A-LISTERS | Ciao, bella – and the chow was also good

Dreaming of a Positano getaway but the global jet fuel shortage and skyrocketing air ticket prices making you break out in a cold sweat?

Well then, you’d want to have joined the glam set last Saturday at a pretty spot in Johannesburg which, with its orange and white umbrellas and rust-coloured sunbeds, could be a stand-in for the famed Arienzo Beach Club on the Amalfi Coast.

Bellissima!

We were gathered at the Le Manoir function venue in Randburg to toast the arrival of a new Brutal Fruit spritzer called L’Orange Rossa, which puts the Italian job into zesty tipples.

Taking in the scene was 2026 A-Lister Ayanda G. Thabethe, who turned up in a figure-hugging tassel-trimmed top and matching maxi skirt.

Ayanda G Thabethe attending the launch of the L’Orange Rossa Life at LaManoir, Johannesburg. (Thapelo Morebudi)

“You know I love showing some skin, so Patrick Ferguson and I did this amazing two-piece with some action in the back,” she said, giving us a twirl.

Aesthetics doc Karishma Ramdev Mouton took a more subtle approach to the dress code, with an embroidered motif on her cocktail dress.

Karishma tells me we’re likely to see her more often in these parts after the offer she and hubby John Bennett Mouton made for a home with a big backyard in Melrose was accepted.

Dr Karishma Ramdev attending the launch of the L’Orange Rossa Life at LaManoir, Johannesburg. (Thapelo Morebudi)

I also spotted gal-about-town Missy Roberts reading not the Sunday Times, but a copy of a prop broadsheet called Daily Rossa (yes, print is Instagram cool, it seems) and met someone who knows how to put her pedal to the metal — sports presenter Nqobile Khwezi (Formula 1 is her forte).

Missy Roberts reading the Daily Rossa at the launch of the L’Orange Rossa Life at LaManoir, Johannesburg. (Thapelo Morebudi)

Karishma tells me we’re likely to see her more often in these parts after the offer she and hubby John Bennett Mouton made for a home with a big backyard in Melrose was accepted

Hostess with the mostest on the day was actress Zola Nombona, and we were treated to a performance by self-taught singing quartet, The Gugulethu Tenors, who moved us with an operatic rendition of Unchained Melody sung in isiXhosa.

Hostess with the mostest Zola Nombona at the launch of the L’Orange Rossa Life at LaManoir, Johannesburg. (Thapelo Morebudi)

You’ll want to know about the drink; it is as refreshing as a well-known aperitif but a lot less bitter, which will suit the palate of many of us.

Grub-wise, any nonna would have been proud of the spread, which included Caprese skewers, prosciutto-wrapped melon slices, mozzarella and arrabbiata arancini balls and fusilli pasta tossed with slivers of chicken breast, baby spinach cream and fresh mozzarella.

Now, you can’t go on holiday (or even pretend to be away) unless you look the part, and so the brand big on women owning their space treated us to a surprise fashion show by Londeka Buthelezi-Ndaba, whose label Malondié had designed a special range of wide-brimmed sun hats, scarves and trendy straw hold-alls.

Londeka Buthelezi Ndaba, the founder of fashion brand Malondie who is collaborating with Brutal Fruit for the launch of their new spritzer L’Orange Rossa. (Thapelo Morebudi)

Londeka said the collab was “one of my dreams coming true”.

“When I was young, I was a promo girl, promoting Brutal Fruit for SAB, so partnering with them today is a full circle moment for me,” explained the Pretoria-based designer.

Browyn Katz, winner of the 2026 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for visual arts (MASI LOSI)

Moving on to the arts: the Standard Bank Young Artist awards are undoubtedly the most coveted signifier that you have arrived in the creative realm.

Over 40-plus years, this partnership between the blue bank and the National Arts Festival has shone the spotlight on emerging talents of the like of ballerina Kitty Phetla, the late contemporary dancer Dada Masilo, fine artists Blessing Ngobeni and William Kentridge and soul queen Zoë Modiga.

On Wednesday evening at the Sandton venue Artistry, the new crop was revealed — and they move the needle from the traditionalist, or perhaps purist, lens to one that recognises our culture is shifting and what might be seen as in the shadows of the fringes — or at the other end of the spectrum, be deemed too mainstream — deserves a place in the sun.

The 2026 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners for visual dance, Lee-che Janecke, left, and for theatre, Jason Jacobs. (MASI LOSI)

On the one hand there’s Jason Jacobs, who digs deep into Nama-Khoi indigenous heritage and received the theatre award, and on the other, there’s Tyla’s choreographer Lee-ché Janecke, whose capture of street culture and queer identity (his Boys in Heels dance movement became a safe space for queer identity in the 2010s) has informed the dances that electrify stadiums wherever Tyla performs.

The award winner for music was Ndumiso Manana; Gabi Motuba was recognised for jazz; and Bronwyn Katz, who interrogates language, memory and history, was awarded in the visual arts category.