Brand South Africa Blog

This article was orginally published at:
A World Cup of Hope, Not Fear

Oliver Holt, sports columnist for the UK’s Daily Mirror, returns to South Africa to look at preparations for the 2010 World Cup. Here’s his take in today’s paper. It’s a wonderful piece and needs to be read by anyone who is thinking of coming [...]

This article was orginally published at:
A tailor’s daughter from Wellington
Eleven o’clock was the most important time for me. The Boeing flew so high over our house that everyone had to be quiet (after I’ve made a racket calling them to come and see the aeroplane) just so that I could close my eyes, stretch [...]

This article was orginally published at:
Always a believer
Sarah-Jane Boden writes from Belgium:
I’m currently wading my way through a European autumn. After nearly two years of living here, I think if I wrote a get-rich-quick selfhelp book on how to live a fulfilled life, my three turnkey chapters would be sun, braaivleis and feeling alive. I [...]

This article was orginally published at:
Finding the extraordinary, and each other, in the ordinary
While diverse and rich with culture, South Africans rarely talk about it and we are more than likely to talk about the things other parts of the world are authorities in. When searching for topics to write to about here, a few [...]

This article was orginally published at:
Coming to the point
The Korea Times, South Korea’s best know English language newspaper carried this story from its Johannesburg correspondent in its November 1 editions. I must confess, I nearly gave up reading after the first three paragraphs. No news here, I reckoned. But I persevered.  Just as well. The writer [...]

This article was orginally published at:
Reaching for the Sky

If you’re still having trouble believing South Africa is alive with possibility, meet Fatima Jakoet, poet, MBA,  forensic scientist, pilot of 737’s. She stells her story here. You’ll probably want to stick around and read the rest of her blog, as well. And where you’re done there, [...]

This article was orginally published at:
Two impressions
Two takes on the new Mbombela Stadium being readied for the FIFA World Cup in Nelspruit. The bead version does it for me. You can almost hear the roar of the crowd.  Spotted in Washington in September as  part of the Mpumulanga Tourism and Parks Agency’s display at the [...]