GroundUp’s favourite photos of 2025 show South Africa as it really is… battered in places, brilliant in others and always worth fighting for.
South Africa (29 December 2025) – South Africa’s story is not a single narrative; it is thousands of moments happening at once. GroundUp’s favourite photos from 2025 reveal those moments with honesty and empathy.
GroundUp, a South African non-profit news agency, publishes human-rights-focused, public-interest journalism. Their stories are free to read and republish, and Good Things Guy is one of the platforms that proudly syndicates their work (with permission), bringing their reporting and photography to our audience. It is journalism driven by…
Official Languages: South Africa has 11 official languages, including Zulu, Xhosa,
Afrikaans, English, and Sesotho.

Married Man
Fun South African Fact: It’s believed that Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain is one of the oldest mountains in the world. Table mountain is approximately 260 million years old; it’s also home to thousands of species of plant life, including species unique to the Cape Floral Region. The glorious mountain is one of the world’s 7 New Natural Wonders. It is also apparently one of 12 main energy centres on the planet emitting spiritual, magnetic, and electric energies. It’s an idyllic and very popular hiking destination with hundreds of routes to explore.
Speedwell
Jislaaik – an expression of surprise [yis-liike] This is usually said when trying to express surprise or wonder.Example: “Jislaaik, you gave me a fright!”