The other day I wrote a piece explaining why I had voted for Agang SA’s Mamphela Ramphele, and why I was glad for having done so despite her party’s poor showing in the polls. I argued that small parties can do good work and that somebody of her calibre could play a meaningful role in South African politics. […]

The following blog post, written by TGIF’s Thorsten Marbach, was shared by a few of his friends on Facebook yesterday. It’s a message for all South Africans. Thorsten,  a thought-leader who talks every Friday at a Seattle coffee shop in Johannesburg, wrote: With the elections over, do we settle down to outsourcing the leadership of our nation […]

A semi-retired South African expat has stepped up to become an unlikely hero in the Ukraine where he is working tirelessly to rescue thousands of zoo animals – affected by the revolution – from starving to death. Lionel de Lange (48), who has lived in the Ukraine since 2006 and still has a business in South […]

Judge Thokozile Masipa today ruled that Oscar Pistorius must be referred for 30-day psychiatric evaluation following Monday’s evidence from forensic psychiatrist Dr Merryll Vorster that he may suffer from General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Called by the defence, Dr Vorster testified that GAD might have played a role in Oscar’s actions when he shot and killed […]

Advocate Gerrie Nel told the court he would tomorrow apply for Oscar to be referred for 30-days’ mental observation. This twist came after defence advocate Barry Roux called forensic psychiatrist Merryll Vorster to testify in Oscar’s murder trial. Roux’s intention was to bring to the court’s attention psychiatric factors that might be of relevance during […]

In April 2013 South African journalist Rowan Philp, who was based in Boston USA at the time, wrote an article for the Mail & Guardian about the very many successful South African expats in the USA and their incredible contribution to the rest of the world. The article was popular and before you could say ‘social […]

A South African by the name of Mandy (or Mando as they like to say in Australia) has proved to Australian radio listeners that the South African accent CAN be sexy! And that South African women aren’t shy! Popular Aussie Radio DJ Tim ‘Rosso’ Ross, who presents the afternoon ‘Rosso on Drive’ show on KIIS106.5 […]

For everyone’s sake, let’s hope the trial winds down soon. What started off as a showcase of our legal expertise has turned into Comedy Central. In a nutshell, this was the week that: • The father and daughter who were first on the scene said Oscar was screaming, crying and praying; • Reeva’s ‘best friend’ […]

Unfortunately the votes from four overseas cities have not been counted as they did not reach South Africa before the IEC’s deadline of 9 pm tonight. The four cities are: Toronto, Havanna, Madrid and Lubumbashi. According to a message on Vote Home SA’s Facebook page: “Please note that this was due to the votes being […]

The international votes are in with an overwhelming majority win for the Democratic Alliance (DA). The DA has won 84.44 % of the international votes, with the African National Congress (ANC) in second position with 8.32%. There was a total of 18,132 valid overseas votes with 15,311 of these being for the DA, and  1,508 for the ANC. Agang, […]

As news comes this afternoon that the Nigerian Government apparently knew of Boko Haram’s planned kidnapping of over 240 schoolgirls from a school in Chibok…but failed to act, we publish (with permission) South African businessman and commentator Tshepo Motsitsi’s take on the lack of response from foreign governments  to try to rescue these girls. Two hours ago Amnesty International announced that: […]

UPDATE (9.15 pm, 08 May 2014): Helen Zille from the DA has just tweeted: “Re the ballots that were found: auditing has established that they WERE counted before they were “dumped”. No fraud suspected” – pls see further updates below. Helen Zille, Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), has responded to reports of ballot papers […]

Lisa Ashton, CEO and founder of The Winnie Mabaso Foundation, is outraged by a luxury resort in South Africa offering a “Shanty Town” experience to local and overseas visitors. Here she explains why in an open letter to readers everywhere: FROM LISA ASHTON: Yesterday as South Africans all over the country cast their vote I was reminded of many […]

Updated 8.35 pm, Friday 9 May 2014: Provisional results of the 2014 South African Elections are almost complete. As predicted the country’s ruling party – the African National Congress (ANC) – took an early lead with 59.09% of the votes by 11.15 pm last night, and by midnight had already surpassed the 10,000 mark vote tally. By 8.35 pm […]

You’ve got to love South Africa and South Africans! Even though some of the queues at voting stations are seemingly endless, the locals who’ve lined up have turned the delays into a social gathering and are making the most of their day off (which is a public holiday in the country). Jarrod Aston said that […]

Reports have come in of chaos at voting stations where South African voters have forgotten to take their ID books along with them. It is compulsory to have your green bar-coded ID book (or smart ID card or temporary identity certificate) with you in order to vote. According to one voter, Sharika Assad, many people […]

Thank you Google for the special Doodle today, honouring the 2014 South African Elections! The doodle features the search engine’s letters in the colours of the South African flag with a flag-covered ballot box in the centre. Unfortunately the doodle is only visible to those using the South African version of the search engine – […]

On the eve of the 2014 South African Elections, Paul Christie has written the following poem for fellow South African voters… A South African Election (Read to the tune of “An English Country Garden”) How many promises do you see In a South African election? How many lies do they televise In a South African […]

After the excitement of South Africans abroad voting last week, locals get their turn tomorrow to Make their Mark. Here are some answers in plain English for all those who may have questions about Election Day. Many of those who go to the polls tomorrow to vote for the first time will be too young to […]

It’s unusual for one writer to write about another, but a post on my Facebook page last night grabbed my attention. My FB friend and tweetpal Jani Allan posted a recent interview with someone called Glen Larmer on New Zealand’s RadioLive. So why am I writing about her? SAPeople readers will be familiar with Jani’s […]

American singer-songwriter Pharrel William’s hit “Happy”has spawned so many different versions of Happy-ness around the world from China to Cape Town…with the latest city to join in being Johannesburg. But now there’s another version that’s going viral -starring a bunch of dogs and a very serious and talented cat! The producers of the Johannesburg Happy version were given […]

A backlash has already begun to President Jacob Zuma’s latest claims that the Nkandla upgrades were a necessary security measure after his house was burned and his wife was raped. At an ANC breakfast this morning, the South African President made the revelation that his wife had been raped over ten years ago at his […]

It was a huge day for South Africans around the world on Wednesday 30 April 2014 when the country’s expats had their turn to vote for South Africa. For many it was an emotional experience that even touched the people back home. Here is a collection of just some of the comments, pictures and videos […]

The excitement and pressure is mounting now for South Africans in South Africa to make an effort to vote this coming Wednesday. Many have already indicated that after witnessing the effort that expats went to to get to voting stations that were often many hours’ drive (even flights) away from them…they are now determined to […]

SAPeople sent an email to all the political parties contesting the 2014 South African Elections, offering each the opportunity to tell us why South Africa should vote for them. So far we have heard back from one (see below)…We look forward to hearing from the others, and will print their 550-words or less as soon as […]