Sunshine & Sosaties
South Africans at Leisure
Supertubes, soft serve, sosaties, and the hard summer sun bleaching the colour out of everything—these are all elements of the white, working-class South African summer holiday. All winter, caravan parks and putt-putt courses wait sullenly for the annual onslaught, suddenly erupting into glorious life as aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, and every conceivable extended family member come together to form a temporary community and enjoy a brief respite from the grind of life.
Paradise Lost
Paradise Park was a rough-and-ready caravan park on the outskirts of Hermanus, one hour from Cape Town. Many people lived there full-time, while others came for weekends and holidays, especially during the summer, when it bulged at the seams. It had been around for a few decades, so people had built significant structures onto the sides of their caravans, and entire extended families had claimed sections of the park.
When I shot a series of images there in the summer of 2012, people were generally friendly and had no issue with me taking photos, inviting me into their modest homes, and regaling me with stories of the good ol’ days while sipping brandy and Coke, smoking cigarettes, and stirring the potjie.
In 2015, after the park apparently ran afoul of municipal regulations, the residents were given notice to vacate, and in 2017, the park was sold to developers. The residents went to court to stop the eviction, but in April 2022, the Western Cape High Court upheld the eviction, and residents were given three months to vacate. The residents appealed and made an application to have the presiding judge recused. Both matters were dismissed in 2022. In 2024, the court granted the developers a warrant to evict any remaining residents, which was carried out by the “Red Ants”. The place which had once been paradise to pensioners, social grant beneficiaries and working-class families was lost.
Soft Serve Ice Cream at Voëlklip Beach, Hermanus
I've always had a weird fascination with the naive art work on many of these ice cream vans and their contribution to the experience and aesthetic of the South African summer holiday.
