Tag Archives: Nathi Mthethwa

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 26 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Tourism for the past 10 years, has fallen off the list of Ministers and Deputy Ministers in the latest Cabinet list presented by President Jacob Zuma this weekend.  Minister Derek Hanekom takes over as Minister of Tourism, with the same Deputy Minister.  Many new Departments have been created.

The full Cabinet list of 35 Ministers and 37 Deputy Ministers (some Departments have more than one Deputy) is as follows (source Daily Maverick):

The President is Mr Jacob Zuma

The Deputy President is Mr Cyril Ramaphosa.

MINISTERS

1. The Minister in the Presidency is Mr Jeff Radebe.

2. The Minister of Women in the Presidency is Ms Susan Shabangu.

3. The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services is Mr Michael Masutha.

4. The Minister of Public Service and Administration is Mr Collins Chabane.

5. The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans is Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

6. The Minister of Home Affairs is Mr Malusi Gigaba.

7. The Minister of Environmental Affairs is Ms Edna Molewa.

8. The Minister of State Security is Mr David Mahlobo.

9. The Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services is Dr Siyabonga Cwele. Continue reading →

Cape of Love: Wedding Tourism booming in the Cape!

Valentine’s Day is excellent for business in the Cape in February, and this year is no different.  Falling on Thursday, it is being celebrated this weekend, with numerous couples taking a romantic break, and weddings galore are taking place, with couples from all over the world saying ‘I do’ in the world’s most beautiful city and winelands.

Previously Franschhoek held the honours of the Wedding Capital of South Africa, and is still popular as a wedding destination.  Whilst we had seen a decline in weddings in the gourmet and wine valley in the past two years, we are surprised at the vast number of wedding guests we are accommodating at Whale Cottage Camps Bay currently, attending weddings in Cape Town and in Stellenbosch in particular.

Berlin-based Benjamin Pochhammer and his fiancée Johanna Henning chose to marry in the Cape because Benjamin had studied at UCT. Bringing Julia to Cape Town to show her the beautiful city, they decided to get married in sunny Cape Town instead of in wintry Berlin. More than 100 of their friends flew in from Germany and other countries for the wedding, for which a detailed wedding programme had been prepared for the wedding guests, all concentrated in Camps Bay.  So, for example, they played Beach Volleyball followed by drinks and snacks at Café Caprice.  The next day a special party was held at The Grand Camps Bay exclusively for the wedding party guests.  The wedding was held last Wednesday at Webbersburg in Stellenbosch, to which the guests were bussed to and from Camps Bay.  The day after the wedding they guests were invited to an afternoon braai in Camps Bay.   All wedding guests were sent a list of suggestions of Camps Bay and Cape Town restaurants and bars, and recommended tourist attractions and outings.  Roughly calculated, the wedding will have generated R1 million in income for Camps Bay in the five day wedding period, in addition to the R400000 costs of the wedding event.

Yesterday we welcomed the close family from Austria, Australia, the UK, and Johannesburg of Niki Foreman, originally from the UK, and Tom Dirnberger, originally from Johannesburg, who met in London and now live in Sydney. They have booked seven rooms at Whale Cottage Camps Bay for the next five days, before they move across to Stellenbosch, to the wedding venue at Marianne wine estate.  Their wedding party consists of about 60 guests, and their contribution to Camps Bay alone should be in the region of R 500000.

We also accommodated a guest who attended the wedding of her step brother at the Twelve Apostles hotel on Valentine’s Day.  Yesterday four American guests arrived, for a wedding of a nephew, which will be held in Paarl. All pre-wedding festivities are being held in Camps Bay.  At Whale Cottage Camps Bay we are also hosting the Wolthaus couple from Germany for eight days, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary with us on Monday.

Yesterday the posh wedding of Nathi Mthethwa and Philiswe Buthelezi, with 500 guests, was held at Allée Bleue, the menu having been developed by Chef Reuben Riffel.   It was attended by President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Cyril Ramaphosa, Tokyo Sexwale, and Mangosuthu Buthelezi, reports the Sunday Times.

Cape Town and the Winelands deserve to be named the ‘Cape of Love’, and this romantic wedding tourism should be heavily promoted, as it benefits the accommodation, restaurant, tourism, wedding venue, wine, and related industries.  It is also a feel-good type of tourism, the guests being in a particularly good mood, loving every minute of their stay in Cape Town and the Winelands, and the wedding celebrations they have travelled to from far!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

OYO restaurant Sweet and Department of Police Sour Service Awards

The Sweet Service Award  goes to OYO restaurant in the V&A Hotel in the Waterfront, which invited a number of writers to a yummy crayfish lunch, to try out its crayfish special of R 185 for 500 grams (the same offer is available at Salt restaurant in the Ambassador Hotel).  The restaurant has bought a 7-ton pre-allocation of crayfish, giving it 14 000 crayfish tails.   The crayfish is served grilled or cold, depending on the diner’s choice.  It is served with a choice of three sauces: lemon butter, garlic, and peri-peri, and home-made mayonnaise.   The main course was preceded by a most beautifully decorated 5-oyster dish served on a bed of coarse salt, served in 5 styles: dukkah, Bloody Mary, tempura, verjuice and pickled.  The Boschendal Brut Rose’ was an excellent match to the seafood lunch.   The dessert was a beautifully presented cherry and champagne jelly and ice cream with a fine biscuit cup holding a finely chopped fruit salad and served with a Rooibos African Ruby Vermouth made by Klawer Cellars.   The Friday afternoon lunch was the perfect way to end off a busy week.   The OYO name comes from the shape of two plates and a cocktail glass in the middle, a waiter explained.   The service from the waitrons was very attentive.

The Sour Service Award goes to the Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa for wasting R 235 000 of taxpayers’ money when he stayed at one of Cape Town’s most expensive hotels, The Table Bay Hotel in the V & A Waterfront, for 17 days, while his parliamentary residence was being renovated.  His accommodation included stints in the Presidential Suite when the hotel was allegedly fully booked on some nights, as well as accommodation for 5 bodyguards and 2 officials.  The Minister denied that he had made the hotel arrangements, blaming  “officials in his office”, according to a report in the Cape Times.   He also claimed to not know the high prices charged by the hotel.   A week later The Sunday Independent reported that the same Minister spent R 578 499 at the Hilton Hotel in Durban.   He justified this expenditure as accommodation for a crime prevention roadshow!

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.