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| A scene from the Nanji Heritage Day Braai in 2017 / Courtesy of SAKorNet |
By Jon Dunbar
South Africans in Korea are getting ready to celebrate their national Heritage Day, which falls next Tuesday, with a "braai," a South African variation of a barbecue, this Saturday.
The annual holiday celebrates the heritage of South Africans of all backgrounds. Since 2005, a media campaign has been rebranding the holiday as National Braai Day, in recognition of the country's culinary tradition which brings all South Africans together.
The Heritage Day braai is the biggest event of the year for SAKorNet, a volunteer organization supporting South Africans living here. It takes place in Nanji Campground near World Cup Stadium in western Seoul.
When asked for their funniest braai stories, members of the South African community here shared tales of preparing excess amounts of food.
"So I used to work at a school in South Africa that got Canadian exchange teachers," said Chantal Terblanche, chairperson of the SAKorNet committee. "We decided to welcome the new Canadian teachers with a Welcome Braai. The braai started at 2 p.m. By 5 p.m. the Canadians were quite on edge and asked us when we were going to be eating. All the South Africans looked at them in surprise and then we had to explain that despite the braai starting at 2 p.m. we probably wouldn't braai till much later and very often we eat before attending a braai because we know the meat would only be done at a later stage."
Coetzer Rautenbach, a South African resident of Korea, said, "One night I got home after a long drinking session and decided to make a fire to have a braai on my own. I took out all the steaks and boerewors that I had in my freezer, 3kg in total. I did braai it all but I ate not even a fifth. Passed out with wors and steaks all over me."
Stephan Johan Matthee shared a story about a braai gone wrong. "On a trip in South Africa, my dad was amazed when our host produced a whole beef fillet and threw it straight onto the coals without a grid. After a few turns on the meat, she took it off the fire, sliced and served it ― hot, rare and utterly mouthwatering.
"He decided to emulate this same trick back home a few weeks later, building a huge fire and lovingly preparing a fillet. Little did he know that our host in the Eastern Cape had built her fire with hardwood, which produced coals with almost no ash whatsoever. My father did not. His fillet went onto the coals with a flourish, only to be instantly covered in pitch-black ash a moment later, rendering it completely inedible. We ate KFC that evening."
The Nanji Heritage Day Braai will have plenty of food available, and attendees only need to show up with money to cover the costs, although additional food is welcome.
Attendees are encouraged to show up in the morning to get good camping sites, and because the day always passes quickly.
At noon, a beer pong tournament and other games begin.
As salads are just as welcome at a braai as cooked meat, the judging of a salad competition will begin at 2:30 p.m.
At 3 p.m. there will be speeches by embassy personnel and members of SAKorNet, followed by the singing of the national anthem and a group photo.
At 3:30 p.m. there will be a dance competition and Heritage Day outfit competition.
At 5:30 p.m., buses will take people to The Workshop in Haebangchon to watch the South African rugby team take on New Zealand.
The sound system, sponsored by the South African embassy, will continue running until 8 p.m.
Organizers encourage attendees at the Nanji Heritage Day Braai to wear black, to show their solidarity with protests in their country against gender-based violence.
