Tennis does a double take, and buying local is lekker
● Thursday on the social whirl began with a new tennis doubles act being revealed and ended on a scenic deck for news of an expo that makes buying local a cinch.
The morning started at a spot I hadn’t been to in years — AtholPlace House and Villa in the Joburg suburb of Athol — because “Tennis South Africa and a renowned global brand are set to reveal a match”.
As ushers in white tennis shorts and blue golfers beckon us inside, I am intrigued to see the establishment (listed by travel bible Condé Nast Traveller as a hot new hotel in 2009) these days sports a white-and-grey exterior, while outside in the back garden the terrace is now flanked by a new four-bedroom free-standing extension (hence the “villa” appellation).
It’s a rather scorching morning when I join my TimesLIVE colleague David Isaacson at one of the long, white tables set up beneath umbrellas.
Up to us comes a tall white-haired bloke, and when I notice the racket lapel pin attached to Gavin Crookes’s blazer, the Tennis South Africa president shares that his official jacket went astray when his car was pinched while he was in Pretoria not so long ago.
“The double-cab turned up in Delmas, but I was dispossessed of my Tennis South Africa blazer,” he explains.
Speaking of jackets, wearing a bold whiteand-black patterned one is tennis wheelchair champ Donald Ramphadi, while behind me banker Ciko Thomas isn’t sporting his company’s greenhued branding, but rather a shade of royal blue (a nod to the US credit card company for which Nedbank holds the licence in South Africa).
Proceedings are compèred by SABC sports presenter Owen Honey, before Gavin announces the three-year sponsorship partnership with American Express, describing it as “a new chapter in the journey of tennis in South Africa” that will support development “from junior tennis to high performance national teams, club championships and wheelchair tennis”.
Mind you, there are no plans as yet for any major tournaments, though tennis lovers can look forward to “bespoke” tennis events from the card company.
While Kgothatso Montjane, our most successful women’s wheelchair champ (she claimed victory with doubles partner Yui Kamiji in the final of the International Tennis Federation’s wheelchair doubles masters in Barcelona at the end of last year) couldn’t make it to the event, someone who did was the land’s most famous radio gal, 947 breakfast host Anele Mdoda.
Coming straight after work, she quipped: “I’m dressed for radio, not the social pages.”
Foodwise, the lunchtime spread was one of the best I’ve had in a while — with generously sized mini burgers, a tasty vegetable pot-pie, and moreish bowls of Thai chicken curry with rice, and oxtail served on mashed potatoes.
The buffet served at the San Deck in Sandton later that evening was equally good, though the speeches at the Proudly South Africa Buy Local Summit & Expo media launch could have benefited from Kate Middleton-style editing skills.
Compèred by the “buy local” advocacy agency’s Happy MaKhumalo Ngidi (wearing a chic red-patterned cocktail dress by late fashion designer Reginald Molamu’s Reggiestar label), we heard from both CEO Eustace Mashimbye and vivacious fashion designer Ouma Tema (her brand Plus Fab was one of the labels that took part in a fashion show on a flight from Joburg to Cape Town last month).
The expo, to take place on March 25 and 26 at the nearby Sandton Convention Centre, will showcase a range of items, from footwear to furniture, produced locally by more than 200 exhibitors — and with a conference held at the same time.
The night saw me catching up with public relations gal Melanie Ramjee and congratulating Mamello Makha on joining Mamelodi Sundowns as the football team’s new superfan.
“I am so excited to be wearing the green and yellow,” said Mamello, who was left without a reason to make noise in the soccer stadium after the previous side she had supported, Bloemfontein Celtic, was sold a few years ago.