A Sad Howzit Today...

Author

Carel Van Graan
September 03, 2025

All right folks, I know this one is late. It was supposed to go out on Monday (September 1st), and here we are on Wednesday, September 3rd. It’s been a crazy busy time and I just haven’t had the chance to sit down and write properly. And to be quite honest, I also didn’t really know what to say or how to say it.

I’ve been standing at a bit of a crossroads—trying to figure out what comes next, making some hard decisions, and struggling with this one in particular. The truth is, the newsletter isn’t only late because I was busy; it’s late because I was sitting here trying to decide how to move forward. And it’s been a really tough call, because it’s genuinely sad for me to say I can’t keep doing this the way I have been.

A Year of Newsletters (and What’s Next)

I wrote the very first one of these newsletters on August 27th, 2024. That means it’s been a full year—52 newsletters! And honestly, I’ve loved it. It’s been a jol putting these together, sharing stories, and building this little Saffa community with all of you.

But here’s the reality: each one takes me a full day (sometimes more) to put together. It’s not just writing—it’s planning, thinking, pulling things together. And as much as I love doing it, it’s simply not sustainable anymore.

Over the past year, the newsletter hasn’t brought in a cent of income. Quite the opposite—just sending it out costs me about $80 a month. We tried a few avenues to make it viable with sponsors, but it wasn’t enough. So, as much as it breaks my heart (because I know a lot of you look forward to this landing in your inbox), I just can’t keep committing a full day every week to it.

From my side, I’m stepping back a bit to focus on the mobile tire service business and other things that keep life moving forward. As they say, sometimes the need to earn cash outstrips the need to have fun.

Going forward, the newsletter might shift to monthly updates or maybe someone else steps in to write pieces. If you’d like to help with writing, or even just cover the cost of the newsletter software, please give me a shout.

It’s not goodbye, it’s just a change of gears.

Upcoming Events

We had to make some tough decisions here too.

The Boerewors Roll Day at John Lawson Park (Sept 13) and the South African Heritage Day Festival (Sept 27) have both been cancelled. We had a lot of interest, but unfortunately not enough tickets were pre-sold to make the planning viable. Add to that the fact that the mobile tire service is launching on the same weekend as the Boerewors Roll Day, and I just don’t have the bandwidth to pull it all together.

👉 That said, if enough of you are keen, I might still head down to John Lawson Park on Saturday the 13th with a tent and a braai, just to chill and relax. Nothing official—no permits, no big setup—just a casual get-together. Everyone brings their own meat and their own everything, and we just hang out. If you’re interested, let me know, and swing by to say howzit.

The South African Okanagan Outdoor Market (Sept 20) is definitely still going ahead—and it’s going to be a fun one. Brett and the team are really going out of their way to make it a success. If you can, head down to Kelowna, take a little road trip, and check it out. If you’re already in the area, don’t miss it—it’s the first one, and I’m sure it’s going to grow into a really big event over the years.

Here are the other events still happening:

That’s a Wrap

Thanks again to everyone who’s replied and supported this newsletter over the past year. It’s really been special to connect with so many of you.

I’m open to suggestions—if you’ve got ideas on how we can keep this community moving forward, I’d love to hear them.

For the rest, I’ll still be around, the community’s still here, and I promise you’ll hear from me again—just not every single week.

Chat soon,