Mzansi Life & Style showcases the best that South Africa has to offer in terms of entertainment, fashion, lifestyle, culture, cuisine, travel, beauty and celebrity news. Subscribe to my website by adding your email address in the "follow" button below.
Launching on 18 May, Disney+ subscribers will have access to Star Wars’ “The Book of Boba Fett” and both seasons of “The Mandalorian”. In addition, Disney+ will be the home of the entire Skywalker saga, with Star Wars Episodes 1 through 9 streaming on the service.
Confirmed from launch, superhero fans will have access to over 60 Marvel films including Academy Award®-nominated “Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings”, “Eternals”, “Avengers: Endgame” and “Captain Marvel,” and over 80 Marvel series including “Moon Knight”, “Loki” and “WandaVision.”
Subscribers will also be able to enjoy over 100 titles from Disney and Pixar, including the entire “Toy Story” franchise, “Soul” and Academy Award®-nominated “Luca”, and from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Academy Award®-winning “Encanto” which tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, and Academy Award®-winning “Cruella” starring Emma Stone as the legendary “Cruella de Vil”.
National Geographic documentaries including “The Rescue” and “Free Solo”, from Academy Award®-winning directors and producers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, will sit alongside popular National Geographic series such as “The World According To Jeff Goldblum” and “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted”.
In general entertainment, subscribers will also be able to watch titles including the hit original comedy series “Only Murders in the Building,” limited series “Pam and Tommy,” “The Kardashians,” “Queens,” and mystery thriller “Death on the Nile” directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, as well as “The Simpsons” and back seasons of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “9-1-1” and “Black-ish.”
With unprecedented access to Disney’s vault, beloved classics such as “Cinderella,” “Tangled”, “The Princess and the Frog,” and “The Little Mermaid,” will be available to stream alongside recent blockbusters like “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Mulan (2020)”. There will also be hundreds of Disney Channel series, shorts, and specials available to stream, including “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir” and “Phineas and Ferb”.
Fans can currently register their interest to take advantage of an exclusive introductory offer to subscribe to Disney+ in South Africa for the price of R950. This pre-launch offer for the annual subscription is only available until mid-night 17 May and is equivalent to 12 months for the price of 8. Standard pricing at launch is confirmed at R119 per month, or R1190 for an annual subscription.
Users will have access to features like high-quality viewing, up to four concurrent streams, 4k video quality for select titles and the ability to set up to seven different profiles, including the ability for parents to create pin-protected profiles, ensuring kids access age-appropriate content.
Formidable luxury events and marketing company African Deluxe Company has confirmed media personality and businesswoman, Minnie Dlamini, as the official host for the 2ndStandard Bank Joburg Polo in the Park taking place at Gauteng’s premium residential lifestyle estate Steyn City next weekend.
I attended the first Polo in the Park event pre-COVID in 2019 – Check that out here.
This year’s theme is SPLENDOUR which aims to showcase all things bright, colourful and grand. Being an all-round powerhouse South African media mogul made Minnie Dlamini the perfect choice to host this year’s Polo.
2019 Polo in the Park – Images by Mishkah Roman-Cassiem
The event will be attended by SA’s elite, including top business people, celebrities and media, while the backdrop of Steyn City will offer a scenic day filled with beautiful people, unforgettable experiences, great food, over the top fashion, as well as art and live music on the side lines.
“The Standard Bank Polo in The Park is not only about polo, but also about the lifestyle and fashion that accompanies the sport of kings. Having hosted a hugely successful 2019 edition of this prestigious polo affair, we remain passionate about the African continent and plan to continue showcasing what our country has to offer to the rest of the world,” says The Africa Deluxe Company’s frontman and executive producer of the event Ben Moseme. He adds: “We are particularly excited to have Minnie Dlamini join the Joburg Polo in the Park family as she is the perfect fit for this exclusive Polo celebration, and a true reflection of South African excellence in Media.”
I attended Comic Con Africa for the first time in 2019 and what an experience it was! Check out some images and footage from the 2019 expo here, here and here.
It looks like this year’s Comic Con Africa is going to be bigger and better than ever, so get all the details of what to expect below.
Comic Con Africa, Africa’s largest multi-genre pop-culture and gaming festival, which is taking place from 22-25 September 2022 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, has announced another exciting addition to the event this year: StreamerCon– the place to celebrate and experience all of the online magic and wonder in real life.
Geared towards celebrating digital creators, platform innovators, and their fans all in one place – StreamerCon is bringing together everything that is a part of creating, watching, and promoting video content. More than that, StreamerCon will be the hub for creators to expand their reach, collaborations to spark, and for aspiring content creators to be guided by industry veterans.
Comic Con Africa’s Show Director, Carla Massmann, expressed her elation at the addition of StreamerCon by saying that local content creators are at the core of planning and bringing StreamerCon to life.
“We’ve seen the growth and talent of South African streamers – and want to offer these very talented individuals an opportunity to be celebrated.” Massmann added. “The influencer today is very different to what it was. Content creators today are the micro-influencers who drive exceptional engagement through niche communities.”
“In the past year Comic Con Africa has worked to give local streamers and content creators a platform to promote themselves and we believe that now more than ever it is an imperative new addition to the show.”
StreamerCon aims to create awareness around the world-class local content creators irrelevant of their platform – be it Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, or anything else.
In 2021, Comic Con Africa launched Streamer Takeovers which allowed members of the South African streaming community to showcase themselves on Comic Con Africa’s Twitch channel. After engaging with this community, that displays great passion and comradery, Comic Con Africa has set out to highlight content creators – established and upcoming – across the continent.
StreamerCon is also excited to welcome streaming software companies, tech brands, high performance software and systems, peripherals, and components, streaming equipment, streaming and recording software, video editing and design software, vlogging kits, as well as so much more.
Follow *StreamerCon on Twitter to get the latest updates and see the website for more information on attending and exhibiting.
Comic Con Africa returns bigger, better – and safer – than ever in 2022
Comic Con Africa 2022 is the ultimate pop-culture and gaming festival in Africa, and the biggest of its kind offering something for everyone in the pop culture space. With tickets on sale since December 2021, the festival is set to take place during the traditional Comic Con month of September, from the 22nd to the 25th. Ticket sales have been staggered into a phased approach to ensure the control of capacity as well as being of benefit to the early birds who buy their tickets in the early phases.
Below are some images from when I attended Comic Con Africa in 2019:
The team at Comic Con Africa HQ have spent the past two years performing the necessary due diligence to ensure that the event in 2022 will be bigger, better and safer than ever before – with the strictest of Covid protocols and measures in place, to ensure peace of mind for all attendees and vendors.
Comic Con Africa 2022 will see more activations and international talent, and in order to accommodate this growth (and social distancing measures) the event has found a new home – the Johannesburg Expo Centre at Nasrec. This venue boasts a capacity that is a great size for the anticipated 80 000 plus visitors, while still offering further growth potential for years to come with its extensive indoor and outdoor areas.
The show floor will play host to international celebrities, the best in gaming and gear, Artist Alley, pop culture merch, table top games, and of course the highly anticipated Cosplay Competitions alongside various activations leading up to the event. Not only is this a pop culture playground for enthusiasts and professionals, but there will also be the KidsCon edition, creating a space for the entire family to enjoy the ultimate day out!
Brands and individuals interested in exhibiting at Comic Con Africa 2022 can contact info@comicconafrica.co.za.
Tickets for the festival and more information can be found on the official Comic Con Africa website.
For the latest Comic Con Africa 2022 news and updates, be sure to connect online:
If you have never heard of Comic Con, here’s what it’s all about:
Comic Con Africa is Africa’s largest multi-genre pop-culture, gaming and fan festival.
The festival features a large range of pop culture and entertainment elements including cosplay, comic books, anime, manga, tech, film and series, gaming (including video, mobile and esports) toys, gadgets, clothing, collectible card games, fantasy/sci-fi books and authors as well as the ever-popular Artists’ Alley. The inaugural 2018 event welcomed over 42 000 visitors (ABC Audited) and 2019 saw over 70 000. In 2019 KidsCon was a new addition to the festival, allowing for the festival to be the ultimate family day out with loads of activities for all to enjoy. A single Comic Con Africa ticket gets you access to both Cons at Johannesburg Expo Centre NASREC on 22 – 25 September 2022. (www.comicconafrica.co.za)
Comic Con Africa is owned by Reed Exhibitions (Pty) Ltd and used under license by Mogull Media Proprietary Limited.
Ecological sustainability, women’s empowerment, inter brand collaboration and proudly local production investment are some of the dynamic developments that markSA Fashion Week’s 25th Spring/Summer Collections.
The SAFW’22 Spring Summer Collections will be showcased from 28 – 30 April, Parkade G5, Entrance 24 at Mall of Africa in Johannesburg.
Twenty iconic names including Ephraim Molingoana for Ephymol, Amanda Laird Cherry and Palesa Mokubung of Mantsho as well as cult Kasi brand, Loxion Kulca, now designed by Olé Ledimo, will launch their 2022 collections to the media, buyers, selected VIPs and a limited edition of public tickets through Quicket, alongside exciting new stars including 2021 New Talent winner Artho Eksteen as well as Fikile Zamagcino Sokhulu and Sipho Mbuto who both participated in the Fashion Bridges collaboration with Milan Fashion Week last year.
Hosted by SA’s favourite social personality, Maps Maponyane, the 24th New Talent Search will again open the event with a line-up of six of the most promising young designers to watch. This year’s contenders are:
Other highlights of the first day is the CRUZ COLLECTIVE featuring Sokhulu and Mbuto as well as another new generation notable, Michael Ludwig Studio.
Day two opens with TheOPPO COLLECTIONS which brings Artho Eksteen, Ezokhetho, the gender-neutral signature, The BAM Collective, and the much revered, Amanda Laird Cherry, together in a celebration of technology and perfection that will speak to OPPO’s Reno 5 mobile phone as the quintessential tool with which to capture the ethos of contemporary living as “the new spectator sport” which happens where everyone, everywhere engages, interacts, captivates and comments.
“We are excited to go into our second year of partnership with SA Fashion Week. This is an important partnership for OPPO, as it gives us the space to connect with our customers and it shows our commitment to empowering local talent through our technology to curate a line of sustainably resourced fashion that represents both the heartbeat and heritage of our country. We are looking forward to our second collection and what our designers will come up with this year. For us, it is all about the creative collaboration that translates South African culture into design, which is the essence of what the OPPO brand represents both locally and globally.” says Avashnee Moodley, Head of Marketing at Oppo South Africa.
This is followed by the high-profile trio of Cape Town-based Helon Melon who wowed audiences in 2021 with her all-white, sustainable collection, fashion forward Judith Atelier, an ardent supporter of South African mohair and perennial fashion week darling, Palesa Mokubung of Mantsho.
I was super excited to learn that Disney+, the streaming service from The Walt Disney Company, has confirmed launch dates for the 42 countries and 11 new territories set to launch this winter.
The streaming service will launch in South Africa on 18 May 2022. South African pricing has also been announced at R119.00 per month, or R1 190.00 for an annual subscription.
With exclusive original content and thousands of episodes and movies from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and general entertainment from Star, Disney+ is the streaming home for some of the world’s most beloved stories.
Subscribers will have access to Star Wars’ “The Book of Boba Fett” and “The Mandalorian” from Executive Producer and Writer Jon Favreau. In addition, the Marvel Studios’ series “Moon Knight” starring Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant, which sees a mild-mannered gift-shop employee becoming plagued with blackouts and memories of another life as well as Academy Award®-nominated “Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings” starring Simu Liu and Awkwafina, will also be available at launch.
Subscribers will also be able to enjoy Disney and Pixar’s Academy Award®-nominated “Luca”, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Academy Award®-winning “Encanto”, which tells the tale of an extraordinary family called the Madrigals and Academy Award®-winning “Cruella” starring Emma Stone as the legendary “Cruella de Vil”.
In general entertainment, subscribers will also be able to watch titles including “The Simpsons”, “Queens” and “The Kardashians”. From National Geographic, fans will have access to both seasons of “The World According To Jeff Goldblum” that sees Jeff take us on an entertaining, insightful and playful ride. In each episode of these 12-part series, he pulls on the thread of a deceptively familiar object to unravel a world of astonishing connections and fascinating science and history.
Disney+ offers access to high-quality viewing up to four concurrent streams, unlimited downloads on up to ten devices, and the ability to set up to seven different profiles, including the ability for parents to set Kids Profiles that have an easy-to-navigate, child-friendly interface to access age-appropriate content.
Mzansi Life & Style by Mishkah Roman-Cassiem 