10 Things Every South African Needs for a Summer Holiday

A South African summer holiday is a whole personality — and if you know, you know. Whether you’re heading to the coast, the bush, or your granny’s house in the platteland, there are a few essentials every local packs without even thinking. Here are the non-negotiable must-haves that turn an ordinary holiday into a proper South African summer.

SPF 50 is your best friend. The African sun doesn’t play, and neither should you. Reapply like your December depends on it — because it does.

Every South African owns a cooler box that looks like it’s survived a war. Inside? Ice, drinks, and that one yoghurt from 2021 nobody’s thrown away yet.

You never know when the spirit will move someone. A braai can break out anywhere: a balcony, a beach parking lot, or next to the road in the middle of nowhere.

You can’t sneak anywhere in summer. Klapa-klapa-klapa. That sound is the official soundtrack of holiday freedom.

And yet… somehow…
By 2 January it will have vanished into the same portal that steals socks and Tupperware lids.

SA law (we think) states that there must be too many camp chairs in the boot. It’s tradition.

Dried wors, Ghost Pops, a Coke, and a random pie you regretted immediately. Road trip essentials.

Every beach has that one guy blasting amapiano at 8am.

Sometimes… you are that guy.

Because maps, playlists, selfies, and weather warnings are modern survival tools.

Even when the traffic is wild, the beach is packed, or the weather pulls a fast one — South Africans always find the fun.