Potjie Competition – ‘n regte South African flavour.

The annual celebration of South African Heritage takes place in the month of September, with the special day recognized for the festivities of our cultural wealth set for the 24th of September. This year, as per Marematlou culture (pre-covid), colleagues based in Bloemfontein got to be merry throughout the month with Friday’s dedicated to dressing up in our diverse cultural attires.

To celebrate the specific day, in purely South African style, a potjie kos competition was held on Monday, 26 September 2022 on the MTI campus. The colleagues, that were randomly divided into 4 groups, each had to cater for their own pot; from providing the pot to cook in, to starting and maintaining the fire, to as far as coming up with a winning potjie recipe as well as all the ingredients. This brought out the competitive nature of some of the colleagues, although this was unfortunately short lived, with the indigenous games planned for the day having not been played.

“I was a bit sceptical when the event was moved to a Monday, but the energy from colleagues and the atmosphere on the day was top tier,” revealed Vanessa Oor. “The team efforts were tremendous, and it was obvious when all the pots were left empty after dishing up that it was really enjoyed by all. This was definitely something I would do again.”
Avela Dlokolo had the following to say about the event: “One word that best describes the day is: unity. All colleagues were acting in harmony, and the food was really delicious. Seemingly a lot of people enjoyed the Creamy Chicken and pasta pot (prepared by my team), but everything was refreshingly enjoyable. This was indeed a unique event, that should be considered again in the future.”