President Zuma has announced that he will mark Nelson Mandela Day – on Thursday, 18 July – by officially handing over houses to the community of Danville, Pretoria West. Now the rest of us aren’t expected to do something quite like that, but we should each do something. And preferably we should do that something […]

Strictly Come Dancing kicked off to a scintillating start on Wednesday 10 July in South Africa…with its two new hosts – globally-adored comedian Marc Lottering, and popular South African TV presenter/actress/DJ Pabi Moloi. The show, which is based on a BBC format and aired in over 40 countries, is brought to South African screens by […]

The first time Kesivan Naidoo saw Nelson Mandela on television was 23 years ago, when the former president was released from prison. The jazz drummer was just 10 years old at the time and was oblivious to how that moment, 11 February 1990, would shape the way he made music in his adult life. Now […]

Dewald van Dyk’s shoes lie in the murky depths of Westdene Dam in Johannesburg. They have been there since 1985, when he dived into the dark waters again and again to pull out children whose school bus went into the dam. Van Dyk was a paramedic at the time, and he was part of the […]

Commemorative events will take place in Alexandra township, the suburb of Westdene in north-western Johannesburg, and Soweto, where the original uprising began. Johannesburg’s executive mayor Parks Tau will unveil a plaque early on the morning of 16 June after a march from the Alexandra High School to the Realugile School in Alexandra, in memory of […]

Cape Town was transformed into Winter Wonderland yesterday with a massive hail storm that left the CBD looking like it had been covered in a white carpet of snow. Before the last drop of hail had fallen, locals were already sharing photos of the magical scene on Facebook. South African cartoonist Jerm seemed to have […]

Nelson Mandela is travelling to Europe this year – multiple images of the icon will appear in Paris from 29 May to 6 July as part of the France-South Africa Seasons 2012 and 2013. “Produced by the highly regarded Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, in association with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the exhibition will celebrate Mandela’s relationship with the […]

We all give Lira and The Parlotones credit for enriching our souls with their songs. But less often do we give a thought to the songwriters and composers behind the hit makers’ music. This is the reason the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) has decided to acknowledge the creators of music in their inaugural Wawela […]

BARRA DA TIJUCA, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil (Sunday, May 19, 2013) –Jordy Smith (ZAF), 25, has won the Billabong Rio Pro in an exciting final over Brazil’s favourite Adriano de Souza (BRA), 26, by a score of 17.80 to 16.34 in clean two-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at Barra Da Tijuca. Stop No. 3 of 10 on the ASP […]

  The reciprocal leg of the bilateral cultural exchange Saisons croisées France-Afrique du Sud, which began in June 2012, swings into action between May and December 2013. The two-year-long programme was instigated by presidents Jacob Zuma and Nicolas Sarkozy, and it is based on similar successful events that have already taken place between France and Vietnam, […]

Freedom Day on 27 April marks the day South Africa voted in its first democratic elections. That day took 342 years to reach. Racial discrimination existed in various forms almost from the start of European settlement in the country, when the Dutch East India Company governor, Jan van Riebeeck, arrived at the Cape in 1652. […]

It was a bittersweet win today at the Absa Cape Epic for defending champion Christoph Sauser of Switzerland. In the last two years he won this same race, cycling with the brilliantly talented Burry Stander who was tragically killed by a taxibus whilst training earlier this year. Burry’s presence was very much felt throughout the […]

SA’s legendary singer Johnny Clegg is set to become the first Solo South African act to ever perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall, when he takes to the stage next week.  (And five lucky SAPeople readers can win a pair of tickets to the show! See below…) Johnny will be making history when he takes […]

TEAM RWANDA CYCLING is a story about redemption, hope, and second chances.  Tom Ritchey, renowned mountain bike industry pioneer, first visited Rwanda in 2005.  Awed by the natural beauty of Rwanda, he was also deeply moved by the people and their stories of reconciliation and hope.  Tom knew he could use his talent and resources to […]

South African composers who have succeeded in the fiercely competitive international market will be recognised in a new awards programme called Wawela (Zulu, meaning “go beyond”). The initiative is driven by the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro), which is responsible for upholding and administering the rights of music composers in the region. This covers […]

Endurance cyclist Kevin Davie’s new book, Freedom Rider, tells the story of the mountain bike adventures that led him to discover some of South Africa’s most beautiful hidden corners, understand more about the history that shaped the country, and experience genuine South African hospitality. On his journey to discover more of South Africa, the seasoned cyclist […]

Lorna Cochran, 89, will be swimming her 14th aQuellé Midmar Mile this year and if she makes it to the other side, she will be the oldest finisher in the race’s 40-year history. In 1999 Colin Cable finished as an 89-year-old, but he was four months younger than Cochran. She turns 90 in July. The race, recognised by […]

Sixty-five years ago today Mahatma Gandhi, one of the 20th century’s great spiritual leaders, was assassinated in India, at the age of 78. On 30 January 1948 Nathuram Godse pushed through a crowd around Gandhi, and fired three shots at point-blank range. He died on the spot. Gandhi’s 21-year South African sojourn nurtured the creation […]

Award-winning songbird Lira is set to wow the world – she’s received a request to perform at President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration ball on 21 January 2013. Lira, who was born Lerato Molapo in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg, is no one-hit wonder – the singer was discovered in 2000 and since then has been raking in the […]

London’s prestigious Tate Gallery has turned its eyes to Africa, with plans to bring modern art from the continent to international attention through a two-year programme of exhibitions and performances. The intercontinental Across the Board programme started on 24 November with the official opening at the Tate Modern in London. The opening event featured performances in the […]

The winners of the ImpACT awards for excellence in arts and culture were announced by the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) at their 15th annual ceremony on 9 November. The initiative recognises South Africa’s top young artistic professionals, and among those lauded were The Muffinz for music and singing, Phillip Dikotla for theatre and fashion label Ozlo South […]

As many as 34 local filmmakers have made their way to the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) – with 22 documentaries in tow – to showcase locally made productions at the prestigious event. It is the largest South African industry delegation yet to take works to an international festival or market. Working with the support […]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas) in Hollywood  honoured the latest recipients of the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting at a gala dinner in Beverly Hills on Thursday 8 November. Among the five is South African filmmaker Sean Robert Daniels, from Pretoria in Gauteng. He wrote Killers, the story of a female contract killer whose dying […]

From growing up in a modest mud hut in rural Limpopo to living a single room with his family inside a Johannesburg baseball clubhouse, and later becoming the first black South African ever to sign a professional baseball contract,  Gift Ngoepe’s story is nothing short of extraordinary. Ngoepe (22) was signed to the Pittsburgh Pirates […]

Young golfing champion Daniël Slabbert, an amputee, is living proof that adversity is no match for determination and a belief in one’s own talents. At just 21 years old, Slabbert is already a veteran of the golf course and a championship winner, and even with a prosthetic leg, he is capable of just about anything. […]