Lucky Masinya sure is lucky…and hard-working and talented. The young South African pastry chef, who has lived in a care home in Johannesburg for a number of years, is currently undergoing an incredible work experience programme in London that’s included working with the best at the Ritz, Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons and Pretty Sweet; and meeting […]

Appletiser, South Africa’s famous sparkling, apple-flavoured drink that was somehow before its time – fun, bubbly but also healthy – is celebrating its first half century. The now famous drink was “mastered by French-Italian Edmond Lombardi in the Elgin Valley” and “developed with the help of Swiss technology”, according to Appletiser’s website. “The apple aroma taunts your taste-buds, and the […]

Before we made the decision to move from the United States to South Africa in late 2009, we had our doubts. From what we read in one expat forum after another, South Africa – and the city of Johannesburg in particular – was a cesspit of crime. If we were so foolish as to move […]

A group of South African school students were interviewed by Morning Live’s Leanne Manas following the Post-Budget Breakfast Briefing Thursday to which they had been invited. Their praise for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan comes at the same time he is said to be in a stand-off with the head of the SA Revenue Service Tom Moyane. Gordhan […]

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s successful restaurant chain, Jamie’s Italian, is heading to Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, and will open sometime in 2016. The famous chef’s first restaurant opened in the British university town of Oxford in 2008 and now there are 40 branches around the world, from India to Brazil and from Russia to Scandinavia. Watch […]

Searching For Freedom: Beautiful expression is often borne of hardship. The art that emerged out of Apartheid South Africa is no exception. If anything — given the limited freedom of expression enforced by the state — the sheer existence of such work created by artists of colour during Apartheid is nothing short of miraculous in itself. […]

We are gutted, here in the middle of the country on a university campus I have come to embrace with all its hope and hurt, its great strides and lingering imperfections. An incident on Monday evening in a Varsity Cup rugby match between the Madibaz of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the Shimlas of […]

My dear children, it is with some regret that I must announce that despite the growing phenomena of parents addressing letters of praise directly to their kids on Facebook, extolling, inter alia, their brains, their beauty and the munificence of their physical and mental attributes, I’ve reluctantly decided to stick with the somewhat dated practice […]

Many people know “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” – a song often associated with the movie “The Lion King” – but few people know the famous tune was born in a small town in South Africa almost a century ago. In tribute to that song – originally titled “Mbube” – we thought we’d post several of the countless wonderful versions that have been done […]

Experienced Springbok wing Bryan Habana has been selected for the Springbok Sevens squad to play in their tournament in Las Vegas and Vancouver, SA Rugby announced today. Habana, South Africa’s prolific Test try scorer, joined the squad on Tuesday in Stellenbosch to make himself available for selection, following an agreement with his French club side, Toulon. The […]

A Johannesburg dog that had been missing for 200 days and was searched for ceaselessly since then has been found by, and reunited with, his owners in a pretty emotional reunion. Watch as Leuci and Lu are reunited The beagle named Lu apparently got loose in July 2015. He didn’t have a collar on at the time and […]

These are the pictures that tell the story of the beauty, love and hope in South Africa… Daniëlla Van Heerden, reporter for eNuus on kykNET, added these photos to Facebook today, taken at the University of Pretoria (TUKS) main gate where there have recently been scenes of protest by some students against the use of Afrikaans as a teaching […]

We all know about “Tsotsi”, which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and Leon Schuster’s blockbusters that people might titters at but go see anyway. We also know those movies about South Africa with foreigners trying to pass off as locals (“Cry Freedom”, “Long Road to Freedom”). But here are 12 little screen gems born and bred […]

South Africa is train-travel country. It has not only one of the world’s best luxury trains, but two – Rovos Rail (pictured above) and the Blue Train. As we reported yesterday, now there’s a third train that is almost luxury, the Shongololo Express, which has been taken over by Rovos. What’s more, all three trains offer something […]

Here’s a fabulously vibrant splash of colour from the Bo Kaap to brighten the week, and prove just why this area of South Africa keeps making it into international Top 20 lists for being one of the most colourful places in the world. The Telegraph included the Bo-Kaap this month in its list of the world’s most colourful places, saying the “Bo-Kaap neighbourhood, […]

Gustav Wilson has been hailed a hero for giving young inmates in Free State, South Africa, a second chance at life by helping them successfully achieve their Matric. Wilson, who is Regional Head of Corrections at the Department of Correctional Services in the Free State/Northern Cape, partnered with the University of Free State Post Graduate Research […]

Experts regularly warn of the impending doom that South Africa’s own brain drain will bring to the country’s economy in the near future, and with over 300 qualified engineers leaving South Africa every year (according to Fin24 stats a few years ago), it seems that the pool of competent engineers, critical to the development of any country, […]

Two members of the all-female rhino-saving brigade from South Africa the Black Mambas, who have been publicised around the world, have arrived in England to raise awareness and funds for their campaign. Siphiwe and Felicia are making the first visit to the United Kingdom on behalf of the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit. They will be […]

Check out this performance by former South African expat Gavin Edwards that everyone’s talking about tonight. His rendition of ‘Say Something’ on TV singing contest The Voice South Africa had judges fighting over him and set social media on fire. In fact, there was even a little #ProteaFire involved when AB de Villiers tweeted his […]

With all the Grammy 2016 talk being focussed on the microphone that fell on a piano during Adele’s performance, and Taylor Swift becoming the first woman to win a Grammy of the Year award twice (as main credited artist)… you may have missed this magical moment from Benin musician Angelique Kidjo as she accepted the Grammy […]

The luxury South African train company Rovos Rail – which has long been running neck and neck with the Blue Train in pampered rail travel – has bought the “three star” Shongololo Express, a 19-coach train that has been running a select number of two-week tours across the country. For a fraction of the cost of […]

News of Tesla Motors’ entry to South Africa is coming out in dribs and drabs. This week it was announced that the company owned by South African-born billionaire Elon Musk would open its first office in Africa in Cape Town, while five new jobs were  posted on the company’s website. The entry of Tesla to South Africa was […]

Transport yourself to Hout Bay for a day with this spectacular video – majestic mountains, picturesque harbour, beautiful vineyards, enticing markets, water that sparkles and people who shine… https://vimeo.com/155955362 *** If you’re looking out of a grey London window right now, why not bring some sunshine into your life with the Homecoming event on 4 and […]

It’s Monday 16 February, 2016. Dianne and I have just spent an idyllic 3 weeks in Hermanus in South Africa with our family that gathered from Australia, England, the USA and various parts of South Africa to spend time with 86-year old family matriarch Jennifer Stewart. With our US Dollars, we and the Brits are […]

The rescue of the cutest baby elephant by two brothers in Phalaborwa, South Africa, has been caught on film. The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) uploaded the video saying: “Bela, originally thought to be a female, has been renamed Amanzi, which means water in Zulu. When you watch this clip, it will make sense why…” According to […]