Poorer communities to the southwest of Johannesburg and even farther afield have been benefiting off the incredible feeding schemes being run by the Muslim Association of South Africa. Many of the communities MASA feeds are around Lenasia, such as Vlakfontein, but also the organisation has gone as far as New Scotland in Mpumalanga. Earlier today […]

A number of South African swimmers have got together – separately – to show off their dance moves in a fantastic video compilation that is sure to shake off any lockdown blues. Team South Africa’s website said: “As we continue to do the right thing during lockdown by staying home, TeamSA’s swimmers have proven to […]

So in my little housely enclave, I’ve been thinking about what my thoughts are IRO the lockdown, about the changes around the world, about freedom, and how it’s – if at all – changed much in my life… Here’s what I’ve come up with!… writes well known South African radio and TV personality Melanie Walker. […]

The popular Farmer’s Weekly magazine, in business since 1911, will carry on publishing as normal, even though ten of its sister publications are on the block. Yesterday, Caxton Magazines announced that ten of its publications, including People, Bona, Rooi Rose and Your Family, would close. “Although things will evolve for us over the next few […]

The Roger Federer Foundation is donating $1 million to provide nutritious meals to 64,000 vulnerable young children and their families through its partners in Africa while schools are closed, the foundation announced today. On his Twitter page, the tennis star – whose mother Lynette Federer is a South African Expat – said, “Now more than […]

South Africans stuck in transit at Doha Airport in Qatar have just been given the great news that they will take off at midday today. The passengers – including Springbok and Lion hooker Malcolm Marx, and former SA rugby coach Allister Coetzee – have had a long night after their flight home was postponed because […]

South African expat and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced the birth of his new baby son. Posting photos on Twitter on Tuesday, Musk said that the “baby and Mom” – Canadian singer Grimes – are “all good”. When asked what the baby’s name is, the SpaceX CEO replied cryptically: “X Æ A-12 Musk.” (We’re […]

It is Level 4 lockdown here in South Africa, and if the poor were hungry before covid19, today they are starving. My name is Marilyn Bassin. I have worked with indigent children for nearly 30 years and founded and run an NGO which allows us to help the poorest families who live in shacks, squatter […]

Well-known KwaZulu-Natal snake expert Nick Evans helped the driver of a semi get a 2.5-meter black mamba that was caught in the truck’s engine. “It’s a big black mamba,” Evans said on first identifying the snake. “Not what I was expecting.” When he pulled him out, Evans said the snake was about 2.5 metres long. […]

South Africa has once again come joint first with New Zealand in the 2019 Open Budget Index (OBI), conducted by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) through an Open Budget Survey. SA ranked first out of 117 countries. The global results reflect a modest improvement in budget transparency, reversing the decline seen in 2017 results and […]

For those looking from the global North, African literature is often marketed in a narrow way, comprising worthy stories of resistance, written in an uplifting and sober realist mode. Seen from the continent itself, this view has long been brushed aside by the effervescence and animation of ongoing literary experimentation and creativity. I approached literary […]

A Spar supermarket in Cape Town, South Africa, has made the ultimate sacrifice to support small business owners in its area. The Palm Grove Spar announced on Friday that it would be closing its stationery section the following day (Saturday), and asking customers to instead support “Hein and his team at PenCafe Stationers. The thoughtful […]

Enter the Durban covid-19 lockdown, a cinematic display of city scenes which will forever be etched in our history… writes Kierran Allen. In this outworldly moment in history let’s appreciate the time we have to adapt and develop new ways in which we go about our everyday lives. We can only beat this as a […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah is reportedly personally paying the salaries of 25 of his crew from The Daily Show. Variety magazine has reported that the South African expat told the furloughed staff members in New York that he’ll cover their salaries until normal production resumes. While Trevor is still producing a remote show from […]

This week, Carte Blanche investigates how the Corona Virus turned our world upside down. You can watch the show on Sunday 3 May in South Africa on DStv Now or stream it overseas in most countries from Tues 5 May if you’re abroad. COVID-19 in Wastewater – Early Warning of Infection? With the virus that causes […]

Watching this video about South Africans celebrating New Year’s Eve 2020 in Paris is a stark reminder of how different life is right now, just a few months later… but is also a reminder of how essential it is to cherish every moment. Even the one right now! South African traveller and filmmaker Michael Odendaal […]

Alcohol consumers in South Africa are getting plastered on pineapples after the nationwide alcohol ban in lockdown sparked a craze of turning the tropical fruit into powerful home-brew. Supermarket bosses have revealed that TEN times as many pineapples are being sold at TWICE the price since off-licences and bars were closed down 5 weeks ago […]

In a salute to the frontline workers in the fight against the Coronavirus the members of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra have created an incredible video of Cape Town seen from a drone while they play the “Intermezzo” from the opera “Cavalleria Rusticana.” It is part of a series of lockdown concerts by the […]

The South African wildlife crime documentary STROOP – journey into the rhino horn war, by director Susan Scott and television presenter Bonné de Bod, scooped the award for Best Natural History and Environmental Programme at the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) on Wednesday night. This is the 28th award for the film which […]

An orphaned baby zebra spent the night in its rescuer’s childhood bedroom last night, as lockdown regulations and other challenges in Zimbabwe meant it was too late to get the newborn to the Free to be Wild Sanctuary where it is headed. Baye Pigors, who founded the sanctuary in 2014, said at 9pm last night […]

The Drakensberg Boys Choir in KwaZulu-Natal has produced a wonderfully fun and light-hearted parody of Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’… starring not only the boys, but their teachers too. Deidre Alcock, from the famous South African school, told SAPeople: “Our school campus is a bleak and miserable place when there are no boys around and when […]

The Kiffness has given us so many fantastic songs during Lockdown, but this heartwarming video will be remembered as one of the most special – a duet with his father. Watch below as the father and son team sing (via Skype) a Cat Stevens (Yusuf) Lockdown Parody – based on, of course, ‘Father and Son’… […]

A beautiful heartfelt initiative by a teacher in Johannesburg, South Africa, who wanted to help her learners not miss out during Lockdown, has gone viral around the world. (Watch video below.) Pamela Kantor, who teaches at a government school attended by many kids from Alex (Alexandra township), was devastated that during lockdown (because of coronavirus) […]

What started as a dream holiday in the Maldives turned into a mega repatriation mission as South Africa and the world began to lock down borders… writes Jenna Berndt. A Flight Centre customer and his travel agent started a rescue mission that involved three weeks of sleepless nights, a US$104 000 charter flight, government approval […]

A conservation biologist from South Africa has won a prestigious Whitley Award worth £40,000 to support her quest to save threatened amphibians… in a “giant leap for amphibian conservation”. Jeanne Tarrant, known locally as the “Frog Lady”, works for the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), where she manages the Threatened Amphibian Programme. EWT is the only […]