Philani Dladla’s story is well known to those who know him as the Pavement Bookworm and have bought books from him on Empire Road in Johannesburg, South Africa. But now he has added author to his résumé, with his newly published book titled, of course, “The Pavement Bookworm”. Dladla – whom we wrote about in […]

Three years ago this weekend, small-town Mpumulanga schoolgirl Pretty Yende made her debut at the world-famous Metropolitan Opera House in New York. More astonishing than her voice was that it had been only a decade since Yende had learned what the word “opera” meant. This weekend Yende posted a message on Instagram from Paris, where she is soon to […]

Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has paid tribute to late musician David Bowie for championing the struggle for equality. “He spoke out and pointed out uncomfortable truths to those around him about racism. In so doing, he was an agent of change and a trailblazer in many different ways,” Minister Mthethwa said. Bowie passed […]

Watch one of the best cover versions of Toto’s Africa ever performed… Using a unique intro – the kind that will make you want to rub your hands together! – the Angel City Chorale, from Los Angeles. recorded this video at least two years ago…but it has recently gone viral again on social media. If you haven’t […]

The successful U.S. streaming entertainment company Netflix has broadened its global outreach to South Africa, where it launched this week and goes up against local streaming company ShowMax, which began in 2015. South Africa is one of 130 countries that will get Netflix from Wednesday. The latest move means that Netflix is now available in […]

How does a municipal structure in place for decades get broken with abandon? Is it a process? What breaks first that is deemed not important enough to fix? The abysmal current state of Pretoria Art Museum is a crying shame to its proud, polished history. It feels as though the best solution is to shut […]

The singer Beyoncé wants to make a movie playing Saartjie Baartman, the Khoi woman who was sent to Europe in the 19th century and spent the rest of her short life as an oddity gawked at by Europeans, according to news reports. The Grammy winner who has acted in movies like “Dreamgirls” has apparently requested countless books on […]

Cape Town city was flooded with tens of thousands of people on Saturday, as the Cape Minstrels – or the Kaapse Klopse – took to the streets in one of the best and, surprisingly, least-known carnivals around. Tweede Nuwe Jaar, or Second New Year, is held on 2 January every year and was started by […]

There may be a new player on the entertainment block in 2016, with numerous reports saying that the well-known U.S. streaming company Netflix will enter the South African market as early as January. Streaming provider Netflix, which shows movies and TV series, some of them originally made, said in January 2015 that it was planning to enter South […]

The Telegraph newspaper in Britain has included Cape Town on a list of top places across the globe – from cities to countries to national parks – to visit in 2016. Other destinations on the list included Porto, Portugal; Yosemite national park in the U.S.; the Dominican Republic; Kenya’s Masai Mara; and the island of […]

Wondering how to celebrate New Year this year? Here are 11 fabulous and varied ways to bring in 2016 if you’re in South Africa. They may not be as famous as New York’s Time Square, London’s Trafalgar Square or Sydney’s Harbour Bridge lights…but they’re just as much – if not more – fun! 1. At the Karoo’s Festival […]

On 1 January 2013, Lorraine Loots set herself a goal: to produce one work of art a day for the next year. Two years and 730 paintings later, the results can be seen in “Paintings for Ants” and the newly launched “Postcards for Ants”. Along the way, Loots has picked up almost a quarter of a […]

A lanky teenage boy in jeans and a t-shirt takes a seat in front of a grand piano in a Karoo farmhouse. Behind him are a few dozen people on sofas and dining room chairs, waiting expectantly. At the entrance to the room is a platter bearing a small but growing pile of cash. The […]

Rhodes Rage, by Zapiro “In Zapiro’s 20th annual he skewers another momentous year including the drama over Rhodes and other statues, Nkandla pay back the money, spy cables, NPA shenanigans, Eskom and parastatal paralysis, union disunity, Charlie Hebdo, xenophobia, Juju’s boiler suit brigade, Godzille’s successor, cockroaches, Verwoerd’s ghost and other political creatures.” The Cape Town […]

South African fans of Mariah Carey are celebrating today as it’s been announced that the international superstar – and diva amongst divas – will tour South Africa for the very first time! In a statement this morning on their facebook page, the Publicity Workshop quoted Mariah saying: “Lambily, it’s been too long!! I’m so excited to […]

The movie studio dubbed South Africa’s Pixar, which made the international hits “Adventures in Zambezia” and “Khumba”, will back eight new animated movies and TV series – two more than initially intended – because the proposals it got were so good. The projects include a story about a lemming who must learn to defy his nature […]

South African musicians Jack Parow and Freshlyground have got together to make an action-packed Bond-esque music video with all the makings of a great spy thriller…including explosives planted in Table Mountain! Exquisitely directed by Jon Savage and Craig Hunter Parker, the five-minute mini-movie follows our South African secret agents of #zefspionage – Jan Bont (Jack Parow) and Geldpenni (Zolani Mahola) […]

Justice Malala’s book, “We Have Now Begun Our Descent: How to Stop South Africa Losing its Way”, does a number of things well. It reclaims the space for a particular kind of conversation among successful but ordinary South Africans – those who are not radical or particularly steeped in the eloquent and sometimes exclusionary new […]

High tea – that sumptuous invention credited to the Duchess of Bedford to quell the pangs of hunger between lunch and dinner – is still part of the culture at a range of hotels in Cape Town. So settle back and raise your pinkie as you enjoy the savoury and sweet treats found at some of the best high tea spreads […]

SuzelleDIY’s latest video couldn’t come at a better time – she shared all her top tips on enjoying Amsterdam, just as Air France KLM announced they will now operate year-round daily flights between Amsterdam and Cape Town, starting in May 2016. The latest video from South Africa’s popular DIY queen is a little different from her normal household and how-to-make-a-braai-pie type of […]

Congratulations to Johnny Clegg who received an OBE this month for his contribution to music, upliftment, and the fight against apartheid in South Africa in a career that has spanned over three decades. Here’s the photo that says it all: The legendary South African singer joined personalities like actor Benedict Cumberbatch to be honoured by Queen Elizabeth II last Tuesday with […]

The seaside town of Hermanus became a movie set this week with the filming of “The Whale Caller”. Based on the acclaimed book of the same title by Zakes Mda and adapted for the screen by Zola Maseko, the story is about a kelp-horn-blowing man who seems to be deeply drawn to a very particular whale. […]

Thanksgiving is a very big time in the US, when people do anything to get home to the family and turkey dinner. This year National Geographic’s biggest scripted series ever tells the story of the first Thanksgiving, when British settlers on the Mayflower landed at Cape Cod in 1620, except it was all shot near another Cape – Cape Town. “Saints & […]

As superheroes hit the movie and TV screens of the world, South Africa is getting one of its own. And going from this trailer, it looks pretty special and amazing. So does Johannesburg! Director Gareth Crocker introduces clips from the series, “Jongo” https://vimeo.com/124604413 Based in the City of Gold and the Cradle of Humankind, the eight-part series “Jongo” […]

“Nomvula” is a very chill, very catchy Xhosa song by up-and-coming singer Nathi – he’s been called “a breath of fresh acoustic air” – in a gorgeous video shot around his home province of the Eastern Cape. The song is from his debut album, “Buyelekhaya”, and has already been viewed over 300,000 times on YouTube in less […]