Locals and tourists flocked to beaches around South Africa on New Year’s Day, 1 January 2017, to start the year with a fabulous day of family, friends and fun… Tragically, while most did enjoy the day – there were at least six fatal drownings reported in the West and Eastern Cape, including that of a […]

To avoid breaking your New Year’s Resolutions this year… declare them publicly, and we’ll keep track of your progress to make sure this is your best year ever! They say the best thing is to talk about and write down your Resolutions, along with your plan on how to keep them… so we’ve got the perfect form […]

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane has wished all South Africans – at home and abroad – a 2017 that comes with positive change and leadership. (See full message below.) Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader Julius Malema was equally positive, tweeting: “It will be a good new year, it must be a good new year. We […]

Happy New Year! Here are just some of the fireworks celebrations around the world: New Zealand ✨❤️✨🌟💖✨❤️✨🌟💖 H-A-P-P-Y ✨❤️✨🌟💖New Year ✨❤️✨🌟💖Auckland, New Zealand ✨❤️✨🌟💖 pic.twitter.com/ZoFaX3RmQW — The Cult Cat (@Elverojaguar) December 31, 2016 Sydney, Australia https://twitter.com/ABCNews24/status/815339327320272896 Welcome to 2017! #SydNYE pic.twitter.com/Q8RvTQkfXr — City of Sydney (@cityofsydney) December 31, 2016 Hong Kong Hong Kong celebrates the start […]

Yes, I am inherently a racist… I’ve been travelling outside of South Africa since 2011 and since then I’ve learnt a lot about the topic, not just from my point of view but from others too, writes REZEEN DANIELS. Let’s start with the term ‘coloured’. I’ve come to hate this term and have openly shared […]

BEIJING, CHINA –  WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and TRAFFIC welcomed today’s historic announcement that China will close down its domestic ivory trade by the end of 2017.   In a news release, WWF said this signals an end to the world’s primary legal ivory market and is a major boost to international efforts to tackle […]

Kyle Abbott struck the decisive early blows as South Africa’s Proteas needed just 40 minutes to take the remaining five Sri Lankan wickets and claim victory by 206 runs in the first Sunfoil Test match which finished at St. George’s Park today. Abbott dismissed Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews in the third over of the day […]

Arafat Gatabazi, a youngster who fled the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo – on foot – to find freedom in South Africa, has completed a charity swim around Robben Island to raise funds for South African charity, LifeLine Western Cape. It’s an amazing and selfless achievement for someone who couldn’t even swim when he first […]

A South African fine arts lecturer, Gabi Ngcobo, has been selected to curate the 10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art in Germany. It takes place during that country’s summer in 2018. Ngcobo has worked extensively locally and internationally. Gabi Ngcobo had been involved in collaborative artistic, curatorial and educational projects in South Africa and globally […]

South African comedian and TV presenter Trevor Noah shared a fantastic video late Thursday of an American grandmother, Estelle, who is clearly one of his biggest fans. She says she watches him every night and that he’s just as good as his Daily Show predecessor, Jon Stewart. But it’s her message to Trevor at the […]

After suffering from severe drought conditions, things are looking rosier – or rather greener – in the Kruger National Park, with a few rainfalls since November… although the region needs ongoing good rains before the drought could be officially declared over. SA Weather Service issued a watch for heavy rains today and tonight over Mpumalanga, […]

People who live in the desert love rain. They love it in ways city people don’t understand. In the Karoo and the Kalahari, the horizons are so wide you can see the weather coming while it is still hours away. You can see clouds coalesce and darken over the mountains, then advance, walking on legs […]

Here’s a unique take on the year 2016 from a young South African – LEGH WILKINSON – hoping to encourage others to make a difference… To warn you, this is a long post but one I felt is worthwhile sharing. Essentially, it summarises a few of the life lessons I’ve learned and the personal transformation […]

A doctor at a hospital in Johannesburg had an awakening on Christmas Day that’s worth sharing with everyone… The young male doctor, originally from the Western Cape, wrote: “I was on call this Xmas. I don’t celebrate this holiday but this turned out to be an extremely meaningful time for me. “I was called to […]

If you’re contemplating 2017 and feeling depressed that the planet has never been in a worse condition… this good news should bring back your smile. Our World in Data (OWID) – an online publication that presents the empirical evidence on the development of human living conditions – has published charts (see below) showing just how much […]

For those South Africans living abroad, especially if you’re shivering in the cold in the Northern Hemisphere… this is what you missed in SA on Christmas Day. Pull up a towel and enjoy, if only vicariously! The stunning video footage, taken in the Western Cape on 25 December 2016, was uploaded by ‘Cape Town Guy’. […]

South African expat and YouTube sensation Caspar Lee is used to hanging out with international superstars like Justin Timberlake, but nobody has blown him away more than a young guy – living with HIV – in a township in the Western Cape. Caspar, who is based in London, was recently invited back home to meet […]

On a rainy Friday when GroundUp visited 14-year-old Palesa Kwayiba in her mother’s leaking shack, she was all smiles. She had finally received a new wheelchair. GroundUp told her story in October under the heading ‘Paralysed teenager bitten by rats while sleeping‘: Palesa was born able-bodied but fell ill at three-weeks-old and was diagnosed with a […]

LIMPOPO – According to the South African Police Services (SAPS) facebook page, SAPS thwarted the theft of a bakkie on Friday, which was being smuggled across the Limpopo River. SAPS said the Provincial Commissioner spotted the vehicle being smuggled across the river between South Africa and Zimbabwe while he was in the police helicopter overhead. “The […]

Queen Elizabeth focused on what she called the value of doing small things with great love in her annual Christmas message on Sunday, reflecting on inspirational examples of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things”. (Watch below.) Queen Elizabeth, 90, missed a traditional Christmas church service on Sunday for the first time in decades due to a […]

A South African game ranger has caught a rare rhino mating scene on film… that came to an unexpected end! Showing size does count, a bull with a bigger horn uses more than just a pick-up line to win the female rhino from her current lover… Wildlife photographer and field guide Matt Yardley – who has seen a […]

Here’s a behind the scenes peek at what went on in the Palace to capture the adorable Monaco royal family Christmas card. Watch South Africa’s favourite princess and former SA Olympic swimmer, Charlene, her husband Prince Albert II, and their cute two-year-old twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella play and pose together earlier this month for […]

Senior citizens in the Western Cape have been surprised and delighted to discover Santa Claus HAS come to visit them this year… thanks to an amazing initiative – the Senior Santa Shoebox Project. The ‘angel’ behind the project is local photographer (and regular SAPeople contributor) Angela Gorman. “It has been such a heartwarming project, and […]

Touched by seeing children going to bed hungry and the people around her lacking sources of good nutrition, Marian Dube started growing and selling vegetables from her backyard. The 42-year-old widow and mother of three, who grew up in a family of subsistence farmers in Mberengwa, south east of Zimbabwe, says, “I came to South […]

South Africa is experiencing an explosion in the sales of craft gins… made exclusively from fynbos, the plant which is unique to the Western Cape. According to a BBC Africa report, sales have increased sharply in recent years as distilleries race to capture South Africa’s burgeoning middle class. Fynbos is one of the key ingredients […]