Trevor Noah isn’t the only South African ‘Trevor’ export to hit US shores. First there was Trevor Jones (now 66), an orchestral film score composer from Cape Town whose credits include ‘The Last of the Mohicans’. And then there was fellow musician and film score composer Trevor Rabin (now 61) who is again making news this […]

After celebrating a landmark victory against the Reserve Bank last year and pledging the millions he won to help other South Africans who can’t afford their own constitutional court cases, South African billionaire expat Mark Shuttleworth has today lost that legal battle. And since the figure that he paid the Reserve Bank was R250-million, just R4-million more than what […]

The new immigration regulations concerning travelling with children in and out of South Africa, implemented on 1 June 2015, have caused some confusion and a flood of questions. Here’s a guide that should make it simple and hassle-free so that you can focus on having a holiday while the SA government can focus on ensuring […]

At the South African March in London today, a new movement was launched – SAY We Can. According to the March organisers the movement is a community platform for global South Africans – who share in the same values – to have their say and contribute to the restoration of not only government effectiveness in […]

South Africans in the UK will be marching in London tomorrow, in support of those back home, with Trafalgar Square playing its part in hopefully once again bringing about positive South African transformation. The expats in the UK will be standing united in support of basic human rights back in their homeland, South Africa. The march will […]

So now we have established that most of us expats are not hell bent on taking the country to the dogs, let’s talk about why we upped sticks and left. I come from a family of expats. Mum is English, Dad from South Africa but raised in Kenya and Zambia, grandparents from SA and the UK. […]

A couple of die-hard South Africans overseas, who have risked everything to follow their dream, are on the verge of something “enormous”… and would appreciate our voting help to get a chance to pitch their concept to Richard Branson. UK-based entrepreneurs Jeff Paterson and Oliver Du Toit, both from Johannesburg, have created a machine that millions of travellers will want to […]

There is a name on the American website GhostTowns.com that looks very familiar: Randsburg, California. Not far away is – you guessed it – Johannesburg! There’s also CapeTown…and over the Atlantic, in France, is a town called Durban. Randsburg, California The small town of Randsburg is nearly a ghost town today (although one reference puts the population at […]

In response to all the open letters bashing expats…I’d like to say there are so many sides here. Yes, you get the expat hell bent on taking South Africa down, but to be honest – living as an expat and having family living as expats all over the world – these people are few and far between. […]

Every time I see yet another article from another South African moaning about the negativity of expats, and clearly writing with their rose-tinted glasses on, I get angry. Really angry. Hulk angry. The overwhelming theme of South African bloggers and writers lately seems to be the attack of the expat. How dare we leave South […]

Some of my best friends are expats. No, really. I’ve been through two waves of people leaving South Africa for various reasons, to the extent that I remember lying awake at night wondering who my future children would have as playmates. (I’m pleased to report that their social life has survived.) So now I have […]

‘Joburg Expat’ Eva Melusine Thieme, author of this article, grew up in Germany and has lived in Singapore, the United States and Africa. Four continents and counting. As frustrating as it can be to move households across continents or to navigate the incomprehensible currents of the Department of Home Affairs to obtain your visa, or to find […]

South African expat, Major General Bernadus Groenewald, is making headlines in Fiji, Australia and New Zealand with his bravery. Groenewald, who happens to be the Commissioner of Police in Fiji, confronted five thugs at a Suva restaurant, armed only with a chair! In a story headlined “Heroes of the Night”, the Fiji Times said the […]

In celebration of the 22nd New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) an exciting line-up of over 25 films from more than 15 countries from Africa will be screened 6-12 May 2015. It is thrilling to see how the vision for Africa – from Burkina Faso to Botswana, from Ghana to South Africa – is being […]

A poem by Faieza Mx, now living in Queensland, Australia… I want to wake up to the Majestic Table Mountain Always standing, Always there, Never failing Its beauty astounding As it watches over Cape Town The ocean so blue… Camps Bay, Strand, Boulders Sea Point I want to go home to gaardtjies shouting ‘hullo, hullo, […]

The South African husband of an Australian mom who received a ‘poison pen’ letter about photos she posted to Facebook has spoken out against his wife’s so-called friends. The letter is receiving worldwide attention as it grapples with a topic familiar to so many social media users.  How many baby photos is enough? Should we really post photos of […]

It had to happen. After Trader Joe’s, the hugely popular and huge supermarket chain in the USA (think Woolies but a bit cheaper), brought out its South African BBQ Potato Chips, biltong wasn’t more than a whiff away. And so the store has recently rolled out ‘The South African Inspired Biltong Beef Jerky.’ The American […]

We have all done it, and many of us will continue to do it. We have tried to sell Australia. We say, “Come, it is the best thing you can ever do. Your kids will thank you. You will be a fool if you do not take the opportunity. This is the land of milk and […]

Moving to another place gives one the opportunity to learn and understand cultural habits and traditions, and I’ve had the fortune to do so on multiple occasions. Being abroad also gave me the chance to see my own country – the Netherlands – from an outside perspective, and see how incredibly (weird) silly we Dutchies […]

Scatzy.com – the new VoD (video on demand) platform for indigenous movies from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand – launches their service today, 2 April, with the release of ‘Strikdas’ on the same day the film will be available in movie theaters in South Africa. This means that South Africans anywhere in the world will be […]

I was fresh out of school with boots too big to handle and an attitude to match when I embarked on the fascinating journey of life in another country. Let me just say that I wanted in no way to find myself at 18 years of age living in the middle of the countryside! I […]

You know the feeling; you are homesick for South Africa and you just want home. Nothing else will do. No other adventure, no prospect of promotion, you just want home. Just for one day…an hour…in such desperate times even a minute would do! As I sit at my desk I can hear the wind howl, […]

I received an email from a South African friend in New York yesterday in which he asked what was “potting” and said that he was “holding thumbs” for me to find a new house. If I couldn’t find my dream home, he said, “come to my pozzie and kip here. It’ll put a smile on […]

South Korea has become a popular destination for young South Africans who want to teach English, have an adventure, save some money and experience an entirely different culture. So we asked Capetonian Helena Lorimer, who has spent three years teaching English in South Korea, to give us the lowdown on everything a South African should […]

South African supermodel Candice Swanepoel has put a smile on many faces in the past week – modelling for Operation Smile charity and posing in video clips. But the biggest  smile  was the one on her own face…when she spotted her mom at the airport in South Africa. She described it, on Instagram, as “that […]