IN PICS | Tickled pink with bevy of beauties

From lunching with ladies in pink in a dreamy setting to dining with blokes in penguin suits who keep our cash flowing – that was the social agenda this week.

Let’s start with the glam.

A 100ha female-led wine estate in the Helderberg region of Stellenbosch, just outside Cape Town, provided the picturesque backdrop for the launch of a brand campaign championing sisterhood around the world.

Titled The Pink Table, this move spearheaded by a homegrown fruit-flavoured ale, brought together some 150 of South Africa’s most stylish women (and a handful of blokes like myself, media personality Siya Sangweni and Selimathunzi presenter Siphesihle Vazi) at the Cavalli estate.

Siya Sangweni and Siphesihle Vazi at the Pink Table function. (Ruvan Boshoff)

Arriving at the sprawling property, which boasts an impressive 10ha indigenous fynbos garden, my head was turned by Lalela Mswane, resplendent in fuchsia Gert-Johan Coetzee. “How cool! You’ll be able to wear those as necklaces afterward,” I remarked to the 27-year-old Miss Supranational 2022 titleholder, referring to the strands of beads woven into her dress.

Lalela Mswane at the Pink Table function at Cavalli Estate outside Somerset West. (Ruvan Boshoff)

Down the pink-carpeted stairs, waiters proffered drinks and morsels including beef tartare on tapioca crisps, blinis topped with salmon, raspberry and gorgonzola, and spritzer-soaked watermelon cubes that hit the spot on a sultry afternoon.

The carpet led through a sorbet-coloured arch into a massive glass marquee, where reams of pink fabric billowed from the rafters.

Step inside, and you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d walked onto the set of the Barbie movie.

All around, glam gals were busy curating content for their social media followers, getting makeup touch-ups at glam stations, or indulging in neck rubs and foot massages at a spa booth.

The centre piece?

The giant, wavy-shaped table set for lunch.

Thembi Seete at the Pink Table. (Ruvan Boshoff)

I spotted actress and performer Thembi Seete in a figure-hugging, floor-grazing draped gown (which I still can’t decide if I liked or not); TV cutie Chanley Wong in a printed summer dress; radio personality Luthando “Loot Love” Shosha in a sheer shirt dress; and actress and radio DJ Thando Thabethe in a cocktail dress featuring a beaded bodice and chiffon ruffled skirt — perfect for a Pretoria matric dance.

Luthando Shosha at the Pink Table function at Cavalli Estate outside Somerset West. (Ruvan Boshoff)

Then there were besties Mogau ‘The Lazy Makoti’ Seshoene and Zanele van Zyl, while making a grand entrance was beauty YouTuber Mihlali Ndamase in a traffic-stopping red gown.

Renowned chefs Mogau "Lazy Makoti" Seshoene and Zanele van Zyl at the Pink Table function at Cavalli Estate. (Ruvan Boshoff)

I, however, was scanning the crowd for South Africa’s ultimate glam queen — Bonang Matheba, whose career skyrocketed 15 years ago when she hosted the brand’s most talked about move to date, which saw Kim Kardashian flown in for the launch of its new cranberry-flavoured tipple.

“They said: ‘Bonang, because you are part of the journey, come on board to explain what The Pink Table is about.’ We are elevating and having very deep and meaningful conversations,” explained the TV and social media personality, affectionately known as “Queen B” by her loyal fans, while juggling her on-stage hosting duties.

Bonang Matheba at the Pink Table function at Cavalli Estate outside Somerset West. (Ruvan Boshoff)

Between courses — either French-trimmed, harissa-marinated lamb cutlets or seared Norwegian salmon with citrus, beetroot, sugar snaps, and potatoes (with a beetroot mille-feuille option for vegetarians) — we were treated to performances by storyteller Gcina Mhlophe and singer Ami Faku.

While I had wondered whether the day’s “big announcement” would involve another international celeb making their way to our shores, we learned instead that The Pink Table would soon pop up in the City of Lights during Paris Fashion Week — a nod to the brand’s growing global presence.

About 50 of us Joburgers, who had been flown in for the occasion by the organisers, were due to head back home after the proceedings ended. However, while the sight of slightly sozzled glam gals in heels tottering through the airport would have made a great TikTok vid, I decided to rather extend my trip to join a room of mostly blokes, mostly in black tie, at the Cape Town Convention Centre that evening instead.

The Commercial Payments Awards gala was, as the name suggests, a far cry from sipping spritzers in the sun. But, if you wanted to meet the peeps who handle your cash — and find innovative ways to help you spend it — this was the place to be.

ABSA managing executive, Chris Wood and Henry van Bosch from Isitaki Cash Solutions. (Ruvan Boshoff)

Among those in attendance were Henry van Bosch and Bradley Whelan from Isitaki Cash Solutions, who help small businesses tally up their cash and card sales safely and securely, and Kiaan Pillay and Junaid Dadan, whose company Stitch uses AI-driven tech to prevent fraud. Stitch won Consumer Anti-Fraud Solution of the Year award, while other notable winners included Zakhaa, recognised for its FlexiPay solution helping landlords in the township rental market, and PayGenius, which is a game-changer in the travel industry.

Mind you, while I assumed my salmon-coloured suit from lunch made me stand out like a sore thumb, it turned out that I wasn’t the only one in a wardrobe predicament.

Chris Wood, the managing exec for product from the red bank who put on the event, went the more casual route. “I’m the scruffiest person here because I’m wearing the same outfit I had on today [at the summit that preceded the awards]. Apologies, but I’m heading to the airport [immediately after delivering his speech], so changing into a suit and black tie just for this would have been a bit extreme,” he explained during his key-note address at the start of the evening.