Sundays in Soweto are usually days of constraint. There’s a quiet yearning about them. A yearning for the past, both personal and political. Something captured wonderfully by the terms ukubluza and babalaas. The streets are calmer and are coated with those finishing off Saturday’s libations and others in their Sunday best, post-worship. For some, moshito o'tswela pele! After all, yurugu beckons on Monday morning at the plantation.
However, on every last Sunday of the month, a Black milieu of Soweto’s varied youthful citizenry assemble at Jabulani’s iconic Soweto Theatre for Seven Colour Sundays.
“Good food, good music and great people,” summarises the food market’s press material.
This is true!
While it is a well-attended gathering, the tempo still makes allowance for Sunday respectability. The congregates typically engage in calmer modes of debauchery so the soundtrack usually comprises R&B and soul tunes during the early afternoon, and then veers into deep soulful house – the good shit that preceded Amapiano.
It is a firm favourite for foodies, the art crowd and general likers of things.
“Feast on traditional homemade South African dishes cooked up by some of Soweto's best food vendors while enjoying smooth lounge, deep house and jazzy sounds courtesy of local DJs,” the media statement continues.
“A space for the whole family to come and be happy, enjoy a variety of delicious food, vibe to some good music from a list of talented and ground-breaking local Djs as well as live performers.”
The dishes on offer are varied with a not too dramatic departure from the popular seven colours that have become a Sunday fixture in households from Giyani to Gugulethu. The cuisine is often inventive and adventurous, but for the most part it is grilled meat, gourmet burgers, vegetarian options, some seafood, fine kotas, cocktails and the Black colours of Sunday.
By sunset, most of the vendors’ stock is usually depleted and most folks are taking in the tunes aided by generous dollops of hooch well into the night. *Check out Seven Colour Sundays, on March 1, 2020, at The Soweto Theatre from 12 - 9pm. Entrance: R50, Coolerbox: R50.
