The first major showcase of Henri Matisse’s work in Africa opens this week in Johannesburg. The show, “Henri Matisse: Rhythm and Meaning”, will be at the Standard Bank Gallery until September. In a statement announcing the show, which opens on Wednesday, the gallery said, “At the end of the nineteenth century, Matisse was a young […]

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’ […]

Well-known South African casting director Moonyeenn Lee is the first South African to be included on the panel of movie people around the world who will chose the next Oscar winners. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which presides over the annual Oscars, named its 683 new panel members last week. It has been a […]

South African Lidudumalingani from Cape Town has won the coveted Caine Prize for African Writing for his story set in the Eastern Cape, “Memories We Lost”, it was announced in England on Monday night. Described as Africa’s leading literary award, the story published by Burnet Media in its 2015 collection “An Incredible Journey: Stories that Move You”, was announced […]

Canadian Hip Hop Star, Drake, has encouraged young South Africans to do everything they can to realise a brighter future and make their country proud. Speaking at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, he said South Africa “is definitely one of the most beautiful places in the world”. The rapper was in South Africa for […]

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 […]

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 […]

A group of dancers in Soweto are defying stereotypes to bring ballet to the township… in an ambitious project which aims to train 1,000 teachers over the following three years and see its students dance at the Paris Opera within the next decade. The project – which is the brainchild of Dirk Badenhorst, head of the […]

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 […]

South African DJ Black Coffee has been named the Best International Act from Africa by the international BET (Black Entertainment Television) Awards, making history as the first SA artist to win an award in this category. It was his first nomination. Black Coffee immediately tweeted: “Thank you Africa ?????????? #thisoneisformypeople #southafrica #bestinternationalartist #BETAwards16.” Congratulatory messages have […]

In an interview with the BBC about his time on the Daily Show in the US, and facing the upcoming US election – and the controversial candidacy of Donald Trump, who was the subject of a viral tweet this week – Trevor Noah said that he found aspects of the US not dissimilar to South Africa. Talking […]

An eagle-eyed fan of rapper Drake spotted him arriving at Lanseria near Johannesburg on Friday, barely a day after the singer was declared to have the longest-running UK number one single this century, supplanting on-off girlfriend Rihanna for her 2007 hit “Umbrella”. Drake topped the singles chart for an 11th straight week with “One Dance”, a collaboration with Wizkid and Kyla. […]

As Matthew McConaughey gets spotted in Cavendish Square the past weekend – he’s in the country to shoot a movie – and Cape Town announced it has issued a record number of movie-shooting permits so far in 2016, we list some of the movies being shot or recently shot in SA. 1. The Odyssey (l’Odyssée) A biopic […]

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 […]

South African comedian has appeared on the popular daytime talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa. Noah talks about speaking six languages – not all perfectly, he emphasised – how he grew up in a family that loved dogs and about driving a taxi as one of his jobs. https://youtu.be/YkGpPtowCnA

Jesse Clegg launched his new album “Things Unseen” earlier this month at the Goodluck Bar in Johannesburg. Music is both entertainment and escape. It captures moments of experience; fragments of life. It embodies the unseen. It is in darkness that we see the stars, that we dream, that the emptiness consumes shadows and hidden truths. Sometimes […]

Two of South Africa’s best-known actors, Marius Weyers and Sandra Prinsloo, who were seen around the world in the movie “The Gods Must be Crazy”, have teamed up again for a new thriller that is being released in July. The two, who have become sort of acting royalty, have been acting together for a long time, at […]

A new six-part mini-series based on the life of Nelson Mandela and starring an international and South African cast has started shooting in Johannesburg. The cast for the BET series “Madiba”, which includes American Laurence Fishburne (the “Matrix” series, “Contagion”, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”) as Mandela and Orlando Jones as Oliver Tambo, will also showcase […]

It’s a random challenge that’s just gone viral for no particular reason, but the crews on four South African airlines – so far – seem to be having a lot of fun doing it and competing against one another in the process. The #RunningManChallenge, which was started by two American basketball players apparently, is to do a variation […]

At the 22nd Annual South African Music Awards, the Afro-pop sensation Nathi Mankanyi walked away with five awards, including the well-deserved Best Newcomer and Bestselling Album for “Buyelekhaya”, whose “Nomvula” has pulled in more than a million Youtube views in recent months. The awards were held at a glittering ceremony in Durban on Saturday. At the recent Metro […]

South African cricketing star AB de Villiers’ crooning love song, which was uploaded to YouTube a week ago, has received over 300,000 views already… making it more popular than some genuine pop stars’ videos! If you haven’t seen it yet, watch below as the sportsman and his wife Danielle perform a cover of Ronan Keating’s ‘When […]

On a night when Alison Botha desperately needed a hero – after being raped, stabbed and left for dead – she became one. Her story is heartbreaking and empowering. Painful and uplifting. And has now been turned into a film – “Alison the Movie” – which will have its world premiere on Friday. (Watch trailer below.) For […]

After being chased by an elephant whilst on safari in South Africa, Arnold Schwarzenegger – who’s no stranger to extreme action – admitted “some of us had to change our pants” afterwards! Fortunately the frightening experience hasn’t stopped the Hollywood star from being “in awe of these beautiful, strong creatures” and urging people to stop killing […]

Take a listen to a rap and reggae mix, filmed in South Africa with a French flavour. The track – Irie – is performed by French singer Nik DaFrik and locals Lord Harmony, Melody and Sbonda. It features a blend of African and Western influences… set in the Capetonian ambience at the beginning of summer break. […]