South of Africa, the Agulhas Current retroflects and a portion of its waters flows into the South Atlantic Ocean, typically in the form of Agulhas rings. This flux of warm and salty water from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean (the Agulhas leakage) is now recognized as a key element in global climate. An Agulhas leakage shutdown has been associated with extreme glacial periods, whereas a vigorous increase has preceded shifts towards interglacials. In the absence of a coherent observing system, studies of the Agulhas have relied heavily on ocean models, which have revealed a possible recent increase in Agulhas leakage. However, owing to the high levels of oceanic turbulence, model solutions of the region are highly sensitive to their numerical choices, stressing the need for observations to confirm these important model results. Here, using satellite altimetry observations from 1993 to 2009, we show that the mesoscale variability of the Agulhas system, in particular in the Mozambique Channel and south of Madagascar, has intensified.