JiVE Celebrates the Living Culture of the Cape Through Faith, Craft and Community

For decades, JiVE has been a familiar presence in the Western Cape, shared at family tables, picked up from neighbourhood shops, and woven into everyday moments across generations. This summer, the iconic cold drink entered a new chapter, unveiling refreshed packaging while reassuring consumers that the unmistakable JiVE taste they know and love remains unchanged.

Launched under the campaign OG Taste, with New School Style, this moment marked more than a visual update for the brand. It created an opportunity for JiVE to reflect on its own legacy while turning the spotlight outward, celebrating the people, places and institutions that, like JiVE itself, live at the heart of Western Cape communities and have helped shape the cultural fabric of the region.

Cape Town’s culture is not frozen in time. It is lived, practised and passed down every day, in places both sacred and creative. JiVE’s campaign honours the traditions, rituals and expressions that keep this culture alive, recognising heritage not as nostalgia, but as something active, evolving and deeply rooted in community life.
At the centre of this story are two powerful symbols of continuity and change: Auwal Masjid, South Africa’s oldest mosque, and MonkeyBiz Bead Studio, a women-led creative enterprise that has transformed traditional beadwork into globally recognised contemporary art. Though different in form, both reflect the same truth, that culture endures because people choose to practise it, teach it and share it.

Founded in 1794, Auwal Masjid in the Bo-Kaap remains a cornerstone of Cape Muslim life. More than a historical landmark, it is an active space of worship, learning and gathering, where faith continues to shape daily rhythms and values across generations. For the surrounding community, Auwal is not simply a site to be admired, but a living institution that reinforces belonging, resilience and shared identity.

In much the same way, MonkeyBiz Bead Studio demonstrates how tradition evolves through people. Established 25 years ago, the studio began with a single beaded doll made by the co-founder’s mother, a gesture that grew into a sustainable creative ecosystem supporting more than 200 bead artists, most of them women. Today, MonkeyBiz is internationally recognised for its bold, contemporary artworks, while remaining firmly grounded in South African beadwork traditions passed from one generation to the next.

“MonkeyBiz is more than a business focused on beadwork, it is social empowerment,” says Mataphelo Ngaka Mtati, co-founder and product manager. “We’ve taken traditional beadwork and turned it into contemporary art that young people can learn from, live from, and be proud of.”

This intersection of heritage and progress is what makes both Auwal Masjid and MonkeyBiz such natural fits within JiVE’s campaign. Whether through prayer, craft or storytelling, both spaces demonstrate how culture is sustained when it is actively practised and shared.

For many of the women at MonkeyBiz, beadwork has become a means of economic independence, enabling them to support families and educate their children — some now attending university thanks to the income generated through their craft. Beyond financial impact, the studio plays a vital role in cultural education, ensuring that young people understand where they come from and why their traditions matter.

Women, in particular, sit at the centre of this preservation. As Mtati explains, “Women are the ones teaching the younger generation about identity through beadwork. They’re not only building future entrepreneurs, they’re ensuring our traditions remain part of our cultural fabric.”

JiVE’s campaign recognises that culture doesn’t only live in museums or archives. It lives in neighbourhoods, kitchens, studios and places of worship. It shows up in shared meals, rituals and creative expression, and in brands that have been part of everyday Western Cape life for decades.

By celebrating spaces like Auwal Masjid and MonkeyBiz Bead Studio, JiVE reinforces its role as more than a household staple. It positions the brand as one that understands culture as something lived, shaped by people, sustained by community, and carried forward through stories worth preserving.

OG Cape Icons. Timeless Flavour.
Some legacies are crafted, bead by bead, generation by generation. Discover the stories shaping Cape Town’s living culture by following us on Instagram @jivecooldrinks_ or visit our website at https://jive.co.za/

About JiVE
JiVE is one of South Africa’s most loved heritage beverage brands, rooted in the everyday culture, flavour and identity of the Cape. For generations, JiVE has been part of family tables, neighbourhood traditions and shared moments that define local life. Today, the brand continues to honour that legacy by celebrating the people, places and stories that keep Cape culture alive — from community institutions and creative studios to the rituals passed down through families.
With a commitment to authenticity, accessibility and timeless flavour, JiVE remains an iconic staple that connects past and present, reminding South Africans of the heritage they share and the stories still being written.

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Author: Ashli Prins from Paddington Station PR on behalf of JiVE.