Monday 25 July 2016 will be remembered by many in South Africa for years to come. Parts of the country were covered in snow, drought-stricken KwaZulu-Natal was hit by an extremely heavy downpour of rain… and a tornado apparently swept past Magaliesburg! There were no news reports about the tornado… but a video was uploaded […]

DURBAN – Photos are flooding social media as a heavy downpour has hit Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. The drought-stricken province has been turned into a flooded wasteland in many areas. Local resident Jean-Marc Tostee uploaded three photos and said: “I have never seen such a dark heavy rain cloud sit so low over Durban in the 22 years we’ve […]

PRETORIA – The South African government is set to appeal for a longer sentence for former Olympian Oscar Pistorius. In a strongly worded statement today, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) described the athlete’s sentence for the 2013 murder of his then girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp as “shockingly too lenient”, “startling” and “disturbingly inappropriate”. Steenkamp’s family have […]

It was an emotional return from Mount Kilimanjaro for members of the Trek4Mandela team yesterday, after the tragic passing of rally driver and TV personality Gugu Zulu (38). Team leader and experienced climber, Sibusiso Vilane, broke down in tears at a press conference at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, as he recalled the […]

The news of the passing of South African rally driver Gugu Zulu, whilst attempting to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, remains devastating news for the Nelson Mandela Foundation. In a media release today, the Foundation said: “We are trying hard to come to terms with his passing. Our thoughts are with Gugu’s family, his wife Letshego and […]

The Nelson Mandela Foundation has announced with a “heavy heart” that one of the climbers on the Trek4Mandela team – Gugu Zulu – lost his life early this morning in his attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. In a media release, the Foundation said: “On behalf of the Board and staff of the Nelson […]

PARIS (Reuters) – At least 73 people were killed when a truck drove into the crowd in the southern French sea resort of Nice, a news TV channel and local politician said. Christian Estrosi, a leading regional politician in the area, said on Twitter: “This is the worst drama in the history of Nice with […]

With mounting racial tensions in the United States, several South African expats living in the “land of the free” have taken to social media to express their sadness at current events in their new country. One South African expat’s message has hit a chord and gone viral. He wrote: “Thirty years ago my wife and I […]

A video of an angry elephant charging and flipping over a car in a Mozambique game reserve has gone viral… for the second time in three years! Thanks to the video being posted earlier this month on Facebook, it has had a resurgence and been reported in South African and international media outlets as if […]

A lion conservation group has come out against a lion-breeding and cub-petting facility in Limpopo where pictures were allegedly taken of lions that are starving, and it has been suggested that as these facilities come under increasing pressure to stop their activities, a similar fate may face as many as 8,000 captive-bred lions in South Africa. Drew […]

Despite the obvious protestations of his clients, a ranger in Kruger National Park got out of the safari vehicle at night and kicked a pangolin when it closed into a ball in fright and to protect itself. “No, no,” a woman called out from the vehicle, when she saw what the ranger was about to […]

She’s at it again. South African minister of foreign affairs Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who in May had a highly publicised interview with an Al Jazeera journalist where she explained how she had a hole in her head, has said she does not know about Brexit. Shortly after reports of International Development and Cooperation minister Mashabane’s comments reached the press, a department spokesman […]

Two South African tourists, who were at Istanbul’s main airport Tuesday night, have spoken to international news outlets about the horrific attack by three suicide bombers, which has tragically left at least 41 dead and 239 wounded. (Updated: Wed 14:15 SA time.) According to reports by Sky News and other outlets, Paul and Susie Roos from Cape […]

Italian actor Bud Spencer passed away peacefully on Monday in Rome, at the age of 86, with his family around him. His family tweeted a message saying: “With our deepest regrets, we have to tell you that Bud is flying to his next journey.” According to his son his last words were “thank you”. The actor […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) has confirmed that a hyena attacked a teenage boy, while he slept in his camp at the Kruger National Park, last night. SANParks said the “unfortunate incident” occurred at about 04:30 this morning, when the hyena entered the campsite at Crocodile Bridge. The animals attacked the teenage visitor who was sleeping […]

Dispute over ANC mayoral candidate Residents of Atteridgeville confront some of the ANC’s Gauteng leadership during a town hall meeting held in an attempt to restore calm to the township of Atteridgeville. Angry residents torched trucks and buses and blocked roads into various Tshwane townships after the naming of Thoko Didiza as the ANC’s Tshwane mayoral candidate. […]

“I want you to get up right now. Go to your windows. Open them and stick your head out and yell: I’m as mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore! Things have got to change. But first, you’ve gotta get mad! You’ve got to say, I’m as mad as hell, and I’m […]

The South African government has called for calm after a night of unrest and violence in Tshwane / Pretoria. At least 20 buses were torched and traffic jams this morning are stretching for over 2km according to witnesses. The Government said: “We condemn in the strongest terms the outbreak of violence and destruction of property which has […]

Two of the very people who are meant to be protecting South Africa’s rhino have been arrested for poaching, allegedly captured in possession of four horns. South African National Parks (SANParks) has today confirmed the arrest of two of their Kruger National Park field rangers from the Nwanedzi Ranger Section. This is the latest in a […]

The announcement that the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will be investigating the woman at the centre of the #RacistRant video has been welcomed by South Africans around the country. The video footage of the woman which was taken in February this year – but appears to have only been uploaded to YouTube yesterday, on […]

Video of two suspects escaping from the back of a South African Police Services (SAPS) vehicle have gone viral in the past 24 hours, with viewers questioning both the logic of the police to have left them unattended, and of the spectators who appeared to do nothing other than laugh. It’s unclear what crime the […]

For those of us who grew up on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast the empty ‘Ghost House’ of Seatides was a beautiful landmark, impossible to not gaze at each time we drove past Westbrook on the way to Durban and back. The trees around it, the ocean beyond, and the dreams it held of what it […]

Social media users have had a field day sharing photos of blatant misspelling (and miscalculations) by South African shops. But if it counts for anything – their errors have at least made people laugh, unlike the mistake made by major international brand Adidas… which offended an entire nation! One South African shop wrote ‘hole’ instead of ‘whole’ and another […]

After recently banning the footage of violent protests on SABC, it appears that the South African national broadcaster’s COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng has now also banned the reading of newspaper headlines on all SABC radio stations, a practice that is common around the world. The Democratic Alliance (DA) said in a statement that they have been “reliably […]

Mobile apps that allows visitors to national parks to share information on exciting animal sightings are resulting in rude, lawless and dangerous behaviour that has led to road kills, according to South African National Parks (SANParks)… and legal channels are being sought to curtail the use of these apps. In a press statement today, SANParks said the […]