Away from the beaches and lagoons for which the seaside town of Plettenberg Bay is famous, at 8am on a Saturday morning in the industrial area, crowds of people gather with their dogs, which run around playing, barking and causing a ruckus alongside their owners who are queueing down the street. It is overcast and […]

Bafana Ndhlovu (43), better known as the ‘child whisperer’, has worked with horses for the last 36 years… and after a freak accident that destroyed his vehicle (see photo below), the horse-riding community has come together to help him get back on his feet. Born to the stables Bafana’s love for horses started at the […]

At the height of the Covid-19 outbreak in the Western Cape, a project was implemented that saved lives, and has the potential to save many more. As the epidemic escalated, it became clear that the disease was hitting people with diabetes especially hard. A study looking at over 15,000 Covid-19 infections showed that of every […]

South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza says he has learned with shock and dismay, of the brutal murder of farmers, Glen and Vida Rafferty. The couple was murdered on their farm, in Normadien in KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend. Previously, Deputy President Mabuza has condemned violent attacks on farmers and people in rural farming communities, stressing […]

After announcing four other original productions in July, Showmax has said it will be involved in another two new international co-productions: an epic African mythology series “Blood Psalms,” with Canal+ International, and the Megan Fox action movie “Rogue.”   “This continues a move towards co-productions from Showmax’s parent company, MultiChoice, which partnered with HBO on […]

On the 6th of July I started a fundraiser for a desperately poor community in Allemansdrift B in Mpumalanga, South Africa, after engaging in a long messenger chat with a former charity worker called Kelly about this community and the work she and Lydia (a community resident and village elder) were trying to do… writes […]

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway was due to open on Tuesday 1 September, but thanks to the surprise snowfall on South Africa’s iconic mountain yesterday and this morning, the cableway opened earlier to allow excited residents a chance to view the winter wonderland for themselves. The Cableway company said on Facebook: “Understandably due to the excitement […]

While signs of spring are appearing visibly in the West Coast National Park and Franschhoek (see the photos below of flowers and snow), the mountains above the town and in Stellenbosch are even snowier than the freak snowy conditions on Table Mountain today. Everyone is being told to bundle up. Temperatures in Sutherland are reported […]

Capetonians awoke to an extremely chilly day today… although nobody quite expected it to snow, what with the start of Spring being just days away for South Africa. UPDATE: Photos of snow on Table Mountain, Sunday 30 Aug. But Table Mountain Aerial Cableway has confirmed it truly snowed this morning on Cape Town’s famous mountain. […]

“I had over 200 children coming to me saying they are orphans and are hungry. I couldn’t turn them away so I started cooking for them,” says 71-year-old Sylvia Mvumvu from Alexandra, Johannesburg. Mvumvu was born in Johannesburg and has always lived in Alexandra. She has been running a non-profit organisation (NPO) called Siyondla Umphakathi […]

This Sunday Carte Blanche investigates the situation in Standerton, South Africa, that has shocked the nation. Video footage this week of the streets of Standerton in the Lekwa municipal district in Mpumalanga, showed how the residents and municipal workers are burning fires late into the night and dumping their rubbish right outside the municipal buildings. […]

In March three unemployed men from KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage, decided to start growing their own food. As it turned out, a week later the Covid-19 national lockdown started. Siyabulela Booysen, Sakhumzi Mbaduli and Mendo Vece had no experience. They started by collecting empty bottles from friends and family and selling them to get the money they […]

A childhood memory wherein a friend was attacked by dogs led Zandile Mbonxa to make a pinkie promise to herself that she would never have anything to do with animals. While nobody has a one-way ticket to peek into his or her future, Mbonxa would have probably laughed at the thought that she would one […]

As communities, dance groups, hospitals, schools and many other people around the world continue to dance the #JerusalemaChallenge – which has lifted spirits globally during COVID – the original video of South African Master Kg’s brilliant song, sung by Nomcebo Zikode, has now been viewed 100 million times on YouTube. From Ghana to Italy to […]

A large black mamba has been rescued from the surf at Addington Beach on Durban’s famous beachfront, a destination which is usually more popular with bathing tourists than venomous snakes! According to SAAMBR, the snake was 2.47 metres long! Metro Search and Rescue reached out to SAAMBR (the South African Association for Marine Biological Research) […]

Joseph Dhafana, a proud ‘Zimbo’ as he refers to himself, moved to South Africa in 2009 with his wife Amelia… writes Swartland Style. Despite many challenges including refugee camps and living in a Methodist Church in Johannesburg whilst awaiting asylum, they finally boarded a train from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and found themselves in Riebeek […]

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA had a virtual walk event this weekend that helped them make more than R180,000, R30,000 above their target, enabling them to buy a kit for repairing bone fractures in their furry patients. The #PawFeetLove event was held on Saturday and Sunday. It didn’t matter what distance was walked, the […]

Smooth-drinking wine and hardy indigenous Nguni cattle might seem an unlikely pairing – yet 320-year old Vergelegen Estate in Somerset West is home to one of South Africa’s largest Nguni collections, numbering over 400 prime cattle. The good news is that this renowned estate has welcomed 132 Nguni newborns over the past few weeks – […]

Soccer star Lucas Radebe along with other South African celebrities like Francois Pienaar and Karen Zoid are inviting South Africans abroad to join them to raise funds for South Africa’s COVID-19 Solidarity Fund this weekend, which is a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK. South Africans across the globe can join the well known personalities […]

When conservationist Menzi Nxumalo spoke to people in rural KwaZulu-Natal, he struggled to communicate with them, even though they were speaking the same language. “We’d go to communities and try to communicate to them about the impact of invasive species, but we failed to deliver the message because of the communication failure,” he explains. Government […]

An 11-year-old lifesaver in training in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, this weekend took it on himself to paddle out to two men hundreds of metres offshore who appeared to be panicking on their inflatable mattress and he helped them back to the beach.   Braedon Powell, who is with the Nippers division of Fish Hoek […]

South African musician David Scott – aka The Kiffness – has released his latest music video, a “sokkie treffer” called ‘Mevrou’ (watch below)… and his Afrikaans teacher from High School (Mevrou du Toit) has contacted him nogal! (See her message at the bottom of the page.) Dave said that following the success of The Kiffness’ […]

Katrina Jacobs grew up on a farm in Varkens Vlei, Philippi, where both her parents worked. She was in her twenties, when her father was diagnosed with TB. She saw him coughing up clots of blood. Thousands of community health workers deliver life-saving medicines and support for patients at their homes across the country. Covid-19 […]

If you haven’t seen this yet, it sums up the South African mood as the country entered Lockdown Level 2 on Monday at midnight, and the ban on alcohol sales was lifted. The Kiffness (aka David Scott) says: “My Trollie’s vol en ek gaan zol. Chorus translation for my non-Afrikaans speaking friends: I’m going to […]

The inspirational story of South Africa’s young Paralympic star, Ntando Mahlangu, is featured in the Netflix documentary ‘Rising Phoenix’ which launches on 26 August. ‘Rising Phoenix’ is a ground-breaking movie about the Paralympic Movement, which will showcase in over 190 countries on Netflix. Featuring Paralympians from across the world, ‘Rising Phoenix’ tells the extraordinary story […]