For many South Africans, Heritage Day is likely to involve a fire, a meal and people gathered around the same table, but new consumer research suggests that the familiar braai may be only one part of a much broader picture of what connects people across the country.
As Heritage Day approaches next week, Cape Town will be among the places where heritage comes to life through its food, music, neighbourhoods, traditions and stories passed from one generation to the next.
Research from BrandMapp, based on its latest consumer dataset, points to a range of shared interests and concerns cutting across age, gender, race, religion and income.
Brandon De Kock, Director of Storytelling at BrandMapp, says the braai has a particular place in South African culture because it brings people together around food and conversation.
‘There are good reasons why heritage crystallises around the braai for South Africans,’ says De Kock.
He points to the country’s long-standing relationship with cooking over an open fire, but also argues that the gathering around the food is just as significant as what is on the grill.
‘Alongside the braai, slightly outside the frame, slightly blurry, are ordinary South Africans, from all walks of life, with very similar skills, motivations and feelings about what it means to get together to share a meal, to nourish ourselves and each other with good food and good humour.’
The research covers what BrandMapp describes as the South African consumer class, people living in households with monthly incomes of R10 000 or more, estimated at around 14 million people.
Among the clearest areas of common ground are leisure and entertainment.
BrandMapp’s findings show strong shared interests in travel, music, movies, cooking and dining out, while food markets rank highly as a preferred type of live event.
Eating out and listening to music also feature prominently, although preferences within those categories can differ considerably.
The research found that 60% of respondents listen to the radio, while 70% watch television every day.
The research also identifies an issue that cuts across demographic differences.
According to BrandMapp, crime is the single biggest concern keeping most respondents awake at night.
The survey also points towards the importance of relationships and community.
A majority of respondents prioritise staying connected with friends and family, while 40% say they enjoy cooking for their loved ones.
For De Kock, these everyday behaviours are part of what gives the concept of Ubuntu practical meaning.
There is also a lighter finding in the dataset, as comedy is the preferred movie genre for 65% of respondents, a result De Kock links to what he describes as a distinctly South African sense of humour.
‘We know this anecdotally, but our data that confirms that having a sense of humour is quintessentially South African,’ he says. ‘We’re not just friendly, we’re also funny.’
When respondents were asked about social causes, education emerged as the leading cause that people believed was most deserving of support, with about half selecting it.
De Kock describes this as a significant finding given the range of social issues competing for attention across the country.
The research also found that 35% of respondents described themselves as purely optimistic about South Africa’s future, while 40% were unsure.
De Kock says this means only around one in five respondents identified as pessimistic about the country’s future.
The BrandMapp findings do not suggest that South Africans experience heritage in exactly the same way. Rather, they identify areas where different groups overlap – from the food they enjoy and the entertainment they choose to the relationships they maintain and concerns they share.
For the Mother City, Heritage Day can therefore be experienced through more than a single tradition. A family meal, a visit to a cultural institution, a music performance, a food market or simply time spent with friends and relatives can all form part of the day’s wider social fabric.
De Kock summarises the research by looking beyond national symbols towards everyday behaviour.
‘So perhaps the mind-state linking South Africans is reflected less in the grand symbols of national identity and more in the ordinary things we do together, eating, laughing, listening, watching, worrying, supporting those we love and hoping for a better future. That’s really the essence of what we are taking forward this Heritage Day.’
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