Five feel-good moments in Mzansi

Though some people complain that 2018 was not the year they hoped it would be, things haven't been all doom and gloom.

These are just five times South Africans had a reason to smile this year.

Global Citizen Festival 

Despite the crime spree that followed the event, those who attended and watched the Global Citizen Festival agreed it was a music extravaganza they would never forget.

Local artists gave world-class performances alongside international acts like Usher, Pharrell Williams and the Carters, Jay-Z and Beyoncé. 

Cassper Nyovest and Sho Madjozi set the stage alight with their electrifying presentations.

Fans were treated to a string of hosts, such as Trevor Noah, Tyler Perry, Naomi Campbell and Mzansi's Nomzamo Mbatha.

Sjava wins BET award

Music has really been a much-needed crutch for South Africa as the country navigated its way through political scandals, crimes against women and children, and basically everything becoming more expensive.

But all that was forgotten for a while when Sjava won Best International Act at the BET awards in Los Angeles in June. 

The KwaZulu-Natal musician had an exciting year and even featured on the soundtrack of the movie Black Panther.

The cherry on top for Sjava fans was that his acceptance speech at the BETs was delivered in Zulu.

Banyana Banyana qualifies for World Cup

For years, the women's soccer team has played passionate football despite limited resources, and the whole country celebrated with them when their hard work finally paid off in November.

Banyana Banyana beat Mali to qualify for their first appearance at the Fifa Women's World Cup. 

The international tournament will be hosted by France in June 2019.

Siya Kolisi

The rugby player gave South Africans a feel-good moment to remember when he became the first black player to captain the national team. 

Twitter immediately came alive when the announcement was made, with many people hoping that the move would be a step in the right direction for transformation in the sport.

Petrol price drop

February was a dark time for the country as former finance minister Malusi Gigaba ushered in the value added tax increase which saw the price of almost everything go up. 

Top that increase with petrol price hikes throughout the year ... South Africans deserved a break. 

And that break came in the first week of December when petrol dropped by R1.84 per litre, giving motorists and users of public transport huge relief ahead of the Christmas holidays.