Lekker gifts for the saffas abroad (and the friends who've fallen in love with South Africa). Posting food and parcels from SA is slow and pricey, so every link here goes to an international store where your family in the UK, US, Australia or elsewhe...
Sections
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Pantry Favourites
Crafts & Home
Books & Jerseys
Pantry Favourites
No South African braai, bobotie or cheese sandwich is complete without it. Mrs Ball's peach chutney has been made to the same family recipe since the early 1900s, and for many saffas abroad it's the single most-missed taste of home. Grab a few bottle...
Mrs Ball's Chutney
Rooibos only grows in one place on earth: the Cederberg mountains a few hours north of Cape Town. It's naturally caffeine-free, smooth and slightly sweet, and South Africans drink it all day with milk, honey or lemon. A box of good rooibos is the eas...
Rooibos Tea
The rusk every South African grew up dunking into their morning coffee or rooibos. Ouma rusks are twice-baked, crunchy and built for dunking, and the buttermilk flavour is the classic. They travel well and keep for ages, which makes them one of the b...
Ouma Rusks
Not jerky, and every South African will tell you so. Biltong is air-dried, vinegar-cured beef spiced with coriander, and it's the snack of rugby matches, road trips and braais. Food import rules make posting it from SA tricky, so buying from a local ...
South African Biltong
Nando's started in Rosettenville, Johannesburg in 1987, and its PERi-PERi sauce (made with African bird's eye chilli) is now on supermarket shelves around the world. It's an easy, cheap gift that instantly tastes like a Friday-night Nando's back home...
Nando's PERi-PERi Sauce
The secret ingredient in every South African's favourite fridge tart. Peppermint Crisp tart (caramel, cream, Tennis biscuits and grated Peppermint Crisp) is a party staple, and expats go to great lengths to find the chocolate abroad. Send a few bars ...
Nestlé Peppermint Crisp
A foodie gift with a great story: this salt comes from an ancient underground lake beneath the Kalahari Desert, and it's harvested and sun-dried by hand. It's clean-tasting and perfect in a grinder for braai meat and roast veg. Pair a jar with a bott...
Kalahari Desert Salt
Crafts & Home
Zulu beadwork is one of South Africa's most recognisable crafts, and traditionally the colours and patterns carry meaning, from love letters to status. A beaded necklace, bracelet or keyring is a light, meaningful gift that won't break in the post. W...
Zulu Beadwork Jewellery
Oudtshoorn in the Karoo is the ostrich capital of the world, and ostrich leather, with its distinctive raised quill pattern, is one of South Africa's classic luxury crafts. It's soft, durable and ages beautifully. A wallet, card holder or belt makes ...
Ostrich Leather Wallet
The indigo-dyed printed cotton that's woven into South African fashion, from traditional Xhosa and Sotho dress to modern designer pieces. Shweshwe's tiny geometric prints are instantly recognisable, and a few metres make a beautiful gift for anyone w...
Shweshwe Fabric
Walk through any Cape Town market or the V&A Waterfront and you'll see wire and bead sculptures: animals, bicycles, baobab trees and more, twisted by hand by street artists. It's a uniquely South African folk art that's playful, colourful and lig...
South African Wire & Bead Art
Books & Jerseys
Trevor Noah's memoir of growing up mixed-race in apartheid and post-apartheid Soweto is laugh-out-loud funny and genuinely moving. It's the book South Africans most often hand to friends overseas who want to understand where we come from. There's als...
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Nelson Mandela's autobiography, much of it secretly written during his 27 years in prison, is the essential story of modern South Africa. It's inspiring, surprisingly readable, and a meaningful gift for anyone visiting Robben Island or curious about ...
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
If they can't get home for Sunday lunch, send the recipes instead. A good South African cookbook covers the classics: bobotie, bredie, potjiekos, koeksisters, malva pudding and Cape Malay curries, plus braai tips. It's the gift that keeps giving, and...
South African Cookbooks
Nothing unites South Africans abroad like a Springbok test match, and the green and gold jersey is the uniform of every expat braai and pub screening. The Boks' back-to-back Rugby World Cup wins made the jersey more popular than ever. Check the size ...