South Africa is filled with personalities who have won prestigious awards for various achievements. Just think of Oscar winner Charlize Theron or Nobel laureates Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Sydney Brenner and Nadine Gordimer. Now the country can again count Helen Zille among that number. The award recognises the Democratic Alliance (DA) leader’s contribution to South Africa’s […]

South Africa’s space industry is thriving – this is the message relayed to the public by professionals in the sector at a recent media briefing in Cape Town. The event also commemorated humankind’s first foray into space 50 years ago, when Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin spent 108 minutes looking at a view of the earth […]

South African students Danielle Boer and Alessio Giuricich were awarded top prizes at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in California on 13 May 2011. The two received awards for their innovative, independent research on dealing with social challenges through science. The ISEF is the world’s largest international high school science competition, which […]

Trevor Manuel – South Africa’s former Minister of Finance – has been suggested as a potential candidate for the recently (and sensationally!) vacated position of head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Trevor would replace disgraced French minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn who resigned last night following his arrest and charges at the weekend that he raped […]

It’s not just South Africa’s men who are shining in the golfing world. South African professional golfer, Ashleigh Simon, won the Portugal Ladies Open this weekend! Ashleigh, who celebrated her 22nd birthday just last week, finished at 16-under 200 and won by three strokes over second-round leader Gwladys Nocera. This is Ashleigh’s second victory on […]

The Association of South African Women in Science and Engineering (SAWISE) and The Hope Network  invites              female students  entering their Honours level/ 4th year of study to apply for the above scholarship. CLOSING DATE: 28 NOVEMBER 2011 ELIGIBILITY: Female students entering their Honours degree/4th year of study with an academic average of over […]

  South African establishments took home three first prizes at the 2011 African Safari awards, which were held at Durban’s uShaka Marine World on 6 May 2011. Karkloof Spa was awarded Best Safari Spa in Africa, South African Airways (SAA) got the award for Best International Airline in Africa, and Ants Nest Riding Safaris received the award for Best Riding […]

    South African writer Lauren Beukes has made literary history by becoming the first local author to capture the prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award in its 25-year history. She received the honour for her second novel Zoo City at a glittering ceremony on 27 April 2011, held at London’s Apollo cinema in Piccadilly. The Arthur C […]

South African sporting great Ernie Els was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday. He joins the legendary Gary Player, who entered the Hall in 1974 and Bobby Locke, South Africa’s first international golf player, who entered in 1977. The other members of the 2011 Hall of Fame class were Jock Hutchison, Doug Ford, […]

The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory is appealing to the public to assist in finding missing information to accompany the many photographs they have in their collection. Over the next few months, the Centre will be publishing many of these pics on their website…and would like members of the public to supply any information they […]

OK, there’s no real news here…except that the British tabloids published pictures of Charlize Theron chatting to Chelsy Davy’s on-off boyfriend  Prince Harry at a polo match this weekend. And judging by the smile on Prince Harry’s face, he finds it rather easy to get on with women from South Africa! The 26-year-old British Prince […]

from an email doing the rounds   Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn’t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations. Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. […]

05 May 2011   South Africa’s Minister in The Presidency Trevor Manuel has been appointed as joint chairperson of the Green Climate Fund, which is tasked with designing a finance system to help developing countries adapt to climate change. Manuel, who is the head of South Africa’s National Planning Commission, will chair the Green Climate Fund together […]

05 May 2011   A water project supported by the UN-African Union peacekeeping force (Unamid) in eight villages of North Darfur will not only facilitate residents’ access to water, but will also help to reduce sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the region, local residents and Unamid officials said. “For years we have been afraid […]

South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company has won a Tony Award for making life-size horse puppets for a successful West End and Broadway play. The Cape Town-based company has already accepted the honour for the 2011 Tony Awards taking place later this year. The award was an exclusive one, meaning that no other puppet-making companies were eligible for it. […]

Starfish, an international development charity aiming to bring life, hope and opportunity to children in South Africa who have been orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, has places available in some fantastic races for 2011. So why not get fit whilst making a difference? Do you fancy running a 5K as a Superhero? Or how […]

Here’s everything you need to know (well, almost) about South African super-golfer Charl Schwartzel: He won the 2011 Masters Tournament in Augusta with a score of 274 (-14) – leaving Tiger Woods in the dust. Born in Jo’burg on 31 August 1984, Charl grew up on a chicken farm in Vereeniging and used to plough the […]

Table Mountain is in the running to become one of the New7Wonders of Nature (www.new7wonders.com) and the iconic mountain needs a few more votes in order to take it from its current 10th place to at least number 7! You can sms or vote online. If you live in South Africa, you can sms/text the […]

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the Mother’s Day competition who have each won a R200 Voucher from NetFlorist & NetGifts for a gift delivered to their mom anywhere in South Africa: Maud Mthethwa, Devri Addison and Gerhard Walkinshaw Read some of the dedications to special South African Moms below. For a wonderful South African mom in Newbury, Berkshire, UK… To […]

  WIN A R200 VOUCHER from NetFlorist & NetGifts by writing a dedication to your mom for South African Mother’s Day (8th May). All dedications will be published on sapeople…and the best 3 will EACH win a R200 VOUCHER for a gift to be delivered to Mom anywhere in South Africa. [wpbrad id=1] We’ll publish […]

On 27 April, Freedom Day, President Jacob Zuma will bestow National Orders on a number of worthy South Africans and citizens of foreign countries. The Presidency released the list of recipients for 2011 on 21 April. Zuma will confer the six categories – each one representing a specific service offered to the country – of […]

Enoch Mankayi Sontonga, a teacher and lay preacher from the Eastern Cape, died in obscurity 106 years ago today, aged just 33. But he left an indelible legacy. His hymn “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” (God bless Africa) went on to become the continent’s most famous anthem of black struggle against oppression. Sontonga wrote the first verse […]

Congrats to Caster Semenya who had two big wins at the South African championships earlier this month. She won the 800 metres and the 1,500 metres at King’s Park Athletics Stadium in Durban. Caster is putting the gender controversy behind her, and told reporters that “That’s in the past and I’m looking to the future. […]

Three South African short films have been selected for the prestigious Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, or Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, to be held in May in the river city of that name in the Ruhr region of Germany.   The films are Atrophy by Palesa Shongwe, Balance by Colleen Alborough and Steglitz House by Bridget Baker. The Kurzfilmtage is […]

South Africa’s favourite icon Nelson Mandela has joined global social phenomenon Twitter. Sort of. It’s not actually Nelson who’ll be tweeting to us folk. It’s his foundation. A British online consultant, Richard Millington, had owned the @NelsonMandela account on Twitter, but very graciously handed it over to the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory last week. […]