CPT Brew – 7th July, 2026

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This Tuesday: a hospital gets a little more human, a great white shark finds a permanent home, and a South African designer wins big on the other side of the world.

There are two free concerts happening in the city tonight, a township cycling tour tomorrow, and three places worth adding to your list. Winter in Cape Town has its own kind of warmth, here's some of it.

A word from our sponsor:

The Wild World of the Van Gogh Truthers

In 1990, after years of practicing medicine and reviewing Van Gogh’s case history via his hundreds of letters, Arenberg published a paper in JAMA diagnosing Van Gogh as suffering not from epilepsy, as the artist’s physician claimed a century earlier, but from Ménière’s disease, an inner-ear affliction that can cause vertigo, of which Van Gogh complained, and tinnitus, a persistent ringing in the ears. Ménière’s, to Arenberg, could better explain Van Gogh’s decision to slice off his ear. After retiring, in 2017, Arenberg recommitted himself to studying Van Gogh and became convinced that art historians had made an even more alarming mistake: Van Gogh had not committed suicide. He’d been murdered.

Read the article for free on Air Mail, a lively digital read for the world citizen, with stories both foreign and domestic that you won’t find anywhere else, written by some of the world’s finest journalists.

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Now, back to Cape Town 👇

Headlines

3 reads

Three spaces at Groote Schuur Hospital have been repainted and refurbished by Project Flamingo, whose "Make Room for Her" campaign started with curtains around hospital beds in the Eastern Cape so women had a moment of privacy in their most vulnerable moments. It has grown into something much bigger.

SA landscape designer Leon Kluge is having quite a year: gold at Chelsea, and now a Diamond Award and Best Planting at the Singapore Garden Festival, the world's biggest tropical garden show, for his bamboo-and-waterlily installation "Dreamer's Retreat."

Nicole, the great white famous for swimming 20,000 km between South Africa and Western Australia, now lives as a life-sized mural donated to Shark Spotters by four Plettenberg Bay artists. She will help teach learners and visitors about marine conservation.

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Events

4 plans

Tue 7 Jul 18:00 · Free	Craft Night with the Cape Town Craft Club runs tonight at Bree Street Community Hall, the space behind Clarke's Bar on Bree Street. Bring whatever you're making: knitting, embroidery, crochet, painting. Three hours of uninterrupted making in good company, with food and drinks available from the bar. One free ticket available for anyone who needs it.
Tue 7 Jul 19:00 · Free	The Washington DC Youth Orchestra is in Cape Town as part of their 2026 South Africa tour, performing tonight at Hugo Lambrechts Auditorium in Parow alongside the South African Youth Choir. The programme includes Brahms, Dvorak, and new works. Free to attend, doors open at 18:30.
Wed 8 Jul 13:30 · R1,000	Cycling in Cape Town's Largest Township is a guided ride through Khayelitsha, stopping at Remembrance Square, local entrepreneurial hubs, and community spaces, with a taste of local food and language along the way. Meet at The Spade Boutique Hotel. The kind of Cape Town most people only ever see from the N2.
Thu 9 Jul 18:00 · RSVP	Art Club at Brickfield Canvas is Strauss & Co's monthly evening gathering at their Woodstock gallery space. A low-stakes way into the Cape Town art world: good people, good conversation, no obligation to buy. Free to attend, but register ahead.

Hidden Gems

3 finds

Cape to Cuba in Kalk Bay brings Havana to the Cape: Cuban memorabilia floor to ceiling, sandy floors, live music, and a mojito menu that's been running since before craft cocktails were a thing. They claim to have served South Africa's very first mojito and have sold over 8 million since. 165 Main Road, Kalk Bay.

The Beach Tavern on Woodbridge Island in Milnerton is a no-frills beach pub with on-tap craft beers, wood-fired pizza, and a beachfront location most people drive past without stopping. Close enough to the city to be spontaneous, casual enough to stay for the afternoon. 1 Loxton Road, Woodbridge Island.

Grand Africa Café & Beach sits on a private beach in Granger Bay with the Atlantic in front and Robben Island in the background. Seafood, cocktails, wood-fired pizza, and a wooden deck where you can put your feet in the sand while you eat. One of those spots that makes you understand why people move here and never leave. 4 Haul Road, Granger Bay.

Quote of the Day

“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.”

Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)

Stay warm, stay curious.
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CPT Brew – 7th July, 2026

The Wild World of the Van Gogh Truthers

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