By Lwazi Raul-Shongwe
The much anticipated Kota Festival took place for the first time in Mpumalanga Province, at the Mbombela Botanical Gardens, on Saturday 3 May 2025, bringing together food enthusiasts, and community members.
The Kota Festival coincided with the Metro FM Music Awards event that also took place in Mbombela on Saturday evening.
The event was a resounding success, as it celebrated the popular street food, Kota, and featured various vendors, sponsors, and entertainment. It highlighted the importance of community engagement, entrepreneurship, and provided a platform for local food connoisseurs and the youth to showcase their talents.
The main sponsor for the event was Albany, working alongside other sponsors including Clover and All Gold.
Abongile Dzai, Albany Senior Brand Manager , said the partnership with Kota Festival aims to create a united front to take Kota to the world. He said the support for the festival has been overwhelming so far.
“ The Kota is a uniquely South African dish which is enjoyed in certain parts of the country. When you look at the pizza in Italy and how it was established, it took a united front to push it to be a culinary experience that the world recognises,” said Dzai.
He mentioned that the partnership with the Kota Festival is essentially based on how to create a united front to give the Kota a global appeal.
“ Previously we had the Jozi and East Rand Kota festivals, our other destinations are Cape Town and Durban, and then we circle back to Johannesburg. We also aspire to visit cities like Bloemfontein and Polokwane. We’ll see where the ride takes us. Albany is a proudly South African business, we’ve joined the Kota festival to drive it within the borders of the country,” said Dzai.
All Gold Marketing Manager, Sthe Mfayela, said the Kota Fest initiative was initially introduced to Gauteng schools this year in order to test its viability, and it will be rolled out to other provinces. Mfayela said All Gold is thrilled to visit Mpumalanga and the support for the Kota Festival was phenomenal.
She said the initiative focused on the young people, enlightening them that they can turn their singing and dancing challenges on social media platforms, such as TikTok, into successful careers.
“ The biggest sauce in South Africa is All Gold. It’s over a hundred years old and it’s that one brand that appeals to the whole family. In terms
Of food-pairing, Kota goes along with all our different All Gold sauces like mustard, tomato, barbecue and chilli. We are telling the young people that they can turn their talents into a career, but they need education as a foundation.
“ We have partnered with influential entertainers such as Robot Boii and Bontle(Modiselle) to teach kids on how to turn music into a career. Next week on 15th May 2025 we’ll be visiting schools in KZN(KwaZulu-Natal) Province, along with Somizi(Mhlongo) and Sweet Guluva(Big Brother 2025 winner). We aim to roll out the initiative throughout the country,” said Mfayela.
Clover Risk Manager, Paul Agim, said the dairy giant aims to promote its cheese brand amongst vendors, while also providing the necessary support to nurture entrepreneurship in communities. He said Clover wants everyone who is involved in Kotas to use Clover cheese. According to Agim, Clover produces the most superior cheese for everyone.
“ Most people don’t know that Clover actually operates mostly in townships and we want to be part of the Kota culture. We are one of the biggest in dairy and we are trying to grow our Clover cheese brand to be number one. Kota Festival is a food initiative and we aim to take Kota from South Africa to the rest of the world.
“ We are giving back in different forms by assisting the vendors. We are encouraging the process of putting them in our distribution. They don’t necessarily have to go and buy from wholesalers or supermarkets, we come to their stores. We also engage them on distribution of equipment as part of supporting their businesses,” said Agim.
The event attendees were kept on their feet with entertainment from leading South African musicians and socialites such as Somizi, Lwah Ndlunkulu, K.O, amongst others. A number of attended went home with a lot of goodies which were sponsored.
