Whilst the origins of Valentine’s Day may be in dispute, it is generally agreed that the Catholic Church recognized at least three Saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of which became martyrs… writes Isabelle Bryan. According to the first legend, having declared that single men made better soldiers, Roman Emperor Claudius II proceeded to make […]

South African comedian and performer Jamie Barthus has posted the most classic South African Valentine’s Day video – a brilliant parody of Miley Cyrus’s phenomenal hit ‘Flowers’ (watch below)… but instead of Flowers it’s Candles… because that’s what a South African needs most right now. The parody makes fun of Eskom and loadshedding, like most […]

The latest Tourism Sentiment Index (TSI) data is in, with five African destinations proving to be crowd favourites. And yes, South Africa IS in the Top 5! However, not for our beach holidays! Those accolades went to the Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius and Zanzibar. BUT South Africa’s Stellenbosch, Cape Town and Hermanus were ranked highly for […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be heading to the Supreme Court of Appeal on 23 February to continue – and for many South Africans abroad, hopefully win – its legal battle with Home Affairs concerning thousands of South Africans who have inadvertently lost their SA citizenship. Over the past few years SAPeople has been inundated […]

Ndlovu Youth Choir have done it again! This time they’ve put all their love into Valentine’s Day to make it a fabulous occasion for South Africans everywhere. On Tuesday morning – 14 February – they posted a mesmerising South African version of Elvis Presley’s hit “Can’t help falling in love” (with only the last line […]

Cape Town’s Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis today told a visiting Russian warship to ‘voetsek‘ and GFY (a common abbreviation of Go F*ck Yourself). His outburst on Twitter followed a tweet from the Russian Consulate General in Cape Town who said: “Cape Town hosts #Russian frigate “Admiral Gorshkov”. The battleship arrived in the Mother City on […]

CNN presenter Richard Quest has thanked Cape Town and South Africa for a “wonderful assignment”. He was in the country for CNN Business interviews and filming Quest’s World of Wonder for CNN Travel. Taking to Twitter as he left, Quest posted a sunset photo, and said to South Africans: “Whatever the challenges, you are the […]

Brad Binder – SA’s two-time MotoGP race winner and the first South African motorcycle rally racer to ever win in the premier class – sat down to answer some burning questions as he gears up to embark on this year’s MotoGP season. The Red Bull sports star has been rising through the world motorcycle grand […]

Barbados superstar Rihanna put on a powerful performance during the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday night in the USA… as well as revealing she is pregnant. Rihanna is now trending at number one on Twitter worldwide, including in South Africa. It was officially confirmed after the performance in Glendale, Arizona, that Rihanna is pregnant […]

Various parts of the Kruger National Park (KNP) are expected to receive more rain in the coming week (13 -17 February 2023). This has led to park management temporarily closing some of the remote camps and evacuate staff members to nearer safer camps until the situation improves. KNP Managing Executive, Oscar Mthimkhulu, said in a […]

There have been incredible scenes of flooding at the Lowveld National Botanical Garden in Mbombela (Nelspruit) in Mpumalanga province, South Africa, this weekend. Regular SAPeople contributor Sheryn Nader from Barberton Bliss & News said there was a “record breaking level of Crocodile River in the Lowveld National Botanical Garden. Quite unbelievable to see.” There has […]

Various residences at Stellenbosch University have again allegedly implemented a widespread ban on even the informal use of Afrikaans during the university’s welcoming period. The DA says it is appalled and is demanding the “immediate release” of the SAHRC report. “The information in the DA’s possession indicates that this latest ban on Afrikaans is even […]

Disaster management teams in South Africa’s famous Kruger National Park, as well as external role players, are on alert and monitoring the impact of rainfall that is expected over the next few days until Friday 17 February, as forecast by the SA Weather Services Evacuation underway in Kruger National Park SANParks said in a statement […]

AKA’s parents have thanked his legion of fans for their love and support after the iconic South African musician was gunned down outside a venue in Florida Road, Durban, last night (Friday 10 Feb). His parents said in a statement: It is with extreme sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our beloved son, and […]

South African musician AKA has sadly been gunned down at a venue in Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. According to reports and videos on social media, he was fatally wounded at a night spot in Florida Road. Aka, whose real name was Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, had been posting clips throughout the day, and had posted […]

Popular Dutch expat, Yvonne, who lives on a game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal with her soon-to-be husband Leo, and their son Owen (4), has penned a brilliant post on her popular blog – Yvonne in the bush – explaining just how to understand South African time. Here, with her permission, is Yvonne’s explanation… ? This is […]

Intrepid swimmers taking on the aQuellé Midmar Mile’s Charity Challenge dived into action at the KwaZulu-Natal dam today. The hugely popular race has raised millions of rand for charity over the years, but one woman has been particularly prolific in adding to that significant total. Cape Town swimmer Joanne Barnard has raised over R600,000 in […]

The UK’s favourite vet, The Supervet – Professor Noel Fitzpatrick – visited South Africa for his latest TV show to perform procedures rarely undertaken on wild animals, including building a prosthetic foot for one of SA’s beloved rhino orphans, Kolisi. It is believed to be the world’s first prosthetic foot for a rhino. Kolisi was […]

Alleged murderer, Jan de Klerk van Wyk, is back behind bars after seven years of what AfriForum describe as “inaction by the authorities”. Van Wyk had been sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of the premeditated murder of Izak van Zweel on 29 September 2016. However, Van Wyk successfully appealed on a technicality – […]

Musician Bouwer Bosch has launched a spoof South African tourism ad, co-starring digital creator Themba Robin, that has South Africans in stitches. Watch below. Bouwer says: “TOURISM SOUTH AFRICA PRESENTS: Johannes Burg and Nepho Tism takes us on a adventurous tour through Johannesburg and share some of the reasons why tourists should consider South Africa […]

A teacher in France has reached out to SAPeople readers to ask for help in teaching his primary school class about South Africa. If you have any postcards, pictures of the Springboks or Nelson Mandela, tourist memorabilia, please send it Olivier Levasseur at the address below. Olivier said: “?? Hello, I am a teacher in […]

South Africa’s popular radio presenter Mark Pilgrim has not passed away. In a case of mistaken identity, false reports were spread on social media on Thursday night, following the sad death of a man in America who was also named Mark Pilgrim. Tributes to SA’s Mark Pilgrim, who has been fighting a brave and public […]

In typical South African style, many locals have taken to social media this evening to make fun of the news that South Africa is to get a Minister of Electricity, a new role which sounds like it belongs in comedian John Cleese’s Ministry of Silly Walks. After announcing that loadshedding has been declared a national […]

Load shedding has been declared a National State of Disaster in South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday evening (although many South Africans were unable to watch the address… because they were suffering Stage 4 load-shedding or planned power cuts). Ramaphosa said:the national state […]

Due to heavy rains in and around the southern part of Kruger National Park (KNP) several roads have been closed. South African National Parks (SANParks) advises guests to not use any gravel roads and to stay on the tar. Guests are further advised to not travel on any roads which have been closed and not […]