A toast to connection, not excess

The city of Durban on the east coast of South Africa has a great slogan over this holiday season: ‘Durban - the warmest place to be’.

- ASHLEY GREEN-THOMPSON

I’ve spent a few days at a work engagement at a hotel on the beachfront, and "warm" is a misnomer - it’s as hot as hell, and humid.

Give me Joburg’s dry Highveld air any day. South Africans migrate each December from the big inland cities to the coast, and the country’s pre-emi-nent holiday city is celebrating a very successful festive season. The mayor announced that over 1.2 million people visited Durban over the Christmas holiday period and spent over R2.4 billion for a much-needed boost to the local economy. This is a five-year high. Very nice.