PARIS – A music video, set in the Louvre, by Beyonce and Jay-Z – who were recently in South Africa for the Global Citizen Concert – helped boost visitor numbers to a record 10.2 million last year, the most for any museum in history, the Louvre said on Thursday. A rebound in tourist numbers to […]

The historic Bo-Kaap – with its colourful architecture and community life – is shockingly under threat as developers put up high-rise modern conveniences… and don’t even try to respect and fit in with one of South Africa’s most photographed areas! Tonight on Carte Blanche, the investigative programme asks: Who will win the battle for the […]

“It was a challenging night for ground crews as the Betty’s Bay Fire battle moved high into the mountains,” says award-winning South African photographer Justin Sullivan, who has been up close with the firefighters as they tackle the fire which has already claimed one life, and has been raging since New Year’s Eve… when a […]

A family from abroad is seeking the help of South Africans in SA to find Stanley Currie, who has been missing since 28 December 2018 when he boarded a flight from Dublin Ireland to South Africa on a one-way ticket. UPDATE: Missing Irishman Stanley Currie has been found in South Africa.  His brother, daughter-in-law and […]

NAIROBI – Girls in western Kenya returning to school after the Christmas break are undergoing compulsory tests for female genital mutilation in a move to crackdown against the illegal and harmful practice, a senior government official said on Friday. They are also being tested to see if they are pregnant. George Natembeya, commissioner for Narok […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah revealed to his Daily Show audience this week just what he did at an American airport, when he realised that the souvenir he’d brought from home was not going to be okay to take through Customs. When asked by a member of the audience – during his Between the Scenes […]

One person – a 59-year-old woman – has died and two have been seriously injured in what has been described as a “traumatic night full of uncertainty” as the #BettysBayFire raged in the Overstrand last night. Another person – believed to be an 18-month-old baby – also suffered minor injuries. The fire began on New […]

Due to increased demand, South African Airways (SAA) has expanded its non-stop service between Ghana and the US. In a statement on Wednesday, the national carrier announced that it will increase its frequency on nonstop flights between the Ghanaian capital Accra’s Kotoka International Airport and Washington D.C’s Dulles International Airport to five days a week. […]

Somewhere near Cape Point in South Africa are four brave heroes who yesterday rescued four people in distress – they had been swept out to sea by rip currents in Buffels Bay in the Western Cape. But nobody knows who the Good Samaritans are. The NSRI Station 10 Simons Town and Cape Medical Response (CMR) […]

The South Easter is pumping and the waves are breaking in the Western Cape, South Africa… writes Nigel Riley, whose photos are featured on this page. While Kalkies and the Harbour House were overflowing with visitors, enjoying the traditional fish and chips, a few took time out to watch and enjoy the waves breaking over […]

A post about a South African traffic cop named Simon who helped a cyclist on top of Suikerbossie has gone viral, being shared by thousands of South Africans who were so happy to have a feel-good story with which to end 2018. The traffic cop’s good deed was posted by Selwyn Shandel, owner of Venturescape […]

A couple in the Free State is fighting for their lives following a brutal attack on their farm in Smithfield, South Africa, on 31 December, said the Democratic Alliance (DA)… who have reiterated their call for specialised rural safety units. Dennis and Jeanetta du Plessis – aged 70 and 65 – are both in Intensive […]

Social media is full of inspiration for saying farewell to 2018 and ushering in a fabulous 2019. Here are some of the best posts you may have missed: Morgan Freeman’s brilliant review of 2018: https://www.facebook.com/TheHookOfficial/videos/2169892749890519/ Advice from 1965 https://www.facebook.com/Ashton/videos/221944888684022/ South African Poet Athol Williams with hope for a new river in 2019: https://www.facebook.com/SAPeople/posts/10155700483266949/

A devastating wild fire has torn through the historic town of Wupperthal (also spelt Wuppertal) in the Cederberg – tragically destroying most of the small tourist town which is nestled outside Clanwilliam, in the Cape West Coast District. The SABC News Western Cape said Friday evening that it is estimated about 30 houses have burnt down, […]

The transcript of an address – titled ‘My South Africa’ – by Prof Jonathan Jansen is going viral yet again. The man many South Africans wish was in politics first delivered the speech to a meeting of Rachel’s Angels in September 2013. Eighteen months later it went viral again to unite the nation after xenophobic […]

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has issued a statement in response to the slaughtering of a sheep on Clifton’s 4th Beach in Cape Town. The slaughter took place during an #OccupyClifton protest on Friday, which was organised by activists after a private security company apparently instructed beachgoers to leave Clifton Fourth Beach on Christmas […]

HASHIM AMLA and Dean Elgar scored half-centuries and shared the only century partnership of the match to set the Proteas up for a six-wicket victory over Pakistan with a session and two full days to spare in the opening Test match at SuperSport Park on Friday. Although the Proteas lost a few wickets at the […]

Durban has been hit by a severe thunderstorm on Thursday evening. EThekwini Municipality issued a newsflash warning of the bad weather, just before it hit. The Municipality warned residents and visitors in Durban and surroundings of severe thunderstorms with a possibility of localised flooding. According to South African Weather Services, this inclement weather is likely […]

South Africa has successfully launched into space the continent’s most advanced nanosatellite to date – the ZACube-2. The ZACube-2 will provide cutting edge remote sensing and communication services to South Africa and the region. “This satellite will help us monitor our ocean traffic as part of our oceans economy and also monitor veld fires and […]

As the year 2018 draws to a close, I would like to reflect on it by revisiting some of the the major rejections I have had to deal with over the years, starting with the many I received as a village boy, when applying for bursaries in 1991, so I could be the first one […]

LONDON – Sister Wendy Beckett, a nun and art historian who became an unlikely television star in Britain in the 1990s, died at the age of 88 on Wednesday, the BBC reported. South Africa-born Beckett was living in a caravan in a Carmelite monastery in Norfolk, east England, when she started studying art in the […]

They say dogs are a man’s best friend. But today a scared and trapped dog in South Africa discovered that sometimes man can be a dog’s best friend. According to SPCA Midrand a man “came running” to the SPCA today to inform staff about a dog that had fallen into a manhole. Without hesitation, Inspector […]

A consortium of local and international investors have reportedly proposed a R21-billion private loan to South African Airways (SAA)… on condition that the consortium receives a 51% equity share in South Africa’s national carrier (which would effectively mean the government – which has in recent years mismanaged the airline – would have to hand over […]

A few months ago Mthetho Mapoyi was an unemployed young man serenading patrons at Cape Town’s beachfront restaurants with the opera songs he used to imitate as a child, learnt from the only thing his father left behind when he deserted the family – an old Pavarotti CD. But his life has changed! SAPeople caught […]

South Africa’s Public Protector (PP), Busisiwe Mkhwebane, has found that the 2016 family holiday trip to Dubai by former Minister of Sport, Fikile Mbalula, was paid for by Sedgars Sports, a sporting goods supplier, and that this constitutes a conflict of interest. The PP has also found that Mbalula acted in violation of the Constitution […]