Check out our handy South African Christmas gift guide to spoil your loved ones back home this festive season

Just because you can't go home this Christmas doesn't mean you can't still spoil your family and friends in South Africa. We’ve rounded up a few of our favourite gift suppliers in South Africa to spoil your loved ones back home this festive season. While we know that nothing can replace being around family and friends in sunny South Africa this Christmas, we hope that this guide will inspire you to send some festive cheer to all your loved ones this holiday. Happy shopping! 

Don't miss South African Booker Prize winner Damon Galgut in conversation at the Hong Kong Literary Festival

As part of the HK International Literary Festival, South African author Damon Galgut and Xiaolu Guo will speak to Hong Kong audiences on Thursday, 11 November from 19:00 - 20:00 at Asia Society. Two novels examine how societal shifts play out in families and across cultural and racial divides, as one family crashes and burns in South Africa while another begins to take shape in Great Britain.

Annual Elephant Foundation Gala Dinner - 19 November

The Elephant Foundation Gala Dinner is always the highlight of Elephant Week. This year they are also offering an exclusive Elephant Staycation Package for dinner guests at the Island Shangri-La. All the funds raised on the evening will go towards their ongoing and future programs to support wildlife conservation, education and provide assistance to those on the ground who need it most. If you unable to attend the dinner but would still like to support the Elephant Foundation, you can donate to provide accident insurance cover for rangers in the field. 

Royal Commonwealth Society Cricket Cup and Dinner - 19 November

Ndebele Language Class at the Africa Centre - 20 November

Are you interested in learning more about the Ndebele language and Nguni culture? Broaden your language and cultural horizons with this fun, casual class hosted by Africa Centre HK.

HKID Card Replacement Exercise for Persons Born in 1977 - 1982

Please note that persons born in 1977, 1978 or 1979 and holding old form of smart Hong Kong Identity Cards (HKICs) (i.e. identity cards with date of issue from June 23, 2003 to November 24, 2018) should apply for new smart identity cards in person at a Replacement Centre from September 20 to November 18, 2021. For persons born in 1980, 1981 or 1982 and holding old form of smart HKICs, their specified period for HKIC replacement is from November 19, 2021 to January 18, 2022.

Award-Winning Barakat is South Africa’s Official Selection for 2022 Oscars

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) selected the multi-award-winning MultiChoice film Barakat as South Africa’s official submission for Best International Feature at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022.

The selection means that Director Amy Jephta will be the fourth female director to be submitted to the Oscars by South Africa, and the first woman of colour. Barakat follows Muslim widow, Aisha Davids as she tries to bring together her fractured family over Eid-al-Fitr to break the news about her new romance.

Barakat is told in Afrikaaps, the widely spoken Cape dialect of the Afrikaans language. The first Afrikaaps dictionary is currently in development, after being announced earlier this year. Amy wrote Barakat with producer Ephraim Gordon, who co-founded the production companies PaperJet Films and Nagvlug Films with her. The pair also co-directed the critically acclaimed Showmax Original Cape Flats neo-noir murder mystery Skemerdans.

“This selection was totally unexpected, but it shows that everyone’s hard work on this project has paid off,” says Ephraim. “This film was a blessing from the beginning and continues to be. It is our barakat.”

Full article available on Good Things Guy.