March’s food basket is a mixture of price fluctuations, leaving many households in Buffalo City still struggling to make ends meet — particularly when balancing the rising cost of food with expenses such as transport and electricity. According to the Household Affordability Index, compiled by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group, food price data from across SA showed the cost of the average household food basket for March was R5,329.

Musicians Jacques du Plessis and Anthony Drake are layering different sounds from SA and the UK into a melodic treat this April. South African pianist Du Plessis, 37, and British clarinettist Drake, 49, will perform The Clarinet Across Continents: British and South African Works Unite, at the Guild Theatre on  April 15.

“Daddy misses you Bear.” Grant Cotterell's kidnappers, who continue to hold his dog hostage, said in a video.

The second Sm(art) City Festival returns at the end of March, and its headlining concert by jazz legend Mandisi Dyantyis is already sold out.  Launched in 2024 to mark the designation of Buffalo City metro as a Unesco creative city, the festival has quickly grown into a gathering for artists, authors and audiences who value the intersection of arts, literature and culture.

  Sonwabiso Mayedwa, 33, from Qonce, has been surrounded by powerful women her whole life, and surprisingly — a lot of the letter S.  Of her three siblings, her own children, her nieces and nephews, all have names that start with the letter.  And her husband’s too.  The semifinalist for Mrs SA 2025, the first-ever pageant she has entered, is the only contestant that still lives in the Eastern Cape.

Nonprofit organisation Beyond Zero expects to register 4,600 clients for its ePharmacy services, providing free, accessible and discreet HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery to SA homes. Its Beyond PrEP telemedicine service is available to anyone over 15 years of age in the Free State, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, prioritising the removal of barriers such as distance, time constraints and stigma.

“Are you married?”  This question is the cornerstone to the Mrs SA pageant, and was the first question East London semifinalist Celeste Meintjes Frans was asked.  This makes sense to Meintjes Frans, 39, from Buffalo Flats, whose childhood home at 101 Greenpoint Road was an unofficial community kitchen run by her parents.

February’s food basket shows a mix of price drops and steady costs, with staples such as maize meal and rice holding firm, leaving many Buffalo City households still feeling the pinch — especially when balancing their food budget against other expenses such as transport.  According to the Household Affordability Index, compiled by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group, food price data from across SA showed the cost of the average household food basket for February was R5,313.

  Grade 3 pupils looking at the 100 artworks from 71 Eastern Cape creatives in Gqeberha said the exhibition was giving “Mgidi vibes”. This is how Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum director  Emma O’Brien described the deep impact of the eighth Lithuba Lakho Competition and Exhibition at the museum, which opened on Friday February 20.

Scientists have discovered an “abundant” amount of potentially disease-causing yeasts in the digestive tracts of brown locust samples collected from swarms near Middelburg in 2022, the largest outbreak ever recorded in the region.  A new study by researchers from the University of the Free State (UFS), the National Health Laboratory Service, and the University of Venda has confirmed for the first time that common brown locusts are carriers of pathogenic yeasts that can cause severe infections...