Ted Botha

@dbbovey @JustinCChang What a review! Now I’m really tempted to see it.

@JustinCChang "Aspic ratio" is one of those glinting small gems, casually dropped and lying in the folds of a gown, that I used to read reviews in the hoping of finding. Thank you, you have made a middle-aged man very happy.

" 'WUTHERING HEIGHTS,' " reviewed. Quite the aspic ratio on this one: newyorker.com/culture/the-cu…

@CinemaTweets1 THE best.

One of the Best Films of 2025

@Askash So true: "reminding me once again that Jozi is one of those cities you have to feel to understand." A city that deserves so much attention.

Can we please talk about the Hyde Hotel in Rosebank… my new favourite stay-over stop for a trip to Jozi town🔌 I walked into the hotel’s front door framed by purple jacaranda trees in bloom, and the funkiest beat was playing, the coffee machines were buzzing, and the staff greeted me in the trendiest hotel wear I had seen in a long time. Instantly, I was energised by the atmosphere and vibe, reminding me once again that Jozi is one of those cities you have to feel to understand, and The Hyde Hotel is precisely that. The club-like atmosphere I felt when walking through the door was no mistake - I later discovered that this hotel brand was set in the LA nightclub scene and was later converted into a hotel. The brand is deeply connected to music, and the festival vibes are exactly what they want you to experience. There is art adorning almost every wall, and I loved learning that every piece was designed by women in South Africa. Besides the art and banging playlist through the common areas, this hotel plugs every pain point of the Joburg traveller in the coolest way. My personal favourite is the multi-level gym. The finishes and equipment could stand in London’s bouquet of on-trend, boutique gyms. As someone who likes to work out while travelling, I can basically do my entire back-home routine in one building. I was the MC at a property launch that evening, so before I headed out, using the printer for my speech at the in-house co-working space was such a win. Hotel guests have complimentary access to a designated area of Workshop17 to work. Proud Mary is the restaurant that graces the ground floor, and it hums. This hotel is the perfect blend of busy, business and seriously cool energy. This is the first Hyde Hotel on the African continent, and there are 9 worldwide. The 24HR coffee bar is a nice touch, and on some weekends, you can catch a live DJ here when running clubs like The Pack or WRC end their run. Coming from the airport via the Gautrain? Simply WhatsApp the hotel your arrival time at Rosebank station, and they will come collect you in a golf cart - free of charge - for a lift to the hotel. Quick room review: they are HUGE! The high ceilings feature an edgy industrial concrete finish. The rooms have exceptional height - room volume like this is rare nowadays. I adore a handwritten note on arrival, and the Le Creuset mugs add a modern touch. LOVE the large SONY speaker. I also really appreciate that the toilet is in a separate room from the shower. Lastly, you can enter the NPF tasting room via the hotel and choose from over 1,500 whiskeys, mezcals, and other spirits to taste-bud-test, a fun touch. This building used to be the old FNB bank building (hence the building’s name today, The Bank). The building was then redeveloped, increasing its height from 6 to 13 floors. Today, the building consists of commercial space, a gym, Workshop17, the restaurant and the hotel. The new speakeasy restaurant opens this week between the 4th and 5th floors. Sometimes people assume that business travel means staying at a stiff corporate hotel, but that's not the case. It's trendy, inviting, and it’s got groove.

Amazing how much this story gets wrong. The fact that Killarney was famous first as a globally unprecedented film studio (not studios) gets buried way down. (And thanks for the mention.)

@askash Do you know what the deal is with that massive Kimberley hole on Cradock opposite The Firs?

Probably one of the only developments in Rosebank right now giving the Jozi property market a run for its money…👏 I was pleasantly shocked by how well the development, ONE Rosebank, is doing in both construction progress and sales. When it comes to sales momentum in new residential blocks in Johannesburg, the numbers at ONE Rosebank are seriously impressive. First, the finishes are superb. For an investor product like this offering smaller units for short-term rentals, the developer has outdone themselves with their choice of fixtures and finer details. Second, the location is insane. If you know me, you know I am a lover of Rosebank. The vibe down the Proud Mary/MamaSamba restaurant alley outside Rosebank Mall, the hotel offerings, the development of the Oxford Park’s precinct and the work culture are second to none. Trees everywhere, and this time of year, they are an ocean of purple. There is a younger, work-energy here compared to the inner-city feel of Sandton - young in feel, not necessarily age. And it’s infectious. ONE Rosebank is being developed by Tricolt. Phase One, with 396 apartments, is sold out. Phase Two is 50% sold out. I was fascinated to learn that they sell between 10 and 15 apartments a month, and while some of the buyers are local, Kent - Head of Sales - tells me many are from the USA. This is a refreshing insight to see Americans purchasing in Jozi rather than in the usual Cape Town or KZN coastlines. I liked what I saw, and I am looking forward to revisiting this site soon to see the finished product. Watch the video below to see my tour of ONE Rosebank.

@askash Great read, and thanks for this background. Have passed this property many times wondering what/why/how. Once I also interviewed a member of Joburg Tourism (yes, there was/is such a nonfunctioning entity) whose offices overlooked this wasteland. The rot was there long ago.

In 2023, I posted about this 4-hectare site for sale in Sandton. Owned by a Gupta-linked company that never paid a cent for this prime property… Now it’s up for AUCTION💸 The auctioneers reckon they can get between R200 and R300 million for the site. To sarcastically summarise how we got here: Imagine the City of Johannesburg selling prime Sandton land to a Gupta-linked company for R280 million… The city never actually gets paid… And still they foot a R250 million bill (funded by taxpayers) for the base of a 65-storey skyscraper that was never actually built. And that base? It became the property of the same company that never paid a cent🤡 That’s the story of Joburg’s “Kgoro Central” deal - Gupta-linked & ghosted since 2013. For the detailed story behind this property, keep reading: In 2013, the 39 112m2 erf was sold by the City of Johannesburg to Cedar Park Properties 39 (Pty) Ltd. The company belongs to the Kgoro Consortium, and the majority owner of this consortium is Gupta-linked, Regiments Capital. The sale price was abnormally low at R280 million, paid via a bond issued by the metro. The deal was controversial because the R280 million was never paid and the property was never developed… The property was supposed to be developed into the 200 000m2 “Kgoro Central” which included a 65-storey skyscraper, hotel, luxury apartments, art gallery, retail and a restaurant. None of these development promises materialised. Furthermore, Regiments Capital was liquidated in August 2023 due to its close connection with state capture and the contracts it entered into with alleged links to the Guptas. Regiments Capital is infamous for making millions from deals done with state-owned enterprises such as Eskom, SAA, Transnet, Second Defined Benefit Fund and, thanks to this property deal, the City of Johannesburg. To make things even sketchier, documents from the deeds office show that Cedar Park Properties 39 (Pty) Ltd has never paid property tax on this property or a cent towards the purchase price. They only needed to start paying when the development began to make a profit. To top it off, R250 million of taxpayer money was spent to construct a base for the skyscraper. This base became the property of the landlord: Cedar Park Properties 39 (Pty) Ltd. Fast forward to today, and Cedar Park’s liquidators have put the property up for auction. Development rights allow for a bulk of around 195 000m2, and there are no height restrictions. You need to pay a non-refundable deposit of R150 000 if you are keen to bid on the property. Bids close 27 November 2025. Location: above the Sandton Gautrain Station, Rivonia Road & West Street, Sandton.

@askash Have you done anything yet on Killarney and it’s jewel, Whitehall Court? There’s quite an active revive Killarney group raising awareness about the little Manhattan.

One of the most valuable pieces of land in Johannesburg has been home to lions, leopards, elephants, and Siberian tigers for over 100 years…🐯 Hermann Eckstein was a German-born British mining magnate who played a massive role in the early development of Johannesburg. He is well-known for planting over 3 million trees in the suburb of Saxonwold. He was also the first president of the Johannesburg Chamber of Mines. Hermann passed away, and in August 1903, his company (Wernher Beit mining company) donated 81 hectares of land and a few wild animals to the Johannesburg Town Council on one condition: the park had to be called Hermann Eckstein Park. And so, Zoo Lake Park and the Johannesburg Zoo, divided by Jan Smuts Avenue, were born. A specific clause in the donation deed mandated that the park be accessible to everyone, regardless of race. This ensured that, even during apartheid, Zoo Lake stayed a rare public space that was officially non-segregated. The park was landscaped around an artificial lake, and in 1937, a fountain named the Coronation Fountain was built here to commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The park offers green spaces, boating, canoeing, the Zoo Lake sports club, the Zoo Lake Bowls Club, tennis courts, padel courts, a swimming pool, restaurants, cafés, and a Zoo. In 1904, 55 hectares of the park were home to one lion, a leopard, a giraffe, two sable antelope bulls, a baboon, a genet, a pair of Rhesus monkeys, a pair of porcupines and one golden eagle. I found it fascinating to learn that Sir Percy FitzPatrick, who wrote the book Jock of the Bushveld, donated some animals towards the original Johannesburg Zoo collection. He kept wild animals from his hunting trips. Between 1913 and 1915, they built a stone elephant and rhino house. They also added more animals to the collection, such as the Bengal tigers, black bears, llamas, Asian elephant and a Bactrian camel (back then, you could ride the camel and the elephants) Today, the Zoo is home to over 2000 animals across 320 different species. They are open 364 days a year. They are also known for being the only zoo in South Africa to have successfully bred Siberian tigers. A male Siberian tiger named “Twist" (weighing 320 kg) is the father of all the Siberian tigers that are in South Africa. With all this history in mind… do you think zoos still have a place in modern cities, or is it time we reimagine them completely?

@ahistoryinart @TomTommallow And lead, which led to a slew of other demises, often neurological. When I was researching my book on Daisy de Melker, I learnt that countless children died from convulsions, probably caused by paint, though they didn’t know that at the time.

@TomTommallow Most likely Scheele's green, so highly toxic.

I love interiors. I wonder if the green walls contained arsenical paint.

Best bike shop in NYC? Old-fashioned, good service, terrific prices, friendly. East Harlem, 111 St/Third Ave.

@dbbovey Did one of those to Ushguli under Mt Shkara, along a precipice with a crazy man at the wheel.

@tedbotha And the worst drivers in the world. Drivers so homicidal and insane, driving to the mountains in Georgia should be on a thrillseeker's list along with volcano bungee-jumping and alligator wrestling.

While their team were facing up to us, their families back home were fighting against an even bigger and more ruthless foe. We're not the only troubled rugby country.

@ahistoryinart A lot like Odilon Redon.

'Michaelmas Daisies,' (1923) is typical of James Bolivar Manson’s stylistic approach. His images are constructed in small impasto touches of colour, creating richly toned, depictions of naturalistic objects and scenes.

@dbbovey I saw this at their bookshop and was envying you greatly!

A Friday-night treat: when a friend sends a photo from the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich:

@Wise You don’t because @wise makes it so difficult to replace your card.

How do you professionally say "I'm gonna work from abroad for a month" in corporate?

@ahistoryinart Reminds me a lot of Robert Delaunay.

When Johannesburg tried to make its own Hollywood. citizen.co.za/news/joburgs-f…

@MikeyCycling In Miami, I found it interesting there are car lanes where bicycles are allowed to take the entire lane, I’m sure to the chagrin of drivers. The city also has an incredible bike-lane network, although bitterly few cyclists, I found.

Why do smart cyclists ride so far out from parked cars? Because of idiots like Sir Edward Leigh who don't look when they open their car doors. This is one of the big causes of KSI'd cyclists in London. DON'T RIDE IN THE DOOR ZONE. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

When Johannesburg tried to create its own Hollywood - in 1913. The millionaire behind Joburg’s original dream factory #hollywoodontheveld #newbook #nonfiction #schlesinger businesslive.co.za/bd/life/books/…

Autumn in Johannesburg. Read my essay on 48 hours in this great city on FB. #johannesburg #cityofgold #hollywoodontheveld

When Johannesburg tried to match Hollywood. Spectacle for spectacle. #HollywoodontheVeld instagram.com/reel/DJhOtIPty…