Little Joe, who had adored his ‘outgoing’ father Ira, had been withdrawn and sulky since the accident, venturing out of his room only at mealtimes. With the funeral behind them and his parents’ mutual friends having long since returned to their busy lives, Joe and his mother Mary were left pretty much on their own now.  […]

Between finishing filming and editing what promises to be the definitive film on the rhino poaching crisis in South Africa, the award winning STROOP filmmakers, Bonné de Bod and Susan Scott have announced their 2017 STROOP calendar.  SAPeople sat down with STROOP’s director to find out more about the calendar and of course when the […]

South African tourists, Peter and Michelle Roos, captured these poignant photos and the mood of a cemetery in Italy that became the last resting place for so many young South African soldiers… Michelle says that in the “midst of hedonistic pleasures” in Italy, the graves provided “a somber dose of other things that happened in […]

International football star – and Unicef Goodwill Ambassador – David Beckham’s visit to Swaziland this week has raised much needed awareness about the drought plaguing this part of Africa… a devastating drought of which most people are oblivious. Last night one SAPeople follower sent in a desperate appeal for help for her father, saying “does anyone know […]

South Africans abroad often ask how they can contribute to nation-building, and to improve the education system back in South Africa. Here’s how… The Global Diaspora Mentorship Movement, spearheaded by national NPC Khulisa Social Solutions in SA, will be launched in the UK, between the 13-23 June 2016, a series of events to promote the […]

My dear children, it is with some regret that I must announce that despite the growing phenomena of parents addressing letters of praise directly to their kids on Facebook, extolling, inter alia, their brains, their beauty and the munificence of their physical and mental attributes, I’ve reluctantly decided to stick with the somewhat dated practice […]

Bhutan has The Gross National Happiness Commission, India the Ministry of Yoga, Myanmar/Burma the State Law and Order Restoration Council and North Korea the (of course) Propaganda and Agitation Department. So when it comes to government institutions, how does South Africa fare in the name game? To start with, South Africa has one of the most overweight […]

Does anyone know anyone who works at uShaka Marine World and could help make a dream come true for a group of orphaned and vulnerable kids from Gauteng? The children and the staff, from Winnie Mabaso Foundation, are “mega excited” to be heading to Durban in March for the first time in their lives, thanks to […]

In support of World Cancer Day on 4 February, and the international awareness campaign it promotes, the Proteas will play a Pink One Day International on 12 February that Cricket South Africa hopes will raise R1 million. This will be the the third time the Proteas have donned pink for the cause. According to CSA, previous events have raised almost R500,000 for […]

As Prince Harry begins an official week-long visit to Lesotho and South Africa today, Kensington Palace has released a touching letter from a young orphan who first met the prince 10 years ago, and says he still dreams of that day and the things they did together like planting peach trees. Today the prince will attend […]

This weekend two dedicated British mothers arrived in South Africa to complete their 5,795 Challenge to raise funds for orphaned children in Joburg. Since January, Jenny Chapman and Helen Thornhill (along with a friend), have run the equivalent air mile distance from Manchester to Johannesburg to raise funds for the Winnie Mabaso Foundation – a UK charity supporting […]

Today we were meant to be celebrating Jenna Lowe’s 21st in spectacular fashion…but sadly the young Capetonian never reached this milestone, as her #GetMeTo21 campaign so optimistically  implored. But with Jenna’s courageous quest to raise awareness about organ donation, she has made a tremendous difference to South Africans and will live on in our memories […]

Just two days ago it started as a campaign to get 12 likes on Facebook against a popular series of ads by Telkom, but already it has got a whole lot more than a dozen. The one-man (or is it the one-band?) campaign is against the well-known adverts that some see as cute, others as […]

Early on Thursday morning, Michaela ‘Chaeli’ Mycroft became the first female quadriplegic to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, according to organizers. Chaeli, who has just turned 21 and comes from Cape Town, has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair-bound. She is an ability activist, international award winner and co-founder of The Chaeli Campaign, a non-profit organisation that […]

The Welkom branch of the SPCA is on the verge of closure as they are heavily in debt. Chairman Maria de Wet was appointed in March. She told eNCA.online that the previous managers had “stolen money”. “They have been prosecuted, but the branch’s debts still remain,” De Wet said. She said the branch owes the […]

An 18-year-old South African teen – who’s been living on the streets since he was eight – is making headlines around the world thanks to his enthusiasm for skateboarding rather than feeling sorry for himself or doing drugs. Peter Leguma’s story was first shared by the Ginkgo Agency, raising awareness for Skate Aid, a project […]

So one day when I was a journalist at Scope, I realise that due to various family commitments and unforeseen bills I need to generate some extra cash. I would take a few days’ leave and head off somewhere with photographer Les Bush and we would find some stories and sell them off to various […]

Travel tips seem to be a dime a dozen these days and most people probably know it all when it comes to booking and organising their next holiday, or at least think they do. But what about travelling when you are migrating? Suddenly it’s a whole new ball game as you aren’t just thinking about […]

It was confirmed today that legendary singer and songwriter Rodriguez will be returning to South Africa early next year. This time he will be performing in Johannesburg and Cape Town again, as well as in Durban and Port Elizabeth. His last tour to the country was sold out within minutes of bookings being opened…so if you’re keen for […]

It was May, 1976…and as a lowly young reporter for the Pretoria News, I discovered that Siberia comes in many forms. Because I had disgraced myself and gotten a TV review horribly wrong, I was assigned a new position in life: Magistrates Court reporter. The position was seen as the grubby, greasy little bottom rung in the […]

Starfish Greathearts Foundation, a charity working with children in South Africa orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS, are holding an inspirational evening of jazz and classical music alongside traditional songs from South Africa this evening. The event – ‘Hope and Harmony’ – promises a wonderful line up of musicians, including: Queen of Afro-Jazz Pinise […]

Groot Marico, 1979 – It’s a lovely Saturday out here in the Bushveld…I’m sitting under a fever tree on a farm in the Western Transvaal (now Northwest Province) talking to a Marico family and drinking their mampoer very slowly and, if I may say so, quite thoughtfully. It’s all so very Herman Charles. [The late […]

Hillbrow, Jo’burg’s inner city Tenderloin district, was never a nest of angels… In the late 1970s and 80s, it was the most cosmopolitan piece of real estate in South Africa. You had your excellent Hillbrow Records, your Mi-Vami shawarma place, Estoril Books, your globe-trotting tattoo artist down in the basement shopping area on Pretoria Street […]

A poem by Faieza Mx, now living in Queensland, Australia… I want to wake up to the Majestic Table Mountain Always standing, Always there, Never failing Its beauty astounding As it watches over Cape Town The ocean so blue… Camps Bay, Strand, Boulders Sea Point I want to go home to gaardtjies shouting ‘hullo, hullo, […]

For everyone in the Southern Hemisphere who has had enough of having to sing about a White Christmas, here’s Jingle Bells South African style. See video below. The video was uploaded a couple of years ago by TheNixter (the same YouTuber who uploaded this season’s popular ‘12 Days of Christmas SA Style‘). The lyrics are […]