Making It! 2026 celebrates 25 years of the Craft and Design Institute (CDI) shaping South Africa’s creative economy. Taking place from March 24 to 25 in the Kramerville Design District, the conference brings together designers, founders, strategists and investors to focus on one key theme: scaling creative businesses.
The conference will be hosted at Level Three in Sandton, with an evening reception at Katy’s Palace Bar.
Founded in 2001, the CDI has grown from supporting 63 makers to a national network of more than 8,300 creative enterprises across all nine provinces. Making It! reflects the sector’s shift from participation to structured growth, national presence and long-term sustainability.
Award-winning broadcaster Shado Twala will serve as MC, leading a powerful line-up that includes ceramic artist Andile Dyalvane, Jozi My Jozi’s Dawn Robertson, Chocolate Tribe CEO Nosipho Maketo-van den Bragt, CDI founding CEO Erica Elk, BASA CEO Beth Arendse, cultural worker Thulile Gamedze, and design entrepreneur Joey Khuvutlu.
The programme also features voices from fintech, marketing and architecture, including Dave Duarte of Treeshake, Ronald Makomba of Yoco**, and Prof Emmanuel Nkambule from the University of Johannesburg.
TimesLIVE
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