Stellenbosch rated as the coolest place in South Africa 😎

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Researchers at Stellenbosch University have been looking into something many of us probably already suspected:

Spending hours scrolling through miserable things on the internet may, in fact, make you more miserable.

Dr Kurt Marais analysed 12,133 posts over 56 days from a depression-related Reddit community to understand how emotions spread and reinforce themselves online.

The interesting bit is what he calls "emotional reinforcement."

Basically, when people experiencing similar negative emotions interact with each other, those emotions can be amplified and sustained for longer. The effect happened with positive emotions too, but the research found the reinforcement was stronger with negative ones.

Researchers also found activity increased between 10pm and 5am, while Mondays and Tuesdays were particularly busy days for posting.

Which means lying in bed at 1am scrolling through bad news, angry Facebook comments and videos explaining the 17 reasons the world is about to end might not be the bedtime routine we thought it was.

The bigger point is actually quite important.

Social media can be an incredible place for people to find support and realise they're not alone. But algorithms can also keep serving us more of whatever we're already consuming, potentially creating a feedback loop where negativity leads to more negativity.

So perhaps the healthiest thing you can occasionally do for your brain is remarkably simple:

Put the phone down.

Although preferably after you've finished reading the Stellenbosch Brief. Obviously.

We don't want to start any fights with Cape Town, but News24 has declared Stellenbosch "the coolest place to live in South Africa."

And apparently, if Stellenbosch were a car, we'd be a first-generation Ford Mustang.

Not a Hilux.

Not a Defender.

Not even a suspiciously clean Ford Ranger that has never actually been off-road.

A Mustang.

Motoring writer Stuart Johnston makes the comparison with the original Mustang, a car that arrived in the 1960s, became instantly desirable and somehow managed to remain cool decades later. His argument is essentially that Stellenbosch has achieved something similar: historic, beautiful, desirable and somehow getting cooler with age.

We'll take it.

Although anyone who has tried driving down Dorp Street at 5pm might argue that Stellenbosch is currently less Mustang on the open road and more Mustang stuck behind a delivery truck.

Still, it's nice to have an outsider confirm what locals have quietly suspected for years:

Stellenbosch is pretty cool.

We just hope Cape Town doesn't read News24.

So apparently sleep is now something you can be judged on.

Discovery Vitality can track your sleep, and getting a good night's rest can contribute towards your health and Vitality goals.

Fantastic.

Unless you have children.

Because somewhere at Discovery HQ, I can only assume they designed the sleep algorithm using a sample group consisting entirely of single adults living alone in soundproof apartments.

Parents don't sleep. We perform a series of short unconsciousness sessions between emergencies.

10:14pm: Finally asleep.
11:47pm: "Daaaaad, I need water."
1:08am: Someone wet the bed.
2:36am: Mysterious crying.
3:12am: Vomit. Nobody knows why.
4:41am: Child appears silently next to your bed like a Victorian ghost.
5:53am: "IS IT MORNING YET?"

Discovery: Your sleep score was 43. Try getting more rest.

Thanks, Discovery.

I'll mention it at the next family meeting.

Perhaps Vitality needs a separate Parent Mode, where you earn bonus points for successfully changing a fitted sheet at 2am without switching on the lights.

Eight uninterrupted hours of sleep shouldn't earn parents Vitality points.

It should trigger a welfare check to find out where their children are.

Spring is almost here, and while the rest of the country might celebrate by cleaning out a cupboard or planting something, Stellenbosch has decided to drink MCC.

Much more sensible.

On Saturday, 5 September, Oude Werf Hotel is hosting its annual Sip the Season, basically three hours dedicated to bubbles, food and live music in the middle of town.

From 12pm to 3pm, you'll be able to taste MCC from a rather impressive line-up including Boschendal, Kleine Zalze, Villiera, Lourensford, Peter Falke, De Grendel and several others.

There'll also be light bites and live music from Cape Town guitarist and vocalist Richard Caesar. And if MCC and snacks aren't quite Stellenbosch enough for you, Wild Peacock will be selling fresh oysters on the day.

Tickets are R345 per person, which includes the tastings, light bites and entertainment.

📍 Oude Werf Hotel, 30 Church Street
📅 Saturday, 5 September
⏰ 12pm – 3pm
🥂 R345 per person
🔞 Over 18s only

So there you have it.

Spring in Stellenbosch: when we officially transition from drinking red wine because it's cold to drinking bubbles because there are flowers.

Perfectly reasonable.

Yesterday, I heard about two people who died.

One was 48. A heart attack while out for a run.

The other was 44. Cancer.

Both far too young.

And it got me thinking about this strange thing called life.

Life feels incredibly long when we're planning it. We talk about what we'll do one day. When the business is doing better. When we've made enough money. When the kids are older. When things calm down.

But life can also be frighteningly short.

I've know I don't really want a Ferrari. I don't want a yacht or to fly first class.

I want to own my time.

I want to take my kids to school. Fetch them in the afternoon. Have coffee with my wife. Sit around a table with people I love. Go for a walk when the sun is shining. Be there for the ordinary Tuesday afternoon that I'll probably forget ever happened.

Because maybe we've got it backwards.

We spend so much of our lives racing through the tunnel, convinced that happiness is the light waiting for us at the end.

But the joy is the tunnel.

It's the school run. The messy kitchen. The family dinner. The WhatsApp from a friend. The boring Sunday afternoon. The kids making too much noise. The coffee getting cold because someone needed you.

The mundane stuff we're so desperate to rush through might actually be the stuff we'll miss most.

Of course we should have ambitions. Build things. Work hard. Dream big.

But don't accidentally spend your whole life preparing to live.

There is no guarantee you'll reach some imaginary point where everything is finally sorted and you can start enjoying yourself.

This is it.

This ordinary Tuesday.

Don't waste it.

☀️ Tuesday: 22°C / 10°C
Sunny and pleasant, with a bit of wind around. A very decent winter's day.

🌤️ Wednesday: 25°C / 12°C
Warm with a mixture of sunshine and cloud. Definitely starting to feel less like August.

⛅ Thursday: 24°C / 11°C
Another warm one, with broken cloud and sunny intervals.

☁️ Friday: 22°C / 12°C
Cloudier to end the working week, but still mild and no major rain showing at this stage.

🌧️ Rain watch: The Tuesday-to-Friday stretch currently looks largely dry. The more meaningful chance of rain arrives Saturday morning, so enjoy the suspiciously well-behaved winter weather while it lasts.

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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