The ever-growing number of South African expats living in Thailand are about to get a major taste of home, with a new SA-flavoured restaurant in Bangkok due to open its doors to the public within a fortnight! The restaurant – Shebeen – is billed as the first fully-fledged South African restaurant to open in Bangkok. […]

JOHANNESBURG – Jacob Zuma’s lawyers argued on Monday that the former South African president had been treated unfairly by prosecutors in his bid to have revived corruption charges set aside because he is unpopular in the country at large. Zuma has applied for a permanent stay of prosecution from 16 charges of fraud, racketeering and […]

“Game of Thrones Season 8 has been really boring,” said no one, ever. No matter what your opinions are on the direction the show’s characters have taken this season, one thing’s for sure – it has been an incredible spectacle. And now there’s only one episode left of the whole show! Before Monday’s finale lands […]

Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke has revealed that the risks of double voting during the 2019 National and Provincial Elections were “negligible”. The findings are contained in the final report that was based on a sample of voting stations. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in a statement said the report was intended to act as an addition […]

If you’ve always wanted to visit Mount Kilimanjaro, but just can’t be asked to actually get fit enough to climb it… you could be in luck! Tanzania wants to boost tourist numbers by putting a cable car on Africa’s tallest mountain, and is currently in talks about the project with a Chinese and a Western […]

CAIRO – South Africans are believed to have been in an explosion targeting a tourist bus which injured at least 12 people (perhaps 17, according to some reports) near a new museum being built close to the Giza pyramids in Egypt on Sunday, two security sources said. According to Reuters, the sources said that most […]

Amid the high crime rate, loss of job security, and political uncertainty, South Africans are leaving the country in significant numbers looking for greener pastures. On tonight’s episode of Carte Blanche (available for expats to stream from Tuesday), presenter Derek Watts looks at the rising number of skilled and educated South Africans – from medical […]

Star College High learners Kiaran Chetty and Calden Gounden will represent South Africa in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Annual Stockholm Junior Youth Water Prize (SJWP) at the end of August. The pair from Star College High in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, were announced as the winners of the 20th National South African Youth Water Prize Competition (SAYWP). […]

Hollywood movie star and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proved what a good – and strong – guy he is with his cool and calm reaction to being unexpectedly drop-kicked in the back while he is in South Africa. The incident occurred on Saturday at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, where Arnold is […]

Starving, infected with various diseases and some eating their own faeces, over 25 horses have had to be put down after being in the ‘care’ of the South African Army Special Infantry Capability Unit at the SANDF’s Potchefstroom base last year. In addition to those 25, a further 22 horses rescued from the base also […]

A Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs apparently wasn’t happy with the list of cars that Treasury negotiated bulk discounts on. So he asked Treasury for permission to purchase a Volvo XC90D4, at a cost of R1,118,352 to the public purse. The reason for the request was “National Treasury Transversal Contract RT57-2016/2017 does […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa followed up his election pledge to tackle corruption by appointing a veteran lawyer to lead a newly formed anti-corruption unit, his office said on Friday. Ramaphosa has promised to root out corruption, cited by ratings agencies and investors as a major obstacle to economic reforms needed to turn […]

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has again embroiled herself in a racial twitter storm in the past 24 hours, with her hashtag #BlackPrivilege trending on South Africa’s Twitter feeds all day. According to some, her comments were incredibly racist… but in the view of others her comments were taken out of context and she had […]

Game farmer Johan Pieter Sonnenberg (62), was sentenced this week by a High Court in Virginia, South Africa, for the murders of three men – Michael Grant (20), Jerome Desmond Grant (28) and Riaan Ruiters (23). The deceased were reported missing to the Christiana South African Police Service (SAPS) in the North West back in […]

Farmworkers have been left traumatised following a brutal attack this week on a farmer and his wife near Bonnievale in the Western Cape, South Africa, which left the 55-year-old farmer dead. Tool Wessels and his wife Liezel were tortured at their farm Kapteinsdrif on Monday night by four men who escaped with weapons. One of […]

Grumpy Cat, an internet celebrity for her permanent frown, died “in the arms of her mommy, Tabatha” this week, leaving behind countless online jokes about how we all feel at our worst moments, her family said on Friday. She was 7. Despite care from top professionals, Grumpy died on Tuesday from complications after a recent […]

One of the world’s most iconic monuments – the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France – is celebrating is 130rd anniversary this week with a fabulous laser display. The Eiffel Tower was first opened to the public on 15 May 1889. If you’re living or holiday in Paris, the show is on for the last time […]

I was born in Salt River, South Africa, and then moved to Mitchell’s Plain – I am the youngest of four siblings and the only girl… writes Michelle Thomas, in response to the Stellenbosch University study (which has since been retracted) which claimed from its (limited!) research that coloured women have an increased risk of […]

The joy of conquering the world’s highest mountain has been marred by tragedy for South Africa’s Saray Khumalo, as two members of her Mount Everest climbing team have sadly died on the mountain in the past 24 hours. Saray, an executive at a top financial institution in Johannesburg, made it to the summit – 8,848 […]

A South African citizen has tragically died in a small plane crash in Dubai, along with three Britons. According to a statement from the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, the small plane crashed south of Dubai airport killing the pilot, co-pilot and two passengers. The accident which happened at around 19h30 local time caused the airport, […]

As has been discussed over the years, Formula One definitely wants to return to Africa… but it’s not only South Africa’s Kyalami circuit that’s keen to host the race. Commercial managing director Sean Bratches said on Thursday that Kyalami and the Moroccan city of Marrakesh have expressed interest in fan festivals on their territory. Rwanda […]

With King’s Landing in ruins, and Cersei Lannister no longer a threat, will Daenerys finally have a clear path to the Iron Throne? We’re not so sure… What’s happening in the preview of the finale? Warning: Here be spoilers. If you haven’t watched Game of Thrones Season 8 episode 5 on Showmax yet, now’s the […]

All votes cast by South Africans abroad on 27 April 2019 made it back to the IEC in South Africa on time to be counted towards SA’s national elections! Phew! This will come as good news to those South African expats who travelled hundreds, sometimes thousands, of kilometres to make sure they cast their vote. […]

There’s welcome news for South African expats in Poland and South African retailer SPAR Group Ltd announced on Wednesday that it is in the final stages of talks to buy a controlling stake in Polish retail chain Piotr i Pawel group. Spar is seeking to boost its European operations, said Reuters. “The SPAR group has […]

South Africa has made world history in Turkey, on Tuesday evening with South African entrants from pageants SA scooping the top titles at an awards ceremony in Bodrum. According to Pageants SA’s Carolyn Baldwin Botha, South Africa’s 2019 International winners include: Avonique Van Rooyen  who has been crowned Little Miss World 2019, as well as […]