Through the lens: The Citizen’s Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
We bring you a visual snapshot of the day’s news events, featuring a couple standing amid the rubble of their collapsed home after a devastating earthquake in Colombia, a family enjoying an unexpected snowfall near Pietermaritzburg, and residents surveying the damage after a fire destroyed more than 500 homes at the Jika Joe informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg. These are some of the compelling images from around the world.
(For best view, click on image for fullscreen)
A family gathers to play in snow on Nottingham Road near Pietermaritzburg on August 10, 2026. Parts of the South African province hit with late snow, just ahead of the southern hemisphere spring. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)
A couple stands amid the rubble of a collapsed house after an earthquake in Pereira, Colombia on August 11, 2026. Colombian volunteers and rescuers cleared rubble with their bare hands to search for survivors early on August 11 after the country’s strongest earthquake in a decade killed at least 169 people and smashed dozens of buildings. (Photo by Jaime SALDARRIAGA / AFP)
Photographs by nine Johannesburg-based photographers are featured in the “What We Don’t See” exhibition, which opened at WAM (Wits Art Museum) on 5 August 2026. The exhibition honours the overlooked and unseen and commemorates the late photographer David Goldblatt in what would have been his 95th year. The participating photographers are Gulshan Khan, Jabulani Dhlamini, Jo Ractliffe, Jodi Bieber, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, Madoda Mkhobeni, Mark Lewis, Sabelo Mlangeni and Tshepiso Mazibuko. Picture: Jessica Nkuna
A person walks past the Grand Central Terminal six-story arched Palladian windows on the east of the Main Concourse, in New York, on August 10, 2026. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)
Participants during the SASHA march at City Council of Johannesburg on August 11, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The South African Spiritual Healers’ Association (SASHA) is calling for recognition, meaningful engagement, lawful regulation, protection of indigenous knowledge, protection of cultural heritage and meaningful economic participation within Joburg’s indigenous healing and medicine sector. (Photo by Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo)
Sowetans brave the cold and rain at Bara Taxi Rank in Johannesburg on 11 August 2026. Johannesburg experienced cold, wet weather, with temperatures around 4°C and light rain, as severe cold fronts and disruptive weather warnings remained active across parts of the country. Picture: Nigel Sibanda / The Citizen
A woman walks past structures damaged by a fire that destroyed more than 500 dwellings at the Jika Joe informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, August 11, 2026. The fire broke out on August 9, displacing more than 600 people during a severe cold front that brought freezing temperatures and disruptive snowfall to parts of the province. Survivors were left stranded without shelter, food or blankets and dependent on non-governmental organisations for assistance. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)
Two women pose for a photo as they visit a sunflower field at Kasai Rinkai Park in Tokyo on August 11, 2026. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
Soweto residents use umbrellas for protection from the cold front at Bara Taxi Rank in Soweto on 11 August 2026. Picture: Jessica Nkuna
A woman carring her cat evacuates after an earthquake in Bogota on August 10, 2026. A strong earthquake struck Colombia on August 10 and was strongly felt in major cities such as Bogota and Cali, and even in Quito and Panama, according to the Colombian Geological Service and as confirmed by AFP reporters. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
Naledi resident Tumelo Seshabela walks past a mural of Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi along Lekgwale Street in Soweto on 10 August 2026. Johannesburg has a vibrant street art scene, with large murals across the inner city and townships. Picture: Nigel Sibanda / The Citizen
Workers on a plastic boat collect rubbish washed up on a river at the height of heavy rains enhanced by the Southwest monsoon days before, near a shopping complex in Paranaque City, suburban Manila on August 11, 2026. Floods, landslides and accidents driven by a nine-day downpour equivalent to more than a month’s worth of rain in some areas have killed at least 16 people in the northern Philippines, rescuers said on August 10. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
Ekurhuleni Mobile Clinic driver Thabo Ndlovu demonstrates how the mobile clinic works after Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness Faith Mazibuko officially unveiled additional mobile clinics at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto on 11 August 2026. The new units form part of efforts to strengthen the Gauteng Department of Health’s fleet of mobile healthcare units. Picture: Nigel Sibanda / The Citizen
Homeless people endure the cold front on August 11, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The impacts of the cold front are being felt across parts of the country, with Gauteng experiencing rain falling across the city and temperatures struggling to climb above freezing. The weather service issued an Orange Level 6 warning for disruptive snowfall. (Photo by Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo)
South African Police Service (SAPS) officers walk on outside a mine shaft in Nkaneng near Marikana on August 11, 2026, where 14 illegal miners were found dead as rescue operations are underway. A rockfall at an illegal mine northwest of Johannesburg killed 14 miners, most of them from Lesotho, with several hurt and others possibly still stuck underground, police said Tuesday.
Thousands of unregistered miners known as “zama zamas” operate in South Africa, scavenging abandoned mines for gold and other minerals in arduous and often perilous conditions (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)
City of Johannesburg cleaners during the citywide recovery clean-up on August 11, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The City of Johannesburg continues its citywide recovery clean-up programme in Region F, with teams working across key areas to tackle illegal dumping and restore cleaner public spaces. (Photo by Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images)
An aerial view shows yellow and brown dried trees near Luenen, western Germany, on August 10, 2026, following soaring summer temperatures and low rainfall. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP)
Soweto residents warm themselves next to a chisa nyama during the cold front at Bara Taxi Rank in Soweto on 11 August 2026. Picture: Lerato Thooe
South Korean-made Kia Picanto cars are seen awaiting shipment at a vehicle storage yard in Yantai, in eastern China’s Shandong province, on August 10, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)