CNN seems determined to make those of us far from South Africa’s autumn sunshine even more homesick than we were. It has published a list of top 10 sensational wine farms. Journalist Claire Hu notes on CNN that “I’ve spent a decade visiting the most famous vineyards around the world. For sheer beauty, the winelands of […]

Highveld 94.7 is at it again. This week radio presenter Darren Simpson phoned SANRAL to complain about a genuine e-tolls bill that demanded almost half-a-million rand to be paid. Darren phoned the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) call center and, as you can hear, the operator was not very impressed. (To be fair, Darren barely […]

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan has promised a continued focus on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) when the African National Congress (ANC) is returned to power after this month’s general elections. The ANC is expected to win a sizeable majority again this year, as it has done in every election since 1994. Even the most optimistic opposition […]

A Cape-Town video production house created a video called “Sh*t South Africans Say” back in 2012… which gets resurrected annually and goes viral all over again. The video captures all the usual suspects from ‘eish‘ and ‘kif‘ to ‘boet‘ and ‘just now’, but also includes another phrase some South Africans are prone to saying: “guess […]

The response to this year’s general elections from South Africans living abroad has been, in a word, underwhelming. As reported by SAPeople this morning the authorities have hardly gone out of their way to make it easy for its far flung citizenry to exercise their democratic rights and this may be partly responsible for the […]

Right now, the little town of Bedford in the Eastern Cape is frantically a-bustle under its normal serene exterior. The Old Gaol is being festooned. Various kitchens around town are being tarted up. Wine is being ordered in. Guest house duvets are being fluffed. The newly-renovated Duke of Bedford Hotel is looking too grand for […]

Tomorrow South Africans overseas will get their opportunity to vote in the South African elections; but it’s come with a lot of frustration, heartache and pain…amidst accusations of apathy Disappointingly, only a little over 26,000 expats have registered to vote. If all of these people turn up tomorrow to vote, they would only be able […]

Taking Stock, a South African documentary exploring the “conflicted connections between business and family, community, and country” is within touching distance of getting made. The Kickstarter-funded project needs to raise just a further $150 within the next three days. The documentary will be filmed over June this year and will take an in-depth look into the life […]

Freedom Day meant a lot to a LOT of South Africans today. Twenty years of freedom and democracy, joy and heartache. Here, a few South Africans share their feelings… Message from Lawrence Hilton: I wrote a blog two years ago to celebrate Freedom Day and my Mom’s life called Happy Freedom Day! Out the blue […]

Congratulations to expat Jan Greeff for officially making it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest consecutive barbecue marathon by an individual. Jan, who hails from Stellenbosch, began his braai master attempt at 7am on Thursday morning and is still at it right now, as he aims to set the new record […]

A moving South African rendition of ‘Everybody Hurts’ has been uploaded to YouTube, featuring footage of many of the local children in the Port Elizabeth vicinity who will be helped by the album’s sales. The album is an initiative of Ocean Rock Entertainment which was started in 2011 to support the Eastern Cape music and […]

The virtual noise of digital media surrounding the Oscar Pistorius murder trial after 25 long days of testimony, has diminished since Judge Thokozile Masipa granted Advocate Gerrie Nel’s request for a postponement until May 5. Taking a break from proceedings, the legal teams have time to review what’s ensued to date and to regroup. Oscar’s […]

I placed my foot with sheer terror on what I perceived to be a shifting and sliding mass of gulping sinking sand…and to my utter surprise I found that I was not swallowed whole. I discovered that although this landscape was a totally new terrain, it was firm underfoot. I wasn’t sure where the path […]

For many of us, the mere thought of running a 56-km ultra-marathon is exhausting. For Eduline Mutize it’s a challenge she feels compelled to do…twice! Eduline plans to run today’s Two Oceans once for herself, and once for the millions of orphans in the country – to give them a voice. The 28-year-old  runner did […]

Well-known South African morning radio host and King of Pranksters, Darren ‘Whackhead’ Simpson, was heavily pranked this week in Johannesburg! Darren is notorious for his telephone pranks and gags, and is renowned for sometimes going over the top in his efforts to prank his team members at Highveld 94.7. On Wednesday they got him back. […]

A fabulous new South African romantic comedy opened in local movie theaters today…and is reportedly a must-see! The film’s called ‘Konfetti’ and is touted as a film for everyone, about a “wedding so mal, it’s perfect”. It’s based on Louw Venter’s play “The Best Man’s Speech”, and he will be at the Waterfront in person […]

South African columnist Jani Allan’s open letter to Oscar Pistorius has gone viral and brought the once famous Sunday Times  journalist back into the spotlight after a decade of silence. Jani’s letter to Pistorius references her infamous relationship (or non-relationship) with Eugene Terre’blanche…and compares the character of the late leader of the AWB with that of […]

It was a day of surprises on Tuesday in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria where the usual suspects were gathered for the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. Chief Prosecutor Gerrie Nel abruptly ended his cross-examination of the defendant, and Defence Advocate Barry Roux spent a mere nine minutes in re-examination. Nel had given nothing away at the start […]

It’s most likely been a very long and lonely weekend for Oscar Pistorius without his defence team to reassure him and coach him. Legal process forbids him from consulting with his legal counsel about the trial for the duration of his swearing in for cross-examination. Likewise, it’s out of bounds even with his family. I […]

Eish! This is what happens when you show off during a Porsche test drive… The driver of a white porsche in South Africa was filmed racing along Witkoppen Road…with unpleasant results! The video is filmed and  narrated by Daniel Mellitchey, according to the video’s notes on YouTube. Please be warned – there is some bad […]

State prosecutor Gerrie Nel is proving as tenacious as a “pit-bull” in his cross-questioning of Oscar Pistorius in the trial in which Oscar is accused of murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013. Pistorius broken down in tears many times this morning as Gerrie took him through the […]

Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial was again adjourned today after Oscar collapsed sobbing in the witness stand. Starting where he and his advocate Barry Roux left off yesterday, Oscar replied to Roux’s leading questions in the same monotonous tone like someone who has learnt his lines. Repeatedly asked to speak up by Roux and Judge Thokozile […]

It’s funny how some stories get rehashed over and over…especially when there’s a particularly hot model in the story’s photo…and she’s not wearing too many clothes! Back in 2009, a spectacular photo of a model clinging to the back of Richard Branson while he kite-surfed around his Caribbean island made world headlines. And then in […]

Based on performance, it’s debatable whether Day 17 of the Oscar Pistorius trial belonged to prosecutor Gerrie Nel or Oscar himself, but in terms of the headlines and reactions via the social media, the defendant won hands down. There are readers of SAPeople who disapprove of my apparent flippancy as I share my perceptions of the players and […]

We love it when an African video goes viral around the globe, and that’s what’s happened for Ugandan singer Eddy Kenzo with his hit ‘Sitya Loss’. Eddy – whose real name is Musuuza Edrisa – has already achieved a few top hits in East Africa and is responsible for getting his whole country dancing in […]