A fire has torn down one of Durban’s largest churches. In a message on social media late Tuesday, the eThekwini Municipality said: “A vicious fire has ripped through the popular Durban Christian Centre at Buro Crescent in Durban this evening.” (See Update below.) The municipality said that Durban’s Fire and Emergency teams had done a sterling job and that, […]

As featured on Carte Blanche recently, parts of South Africa are still experiencing the devastating effects of a crippling drought that has dragged on in the country. In the beginning, while some areas were short of water, there was a flood of generosity and an incredible spirit of giving which swept South Africa and brought not just water, but hope […]

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has been thanked today by many social media commenters for doing their utmost to overcome violent protests in Durban. This morning – on a day some are calling “Bloody Monday” – several Durban motorists were pelted with stones, roads were blocked after tyres were set alight, and a car dealership was set […]

I know what you’re now thinking after reading this blog post title. Smash-n-grab, carjacking, hacked off limbs… The list of scary things you’re led to believe will happen to you in South Africa is long and grisly. But I’m here – as a German American who lived in South Africa for a few (wonderful) years […]

Whilst on a boat cruise this weekend, Deiric Walsh captured this nail-biting footage of a buck crossing a crocodile-infested river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Deiric is skipper guide for St Lucia Tours Charters Safaris, and caught both the action in the river as well as the excited voices of the visitors on the tour yelling […]

The Department of Energy has called on the public to use petrol efficiently during the tough times ahead, as the country braces itself for a hike of 52 cents per litre from Wednesday, 1 June 2016. In a statement the department said fuel prices are adjusted on a monthly basis, informed by international and local […]

Tributes have poured in for South African expat Marisa ‘Maria’ Strydom who tragically passed away on Mount Everest last Friday. On Sunday night her husband, who was with her when she died, gave a heartbreaking interview to Australia’s Channel 7 about the tragedy. (Watch the video below.) The Melbourne-based couple – who met at university in […]

The short-lived minister of finance, appointed by President Jacob Zuma to take over from Nhlanhla Nene, has been staying at a luxury boutique hotel in Pretoria with his family since the beginning of the year – at a cost so far of R500,000 – according to a news report on Friday. Even though Des van […]

While President Jacob Zuma urged all South Africans to pray for “peace, unity and tolerance” in South Africa yesterday, those words appear to have fallen on deaf ears in Hammanskraal where at least two people, possibly more, are reported to have been fatally wounded today in shocking protests. As horrific photos of burning buses and bodies […]

According to the popular press it was more likely in 2015 for a person to die while taking a selfie than to be killed by a shark – this is globally. This means that, officially, the deadly “monster” shark from the “Jaws” movie franchise has become less frightening than capturing your own image on a […]

While we all love our South African sunrises from the Highveld, Golden Gate, and Karoo to KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape… there are some for whom sunrise is not just a pretty photo. It’s the dawn of another harsh day… Capetonian photographer JUSTIN SULLIVAN captured this sunrise picture of Vrygrond (near Muizenburg, Cape Town). The white […]

Kruger National Park have uploaded a video in which a tourist’s car is smashed into by stampeding buffalo. The Park said: “This amazing sighting happened along the main road from Satara to Olifants Camps in the Kruger Park. “A herd of Cape Buffalo approached a waterhole when suddenly they stampeded in the opposite direction and […]

Durban’s legendary landmark hotel, the Blue Waters, caught fire this morning in KwaZulu-Natal, with smoke billowing from the building. According to reports the incident caused disruption in the North Beach area of the coastal city. SAfm News said that police attending a conference at the hotel were able to help evacuate the 200 guests and 120 staff […]

Today’s Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa reports that Public Protector Thuli Madonsela fears for her life after being informed that a hit had been put out on her. Madonsela, who has become a popular heroine in the country due to her bravery in standing up to and exposing corruption, allegedly received a tip off last […]

President Jacob Zuma has condemned the burning of 23 schools in Vuwani in Limpopo in protests that have turned violent and which he describes as suspicious. Today it has been reported that 50 schools in the area have been closed indefinitely, affecting almost 30,000 pupils (26,987 to be exact). The South African president said: “I wish […]

The mayor of Cape Town Patricia de Lille has condemned the “despicable” racist words of a 26-year-old Capetonian whose tweet full of foul language about the government went viral, and said she is referring it to the South African Human Rights Commission. “I condemn these comments as there is no place for racism in our society. We are […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has revealed that the directors of VFS, the company which processes – and profits – from foreigners’ visa applications to visit South Africa, are allegedly President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane Zuma and Rajesh Gupta (one of the Gupta brothers). The Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, Haniff Hoosen, exposed the directors’ names in parliament yesterday. […]

“We will run out of patience very soon and we will remove this government through the barrel of a gun” if the African National Congress continues to respond violently to peaceful protests, Julius Malema apparently tells Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull in Sunday’s episode of Talk To Al Jazeera. Malema at the same time said that […]

A massive African python being carried on a pole caused traffic to stop on the South Coast of South Africa yesterday. According to reports, the snake – which was being transported along the N2 near Umgababa, south of Amanzimtoti – was between four and five metres long. Watch video below. Pumula resident Yolandi Pearce told East Coast Radio’s Newswatch […]

Although Cape Town is one of the richest cities in Africa, with endless beauty, delicious cuisine and an outdoor lifestyle sought by tourists from around the world – the rate of gang-related murders in the city’s Hanover Park are amongst the highest in the world, and drug use is rampant in townships. But there is hope. An intervention […]

In the last few days thousands of South Africans have been sharing a gorgeous photo of what they think is the Orange River in South Africa…but which in fact is a river in Korea. The photo was uploaded by someone who’s from Durban, according to their Facebook profile. She wrote a caption saying: “Sun rise […]

Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton earlier this week was endorsed by her former colleague New York mayor Bill de Blasio, although things didn’t go off so smoothly. When Clinton said it had taken de Blasio long enough to endorse her, he said he was on “CP time”, a racially charged expression meaning “coloured people’s time”. Standing […]

Several irate South Africans have taken to social media to complain about the fact that after living at the same address for over 20 or 30 years, they are suddenly receiving an SMS from the Electoral Commission (IEC) informing them that the IEC does not have their address. The IEC has been sending the text messages […]

While 80-year-old South African sportsman Gary Player became the oldest player to score a hole-in-one at the Masters Par-3 contest, on Wednesday, fellow South African golfer Ernie Els also broke a record on Thursday. But for the opposite reason. Els (46) took a whopping 9 at the first hole to record the worst ever first-hole score at […]

Oops – a South African website’s April Fool’s Joke has made a lot of Adele fans very excited…for nothing! The site posted a story with the headline “ADELE Confirms SA Tour for November 2016”, claiming that Adele had added South Africa to her 2016 Tour and that fans should book quickly as tickets for Cape Town […]