Winnie Mandela, a film about the personal and political life of the activist and ex-wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela, will open in South Africa on 7 March, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) said in a statement on Monday. Starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson in the title role and Terrence […]

If one is seeking contenders to prevent Chad Ho from extending his run of four successive victories in the aQuelle Midmar Mile, look no further than two-time champion Troyden Prinsloo, who is looking forward to an opportunity to record a third victory in the world’s largest open water swimming event. A two-time Olympian, Prinsloo contested […]

Matt Cavanaugh’s TapShoot application allows mobile phone users to take photographs via remote control so that no-one is left out of the picture. A Windows phone developer based in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Cavanaugh’s app earned him runner-up status in the Nokia Future/Capture contest, held in Sweden in 2013. The contest is a forum for Windows phone developers to […]

Ladysmith Black Mambazo has dedicated their latest Grammy award to the memory and legacy of former president Nelson Mandela, news agency AFP said on Monday. The traditional isicathamiya group shared the award with “flamenco fusionists” The Gipsy Kings for “best world music album” for their record Singing for Peace Around the World at the awards in Los Angeles in […]

South African wheelchair tennis star Lucas Sithole claimed runners-up finishes in both the quad singles and doubles at the Australian Open, becoming the first African to reach the final of both events at the first Grand Slam of the year.  Sithole faced world number one David Wagner in the final for the singles title, with […]

The Soweto Canoe and Recreation Club (Scarc) is aiming to make waves at this year’s Dusi Canoe Marathon, with a club record 20 members taking part in the event, including former podium finisher Loveday Zondi. With canoeing increasing in popularity among black South Africans, Scarc club captain and coach Nkosi Mzolo is optimistic about the […]

South African project myHandsandHeart, an online and mobile platform for matching organisations and youth volunteers, was named on Tuesday as one of six winners of a global competition for local initiatives that are having a positive impact on their communities. The competition, dubbed the Shaping a Better Future challenge, was open to members of the […]

South African tennis star Raven Klaasen is through to the doubles final of the Australian Open after he and his American partner Eric Butorac cruised past eighth seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor in the semi-finals in Melbourne on Thursday. It has been a marvellous run for the unseeded pair, highlighted by their 7-6, 6-4 […]

South African actor Stelio Savante has just joined the cast of one of Peter Greenaway’s most highly anticipated films, Eisenstein in Guanajuato, which begins principle photography early 2014. The film highlights ten days during Eisenstein’s stay in Mexico that shook his life up. Greenaway is a four time Palme d’Or nominee, won “Best Artistic Contribution” at Cannes […]

Nthabiseng Hibbert is an ordinary South African woman who, for the past two decades, has lived in a modest home in Katlehong, one of the country’s largest – and poorest – black urban townships, some 35 kilometres east of Johannesburg. Fluent in English, Afrikaans and Sesotho, only one thing sets her apart from her neighbours: […]

In many of the photographs of Nelson Mandela, there is a familiar blonde woman standing to one side, a quiet but unmissable presence. The woman is Zelda La Grange, Mandela’s personal assistant, private secretary and rock. Her story is one that reflects the history of South Africa. She grew up with all the privileges of […]

The shortest distance between Mozambique and Madagascar is about 500 kilometres – a long way. But not long enough to deter two South Africans from swimming the distance over a month in March, in what will be a world first. No-one has swum this stretch of the Indian Ocean, and no-one has swum this distance […]

Casting real life gangsters in iNumber Number was a clever move; it turns the feature film into a believable slice of life that has caught the eye of Universal Pictures. The American movie studio has optioned the remake rights. It’s a fast-paced action thriller, in which the characters spiral into an abyss of corruption. In the iNumber Number world, the […]

The Sharks are coming to London! The KwaZulu Natal rugby union team will be playing Saracens on the 25th of January 2014 at 3pm as part of their preparations for the upcoming Super Rugby campaign. This clash of the hemispheres will take place at the Allianz Park which is situated in the Barnet Borough of London. The […]

Steven Bantu  Biko would have been 67 years old today. But he died at the hands of the apartheid security police at the age of 31. He was born just outside King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape in 1948 and was a tall, handsome man with a charismatic personality. Biko was a founder member of […]

“The world has lost a visionary leader, a courageous voice for justice, and a clear moral compass. By showing us that the path to freedom and human dignity lies in love, wisdom and compassion for one another, Nelson Mandela stands as an inspiration to us all,” says Kofi Annan, the former secretary-general of the United Nations and the […]

His ragged pants and vest and grimy headband make Samson the kind of kid you cross the road to avoid. Too-big boxing gloves and the inflexibility of his stare do not help dispel the notion that Samson is a bully bruising for a fight. First impressions would be wrong though. Nine-year-old Samson lives on the […]

Madiba’s journey home to his village of Qunu, where he will be buried on Sunday, began at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday 10 December as a glass-sided hearse carried his flag-draped coffin through the streets of the capital to the Union Buildings. There, the seat of government and the scene of his inauguration […]

Innovative products and ideas from South Africa have transformed lives; South African inventors have made pool cleaning simpler with the Kreepy Krauly; South African doctors (including Dr Chris Barnard) have made heart transplants possible, and a young South African, Ludwick Marishane, has made it possible to bathe without water. Innovation proposes novel solutions to everyday needs, and helps […]

  Clay is usually used to make bricks or mould beautiful ceramic creations. It’s not something most people think of putting into a jar and using as a cosmetic. But Adolphina Setsena, one of the winners of the South African Breweries Foundation Social Innovation Awards of 2013, finds it as natural as brushing your teeth […]

South African author Anita Pouroulis has won one of children’s publishing’s top awards for her picture book ‘Oh, What a Tangle’.  The former primary school teacher from Bedfordview in Johannesburg won the Best World Children’s Book Award at the China Children’s Book Fair in Shanghai earlier this month. ‘Oh, What A Tangle!’ was released in the […]

A chance to work with Hollywood A-list actor Uma Thurman is on the cards for one lucky up-and-coming South African filmmaker with the Jameson First Shot competition. Thurman is set to bring a fresh spin to the competition, both as a skilled actor and as the first woman to take on the lead role for the […]

Nadine Gordimer turns 90 today and can look back on a life that has won her praise and honours as South Africa’s most acclaimed living author. She is a celebrated writer who is more widely read outside South Africa than at home. Lauded internationally as an icon of white liberal resistance to apartheid, she voted […]

It turns out that while South Africa is hotly debating the pros and cons of fracking in the Karoo, Botswana has gone right ahead with gas extraction and quietly opened up vast areas which include some delicate ecosystems. The development has allegedly gone unchecked, and poses a grave impact on the rights of the people, […]

Through mud and rain, the Springboks played an awesome match against Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday 17 November, claiming a 28-0 victory! It’s the first time in two years that the Scots have been left scoreless.  The South African tries in Edinburgh were scored by Willem Alberts, Willie le Roux, JP Pietersen and Coenie Oosthuizen; […]