Dan Plato has been elected as Cape Town’s new mayor during a special council sitting on Tuesday… and has already outlined his vision for the Mother City. Plato clinched the top spot by a majority, receiving 146 votes in council. His election follows the stepping down by former mayor Patricia De Lille. Plato thanked those […]

COPENHAGEN – South African police on Monday arrested a Danish woman accused of stealing 111 million crowns ($17 million) of Danish government funds intended for the most vulnerable in society, the Danish state prosecutor for financial crime said. The case, seen by many Danes as a symbol of the decline in confidence in once trusted […]

PARIS – Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk has answered an SOS from South Africa’s coach Rassie Erasmus and joined the Springbok squad for their test against France in Paris on Saturday, adding significant experience in a problem position for the side. De Klerk (who has 20 Test caps) was initially rested for the November internationals which, […]

PERTH – Dale Steyn claimed two early wickets as South Africa’s pace attack combined superbly to heap more misery on Australia with a six-wicket thrashing to take a 1-0 lead in their three-match one-day international series on Sunday. It was brilliantly executed in front of Proudly South African expats who cheered their team on to […]

This week’s Carte Blanche features exclusive footage from the Krugersdorp Murder Trial, one of South Africa’s most outrageous murder sprees… led by a high-school mother, who involved her own children in the killings. South Africa’s also at the forefront again of pioneering medical research. There are beetles threatening Johannesburg’s famous landscape – known as one […]

LONDON  – South Africa’s formidable forwards can lay the platform to topple England in their opening match of the November international series at Twickenham on Saturday, captain Siya Kolisi believes. The Springboks selected an experienced and muscular pack, arguably their first-choice selection, and a backline with plenty of flair but one that is light on […]

CAPE TOWN – South African researchers say they have made bricks using human urine in a natural process involving colonies of bacteria, which could one day help reduce global warming emissions by finding a productive use for the ultimate waste product. The grey bricks are produced in a lab over eight days using urine, calcium, […]

JUBA  – Retired South African Colonel William Endley was released from prison in South Sudan on Friday, with his face showing the pure joy – and relief – to have escaped the death sentence he was given earlier this year. Endley was one of two associates of rebel leader Riek Machar whom South Sudan freed […]

A young South African pilot is taking the internet by STORM! Tumi Carter Katisi’s story – about her dream to fly for South African Airways – went viral within a couple of hours, after it was posted on Facebook by Humans of New York (which is posting stories from Johannesburg at the moment). Within four […]

For my Sister, on the day she immigrates… writes Jessica Galloway. I want you to know that it’s hard and heavy some days. All the skype sessions in the world cannot come close to mom’s chocolate brownies… I want you to know that the hard days wont last forever. But they need to be lived. Leaving […]

The South African Government says it has welcomed the decision by South Sudan President Salva Kiir to pardon death-sentenced South African William Endley. Endley, a former South African National Defence Force (SANDF) colonel, was in February sentenced to death for espionage and conspiring to overthrow the government. He was sentenced along co-accused, James Gatdet, a […]

You’ve seen the classics – from all three Scream movies to Anthony Hopkins’s Hannibal to the psychological terror that is Shutter Island. Looking for a new flavour of fright? These lesser-known horrors and thrillers are waiting for you on Showmax if you live in South Africa. For South Africans living abroad – two of these movies […]

Hydrologists from the Department of Water and Sanitation say the country will not experience drought over the next three months, even though below normal rains are forecasted. The experts met in Tshwane recently – as they do annually – to discuss their state of preparedness for floods during the rainy season. “The country will definitely […]

The brilliantly talented, insightful and always frank Viv Vermaak has perfectly summed up the feelings of so many people in South Africa (and the world) who suffer from anxiety and depression. Responding to Viv’s words, posted Tuesday morning, one parent said “you wrote this today for my daughter, who is very dear to my heart. Thank […]

For all those missing SA, proud South African Adri Joubert Alborough has put together a compilation of  beautiful photos taken around South Africa. Like many South Africans, Adri has family scattered around the world in the US, UK, New Zealand and Taiwan. “I have so many friends abroad, and am constantly being asked for photos… so […]

CAPE TOWN – South African former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk was discharged from a three-night hospital stay after recovering from a lung ailment, his foundation said on Monday. De Klerk, 82, was hospitalised over the weekend for treatment of pneumothorax, “an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between […]

It’s becoming easier for South Africans living in the UK to travel home for a holiday, with new flights added from London to Johannesburg and Durban this week. With South Africa being a popular destination for holiday-makers from the UK, SA expats get to benefit with British Airways (BA) increasing their direct flights between London […]

South Africans living in London are invited to attend the annual Starfish Wine Tasting, taking place on Wednesday 21st November – an opportunity to taste some of the finest wines from around the world… and to help orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa. The intimate after-work wine tasting will be hosted by Investec in […]

On Trevor Noah’s latest Between The Scenes segment (filmed literally between The Daily Show scenes), the SA expat and talk show host shared another South African memory – how his then 10-year-old brother explained race to a friend who couldn’t understand why Trevor looked white and his brother didn’t. Trevor’s two younger brothers are from […]

Kevin Anderson has clinched his biggest tournament win of his entire career, by winning the 2018 Vienna Open, an ATP 500 event! The victory means that the South African expat, who is based in the USA, has qualified for the ATP Finals in November… making him the first singles player from South Africa in 23 […]

Namibia’s desert landscape got a makeover this week as magical water poured down from the heavens. In some parts over 100mm fell according to the Namibia Meteorological Service, flooding rivers (see video below) and finishing with radiant rainbows. Well known Gauteng-based publicist Georg Knoke, who grew up in Namibia, said on Facebook: “Magic in Sossusvlei – […]

CapeNature and SANCCOB Saves Seabirds successfully released 13 rescued and rehabilitated African penguins on Saturday at Stony Point penguin colony in Betty’s Bay, on the Overberg coast of South Africa’s Western Cape province. While the first bunch raced (or waddled) for freedom, watch below as a few stragglers needed to be coaxed into the water… […]

The Currie Cup reached a thrilling conclusion in Cape Town on Saturday when the Sharks avenged their defeat in last year’s final… to beat this season’s unbeaten Western Province, dashing their hopes of a fairy-tale finish. The Sharks won 17-12 in what was the ninth time the two sides have battled it out for the […]

The future of Mapoyi Mthetho, the ‘unknown’ opera singer filmed singing outside a Bloubergstrand restaurant on Thursday, is looking a LOT brighter… thanks to Capetonian diner Nicolene Smith capturing the moment on film (see below), and to South Africans who made the video go global (and thanks to Mapoyi’s incredible talent of course!). At midday […]

Chinese business tycoon Jack Ma has three main pieces of advice for South Africa: improve the education system, invest in entrepreneurs and ensure clean governance. Speaking at the inaugural South Africa Investment Conference business dinner on Friday night, Ma said for any country to develop it has to pay attention to those three elements. Ma […]