Tretchikoff’s Dying swan

The king of kitch, Vladimir Tretchikoff, lived and died in Cape Town. His reproductions are apparently so popular that they only come second to Picasso. Who knew? Although born in Russia and a sometime resident in Malaysia, Tretchikoff made South Africa his home. As have many others.

Cape Town is a haven for swallows. People who follow the sun. They live in Europe for the European summers and return to South Africa for our summers. How about this company that recruits German immigrants in Cape Town Arbeiten in Kapstadt? They have billboards in German dotted around the city.

This has had an impact on Cape Town. German butchers are a dime a dozen. We have French schools and American schools to name just two. We also have plenty North African immigrants. They tend to be looking for a new life rather than a sunnier life. Here is an interesting link to the history and role of Jewish immigrants in South Africa – Jewish history in South Africa. The Jewish, Chinese and Portuguese immigrants go back many decades. Newer immigrants are German, Congolese and Somalis.

Cape Town in particular has less of an African feel and demographic make-up than the rest of South Africa. It’s a lot more cosmopolitan. Our yoga class for example has a few Brits, two French nationals, plenty of Germans, an Angolan, a Swede, a Belgian, a new bloke with an accent called Anatoli and us. A whole two South Africans. Even the running club socials require a German end of the table and a South African end so we don’t shout in different languages over each other.

Another interesting facet to Cape Town is the political scenario. The rest of South Africa is run by the ANC which is predominantly black and African. Cape Town is run by the DA which has a white, Jewish female leader. Even black townships such as Langa vote DA. It’s a lot less black and white here. I love the dynamic and open minded mix of people that inhabit our city. We are known as the hippy city. The San Francisco of South Africa. We are also the pink capital of Africa.

Picture courtesy Mozilla images