CityViews
December - January 2012
YOUR FREE CAPE TOWN CENTRAL CITY PAPER
another angle Cape Town as an
UNEXPECTED CITY
Designing a more
inclusive economy
Cape Town
creatives at play
>> page 3
CLEAN | SAFE | CAR I NG
>> page 8&9
Your secret city
shopping tips >> page 13,14&15
Photo: Andrew Brauteseth
See the city from
2
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R THE REDISCOVERY OF WONDE
CITYVIEWS
Time to explore, experience and appreciate December 2011 is upon us, and with it end-of-year parties, family gatherings, holiday planning (and any moment now, an influx of tourists). This year end, whether you’re celebrating Ashura, Bodhi or Christmas, Hanukkah or Yule, New Year’s Eve or Tweede Nuwe Jaar – or simply time off from work – let me encourage you to take time to appreciate the place you’re in and the people you’re with. The streets of Cape Town Central City and the people who live here never fail to surprise and are so often a source of inspiration and serendipity – happy discoveries made unexpectedly. If you’d like a few happy accidents this holiday, then go exploring.
diversity of spaces and stores, from markets to the more upmarket – is an ideal place to start. Plan a Sunday picnic in the Company’s Garden (pages 6 to 7) and use the MyCiTi bus service into the CBD, now available over weekends, to get there. Make a point “Cities aren’t static. of visiting the many marThey always kets onare at this time of year evolving, driven – on Harrington, the by Grand the energy of Parade, the Fanthe Walk, people who live Greenmarket Square – and and work and walk mastering the art of price their streets. At negotiations while you’re the CCID we don’t there (see page 12 to 15 for just aim to keep up more that shopping ideas). with level of Go to at least one of the urban change, butsummer parties and events to drive it in the on – whether the Switching right direction.” on of the Festive Lights, MCQP, the march of Kaapse Klopse or Twilight Team Run – and try out a new Go on an adventure restaurant or retailer. AlThe city centre – with its ternatively, go on a stayca-
Dec / Jan 2012
Published by: The Central City Improvement District (CCID)
Editor: Judith Browne: 021 419 1881 judith@capetownpartnership.co.za
Contributors:
read Andrew Brauteseth’s tips for seeing Cape Town in a new light on page 9).
tion: Book into a local B&B or hotel, or arrange a house swop with a friend in the Central City, and explore the city by night. Whatever you do, make a holiday of Cape Town and support our local industries.
Alan Cameron Caroline Jordan Louise McCann Rebekah Kendal Andrew Fleming
Give the gift of gratitude Last month we started our “gratitude attitude” feature, in which we profile one person per month who shapes the city we live in. Take time these next few weeks to identify who and what you’re grateful for – maybe it’s the street cleaner who serves with a smile, or the taxi driver who ensures you’re never late for work, or the green public space you have so close to your home – and then take time to tell someone about it, whether in an anonymous post-it note, a letter to your local councillor, a surprise visit to a friend. And in your gratitude, remember those who have less, who are
Rediscover a sense of wonder If 2011 has left you wondering why Cape Town was awarded the title of World Design Capital 2014, why Table Mountain is a New7Wonder of Nature, why we made The New York Times list of hip cities that think about how the work, don’t take anyone else’s word for it: Explore the city and find out what wows people at home and abroad for yourself. Go beyond your boundaries and your usual route. Lose yourself on the streets. Meet someone new. (And
Website:
sometimes forgotten or sidelined – the elderly, the very young, the impoverished, the homeless – and consider expressing gratitude by giving back and giving where it will make a difference. May the next two months be filled with many happy accidents and pleasant surprises – ones that happen to you, and ones you make happen for others. Until February 2012 (when the next issue of City Views hits the shelves) have a wonderful and wonder-filled time in the Mother City. Tasso Tasso Evangelinos is the COO of the CCID
www.capetowncid.co.za www.capetownpartnership.co.za
Design: Infestation 021 461 8601 The Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) is a collaboration of the public and private sectors, working together to develop, promote and manage Cape Town’s Central City since 2000. The Cape Town Partnership and the CCID were formed when the City of Cape Town, the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA), the Cape Town Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other stakeholders came together to address issues of urban degeneration, disinvestment in the Central City and related social problems. The Central City’s rapid regeneration process has been built upon the strength and pillars of successful private-public partnerships at both operational and strategic levels, and a shared vision for a clean, safe and caring Cape Town CBD.
SAVE THESE NUMBERS ON YOUR PHONE CCID Security Manager: 082 453 2942
Letters to the CCID “Last night I was rescued by two of your outstanding patrolmen. I had somehow lodged my car on a concrete island and could not get out. I was about to lose hope when two of your vehicles pulled up with Sondlo and Neven … They had been dispatched out of their jurisdiction to help me.
CCID Deputy Security Manager: 082 442 2112
Gratitude attitude
CCID 24-hour number: 082 415 7127 SAPS Control Room: 021 467 8002 Social Department: 082 563 4289
Telling your story in City Views
Everyday acts of kindness help transform Cape Town, and City Views would like to recognise those individuals who would otherwise continue doing good work, but without thanks. Photo: Caroline Jordan
CARING CITY
“They are my heroes because they were kind and ever so helpful and came up with an amazing solution to my dilemma. They are definitely shining examples of your force … I am originally from Johannesburg and I have never experienced such service from my city ’til now and will be singing your praises for a long time. Please give my thanks to Sondlo and Neven, and thank you for being the guardian angels of Cape Town. Photo: Muneeb Hendricks
Warmest regards, Cristina Alves Ferreira”
Abe Bravo
At the end of the 2011 and the start of a new year, we wanted to say thank you to Abraham (Abe) Bravo of Sturk’s Tobacconist. Sturk’s was first established in Cape Town in 1793, with the arrival of Hendrick Sturk from Holland, and has only ever been owned by three families. Abe, who came to South Africa from Lithuania when he was only seven months old, in 1928, has dedicated 14 years – since 1 April 1997 of his life – to working in the shop and the Central City. Just four months ago, he sold his share in the business. Luckily for us, Abe continues to make an appearance in the store.
Abe, for your hard work, and on behalf of the community that makes up Cape Town Central City, thank you!
Sturk’s Tobacconists 54 Shortmarket Street T: 021 423 3928 www.sturkstobacconists.co.za
City Views does not sell advertising or editorial space at this time. We are, however, always on the look out for city ownership stories: tales of people who love the CBD, who choose to live, work, study, invest, and play here. If you would like to be featured, please send your story to judith@capetownpartnership.co.za for consideration. Please note that submission of a story doesn’t guarantee that it will be included.
Distributing City Views If you’re an eager reader of City Views – and you know others who would enjoy reading it too, consider becoming a distributor. All we need is your contact details, address and how many copies you need each month. Or, if you would just like to track down where you can obtain your FREE copy send an email to Aziza Patandin on aziza@capetownpartnership.co.za.
Reading City Views Is there someone who has transformed your experience of the inner city? Tell us why you’re grateful: The pick of every month will be included in City Views.
We love knowing who our readers are and what they think. If you enjoy your copy of City Views, why not mail a picture of you reading it, wherever you love to read it (Your local coffee shop? On a street bench while people-watching?) telling us what you enjoyed most. If we like it, we’ll run it. Get in touch: judith@capetownpartnership.co.za.
Dec / Jan 2012
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3
REPORTBACK CEO’S FORUM
Business leaders
87.4%
support plan for a new economic partnership
is the percentage that the Cape Town city region contributes towards the Western Cape GDP. The region also houses 78% of the provincial population.
City Views spoke to Andrew Boraine – who is leading the EDP charge – to find out what the Economic Development Partnership means for you and me.
Photos by Lisa Burnell
Why do we need an EDP?
The EDP project management team From back left: Terri Carter of the Cape Town Partnership, Theuns Olivier from KPMG, Karin Palmer from the City of Cape Town, EDP convenor Andrew Boraine, Stuart Watson from KPMG, Matt Cullinan from the National Treasury Technical Advisory Unit
O
ver 70 leaders from business and industry associations like the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum and Accelerate Cape Town, as well as municipal managers and economic agencies across the Western Cape, gathered at the CTICC on 21 November 2011 for the first CEO’s Forum. Hot topic? How to redesign our provincial economic delivery system to grow opportunities, not inequality. “The provincial government’s number one goal is to grow the economy and create jobs,” explains Western Cape Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Alan Winde. “And we need to find mechanisms to bring the economy together, which is why we’re creating the Economic Development Partnership. The EDP will be a cross-sector partnership between government, business, labour and civil society, with the overall purpose of ensuring a cohesive economic delivery system to achieve this goal.”
What will the EDP do?
The EDP will be launched in April 2012 as a not-for-profit company, with the overall purpose of creating greater cohesion in the regional economic delivery system.
From front left: Bongi Dayimani from the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, Alison Goldstuck from the City of Cape Town, Dilshaad Gallie from the City of Cape Town, Thembinkosi Siganda from the City of Cape Town and EDP project manager Yumnaa Firfirey
Why?
So that the Western Cape achieves its full economic growth potential. So that economic growth is inclusive – helping create jobs and reduce inequality
How does it plan to do this? 1. Better economic information
Access to evidence-based economic information is important if you’re going to make good decisions. The EDP will coordinate the analysis and sharing of economic research and data, to help those
“We need a way of addressing jobless economic growth and relentless poverty. The provincial economy grew by about 45% between 2001 and 2010, but the regional workforce only grew by about 16% during that time. That kind of jobless growth needs to change.” – Andrew Boraine
whose decisions make a significant impact on the economy make more informed decisions. 2. A common economic agenda and delivery plan
Getting everyone reading the same book (and preferably the same page) is vital. The EDP will coordinate the development of a common economic vision, strategy, agenda and action plan. 3. Business expansion
In order to attract, retain and grow businesses and deliver more jobs, the Western Cape needs a wellorganised business and investment climate. The EDP will identify current gaps in the economic delivery system and work in partnership to improve performance.
“We need a way of addressing jobless economic growth and relentless poverty. The provincial economy grew by about 45% between 2001 and 2010, but the regional workforce only grew by about 16% during that time. That kind of jobless growth needs to change. Sustainable social development must include access to jobs and incomes otherwise it becomes a welfare trap. Access to employment not only reduces dependence on social services but also increases social development, cohesion, and aspirations. Building the breadth and depth of the labour market is the only way to bring more people into it. Without economic development, the most skilled people move on and the least employable and dependent are left behind. The EDP is a response by provincial government – and the role-players who are supporting this process – to tackle the challenge of jobless growth.”
Why a “partnership” for economic development? “No one organisation can, on its own, successfully resolve the structural problems of unemployment, inequality and poverty, or address the need for basic services and shelter in informal settlements, or the challenges faced by communi-
4. A strong regional brand
The Western Cape currently has a strong leisure and tourism brand but lacks a strong business brand and an integrated economic development strategy. The EDP will work towards creating a unified business brand for the Western Cape. 5. The monitoring and improvement of economic performance
While the economic delivery system will not be transformed overnight, the EDP will lead a process of performance monitoring to support continuous improvement.
Hard at work at the CEO’s Forum
ties wracked by gang violence and drugs: Government organisations have the statutory mandate and possess many of the resources, but are not always sufficiently in touch with fine-grained community issues, or the business and investment environment. Civil society organisations are usually powerful advocates of the rights and needs of specific constituencies and sectors, but often lack both the resources and the strategic capacity to translate mobilisation into effective delivery. Private sector organisations often have resources, but are in many instances out of touch with the complexities of community needs and sometimes do not fully appreciate the structural nature of economic exclusion and underdevelopment. But a partnership – a network of people who place high premium on teamwork and networking, who are able to work in a flexible and responsive structure – can help to change that.”
A partnership is only as strong as its partners, and a plan is only as good as its implementation and results. So if you’d like to be involved in the process, then get in touch with Lindiwe Mavuso: info@edp.co.za.
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CityViews
Dec / Jan 2012
YS 16 DAYS, 16 WA
16 ways to make Cape
From 25 November until 10 December is 16 Days of Activism
Town more caring and inclusive
How can you play your part in reducing gender-based violence and creating safe spaces for everyone – not just over 16 days, but also every other day of the year? India Baird – a human rights lawyer and activist, who recently started a grassroots movement to encourage and advocate for safe spaces, Rock Girl – took time to share 16 easy ways.
Don’t just commute. Connect: 1
Most of us have an established route to and from our daily activities. We often see the same people, waiting at the bus stop, on the taxi, buying coffee. By acknowledging those individuals you see each day, even with just a smile and nod, you are making yourself – and them – safer. When people feel connected, they are more likely to protect one another.
at night, avoid the poorly lit corners and stairways, make note of the shops that are open, and invite friends and colleagues to walk to your cars, bus stop or train station together. When you see a woman or girl alone on public transport, sit or stand near her to support her and help keep her safe. 4
Encourage your workplace or school to keep the public space around them clean, well-lit, and monitored. 5 Look out for your friends:
Don’t let your friends go home drunk or leave a club, party, or event with someone they have just met, especially if they are tipsy. They may be angry with you that night, but will thank you in the morning. 6
Blow a whistle:
Report suspicious behaviour as soon as you see it. Whether you are on Table Mountain or St Georges Mall, or parking at Canal Walk or Mitchells Plain, report any suspicious behaviour at once. Ensure that you have the mountain rescue number and police line in your phone and don’t be afraid to call them. 3
Try something new:
Take girls and women to rugby matches, soccer games, car races – anywhere they have traditionally been excluded. By neutralising and de-genderising these spaces, you create safer spots for all. 7
2
Keep it clean:
Speak up:
Encourage girls and women to participate in leadership-building activities like running clubs, boxing, music clubs, and debate teams. Participation in these activities builds confidence. Confidence reduces the incidence of abuse and violence. The more girls and women are encouraged to speak up and speak out as leaders, the safer our cities will become.
decisions about new buildings, parks, and stadiums. Women and girls often have great ideas that makes spaces like train stations, streets and parking garages more women and child-friendly. 9 Include and involve more men:
Engage boys and men in discussions about the importance of respecting women and involve them in decision-making around safe spaces. Changing public perception requires men and boys to acknowledge their own behaviour. 10
Celebrate leadership:
South Africa is fortunate enough to have some extraordinary female leaders in government, business, the media, and entertainment, including a female premier and female mayor in the Western Cape. Teach girls about these women and give them access to their ideas and opinions. 11
Speak out:
When you see someone harassing or intimidating a woman or girl, or anyone, say something. By acknowledging that the behaviour is wrong, you are empowering the woman or girl to expect better treatment – and shaming the perpetrator to stop what they are doing. 12
Stay in school:
Photo: Caroline Jordan
From 25 November until 10 December is 16 Days of Activism – for no violence against women and children.
India Baird with one of the Safe Spaces benches at Freeworld Design Centre
funding to increase girls’ academic confidence and competence. 13 Support those who do good work:
Support organisations that provide services to women and girls who are survivors of sexual violence. Volunteer at Rape Crisis, donate clothing and food to Thuthuzela Care Centres, provide funding to health clinics and community centres that care for and treat survivors of gender violence, join your local community policing forum or neighbourhood watch. Some of these organisations are facing imminent closure – help keep them open and thriving. 15
Stand up:
Women are much less likely to get pregnant, engage in risky behaviour, or accept domestic or sexual violence if they are literate and can speak up for themselves. Donate your time as a tutor or mentor, hire girls and women as interns in your business, offer scholarships and
Demand more from your elected officials at the local, provincial, and national level. Gender violence is at epidemic proportions in South Africa. Write letters, make phone calls, visit offices to demand safer spaces for girls and women. Demand that our elected officials
Tips for living positively
I’d have laughed. Impossible! I’ve since learnt nothing is impossible,” says Barbara Kingsley
Travel together:
Avoid walking home after dark when you are alone. If you do walk
Include and involve more women: 8
Include women and girls in planning
Positive Heroes – based out of Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital – is an organisation that identifies and promotes people from all walks of life who are leading fulfilling, healthy lives with HIV. Read their top tips for a positive life – and be inspired by these ordinary Capetonians living extraordinary lives. Faghmeda Miller was the first Muslim woman in South africa to disclose her HIV status.
Tip 1: “If you can survive the first few minutes of sheer shock of realisation of your HIV-positive status, you are already a hero!” says Faghmeda Miller Tip 2: “I think I’ve applied some of the lessons learnt through being sick to life in general. I have learnt I’m much stronger than I thought and that when I think I can’t go on and have nothing left, I can. If someone had told me before I became ill that I’d one day run a marathon,
Tip 3: “Try and reduce your stress, it hurts your body and your mind. We worry so much
about things that probably will never happen – and we forget to enjoy today. I laugh as much as possible and I always hug my friends and family every day,” says Evelina Tshabalala Tip 4:
“I told my virus – if you want to stay alive, you have to let me live too. If I die, then you will die too.
treat women and girls with respect in their own lives as well. And most importantly, use the power of your vote when they don’t. 14
Get a work-out:
Volunteer at organisations that use sport to create change, such as the JAG Foundation or Grassroots Soccer, which has a girls-only soccer programme to educate girls about HIV/AIDS and sexual health. 16
Buy a bench:
Rock Girl has partnered with artists and designers to create symbolic Safe Space public benches – to be found around Cape Town, and surrounding communities, and designed to inspire, educate, and provoke discussion around how to make our city safer for all. Consider motivating for your company to sponsor a bench.
Go to www.rockgirlsa. org for details on how we can create more safe spaces for women.
So we must work together. Every day I remind my virus that we have lived another day. And every night before I sleep, I tell my virus I will see it in the morning,” says Masibulele Gcabo Tip 5:
“Man, you must take your medicine. It is your best friend and will keep you strong. Not to take your ARVs is to give up. And why? Rome wasn’t built in a day. Stick with your meds and you will live as long as everyone else,” says Kenneth Methula Live positively, give positively: www.positiveheroes.org.za
Dec / Jan 2012
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5
REATE FREEDOM TO C
Living with HIV
Freedom to Create 2011 – a prize, exhibition, concert, women’s empowerment forum and series of workshops – has just been held in Cape Town, and Senegalese rap artist Sister Fa awarded this year’s main prize – from a pool of 2 051 entries from over 145 countries, including 56 from South Africa – at the prizegiving in Kirstenbosch in recognition of her work promoting social justice and inspiring the human spirit. What did this series of events mean for those involved?
This forum is about the celebration of freedom, about the celebration of creativity, about celebration of women. I find this a unique, meaningful and innovative combination, and it is inspiring to me.
“
“
Graça Machel, at the Female Empowerment Forum at the Fugard
Sister Fa is a powerful example of how many artists around the world are using their talent to be the voice of courage in their community, standing up for social justice and in defense of human dignity.
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Priti Devi, Freedom to Create spokesperson
“
What I’ve learned is that people from different parts of the world share a visual language. We share a common humanity. If you take our skins off we are all the same on the inside. In this group we are all on longterm drug treatments. And we have discovered, we all, all of us, have fragile bodies, but we have massive things to say.
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Rachel Gadsden, one of this years commended artits
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I was nervous at first, because this was a new experience for me. They asked us what is freedom. I was asking myself am I free or am I dom? The answer is freedom is me, to build a better future for me. One day I want a permanent job.
“
Patrick, a participant in Dylan Valley’s Freedom to Create filmmaking workshop
Did you miss Freedom to Create? Go to the Company’s Garden until 18 December to see an exhibition of artists’ work the organisation supports, and then visit www.freedomtocreate.com for more information – particularly on how to enter for the prize next year.
World AIDS Day is an important day to commemorate, but also an opportunity to celebrate the many lives lived positively. Cape Town-based photographer David Chancellor’s Living (+) Positive project – which documented the lives of HIV-positive people living in informal settlements around Cape Town and the positive effect that antiretroviral (ARV) treatment can have – represents just that sort of celebration. While shooting the project in 2005, David spent months in communities in Khayelitsha, Langa, and Nyanga, working with the South African and British Red Cross Society. At the time, ARVs were not yet widely available in South Africa: “We wanted to look at what happened if you did help, not what happened if you didn’t help,” David says. Up until then, for the most part, the images associated with HIV/AIDS were those of pain and suffering; through Living (+) Positive, David hoped to put forward an alternative image. The original exhibition was set out in such a way that the viewer was initially simply faced with a series of photographs documenting life in the townships. It was only when the viewer reached the end of the exhibition and read the testimonies of those in the pictures that he or she would realise that the people in photographs were living with HIV/ AIDS. The point, David explains, was to change people’s perceptions about what an HIV-positive person should look like and how they could live their lives. David, who moved to South Africa not only because the “light is extraordinary” but also because the country is full of so many interesting, heartfelt stories, admits that almost everything about the project was challenging. Because, at the time, there were many people who were not being helped, he was also confronted by the darker, more familiar, face of HIV – those who were seriously ill, death, those who did not want to know their status, and those who were too afraid to disclose it. However, there were also rewards. “There were lots of sitters who disclosed their status and went on to become peer leaders,” says David. For his work on the Living (+) Positive project, David was shortlisted as one of 50 artists for this year’s Freedom to Create prize, hosted in Cape Town, and some of his photographs are on display in the Company’s Garden until 18 December 2011. Take a lunch break and a walk – and be inspired.
David Chancellor
Photo: David Chancellor
“
01 December was World AIDS Day
6
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Dec / Jan 2012
Cape Town’s
green & historic heart
RH EED E
12
UCT HIDDINGH CAMPUS MICHAELIS GALLERIES
THE LABIA
The Company’s Garden was originally established to provide fresh produce for the spice-trading ships of the Dutch East India Company. Today it’s an urban sanctuary that offers plenty of food for thought.
1.
Iziko South African Museum
exhibits 700-million-year-old fossils, a myriad other wonders of nature and – every child’s favourite – a unique collection of whale casts and skeletons. Current exhibits include Save our Seabirds and an exploration of rock art copies titled Made in Translation. Open: Daily from 10h00 to 17h00 T: 021 481 3800 Cost: Teens and children free, students and pensioners R10, adults R20
www.iziko.org.za/museums/ south-african-museum
2.
Iziko Bertram House
is an extensively restored late Georgian town house tucked away in the Hiddingh Campus at the top of Government Avenue. Andreas Momsen, the dairyman of the Dutch East India Company, built the house for his wife, and then named it after her. Open: Daily from 10h00 to 17h00 T: 021 481 3852 Cost: Teens and children free, adults R10
www.iziko.org.za/museums/ bertram-house
3.
Hiddingh Campus
includes the University of Cape Town’s interdisciplinary Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts and the Michaelis School of Fine Art, who host regular exhibitions, events, seminars and workshops. T: 021 480 7142 Cost: Exhibitions and seminars are free
www.gipca.uct.ac.za
IZIKO SA MUSEUM
3 NGE
2
HO
IZIKO AMPH
1
THE LITTLE THEATRE
IZIKO BERTRAM HOUSE
F
THE PADDOCKS
AVENUE STREET
PADDOCK LANE
CAPE TOWN HIGH
4
THE JEWISH MUSEUM
5
THE HOLOCAUST CENTRE
GARDENS COMMERCIAL
GREAT SYNAGOGUE
HATFIELD VREDE
garden’s shade. The whole landscape perpendicular to the rose garden is a tribute to the thousands of Capetonians, from all backgrounds, who died approaching Delville Wood in France in 1916 – a WWI field gun can be seen on one side, and a portrayal of General Henry Lukin, who gave the order to advance, on the other. Winding their way through these markers of Cape Town’s story, locals and visitors enjoy the shade of old trees, many of which were documented in pictures from previous centuries. Today, water-saving measures have been introduced and the run-off from Table Mountain again nourishes the Company’s Garden. The “sweet waters” of the mountain also travel further, via piping under Somerset Road, to nourish both the pitch at the city’s premier sporting venue, the Cape Town Stadium, and the stunning indigenous displays at the Green Point Urban Park.
HIDDINGH HALL
ORA
T
here’s nothing quite like turning one’s back on the bustle of Adderley Street and strolling into the Company’s Garden. Within metres, you’ll be enveloped by the silence of ancient trees, and entertained by squirrels scampering up to enquire on their chances of a meal. The sound of water can be heard throughout the garden, via many fountains and the perennial streams that flow on either side of Government Avenue – all fed by Table Mountain streams. In fact, water is at the heart of the garden’s history. When Jan van Riebeek and his fellow Dutch East India Company settlers chose the site for their produce garden in 1652, local hunter-gatherers knew the area as Camissa, or “place of sweet water”. Numerous mountain streams provided abundant water, which the settlers diverted into irrigation furrows. As the Dutch East India Company’s garden was established, the Cape of Good Hope became known as the Tavern of the Seas, providing fresh water and nutrition to sailors and explorers. Today, many remnants of the produce garden remain. A giant saffron pear tree is probably South Africa’s oldest cultivated tree, still drawing in the sweet mountain water. An old water pump has been taken up by an oak tree (literally embedded in the trunk), and a well built in 1842 reveals the healthy level of the water table beneath one’s feet. The subsequent story of the Company’s Garden is a rich tale of events – keyed to numbered flagstones which make up an enlightening walking tour of this provincial heritage site. The slavery memorial tucked behind the aviary is a replica of the slave bell in Elsenburg, Stellenbosch, and was originally stationed in the old town hall at Greenmarket Square as the fire bell. The lion gates up at the top near Orange Street and around Cape Town High School tell the story of the roars that once echoed across the garden, when it was used as a display area to showcase the flora and fauna of the hinterland. Statues dotted around the garden reveal the shift of power through the ages: Cecil John Rhodes, who introduced the now tame and numerous grey squirrels, was intended to take pride of place at the top of Adderley Street. Instead, his likeness now stands in the
PLANETARIUM
4.
The Holocaust Centre
displays a permanent exhibition on the history of the Holocaust and shows how survivors made Cape Town their home. An informative educational programme examines contemporary human rights issues through the lens of the Holocaust. Open: Sunday to Thursday from 10h00 to 17h00 T: 021 462 5553 Cost: No charge
www.ctholocaust.co.za
5.
The South African Jewish Museum
provides a detailed and insightful overview of Jewish history in South Africa. Hurry to catch the widelyacclaimed Zapiro exhibition, Jiving with Madiba. Open: Sunday to Thursday from 10h00 to 17h00 T: 021 465 1546 Cost: Children under 16 free, adults R15
www.sajewishmuseum.co.za
6.
Iziko South African National Gallery
showcases a wide range of art, from inside and outside our borders. See Neither Man Nor Stone, an exploration of the relationship between humans and animals in South Africa, and British conceptual and land artist Richard Long’s solo exhibition of work covering Southern Africa. Open: Daily from 10h00 to 17h00 T: 021 481 3970 Cost: Teens and children free, students and pensioners R10, adults R20
www.iziko.org.za/museums/ south-african-national-gallery
7.
Garden Tea Room
is the perfect spot to enjoy a meal and a drink while visiting the Company’s Garden. During apartheid, legislation prevented people of different races from eating in the same indoor restaurant, so lunch was served outdoors instead. Open: Daily from 08h00 to 17h00 T: 021 423 2919
8.
The Crypt Café
is in the oldest section of St George’s Cathedral. Menu options of the day are often stationed just outside the entrance. The toasted ciabatta or pumpkin seed bread sandwiches are especially recommended. Open: Monday to Friday 07h30am until 16h30, Saturday from 09h00 until 14h00, Sunday 10h00 until 14h00 T: 021 422 3686
www.stgeorgescathedral.com
9.
St George’s Cathedral
is an active church known as the “people’s cathedral”. It boasts stunning Table Mountain sandstone arches and skilfully wrought stained glass throughout. When walking up the steps remember the 1972 protestors who, while marching for equal levels of education, were charged at by police and sought sanctuary in the cathedral. From 1982, during the height and collapse of apartheid, the Archbishop was Desmond Tutu. T: 021 424 7360
www.stgeorgescathedral.com
10.
The Centre for the Book
promotes a culture of reading, writing and publishing in all local languages – and often hosts freestyle writing workshops and book launches. T: 021 423 2669
www.nlsa.ac.za/NLSA/ centreforthebook
11.
The Iziko Slave Lodge
is one of Cape Town’s oldest buildings and contains both a permanent exhibition on the Cape’s slave history as well as
temporary exhibitions – currently of photographer Struan Robertson’s work documenting rural poverty in the 1980s, and controversial Italian anthropologist Lidio Cipriani’s images, taken during the filming of Siliva Zulu in the 1920s. Open: Monday to Saturday from 10h00 to 17h00 T: 021 460 8242 Cost: Teens and children free, students and pensioners R10, adults R20
www.iziko.org.za/museums/ slave-lodge
12.
The Labia on Orange
is South Africa’s oldest independent art cinema and was originally a ballroom for the Italian Embassy. It shows any number of interesting films, including those by While You Were Sleeping, a Cape Town-based non-profit collective committed to bringing progressive, non-mainstream documentary films with important social and environmental messages to South African audiences. T: 021 424 5927 Cost: Ticket prices vary, but typically range between R20 and R40
www.labia.co.za
13.
The National Library of South Africa
– initially funded by a wine tax Lord Charles Somerset levied in the name of placing “the means of knowledge within the reach of the youth” – is open to members of the public and hosts exhibitions throughout the year. T: 021 424 6320 Cost: Free
www.nlsa.ac.za
IZIKO GALL
CityViews
Dec / Jan 2012
about
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7
What to do in the Company’s Garden
BLOEM
Apart from being a beautiful destination in itself, the Company’s Garden provides a tranquil walkway to explore Cape Town’s fascinating and complex past, ponder the universe, view art from across South Africa and the world, and enjoy a bite.
10 CENTRE FOR THE BOOK
UM
QUEEN VICTORIA
VISITORS CENTRE THE BOTHY
SUNDIAL
ROSE GARDEN
IZIKO SAM AMPHITHEATRE
ST GEORGES MALL
13 SA NATIONAL LIBRARY
SLAVE BELL THE
9 8
THE WELL
ST GEORGE’S CATHEDRAL
GOVERNMENT AVE
WALE
TEA ROOM
M
7
GOVERNMENT AVE
PARLIAMENT TUYNHUIS
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BUREAU
ADDERLEY
IZIKO SLAVE LODGE
ISH M
PARLIAMENT
T CENTRE CHURCH SQUARE
IZIKO SA NATIONAL GALLERY & ANNEX
SPIN
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GALLERYLANE
GREAT SYNAGOGUE
ST JOHNS
IZIKO SOCIAL HISTORY CENTRE
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PLEIN ROELAND
14.
Church Square
is a public space and the site of the infamous slave tree – where people of African and Southeast Asian descent were sold into bondage. A slave memorial was recently erected to commemorate this history.
Invest in your garden for the future. Help look after the garden and the public benches by donating R10 000 to the Company’s Garden Trust Fund. Contact Rory Phelan at rory.phelan@capetown.gov.za
RS COMPANY’S GARDEN REGULA SHARE THEIR VIEWS … A garden for all
A garden for the future
“It’s so nice to see people smiling here,” says Reverend Michael Weeder, the dean of St George’s Cathedral, during a morning stroll across the gardens. “It’s such an egalitarian space, one that everyone can relate to and own. I would love to see the cathedral be an extension of the garden’s life-giving qualities – and vice-versa. A city is only as beautiful and safe as its people, and the garden contributes to both. “Statues are an important link to our past and we should be able to offend them like they offended us. Cecil John Rhodes must stay there: The statue reminds us of the distance we’ve travelled from a difficult past. Maybe on Freedom Day some might be tempted to dress him in drag.”
“You see a snapshot of history when you visit the gardens,” says Rory Phelan, manager of the Company’s Garden. “The initial grid pattern of the Dutch Baroque kitchen-garden style was overlaid with an English Victorian Romantic style, and that’s how it is maintained today. “During the last two centuries the garden has shrunk to seven hectares, where it used to stretch for twenty. Many heritage buildings were built on land expropriated from the gardens. The final straw to this institutional creep was when the South African Museum was built on what was considered to be the most ornamental part of the garden in 1890. All the garden commissioners promptly quit. “We want to minimise hard surfaces and recapture green space where we can. Our long-term plans include
transforming the current maintenance yard parking area – where the old glass house conservatory stood – into an educational vegetable and herb garden in the Dutch Baroque style. Today the Company’s Garden management plan has been formulated, from several years of studies and public feedback, to guard the garden from quick decisions. Seeing century-old trees makes you understand that the garden works on a different time-frame. Some of these trees are older than the Afrikaans language.”
A garden for the soul Capetonians can join in efforts to beautify the garden by sponsoring benches in it. “We take our city too much for granted. I did too until I started travelling widely, and discovered things in other cities that were beautiful, only to realise I had
them on my own doorstep,” says Tamra Capstick-Dale of Corporate Image, who is sponsoring several benches. “We live stressed and rushed lives and Cape Town’s Company’s Garden plays the role of an urban psychiatrist – calming the soul and helping folk find perspective in their daily lives,” says Theodore Yach, of Zenprop Property Holdings. “The idea of a well-preserved garden in the middle of an urban space is a sign of forward thinking. Many major cities of the world recognise the need to have this contrast to what can be quite a hard experience of the city,” says Jay Pather, head of the Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts, situated in the Hiddingh Campus, within the garden’s former borders. “I often advise tourists
who have just a day in the city to spend at least an hour in the garden; from there they can go to the other nearby attractions – the gallery, the Centre for the Book, the museum.” “I often hold my meetings at the Garden Tea Room,” admits Mandla Matyumza, the executive head of the Centre for the Book. “The gardens are always beautiful and green, in and out of season – they look after them magnificently. I prefer to walk to my meetings, and all the better if I can walk through the gardens. It’s my place to meditate. It’s so refreshing.” Extended opening time: From 10 December you can enjoy Cape Town’s summer evening beauty in the Company’s Garden until the slave bell rings closing time at 20h30.
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Dec / Jan 2012
PLAYFUL CITY
Play
and the serious business of creating communities
There’s a growing global phenomenon of playfulness in the city. Between 10and5 – an online showcase of South African creativity – did some digging to find out the what and why (or rather, why not) of the local movement.
Jan van Riebeeck gets hip for Heritage Day on Heerengracht Street
Re-building the Bo-Kaap block by (LEGO) block
Photo: Carina Beyer, courtesy of Iziko Museums
Photo: Samantha Jones
“Rogue artists are making their mark on the streets of Cape Town in a crusade against dull and grey – whether through guerilla gardening, wheat pastes or yarn bombing. And they’re by no means alone: Street artists like Banksy and JR and street fashion photographers like The Sartorialist and Facehunter have set a standard, and have massive followings. Is this trend towards playful installations a form of urban renewal?”
Dressing up the public art outside Iziko South African National Gallery
International Yarn Bombing Day celebrations at Iziko South African National Gallery
Gavin Young’s Red Man outside the CTICC goes yellow for World Design Capital 2014
Photo: Ed Basson, courtesy of Virgin Active
“Pam Sykes and a team of knitters also joined the rest of the world in June for International Yarn Bombing Day. She told us about their day spent outside Iziko South African National Gallery, ‘We made a long sleeve for the handrail up the stairs, out of lots of bits of completely mismatched knitting. We did it because it was fun, because we love watching people’s reactions to knitting in public, and because it was a good opportunity to get together with people we liked and do something slightly silly.’ Frivolous, maybe, but the yarn bombers also knitted blankets that they loosely attached to a statue in the Companys Garden with the intention that they be taken and used – which they were. For Isabeau Joubert – aka IsaBueauPeep – yarn bombing is quite literally a regular exercise. She sillies up statues with leg warmers – in part promoting Virgin Active’s new aerobics class – but also just bringing a smile to people’s faces and a bit of colour to the city.”
“Samantha Jones recently contributed – on behalf of Cape Town – to worldwide project Dispatchwork. Started by German artist Jan Vormann, the Dispatchers Project is a platform for people to simultaneously fix and brighten their city by using LEGO blocks to repair cracked and crumbling walls. ‘South Africa had not been added to Dispatchwork’s map and being able to represent was a bonus!’ says Samantha. ‘Bo-Kaap seemed like the perfect place to patch up and the project was happily welcomed by locals.’ ”
Dec / Jan 2012
CityViews
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Donna Solovei’s PASTE in Buitenkant Street (the sister picture of which is on Mew Way in Khayelitsha)
9
Potted plants outside the Labia and the CTICC-but shhh, its a secret
Photo: Richard Aaron, Muti
“Cape Town’s Secret Gardener is another example of taking the task of beautifying the city into our own hands. The anonymous guerilla gardener attaches potted plants to street poles and gates around town in an aim to connect people with nature.”
town
“Street art facilitator, Shani Judes, believes in public art for a difference. Her latest project, PASTE, used semi-permanent wheat pastes designed by 15 local artists to bring the gallery space outside. PASTE also sought to bridge the gap between Khayelitsha and Cape Town’s inner city by pasting matching artworks in both areas. She says, ‘I wanted to create an exchange between our CBD and our townships. Cape Town is really lacking in its public art and I want to start changing that. Our city needs to come on board and change the laws of public art, especially now that we’ve won the World Design Capital 2014 title. There are going to be many eyes on Cape Town over the next few years and it’s up to us, the community, to create a beautiful city centre. No more grey walls!’ ”
Photo: Rowan Pybus
The traveller’s rule of thirds: The rule of thirds is a long“It’s clear the Mother City has raised some rebels and we can’t wait to see what they get up to next.”
For more South African city playfulness, check out Between 10and5 Online: www.10and5.com Facebook: www.facebook. com/10and5 Twitter: @10and5
“Not as subtle but so much fun, CoeOne (real name withheld) is notorious for getting even the grumpiest commuter to smile. By adding cardboard leaves to street signs, he transforms them into flowers. ‘With anything like this, you hope that people will be taken by surprise and get a laugh out of it. I like the thought of playing a bit of a joke on the city,’ says CoeOne. Another one of his little jokes was when he dressed a speed camera in a trench coat and hat. He explains, ‘There is so much debate about speed cameras and the fact that they should be more visible. I thought it would be a fun way to point that out. I hope the people driving past felt in on the joke.’ ”
Exploring the unexpected city Andrew Brauteseth is an observer of people, places, and spaces. Besides working for a roster of big-name commercial clients, Andrew – aka Guy With Camera – blogs extensively about the visuals that catch his eye on any given day. Portrait of a Nation celebrates the myriad of faces that comprise South Africa, while Life, Love, Lenses is his “Diary of Visual Interestingness”. He decided to share (with just you, the readers of City Views) some advice on seeing the Mother City from a different angle – and perhaps being surprised by her along the way.
Reverse graffiti on Kloof Street by Ricky Lee Gordon
“Greenpop, a local initiative that asks people to buy trees for planting in tree-needy areas, is using a new way to advertise outside. Instead of printing their message on paper, they’re using reverse graffiti to spread the word of their Treevolution. Using a high-pressure hose and stencils, reverse graffiti artists only need a dirty wall to create a subtle design.”
Street signs to make you look-and look again.
standing photographic guideline, but applying it to sightseeing can take you on an unexpected adventure. Before starting out on your journey, vow to only stop at destinations that have a numeric address divisable by three. Or try take three different modes of transport: Walk a while, then cycle some (preferably to your nearest bike lock-up facility) and then take a R10 taxi (to find out how far R10 can really take you).
Go your own way: Draw a line though your map as the crow would fly, and follow it as you wind through the city. Remember, half the trip is the journey. Enjoy every step of the way.
Play with patterns: Pick a pattern and chase it through the Cape Town streets. Love manhole covers? See how many you can find in a given morning.
Fascinate in fences: Instead of feeling confined by the boundaries that fences and walls create, why not embrace them as a guide? Follow broekie lace throughout the city, or perhaps chase street art on walls.
“Letter” guide you: Pick a letter and let it be your beacon. Only turn onto streets with your designated alphabetic friend, and only visit venues containing your letter in their moniker. Along the way, be sure to observe all the different types of typography present throughout the city. Alternatively, play a form of Alphabet City, and plot your route accordingly: Maybe you start at Artscape, catch the (MyCiTi) bus outside the CTICC and plan to end up in Zonnebloem?
Get literal: Set yourself a mission to find 10 examples of what’s wide about Bree, or wet about Waterkant, or spicy on Pepper. (And while you’re at it, make a point of finding out the history of our place names and
A is for Andrew
one great story about the area.)
Get lost: The point, ultimately, is to lose yourself and find something new. Think “serendipity” – making incredible discoveries by surprise. Find some spare time, grab your sense of adventure and prepare to see Cape Town in a different light. Keep up with Andrew and his escapades on twitter: @ guy_with_camera or visit one of his many websites: www.guywithcamera.co.za www.breestreet.co.za http://lifelovelenses.com http://portraitofanation.co.za
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Dec / Jan 2012
SOULFUL CITY
Kaapse Klopse: Filling the streets with sound Kids play football in the narrow street, teenagers hang around in groups on the corner, and from a door of the brightly painted Marion Institute in Zonnebloem spill the sounds of men singing.
I
t is a Sunday evening in October. The end of the year is still two months away and yet a core group of the V&A Minstrels has been practising every Sunday evening since August – in preparation for Tweede Nuwe Jaar and the minstrel competitions that follow. They are one of the more than 70 troupes active all over the city – most in the Cape Flats – who are busy rehearsing for the January celebrations. “For some people it is rugby, for others cricket,” explains Hardy Dollie, who heads up the V&A Minstrels. “For others, this – singing – is their sport.” Hardy, who joined in his first carnival at the age of seven, speaks of the tradition with a great fondness. He explains that the V&A Minstrels – in existence since 2007 – were established in an attempt to keep the traditions of the carnival alive. For the V&A Minstrels, it is not just about winning competitions. Hardy is quick to point out that while the coach is paid – all coaches are – they don’t pay anyone to sing, and members of the community who can sew are employed to make the costumes. While some turn running a troupe into a profitable enterprise, Hardy explains that for those without a sponsor it can end up becoming very expensive. The basics – transport costs, practice hall and coach hire, and costumes – can set you back at least R200 000. And yet, despite this and the fact that the V&A Minstrels no longer have a sponsor, Hardy admits that they
Carnival troupe in Hanover Street, District Six
Susan Theyser with the Broadway Minstrels coming down Hanover Street
Photo: Pam Warne, District Six Museum
Photo: Susan Theyser, District Six Museum
Photo: Pam Warne, District Six Museum
10
In the carnival mood, District Six, 1963
will probably give away a few costumes for free or at a discounted rate so that everyone who wants to participate can do so. “It is about keeping the traditions going and about keeping the kids off the streets,” says Hardy. “It gets everyone together and that is the beauty of the thing.” There is something rather beautiful about the informal, social nature of the practice session. Between songs, the men break up into smaller groups; at the back of the small hall, friends sit on plastic chairs chatting; and there is an almost constant flow of people in and out of the hall. While there are only about thirty people at this practice session – most of them men who have long since left their youth in the past – Hardy explains that, come New Year, the troupe’s numbers will swell to 600, of which between 70 and 100 will be youths. A younger man with two small daughters walks into the hall at that moment, as if to prove Hardy’s point. When you watch the troupes marching through Cape Town on 2 January, you might not see the months of practice that have made this carnival possible. But in this small and slightly worn hall, you see it all – the love, the dedication, the community ownership that ensures Cape Town’s carnival is passed from one generation to the next for over a century. The rich timbre of a sentimental fills the hall, and Hardy shrugs: “Hmm … it’s a bit rough around the edges. It still needs a lot of work.”
Dec / Jan 2012
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A? GOT GOEM EMANCIPATION WHAT MUSIC HAS TO DO WITH
“It is about keeping the traditions going and about keeping the kids off the streets. It gets everyone together and that is the beauty of the thing.” – Hardy Dollie
Under slavery, some wealthier households had their own orchestras or slave bands who would play popular European dance music of the time. These bands would also play music inherited from Indonesia (many slaves in South Africa were originally from Dutch Batavia), Angola, Mozambique and the local Khoi. These would eventually fuse into goema – the base
sound of the Kaapse Klopse carnival. In the early 1800s, bands would parade in the streets and visit friends on the day after New Year’s Day (Tweede Nuwe Jaar) – the one day slaves were given off every year – playing goema music. On Emancipation Day – 1 December 1834 – freed slaves paraded through the streets of Cape Town accompanied by bands of musicians.
Your guide to the goema and the glitter When watching the Kaapse Klopse march through town, here’s what to keep in mind:
Spirit and size matters The troupes are made up of a core group – those who attend practice sessions throughout the year – and those who pitch up on the day, buy a uniform, and march with the troupe. Smaller troupes have between 200 and 300 members, but larger troupes can have as many as 1 000 members. Membership is open to men, women, and children.
Troupes dress for success There is a prize for the best dressed troupe. The costumes need to change colour from one year to the next, but are always made from satin, and the style remains the same – trousers, suit jacket, and an umbrella.
Not everyone wants to be a minstrel If you look carefully among the minstrels, you might catch sight of one or two slightly unorthodox figures – “moffie” and “atjas”. “Moffie” is a male character dressed up in women’s clothing. While some may see this as homophobic, the name “moffie” suggests a light-hearted
Photo: Alex Jongens and courtesy of Cape Town Tourism
Did you know that Tweede Nuwe Jaar is closely connected with the history of slavery in Cape Town?
acceptance of cross-dressing. “Atjas” – or Apache Indian – who is sometimes accompanied by devils in red costumes, wields a tomahawk, wears a scary mask and yells war cries. His role in the festival is to chase and frighten spectators, particularly children.
The parade is only part of the action The Kaapse Klopse will parade through Cape Town, from District Six to the Bo-Kaap, at midday on 2 January 2012, starting at Keizergracht Street, moving down Darling, into Adderley and then Wale as far as Bree Street. What many Capetonians do not realise, however, is that the parade forms only a small part of the New Year’s festival, which begins with the nagtroepers (Malay Choirs) walking through central Cape Town on New Year’s Eve – usually dressed in tracksuits – singing songs. Following the Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade, the klopse will converge in stadiums for the competitions.
Where to watch Grab your spot in the shade where Adderley turns into Wale – at the opening to the Company’s Garden and on the stairs of St George’s Cathedral. The crypt below the cathedral contains your closest coffee spot.
12 from the fringe
CityViews
Dec / Jan 2012
Y UNEXPECTED CIT
Sights (and insights) from the edges
I found unexpected gems in the City Bowl. When I first moved to Cape Town in 2008, I didn’t have a car, and I’d walk around with an old film camera, a Canon A1, capturing what I saw. I would often walk down towards the train station and the Grand Parade – the juxtaposition of amazing architecture and guys selling anything and everything is incredible, and reminded me a lot of my hometown Johannesburg. The Adderley Street flower market, the hair dressers, the street retailers – I’m curious about those areas and these people. When photographing, I’m mostly interested by the light – if it’s interesting and geometric – and where there’s an interesting exchange between people, particularly when they’re experiencing an event or something in the city and are unaware of the camera.
Inside Woodhead’s leather manufacturing shop on Caledon Street (top); Outside Oh! Café on Harrington Street (left) and inside Harrington Street Boxing Gym (right)
There’s a welcoming feel and an openness about The Fringe – it’s raw and authentic, while having all these creatives and young designers in it. I can’t really think of an area like it in Johannesburg, – maybe around Arts on Main or Newtown –
where you can find a diverse mix of people and place and feel like you have access to them. The Fringe doesn’t close itself off. It’s not like they’re getting rid of all hawkers and the trolley pushers: There’s still place for informal trade and the informal
economy, sidewalk street sellers and everyday life. The porous nature of the place – and its diversity – is what makes it really great, I hope gentrification and ‘development’ of the space doesn’t end what makes it unique.
Unexpected city life – from street sellers (above left and below) to performers (above)
I was a bit sad when they upgraded the train station – it lost a little bit of its grittiness, its authenticity. It’s more walkable and user-friendly nowadays, which is great, but in some ways, they also cleared it of people and life. The area feels a bit more sterile. Luckily Infecting the City public arts festival brought a little of that back. The worst thing we could do to Cape Town is what they’ve done with places like Sandton – made them look very manicured and inaccessible. There’s a publication by the African Centre for Cities that recently came out, CityScapes, which I worked on as a photo assistant and photographer. I really believe in the way they look at cities – at the symbiotic relationships between humans and urban space. I believe in a future for Cape Town’s city spaces that’s more like a relationship, more like an ecosystem, where public space plays a vital role. Take the Company’s Garden as an example: The space is incredible, and one we often take for granted. In such a segregated city, the garden is a unique place where a wide
variety of South Africans utilise public space (except when the president is at parliament) as a thoroughfare and a space of leisure. The City should really invest in having musicians or
street performers and night markets there, to make it come alive . Something like an all-year-round Infecting the City, making public space more social.
The train Station, old (above) and new (below)
Photographing The Fringe is probably one of the best photo jobs I have ever done, personally. Visiting and photographing the old age home in Zonnebloem had a big effect on me, perhaps partly due to the fact that my grandmother had recently passed away at the age of 93. I had no idea it was there and I’d never been into a government subsidised old age home. When I arrived there was an eccentric resident at the door who welcomed everyone into the home, and told you all about it … I would love to go back there and take people’s portraits, give them back as gifts.
Photos : Sydelle Willow Smith
Sydelle Willow Smith is a freelance photographer and videographer who might best be called a visual anthropologist – someone who can capture the atmosphere and authenticity of an event or experience in a way that also tells a compelling story. Earlier this year, she spent time living in and photographing The Fringe. She took time to show (and tell) City Views what she found there.
For more visual storytelling and images of the authentic and unexpected city, check out Sydelle’s blog at http:/sydwillowphotography. blogspot.com. Inside Zonnebloem Home for the Aged
Near Harold Cressy High School
Dec / Jan 2012
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13
Secret City: Shopping There’s nothing like a local with a specific passion to reveal the unexpected delights of the city they live in. We asked Central City champions of lifestyle, food and fashion to share their festive shopping secrets.
1. HIP GIFTS
As online editor of Elle Decoration magazine Charl Edwards spends his days scouting the Central City (and the globe) for lifestyle inspiration. Here’s where he’ll be shopping for prezzies for his favourite people.
Charl Edwards
CV Gift for your best friend? CE All best friends like chocolate. And they’ll like you even more if you give them some Honest Chocolate. (This place is the closest you’ll get to Charlie’s Chocolate Factory in Cape Town.) The individualised wrappers also make for beautiful art on your wall (I framed mine!)
CV Something for your folks? CE I always get my parents books for Christmas. So this year I’m taking them to The Book Lounge in Roeland Street.
The Book Lounge 71 Roeland Street T: 021 462 2425 www.booklounge.co.za
Honest Chocolate 66 Wale Street T: 021 423 8762 http://honestchocolate.co.za
Gifts for little people you love? CV
CE R10 toy cars and Barbies from the Golden Acre Shopping Centre. (I might end up keeping the toy cars for myself!)
CV Just the thing for a teenager? CE Paperweight in St George’s Mall stocks the cheapest magazines and books and I know I’d find something there that a teenager would love. I’ve spent hours in this shop, paging through international editions of ELLE Decorations (no surprise!).
Present for your love interest? CV CE
Church Gift Shop 12 Spin Street T: 21 462 6092 http://churchgifts.blogspot.com Haas Collective 67 Rose Street, Bo-Kaap T: 021 422 4413 www.haascollective.com
A little something for colleagues and friends? CV
CE
CV Prezzies for your siblings?
Proteas (or poppies) for R30 a bunch at the Adderley Flower Market. The flower sellers there call me “Protea boy”. They know this because whenever they try and sell me anything else I give them a disgruntled look (they say) …
What would YOUR ideal gift be?
CE
I’m getting my twin brother a pair of espadrilles at Mr Price in Adderley Street. (He gave me the coolest yellow pair last year!) And then some Bokkie Shoes for my sister.
CV CE
A Pantone mug from Bean There in Wale Street. (LOVE them!)
Bean There 58 Wale Street T: 087 943 2228 www.beanthere.co.za
Bokkie Shoes, 43 Long Street T: 021 4223801 www.bokkieshoes.co.za
S 2. GOURMET GIFT
Hannerie and Peet’s foodie gift list: A loaf of sourdough bread from Jason Bakery is a lovely fresh gift that could be part of Christmas lunch or good for sandwiches filled with delicious leftovers the next day.
Hannerie Visser
Central City creatives Hannerie Visser and Peet Pienaar scoured Cape Town for foodie destinations, which they published this year in their magazine, Cape Town Menu: The 167 Best Dishes. Their present list this year is inspired by the magazine and focused on give-able, edible delights in the city. Follow their breadcrumbs …
Paperweight St George’s Mall Castle Street T: 021 419 9419
Jason Bakery 185 Bree Street T: 021 424 5644 www.jasonbakery.com
A coffee voucher for several coffees from family-owned bakery Bread, Milk and Honey near Church Square. We like gifts that can last a while.
CE The Grand Parade is a shopper’s paradise for the best bargains in town. You’ll find everything you need for a Christmas stocking. (You’ll walk away with more, for much less!) They stock everything from deodorant to waffle machines. Yip.)
And delectable foodie things we love and stock in our own store, Church Gift Shop: Recycled glass food jars from talented ceramicist Frauke Stegmann’s new range, perfect for storing pickles, coffee or biscuits
Bread, Milk and Honey 10 Spin St T: 021 461 8425
A jar of Tierhoek Organic Quince Jam grown, made and bottled on Tierhoek Farm in the Breede River Valley
A gift box filled with Authentic Parisian Macaroons (nine flavours to choose from!) and éclairs filled with chocolate or coffee cream from Cassis Bakery inside 15 on Orange Hotel. Cassis Bakery at 15 on Orange Hotel 15 Orange St T: 021 469 8000
A copy of any of British cookery writer Elizabeth David’s mid-century cookbooks that we might be lucky enough to find in Long Street’s wonderful second-hand bookshops.
CV Stocking fillers for Christmas day?
Photos : Caroline Jordan
Any fragrance from Church Gift Shop in Church Street. This tiny shop really has the best selection of international design goods in town: cookbooks, perfumes, magazines, toys, paper goodies, bow ties and even stickers! It’s THE go-to shop for gifts. Haas Collective in the BoKaap is another gift shop wonderland.
Tabak chilli sauce homemade by Peet and fermented to fiery perfection
Cape Town Menu: The 167 Best Dishes is also for sale at Church, and for only R50 makes an excellent present for localistas
Church Gift Shop 12 Spin St | T: 021 462 6092 http://churchgifts.blogspot. com
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CityViews
Dec / Jan 2012
Secret City: Shopping continued...
GIFTS 3. FASHIONABLE CV Cool gift for a boyfriend? KS Bonafide is great for hot men’s streetwear labels, from Mooks Clothing to Tom Ford. A good man can always do with a pair of cool sunglasses, and this is where I’d shop for them. My next stop would be Shelflife in Loop Street, a destination store for sneaker fanatics.
Kitsi Sebati
As a recent design and retail graduate young Central City resident Kitsi Sebati has a keen eye for covetable fashion. She reveals her fashion gift list for the stylish summer of 2011/12.
CV Showstopper present for a special girlfriend? KS The Jupiter Cosmic Dress in stardust by Selfi from MeMeMe in Long Street (R680). It’s classically beautiful, comfortable, can be dressed up or down, worn with heels or flats, and is flattering but not too revealing. This is also a good shop to find design labels Fabric, Christopher Strong and Doreen Southwood. And when I’m in the area I always have to pop into Mungo & Jemima across the road, and Journey further up
Bonafide 207 Long St T: 0 21 422 0800 www.bonafideclothing.co.za Shelflife 119 Loop St T: 021 422 3931 www.shelflife.co.za
the street. These are three of my favorite shops in Cape Town where you’ll find feminine, fashionable clothing, from feather headpieces, to pretty frocks, and rocker tees, at reasonable prices. MeMeMe 117A Long St T: 021 424 001 Mungo & Jemima 108 Long St T: 021 424 5016 www.mungoandjemima.com Journey 186 Long St T: 021 424 5209 www.journeylifestyle.co.za
CV And your bestkept Central City fashion secret? KS The African Women’s Craft Market on Long Street is one of my favorite places to shop for shoes and African printed fabric. Tribal prints have become a popular fashion trend,
and in the craft market I can buy two meters of fabric with beautiful African designs for R100. African Women’s Craft Market 112 Long St T: 021 422 3587 www.africanwomenscraftmarket.co.za
Photos : Caroline Jordan and supplied
CV Top of YOUR most wanted list? KS A pair of Jeffrey Campbell wedges from Meanwhile in Long Street. Comfortable but superstylish, they look great with dresses, maxi skirts, jeans or even shorts.
Meanwhile 287 Long St T: 021 422 5646
Need more inspiration
for Cape Town Central City shopping and activities? Special something for a little person? KS Designer shoes for little girls by Melissa and Vivienne Westwood stocked at Journey in Long Street. Not only are they wearable works of art, they’re also eco-friendly, soft, comfortable and smell like bubblegum. CV
CV Prezzie for a teenager? KS For teenage guys I’d shop at Revolution – the best of skater fashion gear. For girls I’d pop into streetwear store Bonafide to hunt for beautiful swimwear by LoveWaterLove.
Revolution 223 Long St T: 021 423 3482 www.revolution.co.za Bonafide 207 Long Street T: 0 21 422 0800 www.bonafideclothing. co.za
Journey | 186 Long St T: 021 424 5209 www.journeylifestyle.co.za
Pick up your free copy of the definitive Time Out Cape Town Central City guide for 2012, aimed at inspiring locals and visitors to fully experience and enjoy the Central City. Time Out Cape Town Central City is published by New Media Publishing in partnership with the Central City Improvement District (CCID). Available at selected vendors throughout the Central City. To obtain a copy contact Aziza Patandin at aziza@capetownpartnership.co.za
Dec / Jan 2012
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Breaking news
Mexican Kitchen
Skinny laMinx Local design label Skinny laMinx is famous for its beautiful fabrics, cushions, furniture, ceramics and more adorned with Heather Moore’s amazing designs. The first stand-alone Skinny laMinx shop opens early December in the Central City. Attached to the shop is the Skinny laMinx design
studio, so shoppers can peek through and see where all the Skinny laMinxiness comes from.
Skinny laMinx 201 Bree St Open Monday to Friday, 10h00 to 18h00 and Saturday 10h00 to 14h00 www.skinnylaminx.com
The crazy cantina is now under funky young ownership and the party is about to begin in earnest. Pop in for frozen margaritas and delicious Mexican fare, put on a sombrero and party. Oh, and if traditional Christmas lunch is not your thing then book there and do it Mexican style.
Mexican Kitchen 13 Bloem St (off Long St) T: 021 423 0541 Open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner www.mexicankitchen.co.za
Photo: New Media Publishing
Photos : Caroline Jordan
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Heather Moore
SECRET CITY
Pedersen + Lennard This design duo launches its new collection of furniture, lighting and storage designs, as well as the new look of its showroom at the {field office} on 1 December. Pop in for a good coffee and cake and an excellent shop over the festive season.
Photo: Bruce Sutherland
Events
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{field office} 37 Barrack Street, The Fringe T: 021 461 4599 Open Monday to Friday 07h00 to 16h00 and Saturday 09h00 to 13h00 www.pedersenlennard.co.za www.fieldoffice.co.za
Insider Secret: Snack’n’Shop 14, 15 & 16 December The Designer-Maker Market Held at the Freeworld Design Centre courtyard, this trendy market showcases over 80 local designers, offering amazing gifts, live music and yummy food. Open Wednesday 15h30 to 21h00 to coincide with Christmas Carols at the Evangelical Lutheran Church (no cost, all welcome) and Thursday, Friday from 10h30 to 21h00. The Designer-Maker Market Freeworld Design Centre Courtyard 71 Waterkant Street (on the Fan Walk)
17 December MCQP The pink community and friends dress up to this year’s theme “Maid in China” and dance their hearts out till dawn
at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). Tickets from Computicket and selected city vendors. www.mcqp.co.za
Until 18 December Freedom to Create Exhibition Takan inspired wander through the Company’s Garden and take in this inspirational public display. www.freedomtocreate.com
What to do for Christmas and New Year? There’s plenty on the go in the city over the festive season and the best place to get the skinny is online at Cape Town Magazine. Their on-theground teams update daily with news of great specials and amazing happenings. www.capetownmagazine.com
Good snack-stops transform festive season gift shopping into pure pleasure. (Think of it as a gift to yourself). These are some of Peet Pienaar and Hannerie Visser’s bestkept snack-stop secrets
Greek sandwich from Jason Bakery
Milkshakes at Mr Pickwicks
Served with lamb, hummus, tzatziki and zouk chilli on your choice of Jason’s bread (R45 each)
You’ll battle to choose between the more than 40 indulgent flavours, including Oreo, Mars Bar, chocolate brownie and double Jagermeister (R24 – R75)
Prego roll at & UNION
Original mutton curry served in a roti wrap. Carrot, onion and chill salad available on the side. Hits the spot (roti R38, side dishes R3)
Marinated sirloin grilled on an open fire, topped with coppa ham, served on ciabatta (R65 each)
& UNION 110 Bree Street | T: 021 422 2770 Open Monday to Saturday, 07h00 to 23h00 www.andunion.com
Bacon and Emmenthal crepes at Oh! Café et Gourmandises
Jason Bakery | 185 Bree Street T: 021 424 5644 Open Monday to Friday, 07h00 to 15h30 and Saturday, 10h00 to 14h00 www.jasonbakery.com
Roti at Café Zorina’s
Café Zorina’s 172 Loop Street T: 021 424 9301. Open Monday to Friday 08h30 to 17h30 and Saturday 08h30 to 14h30
Quince Juice made by Juicebox
Or Nutella if you’re in the mood for something sweet.
It’s 100% preservative-free, fresh and delicious. You’ll find it at Deluxe Coffeeworks (R40 for 750ml)
Oh! Café et Gourmandises 46 Harrington Street The Fringe T: 072 968 9431 Open Friday and Saturday night, 22h00 to 04h00 and Monday to Friday 07h30 to 14h30
Deluxe Coffeeworks 25 Church St T: 072 903 0319 Open Monday to Friday, 07h00 to 17h00 www.deluxecoffeeworks.co.za
Mr Pickwicks 158 Long Street T: 021 423 3710 Open Monday to Sunday, 08h00 until very late
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CityViews
Dec / Jan 2012
My Cape Town: Heath Nash
Heath Nash takes other people’s trash – plastic bottles and bottle tops – and makes them into something beautiful. His lampshades might be better described as light sculptures. He tells City Views about this creative alchemy of turning trash into treasure.
CV So you started recycling?
I’m not an environmentalist or anything – but recycling stuff strikes me as a very small, easy thing to do. What I do at my Woodstock studio is use limited resources to address a social and economic problem. When I started, I knew it was very idealistic, but I wanted to empower people – with skills, with jobs. I now employ five people at the studio, and another five are employed by the company that collects, washes and cuts the plastic for me.
Straatwerk has job rehabilitation projects for men and women. 021 425 0140 The Haven’s vision is to get the homeless home. 021 425 4700 The Homestead provides residential care and family integration for boys. 021 461 7470
I want to franchise and teach skills. I want to keep my business going – it’s a tough time in the industry, given the recession and the relative strength of the rand, that’s why I brought out my “recession range” of recycled lampshades, with fewer plastic leaves and a cheaper price tag. (Seriously, the city needs more support services for creatives and social entrepreneurs – encouragement, tax breaks). And I want to use the brand connected with my name to drive development. I’d love to look more at craft, help crafters innovate and push the practice forward, connect craftspeople up. CV You’re widely travelled. Could you tell us about some of your favourite places?
I have just had the great good fortune of having been in Tokyo for two weeks, and as luck would have it (lucky for me!) I’ve also travelled in Finland a number of times. Both have cultures of water, of heat and sense of self – sauna and onsen. Both are highly technologically advanced, yet retain a strong sense of the importance of nature in their homes, their cultures, and their cities. The craft traditions of both Japan and Finland are only a match for each other I think – the reverence given to traditional skills and techniques
Ons Plek provides residential care while undertaking reunification process for girls. 021 465 4829 The Carpenters Shop provides rehabilitation services and skills training for adults. 021 461 5508 Salesian Institute Youth Projects provide education, skills training and rehabilitation to vulnerable youth. 021 425 1450
Photo : Caroline Jordan and supplied
I grew up in Bulawayo, and when I was six, my parents moved to South Africa. Back then, it was a choice between Johannesburg and Cape Town. Thank goodness they chose Cape Town! So I went to Pinelands – Pinelands Primary, Pinelands High – where I had a great art teacher who really encouraged me. And then I went to Michaelis in 1999 to study sculpture. I graduated from Michaelis, and found I needed to make some money … so I started making lampshades out of sheets of polypropylene, and I showed them at the first Design Indaba Expo ever. The feedback I got then was that they weren’t very African or South African, and I had to start grappling with what that meant – to be African by design. That’s how I began looking at our culture of repurposing objects and wirework.
CV Today you’re an international brand. What now?
in both countries is quite beautiful, and both countries have produced some of the most iconic designs and designers on the planet. There is also an underlying humility in the people of both Finland and Japan. There’s a link
respect the pavement. People respect each other on the street. People respect public space. They respect that someone designed the traffic light so that you can walk – when it’s green, not red. People respect each oth-
“Getting lost is so very important – and so nice. You really should do it occasionally in your own town.” here, between the country that will host World Design Capital next year (Helsinki), a place I’ve just returned from (Tokyo) and the city I live in – beautiful Cape Town – which is World Design Capital directly after Helsinki. CV So what can Cape Town, a city down south, learn from these cities way up north and so far east?
The biggest and most all pervasive underlying similarity between Japan and Finland is respect: People
er’s property. People respect human life. There is respect for both the new, and for tradition. One example of this humble respectfulness: I was visiting the Finnish embassy for a visa application, sitting in the waiting room. I see through the door someone on her hands and knees cleaning the floor and packing glasses – tidying up after a party at the embassy house here in Higgovale. Then I realised it’s the Finnish ambassador. How many highly ranked South African officials would ever do that? Just a thought.
A culture of respect is what we can learn? CV
you will want to work for your city.
This is how I wish to frame thinking around growing our beautiful city, and about how design can potentially impact a place, and indeed a culture. The thing is, both Tokyo and Helsinki really work. They work really well. If you can rely on your surroundings, if your city works for you, then I believe
CV Speaking of your city, what do you love to do in it?
I make believe – I love that phrase – I make believe that I’m a tourist in the city. It’s very safe to wander around, to get lost. Getting lost is so very important – and so nice. You really should do it occasionally in your own town. Photo : Sarah Scott
CV What’s your story, Heath?
WANT TO MAKE TREASURE OUT OF TRASH? Start your journey by checking out Heath’s blog, www.heathnash.com, then on to his rainbow sculpture “It’s beautiful here” at the Prestwich Memorial (corner Waterkant and Buitengracht), and finally on
to a simple – but inspiring – alley collaboration with ThingKing next to 71 Harrington Street, where they took waste from Heath’s Woodstock studio (waste from waste!) and made something beautiful.
Many children and young adults living on the streets have severe drug addiction problems. More often than not, the money they receive from begging is used to buy their next “fix”. The CCID therefore requests that members of the public do not give money or handouts directly. If you would like to help, please contact one of the listed organisations mentioned. Contact the Central City Improvement District’s (CCID’s) Social Development Department for further information or assistance.
Pat 021 419 1881 | Dean 082 928 3862 Headman Sirala-Rala 082 262 0113 Mark Williams 082 262 0112
www.capetownpartnership.co.za