It's hard giving up summer for an overseas holiday, so why torture yourself? We've come up with five of the world's best summer destinations.

Kiwis already booked to go to South Africa now have to travel to Wellington to get a visa first.

A 20-year visa-free travel arrangement between the two countries has now ended.

Kiwis will now need a visa to travel to South Africa, matching New Zealand moves earlier this year.

A man hit by a car in South Africa last week was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, and his body then placed in a refrigerator at a local mortuary.

Christine and Shaw Dods-Brooks will have to wait even longer to meet their grandchildren after a new visa requirement for South Africans

A 6-year-old boy is heartbroken and his family Christmas is in tatters after a visitor visa mix-up will prevent his grandparents flying to New Zealand.

Shocking footage has emerged showing the moment a circus trainer was mauled by a lion during a live show in Egypt, leaving him with fatal injuries.

Nearly a quarter of 10-year-olds say they are bullied on a weekly basis.

A South African rhino who was named Hope after she survived a 2015 attack by poachers who hacked off her horns and part of her face has died.

Damon Stapleton is one of the world's most awarded advertising creatives. The South African migrant now helms DDB New Zealand.

Here are 10 reasons why you need to head to South Africa.

A Hastings woman has been charged with causing the death of an 8-year-old boy after a crash into traffic queued at roadworks this year.

All Black Aaron Smith faces a tough road to shake the shame of his sex scandal.

COMMENT: Dying people should have the right to choose how and when they leave Mother Earth.

A South African man who kidnapped and indecently assaulted a 6-year-old girl in Auckland won't be deported when he finishes his prison sentence.

Just days after the unexplained deaths of American sisters Robin and Annie Korkki at their luxury Seychelles resort, two more tourists have died.

The Zulu king has denounced the current leaders of South Africa.

Professional cyclist Keagan Girdlestone came close to death in a crash in Italy. He has made enough progress to return to Christchurch to continue rehabilitation.

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, has suffered its worst electoral defeat since the end of apartheid.

The Lion Man is facing a raft of cruelty allegations after being accused of separating a baby giraffe from its mother just hours after it was born.

The questions on this application form are heartbreaking ones no one should have to answer. But for many people it's a fact of life.

Can the industry win over a generation of "millennials" with very different demands and expectations?

The family of Reeva Steenkamp say they will not launch an appeal over her killer's six-year jail sentence insisting 'nothing will bring her back'.

Disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to six years in prison for murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

The revered South African leader's voice is being used by the main opposition party for campaign advertising.

Oscar Pistorius has said Reeva Steenkamp would not want him to go back to prison for her murder.

The mental state of Oscar Pistorius is "too severe" and he should be sent to hospital rather than prison, a court has been told.

If you've ever dreamed of a safari holiday but baulked at the price, here's your chance to experience one from afar.

Talk about a bull in a china shop - but this time, it's a buffalo in a bar.