South African American singer Zarni has just released a beautiful new single called ‘New Love’ which she will be performing during a short trip to South Africa next week. This song was inspired by something her fiancé said one night. “We were at home talking about what makes long relationships tough,” she says. “He said it’s hard […]

Four rhino poachers were captured in the Kruger National Park (KNP) yesterday, thanks to the efforts of three smart and very brave women! Haley Dahl, from Eshowe in KwaZulu-Natal, and her two friends Yolande Larkan and Delise Powell, were on a trip to the Kruger when they noticed a suspicious car. Haley told East Coast […]

After a stint as a volunteer working with orphaned rhinos in South Africa, an American citizen has decided to take on South Africa’s poaching crisis and do something constructive about it. And she needs our help. Kim Putman is one of ten finalists in the National Geographic ‘Expedition Granted’ competition. The winner will receive $50,000 to […]

Families travelling to and from South Africa will breath a sigh of relief as it’s just been announced that the proposed new immigration legislation regarding children under the age of 18 needing to carry an unabridged birth certificate and written permission (if travelling unaccompanied by one or more parent) has been postponed! The new law […]

  For those of you who have been following the Oscar trial (I have to admit, I’ve steered well clear of it, watching nothing, listening to nothing, reading nothing, other than telling people that there’s only one person who actually knows what happened – ‘And you’re not it, let alone a lawyer’ – mainly because […]

If you’re missing the South African ocean, here are two videos guaranteed to make you feel the freedom of the wide open blue and almost feel the ocean spray gently upon your skin… Winter’s End with SA Bodyboarder Storm Prestwich Ronald Langeveld has produced this fantastic new bodyboarding video, featuring his “good friend Storm Prestwich, […]

Springbok captain Jean de Villiers will become the fifth Springbok to play 100 Tests for South Africa when he steps onto the field in Wellington, New Zealand later today (Saturday 13 September 2014) to take on the All Blacks. He told South Africa Rugby this week that while reaching this milestone is a “huge honour” and he’s very “humbled” […]

New South African DIY sensation, Suzelle DIY, made a television appearance yesterday morning on the Expresso Morning show. With typical Suzelle excellence, she demonstrated just how useful clothes pegs can be for everything from potting a plant to getting a handle on eating with chopsticks! Speaking about her newfound fame, Suzelle told Morning Show presenter Katlego […]

Rugby World Cup (RWC) Tickets go on sale tomorrow – 12 September 2014. If you’re keen to get tickets, it’s recommended that you book through the Official RWC 2015 ticket website to avoid being ripped off by agents selling overpriced or fake tickets! The World Cup will be held at stadiums in England and Cardiff […]

A group of Vietnamese celebrities has flown in to South Africa to spend three days at the Kruger National Park (KNP) in an attempt to tackle the source of the demand for rhino horn. It is hoped that this trip will expose these influential personalities to the harsh realities of rhino poaching, and help debunk myths that persist in […]

Photographer Mirella Ricciardi once said “when you have been born in Africa you are marked by Africa and wherever you go, you are a displaced person, for you have two identities.” It is true of many South African expats. No matter where they are or how long they have lived in their newly adopted country, they will […]

Looking out at the vast and sunny Karoo Heartland today, you’d never think that less than two weeks ago we were all snow-stormed in. Which takes me back exactly 33 years to the day, when I was sitting at a bar in Montana, USA, called The Cherokee Strip. The locals who drank at The Strip, […]

Following the South African Rugby Union’s (SARU) new Transformation Strategic Plan in which SARU wants to ensure that by 2019 at least half the Springbok side consists of players of colour, with 60 % of those being black African, Max du Preez writes that we can’t only pick those parts of the constitution we like. With the permission […]

A very cool street musician last night took it upon himself to sing a song to the unsung heroes of Cape Town – the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) paramedics. See the video below. He sang for the EMS crew when they stopped for a much needed coffee break. After witnessing an evening of carnage, this guy made […]

Congratulations to South African heart surgeon Otto Thaning for not only just swimming across the English Channel BUT – at the age of 73 – becoming the oldest person to ever complete the 34-kilometre stretch (which, with currents, usually comes closer to a 40-km swim). As fellow epic swimmer and friend Lewis Pugh said yesterday […]

Today I met a very friendly family in Durban, while I was shopping. My eye got caught by the adorable toddler that was peacefully sleeping in the trolley, his head laying heavy like a stone on his mom’s handbag. I asked his mom and aunt, Patience and Thembe, if I could take a picture of him. […]

While some South Africans have taken to tipping a bucket of sand over their heads in the ever-evolving #IceBucketChallenge (known by them as the #DirtBucketChallenge), others have created challenges with a twist that require less cleaning up afterwards! Award-winning South African author, Marie Williams, who lives in Australia stepped into the ocean in Byron Bay […]

American comedian Joan Rivers has sadly passed away at the age of 81. Her daughter Melissa made the heart-breaking decision to have her mother’s life-support system turned off earlier today. It was what Joan would have wanted. She once said she would not want to live “if I could not perform. It’s in my will. […]

Proposed new immigration regulations have not only upset South African expats whose foreign partners and children may be affected by the new laws…but have caused even greater outrage at home, with experts predicting widespread consequences and that the biggest casualties of these new restrictions will be local industries and the very people in South Africa who the […]

The news in South Africa over the last few months has dominated with a few headlines about the Oscar Trial, that weird EFF political party, some crazy ANC lady wanting the South African anthem broadcast twice a day and the new LandAct Law signed by Zuma a few months ago. I am not interested in […]

A Durban film, co-starring Capetonian Stelio Savante and SA child actor Sizo Motsoko, has been chosen as an Official Selection for the 2014 San Diego Film Festival where it will make its world premier. ‘Where the Road Runs Out’ made history when it became the first feature ever filmed in the small African country of Equatorial Guinea […]

Earlier today President Zuma conveyed his condolences on the passing of Australian High Commissioner Graeme Wilson, and reaffirmed his commitment to strengthen South Africa’s relationship with Australia. In a statement released on Wednesday, the South African president “conveyed a message of condolences to the Government and people of Australia, following the passing of the Australian High Commissioner […]

Last summer I had a thought and shared it with my wife Jules. “Jules,” I said. “Imagine a South African sitting up north somewhere like Saskatchewan. He’s working in Canada but he’s missing South Africa like crazy.” “Yes?” “Now imagine that guy’s been to the Karoo but his kids haven’t. And neither have his new […]

Some South African stories fill you with such hope, love and wonder. Nicole Olivier’s story is one. It started out as a tragedy. Two tragedies actually. But she didn’t let loss stop her from loving. And so her story – her family’s story – became an inspiration…and has been turned into a song called ‘Beautiful’. We’ll let […]

When Pretoria boy Ted Botha moved to New York City, he was not so much an immigrant as someone on the make – a travelling South African looking to broaden his horizons. In no time he’d lied his way into a job in the New York magazine industry. Then he stumbled upon a small old […]