HERITAGE MONTH
BY BYRON LUKAS
From braai politics to flexible definitions of time, there are some things you simply cannot explain to someone who has never lived in South Africa.
You can try to explain, but somewhere between describing why a braai is more than a barbecue and why“ just now” could mean anything from five minutes to next Tuesday, you realise that they may never truly get it.
Heritage Month is a good excuse to celebrate those little things that make us proudly Mzansi.
Take the braai. It is never simply a meal. Someone will spend half the afternoon beside the fire, refusing all offers of help because, apparently, moving the tongs is a highly specialised skill.
There is always someone who arrives late, someone who brings a salad nobody asked for, and someone asking,“ Is the meat ready?” every seven minutes.
Then there are Sunday lunches. You could have eaten breakfast at 10am and still find yourself at the table at 2pm with a plate piled high as Table Mountain. If you say you’ re not hungry, prepare for the inevitable response:“ Just take a little.”
South Africans also have a special relationship with language.“ Eish”,“ sharp-sharp”,” now-now”, and“ howzit” can carry an entire conversation without requiring a complete sentence. The beauty is that most of us involved know exactly what they mean, even when nobody outside the conversation does.
Then there are family gatherings, where somebody’ s aunt knows everything about everybody, cousins appear from nowhere, and the children are sent outside until the adults have finished talking.
And who can forget December in Mzansi? The beaches are packed, the cooler boxes are working overtime, and every road trip includes at least one unnecessary stop for snacks.
From school sports days and taxi hand signals to stokvels, backyard parties, and music playing from somebody’ s phone at full volume, our heritage lives in these everyday moments.
Sometimes, being South African is simply about understanding without needing an explanation.
IB
104 INBOUND SA / SEPTEMBER 2026