we held an Evening Dance and Dinner Festival with Gin Tasting on November 23rd.
On their quest to see iconic places in the Mpumalanga province, a group of youthful and lively influencers from across South Africa selected by the short left summer campaign team, took a short left to Shabalala interpretation of culture Centre.
welcoming
This time, Goodman was the event's guide, doing what he values and enjoys the most, seeing the entity expand and prosper, and witnessing the guests interest in everything we have to offer, from the background to tale telling about the community and more.
To honor and respect the festival's theme, our guests are assisted in putting on our traditional regalia at the welcome table.
Instead of our usual Amarula beer tasting, we introduced a local gin that is brewed locally by a licensed brewer who is a resident of Shabalala, with the goal of always bringing authentic African traditional experiences to our guests, and we are pleased to say that our guests received the gin ,and we are delighted to report that guests enjoyed the gin tasting and that our event was a success based on the number of attendees who returned for more gin.
Main event
The guests were instructed to move to the kraal where the main event was being held, and were greeted by our local outstanding dancers who entertained them as they made their way to their seats.
Different cultural dances were performed by the group of dancers. They performed the traditional dances while the marimba band entertained our guests as well.
What a privilege it was to witness that moment, its always joyous and lively when the guests
are given the platform to join dancers and have a bit of fun.
Shabalala ICC is all about empowering the youth and communities. When our Center first emerged, we hired a young man from the community named Tevin to work in the bar area. and because of his experience and love for serving our guests beverages, he is now not an employee but the owner of the bar, and he runs the bar entirely on his own. This is simply amazing. Over the last three years, the center has grown significantly, providing youngsters with opportunities to better themselves and broaden their knowledge of the value of tourism in townships.
The Shabalala Centre is a warm and inviting environment that welcomes guests from all around the world.
it was an honor to host locals who want to reconnect with their roots or learn more about tribes other than their own.
After the dance, our guests went to the cash bar for refreshments.
There is also a market next to the cash bar where our guests can buy traditional apparel such as doeks, beads, earrings, combs, bags, and much more. It is recommended that our guests buy at least one item at the market as a sign of support and to have something to remember the event by.
We have also added impala stew to our menu. We appreciate our chef who prepares these hearty meals with love, and rest assured that we are not engaging in any illegal hunting. Our impala stew is purchased directly from the supermarket, and we are too far away from depopulation of impalas in South Africa, from September to January new calf's are born so they will never be depopulated or go extinct.
We feel that the Shabalala Centre has had a beneficial influence on the Shabalala community by offering job opportunities, improving skills, and bringing business to the locals who work there.
The visits showed that tourists want to support and understand South Africa’s heritage, and life in rural areas, we call upon domestic tourists to follow in their footsteps to support locals who have something to offer the recovering tourism sector.
The Shabalala interpretation of culture prioritizes the safety of our visitors, hence, even though Shabalala is a peaceful community with no criminal activity, we make it a point to have security on duty during our festivals to keep an eye out for anything unexpected.
We aim to ensure that everything is up to standard, so even though we are in a hamlet, our facilities are clean, nice, and safe. There is also enough of safe parking for guests' vehicles, whether they are individual cars or buses.