Johnny Clegg ushered in the new year with good vibes and great music at a New Year’s Eve concert at Kirstenbosch in South Africa. MARGUERITE DE VILLIERS captured the photos below… “Each picture has a lyric extract from the song ‘It’s an Illusion’ – a song which I had heard Johnny singing a couple of […]

President Jacob Zuma has joined the gospel fraternity in expressing deep sadness and his heartfelt condolences on the passing of gospel sensation and multi-award winning singer, Sifiso Ncwane, who passed away today, 05 December 2016. The gospel legend died Monday morning at Fourways Life Hospital, after suffering kidney failure. “The passing of Mr Ncwane is a […]

PRETORIA – American musician Mos Def just discovered that saying ‘sorry’ means being able to leave South Africa. After he apologised “unreservedly” for trying to use a World Passport, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) announced in a media briefing on Tuesday that the apology is accepted, the charges dropped, and he may now leave the country. The artist – whose […]

Sandi Durnford-Slater met with PJ Powers in London 10 days ago to discuss the world according to PJ. In typical PJ fashion, she brought with her a warm, South African breath of fresh air to a cold, drizzly Wednesday afternoon in Brixton… Many people back home believe that those who leave South Africa are traitors. You seem to have […]

South African Tourism welcomed sleep advocate and Huffington Post and Thrive Global founder Arianna Huffington to South Africa with this beautiful version of ‘Thula Baba’, the popular Zulu lullaby sung to many South African children to help them sleep. SA Tourism said: “Hi @ariannahuff, we wanted to share a special South African welcome just for […]

This morning a producer from the BBC World Service contacted me and asked if I would say a few words about El Cohen as part of a global tribute. I was very happy to do so, so she asked me whether Cohen was as popular in South Africa as in other parts of the world. […]

A small-town South African theatre student, who describes himself on Pinterest as a “big dreamer”, has uploaded an awesome cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Tougher than the Rest”. Elandré Schwartz posted the video a couple of days ago and it’s already had over 120,000 views on Facebook. Watch below. Elandré wrote: “Dankie Bruce. #springsteen #afrikaans #USA […]

South Africa’s most iconic rock singer, PJ Powers, will tour the UK to launch an online mentoring programme for disadvantaged South Africans… in an initiative that would make Nelson Mandela proud; and which is set to inspire a new way of giving that lets South African expats contribute to the homeland they still love so […]

South African singer Wendy Oldfield has teamed up with a group of youngsters – whom she’s called The Wild Bunch – to release a ‘Reminder to the World’. It’s a soothing, beautiful song with a message from the song-writer to take care of Mother Earth, ourselves and those around us. The inspiring lyrics are particularly relevant […]

Fans have been tweeting their support of international award-winning DJ Black Coffee after an ‘incident’ at the DSTV iRock Festival in Limpopo, South Africa, Saturday night… in which the Durban DJ and music producer was alleged to have “slapped” AKA’s manager. Watch video below. Fellow South African musician AKA was meant to have also performed at the event in Polokwane, […]

The late Mduduzi Tshabalala, known to the world as Mandoza, made an enormous civic contribution as a motivation force and nation building brand ambassador through his music, says Communications Minister Faith Muthambi. Thousands of mourners attended the Nkalakatha hitmaker’s funeral at Grace Bible Church in Pimville, Soweto, on Friday. The kwaito legend, who died on […]

A couple of North West traffic cops – Lerato Makhabane and her colleague ‘Spiedie’ du Plessis – posted a fantastic tribute to the late Mandoza, rocking to ‘Nkalakatha’ in their car… But more than just a few viewers are concerned that ‘Spiedie’ is only driving with one hand and doesn’t appear to be wearing his seatbelt! Others said it […]

South African zef rap group Die Antwoord delivered one of their highest-energy (and that’s saying a LOT), most insane (and brilliant) performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week. Watch below as they belt out love ballad (!) ‘Banana Brain’ on Kimmel’s outdoor festival stage. It was an extremely colourful show with singer Yolandi Vi$$er and back-up dancers […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African comedian and global star, Trevor Noah, has been confirmed to host the 2016 MTV African Music Awards (MAMAs) in Johannesburg next month. The organisers of the event made the announcement Wednesday morning and within an hour excited fans had made it South Africa’s top Twitter trend. In a post on Facebook, Noah […]

Internationally renowned opera singer and Piet Retief native, Pretty Yende, has thanked her South African fans for all their support after her debut album ‘A Journey’ went straight to the top of the charts! Leading up the launch, Pretty enjoyed time back home in South Africa, and took to Facebook to thank her “South African fans & […]

President Jacob Zuma – along with other South African politicians, celebrities and music fans – has extended his condolences today on the sad passing of Kwaito music legend Mduduzi Tshabalala, popularly known as Mandoza. Mandoza passed away today, at the age of 38, after a long battle with cancer which had reportedly spread to his […]

Well known South African opera singer Johan Botha passed away early Thursday morning in Vienna, Austria, at the age of 51. Botha, one of the world’s most respected and celebrated tenors, had been suffering from cancer. Charl van Heyningen, Director at the Centre for Music at Stellenbosch University, posted a message on Facebook offering his sincerest condolences […]

A Capetonian choreographer’s mission to show American singer songwriter Meghan Trainor just how talented South Africans are, is taking off RAPIDLY… with his video going viral so fast, it’s clocking up views quicker than you can say “it’s all about the bass”. Although this isn’t about the bass. It’s about awesome South African talent. And it’s a […]

Take a listen to this South African version of The Sound of Silence that’s taken social media by storm since it was uploaded to Facebook three days ago. The cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s big hit – performed by Touch of Class with Ruhan du Toit and Deon van der Merwe – was actually first uploaded […]

Hailing from Empangeni in the heart of Zululand, David “Qadasi” Jenkins and Maqhinga Radebe are an acoustic duo on a quest to revive the powerful sounds of traditional Maskandi music… and their awesome Bakkie Jam, already viewed by thousands on social media, is helping them achieve that goal. (Watch below.) Both SAMA and SATMA Award nominees […]

A video remake of the Spice Girls’ hit “Wannabe” has been launched to encourage girls and women across the world to share their messages and dreams for women and includes singers, actors and dancers from South Africa, Indian, the UK and US. The video was made by Global Goals, which works to promote the United Nations’ […]

At last night’s sold-out Sentebale Concert at Kensington Palace, Prince Harry joined the musicians on stage to thank the star-studded crowd for standing in the rain, the Basotho Youth Choir for coming all the way from Lesotho, and Coldplay for headlining the charity gig. “You rocked the palace,” he said. The youth choir was invited to […]

At the invite of Prince Harry, a Lesotho choir will perform tonight alongside British supergroup Coldplay at the prince’s Sentebale charity concert, at Kensington Palace, in London. It’s been an incredible week in the UK for the talented Basotho Youth Choir of six boys and six girls – aged between seven and 19 – who come from a country of […]

President Jacob Zuma and Public Protector Thuli Madonsela have congratulated Durban DJ and music producer DJ Black Coffee for his fantastic achievement, becoming the first South African music artist to win a Black Entertainment Television (BET) award. As reported last night, Black Coffee was announced as the winner in the ‘Best International Act – Africa’ category […]

Award-winning British rock band Mumford & Sons have released their new mini-album ‘Johannesburg’ today, inspired by – of course – South Africa. In February this year, the band visited South Africa for the first time ever. They collaborated with Senegalese singer Baaba Maal, London/Malawi DJ duo The Very Best, and South African pop band Beatenberg to […]