South African expat Deborah Pead could just be one of the most influential women in New Zealand! On Saturday the New Zealand Herald featured an interview with the public relations guru, headlined “Is this Auckland’s most influential woman?” The article in the paper’s Canvas magazine asks “How did an expat South African PR dynamo become one of […]

A few days ago ‘The Australian’, a nationwide newspaper in Australia, shared a compilation of stunning aerial footage of Cape Town’s coast, generating an influx of comments from South Africans living Down Under and back home. While there were those who got involved in a heated debate over the current state of the city and country, […]

PRETORIA – The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department has called on international travellers, who will be visiting South Africa during the Easter holidays, to comply with the country’s import requirements for agricultural and related regulated products. “Compliance will assist our country in preventing and/or minimising the potential risk of introducing alien invasive species, foreign pests and […]

Anyone watching news reports in England, the US or Australia these days might be struck by a growing phenomenon – South African accents. More and more journalists from South Africa are either taking the anchor seat on leading international news programmes or reporting for them from hot spots around the world. Whether it’s on an […]

Last month a new musical came to London’s West End – the much anticipated Broadway hit, Motown the Musical. And, in a starring role – as Marvin Gaye – is South Africa’s very own Sifiso Mazibuko. When the box office opened for the London debut of Motown the Musical last May, Shaftesbury Theatre in Covent Garden […]

HAYLEY REICHERT, renowned in the UK as one of the most passionately South African South Africans you’ll ever meet, this week sent out an emotional cry for help for the family of a fellow SA mom’s tragic plight – Tania Harms was placed in an induced coma, at just 28 weeks pregnant. Writing on Facebook, […]

Australia will be televising a Canal Plus documentary on Monday night that exposes the game hunting industry in South Africa, where hunting often takes place in fenced off private reserves leaving the animals – who have sometimes been tranquillised or tamed (even bred for the purpose, otherwise known as ‘canned hunting’) – trapped with little or […]

There’s something so exquisitely special about South Africa that creeps into your soul…and never leaves. We all know it. Those South Africans who can never tear themselves away because their roots run too deep. Those expats who have left but who see visions of ‘home’ wherever they look – in potholes, tea stains and the […]

South African golfer Ernie Els was jumping for joy on Monday, when Rickie Fowler hit a brilliant hole-in-one on a bonus hole to earn Els’ autism foundation a whopping one million dollar donation from sponsors at a charity event in Florida! The event took place at Palm Beach Gardens in the USA, where Els has […]

South Africans Stephen and Laura Kramer relocated to Melbourne, Australia, 20 years ago where they both work as vets. They’re back on holiday in South Africa…and loving it. With the hugest respect to all our Aussie mates (and Kiwis too!), here’s a blog Stephen wrote at the weekend for his daughter back in Australia… “Ok Manda, here’s the travel […]

After public outrage, world headlines, a petition and relentless support from her barrister, 92-year-old Myrtle Cothill is now allowed to remain in the UK with her daughter. Her barrister, Jan Doerfel, posted the following message to the petition page on Change.org today: “Right in time for [UK] Mother’s Day, we have been told by the Home Office that the original […]

Good news for braai-loving South Africans in Nashville, Tennessee. South Africa’s fastest growing franchise – Chesa Nyama – is heading stateside. The take-away restaurant chain, which boasts food that’s “flame grilled the traditional way”, has grown from just one store to 300 in just three years! Just over two weeks ago, on 12 February, Chesa Nyama’s holding […]

Two of Africa’s greatest exports – South African comedian Trevor Noah and Mexican-Kenyan Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o – sat down in New York for an interview with journalist Philip Galanes. As the actress wrote on Facebook: “‘So two Africans walk into a restaurant in Manhattan and meet a journalist…’ – the start of a very good joke or […]

Before we made the decision to move from the United States to South Africa in late 2009, we had our doubts. From what we read in one expat forum after another, South Africa – and the city of Johannesburg in particular – was a cesspit of crime. If we were so foolish as to move […]

Three weeks after Cyclone Winston left tens of thousands homeless in Fiji, South African expat Claude Hall reveals what he and others have been going through since the category five storm – the worst ever recorded in the southern hemisphere – ripped through the South Pacific country leaving 44 dead and 62,000 homeless (that’s 7 percent of Fiji’s population). Unicef […]

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 […]