Optimism

Every year from late September to November some of the trees in Johannesburg and Pretoria turn a vivid lavender. That’s when we bid farewell to winter and celebrate the spring, and Jacaranda season. Jacaranda season is the best time of…

A group of seven peace activists from various countries including South Africa, India and Japan have embarked on a peace walk across South Africa in celebration of two late icons, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi. The group, whose…

Books are expensive. There is no denying that most books sold at mainstream book stores or online are astronomically expensive. People just can’t afford to spend over R300 at minimum for a single book. Yet, the importance of reading and…

Too fat, too skinny, too dark, too light, too short, too tall: everyone has insecurities about themselves that they carry from their childhood. The Dove Self-Esteem Project (DSEP) wants to change that by helping  young people, especially…

Born and bred in Cape Town, Qarnita Loxton started writing as a way of keeping herself busy. Being a shy child, she had always written as a way of expressing herself without having to speak. Now with a second book in her repertoire, Loxton…

October 1 marks International Coffee Day. It’s the day where caffeine lovers around the world can proudly celebrate their love of the popular drink. Did you know there’s a quote that says "Turkish coffee should be black as hell, strong…

Who are we? Conceptualisations of home, identity and wholeness are pertinent questions. Identity can refer to who we are, where we come from, who we belong to or what we belong to. We find ourselves in our families, our cultures, the…

There’s a lot of things Clinton Chauke would describe himself as: social critic, fierce debater, Pan-Africanist. But despite being born in 1994, one label he flatly rejects is that of ‘born free’. Chauke is also the author of Born In…

In the end, it was the bloody yellow cards that did in the Lions of Teranga. For the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, the tie-breaker for knockout round qualifying came down to the disciplinary records of two otherwise…

After 16 years working as a security guard for various companies, Nkosingiphile Kwela from Floweni, south Durban, graduated with a degree in teaching at the University of South Africa (Unisa) on Thursday, aged 40. The delighted man who says…

The South African EXO fandom known as EXO-Ls showed their love for the K-pop group on its sixth year anniversary by embodying the groups charitable endeavours. On Sunday April 8, 28 South African EXO-Ls gathered at the Platbos Forest in…

The queen and saviour of the music industry, Beyoncé Knowles Carter, and her husband, rapper Jay Z, have announced a part two of their high-grossing, wallet-snatching On The Run Tour. Why should the rest of us care? Well, we are…

A KwaMashu matric pupil, Golgirl Phakathi, 17, is departing to New York City to represent South Africa in a United Nations’ Commision on the Status of Women which is set to commence on March 12. The commision is the principal global…

All hail King T’Challa of Wakanda! The much anticipated Disney-Marvel film Black Panther premiered in cinemas worldwide on 16 February and is already breaking box office records. Black Panther raked in over $200 million over this past…

Zayn Malik has always been our fav brown boy in a band. But he broke Directioners' hearts in March 2015 when he announced that he would be leaving the band. It was worse for South African Directioners because it meant that Zayn would not…

On Wednesday night, Nike unveiled the 2018 World Cup kits for the England and Nigerian team, joining the nineteen out of the 32 teams set to be taking part in the World Cup happening later this year in Russia that have revealed their kits.…

The 2018 Winter Olympics Games will be taking place from the 9th till the 25th of February in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where temperatures are set to drop to -11 degrees celsius in the first weekend. However, the slopes and rinks of South…

During an interview at the US premiere of Black Panther, the legendary South African actor John Kani - who plays King T’Challa in Marvel’s latest blockbuster - dropped some serious bars on what Black Panther means for Africa. We’ve…

Mpho Gift Ngoepe made history by being the first black South African to play in the Major League Baseball (MLB). He recently moved from his debut team, the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Toronto Blue Jays. Ngoepe isn’t just making history in…

Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga are three names you need to know as of right now. They are the three members of the Bobsled & Skeleton Sports Federation of Nigeria who made history by becoming the first team from the…