It’s a Saturday morning in May. The thickest mist I have ever seen has wrapped itself around the Cape Town City Bowl, snaking through the streets, stealing colour and re-rendering the world in hazy black and white. I’m on my way to Gallery F, one of the top photographic galleries on the continent, and as I’m buzzed through the little black door at 78 Shortmarket Street, I step out of one monochromatic world and into another, climbing a staircase bracketed by exquisite black

There is butter here that will ruin you for other butter. It is made by hand each morning by an Italian-trained cheesemaker, and it sits in cheesecloth on the breakfast harvest table in a large wooden bowl.You spread it on bread that was baked just before dawn from a sourdough starter that is nine years old, and the combination is so straightforward and lush, nothing else matters. Words: Rosa-Karoo Loewe This is Babylonstoren's particular trick: the extraordinary delivered wi

An Interview with Dr. Maureen Allem and Victor Snyders Few industries have evolved as dramatically over the past two decades as aesthetics, skincare and wellness. At the forefront of that transformation in South Africa is Skin Renewal, founded by Dr Maureen Allem and Victor Snyders in 2005. What began as a single clinic has grown into a nationally recognised brand. By combining medical science, advanced technology and a holistic approach to wellbeing, the group has built a r

Of all the choices an architect makes, the window may be the most revealing. It is, quite literally, how a home looks at the world. Stand in any room and look at the window. Not through it: at it. Notice its proportions, its placement, the way it frames the light. Notice whether it feels like a polite gesture towards the outside world or a confident embrace of it. Notice whether it interrupts the wall or completes it. The window, more than any other architectural element, tel

Strategic research is the single biggest determinant of whether a property development/estate succeeds or struggles. I've said this for years, and I'll keep saying it, because the property industry still underinvests in the upfront work that shapes everything that comes after. When we do research for developers, we're looking at the full picture: location fundamentals, product mix, depth of demand, pricing thresholds, competitor stock, absorption trajectories. That's the scie

I recently watched a documentary by the BBC about the search for Paul McCartney’s original 1961 Hofner bass guitar – the original Beatle violin-style bass. It was stolen out of a locked van in 1972 and the resources used to follow up on all the leads generated through a media campaign to find it were quite fascinating. The investigators eventually re-questioned one of the strongest leads they had who turned out to be the son of the man who stole it. Through him, they traced i

“I’d never made a doughnut in my life before we started the business,” confesses Johke Steenkamp, founder of Cape Town’s beloved (and famously persistent) vegan deli and doughnut shop Grumpy & Runt. When the ex-private chef struck out to do her own thing with her partner, Carla Gontier, it wasn’t about the product: it was about purpose. Words: Mia McCarthy “I was at a point in my life where I really wanted to open something of my own, filled with love and personality”, Johke

“I’m so bored with myself!” complains Manu Grace almost as soon as we start our conversation. She’s talking to me from her bedroom-studio in London, where she has been painstakingly watching herself over and over again while editing footage that had just been sent of her recent performance in Berlin - one of the first performances that she’s given in a very long time. She tells me that it’s dangerous to delve straight into the footage because it can quickly tarnish the memory

Adele van Heerden x Lexus RZ If something never moves, it will inevitably decay. When a body of water stays still, it turns stagnant - quickly losing its oxygen until it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, mosquito larvae, and toxic algae. When a car is never driven, it rapidly deteriorates - the fluids start to degrade, the battery begins to drain, and its moving parts completely cease their function. And when art is never witnessed - when it is never shared, never champ

Chommies The story of Chommies began with a move and a puppy. Founder and Creative Director Nathalie Klijn, born in Stuttgart, Germany, left Europe in 2012 for Cape Town in pursuit of a slower and more fulfilling way of life. Not long after arriving, she adopted a Boerboel-Ridgeback-Bullmastiff rescue named Ringo. What started as a side project making collars for Ringo and a few canine friends has since grown into a brand beloved by dogs and their humans across South Africa.

Words by Shannon Devy It’s a dazzling summer Saturday morning in Cape Town, and I’m washing down a Nosh bar with a Coke in a parking lot in Gardens. I’ve got a needle phobia and a tattoo booked across the street, so I’m raising my blood sugar in preparation. I neck the rest of the soda, lock the car, and push through the doors of the famous TOMB tattoo. It’s probably the sugar, but I feel cheerful. The shop is a riot of colour. Part shrine, part fever dream, it’s packed from

Get ready, Durban. Things are about to look a little different. Durban is about to welcome one of the world’s most fascinating attractions. The globally renowned Museum of Illusions will officially open its doors at Gateway Theatre of Shopping on Saturday, 25 April 2026, bringing its signature blend of science, art and immersive fun to KwaZulu-Natal. Already a global phenomenon with locations in cities including Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, New York and Dubai, the Durban opening

On the KZN North Coast, a new vision of coastal luxury is taking shape: one where the boundary between the home and the horizon simply ceases to exist. Imagine waking up on a Saturday morning. The sun is already climbing above the Indian Ocean, throwing long gold light across the water. You pad downstairs (barefoot, unhurried) and the house opens around you. Not because you've opened a door, but because the wall in front of you is glass. Floor to ceiling. Edge to edge. The se

A thick velvet curtain frames the entrance to the Tambourine restaurant on Harrington Street, where we have a dinner reservation. We are early. I reach out, tentatively, and draw back the curtain — the floor is empty but for a waiter bent over a table setting, making adjustments. I let the curtain fall again. “We are too early,” I hiss to my dining partner in a stage whisper. Words: Mia McCarthy Alerted to our premature arrival, the staff falls into a well-choreographed rou

Lately, I’ve noticed a change in how people talk about the news. Not anger. Not outrage. Something quieter. A sentence that trails off rather than lands. I don’t read the news anymore. At least, not like I used to. Sometimes it’s said with a shrug. Sometimes with guilt. Often with relief. Words: Penny Fourie I recognise the impulse, even though disengagement is not an option for me.I don’t encounter South Africa’s failu es through headlines alone. My work takes me into audit

I turn 31 this month. Apparently, that means it's time for some prescription-strength retinoids. They can cause a bit of peeling at first. But I've battled with my skin for years, so honestly? The idea of sloughing off my old one sounds fantastic. According to Chinese astrology, last year's Year of the Snake has been inviting exactly this—the serpentine shedding of the old to make way for the new. Now, as we move into the lunar new year, the legendary Fire Horse awaits us. Wh

“I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar.” Marc Antony in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar . Do I belong in South Africa? Under the laws, yes. Of course. I was born in Parklands Hospital in Durban when Mandela was President. I’ve spent nearly all my life here. I own no other pet but a Green Mamba. As the Constitution has it, I’m welcome to stay for as long as I like, and I

They say that nothing happens by chance and if ever I wanted reassurance that the Universe is unfolding as it should, the unexpected gift that we received in the dying embers of last year gave me exactly that. Words: Dave Charles I will admit that I have been overly concerned with the reality of getting older lately and have become a bit of a recluse as a result. Life has carried on at its petty pace from day-to-day as the bard put it, without much happening to jolt me from m

It started with a promise. After winning the AFI (Africa Fashion International) Young Designer of the Year award in 2014 with a collection that he had made inside his mother’s garage in 2014, Rich Mnisi launched his first fashion label. He called the label OATH, a name that would serve as a covenant between himself and his late sister to have his work represent a personal commitment to always creating from a truthful place. In keeping with that covenant, it was only right tha

“I think that, at the heart of all my bodies of work there always lies the sense of belonging. Whether it is in this land, whether it is within yourself and also within the day-to-day routines.” Words: Dan Charles Not long after leaving her studio in Woodstock, my phone buzzed with a barrage of texts from the artist Alka Dass. She had sent me an assortment of screenshots and links to all of the poems that we had spent a good portion of the afternoon gushing over while drinki