Mvula

South London doesn’t usually wake up thinking about Chris Brown, but today the rhythms of the city shifted a little. Southwark Crown Court’s steps were lined not just with press but with fans, some of them holding up phones, others holding quiet hope that their favourite singer might glance their way. Chris Brown, two-time Grammy winner, global hitmaker, had arrived to face yet another round of serious legal questions, this time connected to an alleged nightclub assault. It wasn’t the usual loud tabloid circus. The energy felt more muted, maybe because this story has played out before, in different courts, in different countries. But for many in the UK, this…

In Mathibestad, a small town in the North West province of South Africa, something extraordinary unfolded this past weekend. The air was thick with nostalgia and love, the kind that only accumulates after a lifetime well-lived. Family, friends, and fans gathered not just to mark a single milestone, but to honor a man whose life has been a tapestry of music, marriage, and enduring impact. David “Mainline” Ngobeni, a jazz virtuoso and community stalwart, turned 70 this year. That, on its own, would be reason enough to celebrate. But the festivities held on July 6 carried even more significance, this year also marked his 40th wedding anniversary and his 40th…

There’s a photo somewhere on an old phone, cracked screen, SIM long gone, of a birthday cake lit by candlelight during loadshedding. It was never posted, never liked. Just a flickering moment trapped in pixels, buried beneath a gallery of screenshots and forgotten memes. In a world obsessed with the visible, that forgotten image might be one of the most honest things we leave behind. We talk about digital footprints like they’re permanent. But maybe it’s time to talk about digital heirlooms, the soft, human scraps of ourselves left behind in ones and zeroes. Scroll far enough through anyone’s timeline and you’ll see more than selfies and celebrations. You’ll see…

Walk into any South African supermarket, and you’ll see the queue at the Lotto counter. Scroll through your phone, and you’ll find a dozen online casinos promising you a shot at instant riches. The language is always the same: “Your chance to win big!” “Life-changing jackpots!” “It could be you!” But here’s the thing—most South Africans don’t actually know the difference between buying a Lotto ticket and placing a bet on the Springboks, spinning the reels on Gold Rush casino online, or playing blackjack at Sun City. The lines are blurred, and the industry likes it that way. But if you’re putting your hard-earned rands on the line, you deserve…

In the quiet hours when most of South Africa sleeps, a different kind of city comes to life. The highways thin out, the shops close their shutters, and the streets grow still. But behind petrol station counters, inside bakery kitchens, at factory gates and hospital corridors, there’s movement. It’s the hum of the night shift, the invisible engine that keeps the country running while the rest of it dreams. For many, night shift work isn’t a choice. It’s necessity. The extra pay might help cover school fees, or it might simply be the only available shift. But beyond the economic reasons, there’s a strange, quiet rhythm that pulls people into…

For many South Africans and cinema-goers around the world, the first introduction to Presley Chweneyagae came in the form of a quiet, intense performance that needed no bravado to leave its mark. As the lead character in Tsotsi, South Africa’s first film to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Chweneyagae brought an incredible depth to a troubled young man navigating the fractured streets of Johannesburg. His portrayal of a hardened gangster softened by an unexpected moral awakening resonated across cultural and geographic lines. The performance was so raw and so intimate that it elevated the film to international acclaim and marked the arrival of a new talent…

Across the rolling plains, dry veld and scattered villages of South Africa’s rural provinces, women hold families and communities together with quiet strength. They nurture children, tend livestock, manage small farms, and navigate complex social and economic pressures, all too often with little support. Their emotional resilience is formidable, but not limitless. Depression, anxiety, and trauma are widespread, yet the mental health services required to address these challenges are practically non-existent in the places where they are needed most. Recognising this dire gap, the Mvula Trust, in partnership with several grassroots health organisations, has launched a groundbreaking initiative,  a mental-health hotline designed specifically for rural women. The Rural Women’s Mental-Health…

In South Africa, as in many parts of the world, there are stories that quietly circle through hospital corridors, taxi ranks, and family WhatsApp groups. Stories of people who were declared dead, officially, clinically, with paperwork in hand, only to return. It isn’t the stuff of Hollywood scripts. It doesn’t come with lightning bolts or mystic explanations. But it happens often enough, quietly enough, that it forms part of a shared national folklore. Doctors call it Lazarus syndrome. Morgue attendants call it something else, sometimes with a shrug, sometimes with quiet respect. The basic rhythm is the same,  someone stops breathing, their pulse disappears, efforts to revive them fail, and…

It’s a crisp evening in Cape Town, and more than a million viewers around the world are chuckling along to a story that feels intimately South African. Meet the Khumalos, Netflix’s latest local comedy, dropped on April 11 and rapidly climbed into must-watch territory. On screen, Grace Khumalo, played with zesty flair by Khanyi Mbau, welcomes a high school rival next door. What ensues is a perfect storm of suburban style wars, teenage heartaches, family drama and generous doses of humour, a show that reflects South African life with warmth, sass and just the right amount of spit. For directors like Jayan Moodley, who brought us the original Meet the Kandasamys…

When an 88-year-old Ndebele artist collaborates with one of the world’s leading car manufacturers on a colour-changing electric vehicle, you know the rules of luxury are being rewritten. And when that artist is none other than Dr. Esther Mahlangu, South Africa’s most iconic living painter, the fusion isn’t just stylish, it’s seismic. Earlier this year, BMW unveiled its new i5 Flow “Nostokana”, a futuristic electric car wrapped in programmable e‑ink panels that pulse with colour and pattern. But the real star of this show wasn’t the battery tech or German precision engineering. It was the unmistakable hand of Mahlangu: bold lines, geometric symmetry, and the vibrant palette of Ndebele heritage.…