South Africa Shopping

South African Music

The sub-divisions within the South African music industry are enormous, and commence, as with everything else in South Africa, along the basic sub-divisions of race.

South Africa is a member of the Commonwealth family, a stem from the root of European colonial expansion, and as a consequence the nation is closely aligned with others such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and more distantly, the United States. What differs in the case of South Africa is that the indigenous races did not succumb to the genocide of alcohol, displacement, disease and social engineering as they did eslewhere. Therefore the white tribe of South Africa was forced to share it’s cultural landscape with blacks, reluctantly initially, but more generously as time went on, until today it is more a case of blacks sharing their cultural landscape with whites, and that, as many would agree, is as it should be.

Diversity of Styles

The result has been the growth of a wonderful mélange of different sounds and rhythms, of expressions, sentiments, styles and methods that are replicated nowhere else on earth.

The basic categories of black, white, Asian and coloured music have over the years splintered and diversified, with each at times lending and borrowing from the other, resulting in a multitude of overlapping influences.

This has thrown up some very peculiar concepts, such as the irrepressible 1970s musical Ipi Tombi, the Soweto String Quartet, Juluka, the Drakensberg Boys Choir, and such Afro jazz giants as Hugh Masekela, Dollar Brand and Kippie Moeketsi.

Date: June 21st, 2008 | 3 comments

Flea Markets and Craft Markets in Cape town

Capetonians love flea markets! and we have several every weekend: Here are the main ones.

Greenpoint Stadium Flea market: This started with a guy selling Boerewors rolls on the weekend and has blossomed into the largest fleamarket in Cape Town.

It is held every Sunday and public holiday from 09:00 till 17:00. This used to be a fantastic market with bric-a-brac and intersting things, nowadays it has declined into somewhat of a tourist trap, with many stalls selling identical items, Chinese grey goods and boot polished curios. It is still worth a walk around, if not only for the bustle and throng. It is situated in Greenpoint, in the carpark of the stadium, but since construction began for 2010 I suspect the market has been moved nearby or cancelled for the time being. I will update this post when I get information.

Milnerton Market: This is my favourite flea market in Cape Town, with plenty of oddities and collectables that vendors have dredged from deceased estates and antique stores. The market has a policy of keeping the curio and t-shirt sellers to a minimum to retain the feel of the market. It is held on an open piece of land next to the R27 (West Coast Road) in Milnerton every Saturday and Sunday from 07:00 till 16:00. There are some good food stands here also selling pancakes, boerewors rolls, biltong and rusks.

Date: August 19th, 2007 | 2 comments

Decorex and design for living Exhibitions: Part deus, the revenge.

So as mentioned in my earlier post, we decided to do BOTH shows in one day, luckily Decorex closed at 5 or we would of had to toss the spare wheel to transport all the pamphlets.

Decorex ‘07 has now finished, having run from the 26th-29th April, so I am going to tell you about it, but you can’t go.

This was the first time I have been to this show and I must say I was very impressed. Not just with the stands and the exhibitors, but with the convention centre itself. Wow, the CTICC (Cape Town International Convention Centre) is a world class structure, for a moment I thought I was in lost in Europe. My neighbour Simon, was one of the architects involved in the project, so we stood around in his part, for a while. Very nice, well done Simon.

Date: May 1st, 2007 | 1 comment

Southafricanisms: Biltong - the quintessential South African delicacy and mouthwatering marvel of meat.

Spend a day in South Africa and chances are you will come across Biltong in some shape or form. Any shop that sells food is likely to have some biltong, be it chopped, in sticks, in a big hunk or its poorer cousin droewors (dry sausage). Many haute-cuisine South African restaurants try to incorporate it into their tourist freindly menus.

Biltong (from Dutch Rump-Strip) is made from strips of meat. Generally beef is used, but also kudu, ostrich, springbok and just about anything with a heartbeat. Fish Biltong is known as Bokkoms. The meat is dried with rock salt, coriander seeds and vinegar, but as with any traditional delicacy there are many variations.

Date: December 4th, 2006 | 1 comment

WITW Neighbour goods market - Woodstock, Cape Town.

Cape Town is dotted with markets. Most with curios, antiques, clothing and the obligatory “yellow food” array.

For something a little different, WITW (What If The World), have initiated an organic food, crafts and design market in what was the old biscuit factory in Woodstock.

One can find incredible artisinal breads and locally produced premium olives, amongst all sorts of wonderfull fresh fruits and vegetables. More than 50 stands of produce in all. It is only open on Saturdays and has a huge following of Jamie Oliver and “knit your own yoghurt” types on Vespa’s and unicycles.

Date: November 30th, 2006 | No Comments