“It’s not easy to talk about Madiba,” Ahmed Kathrada said at the third Mandela Colloquium in Johannesburg this week. And then proceeded to spend almost an hour talking about his affectionate memories of Nelson Mandela, mostly in the present tense – perhaps giving a sense how present Mandela still is in his life, even after […]

A fabulously evocative and vibrant South African painting sold for over a million pounds in London this week! ‘Zanzibar Woman’ by Irma Stern (1894-1966) was auctioned at the prestigious Bonhams sale of South African art for a total of £1,082,500 (R19,289,760). Irma painted this portrait, an oil on canvas, during her 1939 trip to the […]

As the Oscar Pistorius trial continues, with some describing it as oscillating between ‘gore’ and ‘bore’, so too does the trial of South Africa, with Brand SA Manager Simon Barber being the latest to step up and defend the country from being branded a “failed state”. American lawyer and outspoken political commentator, Alan Dershowitz, marched […]

Ever wondered just how many flights take off from Heathrow each day and how frequently; or how many passengers are bustling through that busy airport daily? Well, South African author Robert Wicks has recently put the finishing touches to a book which answers these questions and more; revealing the inner workings of the world’s busiest […]

Two major wheelchair tennis tournaments are set to be staged in South Africa next month: the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) Gauteng Open and the Acsa SA Open. Many of the world’s leading players will be in action. The Acsa Gauteng Open will be played at the Gauteng East Tennis Centre at Benoni Lake from […]

Johannesburg is the top tweeting city in Africa, with two other South African cities among the continent’s top five Twitter centres, according to the second How Africa Tweets study from communications company Portland.  The study, released by London-, New York- and Nairobi-based Portand on Tuesday, analysed geo-located tweets originating from Africa during the last three months of […]

Nolan Hoffman claimed his first win in the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour and Cherise Stander her third victory in the women’s race in Cape Town on Sunday. The Cycle Tour, which starts and finishes in Cape Town and takes place around the picturesque Cape Peninsula, is the largest individually timed cycle race […]

Congratulations to Carina Bruwer and the 14 swimmers who braved rough and cold waters yesterday to swim around Cape Point in the ‘Swim for Hope’. All the swimmers who took part in one of the world’s most extreme open water challenges successfully completed the 8 km swim AND broke male and female records along the […]

Graeme Smith stepped down from test cricket after 109 matches in charge of the Proteas, as Australia handed South Africa their first series defeat in five years by winning the third test at Newlands on Wednesday. Australia’s 245-run victory was far from easy and almost didn’t happen as the Proteas put up stiff resistance before […]

Fifteen brave swimmers from all walks of life will take on one of the most extreme open water swimming challenges in South African waters this morning. All for charity. They’re raising money to support the Little Fighters Cancer Trust, a local charity that offers support to children with cancer and to their families. The group […]

The multi-award winning globally renowned Soweto Gospel Choir will perform at a special Nelson Mandela tribute at Westminster Abbey in London today. Archbishop Desmond Tutu will also be in attendance.  The special Service of Thanksgiving to Celebrate the Life and Work of Nelson Mandela will be held at Westminster Abbey today at 12 noon. The South African […]

A group of Hollywood heavyweights has arrived in South Africa – looking to spend their film and TV production budgets in the country. With that as their mission, the four American executives met South African production professionals at National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) headquarters in Houghton in Johannesburg, before travelling down to Cape Town […]

South African rapper JACK PAROW, riding high on the success of his newly released album, Nag van die Lang Pette, is opening for international rap star Eminem tonight. Jack Parow will be opening for Eminem tonight at the Cape Town Stadium and at Ellis Park on Saturday night.  ”It’s an honour.  I’m super amped to play with him.  […]

Three award-winning restaurants, a lauded cook book, and a big heart mean Reuben Riffel will long be one of South Africa’s favourite chefs.He grew up in Groendal, in Franschhoek – renowned for its beauty and world-leading wines and restaurants – in the Western Cape, and from an early age reaped the joys of a large […]

Dr Taddy Blecher is a pioneer of the free tertiary education movement in South Africa. A man with a great vision, he believes that with an inwards-out approach to life, everyone has the ability to be successful. A philanthropic social entrepreneur, also known as the transcendental crusader, who looks like Harry Potter, Blecher is a bubble of energy […]

Andy Birkett and partner Sbonelo Zondi won the 2014 Dusi Canoe Marathon on Saturday, and 23-year-old Birkett joined an elite group of under-25s who can proudly boast their Dusi green numbers – an honour given to those who finish 10 marathons. A handful of youngsters have done 10 Dusis by their mid-20s, some having started […]

Two South African students have been named as finalists in the Student Focus competition of the Sony World Photography Awards – Tara Mette from Stellenbosch Academy of Design & Photography, and Russell Bruns from Rhodes University. The ten finalists were announced today by the World Photography Organisation. The Student Focus competition is one of the largest […]

South African tennis star Raven Klaasen continued his outstanding start to 2014 when he and partner Eric Butorac teamed up to capture the doubles title at the US National Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis, USA, on Sunday. Seeded second, Butorac and Klaasen upset the top seeds and world number one pairing of Bob and Mike […]

The Big Apple will welcome South Africa for three weeks in October, when the city’s iconic Carnegie Hall will host a music and arts festival focusing on the nation, called Ubuntu. An exciting array of events has been planned for the famous space and for partner venues throughout New York City. Audiences will be able to explore the dynamic and […]

Around 800 photographs that “require a double take” and “slow you down and call for a response” fill two floors of Museum Africa in Johannesburg, in a monumental exhibition entitled Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life. Opening on Thursday 13 February, the exhibition features almost all South Africa’s significant photographers, […]

The Queen’s Baton Relay is in South Africa stirring up enthusiasm for the Commonwealth Games as well as creating fantastic photo opportunities. The Relay symbolises the coming together and showcasing of all 70 Commonwealth nations and territories, in preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow which will be held later this year from 23 July […]

Like many young South Africans, Tanja Kappler had dreams of a life in Hollywood’s film industry, but after a six-month stint in Los Angeles, she realised it wasn’t for her. And so she moved to Barcelona and started taking beautiful photographs. Here she talks to SAPeople about life in a non-English country, her passion for photography […]

  Nine years ago Heshan de Silva was a suicidal, alcoholic, drug-addicted dropout. Seven years ago he used US$116 to start a small insurance business. Today the 25-year-old Kenyan venture capitalist, founder of the De Silva Group, is worth over $10-million. The De Silva Group is the holding company for DSGVenCap, a firm that makes seed […]

British director and Cannes and Venice film festival favorite Peter Greenaway has started lensing one of his most anticipated projects in Guanajuato, Mexico. The biopic of film director Sergei Eisenstein titled ‘Eisenstein In Guanajuato’.  The film stars former Capetonian resident and South African born and raised (for twenty years), Stelio Savante. Savante is best known […]

Zarni de Wet has a beautiful voice. American musician John Mayer says  “I just want to hear it again”. And we thought you may want to hear it too.  The 24-year-old singer-songwriter tells SAPeople about the inspiration behind her song ‘Feel Something’, her move to America, and the bittersweet importance of feelings. So, what was […]