Ninety-two year old Myrtle Cothill has been given a reprieve and will not be deported from the UK back to her birth-country South Africa on Tuesday, as was originally ordered by the Home Office. According to UK news reports late Friday, the British Home Office has cancelled the removal direction in order to consider more […]

A couple of years ago I wrote an article on my blog (Rant!) entitled ‘Why I will not go back to South Africa’ (see below). It was largely incited by the Oscar Pistorius trial, which was happening at the time – I’d just had a baby and found myself sitting glued to my cell phone […]

Here’s the remaining 21 of 42 interesting tidbits about South Africa to enrich your understanding and save you several lifetimes trying to truly experience all SA has to offer. With a buffet of landscapes from mountain ranges to sprawling savannahs, forests to white sandy beaches – it’s a feast for the hungry tourist (and yes, I am biased)… […]

South Africa is a country of extreme contrasts. It’s home to some of the oldest known human fossils and the world’s youngest language (ja, nee…Afrikaans). The land itself—though mired by its history of battles over ownership—is one of resplendent beauty. Speaking as a local, you may accuse me of bias. But I assure you that […]

Travellers to South Africa have been confused by headlines claiming that the law requiring minors to travel with an Unabridged Birth Certificate (UBC) had been “scrapped”. The law has not yet been scrapped… but Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom said in a statement today that his department is in “intense discussions” with Home Affairs to implement […]

What a gorgeous picture – Zola Budd and Mary Decker at the Los Angeles Coliseum in the USA, 32 years after that fateful race that changed Budd’s life forever. The former South African barefoot runner posted the photo on her facebook page on Sunday, saying: “Mary and me at LA Coliseum after more than 30 years!!! […]

Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Director General Mkuseli Apleni said in a statement yesterday that the DHA is on track with the implementation of those Cabinet concessions on immigration rules which were announced in October 2015. These include an extension of the expiry date of the Parental Consent Affidavit, and the future roll-out of South African passports […]

Under the headline “Saffa Day at Snowmass”, a Colorado newspaper snapped 60 South Africans who are working in Aspen during the winter season, with the South African flag draped on the snow in front of them. The Aspen Times said, “A group of roughly 60 South Africans who are working in the area for the […]

British actor Orlando Bloom has revealed that he’s not only a fan of South Africa’s steaks…but also of a lekker South African braai. The well-travelled actor was asked recently where in the world he had enjoyed his most memorable meal. His response was: “It’s impossible to name a particular restaurant but the steaks in South Africa are like […]

The last month has been a very interesting trial in patience and acceptance, as well as a tremendous learning curve on what South Africa is really like. I live outside the country and thus get all my news on our country via the media…and it’s not good. It began in December with a lost passport […]

A South African chef, Bruce Marais – who now lives in the USA – has posted the following videos and photos revealing the extent of the record-breaking Winter Storm Jonas – which some have called Snowzilla – as blizzards and gale-force winds have hit the USA this weekend, causing thousands of flights to be cancelled…including those […]

Following several stories that are being shared on social media, SAPeople received a mountain of concerned queries from South Africans in the UK who fear they are suddenly about to be deported from April 2016. We asked the British High Commission in Pretoria to set the record straight. Most importantly – the reports that thousands of South African […]

There’s a weird thing happening in South Africa. Well, to be fair, there’s a lot of weird sh@# going down. But I’d like to focus in on the niche weirdness of white, upper-class parents in SA at this point in time. And their seemingly unchecked yet (in my opinion) unbalanced rhetoric: “We’re really thinking about […]

It’s the straw that appears to have broken the country’s back. South Africans are uniting in their anger over yesterday evening’s sudden removal of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, by President Jacob Zuma, and are saying #EnoughIsEnough. Supporters of a #ZumaMustFall movement are signing a petition, planning a march and asking  those expats abroad to return home […]

I often get asked the question… “What’s it like living there?” The truth? I find it hard and amazing in equal measures. I could go on about the hard stuff but I won’t. The challenges are not that major to be honest. What makes some things hard is not that they’re bad but rather that they’re different. […]

This article is not meant to belittle the horrible events that occurred in Paris on 13 November but to highlight the notion that the winds of change have brought new terrors that should make one rethink traditional conceptions of safety. Eleven-Thirteen (11-13) is another infamous date to be added to 9-11 and 7-7; another senseless act of terror; another deadly […]

One scene in Soft Vengeance will always stay with me: Two men sit in a TV studio for BBC’s Hard Talk. One is a British journalist, the other a smiling, heavily accented, one-armed man in a colourful African traditional shirt. “Is forgiveness too cheap for the kinds of crimes committed under apartheid in South Africa?” the journalist […]

There’s a resounding message from South Africans abroad: “Let’s get together this Saturday!” It’s the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal. South Africa vs Wales. At Twickenham. Kicks off at 5pm SA time. Where will you be? We’ve been inundated with messages from expats around the world wanting to know where they can watch the game in […]

South Africa will have at least one representative in the crowd tonight at the Bafana Bafana match in Costa Rica. She’s South African expat Elizabeth Cubas who’ll be patriotically cheering for her country all the way! “I have been living in Costa Rica for about eight months and loving it here,” she says. “I do miss […]

The Rugby World Cup (RWC) match between the RSA and the USA kicks off in less than an hour…and we’ll probably all have our eyes on our boys in green and gold, and on one member of the USA team. Number 9. Niku Kruger. It’s a big night for the South African expat. Playing for […]

A few months ago, my host mother in South Africa shared a nugget of wisdom which I found quite profound. She said, “Lydia, sometimes you look and wait for a sign towards something when actually, you’ve already been given the sign, you just missed it because you chose not to see it or it wasn’t what […]

Two young and eager fans of sports sensation Cameron van der Burgh were bitterly disappointed today to not watch the South African swim in Singapore after hazy conditions caused Saturday’s FINA World Cup finals to be cancelled. They were all dressed up with nowhere to go. But their disappointment soon turned to joy after the swimming star – who won two Golds and […]

South African expat CORNEL MARAIS, who has been living overseas for nine years and is now based in Hong Kong, answers the Top 20 Questions South Africans at home have for an expat*… [button color=”” size=”” type=”]1[/button] Why did you cop out – didn’t you have the guts to stick it out for the long run? […]

Congratulatory messages of pride and support have been pouring in for Trevor Noah from his fellow South Africans all over the planet…as television viewers in America, and parts of the world, get ready for the South African comedian’s debut on Comedy Central’s ‘The Daily Show’ in a few hours’ time. Whilst Trevor will be alone in that […]

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has revealed to Vogue magazine that he was bullied at school whilst growing up in South Africa. In an article headed “Elon Musk Wants to Change How (and Where) Humans Live”, Musk – who went to school in Johannesburg and Pretoria – says that the bullying was so bad that there was […]