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.
The award-winning next generation experiential department store, We Are EGG opened its 2nd store at The Zone in Rosebank last week. The first day of trading was a massive success with Jo’burg shoppers queuing an hour before the official store opening to shop and support local and international brands.
Originally launched in Cavendish Square in December 2020, in the thick of the COVID-19 lockdown, by retail pioneers Paul Simon and Arie Fabian in partnership with Old Mutual, the new Rosebank store has been specifically created with the Jo’burg customer in mind and has been built on a similar model to the iconic UK based Selfridges department store. The beautifully curated 3000 SQM space features the very best local and international in mens, womens and kids fashion, beauty, home and jewellery departments and a high-energy, quintessential restaurant & bar, all under one roof.
Much like Selfridges, We Are EGG Rosebank is a wonderland not only fashion enthusiasts, but all lovers of high-end retail experiences, appealing to the hyper connected Jo’burg customer. With the spirit of an independent, EGG has the scale of a department store. The 150 brands have poured their creative souls into this project, and when you enter, you will feel the passion in the air.
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.
Can you believe that it’s been almost 2 years to the day that I started working from home on 18 March 2020. We thought it would be just for 2 weeks, which became 2 months and now 2 years!
As more people start the transition back to working from an office or at least a hybrid of working from home and working from the office, so too has our borders opened to vaccinated travellers who wish to explore our beautiful South Africa.
South African Tourism have announced their new advertising campaign to entice tourists to “Mzansi” (a colloquial and informal term for South Africa) and hence the name of this website – Mzansi Life and Style 😊
Here’s some more information about SA Tourism’s new campaign and some insight from the advertising agency that conceptualized the concept called Joe Public United.
Joe Public United is thrilled to join forces with South African Tourism (SAT) on a new global campaign called “Live Again” which is set to reposition South Africa firmly in the hearts and minds of international travellers.
With its diverse landscapes, cultures and creative assets, South Africa offers global business and leisure travellers a host of experiences, as well as a strong science-based approach to managing COVID-19. In line with this, the campaign captures and highlights the South African spirit of endurance, resilience and “ubuntu” as it showcases bucket-list destinations, adventures and experiences.
“As we collectively begin to live again, after two years of the pandemic, South Africa is open for business to leisure and business travellers. This is what we wanted to bring to the fore,” says Xolisa Deyshana, Chief Creative Officer at Joe Public United.
Speaking at the launch, SA Tourism Acting Chief Executive Officer Mzilikazi Themba Khumalo echoed these sentiments saying, “The Live Again campaign captures the country’s brand promise to inspire new ways, as travellers enjoy unique leisure, cultural, business and events travel experiences that will re-energize body, mind and spirit.”
“This campaign sums up South Africa’s offer to international travellers to take the opportunity to be inspired by our beautiful country and recharged by our people and everything else that is uniquely South African. It taps into this country’s renowned optimism and resilience that has stood this nation in good stead at every turn. Through it all, we have never lost our spirit to overcome, and we are inviting the world to experience our country and recover from the COVID-19 situation in the same way. We are saying it’s time to ‘Live Again’.”
In challenging travellers to live again, the advertisement captures the spirit of a captivatingly beautiful landscape, dynamic culture and people, vibrant nightlife and exquisite cuisine. Its production also served as a ‘proof of the pudding’ sampling of the country’s tourism products, with over 170 crew staying for various periods in over 1000 rooms across the country.
“This campaign is special to Joe Public United because it has as its core message that South Africa is open is for business, the tourism sector is open for business and we are ready to welcome the world. The campaign resonates with our commitment to the growth of our clients and of our country. It is time for South Africa to reclaim its place in the international tourism space. It is time for our people and our country to shine, while we inspire the world,” says Mpume Ngobese, Co-Managing Director at Joe Public United.
“We are also honoured to have been part of producing South African Tourism’s first ever global audio-visual marketing campaign in five years and look forward to it inspiring travellers to visit South Africa,“ concludes Deyshana.
South Africa is open for business and looks forward to welcoming travellers and to witness the growth and transformation of the tourism sector.
Rookie USA is known for it’s love for helping children as much as they can. Their annual donations brighten even the dimmest of smiles.
Rookie USA partnered with well-known influencers and friends of the brand to contribute to the amazing donation of R50 000 to the Reach For A Dream Foundation.
“Reach For A Dream seeks to alleviate the strain that life-threatening illnesses place on sick children and their families by providing these dreamers with the opportunity to believe in their greatest wish. The Foundation has been providing dreams to children all around the country for 33 years and counting. These young children are under extreme pressure to deal with these medical issues and are in desperate need of encouragement. In addition, Reach For A Dream offers the child a magical moment to regain their childhood that is being lost to an illness.”
“The foundation is grateful to have partnered with Rookie USA in the journey to inspire, give hope, strength, and courage in the lives of our dream children” says Natalie Lazaris, Business Head for Reach for a Dream Foundation.
Rookie USA is a kids-only, multi-branded premium retail destination, now in South Africa. It is a retail experience focused on kids from the ages of 0-20 years old ranging from apparel to accessories and footwear. Rookie USA offers consumers a collection of iconic brands including Converse, Nike, Jordan, Hurley and Levi’s to provide a complete head-to-toe kid’s experience.
The word crochet is likely to conjure images of your grandmother’s doilies. However, two young entrepreneurs in Newtown, Johannesburg are setting the record straight.
The strength of Mama Kea lies in its combination of young and old talent. It started when the founders, Sicelo Mabuza and his business partner Khulani Sikhosana, teamed up with two elderly women, Irene Mabitsela and Emma Mavimbela, who they met selling crochet beanies at the Soweto Arts and Craft Fair back in 2015.
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the first South African Muslim film shot in Afrikaans, (actually AfriKaaps) Barakat, has been selected as South Africa’s official submission for the 94th Annual Academy Awards.
Directed by Amy Jephta and produced by Ephraim Gordon, co-founders of production companies PaperJet Films and Nagvlug Films, Barakat was released in cinemas in early 2021. The screenplay is by writing-producing team Amy Jephta and Ephraim Gordon who made their debut at South Africa’s 2017 kykNET Silwerskerm Festival with their short film Soldaat (Soldier), for which they won Best Screenplay and Best Short.
Barakat Official Trailer
Jephta, a celebrated theatre practitioner, director and writer, also scripted South Africa’s official 2018 Golden Globes submission for Foreign Film, Ellen: The Story of Ellen Pakkies. In 2019, she was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award for theatre. Actor and director Gordon starred in Nosipho Dumisa’s critically acclaimed 2018 debut, Number 37, which premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW).
“I am so proud that this film has reached as many people as it has, and to be recognised by South Africa in this way is incredibly special,” said director Amy Jephta. “Even after an extremely challenging year for our film industry, we’re honoured that a small story about a family has connected us.”
Producer Ephraim Gordon added: “This was totally unexpected, but it shows that everyone’s hard work on this project has paid off. This film was a blessing from the beginning and continues to be. It is our barakat.”
‘Barakat’ is an Arabic word denoting blessings, abundance and prosperity. The film follows the trials and tribulations of Aisha Davids (played by veteran acress Vinette Ebrahim), a widow who has to preserve the peace between four sons struggling to come to terms with the death of their father two years after the fact. Her sons, Zunaid (Joey Rasdien), Zaid (Mortimer Williams), Yaseen (Keeno Lee Hector) and Nur (Danny Ross) return to their family home to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr (or Labarang, as it’s called in Cape Town), the celebration marking the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. They’ve never dealt with their father’s death or the void his passing has left. Each son’s unprocessed pain manifests in constant familial conflict, saddening their mother as she tries to move on with her own life.
The 94th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, the 27th March 2022.
Barakat was developed in partnership with MNET and funded in association with the NFVF, the DTIC, IDC as well as Indigenous Film Distribution, the South African distributor of the film.
moyo Melrose Arch is synonymous for its vibrancy, face painting and mostly for its original take on African cuisine. Think Maputo peri peri chicken to beef dombolo potjie. This winter moyo Melrose Arch is launching a fantastic signature menu called “Taste of the Wild”. The menu will take you on a wild journey through Africa, tasting exotic game meat prepared in unique and delicious ways. moyo, meaning heart in Swahili, is the perfect way to describe how much love and time is put into cooking the various dishes.
“We have specially created unique marinades for every type of game, ensuring tenderness and dishes packed with flavour,” explains Martin Van der Walt, Executive Chef at moyo Melrose Arch.
If you are like me, and you don’t have plans to leave Johannesburg or South Africa for the festive season, then best you check out what you can do in Jozi while everyone else is soaking up the sun on some island somewhere.
If you’re stuck here, then you may as well enjoy it – less traffic, more parking spots and better service at restaurants, not to mention all the festive fun that Sandton City is offering.
I started this blog because I love Mzansi (South Africa) and I want to showcase the stunning style, happenings and life that is all part and parcel of living at the Southern tip of Africa.
I was born in beautiful Cape Town and migrated to Jozi (Johannesburg) in 2003 for work purposes. Attending functions, parties, launches and site-seeing became part of my life, coupled with sourcing celebs for the show I content produced (Spirit Sundae on SABC1). Besides this, getting to know the highways and byways of Jozi, increasing my social circle and having ambrosial culinary experiences begs to be documented. And since my being hired as a Lifestyle Editor for a local glossy is as rare as winning the Lotto, I decided to make this blog one of my dream jobs.
So, you can look forward to highlights of events, what’s hip ‘n happening, behind the scenes of shoots with celebs and my own personal sartorial elegance.
First pic – the very practical and comfortable, yet stylish, Black Coffee Concept Dress that I wore to this year’s SA Music Awards.
Mzansi Life & Style by Mishkah Roman-Cassiem 