prisoners

The Maritzburg Gaol - which once held leaders such as Nelson Mandela, King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo and Harry Gwala - is being converted into a world-class museum. Built in 1862, its oldest cellblock is a national monument and one of the oldest buildings in Pietermartizburg, the capital of KwaZulu-Natal.

The Maritzburg Gaol - which once held leaders such as Nelson Mandela, King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo and Harry Gwala - is being converted into a world-class museum. Built in 1862, its oldest cellblock is a national monument and one of the oldest buildings in Pietermartizburg, the capital of KwaZulu-Natal.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation has released a rare photograph of Nelson Mandela to mark the 50th anniversary of his famous Rivonia Trial speech, in which he declared that he was prepared to die for a free South Africa.

The next season of the award-winning American television series, Homeland, will be filmed in a city that is no stranger to awards itself. Shooting will run in Cape Town from mid-June to November. It is the latest in a long list of productions turning to the Mother City.

In an invitation to all South Africans, government communications head Phumla Williams encourages citizens to celebrate 20 years of democracy by sharing their stories about how our lives have changed for the better. "Change is evident wherever we look," she says.

In an invitation to all South Africans, government communications head Phumla Williams encourages citizens to celebrate 20 years of democracy by sharing their stories about how our lives have changed for the better. "Change is evident wherever we look," she says.

After more than three years of fighting extradition to South Africa, murder accused Shrien Dewani may finally arrive in the country to be tried by a judicial system already proving robust and competent as the world watches the Oscar Pistorius trial.

On 7 May 2014 South Africans will vote in the country's fifth national democratic elections, 20 years after the end of apartheid in 1994. We bring you a brief guide to the 152 parties voters can choose from – the established, the newcomers, and the outliers.

In delivering the third Mandela Colloquium lecture, his old friend Ahmed Kathrada spoke with great affection, always recounting his memories of their years together in the present tense, as if Mandela was still present in his life. They met when Kathrada was a teenager, and he was inspired by the former leader's strength, courage and deep sense of equality.

Sitting astride a ridge on the northern edge of Joburg's inner city, Constitution Hill is a symbol of how far South Africa has come. Once a notorious prison filled with anti-apartheid activists, it is now the seat of the highest court in the land, where freedom, democracy and justice are defended.