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.
Tapfuma Makina, one of South Africa’s favourite news and sports anchors, has been announced as the new Ultimate Braai Master (UBM) host for Season 8 (S8).
Rhodes University scholar, Tapfuma Makina’s plans to continue on and study medicine after completing his BSc in Biochemistry and Microbiology changed direction after becoming a presenter on campus radio revealed a natural talent for storytelling.
Now, after almost two decades in radio and television, as well as hosting and presenting premieres and awards across sports, enterprise and entertainment, broadcasting is in his professional DNA.
His distinctive voice, familiar to many from HeartFM, Top Billing, eNCA and beyond, has captured many SA broadcasting highlights in recent years.
With exclusive access to high-end music, great concerts, documentaries and never-seen archived interviews, the global music streaming platform, QWEST TV, officially launched on DStv channel 330 recently.
Music lovers will now be able to access QWEST TV via the DStv bouquet (channel 330) as well as on the Showmax platform. The Channel will be included in all the DStv packages in 44 countries across the continent.
Available exclusively to DStv customers, the channels offering includes:
Exclusive concerts from legendary artists as well as Rising Stars from across the globe
Premium music documentaries
Archived artist footage
Unreleased interviews with music icons including Erykah Badu, Questlove, Salif Keita, Gregory Porter, Marcus Miller, Seun Kuti, Kamasi Washington and Fatoumata Diawara
Founded in 2017 by musical genius, the legendary Quincy Jones, alongside TV and music producer and programmer Reza Ackbaraly, Qwest TV plans to bring genre-agnostic musical content to the African continent.
Following the successful Cape Town edition, the highly anticipated Cotton Fest returns to Johannesburg and has a confirmed line-up.
Taking place in the inner city on Saturday, the 4th of February, the festival will once again merge both established and young emerging local talents performing live across three energy packed stages.
Founded to showcase the diversities in various popular music genres with the aim of fusing the gaps within the different local movements, the event platform also celebrates fashion and sport.
The Joburg Film Festival powered by Multichoice, taking place in the heart of Egoli from 31 January to 5 February 2023, is excited to announce the opening film, the Moussa Sene Absa directed masterpiece “XALE”.
Tickets for the 60+ films being screened across Gauteng are now on sale via the JFF website, www.joburgfilmfestival.co.za.
The festival will showcase some of the finest films from over 35 countries across the globe, including 20 African premieres and 27 South African premieres, and will run until Sunday, 5th February 2023 at various locations across the city.
The opening film XALE follows the life of Awa, a 15-year-old African schoolgirl who is happily living her teenage years alongside her twin brother Adama, who dreams of Europe. This beautiful Senegalese feature immerses the viewer into a storyline of family values, love, life and betrayal.
The Joburg Film Festival line-up includes films from South Africa, Tunisia, Brazil, Seoul, USA, Japan, Morocco and more, with a mix of feature films and documentaries showcasing stories that cross cultural boundaries.
I’ve had the privilege of seeing the Ndlovu Youth Choir live on at least 3 separate occasions at corporate gigs, and each time they blew the audience away with their energy, audience interaction and sheer talent!
Image by Mishkah Roman-Cassiem
From humble beginnings, in the Moutse Valley, in rural Mpumalanga to performances at the 94th Academy Awards (Oscars) and across the globe, South Africa’s ever popular and most loved choir, Ndlovu Youth Choir were recently invited to perform at theAmerica’s Got Talent All-Stars competition in Los Angeles earlier this month. The Choir’s exemplary performance was broadcast on NBC Eastern time in the USA on Monday, 23 January 2023. Local fans can catch the Ndlovu Youth Choir’s performance tomorrow, Tuesday, 24 January 2023 after the NBC broadcast. Tune in to YouTube, Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday morning after the broadcast. Website: https://www.youtube.com/@AGT
One of the greatest voices of our generation, two-time GRAMMY® Award winning singing sensation Gregory Porter returns to South Africa this month for his first solo concert tour ‘An Intimate Evening with Gregory Porter brought to you by Liberty’. He performed in Cape Town at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens today, Saturday, 21 January 2023.
Johannesburg concerts take place at Montecasino’s Teatro on 23, 24, 26, 27 and 28 January 2023 at 8pm.
Brought to you by Liberty and Showtime Management in association with Cape Talk and 702, the SA concert tour dates, including two additional Johannesburg shows, sold out within days of going on sale.
Cape Town based South African singer, actress, storyteller, playwright and inspirational speaker, The One Who Sings (Zolani Mahola) is the opening supporting act at Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden and local musician, composer, producer and curator Msaki is the supporting act for the Johannesburg concerts.
The 3 month long Scorpion Kings Summer Tour kicks off in Cape Town next Sunday, and organisers have confirmed the tour line-up for the various shows.
The music festival targeting all corners of the country, kicks off in the Mother City next Sunday at the Grand Arena, GrandWest making stops in Mbombela, East London, Kimberley, North West, Bloemfontein, Polokwane, Durban and concluded on Saturday, 25th February 2023, in Jo’burg at the Johannesburg Expo Centre Nasrec.
Alongside Scorpion Kings (DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small), the Scorpion Kings Summer Tour will feature live performances from some of the country’s hottest artists across various music genres including amapiano, house and hiphop.
Tansey Coetzee & daughter Peyton with Santa Claus at Sandton City
As the festive lights start sparkling, and families start counting down to the upcoming holidays, South Africa’s most iconic shopping centre, Sandton City, has unveiled its festive season campaign. Titled The Festive City, it’s everything Christmas dreams are made of, featuring the most sought-after brands and more.
For starters, the centre court (outside Checkers) will play host to festive brand immersions for shoppers of all ages, by two beloved brands. LEGO®’s zone will feature a maze filled with ever changing play zones, once-in-a-lifetime building experiences, a chance to also add your brick to the South African flag build, two LEGO® brick pits, a Duplo zone for the small ones and the chance to shop the latest LEGO® collections with promotional offers.
The Little Generosity Shop by Cadbury Dairy Milk will provide you with ways to spread generosity and kindness. Here, you can donate toys to children in need, enjoy a reading corner, get Cadbury’s branded gift wrapping and do exclusive shopping in a generous chocolate world filled with treats.
Santa Claus himself will make his much-anticipated arrival to Sandton City on the 1st of December and will also be stationed in the centre court, where photo opportunities and merchandise extensions will make any heart sing.
Fan favourite brand Chuckles® will stage a Life’s a Ball activation on level 6 outside Woolworths. Visitors to this area will be able to shop the exclusive Chuckles gifting range, and personalise their Chuckles purchases right there, making these gifts even more special.
Together with three industry friends, popular radio and media personality DJ Kyeezi announced his latest business endeavor DESTINY, a luxury champagne lounge that opened in the Cape Town inner city this week – just in time for the festive season.
Radio personality Khanya ‘Kyeezi’ Siyengo earlier this year joined forces with three partners, restaurateur extraordinaire Theo Pearson, experiential event specialist Bevan Chetty and marketing guru (and my personal friend) Natano Brache, to come up with a luxury destination, set to change the face of entertainment in the Cape Town CBD.
Having officially opened its doors, the launch was attended by local celebrities, media and other key industry players including AKA, Clarissa Cupido, DJ Milkshake, Tamara Snow, Danine Naidoo, Chad Saaiman, Shahan Ramkissoon, Neevas Harris, culture kings Hayden Manuel and Rolo Rozay.
This premium champagne lounge targets a young discerning, affluent local and international clientele. Nestled in the heart of the city, DESTINY plans to set the precedent for the highest quality entertainment with a combination of class, luxury and style offering the ultimate summer experience.
Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, John Norris-Rogers & Siv Pillay
The top restaurants in South Africa were announced at the 2022Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awardson Sunday 20 November at GrandWest in Cape Town. The industry was celebrated in a spectacular display of gourmet food, creative drinks and top-notch entertainment, which had over 700 guests, including some of SA’s favourite celebrities, on their feet.
The new star rating system results were announced, with restaurants being awarded either one, two or three stars. To be included on the shortlist, each restaurant had to achieve a minimum rating of 70 points out of 100. This was based on several factors, including the quality of their offering – from the décor, ambience and service to the wine list, ingredients used and quality of the food. One star was awarded to those restaurants who scored 70 – 80, two stars to those scoring 80 – 90, and three stars to those scoring 90+, with Restaurant of the Year awarded to the establishment with the highest score.
Mzansi Life & Style by Mishkah Roman-Cassiem 