Several hundred South African wine farms have gathered in Cape Town this week to showcase their vintages and labels in one of the biggest wine shows the country has seen. Cape Wine 2015, which kicked off yesterday, is being held under the banner of Wines of South Africa (WOSA) through to Thursday this week. The […]

Several parts of the Cape Peninsula’s parks have reopened to visitors, six months after devastating fires tore across Table Mountain and vast stretches of Constantia and Silvermine, and engulfed the mountainside above Muizenberg and False Bay. All of the Cape Peninsula, including Silvermine (which reopened yesterday), Table Mountain and the beaches as well as Cape Point, fall […]

According to a list compiled by BuzzFeed, four of the world’s most secluded hotels are in Africa. The list was put together by the website’s Photo Essay Editor Gabriel H. Sanchez who describes the 22 locations as “perfect for people who hate people”. The list – which begins with “pretty much the most photogenic hotel in the world” Explora […]

Here’s a little bit of typical South African humour to celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, which began at sundown yesterday (Sunday 13 September 2015) and ends tomorrow evening (Tuesday)… Watch Video: South African moms do Rosh Hashana

Solar energy is in the air right now, and in more ways than one. South Africa’s biggest solar farm, one of the world’s largest, has been on line for almost a year. Google is eyeing out South Africa more and more for its new foray into solar energy. And a world-leading team from Stellenbosch will, […]

Most of South Africa’s national parks – including the world famous Kruger National Park, Addo Elephant Park, Kgalakgadi, the Richtersveld and Golden Gate – will be open for free to any South African citizen for the next five days from Monday 14 September. The annual SA National Parks (SANParks) programme is being funded this year by First National Bank and […]

Edvald Boasson Hagen, riding for South Africa’s Team MTN Qhubeka, has secured the overall victory at the Aviva Tour of Britain today to become the 2015 Champion! Team MTN Qhubeka announced the news on their Facebook page this evening saying “Woohoo” and “Eddy is the Boss!!! #BicyclesChangeLives.” The 28-year-old Norwegian, who joined the South African-based team this season, is […]

While there has been some criticism levelled against the Springboks for not greeting their fans at London Heathrow Airport yesterday (in an unfortunate situation which was beyond their control), there has been high praise from those fans who turned up for the #BokSendOff at Monte Casino in Johannesburg on Friday. The feel good spirit is probably […]

When we asked Filipa Fraga if we could share her dolphin photos, taken in Angola, she didn’t hesitate: “It would be a pleasure. Good moments of our nature should be shared.” And this is definitely a great moment for any surfer. Actually…for anyone! After capturing these photos, Filipa wrote “feeling blissful…for today is everything!” And […]

While the South African Post Office (SAPO) is seemingly on the road to recovery with major re-engineering initiatives for “the sole benefit of its customers”, a newly launched corporate strategy, new board of non-executive directors and the search for a new CEO after the recently announced “mutual termination” with the Group CEO Christopher Hlekane – there are still […]

A family on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa has been overwhelmed by the care and concern shown to them by their community. Last year – in June 2014 – Anisha Singh, a bright pupil, was halfway through Grade 6 at Naidoo Memorial Primary School when she was diagnosed with Lupus, an auto-immune disease. Since […]

On Sunday, September 13, Pope Francis will beatify the first South African ever – a schoolteacher who was beaten to death in 1990 by villagers after he refused to pay a sorcerer who promised to end storms battering the region. Benedict ‘Tshimangadzo’ Daswa was stoned by his attackers and ran to a bar to find safety…but he […]

Updated 18 December 2016: Search engine giant Google has honoured anti-apartheid hero Bantu Stephen Biko with a Google Doodle today, on what would have been his 70th birthday. (Update 12 September 2017: Remembering Steve Biko on the 40th Anniversary of his death.) The activist was born on 18 December 1946 and died 39 years ago, on 12 […]

The partly South African-produced movie ‘Remember’, about a man who discovers that the Nazi who killed his family during the war is alive in the United States and goes to find him, received a 10-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival this week. ‘Remember’ – which was co-produced by renowned South African […]

A schoolgirl in South Africa, Carla Coetzee, received a surprise boost to her class project when Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane took the time to send her a special video message…along with a little pressure on her onderwyser (teacher) to give her a good grade! The Laerskool Garsfontein teacher, Dries Vermeulen, uploaded the video to his […]

American actress Uma Thurman has joined the ranks of celebrities putting their names behind save-the-rhino causes, with the magazine Town & Country dedicating its entire October Issue to the rhino, including a long feature in which Thurman is shown on a trip to relocate a pair of rhino. Thurman, who has acted in “Kill Bill” and is […]

Meet Table Mountain, KwaZulu-Natal… The entire planet knows about Cape Town’s iconic version…but not many people in and out of South Africa have ever seen or heard of Pietermaritzburgs’ own Table Mountain. These photos, captured by Peter de Groot from PdGPix, reveal the incredible views from Pietermaritzburg’s Table Mountain over KwaZulu-Natal… “Awesome views of the Msunduzi and […]

In celebration of “Biltong Day” – which is non-existent, although Heritage Day on 24 September is also called Braai Day – Suzelle has made a video on how to actually make it. “This is a great (biltong recipe) for all you South Africans who live overseas and can’t even have biltong. Shame!” says Suzelle. Watch Video: […]

The University of the Witwatersrand has announced the ground-breaking discovery of a new species of human ancestors in South Africa called Homo Naledi (which means star). The revelation was made by Professor Lee Berger this morning. The major new fossil discovery – the largest assembly of fossils of human ancestry ever found – took place at Maropeng, in […]

Africa has 163,000 dollar millionaires, and almost 30 percent of them live in South Africa, according to a report by a Johannesburg-based global research company. The report – released last week by New World Wealth (NWW) and done in conjunction with AfrAsia bank –  found that Johannesburg has the highest number of dollar millionaires in Africa (23,400), more than double […]

When the six of us – my husband, myself, and our four children – first arrived in South Africa in 2010, it seemed like an alien and exotic land to us. There was much to learn navigating everyday life, even though, coming from the United States, we thought we shared a common language. I published the […]

A South African ranger group made up mainly of women has been named one of the winners of the United Nation’s top environmental accolade, the Champions of the Earth award, for its anti-poaching work. The United National Environment Programme (UNEP) said, “The Black Mambas are an inspiration not only locally, but across the world to all those […]

South African tennis player Kevin Anderson (29) powered through to his first Grand Slam quarter final on Monday night…knocking Britain’s Andy Murray (28) out of the US Open at Flushing Meadows. It was a brilliant match, the longest in the tournament so far (four hours and 18 minutes), ending with – as tennis veteran John McEnroe described it […]

On Saturday night Pretoria-born Oti Mabuse made her debut on the BBC’s popular series Strictly Come Dancing. The British broadcaster introduced Oti to UK audiences as “a very hot 25-year-old from South Africa”. UPDATE: Oti Mabuse has WON the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing 2019! Oti has joined the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a professional […]

Eskom has managed to keep the country loadshed-free for over 26 days…and the future looks bright. The next anticipated loadshedding – known as blackouts outside of South Africa – should only be well after the summer months. Speaking in Cape Town, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown says the work of the ‘war room’ set up to […]