandela over 13 years ago fetched £13 500 – over R240 000 – at Bellmans Auctioneers in West Sussex, England, on Wednesday 8 October. Mandela, who died last year at the age of 95, spent 18 of […]

Type “is Africa ” into Google and auto complete is likely to offer something like this: That’s right: questions of hopelessness or ignorance that could only come from outside the continent. (The answer to all four, by the way, is no.) For too long external perspectives have determined Africa’s narrative by only telling stories of […]

Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary since Mark B*’s son was taken from him by his wife in a kidnapping situation which has become increasingly common for South Africans who live abroad, when one parent wishes to return to SA…and which is part of the motivation by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to implement stricter border controls […]

Photographer Nic Aberdein captured these awesome photos during the recent swell in Durban. Experienced local big wave charger Ricky Basnett welcomed the conditions… Grant Twiggy Baker cashed in on every surfer’s perfect dream… Durban charger Murray Holland was on a nugget! Morning view of another perfect day in Surf city… Wave selection was vital! Not all the […]

The baby balm market is big business, if the success of South African start-up Oh- lief is anything to go by. The natural and organic beauty and baby product range went from being a modest home-based word-of-mouth success to an international brand in just four years, earning founders Louiza Rademan and Christine Buchanan R1-million from […]

Joy Activist and Laughter Coach, Sue Jameson, has just laughed her way into first place – in an international competition – with her brilliant proposal that will help turn Joburg, the so-called Unfriendliest city in the world, into JoyBurg, the city of Joy. Sue had been saddened to read that Joburg  had been named as the unfriendliest […]

Still Life with African Woman, a work by South African ​expressionist Irma Stern, fetched R17,6-million at an art auction in London on Wednesday. The Bonhams London’s biannual South African sale was dominated by Stern once again, with nine of her paintings on sale. African Woman, in a replica Zanzibari frame, fetched the top price of £962 500. […]