From the dusty fields of Qunu in Eastern Cape, Nelson Mandela grew to become a wise and admirable man, respected and loved around the world. He is a man of integrity, who is known for his love for children. His influence on a global scale is massive, but just as significant has been his emphasis […]

We share the joy of the Mandela family at the discharge of Nelson Mandela after 89 days in hospital. May he find peace and comfort in his home, among his relatives and friends, so that his continuing medical care can proceed with dignity. We are all grateful for the outstanding care he received in hospital […]

Local designer David Tlale is jetting off to New York again this week to participate in the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, his third show at this event – and he is the only South African designer to have appeared at it. “Renowned for his undeniable knack for showmanship and elaborate designs, Tlale’s work is both […]

It all started with the murder of Mike Thomson, a Computershare executive, in his home in September 2007. From that tragedy came the Mike Thomson Change a Life Cycle Tour, which is now in its sixth year. Some 70 company executives will be pulling on their Lycra and helmets on 7 September in Swaziland, from where they […]

After weeks of waiting, and days of speculation…some brave, bare-cheeked hikers proved there truly is snow on Table Mountain today, posting a couple of “cheeky” pictures on Facebook. UPDATE August 2020: Snow on Table Mountain again? In fact the social media website was “snowed under” with pictures of Cape Town’s famous landmark covered in snow, […]

  Winnie Madikizela-Mandela felt particularly close to her jailed husband, Nelson, in October 1970, after she was released from serving 491 days in solitary confinement. She wrote to him on 26 October, saying: “In a way during the past two years I felt so close to you. It was the first time we were together in […]

When South African low-fi filmmaker Sibs Shongwe-La Mer stood up on stage at TEDx Johannesburg, a conference where creative minds gather to share ideas, he seized the audience’s attention by asking: “What happened to that inner child? What happened to the creative we have left to die?” The 21-year-old was referring to society’s willingness to give […]

Timing has a lot to do with being successful, says Joan Joffe, one of the most recognisable faces in South African business. “Well, you certainly caught the computer wave,” I mention to her when we meet at a Rosebank hotel. “I caught three waves!” she responds. “The PC wave, the cellphone wave and the black […]

South Africa’s Beverly Singh, an engineering graduate from Port Elizabeth, is the first recipient of the Bloodhound SSC Chevening Scholarship – she will work with the construction team on the final assembly stages of the supersonic car, while pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Initiated in 1983, the Chevening Scholarship programme is funded by the UK […]

Dr Mo Ibrahim, businessman, academic and philanthropist, delivered the 11th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture at the University of South Africa (Unisa) in Pretoria on 17 August 2013. He joins luminaries such as former US president Bill Clinton, former Irish president Mary Robinson, and Nobel laureate, the late Wangari Maathai, who have all shared their opinion on important […]

South Africa’s beloved statesman and father of democracy and reconciliation, Nelson Mandela or Madiba, his clan name and affectionate nickname, has many women in his life. But perhaps the three most important are his three wives, one of whom is deceased, another from whom he is divorced, and a third, his loving present wife, Graça […]

Award-winning South African author Marie Williams talks exclusively to SAPeople about love, loss, Green Goblins and discovering what makes your heart sing. Marie was recently awarded the Finch Memoir prize in Australia for GREEN VANILLA TEA, a heart-wrenching and inspiring memoir of the loss of her  husband Dom, a fellow South African. The two had […]

Cape Town is going green in more ways than one. It has a network of bicycle lanes across the city that are to be painted green to demarcate their use for bikes only. “The colour coding helps to promote safety and awareness for vehicles and pedestrians,” says the city council. It is also one of the […]

The courageous women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against pass laws were honoured for their contribution in a colourful ceremony on the same day 57 years later, in Tshwane. These days, 9 August is National Women’s Day, and although its aim is to contribute to the empowerment of […]

The five finalists for the 2013 Businesswoman of the Year awards are all trailblazers in their own right, forging careers in fields traditionally dominated by men. Established back in 1980, the awards are held under the auspices of the Businesswomen’s Association of South Africa (BWASA), an organisation that promotes and empowers women in all spheres […]

Women’s Day, celebrated every year on 9 August, and the annual activities around it honour all the women who, through the years, have led South Africa out of colonialism and apartheid and into democracy. Women’s Month 2013 marks the 57th anniversary of the famous 1956 anti-pass march, which saw over 20 000 women, led by struggle […]

The Ebenezer Hannah Home in Ennerdale, a suburb in the deep south of Greater Johannesburg, is one of the beneficiaries of dairy producer Clover’s empowerment project Mama Afrika. It’s also one of Brand South Africa’s CSI projects, and deservedly so. The home stands on an undeveloped piece of land just off the N1 freeway. It’s instantly visible […]

Nelson Mandela calls Qunu in the Eastern Cape home, and it is where he has asked to be buried. In his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, the struggle veteran describes leaving the village as a nine-year-old, to travel with his mother to an unknown destination. “I could see the simple huts and the people going about their chores; the stream […]

President Jacob Zuma met with Academy Award-winning actor and activist Charlize Theron in Pretoria on Monday. The two discussed South Africa’s response to HIV/Aids and Theron’s role in the fight against the disease. In 2008, the United Nations named South African-born Theron as its Messenger of Peace, tasked with promoting efforts to end violence against […]

By: Mary Alexander

Young Dirk Coetzee from the Northern Cape province has been named the co-winner of a competition that invited children to design a helmet for Andy Green, the daredevil who will be attempting to break his own land speed record in 2014/2015 in the Bloodhound SSC (supersonic car). Driving Bloodhound, Green, a wing commander in the Royal Air Force, […]

Many know Graça Machel as Nelson Mandela’s wife and the former first lady of both Mozambique and South Africa, but perhaps few recall that she was once a fiery young freedom fighter. Born Graça Simbine on 17 October 1945 in Gaza, Mozambique, Machel went to a Methodist mission school and then to the University of Lisbon on […]

Like having babies, you forget the pain, says super athlete Jeannie Dreyer, referring to her astonishing first-place finish in the 2 300km Freedom Challenge mountain bike race. The route starts in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, and ends in Wellington in Western Cape, and takes place at the end of June. Thirty-three-year-old Jeannie, a housewife and mother of two […]

Nelson Mandela is regarded by many as a man of wisdom and insight – his words have touched and inspired people all around the world. Taken from Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations, we present some of the inspirational sayings by the former president that have roused and touched many internationally. The book, […]

South African surf legend Shaun Tomson is launching his new book – The Code, the Power of ‘I Will’ – in California this week.  The code is a simple strategy for confronting everyday challenges and making positive, life-changing decisions. In the book, Shaun uses twelve of his personal stories to share the power of “I […]