South African retailers and convenience stores at petrol stations along the country’s roads are hoping for a bonanza during the next month, as hundreds of thousands of tourists travel across the country to follow their team during the Fifa World Cup finals.
Retail sources say they hope demand during the World Cup will blow away the sluggishness of retail sales that have marked the South African economy over the past year.
Retail outlets and forecourts are decked in the national flags of all competing countries and retailers have introduced special promotions to draw in additional customers during the event. Flags, bunting and team gear are the fastest selling items and every city street corner has become a haven for vendors selling their products.
World Cup fever has finally arrived and will be boosted today (10 June) by large open-air concerts in Johannesburg and Cape Town, among other places. This week, a bus ride by the local team drew 185,000 people in Johannesburg and even the more conservative people at the fruit industry body, Hortgro, let off some balloons in Paarl as they ‘toy-toyed’ (a term for an African dance of protest) in the street.
On the farms and in the packhouses where the country’s export citrus and apples are now being packed, it is business as usual, although on most farms extra television screens have been set up so that all can enjoy the great event.
With thousands of visitors in South Africa, some media sources have published a fan’s guide to help the tourists deal with typical, as they put it, ‘Sutheffrican’ words.
From ‘Howzit Okes’ (How are you Blokes) to ‘Shebeen’ (makeshift bars in the townships), the idea is to help tourists to have a ‘lekker’ (nice or great) time. There will be lots of ‘lekkers’ – from braaivleis (bar-b-que) to boerewors (farmers’ sausages) and bokjol (disco’s) – all are normally preceded by a very nice long ‘lekkerrrrr’.
Fresh produce trade visitors may encounter the word ‘vrugtesmous’ on their travels – do not worry – it is the nickname used to identify exporters. They may also encounter the word ‘Bru’, which is an abbreviation for ‘brother’ and is normally preceded by the word ‘Howzit’ – meaning ‘How are you my brother’.
Then there is ‘Yebo’ – the Zulu word for ‘Yes’, and ‘Molo’ is a handy word to use in the morning when you greet a South African – most will understand it means ‘good morning’ and is very much appreciated by black South Africans.
Then you should know ‘Ag Shame’ – an expression of sympathy (particularly when your host’s team looses), ‘Eish!’ – an exclamation expressing exasperation (when the opposing team scores) and ‘sharp’ – a sign-off signaling an agreement as well as farewell, often said twice as in ‘sharp-sharp’.
If you land in Johannesburg you are in ‘Jozi’ and South Africans do not have traffic lights – they have ‘robots’.
You will definitely come across ‘biltong’ – dried meat which is a particular delicacy, you may be offered ‘potjiekos’ – food cooked in the traditional way in a black pot and ‘veld’ means the open shrubland – of which you will see plenty when you travel from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
In ‘Sutheffrican’ a Granny apple is still, thankfully, a Granny, a Navel remains a Navel and nectarine a nectarine (although we spell it slightly differently).
With World Cup matches being played and dancing in the streets everyday – and with vuvuzela’s blaring in your ears from morning till night – there will be a major hangover when the final is finally done and dusted.
