So many people replied to our story “12 of SA’s Best Movies You Might Have Missed” – especially “Dirkie”, which triggered many a childhood memory – we thought we’d add some of the most popular suggestions that didn’t make it onto the first list. 1. e’Lollipop (aka Forever Young, Forever Free) (1975) A black South African boy […]

Many people know “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” – a song often associated with the movie “The Lion King” – but few people know the famous tune was born in a small town in South Africa almost a century ago. In tribute to that song – originally titled “Mbube” – we thought we’d post several of the countless wonderful versions that have been done […]

We all know about “Tsotsi”, which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and Leon Schuster’s blockbusters that people might titters at but go see anyway. We also know those movies about South Africa with foreigners trying to pass off as locals (“Cry Freedom”, “Long Road to Freedom”). But here are 12 little screen gems born and bred […]

Check out this performance by former South African expat Gavin Edwards that everyone’s talking about tonight. His rendition of ‘Say Something’ on TV singing contest The Voice South Africa had judges fighting over him and set social media on fire. In fact, there was even a little #ProteaFire involved when AB de Villiers tweeted his […]

With all the Grammy 2016 talk being focussed on the microphone that fell on a piano during Adele’s performance, and Taylor Swift becoming the first woman to win a Grammy of the Year award twice (as main credited artist)… you may have missed this magical moment from Benin musician Angelique Kidjo as she accepted the Grammy […]

From secret beaches to speakeasies to best views of the sunset to a party where you showcase your favourite artist, Catherine Franklin uncovers some of Cape Town’s little secrets. Whether it’s Fish Hoek, the city centre or the Northern Suburbs, they all have some great gems. Now – as they say – it’s time to get out! 1. […]

The year ahead is looking pretty fabulous for Pretty Yende, South Africa’s incredible opera singer who has both New York and Paris clamouring for more. Both the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and the National Opera de Paris have announced Yende’s return to their stages in their 2016/17 line-ups. According to Yende’s Facebook page, “it is with […]

For anyone who loves animated movies like “Finding Nemo” or “Wallace and Gromit”, Cape Town is the place to be for the next four days as the Cape Town International Animation Festival offers a glut of movies and talks and workshops from around the world. Included in the features available will be the highly praised […]

A UK-based production company has announced that it will begin filming a documentary about the circumstances leading to the murder of Reeva Steenkamp by Oscar Pistorius. The shooting of Steenkamp through the locked bathroom door of Pistorius’ house took place on 14 February three years ago, and Pistorius later claimed he thought he was shooting an intruder. […]

The latest Vanity Fair cover is an annual event where the most talked-about stars in movies grace the cover, and one of them is Gugu Mbatha-Raw, whose father is South African and whose name is actually short for Gugulethu. Mbatha-Raw was born in Witney, a rural and typically quaint Oxfordshire town, of a South African doctor […]

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It was one of South Africa’s many dark moments. Fifty years ago, on 11 February in 1966, the neighbourhood of District Six on the fringe of Cape Town’s centre was declared for “Whites Only”. More than half a century later the area has (lamentably, after many hold-ups) still not been built on, and it remains a very visible […]

In an interview with The New York Times, South African photographer Chris Saunders says his love of the pantsula dance culture stems from its spontaneous and makeshift energy and the positive message the dance’s champions are trying to spread. Pantsula originated in the townships of South Africa during apartheid. Modern pantsula dance moves have turned into a […]

The innovate site 10and5.com have launched a free Web show that highlights lots of creative things going on in South Africa you might not have heard about. Hidden galleries, music gigs, shops and loads of things to do. “This is our first episode and we’re super excited to share it with you – it’s full of […]

Perfectly timed to make a repeat appearance on social media while “Sugarman” singer Rodriguez is in South Africa for his sixth tour is the cartoon “Nkandla Man”. “Nkandla Man” was created in 2013 by former Cape Argus cartoonist John Curtis and cartoonist Jerm, who collaborated on it for a related article in an edition of Rolling Stone. “It is obviously a parody […]

Looking for deeper insight into South Africa – or just a good read? Here are snap reviews of classic South African books, covering everything from non-fiction to fiction to poetry, and featuring a range of the country’s greatest novelists, poets, journalists and historians. (Thanks to South African Book Fair for the main pic.) Non-fiction 1. Long Walk […]

It’s been almost 10 years since J.K. Rowling brought out “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, the last in the popular series, but she keeps fans updated in myriad ways. Most recently she has identified four more wizardry schools around the world, and the biggest is in Africa, called Uagadou (pronounced Wagadoo). At a Harry Potter celebration […]

U.S. talk show host Ellen de Generes has long been known as a supporter of animal causes, and now it’s African animal causes too. Two of her most recent guests were Dereck and Beverly Joubert, the South African conservationists and award-winning photographers. The South African couple, who have lived in the Botswana wilderness for some […]

The France-based chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen has become the first South African to win a coveted Michelin star for his restaurant JAN in Nice on the Riviera, it was announced on Monday. It was one of more than 50 new stars awarded in 2016, Michelin said. For restaurants in France a Michelin star is […]

Certain cities around the world get a name for great coffee. San Francisco, Seattle, London, Tokyo, Taipei. Now add Cape Town to the pack, especially over the last year or two as specialty coffee shops have exploded all over the Mother City. We sniffed out the best brew to be found. 1. The best coffee shop for over-the-top […]

In the first of a series of sold-out concerts around the country, British Grammy-award-winning rock band Mumford & Sons played to a crowd of thousands on the Grand Parade in Cape Town on Friday night. The band will play another concert in Cape Town, one in Durban and two in Pretoria. Watch the crowd join […]

JOHANNESBURG – The first wide-ranging show of the artist Henri Matisse in South Africa will be presented in Johannesburg later this year, the French Embassy in South Africa said on Monday. The show, “Rhythm and Meaning”, will run at the Standard Bank Gallery from 13 July to 17 September. It will be the fourth major exhibition […]

For anyone who hasn’t seen a South African theatre production recently, “Singin’ in the Rain” will astound you. The famous musical – which is actually seeing a revival on Broadway this year – gets nothing but praise, praise and more praise. After a wildly successful run in Cape Town – with audiences in the first three rows getting ponchos […]

If you are upset that South Africa’s Charlize Theron didn’t get nominated by the Academy Awards for her brilliant performance in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, that’s nothing compared to the racial furore that’s been caused by people of colour having been overlooked, with two well-known movie industry members saying they won’t attend the 2016 Oscar awards in […]