‘Without the arts we run the risk of becoming a nation of housing and taps.’
—Thabo Mbeki, past South African president
ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL WAYS of getting to know a country quickly and learning the quirks and foibles of its culture is to immerse yourself in its leisure time activities: outdoor activities, formal sport, informal gym and leisure centre activities, theatre, music, fine art, anything and everything that takes your interest. In this way, you will soon meet a host of people from a very varied sector of the community, and often they are people you may not come into contact with in your home or work environment. Fortunately, most South Africans are easy going, sociable and chatty, so whether you are at the gym, at an art exhibition opening, or having a drink at an interval at the theatre, it is very easy to just strike up a conversation. Friendships so often grow from the most unlikely of meetings!
South Africans love being outdoors. Whether it is socialising, relaxing, watching or playing a game—if they are out-of-doors under the sunny blue skies, they tend to be happy.
Weekends are a particularly special time for outdoor living, which is why so many South Africans are reluctant to work on Saturdays. This is not good for the work ethic nor the country’s productivity, but certainly good for the soul, or so they feel. What people do depends a lot on the city they live in.
In Johannesburg, especially in the more affluent areas, a great deal of entertaining is done at home, in the garden. Otherwise, a Sunday drive out into the Magaliesberg mountains north-west of the city, or a picnic at one of the parks, or the zoo, is quite common.
South Africa’s long west coast beaches, often deserted, are ideal to get away from it all, but beware the icy water!
In Durban, with its mellow climate, even in the winter people flock to the beach to soak up the sun and enjoy the sea. For a longer outing, a drive to the southern end of the Drakensberg mountains takes not much more than an hour.
Cape Town also has a beach culture, especially during the summer months. In winter, the sea is far too cold to swim in and so beaches are best for long walks. An added bonus for the outdoor enthusiasts is Table Mountain, which offers some of the most beautiful, if sometimes strenuous, hikes. It is also possible to walk a short distance up one of its slopes and then settle down with a bottle of wine as you watch the sun set over the sea. A drive around the peninsula is a firm favourite, as is a wine-tasting trip into the hinterland.
On weekend nights, the city centres tend not to be the bustling metropolises they are during the workday week as South Africans generally live in the suburbs. Part of the reason is that many of us prefer living in houses with gardens, and partly it is because there has been very little residential space in city centres. Durban has tried to integrate its lively after-hours life into its city centre and to some extent it has succeeded. And now, especially in downtown Johannesburg and Cape Town’s inner city bowl, big old office blocks are being converted into luxury apartments and attracting a young and hip clientele.
Leisure-time dress code is fairly casual, but it’s as well to know just how casual to be. For starters, there are still a few places, mostly elegant bars and some restaurants, that may deny you entry if you are wearing jeans—no matter how prominent the designer label is! To be truthful, I recently tested this rule in a top hotel bar that had a well displayed sign saying: ‘No Jeans Allowed’. Donned with a smart silk shirt, formal jacket and a pair of designer blue jeans, accented with a touch of jewellery, I marched right in. Not a word was said. Knowing the management well, I later asked why the sign was up if I had been admitted. The answer was obvious: being a top-rate hotel, they insist on a degree of formality in their formal bar. If dressed in a T-shirt paired with jeans or shorts, I would have been asked politely to use the casual pubs that are aplenty in the seaside resort.
For casual outdoor functions, and especially sports matches, jeans or shorts with T-shirts, sweatshirts or open-neck shirts are perfectly alright for both sexes. Sundresses and skirts, too, are ideal for women in the hot summer months. South Africans are quite accustomed to women baring their arms and backs, so sleeveless tops and dresses or halter-neck tops are just fine, even in a more formal situation, except in the more conservative churches. Men, on the other hand, may need to wear a jacket for more formal functions. Of course style has changed dramatically with independence, and African style collar-less shirts (like those ex-President Nelson Mandela always wears) are seen as suitable for almost any occasion. Many formal invitations which used to stipulate ‘black tie’ now add ‘or traditional’ which encompasses the many forms of formal dress worn across our rainbow nation. It makes for much more interesting dress too! And, like much of the rest of the world, formal dress has eased into a far less restrictive style.
In summer, most people wear sandals or sneakers to any very casual event. Going barefoot in your own home or in a friends’, if they suggest it, is fine too; but in public places, it is not often done. Of course if you are being entertained around a pool, then bare feet is the norm. Mostly children can get away with bending any of these norms.
Generally, Johannesburg is a tad more formal in its casualness. In Durban, a much more laid-back seaside city, an ensemble of flip-flops (rubber thong sandals), shorts and a T-shirt is quite often the dress of the holidaymakers. Cape Town is a strange mixture of the two. More formal and proper in manner, it also has a great beachwear culture. However, in the city centre, people are more formally dressed.
Remember that in South Africa the sun shines almost every day of the year. Sounds great in theory, but it takes its toll on your skin. The fairer your skin and the less accustomed you are to harsh sunshine, the greater the toll. So be wary and make use of the umpteen different sunscreens and suntan lotions available on the market. They are worth every cent you spend as the incidence of skin cancer here is very high. Children are often outdoors for much longer hours than you are, so try to ensure they are smothered in lotion and preferably wear a hat too. It is so easy to forget the time or the intensity of the sun when you are sitting absorbed in a game of cricket. Your scarlet face, neck, shoulders and ankles will remind you of your folly for days afterwards! In Africa, sunstroke can be a reality—spending too long in the sun when you are not accustomed to it —or even when you are—can make you really ill. It’s not worth it.
Pubs, bars and shebeens form a large part of city nightlife, especially over weekends. Pub culture is generally similar to pubs anywhere—often, rounds of drinks are bought by one person for the group. This can get a bit tricky if you don’t want to spend all night there, but have to wait your turn to buy a round! If you want to leave early, try to buy an early round, so that when you leave, no one will call you miserly for not having paid your share. Not all pubs work like this and in many, probably what I would call a bar, you will go along with specific friends, order a few drinks and split the bill. In fact this is ever more the norm now.
Because, in the past, the state would not grant pub licences to Africans in the townships, the small backyard illegal shebeens developed. Usually a room in a home was set aside where home-brewed beer could be bought and consumed in a congenial, if spartan, atmosphere. Most often they were owned and run by women, and as the trade was quite lucrative, the more successful women became known as the Shebeen Queens. As the years passed, a greater variety of alcohol was served in shebeens, especially beer. Many shebeen queens (and kings) began to openly flout the law with big successful, music-filled establishments. Today of course anyone with the correct credentials can apply for a liquor licence. Do remember that you have to be over 18 years old to be served alcohol, even in a restaurant, and generally under-18s are not allowed into pubs and bars.
Night life in South Africa is limited almost entirely to the cities where, with a bit of help from friends and the Mail & Guardian newspaper guide, you will find the kind of entertainment that suits your fancy. Clubs, pubs, discos, jazz bars and a wide variety of traditional and local theatre are available. There are also many movie complexes with loads of different cinemas screening most of the mainstream international movies, and there are also a few movie complexes, really only in the bigger cities, that specialise in art house films.
Remember one thing about nightlife in South Africa, and this applies to restaurants too—it often begins and ends earlier than, say, in Europe. There are not many restaurants that will seat you much after 10 pm, so be sure to check when the kitchen closes if you are planning a meal after a show! There are of course exceptions.
Gambling was legalised in the new South Africa, but is strictly controlled by a special licence and of course it is totally off-limits to anyone under 18 years old. In the recent past, a number of large casino complexes have been built on the outskirts of all the major cities and even in some more obscure parts of the country. So if you feel the need to have a go at the tables or on the slot machines, just hive off to any of these plastic worlds where all is fantasy and night-time. The most famous of these is of course Sun City which, although it developed around the gaming business, is now a huge entertainment complex with swimming pools, a fake ocean with waves, water rides and one of the world’s top golf courses. It also has a range of hotels from top-end 5-star luxury to more affordable family fun.
Horse-racing is quite legal and there is a lot of it in all the major centres. Most races are run on Saturdays, but there are also weekday races. The most famous, moulded on the Epsom Derby, is the Durban July. Always run on the first Saturday in July in Durban, it attracts huge crowds and attention is always focused on celebrities and outrageous dress sense. The Cape Met, Cape Town’s equivalent, is not quite as famous but a lot more stylish.
Most South Africans are sports mad. It is the one thing that unites the country more than anything else. It crosses racial, language, political and, yes, gender barriers. If you are as sports mad as we are, you may remember the first Rugby World Cup played in the new South Africa in 1995. The Springboks, as our international rugby team is called, won and then president Nelson Mandela put on the No. 6 shirt of the captain, Francios Pienaar, a white Afrikaner. The two embraced and the barriers of hundreds of years of racial segregation seemed to melt, as did the hearts of most South Africans. But remember it wasn’t always like this. During the latter years of apartheid, international sanctions prevailed and our sports teams were not allowed to compete in any international competitions. The main reason for this of course is that all sports, bar football, and cricket to a small degree, were racially segregated.
For most of us, if we are not playing sport, then we are watching it—either live or on TV. You may even find sports-mad colleagues taking a day off work to watch cricket live, or even some international competition on the television that is scheduled on a weekday. If they are not watching the games, they are talking about it. Strangely though, there seem to be very few homegrown sports, but almost every major international sport is played here. Some international competitions are hosted here on occasion: Rugby World Cup in 1995, Cricket World Cup in 2003 and the football World Cup in 2010. Many of the major international sports competitions are screened on local television.
Football, or soccer as it is called here, rugby and cricket are seen as the top sports played and watched here, and in all three we have players who make it big on the world stage. The respective national teams also compete internationally each season, and both rugby and cricket have been fairly successful on that front in the last few years. Our national soccer team, called Bafana Bafana, is having a fall period, but no doubt it too will take its place nearer the top of the international log one of these days.
All of the three major sports—football, cricket and rugby—are also hotly contested at club and provincial levels, and, in the case of rugby, also at international ‘provincial’ level in the highly popular Super 14 series. This competition pits 14 provincial teams from the three major southern hemisphere rugby playing nations—South Africa, Australia and New Zealand—against each other with the games being played in each of those countries. It is hugely popular as a spectator sport!
Officially our national sporting emblem is a protea flower—it is our national flower too. So when a sportsperson is awarded their national colours for excellence in their sport, such as competing at an international level or doing exceptionally well at home, they will wear what is called ‘the green and gold’—our national colours. The badge on their formal sports blazer and any of the team clothes they wear has an image of the protea flower. And generally the sports team will be referred to as The Proteas. Our international cricket side is always called by that name, the soccer team is, however, called Bafana Bafana and their women counterparts are called Banyana Banyana—but they still officially are Proteas too!
Now to complicate the matter even further the national rugby team has always been called the Springboks—and still is. If you look closely at their logo or badge on all their team gear, it is an amalgamation of both a protea and a springbok. This is because our national rugby team has been known as the Springboks since 1906 and the sport administrators felt, even with all the changes in the country, the name Springbok was bound to the game, just like the All Blacks is to the New Zealand rugby team, for example. And just to stir it up even more, some people still refer to anyone who has their national ‘colours’ for sport as a Springbok, since that was how it was in the past and so the word has become synonymous with South African international sporting success. But slowly I am sure the Protea will become the lingua franca instead.
But whatever the emblem and what ever the sport, you can rest assured that fans generally push aside all the complexities and paint their faces to match our joyful, colourful, national flag instead!
A lot of outdoor activity and socialising has always revolved around the non-professional side of most sports like cycling, jogging, swimming, sailing, tennis, and generally being activie in the sun. So when the health-and-fitness wave swept the world, many South Africans were and still are being taken along for a good, healthy ride.
Generally, South African women have participated less in sport than their men. Often men will rush off to play soccer, rugby, squash and more; women, on the other hand, either stay at home, sit on the sidelines watching, or perhaps organise the social activities of the event. However this is changing fairly fast and now a large number of women do play almost every form of sport, both socially and competitively—we have a women’s national soccer team called Banyana Banyana which competes internationally. At one stage, a young woman soccer player, who had played in a women’s soccer team for a number of years, was incorporated in a regular men’s club competition and she proved her salt immediately.
The world famous ultra-marathon, Comrades, which attracts top athletes but also tens of thousands of ordinary runners, is currently experiencing a big growth in the number of women entrants as more and more women realise they are just as able to tackle such a taxing event as their male counterparts. At international competition level, women have held their own in some sports more than others—athletics and tennis being the notables.
Like the trend in other parts of the world in recent years, cycling—particularly mountain biking—has increased in popularity by leaps and bounds. Over weekends, and especially on Sundays, people jump on their bikes and either pedal down the sweeping trunk roads in the city suburbs (never cycle on a freeway or motorway as it is against the law!), or they go mountain biking on any rugged terrain close by, or at the many new venues outside the cities with specially built trails dedicated to mountain biking.
Two of the most famous and the most fun bicycle races in South Africa are the Pick ‘n Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour, a 109-km (68-mile) tour around the Cape Peninsula and back to Cape Town, and its sister race in Johannesburg, the Pick ‘n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge, of similar distance. Both are very hilly courses, so you do need a reasonable level of fitness to enjoy—along with more than 30,000 others! I can attest to the fact that it really is good, if strenuous fun. Racing rules and etiquette apply as it is a serious race for the serious racers, but for the rest of us it is a wonderful way of testing our stamina, enjoying the camaraderie of other cyclists, and especially in Cape Town, enjoying some beautiful, scenic views too (if you have any energy left for that!).
If you are a cyclist or would like to start cycling, you may contact the following sources for assistance:
Cycling South Africa. Tel: (021) 557-1212; email: info@cyclingsa.com; website: http://www.cyclingsa.com The national cycling body, they will be able to put you in touch with any of the vast array of clubs and organisations spread across the country.
Cresta Wheelers. Email: info@crestawheelers.co.za; website: http://www.crestawheelers.co.za If you are in Johannesburg, Cresta Wheelers is a very helpful club for professionals, competitive types and weekend warriors alike.
Pedal Power Association. Tel: (021) 689-8420; website: http://www.pedalpower.org.za If you are in Cape Town, Pedal Power Association will give you information mostly about Western Cape.
Or you could buy a copy of one of the two main cycling magazines Bicycling South Africa or Ride Magazine, both of which are packed with information.
Joining any form of sports club or group is a great way to meet a wide variety of new friends, people that you would perhaps not meet while going about your day-to-day life.
Jogging has always been a favourite way of exercising for many South Africans. At first light on a summer’s morning, or in the evenings after work, you will see people of all shapes and sizes pounding the pavements or running round sports fields; or if you are in the rural areas, you may see someone taking off down a dusty track. On the mines, running has become somewhat of a cult, and many of those mineworkers who started running for pleasure have become some of South Africa’s world-class marathoners.
A lot of joggers draw their inspiration from the competitors of the ultra-distance Comrades Marathon, an event which is run uphill and down dale for some 87 km (54 miles) each year between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. Over 30,000 people enter this race each year, which has some of the greatest spectator support of any road race in the world, according to international athletes who compete in it.
Only an hour’s drive outside hectic Johannesburg there is a great nature reserve, Suikerbosrand, where you can hike in the hills and valleys, bird-watch or just have a great outdoor picnic. You can also cycle or drive the 60km paved road around the reserve and are sure to see a big variety of antelope, zebra and other (harmless) wild animals.
The camaraderie it engenders is quite special. Of course, you will have the world’s top ultra-distance runners out to snap up the gold medals and the prize money; but even among them, the spirit of friendship is always of first importance. In the field, you will find every shape and size of person imaginable. There are blind runners helped every step of the way (and every step of the year-long training sessions leading up to the race) by fellow runners; veterans, some well into their seventies; and a number of women, whose membership is rapidly increasing. Recently, a woman who suffered from multiple sclerosis completed the gruelling course to huge applause from the crowd lining almost the entire route from start to finish.
To get in touch with a running club near your home, contact:
Run SA. Website: http://www.runsa.co.za
It is the national organisation responsible for social and competitive running, and from its website you can choose a club near you.
Almost all running clubs are geared for good social running, even if they also have some very serious competitive athletes. You can try the Hash House Harriers, an international organisation with branches in almost every country—very sociable with a bit of running thrown in too.
Africa Hash. Website: http://www.africahash.co.za
It provides a list of Hash Houses within the country.
Because space is not really at a premium in South Africa, there are a number of golf clubs scattered across all the major cities, and there is hardly a small town that doesn’t have at least a ‘nine hole’. By Western and Japanese standards, most club memberships are not too expensive and playing the game does not usually cost an arm and a leg either. Many of the golf courses are owned by clubs and admittance of casual members is allowed only by some.
In the recent past there has been a huge growth of golfing estates where a whole lot of homes, sometimes even holiday homes, are clustered around a golf course. In theory this is quite a fine idea as it gives you lots of open green space, but in reality there are far too many being built, and since they gobble up gallons of water to keep the courses lush and perfect, they are particularly bad for a country that is fast becoming very short on water for the basic needs of its population.
Tennis has certainly been the preserve of the more affluent in South Africa. Saturday afternoons and Sundays see almost every tennis court in the urban areas in full use. Most tennis courts belong to clubs, but there are some that are owned by the city or town municipalities where anybody is allowed to play. Because properties tend to be quite large in some of the affluent residential suburbs, there are quite a number of private tennis courts. Consequently, tennis parties can be a feature of weekend social life. You may well be invited to play a few games on a Saturday afternoon and then stay on for a casual dinner.
For competitive players, all the local tennis clubs take part in the various levels of league tennis. Sometimes, this becomes very serious stuff as inter-club rivalry is intense. There are also a number of tennis tournaments and competitions held across the country. Most clubs insist tennis players dress in standard tennis clothing, and even on private courts, most people wear standard tennis gear.
Football, or soccer to South Africans, is one of the most widely followed and played games in the country, with its traditional support base in the black community, but like all things, this is broadening out quickly. The overall controlling body is the South African Football Association (SAFA), a body representing all football organisations in the country, and it is a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) which locks it into the international football organisation, FIFA. The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the top local league competition here and is hotly contested each year between August and May. There are lower leagues and age-group leagues, and of course amateur leagues, so there is ample opportunity for a social football player to have a lot of fun too.
If you are a keen amateur player, there is a host of clubs you can join. Football has been the most multiracial game in the country for many years. If you are a player, joining a club is an ideal way to meet and mix with a wide cross-section of the population. Matches are most often played on a Sunday morning and, quite often, the whole family turns up in support.
As a football fan, you really should choose a team to support and join the camaraderie of endless conversations, arguments, views and opinions about the many games played each week. Attending matches is a far cry from some of the hooligan-infested nations. Rowdy the supporters in South Africa are, with many supporters blowing the raucous vuvusela horn to stir up the fans, but it is rare to see thugs brutalising each other at football games—and long may our fans remain above that sort of horror.
To find out more about the clubs in your area, or anything else about South African soccer, contact SAFA at (011) 494-3522 or through their website: http://www.safa.net.
In 2010 the football World Cup came to South Africa, in fact it came to the African continent for the first time ever. And despite a last minute frenzy to get some stadiums ready, new transport infrastructure completed and the negative voices of a few nay-sayers, it turned into one of the most successful events ever hosted by our country and, vicariously, the entire continent. It was surely the best four week party Africa has ever held. Slick, efficient, fun and wildly colourful.
Matches were held in 10 different stadiums across the country, giving avid fans from almost every point on the compass the chance to sample the Rainbow Nation’s many facets while following their teams with gusto. With the rhythms of the closing party still in their heads, they headed for home, heaping praise on South Africans for their joyous, friendly and spirited hospitality.
We certainly lived up to our World Cup slogan: Ke Nako! Africa’s time is now. (And remember South Africans almost always refer to football as soccer!)
Sports Gear: It’s Here
Almost all sports equipment and clothing is easily available here from specialist stores or the major sports equipment and clothing chains. Quite a lot of the top end goods are imported, so you tend to pay the same price for them as you would say in Europe—give or take a bit for the import costs. Some sporting goods are locally made too, which does reduce the price a bit.
I recently needed new running shoes and when I commented on the astronomical price of a good pair, the sales assistant quipped, “Well, take a second mortgage on your house. That should do it.” To be honest, when I checked the prices on the Internet they were really similar across the world!.
Whether you have a competitive bent or just want to play sport for fun, Sport and Recreation South African (SRSA) should be able to put you in touch with an organisation in your field since their aim is to encourage South Africans to play sport regardless their abilities—and hopefully create some international stars in the process. Contact them in Pretoria at (012) 304-5137 or check out their website at http://www.srsa.gov.za. But you can also always ask people around you for recommendations of where to get involved in your favourite outdoor activity.
The segregation in sport, and the fact that white communities had the most access to good sports facilities and proper training during the apartheid era, did a lot of damage to the development of almost all types of sport across the country. And sporting sanctions meant few South Africans knew what real international competition was all about. But that is all in the past now.
The first major step back into the great sporting world was South Africa’s participation in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, after being excluded since the early 1960s. The effects of international isolation had certainly taken their toll. As in most sports, South African athletes were far outclassed. But the nation’s joy of being back with the rest of the world was encapsulated in the touching gesture of African solidarity when the white South African Elana Meyer, silver medallist in the women’s athletics 10 000m, embraced fellow African and gold medal winner, Derartu Tulu, from Ethiopia, and ran with her as she was doing her lap of honour. They are firm friends to this day.
The country then hosted and won the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and a year later the African Cup of Nations soccer tournament. Now of course South Africa’s participation in all international sporting competitions is normal and depends only on the abilities of the contestants.
Some Major Sporting Events To Watch Out For
I’ve placed the names of sponsors before the name of the sporting event, but in brackets because the sponsors change often.
(ABSA) Currie Cup is an annual rugby championship played during the winter months between 14 teams loosely based on the nine provinces, with the more populous ones having more than one team. The top eight teams play in the Premier Division and the other six in the First Division.
Comrades Marathon, the annual ultra-distance run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg which usually attracts over 30,000 competitors.
(Hansa Powerade) Dusi Canoe Marathon is a three-day race down the Umsinduzi River, from near Pietermaritzburg to the ocean in Durban.
(Spec-Savers) Ironman South Africa is an ultra-triathlon, part of the international circuit.
(J & B) Met is a horse race in Cape Town.
(Vodacom) July is a horse-race that is always run on the first Saturday in July in Durban.
(Yellow Pages) Ultimate Athletics Competition or the South African Senior Track and Field Championships, as it was previously called, is the annual national athletics championships, while the South African Youth and Junior Championships is for 15 to 18 year olds,
(SAA) Provincial is a premiere league inter-provincial three day and one day cricket competition played throughout the summer each year. There is also a (Standard Bank) Pro20 one-day tournament.
(Castle) Premiership Soccer League is the major professional soccer league, teams also have individual sponsorship.
(South African Airways) Open is one of the major internationally acknowledged golf tournaments that attract international players.
(ABSA) Cape Epic is a gruelling 8-day international mountain bike race.
…in alphabetical order lest I be accused of bias!
Brian Mitchell A former junior lightweight world-champion boxer, he is now a boxing trainer.
Bruce Fordyce An ultra distance marathoner, he has won the gruelling Comrades Marathon nine times and also dominated the world ultra distance circuit in the 1980s.
Chester Williams He played wing for the Springbok rugby team from 1993 to 2000 and is best known for his role in the Springbok squad that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He played 27 international games, scoring 14 tries, and also played provincial rugby for the Western Province. In 2001, he began coaching the national seven-a-side team and since 2003 has been coaching various provincial and similar sides.
Elana Meyer A diminutive middle-distance athlete, particularly good at 10,000m and 5,000m. She won a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for 10,000m and also held a number of records in Africa.
Francois Pienaar One of South Africa’s most famous rugby players and charismatic Springbok captains, he led the national team to World Cup victory on home turf in 1995, as the country re-entered the international sporting world after anti-apartheid sanctions. He made his first-class rugby debut in 1989 and retired in 2000 after playing club rugby in England.
Gary Player South Africa’s most famous world-class golfer has won 163 international tournaments and played the world circuit for decades. Player has also made a name for himself internationally by building world-class golf courses.
Graeme Pollock A Springbok cricketer and a left-hand batsman, who, at 16 years old, was the youngest player ever to make a first class century. He is retired and is now a cricket selector.
Jomo Sono One of the country’s best ever soccer stars, he played in the United States alongside world great, Pele. Retired from soccer, he is now a wealthy businessman who owns the Jomo Cosmos football team and is the longest-serving coach in the South African Premier League.
Kaizer Motaung A retired soccer great who is also the founder, chairman and managing director of Kaizer Chiefs, one of the top teams in the country.
Karen Muir As a 12-year-old, she was South Africa’s greatest swimmer. By the time she was 16 years old, she held 15 world records. Today she is a medical doctor.
Lucas Radebe An international soccer star who earned 70 caps for South Africa and was the national team captain. He also played for Leeds United from 1994 onwards, before retiring from professional football at the end of the 2005 season. He is currently living in South Africa and is a goodwill ambassador for South African football.
Makhaya Ntini A cricket player—a fast bowler—of note, he made his test début in the South Africa national team in 1998, and at the beginning of 2007 took his 300th test wicket, in his 74th test match.
Naas Botha A Springbok rugby player with great kicking skills, he captained the Springbok side at times, but was not the world’s greatest diplomat. Retired now, he is a well-known TV commentator.
Oscar Pistorius Dubbed “the fastest thing on no legs”, since he is a world record holder at 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m for amputees. In 2007, he became the first amputee to break the 11-second barrier for the 100 m when he flew to victory in 10.91 seconds. He is a double-amputee, having had both legs amputated when he was just 11 months old, because he was born without shin bones.
Roland Schoeman He is a world record breaker and swimming hero who struck gold in the 2004 Olympics. He declined a multimillion dollar package from Qatar to switch nationalities, preferring to commit himself to help in making South Africa a “haven to all its people”.
Shaun Thomson A world-class surfer, and a world champion at times, who is now retired and in the surfing/beach clothing business.
Terence Parkin An excellent swimmer, he won a silver medal in the Sydney Olympics, competed again in the 2004 Olympics, holds African and South African swimming records, won the country’s biggest open water race, the Midmar Mile—and is totally deaf. He has also won medals in the swimming championships for the deaf, and in 2006 won the 120-km (75 miles) cycle race in the World Deaf Cycling Championships.
Willie Mtolo An international name of international fame, he is a world-class marathon runner who has won the New York City Marathon and has a host of other trophies under his belt. He takes an active role in helping the poor rural community he came from when he is not on the world circuit.
Zola Budd A barefoot-wonder child who broke a host of South African middle-distance records and, for a while, held a world record too. After all the fuss of getting a rushed British citizenship to be able to overcome the sports boycott and compete in the Los Angeles Olympics, she collided with Mary Decker in the race which put her out of the running.
Travelling around South Africa is almost a must for a newcomer. There is a great deal to experience in almost every part of the country and it really will just depend on your tastes as to where you go and what you do. Of course the game and wildlife reserves are top of most visitors’ list, as is Cape Town and its environs, but there is a great deal more to see and experience if you have the time and energy.
If you enjoy driving, or even if you just don’t mind driving, it is often the only way to really experience the great variety and cultural wonders of this country. Public transport—planes, trains and inter-city buses—tend only to get you to the major centres. It is beyond the scope of this book to give you details of things to see and do, so please do your own homework and remember that unless you have immigrated, the day will come when you have to leave these shores, so get out there and do it!
If you are travelling with children, especially small children, do remember that distances are great here and trips can be hours-, if not days-long. And on the same note, remember to fill up your car with petrol more often than you would in a smaller environment as there are sometimes very long gaps between filling stations. If you leave your car to view a site or even to have a roadside meal or coffee break, make sure you lock it and don’t leave valuables in the car, or at least not obviously so as it is inviting theft. Of course if your car is parked right near you this is not relevant. It is also important to remember that South Africa has a very high road-death toll, both from car accidents (there are some very bad drivers here!) and also from pedestrians wandering onto roads both in rural and urban areas, so do take extreme care.
Just to get you started I have listed a few of the tried and trusted, and a few of the slightly less known ones too. Some tried and tested sites…
Cape Town: Robben Island; Table Mountain; the Houses of Parliament and De Tuynhuis; Cape Point Nature Reserve; the Waterfront; Hout Bay; the Waterfront.
Durban: The old City Hall, library and adjacent Victorian building; the beach front promenade; the Hindu temples; the Indian Market; the Bat Centre; the new harbour-side Point Waterfront development.
Johannesburg: Constitution Hill and the Old Fort Prison complex; Melville Koppies; mine dumps (the few that are left); Soweto; Gold Reef City; Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden (you may see Black eagles nesting there); the Cradle of Mankind; The Origins Centre; Johannesburg Art Gallery.
And now for some of the less known experiences…
South African Astronomical Observatory in Sutherland, Western Cape, where you can observe the stars in crystal clear air through two dedicated visitor telescopes. (You cannot visit any of the research telescopes at night, not even SALT, the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere—but you can do this during the day.)
The Northern Province government building in Kimberley is a new structure, designed to be appropriate to its environment through a mix of modern African architecture and design.
The Owl House in Nieu Bethesda is a fantastical, some say mystical, world of sculptural creatures created in the home and yard of Helen Martins. In the Eastern Cape near Graaf Reinet.
Rock art from the ancient San/Bushmen found in the Drakensberg and other mountains in the heart of the country in KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere.
Namaqualand flowers carpet a region in the arid West Coast north of Cape Town in iridescent colour IF the rains are right. They can be seen some time in August or September and only last a few weeks. In the Western Province.
The Swartberg Pass is a steep, narrow, winding mountain pass (not for the faint hearted!). Scenic views and rock formations of note. En route you can turn off to Die Hel, a tiny village where life has changed little for a century or more. In the Karoo, Western Cape.
Mapungubwe, which existed between about AD 900 and AD 1300, was one of the largest and most sophisticated kingdoms on the continent, and is now a World Heritage site. It is located north-west of Musina in Limpopo Province and is surrounded by a game park.
South Africa is renowned for its game parks and well it should be. Many are state-owned and controlled by the South African National Parks, called SANParks, which generally does a sterling job in running the parks for the benefit of the public and the game alike.
The most famous is the Kruger National Park which stretches down the full length of South Africa’s border with Mozambique in the east of the country.
It is home to the country’s Big Five: lion, elephant, leopard, cheetah, rhino and buffalo, as well as thousands of other species of African wildlife, birds, and of course, a huge array of plants and trees. It is very well stocked so it is highly unlikely that a trip to this game reserve (as they are usually called here) will go unrewarded. SANParks runs most of the state-owned parks in the country. They have a good website at http://www.sanparks.org.
An exception is the province of KwaZulu-Natal which, under the auspices of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife runs all the provinces state-owned parks and is also responsible for all wildlife and environmental management in the province. It has some superb game parks and wilderness areas in its control that are certainly worth visiting, both in the lowlands and in the Drakensberg mountains. Check out their website at http://www.kznwildlife.com.
There is also a huge number and variety of private game lodges across the country, an industry that has grown substantially now that South Africa is again part of the international tourism community. They range from the ultimate in luxury and style, worth hundreds of US dollars a night, to those that offer much more rustic accommodation and can also be self-catering. Often a lot more fun, especially for children. Many are now equipped to cater for business conferences too.
A privately-funded organisation, the Endangered Wildlife Trust, commonly called EWT, specialises both in the protection of endangered species and in running special-education programmes for youths at the game reserves. Membership is not expensive and the benefits are tremendous.
A lioness crosses the road, apparently oblivious to tourists watching her in the Welgevonden Game Reserve in Limpopo province.
Because of the extreme popularity of the game reserves, bookings may need to be made months in advance, particularly during the school holidays and over public holiday weekends.
To enjoy the wilder side of South Africa’s great outdoors—and that of our neighbours—you must be well prepared. There are a few things that are seriously dangerous in the bush, but you will be quite safe as long as you play the game by the rules, and if you are not sure, err on the side of caution. Below are a few tips that will certainly go a long way to making your experience a pleasant one. Since many South Africans have grown up with the wilds being part of their experience, they may forget to prepare you sufficiently regarding the clothes to wear, or what to take along with you. Remember, in the wilderness there are no shops just down the road!
Organisations like the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the SANParks Board, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and others offer huge amounts of information and help, and some even run courses and outdoor programmes like hikes and trails for enthusiasts, which are a combination of education and pleasure. They also focus strongly on educating the youth to environmental matters, as many schools do.
South Africa has a great variety of snakes, many of which are poisonous. There are anti-venom preparations for most species, but there are one or two that are deadly and have no antidote. Don’t be alarmed by this as very few people get bitten by snakes. Take precautions and you should be fine.
DO NOT pick up or provoke any snake you may see, unless you are with an expert! And even then let them deal with it. The chances of doing this are slim as almost all snakes slither away instantly upon feeling the vibrations of your approach.
If you are bitten, which is highly unlikely, do not do the trick you probably have seen in the movies of tying a tourniquet between the bite and your heart—this does more damage than the snake bite. Act quickly. Apply firm pressure with a crepe bandage, a piece of shirt or nylon stocking wound extensively around the bitten area. This limits the blood supply but does not cut it off. Keep as calm as possible. Get to a doctor or hospital as soon as possible. You can take snakebite serum with you; but many people react very violently to the serum, so it is far wiser to have a doctor administer it in the highly unlikely event of you getting bitten.
If you do disturb a snake unwittingly, this will give it a huge fright and may cause it to be aggressive—the closest thing to it will most often be your feet, so when you are out in the bush always wear closed shoes or hiking boots.
Ticks are common in most rural areas in South Africa. They are parasites that latch onto a host animal—wild, domestic or you—and feed on the blood. They carry a wide variety of animal diseases, especially something commonly called ‘Billiary’ which affects dogs and can be deadly. So if you do take your dog to a farm (which is not really recommended), be sure to watch it once you’re home for any signs of lethargy or being off its food. Go straight to a vet if that happens.
There are two types of human illnesses caused by ticks. You can get tick-bite fever. But that is not to say that every tick bite gives you the illness. Symptoms include a severe headache, fever, and hot and cold sweats. It is not a dangerous disease, but you can feel really bad for quite a while. If you are feeling ill and have been in the bush, tell your doctor.
On occasion, when walking in the bush it is possible you may walk into a nest of ticks. Often they are so tiny at first that you may not even see them. People have landed up with hundreds of tick bites on their body, and the collective poison from so many of them can make you ill. One or two bites are unlikely to do much damage other than itch and be a nuisance.
Wearing long trousers, shoes and socks when in the bush will help keep them off you, as will any of the anti-mosquito preparations like Peaceful Sleep or Tabbard. If you do find a tick on your body DO NOT pull it off. Often the head remains in your flesh and can cause a septic sore. The easiest way to kill it is to cover it with oil, after which it will just drop off your skin. Something simple like bath oil or even cooking oil is fine.
If you are out walking in a wilderness area, remember that it is very easy to get lost. Land marks may be unfamiliar to you and your sense of direction may get a little confused. If you are adept with a compass or a GPS, it is useful; otherwise, just don’t wander too far from your campsite at first and familiarise yourself with the terrain slowly.
Bush or veld fires are one of the greatest hazards in rural and wilderness South Africa, especially in the dry months of the year: winter, for most of the country; but in the southern Cape, it is summer.
If you do make a fire to cook over, be sure that every last spark is dead before you leave it or go to bed. Also, if you are a smoker, DO NOT drop your match or cigarette butt. The veld can be so dry that it ignites better than tinder and a fire could break out in seconds. If you do notice a veld fire, alert the nearest authority you can. If it is caught early, it can be curtailed and eventually put out; but once it has become a runaway blaze, it can do enormous amounts of damage.
If you do stumble upon a veld fire, move away as fast as possible. These fires burn very quickly and are often fanned by the wind. If the wind changes, the fire can change direction which might put you in danger. With the very dry grass and scrub, fires fanned by even a small wind can run a great deal faster than you can!
If you are going on a walk for an hour or two, be sure to take a flask or bottle of water. Summers are hot and you may easily get dehydrated. You may even get lost or take a little longer getting home than intended. Be prepared, rather than thirsty. Many people like to take along cool drinks, but when you are really parched the most effective thirst quencher is water!
Try not to wear very brightly coloured clothes when in the bush. It makes you very conspicuous and far less likely to blend in with nature. Also keep your voice down, so as not to disturb or scare away any wild animals like antelope or birds that you may come upon.
Do not litter at all. And if possible, take all your rubbish home with you. If this is not possible, at least bury it deep in the earth so that wild animals cannot easily dig it up—it will eventually decompose. To save you the trouble of disposing the rubbish yourself, many of the wilderness areas have good rubbish cans that are cleared frequently
Almost all property is private in South Africa, so don’t just wander into any bush area you may come across. Most often it is farmland, and the farmer could become exceedingly angry and may even prosecute you for trespassing.
There are other do’s and don’ts which may be relevant in a specific situation. The best way to find out is to ask a local who may be with you. It is far easier to take your cue from them, than to do something that is a little silly or dangerous because you are unfamiliar with the situation. But most of all, enjoy one of the great privileges of Africa—wide open spaces!
The early settlers in South Africa hunted game for the pot, but they also hunted for pleasure, until the vast herds of wildlife that roamed much of the country had all but been wiped out. Once it was realised how detrimental this was, conservation policies in keeping with global thinking of the time were put into place. To sustain the wildlife available, the national policy until recently focused more on wildlife management than on care of the whole environment. Admittedly, this holistic thought process was new to most parts of the world at the time, but it did at least lead to South Africa having some of the best wildlife management programmes in the world with up-to-date theories based on good research.
Now the broader issue of environmental management, as opposed to wildlife conservation, is at the forefront of national environmental conservation policies. In the past, the vast majority of the population had no vested interest in the country; but now everyone has a stake in the bounty. The United Nations believes that increasing people’s standard of living is the best, and probably the only, way of increasing their care of the world around them. This holistic approach has been adopted by the government, since the greatest environmental problem in the country is poverty.
As in most developing countries, the South African wilderness areas have been threatened by urban development, but the concerned public has fought back frequently, and most often won it case. Some decades ago, a long, hard and bitter battle finally stopped the then government from allowing mining in the Kruger National Park, our largest natural treasure!
Conservation versus development is an emotive issue, but it is important for South Africans to realise that this is a developing country, so the balance must be determined relative to our level of development. Since democracy in South Africa—and hence an upsurge in tourism—there has been a far broader approach to conservation, and this has included looking for innovative ways of empowering local communities to benefit from the tourist dollar, but simultaneously keeping a very tight rein on any development to ensure it does not in any way damage the long-term sustainability of our wildlife and wilderness areas.
Sustainable development is not just a catchy phrase in South Africa, but a concept taken very seriously (some say still not seriously enough) by the government through the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (website: http://www.environment.gov.za) to ensure our natural treasures remain pristine for future generations—and also for future generation of tourism income.
And if you’ve got that travel bug, South Africa’s neighbours are also great countries to visit. Mozambique, a long narrow country, has an incredibly beautiful coast line, with thousands of miles of gleaming white sandy beaches and a tropical climate to match! Botswana, directly north of South Africa, has some of the most wonderful game parks, many of which are centred around the Okavango Delta, a wetland, which at the end of the rainy season is like a shallow lake, attracting huge varieties of wildlife and birds.
North-west of South Africa is the very arid country of Namibia. Its attractions are vastly different to its neighbours since most of it is desert and semi-desert, but its scenery is some of the most dramatic on the continent, and ranges from Saharan-like desert sand dunes, some of the highest in the world, to a wild coastline named the Skeleton Coast for good reason since its hinterland is a waterless desert. In the centre of this huge but scantly populated country lies Etosha Pan and the vast game reserve surrounding it.
It is impossible to do justice to these vast and wonderful neighbouring countries here, but to whet your appetite, I will list a few of the must-see sights and once you are ‘just across the border’ in South Africa I am sure you will do some research of your own.
The easiest and quickest way to get to Namibia is to fly to Windhoek, the capital, which is also fairly centrally located. From there you can take a tour or rent a car and follow your heart—and a very good map! It is also quite possible to drive from South Africa, although this would be a long trip and would take at least a day or two just to reach the South Africa/Namibia border either travelling from Cape Town or Johannesburg. The main roads in both countries are generally very good, but the distances are vast!
If you are not taking an organised trip, it is essential to plan well as it takes time to get from one major attraction to another. It is also a very sparsely populated country, so distances between towns, villages and sites (and petrol stations!) can be many hundreds of kilometres, but frankly this is what makes it such a special experience. You could also take a number of trips focusing on different regions each time. Because most of the country is desert or semi-desert remember that temperatures can be extreme, especially in summer when daytime temperatures can soar way above 40ºC (104ºF), while at night in some areas, especially along the coast, it can be very chilly. It is best to visit from about April to October.
The Skeleton Coast which runs north from Walvis Bay to the country’s northern boarder is one of the most desolate coastal regions on the continent, but utterly beautiful in its remoteness. Dramatic and icy cold oceans pound long, deserted beaches for many hundreds of kilometres. You can safely visit the southern part of this coastline, stopping at Henties Bay from where you can drive eastwards to the Etosha National Park, one of the largest game parks in Africa. It has an excellent variety and volume of game and is centred around the Etosha Pan, a lake until a few thousand years ago, but now mostly a dry, dusty salt pan. During a good rainy season it becomes a very shallow lake attracting an even greater variety of birds and animals.
In the south of the country, you can plan a trip to the rugged, craggy and harshly hot Fish River Canyon, which is easy to view from either the lookout point at Hobas at the northern end, or the village of Ais-Ais near the southern end. South-west of Windhoek at Sossusvlei in the Namib-Nauklift Park are some of the world’s highest and oldest sand dunes. They really should be viewed at sunrise or sunset for dramatic and constantly changing colours and moods that you will never forget! And don’t forget your camera either.
The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a good springboard into Botswana from South Africa since it straddles the border and was formed by amalgamating two adjacent national parks. Part semi-desert and part savannah, it is the particular home of black-maned Kalahari lions, gemsbok (majestic desert antelope), the pygmy falcon, Africa’s smallest bird of prey and of course a host of other game.
Botswana is most famous for its safaris to the Okavango Delta region in the far north, and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve plumb in the heart of the country, also home to the San or Bushmen for many centuries. The inland delta is the largest in the world, and its permanent water is a magnet for wildlife in an otherwise desperately dry region. Its spider’s web of lagoons and waterways are best explored by boat, or even on foot. And accommodation in rustic, but topnotch lodges is mostly idyllic, if a touch on the costly side. It deserves it reputation as one of the world’s most famous safari options.
Travelling to Botswana is of course easiest by plane. From Johannesburg you can fly to Maun, the centre for most tourist safaris, including the delta. There is little need to fly to the capital, Gaborone, other than to visit it per se as it is in the south of the country—and it is almost quicker to drive there from Johannesburg than to fly. Of course once more familiar with the region, a 4x4 safari is a lot of fun, but it also requires a lot more time, planning and outdoor skills! (And do try and read the delightful novel, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith, which is set in Botswana.)
In some ways Mozambique is one of my favourite neighbours. Perhaps because the country has emerged from a devastating civil war that tore it apart—both its infrastructure and its people—with its dignity and its love for life still intact; perhaps because it has a glorious tropical climate, warm, crystal clear water and some of the whitest, softest beach sands I have ever seen.
Maputo is also one of my favourite African cities. Its centre has wide boulevards—designed in its Portuguese colonial days—which still boast a host of pavement cafes and coffee bars. Not stuffy colonial ones, but joyous, boisterous African ones. Sheer chill. It also has the Polana Hotel which is one of the great hotels on the continent, lovingly restored after the war to colonial splendour, but run with 21st-century African aplomb. For a great weekend treat, there is usually a special package deal which includes the return flight from Johannesburg to Maputo and a weekend in the Polana.
The islands are also magical. Although Inhaca Island is close to Maputo and is worth a trip, I think it is well worth the effort of getting to Vilanculos. It is a quaint little town on the coast and the springboard for the Bazaruto Archipelago, where there is a variety of lodges from 5-star luxury (and prices) to more moderate options, and a number of islands, many uninhabited. A large area of the ocean around the archipelago is a marine reserve where the water is so clear you barely need goggles to explore the coral reefs and the iridescent tropical fish.
If you want to go even further north, you will need a lot of time if you plan to drive and it is not really recommended until you are more au fait with the country. But you can of course fly to some of the northern coastal towns such as Pemba, where they are just beginning to develop top-end tourist accommodation.
And please remember that Mozambique still has some unexploded landmines, so don’t wander off the beaten track, especially the further north you go.
The old image of South African culture being summed up in words like braaivleis, sport and beer drinking is not quite fair. There has always been a small but vibrant arts world encompassing both the performing and fine arts. In fact, one of the first records of Western-style theatre in South Africa is found in a sailor’s diary entry—in 1607. He was working on board one of the vessels calling at the refreshment station of the Cape at that time. The sailor mentions that they performed a play by Shakespeare on board the ship anchored in the harbour.
There is no doubt that a great deal of the earlier art forms in the country were largely Eurocentric. Because of apartheid, however, artists in every discipline have played their role in commenting on and condemning the ubiquitous atrocities of that system. The arts has always been one of the most successful mediums of bringing people of all races and cultures together in a spirit of mutual trust and understanding.
Generally sponsorship of the arts has not been vast, but the state and the private sector over the years have made some funds available to further the creative spirit. It is a hard call for both government and private funding as there are many worthy causes in need of financial help in any developing country, so the resources are often spread much more thinly than in developed countries. But this rarely curtails real creative talent!
You certainly will still come across South Africans who are proud to announce things like: “Who me? Go to the theatre/ballet? No ways, that’s for sissies”, or “That’s a painting? My kid could do better.” These are stereotyped responses and probably internationally similar. But there are many, many more who enjoy and participate in the great variety of cultural experiences that arise from our newly forged and vibrant rainbow nation.
The variety of art and entertainment is so diverse that you are sure to find a variety of cultural experiences to dip into, no matter your taste. There is the traditional Eurocentric theatre that a number of people still feel most comfortable with, and which ranges from Shakespearian plays to British-type comedy and farce. Then there are local interpretations of some of the major European works too—theatre, opera, dance—and in my view, these are often far more interesting productions since they highlight the issues right here at home.
The public access to more traditional art forms is also expanding. One can often see very traditional tribal dance performed in less formal venues like open-air public places or at the weekend flea markets. Alternative theatre, rich in South Africa’s cultural and political history, has also continued to develop and expand in its content and variety. No longer does apartheid and the struggle against it dominate the arts to the extent it has in the past.
The spectrum of painting and sculpture, of fine arts in general, is equally varied, ranging from the internationally renowned and highly sophisticated pieces to works by young artists who are just starting out on their chosen path. There is also work by amateurs that is sold in the flea markets and outdoor art markets, and even on the streets. Many of my foreign friends have bought loads of local work not only for their homes here, but have taken most of it on to their next posting, or back home with them. Collecting such vibrant work is infectious!
From the artists’ point of view there is never enough state and private funding available. Their point is quite valid if it is seen in relation to the levels and nature of arts sponsorship in the developed world. However, in a developing country where there are major and basic demands made on the state coffers for social services, education and housing, the arts tends to get short-changed.
Fortunately, the South African government since 1994 has taken a more long-sighted view and has allocated pretty reasonable funds to the cultural environment—in 2007, it allocated R 1.6 billion, R 2 billion in 2008 and R 2.4 billion in 2009—both through the Department of Arts and Culture (website: http://www.dac.gov.za) and the National Arts Council. In general, government policy favours funding the infrastructure, leaving the theatre, dance, music and other arts companies or individuals to source funding for themselves. However, the Department of Art and Culture does sometimes help fund travel for artists.
But many feel the manner in which funds are allocated and/or spent is not always as good as it could be. There are two fundamental problems: some projects receive way too much money for their level of national importance, while others that serve wider audiences are seeing constant cuts in funding, such as some of the national museums; and the management of the national lottery funds distribution is not up to scratch, so although it has the money and the good intention of allocating it, it does not have the managerial capacity to deal with the funding requests. This has on occasion led to 18-month delays in fund distribution, which means some organisations have had to close their doors before they have even begun! One can only hope that these problems can be ironed out so that the good intentions of the state carry through to the benefit of the arts world—and ultimately of the nation!
In the past, most funding was aimed at a white Eurocentric audience and although this was a totally unacceptable format, its lasting benefit was the construction of a number of high quality theatre complexes in some of the major cities, which now attract a far wider variety of entertainment and hence wider spectrum of South African audiences.
In reality, there is a vibrant arts and cultural environment in the country—but like in most places in the world, there is always room for improvement.
The other major sponsor of the arts is big business. There has always been ad hoc sponsorship from large corporations and the bigger high street banks. But in 1997, Business & Art South Africa (BASA) was formed as a formal joint initiative between government and the business sector.
BASA’s main aim is to ensure continued development of the arts through sponsorship by business, a process that must—and will—benefit the greater community in the longer term. To do this, it has to encourage mutually beneficial and sustainable business-arts partnerships based on sound business principles. Once these relationships are in place, BASA believes firmly a sponsor will see the value in the partnership to its company—in business-speak, it will see sponsorship as a strategic opportunity which in turn should ensure a longer term mutually beneficial relationship—and fabulous art for the people of South Africa!
South Africa hosts a number of art competitions, dance festivals and general cultural festivals—again usually sponsored by big business. This certainly gives creative people a chance to show off their talents to a much wider audience than they would normally reach through commercial galleries or traditional theatre and dance companies. In addition some of the larger corporate companies have local art collections which means they buy new works on an ongoing basis. Mostly they tend to buy from better known or more established artists, but nevertheless it helps establish a market. Sadly, much of this work is not on public view, but on occasion you can get to enjoy it. Standard Bank has a great gallery in their downtown Johannesburg head office where they host a fair number of very good art exhibitions each year; the bank also collects and promotes African art.
Unfortunately, in the grand scheme of things, South African art in general is not accorded great importance by the nation. Perhaps some of the fault lies in the fact that our outdoor climate encourages more earthy, sporty pursuits. But there are groups and individuals who work hard to bring art to the public and the public to art.
A few art competitions are held mostly annually, and these are financed by corporate sponsorships that has mostly taken the place of government funding, or top up state sponsorship. In a country with such huge distances between major centres, this fairly generous funding sometimes enables the exhibitions or performances to travel within the country and people to see the work of artists who do not live in their area.
An example is The Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year award, which popularises the winner locally by taking their work round the country; to some degree, international acclaim is conjured up too. This award is rotated annually between all the artistic disciplines: fine art, music, dance and drama. An exhibition of the artist’s work or performance is taken to the major cities where the winners are given the opportunity to interact with their peers, colleagues and students on an academic as well as a practical level. Viewers and buyers of works include the major corporations like Anglo American, Rembrandt and the banks; private collectors; and state and private galleries.
The Spier Contemporary—an award given every second year—searches nationwide for artistic talent in both the urban and rural environments. In this way, it is also embracing traditional art. This programme also helps facilitate an art outreach programme.
The Need To Support The Arts
At the launch of Business & Arts South Africa, past President Thabo Mbeki expressed the importance of the arts to humanity: “The arts are part of the phenomenon of human existence described as culture, which constitutes the barrier that blocks your path and mine towards regress to the ways of the beastly world. Their practice is not a luxury reserved for the idle rich, but an affirmation that our humanity presents a call to individuals and societies to a form of behaviour which must respect the individuality of each person and the humanity of all”.
The National Arts Festival is an annual happening in the university town of Grahamstown during the winter months of June or July. It covers all the arts and is certainly worth attending. The arts festival has become ever more popular, which I am sure has a lot to do with the very wide variety of performing, dramatic and visual art that is represented there. The programme includes a lively mix of imported and indigenous productions, both fringe and mainstream. Based in some measure on the Edinburgh festival, it offers everything from traditional theatre to the zaniest fringe productions, fine art and flea market-type craft. It is tremendous fun and certainly not to be missed by anyone who has a love of the arts, or just wants to see a very broad spectrum of the country’s artistic culture in one fell swoop!
If you have mastered Afrikaans a little, or are willing to just go with the flow, you can also try the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstfees (translated from Afrikaans, it is the Little Karoo National Arts Festival) or KKNK which is held in the rural town of Oudtshoorn in late March or early April. It started off small in 1994—the year of independence—and has become somewhat of a ‘new South Africa’ happening. Despite its Afrikaans name, it is a showcase for the new-look South African artistic culture. Well worth a visit. Both past presidents Mandela and Mbeki have done so!
Theatre complexes like the Market Theatre (Johannesburg), the Playhouse (Durban), and the Baxter (near the University of Cape Town) played important roles, especially in the past, in offering an alternative vision of the local performing arts, to the traditional Eurocentric one. They also began the fight, as far back as 1971, for multiracial audiences. Some of these theatres defied the apartheid laws—again and again—and opened their doors to all races. By 1978, the government had bowed to pressure and 26 theatres were officially declared multiracial. At this time, apartheid was still firmly entrenched and not even sport facilities, hotels or restaurants were open to people of all races.
Now these theatre complexes are a hive of creative talent and one of the best ways to experience the full complexities of South Africa’s multiculturalism. The Market Theatre complex (website: http://www.markettheatre.co.za), which opened in 1976, a poignant date in South African political history, was fashioned out of Johannesburg’s Indian Fruit Market—built in 1913. It still retains some of original signage! The theatre went on to become internationally renowned as South Africa’s “Theatre of the Struggle”. It is now the centre point of a major cultural precinct in downtown Johannesburg and one of the must-do experiences for any newcomer to the country. Some of South Africa’s most controversial and exciting theatre has been staged at this highly experimental venue, often to the extreme ire of the apartheid government. Some productions that were first seen at The Market, like Master Harold and The Boys, Poppie Nongema or Sarafina, have become world famous.
Apart from continuing its long tradition of innovative and socially challenging theatre, the Market Theatre complex and its surrounds is a hive of multicultural entertainment, music venues, restaurants and more. The whole area has been revitalised over the years, with a big boost given when the beautiful Nelson Mandela Bridge was opened, feeding traffic straight into this vibrant area. As must be evident, it is one of my favourite spots and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get a great taste of real life in Jozi—that’s the hip name for Johannesburg.
The Playhouse Company (website: http://www.playhousecompany.com) is one of the country’s top theatre organisations, and like the Market Theatre, is right in the heart of the buzzing downtown. Apart from a wide variety of productions—drama, dance, music and more—it has various excellent festivals throughout the year.
ARTscape Theatre Centre (website: http://www.artscape.co.za) is one of two major performing art centres in Cape Town. The other is the Baxter Theatre Centre (website: http://www.baxter.co.za) at the University of Cape Town. ARTscape which has an opera house, a main theatre and a studio theatre, is run pretty innovatively as it does not actually produce work. It runs the complex as a business, and hosts productions put together by outside organisations which include ballet, opera, music and of course theatre.
The Baxter, being near the university campus, is a vibrant and living venue where a wide variety of work is staged. It has a large main theatre, a concert hall, an intimate Studio Theatre, as well as foyers and galleries in which it hosts a range of programmes that reflect well the multi-cultural society that is now South Africa.
The Civic Theatre complex in Johannesburg started off life much like the ARTscape in Cape Town: large, grey and somewhat imposing. But it too had to change its tune and now hosts a wide range of impressive local and international productions—traditional and avant garde. It received a huge dose of creative energy when Janice Honeyman, was appointed to lead it into a new era. She is one of the country’s most highly regarded actors, producers and directors, particularly famous for her outstandingly innovative productions originally staged at the alternative theatres. Her annual year-end pantomime is an absolute hit as it is laced with exotic, colourful costumes and sets, and filled with childish delights and delightful adult innuendo.
The more liberal universities have always played an important role in developing local theatre by staging active, experimental productions. The focus is broad and a lot of indigenous productions have been staged, especially in recent years, as the universities have an increasing number of black students.
Very often the standard of the productions is excellent—and to prove it is not my own bias, I took a friend and longtime resident of Paris to a production at the local university. She was so impressed with the standard of the production, and the ingenuity of the locally-written play, that she trotted off to confirm from a stranger (in case I was having her on) that all the actors were undergraduate students. She felt some were of international calibre.
In spite of the talent available, funding always seems insufficient for the dramatic arts departments at universities, probably because of the strain of increasing costs on limited education budgets. However, students always seem to manage something innovative enough to get their show on the road regardless of finances.
Some South African actors and playwrights have been very successful overseas. It is always a dangerous thing to single out a few of the famous, for there will certainly be many more who will be left out. But I’ll risk it and mention a few examples. Anthony Sher, famous on the London stages for Shakespearian drama, was born, trained and began his early career in South Africa, as was the late Yvonne Bryceland—who later split her acting career between South Africa and London. She was famous for, among many other things, her roles in the internationally acclaimed Athol Fugard plays.
Most of the major newspapers carry a good arts and entertainment listings section, so scan them well. One of the most comprehensive listings is to be found in the ‘Friday’ pullout section in the weekly newspaper, Mail & Guardian. This section is specifically customised for the different major urban regions in the country, and also has excellent critiques to help you make choices—a boon when you are new to the country and really don’t know much about the culture.
Reservations—Internet (website: http://www.computicket.com) or call (083) 909-0909 or (083) 915-8000 from anywhere in the country—can be made through a national centralised booking office called Computicket, which does charge a fee for the service. You can almost always also book directly at the theatre by phone and often online as well.
In fact, Fugard’s plays like Master Harold and The Boys, Boesman and Lena and The Island have launched a number of careers, such as that of performer, John Kani, who is famous for his deeply moving roles in Fugard’s later plays. He is also highly regarded as a local Shakespearian actor. Now a well-known director, Kani plays an important creative role in the Market Theatre productions. Janet Suzman, also well-known on the London stage, is another South African export.
Actress Nomsa Nene really made her fame in the dramatised novel based on the tragic life story of a domestic worker, written by Elsa Joubert, an Afrikaans author. Both Elsa and Nomsa became household words abroad as this quasi-factual story hit the international arena. Nomsa travelled overseas playing the lead role, and upon her return has made a great contribution to dramatic art.
Another well-known South African personality is Sibongile Khumalo, one of South Africa’s globally known, home-grown divas. A Sowetan through and through, she started her musical training at the age of eight under the guidance of her music professor father, Khabi Mngoma. She then shot to fame when in 1993 she won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award. She has a very wide repertoire of musical genres and moves fluently from one to the other, even within a single performance: classical and opera renditions, traditional African choral work, standard jazz ballads—she is also known for her vibey African jazz interpretations.
She has performed with well-known groups and artists around the country and has also been chosen for solo roles at diverse, if historic, occasions in South Africa’s recent history: she sang at President Nelson Mandela’s inauguration in 1994 after the first ever democratic elections; she led the national anthem at the Rugby World Cup in 1995 (which South Africa won); and also entertained Madiba, as ex-president Mandela is affectionately known, at his massive 75th birthday celebrations.
That Modern Day Fairytale: Charlize Theron
The story of Charlize Theron, an extraordinary woman and the first South African (and African) actor ever to win an Oscar, is as fantastical a fairytale-come-true as most Hollywood movies would have us believe is possible.
After a tragic upbringing—she witnessed her mother shoot her father dead in self-defence—in an ordinary little town east of Johannesburg, she trained as a ballet dancer before moving first to Europe and then the United States, where she was accepted at the Joffery Ballet in New York. She was also working as a photographic model at the time. Soon after her ballet breakthrough, a knee injury put an end to her dance career. Strangely undaunted she moved to Los Angeles, where she is still based, and began an acting career. She was only 18 years old.
She first garnered serious attention in the Tom Hank’s film, That Thing You Do in 1996 and then again in Woody Allen’s Celebrity in 1998. In 1999, the art-house hit Cider House Rules shot her to fame, but she also found that her next few roles really typecast her as ‘a beautiful young woman’, something that could have been rather career limiting in the longer term. But she soon put paid to this image with her extraordinary portrayal of American serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the film, Monster. Respected film critic, Roger Ebert wrote in his review of Monster that hers “was one of the greatest performances in the history of film”.
The rest is certainly a true fairytale: for this role, she won the Oscar for Best Actress at the 76th Academy Awards in February 2004, as well as the SAG Award (Screen Actors Guild Award) and the Golden Globe Award.
Because the government policy across the cultural environment favours funding infrastructure more than the actual artists, fine artists tend to have a more difficult time than those in the dramatic arts do in making ends meet. Simply put, there is very little infrastructure to fund other than galleries, most of which are privately owned anyway.
But it’s not all doom and gloom as the three major funding institutions: Department of Arts and Culture, its sister organisation, the National Arts Council and Business & Art South Africa, are all open to approaches from artists. They predominantly tend to help artists with the cost of having an art exhibition—things like rental on the gallery, printing costs for catalogues, and the likes. They also on occasion make small grants to artists for materials, but in truth most fine artists tend to have to find private funding or support themselves through other jobs so that they can afford to make art as well.
An interesting perspective from one of the country’s leading painters is that he feels the effects of not being subsidised has had some positive spin. He said artists were mostly forced to make their own way, to act independently. It may not have done great wonders for their bank balances, but it made them find a vocabulary and subject matter that was independent.
Like theatre, much South African art of the recent past reflected the urgent issues of the time and place—the socio-politics of the country, and played a major role in criticising the apartheid structures, especially over the last few decades. This work has been well supported by the major national galleries and it’s well worth a look at the exploratory and innovative ways artists have approached the subject. Some of the more common visual imagery of the time showed chaos and destruction, with burning and fractured landscapes that depict the horrors wrought by apartheid and those that erupted in its overthrow.
Now that fine artists are free, emotionally and in reality, from the constraints of apartheid, there is far more vibrancy, diversity and excitement in a lot of the work being created and shown around the country. In addition, local fine artists are much more in tune with international trends, not least because the end of apartheid also meant the end of the cultural boycott. The result is that work from some of our artists is as sophisticated as their international peers. This is borne out by the fact that major international art museums like the Tate Modern and New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) have in their collections art by top South African artists.
Young fine artists outside gordart Gallery in Melville, Johannesburg, one of the venues that gives young artists a chance to show their work, and wily art lovers the chance to buy art works ahead of the pack
There is an added and very positive dimension to much of contemporary South African art: it is born out of the enormous differences of cultural backgrounds and economic discrepancies, the great differences between rural and urban experience. Add to this already exciting fusion the plethora of new mediums artists can work in, due to contemporary and changing digital technologies, and you get a new variety and vibrancy that is hard to match.
To experience at first hand some of the art produced in this country—anything from traditional beadwork of extraordinary beauty and quality, to avant garde multimedia/new media work—it is really worth visiting the public museums and galleries, as well as some of the good commercial galleries.
In the public galleries, you can often see a good spread of work done over the years, giving you an interesting overview of the development of South African art, while the commercial galleries mostly tend to have specific exhibitions of an individual artist or group of artists whose work they are selling. There is of course no obligation to buy work when you visit commercial galleries—but I can vouch for the fact that the temptation is often irresistible!
Although our local galleries have never been able to afford a huge number of works from the world-famous greats, like, say, those in the United States have, there is a sufficient number of international masters to still your longings until you tune into the local scene.
The mixing of traditions, or cultural osmosis as the experts call it, caused by the interaction between Eurocentric and Afrocentric traditions can often result in work of a unique calibre. A small, but interesting example is the work of African artist Tito Zungu that depicts skyscrapers, aeroplanes and other icons of our contemporary culture, but presented in a mode that is very reminiscent of African beadwork. You will certainly see some of his work in the major galleries.
Other names to look out for when you do make a trip to any of the major galleries are Clive van den Berg, William Kentridge, Penny Siopis, Tommy Motswai, Willie Bester, Derrick Nxumalo, Joni Brenner and Bronwen Findlay. You should also look out for sculptures by Cecil Skotnes, Andries Botha, Jackson Hlungwane, Bonny Ntshalintshali, Jochim Schonfeldt and David Brown. Again, this list is light years away from being exhaustive, but it will help direct your experience of South African art initially.
There are also some superb collections of African art from across the continent. One of the most splendid is that housed in the Gertrude Posel gallery at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg—an absolute must for anyone interested in African art!
Some Galleries To Visits
Here is an ad hoc and ‘tip-of-the-iceberg’ list of some of the art museums and galleries, both public and commercial, that may well be worth visiting, but remember that as interest in South African art grows, so new galleries are springing up across the country. Please do check the media and with your friends so you don’t miss out!
Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery; Standard Bank Gallery; University of Johannesburg Art Gallery; Gertrude Posel Gallery; Goodman Gallery; Everard Read Gallery; Artist Proof Studio; Gallery on the Square, Sandton; Brodie/Stevenson.
Pretoria: Pretoria Art Museum; University of Pretoria Art Collection; Association of Arts.
Cape Town: South African National Gallery; Association for Visual Arts; Sanlam Art Gallery; Michaelis Galleries; Art.b; Irma Stern Museum.
Durban/Pietermaritzburg: Durban Art Gallery; Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg; Durban Institute of Technology Art Gallery; ArtSpace Durban; BAT Centre, Durban; KZNSA Gallery, Durban.
As South Africans become far more sensitive to the importance of artists working in the traditional, indigenous forms, so the boundaries between art and craft become far less defined. Many of the artists and crafts people are now able to see their work in galleries and museums alongside those of more traditional fine artists. This re-evaluation of indigenous work has also helped to drive the groundswell of interest in local craft. Some rural communities produce—and use—artefacts and objects of great beauty like beadwork and baskets, embroidery, ritual sculptures, food and drink serving vessels, and other containers.
Handcraft in South Africa is abundant, beautiful and often very unusual. It makes great inexpensive ornaments in your new home, or lovely gifts.
More common to city dweller and much easier to find and buy is contemporary craft. A lot of this work is made with traditional craft skills, but with new materials. And they serve new functions in urban societies. It has become quite trendy to use these urbanised artefacts in urban homes as they serve a great visual and functional effect—I speak from personal experience!
Examples of such works are very finely woven baskets made out of telephone cable wires; beadwork where beads are strung on thin wire and fashioned into a variety of decorative and functional works from baskets and other containers to replicas of animals, flowers and birds; or candle sticks, wastepaper baskets and picture frames fashioned out of flattened food and drink cans.
Much of this craft can be bought in the outdoor markets that are springing up all over the major cities and towns across the country, or simply on the side of the road from independent seller, or even at some of the larger traffic intersections in the cities. The prices are good and the crafts are fun and often functional too. The museum shops and galleries sell good quality craft, but they are more pricey. Besides these, a variety of small shops and boutiques also stock good craft. One of my top favourites is Art Africa in Parkview, Johannesburg. Their goods are always of extremely high quality and they also have an excellent variety, unusual and funky. The also sell work from other African countries.
If music is the food of love, there shouldn’t be an unloved South African in the country! Because of our cultural diversity, there is a plethora of different music styles and tastes, and as with fine arts, there is also a lot of mixing of local music with various music styles imported from across the world. This has given rise to a vibrant South African sound.
The Eurocentricity of the past meant that Western classical music and opera played a prominent role, and received reasonable levels of state sponsorship in a similar way to the performing arts of the time. Local classical orchestras, and there are quite a few, are generally quite good and since the lifting of the cultural boycott and sanctions in the early 1990s, we now often see, or rather hear, some of the world’s greats on our stages again. There are also some classically trained musicians who have used the platform and added their own spicy South African energy to deliver a unique experience—Rocco de Villiers is a great example.
Jazz has always had a prominent role in the country’s musical tenets with greats like trumpeter Hugh Masekela, the legendary pianist Dollar Brand (now Abdullah Ibrahim) and singer Miriam Makeba being some of our most well-known international players. But there is also an extensive array of excellent jazz musicians worth catching at any venue you can. Or on CD. They include groups like The African Jazz Pioneers and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, stars who play with various bands like Zim Ngqawana, McCoy Mrubata, Marcus Wyatt, Louis Mhlanga or soulfull jazz singers like Gloria Bosman, Judith Sephuma, or Thandi Klaasen. There are many, many more to choose from! Although jazz has always been popular, especially in the townships, more venues are springing up all over the major centres. Johannesburg’s most famous is Kippies. It has moved venue a couple of times in its long history, but currently is on the edge of Newtown in the downtown and is an absolute must!
South Africa has developed a wide variety of local contemporary music: sometimes a wonderful fusion of Western and African sound. Johnny Clegg and his band, Savuka, have captured the soul of this amalgamation superbly. Paul Simon did the same when he came to South Africa to talent hunt for his ‘Gracelands’ album. But right here at home, the variety is endless: there is township ‘bubblegum’, kwaito music, or township jive music which is a fusion of rural music with city pop. Go try them out.
Or try some of the more traditional and utterly glorious African choral work which has long been a favourite among many of the African communities, where competitions are held from school level onwards. The mountainous region of KwaZulu-Natal houses the world-famous Drakensberg Boys Choir. There, school boys with talent pursue their academic work as well as a hearty amount of singing. This choir has travelled around the world and hosted foreign visiting choirs too.
It is quite unfair to try and list the many great contemporary musicians and bands that play at clubs, gigs, in coffee bars on a Sunday, in the open air—anywhere. But for those of you who really want to feel our rhythm, pick up a copy of the Mail & Guardian every Friday for a comprehensive list of the happenings on the music front. The opinions of their reviewers are reliable on most occasions.
Although there is a growing number of buildings that reflect a South African-ness about them, most urban architecture, and especially the older buildings, predominantly reflect both European and American style. Each major region or centre does have a look of its own, partly because of the nature of the different settlers and also because of the climate and commercial differences.
Cape Town and its surrounds has some of the oldest buildings in the country, beautiful in their rural simplicity. The old Cape Dutch farm houses, now most easily seen in the homesteads on many of the wine estates, were built mostly with readily available materials. They have high ceilings and very thick walls. Timber was used for floors, doors, and window frames. The farm houses are usually painted white with thatched roofs and much of the woodwork is painted a traditional dark green. Many of the old homesteads are open for viewing as you take a trip through the wine country.
The South African Houses of Parliament (legislative) and De Tuynhuys, the office of the president, built in the late 1800s are also majestic buildings right in the city centre, accentuated by an oak-tree-lined avenue leading up to them.
Modern architecture, as in all cities in South Africa, varies greatly from a few sensitively designed gems to rather too many ordinary to mediocre building, topped by some utterly crass structures.
Durban has a more Victorian feel about its earlier architecture, with some of the country’s most beautiful civic buildings still operative in its city centre. The city hall, the old post office, Playhouse Theatre, the old railway station and the national museum are all in close proximity. It is quite wonderful to walk around this tree-lined area in the early evening or on a Sunday, studying the buildings unhindered by the weekday city rush.
The city’s beach front has developed into what many feel is a bit of a concrete jungle, but it has made this area accessible to many more people. In leisure hours it is a buzz of Durban’s cross-cultural lifestyle as people run and cycle, walk, swim, or simply just stand and watch the sun rise over the sea or the surfers riding the pounding waves.
As the country’s major port, Durban has a functional relationship with its harbour. I always get a great kick from being able to look down some of the city streets and, at the end of them, see major ocean-going vessels loading their cargo. There is also a lot of modern development and rehabilitation of the area around the harbour for both residential and recreational use.
Johannesburg is the new kid on the block. Although founded during the gold rush of 1886, architecturally it is a hard and modern city. There are some wonderful old buildings, which are mostly in the downtown area. The original Rand Lords, the entrepreneurs who made their millions early in the city’s history, built homes of magnificent opulence on the hills just north of the old city centre. Today, many of these old mansions still exist mostly as corporate headquarters, company training centres and the likes, which with a bit or organisation you can usually arrange to visit. Well worth the effort.
But Johannesburg is really a fast track, regenerating city. Old buildings frequently give way to newer ones with glass skyscrapers being very prominent on its skyline, reminiscent of modern American cities. This is not surprising since some of the most overt glass buildings were designed by the famous American Helmut Jahn. An example of one of his buildings is at No. 11 Diagonal Street, next to the old Stock Exchange in downtown Johannesburg.
A new monumental banking centre for First National Bank was built in the city centre. It has an interesting concept with an innovative approach to street level culture. In addition to the spaces for hawkers and small shops, paths and walkways interconnect for easy access across its two-block mass.
A lot of the Johannesburg city life has spilled into the residential suburbs in more recent decades and many people never come into the downtown area these days. They have their own office and shopping precincts surrounded by residential life. For example, Sandton, an affluent area north of the centre of the city, has attracted a lot of business development, and even the new Johannesburg Stock Exchange, now called the JSE Securities Exchange, moved from the city centre to Sandton.
At least some of this decentralisation can be blamed on the high crime rate in the past in the city centre, but these days the downtown has begun a regeneration campaign—and like many in the world, it is fast becoming a sought-after environment for the younger and more avant garde, as well as home to many much poorer communities. Indeed, I enjoy the fact the city centre is a hub of the real South Africa: a melting pot of race, culture, creed and class. It also has some of the greatest multicultural entertainment areas in Newtown near the new Mandela Bridge.
South Africa offers an array of architectural styles to choose from—most of them cribbed from various European countries and then somewhat adapted to suit our sunny climate. You can have a mock Tudor home if you so choose or a rustic, white Greek-style home. Spanish architecture, or more often a poor imitation of the coastal Spanish one, is quite a favourite urban-style home, so is a local interpretation of Tuscan villas. Some of the southern European-style homes make a lot of sense in our sunny climate, as do roofed verandas that allow outdoor relaxation without being too frazzled by the sun.
More recently, there has been a post-modern splurge as well as a move towards a type of neo-classical design, especially for townhouses and cluster home developments. But it is unfair to brand all architecture with an imitative label. There is certainly a growing amount of architecture, especially in the domestic environment, that is innovative, appropriate to the climate, people, culture and available technology. The style of these homes is peculiar to the architect who designs them and are often a pleasure to live in.
From the 1970s until independence, South Africa experienced a cultural boycott as part of international moves to end apartheid. Some artists felt it was not the right course of action to choose because it isolated the country even further, and prevented the spread of internationally accepted norms and worldwide changes. Others agreed with it, believing that anything that would hasten the end of the horrific regime was worth the sacrifice. Whatever the view, one of the effects was an abundance of politically inspired protest work in both the fine arts and performing arts environments.
Once apartheid fell, there was a brief hiatus in both quantity and quality in the arts environment, as the nation’s creative talent adjusted to its newfound freedom. But today, I believe there is a far greater level of artistic talent and expression fed, not from the negative, but driven by the excitement and challenges of developing a new, multicultural identity. In fact, if you are a collector of art, or love performing arts, there is an abundance of fresh, innovative and often very local fare to choose from. Go out there and enjoy!
