An historic moment occurred last month when a Johannesburg City Heritage blue plaque, in honour of the legendary boxing trainer and promotor Theo Mthembu, was unveiled on the wall outside his home in Dube, Johannesburg. He moved into the house in 1955 and lived there for over 50 years. This is the first ever Heritage […]

South Africa’s Chris Barnard stands out in medical history as the heart surgeon who became a global household name after transplanting the first human heart on 3 December 1967. The historic surgery captured the world’s imagination and was hailed by 20th-century historians as socially and scientifically of equal significance compared to the moon-landing in 1969. I examined […]

I have now lived in America going on eight years and I have to say a few of the questions I’ve been asked have put the questions I was asked when I was in England to shame… some of them have been outrageous to the point that … well I really couldn’t help having some fun. I’ve […]

I’m tired. Emotionally, physically and mentally tired. The worst part is, I haven’t even started working yet… writes medical student Michael Cloete. As many of you are aware, I complete my medical undergraduate degree in December 2017. For some time I have remained quiet on this issue, as I have been dealing with something more worrisome […]

A major water outage in the greater Sandton area this week – caused by a burst pipe – resulted in schools, hospitals, homes, restaurants and businesses having to resort to desperate measures to cope without running water. Comedian, writer and consultant Viv Vermaak shares her experience… Viva Sandton Water Shortage! Viva! There is nothing more […]

November 2017 will go down in the history of Zimbabwe as the beginning of the end of Robert Mugabe’s 37 year tyranny. A tumultuous week finally culminated in his resignation on November 21st. One cannot understate the widespread jubilation at the demise of Mugabe and his desire to create a dynasty for himself through his […]

Students have shut down the University of Zimbabwe, calling for President Robert Mugabe and Vice Chancellor Levi Nyagura to step down Students at the University of Zimbabwe shut down their institution on Monday, demanding the removal of President Robert Mugabe. From early morning students gathered at a vacant parking lot where members of the current […]

It seemed that Robert Mugabe, the 93-year-old Zimbabwean president, would rule his country until he died – but in the end, his fall was very swift. Mugabe’s decision to depose vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, at the behest of his 52-year-old wife Grace, was the last straw, and the army stepped in to depose him in a […]

In a small classroom learners from Masiphumelele are learning a new skill: playing the violin. The outreach program, that takes place on the campus of non-profit organisation Masiphumelele Corporation, is run by Titia Blake. “I’m trying to teach children to do what I do, and that is to play for weddings and functions,” she says. […]

AN EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT FROM HARARE: For the average Zimbabwean grinding out a living in our difficult economy, Wednesday was not an ordinary day. (See the Latest Zimbabwe UPDATE at bottom of this page.) Many people were still coming to terms with the unexpected sacking of vice president Emmerson Mnangangwa. Then, early in the morning a […]

George Bizos was one of the most celebrated lawyers in South Africa. He was part of the team that defended Mandela, Sisulu and others at the Rivonia Trial and helped to ensure that they were spared the death penalty. He defended the United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders at the Delmas Treason Trial and represented Steve […]

President Jacob Zuma today released the report of the Heher Commission… The biggest winners in the proposals set out in the long-awaited report by the Commission into the Feasibility of Fee-Free Higher Education and Training in South Africa will be students in the TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training colleges) sector. The Commission recommends they […]

Over 900 people in an informal settlement in Clare Estate, Durban in South Africa, were left homeless after a fire on Sunday. According to Thapelo Mohapi of Abahlali Basemjondolo, a two-year-old died in the blaze in the shack where the fire is believed to have started. The parents were admitted to King Dinuzulu Hospital and […]

One of South Africa’s biggest cities, Cape Town, is gripped by a rising panic. People are haunted by the idea that they may soon have to queue for water, carefully rationed out by local authorities under the watchful eye of the army. But these doomsday scenarios need to be tempered. It’s true that the first […]

By Friday 17 November, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) will have signed a contract with the SA Post Office (SAPO) for the payment of over 17 million grants. This “hybrid model” will include SASSA, SAPO, Home Affairs and the State Security Agency. Jeff Radebe, minister in the Presidency and chairperson of the Interministerial […]

Volunteer tourism, or voluntourism, is an emerging trend of travel linked to “doing good”. Yet these efforts to help people and the environment have come under heavy criticism – I believe for good reason. Voluntourists’ ability to change systems, alleviate poverty or provide support for vulnerable children is limited. They simply don’t have the skills. […]

South Africa has produced two must-read thrillers in the past week. They are non-fiction, yet are as gripping and readable as any page-turner. Veteran investigative journalist Jacques Pauw’s “The President’s Keepers” has, within a week, become a global best seller. It has had the advantage of the best available marketing push by South Africa’s State […]

Over the last 20 years Johannesburg has become an intense wholesale and retail centre for local hawkers and for traders from all over sub-Saharan Africa. Billions of rands worth of fast fashion is sold annually in the traditional central business district and in 20 large Chinese shopping malls west of the inner city. It is […]

Lord Peter Hain tabled a series of allegations in the UK’s House of Lords relating to the possible role of British banks in alleged money laundering and illicit financial transactions centred around South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family. The Conversation Africa’s Charles Leonard asked him to explain why he took the step. […]

On Monday 30 October 2017 South Africans all over the world wore black to mourn the deaths of all the farmers who’ve been murdered. Just like every other South African I feel frustrated with the ongoing violence that South Africans of all races face daily. It is evil, brutal and unnecessary… writes Vicky McLachlan. I live […]

There were scarcely any hints of the tumultuous years that would follow the swearing-in of Dr John Pombe Magufuli on 5th November 2015 as Tanzania’s fifth president. After all, his Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) had been in power for decades, and his victory seemed to herald continuity with the past. Tanzania’s President John Magufuli after […]

It is Saturday morning on St Thomas Street in Lavender Hill. Two barefoot children are fighting on the road while a man, apparently drunk, sways past. Then out of an open garage, Ralph Bouwers appears. He says a few gentle words to the brawling boys and gives them a hug. He tells them that soup […]

South Africa’s latest crime statistics released by the country’s police service reflect a continued long-term decline in levels of non-violent property crime, a possible stabilisation following four years of increase in murder, and a sustained rise in violent property crime. More worryingly, a closer look at case outcomes points to the toll that the leadership […]

South Africa and the world’s golden boy of athletics, Wayde van Niekerk, will sadly not be able to compete in next year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia. The Olympic and world 400-metre champion is due for urgent knee surgery in the United States. Touch rugby proved too tough on the day for Van […]

A poem for South Africa, by Jeanette Kriek Hoft… It is not black against white that’s not the fight it is respect for life versus those who use a knife it is not those who have not versus those who have got it is those who come to take a life whether it be child, […]