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SOUTH AFRICAN GOLF HISTORY Far from par: brief history of golf in South Africa. Golf arrived in South Africa sometime in 1885, even before it was played in America only two years later. South Africa’s first golf was played at Waterloo Green in Wynberg Cape Town, under the name Cape Golf Club. This is an area of land between where you’ll find Wynberg Military Camp and Victoria Hospital along Waterloo Road in Wynberg.  Peter Sourman, the author of the book A History of Golf in South Africa, a must read for golf lovers. From the Rondebosch Common, the Cape Golf Club moved to its current home adjacent to the Wynberg Military facility and has since been called Royal Cape Golf Club, the oldest golf club in South Africa. In 1892, the first National Golf Championship was held in Kimberly in the Northern Cape, and the first South African Open Championship in Port Elizabeth in 1903, after many exhibition tournaments of same was played over the preceding 10 years. The SA Open as it is known today, takes place at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City, and is thus one of the oldest Open Championship tournaments in the world. Yes, […]

South Africa Country Info South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Kingdom of Swaziland). It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world’s 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres (471,445 square miles). Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament, is the legislative capital. Bloemfontein has traditionally been regarded as the judicial capital. The largest city, and site of highest court is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Africans. The remaining population consists of Africa’s largest communities of European (White South Africans), Asian (Indian South Africans and Chinese South Africans), […]

  Cape Dutch and Cape Malay A very distinctive regional style of South African cooking is often referred to as “Cape Dutch”. This cuisine is characterized by the use of spices such as nutmeg, allspice and chili peppers. The Cape Dutch cookery style owes at least as much to the cookery of the slaves brought by the Dutch East India Company to the Cape from Bengal, Java and Malaysia as it does to the European styles of cookery imported by settlers from the Netherlands, and this is reflected in the use of eastern spices and the names given to many of these dishes. The Cape Malay influence has brought spicy curries, sambals, pickled fish, and variety of fish stews. Bobotie is a South African dish that has Cape Malay origins. It consists of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping. Of the many dishes common to South Africa, Bobotie is perhaps closest to being the national dish, because it isn’t found in any other country. The recipe originates from the Dutch East India Company colonies in Batavia, with the name derived from the Indonesian bobotok. It is also made with curry powder leaving it with a slight “tang”. It […]

The History of South-African Wine So how did vines reach South Africa? During the 1600’s, Europeans began colonising the world – and many took with them their winemaking skills and practices. The first vines were brought to Cape Town and planted by Dutch settlers in 1655, (368 years ago) setting in motion the birth of South Africa’s wine industry as we know it today. South Africa is known as a ‘New World’ wine producer, alongside Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, the USA and others. ‘New World Wines’ tend to be from climates which are generally warmer than those of the ‘Old World’ (Europe and the Middle East). The result being grapes which are generally riper, slightly higher in alcohol, fruitier and full bodied than their Old World counterparts. South Africa first wine was bottled by the city’s founder, Jan van Riebeeck, in 1659. He was tasked with planting and managing the vineyards, as it was a way to ward off scurvy amongst the sailors. In those early days, the planters chose high-yielding grape varieties to ensure plentiful wine and harvesting, mainly Cinsault. Wine production was then taken over by the Governor of the Cape, Simon van der Stel, who […]