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. […]

South African princess-in-waiting, Charlene Wittstock enjoyed the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Sunday 17th April with her prince, H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. Rafael Nadal played against his fellow Spaniard David Ferrer and won his seventh straight tournament.  

Check out the great South African exhibition at London’s prestigious V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum). The exhibition – ‘Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography’ – presents the vibrant and sophisticated photographic culture that has emerged in post-apartheid South Africa. It features works by some of the most exciting and inventive photographers living and working […]

The third summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group of emerging nations takes place in China on 14 and 15 April under the theme Broad Vision, Shared Prosperity. South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma, representing the country for the first time at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, addressed […]

A South African friend of sapeople has helped put together an amazing auction of memorabilia from artists like the Beatles, Duffy and Coldplay – to raise money for the Japanese tsunami survivors. There’s a Ferrari, one of Jane Birkin’s own handbags (a Birkin of course)…and a cupcake trampoline from Katy Perry. Plus loads more, with […]

by Ray Maota OR Tambo International Airport is Africa’s best, according to a survey of more than 11-million airline passengers of 100 different nationalities. Africa’s Best The airport, based in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg, won the title of “Africa’s Best Aiport” at the World Airports Awards, held in Copenhagen on 30 March 2011. The […]

by Ray Maota Campaign Earth Hour was celebrated amid a shower of candlelight and music in Johannesburg recently. The cause was symbolically marked in the city by the switching off of lights at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto, south-west Johannesburg, on 26 March 2011 between 8.30pm and 9.30pm. The celebrations, held at the Orlando West […]

from an email doing the rounds (both men & women, sons & daughters – need to read this) After 17 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, ‘I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend […]