It is with great sadness that we learned that South African actor Patrick Mynhardt passed away yesterday due to natural causes. Mynhardt was in London with his one-man autobiographical show Boy from Bethulie at the Jermyn Street Theatre in the West End

SA Times had the honour of meeting this wonderful theatre icon and helped promote his play in the UK. One of our journalists, Lamese Abrahams, was the last to ever have the opportunity to interview this great actor. Read her article here.

Please pay your tributes to Patrick by commenting on this article.

This letter from our inbox:

Dear Editor

En route back from Stade de France this weekend we were amazed to see that ‘The French Roadsign Department’ are really on the ball. We duly captured the moment and thought it might look good in print.

Thanks for your continuing wonderful news coverage.

Regards

Jonathan Beames and Richard McCarthy

So tonight is the big night and everyone is wondering who will who will be rubbing victory under the noses of their British and South African colleagues and friends at the office on Monday …

In his column for News24 Chris Roper gives 10 reasons why its better to be a Bok fan than a Pom fan:

10 reasons it’s better being a Bok fan than a Pom fan:

1. Bok fans aren’t surprised and grateful when their team wins matches, they’re surprised when their team loses.

2. Green and gold jerseys look cool on all kinds of South Africans, but white jerseys make England supporters look like the love children of unhealthy Zombies and dead fish.

3. We actually have 15 players in our team, rather than just Jonny Wilkinson and 14 old guys.

4. The South African sports media might be a self-serving, sycophantic bunch of freeloaders, but at least they aren’t staked out outside the team hotel hoping to get a picture of Monty’s wife tanning topless.

5. Our coach has got a chin (okay, more than one when he speaks Afrikaans).

6. The Boks’ traditional rivals actually come from different countries like New Zealand and Australia, as opposed to being English provinces, like Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

7. Fans of other teams hate the Boks because they’re hard bastards - they hate the English because they’re hypocrites who won’t admit they’re hard bastards.

8. Instead of wanky names like Jason, Jonny, Martin and Phil, our players have cool names like Os, Bakkies, Wikus, Akona, and, uh, Percy. (Dammit, trust Percy to ruin everything again).

9. Bok fans don’t mind being hated, because of all the practice we had during the apartheid years. English fans, on the other hand, can’t seem to understand why the rest of the world loathes them.

10. Win or lose on Saturday, Bok fans are flying back to a summer of hot babes and beaches. English fans are doomed to a winter of sleet and clogged M1.

11. (Everyone knows South Africans can’t count) Schalk Burger pushes the earth down when he does press ups. Martin Corry sticks his bum in the air.

Sasol is cashing in on Bok fever ahead of the World Cup final with a viral ad that is zoomig around the world.

Watch it and let the Pommies weep!

We’ve been real quiet here at SA Life as we’ve all been working hard on getting two of our publications to press:

The second issue of South Africa magazine is rolling off the press right now and will soon be in a Borders or WHSmith store near you. If you can’t wait, register at www.southafricamag.com where you can view the digital version of the magazine.

We’ve been overwhelmed by the response to the first issue - hearing from British and American tourists who shared their travel stories, to South Africans who gained new insight into their home country. The second issue is jam-packed with adventure, including an article on South Africa’s top 10 adrenaline adventures, a thrill-filled drive down the Garden Route and an in-depth look at wildlife filmmaking in South Africa.

The second publication is our annual Going Home Guide, which we have rebranded Smooth Landing South Africa. It will be of interest to anyone intending on relocating to South Africa - whether you are a South African taking the big decision to return home, or a foreigner investigating emigrating. Smooth Landing South Africa will be launched at the Homecoming Revolution expo to be held in London at Kensington Olympia on 13 and 14 October. If you’re investigating job opportunities in South Africa or interested in buying property there, don’t miss it!