It may be dwarfed by the seven-storey Norway spruce — tipping the scales at well over 100 tons — standing proud outside the Rockefeller Center in New York, and may lack the bespoke baubles of Burberry designer Daniel Lee’s tree, to be unveiled in the lobby of London’s Claridge’s hotel in London in two week’s time. Nonetheless, the smart set flocked to the centre court of Joburg’s swishest shopping centre on Thursday evening for the annual lighting of its 8m faux-fir Christmas tree, marking the start of the holiday season.
Hyde Park Corner is where the well-heeled head for all their festive décor (who wouldn’t want to hang a Nicholas & Co Christmas wreath fashioned from pine branches, red berries and pinecones for only R6,500 on their front door?). And this year — to roll out the Christmas cheer — the mall put on a show featuring ballet, a jazz duo and one of the land’s most popular choirs.
I waded through the crowd, who were waiting to watch performers from the Dirk Badenhorst-founded Mzansi Ballet pirouette through scenes from The Nutcracker and Teddy Bear’s Picnic, and headed into a VIP section, which was flanked by a French champagne pop-up stand.
There I was greeted by society doyenne Peta Eggierth-Symes (a shoo-in for Mrs Claus in a red cocktail dress with matching headband) and Yolanda Kloppers, who still sports the lithe figure that saw her crowned Miss South Africa in 1978.
Glittering like a tree ornament was The River actress Gina Koffman (I had to ask about her surname – turns out her grandfather’s German. “He came to South Africa and never left”).
On the topic of names, I never know if I should call the bubbly former Big Brother Mzansi contestant I meet next by the name she took on the show (Yolanda Monyai), Yolanda Mukondi (as she has been called in some press articles) or the name on her Instagram profile, Eulenda Mukondeleli.
What I can tell you is that the TV personality lit up the room.
“It’s Christmas so there had to be something red in it and a little bit of African,” said the TV personality about her outfit.
To get us in the mood, Graeme Watkins and Nathan Ro of the Swing City band kicked off the evening with their rendition of It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, and our spirits were lifted when the Soweto Gospel Choir belted out O Holy Night.
Nibbles? No fruit cake, but we were all handed mini boxes of glazed donuts, while Olives & Plates provided savoury treats, including mini Yorkshire puds topped with caramelised onions and horseradish crème fraîche, panko-crusted prawns and mini tacos with pineapple and chili salsa.
Forget turkey with all the trimmings — there is nothing that captures the spicy mood of Mzansi quite like Portuguese-style flame-grilled chicken.
Home-grown restaurant chain Nando’s has the market cornered, thanks to its distinctive peri-peri sauce. Its cheeky ads, which poke fun at the things that make us go “Eish!”, have become a welcome release from our national angst.
So I was a little concerned when an invite announcing “Nando’s Change is in the Air” landed in my in-box.
Could the brand be toning down its marketing campaigns, which have turned up the heat on national talking points, from load-shedding to the blue light brigade, and even Julius Malema.
To learn more, I headed to the Nando’s restaurant at Fourways Mall in the north of Joburg on Friday afternoon.
This was a launch where we were fed first (no complaints, as guests — including veteran broadcaster Noxolo Grootboom and a few faces I recognised from the TikTok For You page — helped themselves to a banquet of Nando’s menu favs).
“We spent a lot of time trying to figure out how do we shake up this Nando’s brand that South Africa has loved so deeply for so long — and how do we bring more young people in and make it cool again while keeping the things about the brand that people love,” Jessica Wheeler, the peri-peri chicken purveyor’s chief brand and customer officer, tells us once our tummies are satisfied.
The result of nine months of soul searching is a little less sarcasm and dollops of that secret sauce that makes Nando’s who they are, in a campaign called, “Oh What a Place!”. It features a roll call of folk, many of whom have found fame on social media, who capture the essence of “that thing”.
“We’re all made from this special kind of fire,” is how Noxolo explains it in the ad.
Among those who turned up was Rachel Kgapola, the Nando’s drive-through attendant in Springs who became a viral sensation for boasting a tone as gravelly as rapper Senzo Mfundo Vilakazi, better known as Kwesta.
“She definitely does,” says the Spirit and Ngud hitmaker when I ask who has the deeper voice.
Meanwhile, Noxolo’s stint in the Nando’s campaign is further proof that the flame hasn’t dimmed after she bid adieu to reading SABC news bulletins in 2021 after 37 years.
“Actually, it turns out that I haven’t retired. I have been busy. Life outside formal work is good because I get to do stuff on my own terms, being my own boss,” said the news anchor, who wore a gorgeous black and white outfit finished off with a matching Xhosa headwrap.
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