JOHANNESBURG – The COVID-19 pandemic was advantageous, if at all, in that we have grown to seek and appreciate events that give us a memorable experience. The 5th annual Soweto Kota Festival was exactly that.
To think of it as simply an event where you get to eat the most innovative and creative kotas, while true, would be very reductive. It is an event that not only celebrates street food that is a staple in various neighbourhoods that are predominantly populated by black South Africans, but also an economic hub for entrepreneurs.
The two-day festival was held at the Soweto Cricket Oval, in Rockville and it hosted 17 to 18 000 attendees. This year, about 45 kota outlets put up their gazebos to serve their most creative and innovative meals. There were also stalls that sold clothing, juices and cocktails, ice-creams and atchaar, among others.
Although it’s held in Soweto and about 70% of vendors are from that area, the festival’s organiser, Sidwell Tshingilane says the event is inclusive of entrepreneurs from other parts of Gauteng such as the East Rand, Pretoria, and the Vaal. “We also had people from Durban, Umlazi, who came to check out the event because they want to implement it that side. We also had people from other provinces like the North West, Mpumalanga who run businesses or have kota outlets and they came to learn new trends and just explore,” says Tshingilane.
However, as successful as the event was, he says an estimated 30-40% of vendors who usually participated in festival throughout the years didn’t take part this year because they unfortunately didn’t survive the effects of the pandemic.
Sidwell Tshingilane – Soweto Kota Festival organiser.
Although the event is a perfect family outing with an exciting variety of food coupled with a marquee and gazebos that sell beverages, entertainment by local and national acts and playing areas for the kiddies – it’s ultimately a competition for kota vendors. A traditional kota is a hollowed-out quarter of a loaf bread that’s filled with various ingredients that range from atchaar, chips, russian, polony, vienna, an egg, cheese and sauces. However, with time, other ingredients have since been incorporated – making it a type of gourmet street food.
All 45 stalls that were competing this year were on the grill for their kota to be crowned the best. Up for grabs was a cash prize of R15 000 for the winner, R10 000 and R5 000 for the second and third runner-up, respectively. Celebrity judges tasked with finding the best kota in Gauteng were chef and cookbook author Lebogang Tlokana – popularly known as The Funny Chef, actor Cedric Anthony Fourie, chefs and cookbook authors, Tebo and Lebo Ndala.
“It’s so mindblowing to finally see that kotas have transcended from the simplicity of […] bread and slap chips, to people actually putting in steak, ribs, wings and sushi. It means acknowledging growth,” says Fourie.
While the ingredients are an interesting experience of how much further a kota can be elevated, there are technicalities in the food space that play a crucial role in luring someone to actually taste it. “First of all creativity, presentation, taste and how they plate it – that’s very important for me because you eat with your eyes first,” says Tlokana.
The Ndala twins, who are also pop-up restauranteurs who mostly do fusion culture food say the festival is an interesting experience of discovering innovative ways of incorporating non-traditional kota ingredients and fusing ingredients from different cultures into a kota. “Street food is not just something that you eat on the go; it can be gourmet, it can be creative and beautiful,” they say.
😍🤤😋 #SowetoKotaFest2022 pic.twitter.com/kB9m1KGhli
— EWN Lifestyle (@EWN_Lifestyle) September 3, 2022
Out of all the 45 creative kotas, the judges unanimously decided on a Soweto gourmet kota made with fresh ingredients. This kota stepped out of the norm of processed foods – it had a freshly made beef patty with melted cheese, chicken strips to garnish, red onion and cucumber pickle, barbeque sauce and self-made white sauce.
Self-taught cook and caterer as well as the founder of The Gourmet Shrine, Vusi Mkhabela was the stand-out creative at the festival who walked away with a cash prize of R15 000. This was Mkhabela’s fourth time competing in the festival after being the second runner-up in 2017. Although the Soweto-born and raised winner’s business doesn’t specialise in kotas, he says his knowledge and history of a kota is what’s been his greatest influence. “In my early days, we used to run a kota shop next door to my house and we used to make the normal kotas which were amazing. What I learnt from there was presentation, packaging, taste – which is the most important thing, cleanliness and how you get the product to the customers,” says Mkhabela.
Speaking on what inspired him to compete with people who run businesses that sell kotas for a living, Mkhabela says “I didn’t enter the other two competitions but I felt lucky this year so I entered. I was also confident in the product that I had. I just wanted to win the competition. I went there to go win the competition and that’s exactly what I did.” The Gourmet Shrine is Mkhabela’s second venture after a failed partnership in another food venture. He started the eatery towards the end of 2019 and when the pandemic hit, doors were shut and he later transitioned into catering in order to survive, and subsequently entered into another partnership that’s seen him cater food at the Poolside in Maboneng Precinct.
Mkhabela says he plans on reinvesting the prize money back into his current business and partnership – with hopes of competing in other upcoming festivals.
The Gourmet Shrine's Vusi Mkhabela – whose kota came out tops.
Tshingilane says future plans for the festival include partnering with other organisations such as the South African Chefs Association to upskill vendors in order for them to expand their horizons. The organiser says they also want to partner with government so that kota businesses are compliant with regulations in the food industry and for them to hopefully compete in international markets.
While Google’s definition and history of a ‘kota’ is completely different from how a South African would define it, it’s safe to say that history’s being rewritten and soon enough the search engine will catch up!
Artmotion S.Africa
