With just over an hour to go before President Cyril Ramaphosa tables the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the spotlight is on praise singer Masingita Shibambu, who is tasked with ushering in the President into the Parliamentary chambers. Over the years, the 19-year-old has perfected her craft at Sunday school, parties and funerals of […]

Democratic South Africa has skeletons in the closet that it needs to address. One of these is the death of Dag Hammarskjöld, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) in a plane crash shortly after midnight on 17 to 18 September 1961. The plane went down as it approached Ndola, a mining town in Northern […]

Dear Family and Friends, When I put my fingers into a black china bowl of water in the sink to scoop out what I thought was a leaf, I found myself holding a small black scorpion… writes author Cathy Buckle in her latest Letter from Zimbabwe. A yelp of alarm, a few unrepeatable swear words […]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to use his State of the Nation Address Thursday evening to respond to burning issues such as load shedding and gender-based violence; unpack the progress that has been made by government over the past year and chart plans for the year ahead. Parliament officials have been hard at […]

The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter of 2019 show that the official unemployment rate remained unchanged at 29.1%, compared to the third quarter of 2019. Releasing the survey results on Tuesday in Tshwane, Statistician General Risenga Maluleke said this was the first time since 2008 that the unemployment […]

South African wine companies are making inroads at the Prodexpo international trade show currently underway in Russia. Prodexpo is the largest international show for the food and drinks sector in Russia and Eastern Europe. Wahed Khan, the Director of Global Business Development at Cape Dreams, says the show is an ideal platform to promote his […]

The City of Johannesburg (COJ) Libraries has been shortlisted at The London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2020 for The Library of the Year Award. eLearning Manager Jeff Nyoka told SAPeople: “We are extremely excited about the nomination, it’s testimony to the amount of work that the librarians in various City of Joburg libraries have […]

The South African men’s hockey team closed out an emphatic series whitewash over the United States with a convincing 5-1 victory in Ballito, KZN, on Wednesday. The Proteas scored in each quarter to gain 20.6 ranking points for the series and close the gap on Ireland who are currently ranked 13th to just 30 points, […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa is being urged to announce on Thursday – when he delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) – that he will send the Copyright Amendment Bill back to Parliament for reconsideration. If nothing else, it would be an ideal opportunity to announce some good news “amidst the doom and the darkness”, […]

An exhausted Boomslang was rescued from the beach in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on Saturday… by one of SA’s top snake experts Nick Evans who said it was a first for him to discover a Boomslang on the beach! “This big, beautiful specimen was very disorientated and extremely tired from swimming in the waves. Thankfully a […]

Up until 5 months ago, Llewellyn Barnes (59) was a homeless man, living on the streets of Pretoria, South Africa… but this March, against all odds, he will participate amongst professional players in the Senior Tour, a major golf tournament! A difficult childhood At an early age, Llewellyn faced many obstacles. He became like an […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his deep sadness at the passing of Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala. “The passing of Joseph Shabalala is a terribly sad moment for a nation and a world in whose ears the isicathamiya and mbube crafted by Ladysmith Black Mambazo will ring for generations to come,” said President Ramaphosa. […]

Actress Nandi Mbatha’s debut on the runway at SA Men’s Fashion Week was a show-stopper… as she stepped out in this very South African mini-dress, designed by QUITERIA. Mbatha was under the spotlight as she closed QUITERIA’s show at the V&A Waterfront event in Cape Town, South Africa. QUITERIA founder Quiteria Kekana – who was […]

One lucky person from Johannesburg has become a millionaire overnight by hitting the Powerball jackpot this Tuesday. It is still unknown who exactly this lucky resident is since the winnings have yet to be claimed. The winning ticket was bought at the Victor and Son Corner Café, Shop Number 6 Theos Court in Roodepoort, west […]

A coding project called TANKS – which originated at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa – will be flying the flag high for SA, sharing the global stage at UNESCO’s Mobile Learning Week in Paris early March. Of 250 submissions from across the world, it is the only project invited to a plenary session […]

A kayaker in New South Wales, Australia, has captured a pretty unique video – of a dog sitting in a canoe watching a kangaroo swim past on a flooded road, after heavy rains fell in the last few days. Watch video below. According to 9 News, it wasn’t just kangaroos swimming to safety last night. […]

Dear Fellow South African…writes President Cyril Ramaphosa in his latest newsletter, ‘From the Desk of the President’ Tomorrow, the country will come together to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela from prison. This was a moment of great joy across the length and breadth of the country. I remember vividly […]

The spotlight will be firmly on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as he runs the gauntlet of delivering the annual state of the nation address on behalf of the governing party, African National Congress (ANC), and his government on Thursday. This year’s speech is light-years removed from the promise of a new beginning he offered […]

False allegations and rumours about the coronavirus outbreak have been running riot on social media and in some mainstream media. Misinformation is rampant and conspiracy theories have added to the confusion. Examples include reports that the virus can kill a person in seconds, that Ghana has developed a successful vaccine and that HIV drugs have […]

It was a day for South African celebrations as Durbanites Robyn Kinghorn and Michael McGlynn raced to first place in the women and men’s titles at the Midmar Mile. It’s the first time in four years that SA has had a double win at the famous Midmar Mile. There were also some proudly South African […]

Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer has posted a heartwarming message thanking Cape Town and South Africa for successfully hosting his Match in Africa… which not only raised millions for charity, but raised the spirits of South Africans and helped us fly the SA flag high! Federer said: “What an unforgettable night: we raised 3.5 million […]

An undisclosed number of lions attacked and killed a 21-year-old woman at a private game reserve near Bela Bela in the Limpopo province of South Africa, on Thursday afternoon. The woman has been identified as Swane van Wyk (although several local reports named her as Swans van Wyke), an animal lover who worked with lions […]

Heavy rains have fallen over parts of South Africa resulting in chaos and flooding (in the West Rand particularly), but also bringing much needed water, relief and hope to parts of the country which have been suffering during one of the longest droughts in SA’s history. Watch here as water can be seen filling up […]

It was an African Dream in Cape Town tonight, 7 Feb 2020… as a world record-breaking crowd of 51,934 spectators were moved to tears of joy and pride as South Africa hosted Roger Federer’s Match in Africa. Late Friday night, Federer posted a message on Facebook saying: “It was always a dream of mine to […]

Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer is clearing having a great time in his mom’s home country, South Africa. (Federer’s mother Lynette is an SA expat from Kempton Park.) https://www.facebook.com/Federer/photos/a.214046249940/10157936485264941/ Federer has posted a couple of ‘holiday snap’ type photos, taken in Cape Town today… as he prepares for tonight’s big match against the World’s Number […]