So THAT’S what all the sirens were about 🚨

If you’ve been around Stellenbosch this week and wondered why there are police sirens, blue lights and what look like minibuses being escorted through town, apparently we may have an answer.

The FISU World University Championship Rugby Sevens is taking place at Danie Craven Stadium from Friday 4 September to Sunday 6 September, bringing around 200 players, 17 teams and 14 countries to Stellenbosch.

Tournament organisers have dedicated shuttles transporting the international teams between their accommodation and Coetzenburg throughout the event.

So those mysterious minibuses and blue lights you may have spotted around town? Apparently it’s our international rugby visitors being moved around.

For a moment there, Stellenbosch was starting to feel like the G20.

Turns out it’s just university students who are very, very good at rugby. 😂

And there’s plenty happening at Coetzenburg this weekend too, including the rugby sevens, a fan zone and a big-screen showing of the Springboks vs All Blacks on Saturday afternoon.

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Root44 has now officially been on the market for more than a year, and despite two rounds of listing, nobody has taken the plunge yet.

The property is no small purchase either. It covers 5.1 hectares, has a 4,830m² building, and apparently more than R200 million was invested into it.

Which got us thinking...

Does anyone else REALLY miss the old Root44?

The old market was brilliant. It was rustic. Food stalls. Hay bales. Plastic chairs. Kids running around. Live music. You'd sit under a tree with something greasy in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

It felt like a market.

Then came the R200-million upgrade.

Suddenly Root44 looked less like a Winelands market and more like the place you'd park your car before entering one.

😂

Beautiful building. Impressive building.

But there was something about walking around inside thinking:

“Are we at a market... or are we on Level 3B looking for the Woolworths entrance?”

The irony is that they spent an enormous amount creating something new, when perhaps the thing people loved most was the cheap, rustic simplicity of what was already there.

Root44 eventually closed at the end of June amid its long-running dispute with Stellenbosch Municipality, and the property remains for sale. One local property practitioner reckons a property like this could potentially take up to five years to sell because any buyer needs to get their planning and zoning ducks in a row.

Hopefully whoever eventually buys it brings back a little of the old magic.

Step one: buy some hay bales.

Last weekend, two Airlink jets flew VERY low over DHL Stadium just before the Springboks played the All Blacks.

And when we say low, we mean low.

Flightradar24 estimates the first aircraft passed only about 12 to 14 metres above the stadium roof.

The rest of the world subsequently discovered the footage.

And had a collective heart attack.

International headlines started talking about planes nearly hitting stadiums, aviation experts were being interviewed, diagrams were being drawn and people overseas were watching the video like they'd just witnessed the opening scene of an aviation disaster documentary.

Meanwhile, South Africans watched it and basically went:

“Jislaaik, that was low.”

And then immediately:

“What time does the rugby start?”

😂

Someone overseas made an interesting observation about the whole thing: perhaps the reaction says something about the South African psyche.

We are remarkably difficult to faze.

A passenger jet flies 12 metres over your head?

Lekker.

Load shedding?

Where’s the inverter?

Pothole?

Drive around it.

Robot not working?

Four-way stop, my bru.

Baboon in the kitchen?

Close the bread cupboard.

There is obviously a serious conversation to be had about whether the flypast was too low. The Civil Aviation Authority is reviewing it, although Airlink says the stunt was carefully planned and rehearsed with regulatory guidance and approval.

But the difference in reaction has been hilarious.

The world saw:

“A terrifying aviation incident.”

South Africans saw:

“That pilot can fly.”

In fact, one of the popular local reactions was basically:

Give that pilot a Bells. 🥃

Maybe that's our national superpower.

Or possibly our national problem.

We're not entirely sure. 🇿🇦

Can we talk about one of the great modern tragedies of our time?

You decide you want to make a salad tonight.

Nothing complicated. You just need lettuce.

So you open Checkers Sixty60 or Woolies Dash.

But obviously you can't order just lettuce. That feels ridiculous.

So while you're there...

Milk.

Bread.

Toilet paper.

Dishwasher tablets.

Coffee.

Bananas.

Some chicken because it's on special.

A packet of chips you absolutely did not need.

Those little Woolies chocolate things because apparently you've lost control of your life.

Suddenly your R30 lettuce mission has become a R1,200 grocery order.

But it's fine.

Because you're making a salad tonight.

Then the bags arrive.

You unpack everything.

Milk. ✅
Bread. ✅
Toilet paper. ✅
Chicken. ✅
Chips. ✅
Six other things you don't even remember ordering. ✅

And then you realise...

THERE'S NO BLOODY LETTUCE.

Out of stock.

The ONE THING that started the entire order.

You didn't need R1,200 worth of groceries.

YOU NEEDED LETTUCE.

Now you're standing in your kitchen surrounded by enough supplies to survive a minor natural disaster...

...and you still can't make the bloody salad.

So what do you do?

You open Sixty60 again.

Search:

Lettuce.

Add to basket.

And then think...

"Well, I'm not paying delivery just for lettuce..."

And so the cycle begins again. 😂

Something goes wrong.

You lose the deal. Someone disappoints you. The plan falls apart. You make a mistake. Life throws something at you that you absolutely did not ask for.

Our first instinct is often to complain.

Why me? Why now? Why does this always happen?

But complaining doesn't change what happened. It just keeps you stuck there.

Try asking a different question:

What is this trying to teach me?

Maybe the lesson is that you trusted the wrong person.

Maybe you weren't prepared.

Maybe you need to change direction.

Maybe you need to become more patient, more disciplined, more courageous or simply better at letting go.

And sometimes the lesson isn't obvious yet.

But almost every difficult chapter leaves you with something you didn't have before.

Experience. Perspective. Resilience. Wisdom.

So stop wasting your energy wishing it hadn't happened.

It happened.

Now take the lesson.

Use it.

And keep moving forward. 💪

🌬️ Friday: 20°C / 11°C
Partly sunny, but quite windy. A cooler start to the weekend.

☀️ Saturday: 24°C / 12°C
Sunny and lovely. The sort of day that reminds you why we live here.

😎 Sunday: 27°C / 14°C
Warm, sunny and basically perfect braai weather.

🔥 Monday: 27°C / 14°C
Another hot, sunny one. Spring appears to have skipped the gentle introduction.

☀️ Tuesday: 27°C / 14°C
Mostly sunny and warm again. No complaints from us.

As always, thanks for reading. If you spot something in town worth knowing, reply and tell us. Half the best Stellenbosch stories begin that way.

See you around town,
Stellenbosch Brief

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