This is why they call Pretoria Jacaranda City! CAROL ALLAIS captured these photographs of Jacaranda trees in Tshwane this week… “Pretoria is looking absolutely spectacular at the moment,” she says. Lydia Potgieter says the jacarandas “appear to be at different stages in the blooming cycle. Maybe as a result of drought.” And it’s not only Jacarandas […]

South Africa’s two 2016 Olympic gold medallists – Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya – have been nominated for the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) World Athletes of the Year Award! The public has until 1 November to cast our votes!!! Wayde won the 400 metres in Rio (breaking a world record!) and his […]

South African theatre group, Isango Ensemble, is no stranger to the London stage. In 2013 they performed Venus and Adonis entirely in Xhosa at the Globe Theatre to rave reviews. They are back in London this year with their latest production, A Man of Good Hope, which is at The Young Vic until 12th of […]

Open letters, even songs, have been written for President Jacob Zuma, as South Africans become increasingly desperate for a leader who will step down or step up and lead. Here now is an inspired poem by award-winning poet Athol Williams, who recently became the first person ever to win the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award twice! […]

Top South African referees Craig Joubert, Marius van der Westhuizen and Jaco Peyper have each been tasked with taking charge of two Test matches in the November internationals. World Rugby said Joubert will officiate the clash between Wales and Australia at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 5 November and the Test between Fiji and […]

South Africans have one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Passports in the World! And the most powerful passport on the African continent. That’s right! South African citizens are able to enter a full 90 countries across the world without a visa, and able to gain a visa on arrival at a further 31 countries. This […]

Cape Town’s skyline is set to transform over the next few years with proposed luxury hotels and a skyscraper that’ll boast breathtaking 360 degree views over South Africa’s – and one of the world’s – favourite holiday destinations. According to Pam Golding Properties, there is an unprecedented surge in property investments in Cape Town’s CBD (central business district), with projects valued […]

Fanus Schutte‎ from Coligny in North West, South Africa, was so pleasantly surprised to see a wonderful act of kindness Sunday that he took this photo and uploaded it to Facebook group “All SAPS & CPF’s in SA”. The policeman in the photo is Constable Masibi from Coligny who was on patrol when he drove past three […]

Congratulations to Johannesburg’s former Mayor Parks Tau who has been appointed President of world body United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the umbrella body of local governments around the world. UCLG, which has its headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, is the equivalent of the United Nations (UN) for local government. It represents over 240,000 towns and regions, 175 […]

Congratulations to Mamelodi Sundowns for beating Egyptian powerhouse Zamalek in an action-packed match at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, today. They’re one step closer to being crowned African club champions! The home team thrashed Zamalek in the CAF Champions League final first leg with a score of 3-0. It was a champion’s performance, delivering awesome atmosphere, goosebumps […]

While there’s a Jaws-like video that’s going viral right now (watch below), a passionate 14-year-old South African is doing his utmost to change public perception of sharks. The viral video – viewed on YouTube over nine million times in the past couple of days – was filmed off Guadalupe Island and shows a “very rare occurrence” […]

Adv Thuli Madonsela woke up this morning feeling like a team captain “that has completed an epic race and survived by grace”… and by this evening she had inspired many others to start on a similar race, with grace, to achieve a better more equal, less discriminatory South Africa for all. South Africa’s former Public […]

Planet Earth was a landmark TV series a decade ago, when it redefined natural history film-making. Now, the BBC takes viewers even closer than before with Planet Earth II… and naturally Africa’s wildlife features a lot. The stunning series – narrated by Sir David Attenborough – uses high-tech cameras, the latest in camera stabilisation, remote recording […]

Social media and mainstream media have been quick to post images and videos of fires being set and violence being perpetrated during South African student protests… but where were these reporters on Wednesday night when the flames that burnt were from a candlelit vigil and the gathering was beautiful and peaceful? Photographer JUSTIN SULLIVAN offers his views… […]

As South Africa thanks Advocate Thuli Madonsela for the incredible job she did at protecting the country from corruption, at being the Public Protector we could only have dreamed of having… here are some wise words from the lady herself that may help us move forward without her. Outgoing Public Protector, Adv Thuli Madonsela, on life and […]

Afrikaans4Dummies has produced another classic – the second 2016 debate between American Presidential candidates Donald Trump (Republican) and Hillary Clinton (Democrat). “The 2nd #debate2016 was more violent than the first,” Afrikaans4Dummies told SAPeople. “Here it is #Afrikaans style.” As things are heating up between the opposing campaigns, with vitriol being spewed from both sides, they wondered […]

South African fast food restaurant chain Nando’s has created an advert in tribute to outgoing Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, who serves her last day as PP Friday. Referring to Madonsela’s courage in questioning even the leader of the country, President Jacob Zuma, the advert says “Always the griller. Never the chicken” and “Thuli, your courage […]

The times they are a-changing! American musician Bob Dylan has become the first songwriter to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In announcing his win, the Swedish academy said it was for having “created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. The singer is the first American to win since 1993 when Toni Morrison won […]

South Africa is renowned for its amazing beaches, and local beaches rank amongst the best in the world (officially!). This year, a fabulous 58 Blue Flags will fly at SA coastal sites including 45 beaches, five marinas and eight sustainable tourism boats. So if you’re a tourist (or a local) – check out the list below for beaches […]

I salute a woman who inspires me and makes me want to be a better person, and sincerely hope she will find my Saturday Night Live/ Spitting Image style script funny. The outgoing Public Protector is a formal woman. Calm, quietly spoken, proper (in both senses of the word: real, “kosher” and also correct, official, […]

South African seven-year-old, Michelle Nkamankeng – who recently made history as the youngest author from Africa to be included in the list of Top 10 youngest writers in the world – has shared her tips with BBC World Service, as well as several other international media outlets. Michelle’s self-published book, ‘Waiting for the Waves’, is […]

South Africa’s outgoing Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, has been selected by the Tällberg Foundation to form part of its Global Leaders list for 2016. The Foundation on Wednesday announced Adv. Madonsela among the “five extraordinary women who are responding to leadership challenges of the 21st century”. The Foundation is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit education organisation […]

South Africa made history Wednesday at Newlands stadium, in Cape Town, as the first team in history to inflict a whitewash against Australia in a five-match ODI (One Day International) series! Kangaroos’ captain Steve Smith said: “It’s been a tough series, we’ve been outplayed.” Rilee Rossouw, with his maiden ODI century against Australia, and JP Duminy […]

Proteas captain, Faf du Plessis, and his team have their eye on making history in the fifth Momentum One-Day International (ODI) against Australia at PCC Newlands on Wednesday… which has just begun. South Africa won the toss and have elected to bat first. David Miller, who was suffering a groin injury, is back. The Proteas lead […]

Check out New Zealand drifting racer Michael Whiddett – known as ‘Mad Mike’ – as he takes on South Africa’s Franschhoek Pass in what he calls his “most terrifying stunt”. And don’t watch on a full stomach! In ‘Conquer the Cape’, Mad Mike hitches a ride with a local before stepping into his Mazda RX8 ‘Badbul’ […]