ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) – Cyclone Batsirai killed at least 120 people in Madagascar, the second to hit the Indian Ocean island in just two weeks, triggering floods, bringing down buildings and cutting power, officials said. By Lovasoa Rabary. (Death toll last updated 11 Feb.)  One of the worst-hit towns was Nosy Varika on the east coast […]

“Shaving my head was one of the best experiences of my life,” says SAPeople’s Cassie Jo. As the world commemorated World Cancer Day on Friday (4 Feb), SAPeople asked Cassie to share some of her tips for anyone who would like to donate their hair to those who’ve lost theirs. Her first tip is reassurance […]

Rooibos tea is a uniquely South African product. The plant, Aspalathus linearis, grows mainly in the Cederberg area of the country’s Western Cape province. And it’s not just a tasty beverage. It is caffeine-free; research has proved that it has anti-inflammatory properties. It’s also been found to ease pain and reduce allergies. Rooibos is also […]

Everyone’s talking about Netflix documentary ‘Tinder Swindler’, the show that exposes an Israeli con-artist from a poor part of town who poses as a wealthy, (private) jet-setting son of a diamond billionaire, on dating site Tinder. Going by the name Simon Leviev, the fraudster (who was born Shimon Hayut before legally changing his name to […]

Rescuers – who have been working day and night for five days – say they are within three metres of saving a five-year-old child who fell down a well in Morocco, in North Africa… although they were held up by a small rock on Saturday. Update 23h30 SA Time: Tragically, the small boy died before […]

Justice Zondo said he knew he would make enemies when he agreed to chair the commission into state capture. By Tania Broughton Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo told the Judicial Services Commission that he did not think he was entitled to the job of chief justice, just because he has been Deputy Chief Justice and Acting […]

DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that it will lift a travel ban on its vaccinated citizens to travel to South Africa, the state news agency WAM said on Friday. The ban is also being lifted for 11 other countries in Africa. These include: Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, […]

DURBAN – Gutsy para-swimmer David Williams will don the colours of The Cows as he sets out to swim the aQuellé Midmar Mile on Saturday 12 February to raise funds for the CHOC Childhood Cancer Association of South Africa. By Dave Macleod. Born without legs, the 34-year-old Durban North resident has already done the Mile […]

(Reuters) – A South African court on Friday denied bail to a man charged with crimes including arson over the devastating fire at the national parliament in Cape Town in January, local media reported. Zandile Mafe denied the charges against him. Officials have described the fire, which severely damaged parts of the parliament precinct, as […]

Due to huge customer demand, Pick n Pay has launched its new Vehicle Licence Disc Renewal Service nationally. Customers will now be able to renew their licence disc in over 500 Pick n Pay stores, across South Africa, at an amended service fee of R250. Customers can visit any Pick n Pay supermarket or hypermarket […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Tlalamba, a four-year-old leopard, has achieved much in her short life. She’s queen of her mother’s old territory, borne two cubs and, so far, is the most sought-after animal on her reserve among buyers of a new project selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to raise money for conservation. By Emma Rumney. What are […]

A video filmed in the Karoo yesterday is going viral on Facebook, bringing joy to viewers as the Karoo – which has suffered drought for years – is blessed with an abundance of rain. Watch below. It’s not certain who first posted the video, but an Afrikaans-speaking South African male can be heard saying that […]

Trust in state institutions to protect citizens is a prerequisite for sharing social spaces. This trust is corrupted in South Africa, where there are persistent anxieties that crime and violence are out of control. By Leah Davina Junck, University of Cape Town. Despite considerable public spending on the police and security sector, the country has […]

The Cape Trade Portal – supported by the ‘Made in the Cape’ digital brand marketing campaign – was officially launched today by Wesgro, in partnership with the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town. The Western Cape Government’s strategic plan for the next five years identifies growing exports as a fundamental component to […]

Emihle Ntunja dropped out of school in Grade 12 and says she spent the next few years sitting on street corners smoking marijuana. Now the 25-year-old from an informal township in Langa, Cape Town, is on a mission to change her life through boxing. By Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik. Former school drop-out Emihle Ntunja from Cape Town […]

The Dutch government has eased restrictions previously placed on Southern African countries (due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant) making it easier for tourists from South Africa to travel to The Netherlands. It is now possible for fully vaccinated travellers from South Africa to enter The Netherlands with no quarantine restrictions. The new entry regulations are […]

Several Uber passengers in Johannesburg, South Africa, will recognise Diana Dube, one of the coolest drivers in town who always wears her trademark hat and a passionate can-do attitude. Yesterday passenger Carl Chemaly took to Facebook to publicly applaud Diana. He wrote: “I met this inspirational lady called Diana Dube this morning. Great sense of […]

Underberg – While the Drak Challenge race winners basked in the limelight on Sunday afternoon, mountain biker Anthony Halliday emerged as the real hero of the weekend after literally stepping in to rescue a paddler in trouble on the uMzimkhulu River. Anthony was riding in the Drak Descent with his partner Geoff Nightingale, enjoying the […]

This week a groundbreaking judgement was passed in South Africa, in a case of animal cruelty involving reptiles. According to the NSPCA, which opened the case, the judgment is the biggest legal win for reptiles in SA history and “will have a lasting impact in future cases of cruelty involving reptiles”. Back in 2019, the […]

South African Airways (SAA) has announced that it will be resuming flights to Mauritius after the island nation lifted its travel ban on the country in January. The nation banned travel from Southern African countries in November last year following the emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. SAA interim CEO, Thomas Kgokolo, said the airline […]

Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter, says without loadshedding, the power utility would face the “system equivalent of cardiac arrest”. This morning Eskom announced stage 2 load shedding in South Africa from now until Monday. According to De Ruyter, this will help prevent a “catastrophic blackout”. Following breakdowns at power stations, De Ruyter said load shedding […]

South Africa’s state power utility Eskom has announced that it will implement Stage 2 load shedding from 11am today until 5am on Monday morning. Eskom said this was due to a shortage of generation capacity following breakdowns at two generating units. The breakdowns amount to at least 14 994 MW of energy. “Since the weekend […]

CAPE TOWN – African Clawless Otters are really endearing… but please don’t interact with them. That’s the message from wildlife experts as South Africans experience an increase of sightings of the adorable animals around the Western Cape’s shores. Animal protection organisations are seeking to remind the public that near-threatened African Clawless Otters are a wild […]

The group, who work for free, want City of Cape Town to provide material like rubbish bags and brooms. By Vincent Lali. Shack dwellers in Khayelitsha, Cape Town have rallied together to clean up spaces around informal settlements. One of the rubbish-filled spaces recently cleaned by about 12 residents was in Level Two informal settlement […]

The voice of South Africa’s hospitality industry – FEDHASA – has issued a call to the SA government to remove the compulsory PCR test required for inbound international and returning South African travellers who are fully vaccinated. Whilst welcoming last night’s announcement on the reduction in Covid-19 restrictions in South Africa (including isolation no longer […]