South Africa. A place where you can dive into swimming pools or sky dive above breathtaking scenery. Surf the wild ocean or cruise the wild safari parks. Spot monkeys on your neighbour’s wall and dodge cows on the road. These are a collection of video memories since 2010 from Ronald Langeveld who filmed the following clips “on […]

In 1987, when Martin Pistorius was a 12-year-old in Johannesburg, something happened. His whole body shut down. For the next 12 years, he stayed that way, trapped inside himself. Until the shut-down, his mother Joan told an American radio interviewer earlier this year, Martin was a bright child who from the age of three had said […]

I recently came across an article on Jozi Kids called “100 Benefits of Load-Shedding.” One hundred? Okay Jozi Kids, I think you might have gone just a tad overboard. There are not even one hundred benefits of Nutella. Or central heating. Or indoor plumbing. But I do get their idea. Rather than stressing out about something […]

South Africa cruised to an awesome victory, defying all odds, against Costa Rica in an exciting international friendly at San Jose’s National Stadium last night. Andile Jali scored the early goal, in the ninth minute, for Bafana Bafana to secure the 1-0 win over Costa Rica’s Los Ticos who are 31 positions higher on FIFA’s world […]

South Africa will have at least one representative in the crowd tonight at the Bafana Bafana match in Costa Rica. She’s South African expat Elizabeth Cubas who’ll be patriotically cheering for her country all the way! “I have been living in Costa Rica for about eight months and loving it here,” she says. “I do miss […]

World Rugby has issued a statement following allegations of biting, made against Frans Malherbe by a British newspaper, after the Springboks won their Rugby World Cup (RWC) match against the USA at London’s Olympic Stadium last night. The UK paper published a photo by Kevin Quigley which appeared to show the South African prop biting US lock […]

Jordy Smith (ZAF) has had to withdraw from the Quiksilver Pro France (Oct 6-17), which kicked off a couple of days late today, to continue recovering from his ongoing injuries. The Quiksilver Pro will be the third contest that Smith has missed this season due to injury. “My summary of 2015 has been really bad,” he said. […]

South Africans are going bokke for their #Bokke tonight after the Springboks’ spectacular win in the Rugby World Cup (RWC) Pool B match at Olympic Stadium in London. South Africa thrashed the USA 64-0. (Watch highlights above or below.) To be fair the USA team played with heart and performed well in the first half, managing to […]

The ‘South Africa’s Got Talent’ audience was on its feet Sunday night when DJ Arch Junior, all of three years old, took to a digital music deck and handled the jog wheels and transport controls like a pro. Oratilwe Hlongwane from Alexandra township has reached the semifinals of the show’s national competition. He’s the youngest person to have ever been on the […]

The Rugby World Cup (RWC) match between the RSA and the USA kicks off in less than an hour…and we’ll probably all have our eyes on our boys in green and gold, and on one member of the USA team. Number 9. Niku Kruger. It’s a big night for the South African expat. Playing for […]

As African authors get more and more publicity and prizes – as well as readers – they are becoming must-haves on bookshelves worldwide. Some are already known as African by their subject matter as well as their names (Nigerians Chigozie Obioma, the youngest ever nominee for a Booker, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie). But here are a couple […]

It’s that time of the year again! Pretoria has turned into Jacaranda City! Although before all the students start stressing, it is a couple of weeks early this year. As most South African students know, the first sight of the purple extravaganza usually means if you haven’t started studying yet, it’s already too late. But with […]

For all the Springbok fans gearing up for the Rugby World Cup match between South Africa and the USA in London later today, it’s time to get ready to sing the National Anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Here are all the words and tips you need to sing it loud and proud! (And a BONUS fan video […]

Saturday in Newcastle, in the UK, was a pretty special day for South Africans. It began with former President Nelson Mandela being posthumously inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame (with his ally and former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar in attendance), followed by a fantastic 34-16 win against Scotland in their World Cup match…and ended with […]

A few months ago, my host mother in South Africa shared a nugget of wisdom which I found quite profound. She said, “Lydia, sometimes you look and wait for a sign towards something when actually, you’ve already been given the sign, you just missed it because you chose not to see it or it wasn’t what […]

In one of the most moving moments of the Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2015, former South African President Nelson Mandela was posthumously inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame on Saturday, ahead of the match between the Springboks and Scotland. And it was his old ally and former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar who was there […]

Mention of the dung beetle might cause some to go ‘Ick’, but the industrious, single-minded gatherers of animal poop have become a favourite of a South African plant species, says a new study from the University of Cape Town that’s getting a lot of international media buzz. According to the paper published on Monday by Jeremy Midgley of the Department […]

In the United States they have been doing it for years, taking a night off to ‘roast’ – basically make fun of (in the harshest possible way) – a famous person. Anyone who has seen Amy Schumer’s infamous roast of Charlie Sheen knows that to be roasted is pretty much to be gutted. In 2012 […]

Here’s what one YouTube user imagines a David Attenborough nature documentary would sound like “if David had been from Vereeniging” in South Africa. Afrikaans4Dummies uploaded the following video saying “Everyone of all ages grew up with the iconic voice of BBC naturalist, David Attenborough. His crisp delivery captivated and mesmerized us, and for many it […]

This Rugby World Cup (RWC) has brought many goosebump moments – from the train ride where South African fans honoured Japanese fans after the Springbok’s shock defeat…to the Samoa team singing a hymn to former SA rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen. Last night there were more… After beating Scotland 34-16 in Newcastle, fans leaving the match spontaneously sang […]

You never know what you’re going to find up one of the alleys in Kalk Bay, a gem on the False Bay side of Cape Town, and it just makes you want to explore. So says one of the locals interviewed by musician Arno Carstens in a recent video about the artist-town-meets-fishing-village. The video gives you a good […]

South African athlete Cameron van der Burgh powered to another victory in the pool today in Singapore, bringing his World Cup medal tally this year to nine (if our maths is correct – help Heyneke!) AND making him the overall World Cup cluster 2 winner! Cameron won the Men’s 100 metre breaststroke at the FINA World Cup […]

If you want to taste excitement in the air, come to Philipstown this week. They’re counting down the days before the Wire Car Festival, the local event of the year. Wire cars, or draadkarretjies, are big around here. The young boys of Philipstown will do just about anything for a wire car fashioned by one […]

If you missed the Thursday night episode of ‘The Daily Show’, the audience got a lesson in African presidents, thanks to new host Trevor Noah, who was comparing US presidential candidate Donald Trump to Jacob Zuma, Robert Mugabe, Idi Amin and Muammar Gaddafi, among others. With the subheading ‘Orange is the new Black’ – and […]

South African fans were celebrating the Springboks’ 34-16 victory over Scotland at the Rugby World Cup today South Africa powered past Scotland this evening in Newcastle, winning by more than just the predicted 10 points. It was a physical match with intense playing from both sides. Handre Pollard was on fire, scoring four penalties, two conversions […]