Trust me. I was skeptical too. When my then boyfriend, now husband tried to explain the beauty of a South African Braai, I’ll be honest, I didn’t really get it. It sounded like a basic barbecue. A gathering of friends and family eating food from the grill. “Our barbecues are great,” I argued. “My dad makes a mean burger.” But whenever we cooked out on the grill, my husband’s face said it all – he longed for his beloved braai.
Just a little bit of background for those who have never heard of a braai. The word braai comes from the word braaivleis, which is Afrikaans for roasted meat. Braai means “barbecue” and vleis means “meat.” The word is pronounced “bry” and although it originated with the Afrikaans, the word and social custom has been adopted by many ethnic cultures within Southern Africa.
When I first visited South Africa in 2010, the night I arrived I was treated to the first of what would be many braais. I can honestly say I will never see a barbecue the same again. The food, the drinks, it was so much similar, so simple, but somehow so much better than our typical American cook-out. I’ll try to explain in ways my husband couldn’t, the top five reasons a South African braai takes the gold over an American barbecue.
1. A braai is acceptable for ANY occasion
That’s right. Birthday braai, christmas braai, going away braai, welcome home braai, a wednesday night just to get a few friends together braai, a graduation braai, housewarming braai, these are all perfectly acceptable times to have a braai.
A braai, unlike a barbecue, is not only reserved for a Summer Day, Memorial Day or Labor Day, it’s an any and every day celebration of life. While American’s bring out the sandwich platters, fingers snacks, and hot dogs, South African’s light up the braai.
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SA still most attractive in Africa for investments – index
Harare – South Africa still ranks as the most attractive economy for investments destined for the continent despite challenges emanating from slow growth, a gloomy ratings outlook and waning perceptions, EY said in an index released Wednesday.
The auditing and advisory company has also predicted a tough few years ahead for the continent. The global economy is struggling for growth amid slowing down commodity prices and a less rosy outlook for China’s economic transformation and growth outlook.
EY ranks South Africa, the region’s most industrialised and second largest economy, as the most attractive investment destination in Africa in its Africa Attractiveness Index. Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Mauritius are ranked second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.
“Despite macroeconomic challenges (and a low-growth environment), South Africa still outperforms most other African economies due to relatively high scores across every other dimension (partly a reflection of the fact that the South African economy is more developed than any other African economy),” EY said.
A weaker rand currency has also hobbled South Africa, although this is a problem that is shared with most regional peers such as the Malawi kwacha and Nigerian naira.
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Top 5 Reasons Why a South African Braai Trumps an American Barbecue
Trust me. I was skeptical too. When my then boyfriend, now husband tried to explain the beauty of a South African Braai, I’ll be honest, I didn’t really get it. It sounded like a basic barbecue. A gathering of friends and family eating food from the grill. “Our barbecues are great,” I argued. “My dad makes a mean burger.” But whenever we cooked out on the grill, my husband’s face said it all – he longed for his beloved braai.
Just a little bit of background for those who have never heard of a braai. The word braai comes from the word braaivleis, which is Afrikaans for roasted meat. Braai means “barbecue” and vleis means “meat.” The word is pronounced “bry” and although it originated with the Afrikaans, the word and social custom has been adopted by many ethnic cultures within Southern Africa.
When I first visited South Africa in 2010, the night I arrived I was treated to the first of what would be many braais. I can honestly say I will never see a barbecue the same again. The food, the drinks, it was so much similar, so simple, but somehow so much better than our typical American cook-out. I’ll try to explain in ways my husband couldn’t, the top five reasons a South African braai takes the gold over an American barbecue.
1. A braai is acceptable for ANY occasion
That’s right. Birthday braai, christmas braai, going away braai, welcome home braai, a wednesday night just to get a few friends together braai, a graduation braai, housewarming braai, these are all perfectly acceptable times to have a braai.
A braai, unlike a barbecue, is not only reserved for a Summer Day, Memorial Day or Labor Day, it’s an any and every day celebration of life. While American’s bring out the sandwich platters, fingers snacks, and hot dogs, South African’s light up the braai.
Source
South Africa’s unemployment gloom mars ratings progress
South African unemployment reached the highest level on record, official data showed on Monday, clouding the finance minister’s efforts to convince Standard and Poor’s and Fitch not to downgrade the country’s credit rating.
After a decision by Moody’s late on Friday to keep its rating on South Africa steady, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said he aimed to show its fellow agencies that the country was on the right economic track ahead of their own reviews in the coming weeks.
All we can do is work as hard as we can to convince people out there that we are a country that is capable of solving its problems
One of the world’s biggest metals producers, South Africa’s economy has been hit by a slide in commodities prices which came on top of wide spread labour strife in the mining industry.
The country’s rand currency initially rose on Monday in reaction to the ratings news, but sank sharply after the statistics agency revealed unemployment had risen to 26.7 percent of the labour force in the first quarter – the highest level since the survey of households began in 2008.
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South Africa: Children of Immigrants Face Expulsion From Eastern Cape Schools
Hundreds of immigrant learners attending public schools in the Eastern Cape may soon find themselves turned away after a decision by the provincial department in March.
In May, the Eastern Cape Education Department ran adverts in print media urging parents to submit either a South African identity document, a valid passport or a study permit to their children’s schools.
The advert stated that it was ‘an urgent call to all schools, the schools’ management teams, school governing bodies, parents and all local school communities, to assist principals in making sure that all learners’ valid identity, passport or study permit numbers are submitted and confirmed in schools across the province.’
‘There are schools with a concerning number of learners without valid identity, passport or study permit numbers in the prescribed national SASAMS system.This system is, among other things used to allocate teachers and to determine the allocation and transfer of funds to schools. As indicated above, the allocation of these funds only consider number of learners whose IDs, passport or study permit numbers were correctly captured and valid.’
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