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Shopping Despite frequently sloppy service and primarily thanks to the excellent exchange rate, shopping is a popular pastime for visitors to Cape Town. The city has embraced American mall culture with abandon and most shopping precincts in Cape Town have been decentralised to suburban shopping malls, with hundreds of shops under one roof. Nevertheless, there are still scores of little shops to be found, all offering plenty of bargains. And the mall culture cannot hold back the markets, mostly informal, that continue to flourish in the city centre and along main roads in the suburban areas. While shopping malls are generally open 0900-2100 Monday-Saturday and even Sunday until around 1600, central city hours are 0830-1700 Monday-Friday and 0830-1300 on Saturday. Muslim-owned businesses close 1200-1300 on Friday. Since the end of apartheid, Cape Town has become a Mecca for traders from all over Africa and it is possible to buy African art from all corners of the continent within a few city blocks. A sightseeing destination in its own right, Greenmarket Square, Shortmarket Street, in the city centre (website: www.greenmarket.co.za), has a market that is open Monday-Saturday, stocking an eclectic range of goods, including African art, local jewellery, handmade clothing, music, books and antiques. Most of the streets that fan out from Greenmarket Square are also packed with street traders selling African goods, while The Pan African Market, 76 Long Street, is an experience within itself. Wall-to-wall African art and curios crowd into the indoor labyrinth of shops, open Monday-Friday 0900-1700, Saturday 0900-1500. Tiny tin can sculptures sit alongside wooden behemoths of tribal masks, while leathersmiths, hair braiders, djembe drum tutors and West African tailors practise their crafts and an informal café offers refreshments with seating on the balcony overlooking vibrant Long Street. For more arts, curios, clothing and crafts, the Waterfront Craft Market, located in the Blue Shed at the V&A Waterfront, next to the Two Oceans Aquarium, is just the place for visitors to pick up a few trademark Capetonian gifts. The Green Point Fleamarket, outside Green Point Stadium, Somerset Road, is held every Sunday and public holidays 0830-1800 and is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, boasting a vast number of stalls selling everything from African art and antiques to fake international labels. However, pickpockets like this area even more than bargain hunters do. The Constantia Craft Market, takes place on the Alphen Common, on the first and last weekend of every month, and is particularly lively, especially toward Christmas. As is the Hout Bay Craft Market, held every Sunday on the Hout Bay Common. An excellent lightweight gift that is truly indicative of Cape Town, is wire sculpture – from as little as R10 for a wire daisy to R600 for a replica African hut. Streetwires, 77/79 Shortmarket Street, is an initiative to empower unemployed South Africans and supplies all manner of creative wire products, which can be made to order. For a tasty South African speciality, biltong (dried meat) – at about R100 per kilogram – is available at PJ’s Biltong Bar kiosks, located at almost every shopping centre. Visitors should note, however, that importing biltong might be illegal in some countries. A far safer exportable gift would be wine, which is available en route on a Winelands tour for as little as R20 a bottle. Other South African specialities include Rooibos tea, hand-stitched leather or African rubber sandals and Sangoma herbs. Antique lovers should stroll up and down Church Street and the section of Long Street just off Church Street. Also in Long Street, the fashion aficionado will be spellbound by the incredible offerings on show at Yin, Long Street, an eclectic boutique that specialises in clothes designed and handmade by women from various African communities and countries. While most of the suburban shopping malls cater for the domestic consumption market, there are several worth visiting for uniquely South African fashions, decor items, artwork and architecture. These include Victoria Wharf, at the V&A Waterfront (website: www.waterfront.co.za), Cavendish Square, Cavendish Street, Claremont (website: www.cavendish.co.za), and Canal Walk, Century City, off the N1 (website: www.canalwalk.co.za). VAT stands at 14% on all goods sold in Cape Town, although this is largely ignored in the markets, and visitors can reclaim this upon departure for purchases over R250, provided all receipts have been kept and the appropriate Tax Invoices have been filled in, where necessary. These, along with the goods, must be presented to the VAT Refund Administrator at international departures terminal in the airport. A refund is then paid after passing through Passport Control. The VAT Refund Services (tel: (021) 421 1612; website: www.taxrefunds.co.za) provides further information. JAS Forwarding (tel: (021) 551 7544; fax: (021) 551 7590/1; e-mail: cpt-sales@jassouthafrica.com) offers an international shipping service for visitors with excess wine or purchases. |
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