There are plenty of ways to network in Joburg. Standing over a bubbling potjie for several hours while your business contacts size up your lunch may be one of the better ones.

On 12 September 2026, members from 15 BNI chapters across Joburg North and the West Rand gathered at Bryanston Sports Club for a potjiekos competition in support of Oasis Haven.

The BNI region has 26 chapters, with 15 taking up the cooking challenge. Teams arrived with their own recipes, ingredients and, judging by some of the entries, no intention of quietly making a beef stew and going home.

One team produced a Springbok shank potjie. Another took a more traditional route and cooked with biltong.

That biltong potjie wasn't a last-minute experiment. Winning team member Lita Jacobsen told the Sandton Chronicle that her team had researched the history of potjiekos before deciding what to cook. The dish ultimately helped put them among the winners.

Twenty good reasons to keep the pots bubbling

All proceeds from the event were earmarked for Oasis Haven, a registered Child and Youth Care Centre in Randburg. The organisation provides family-style care, education, healthcare and therapeutic support for vulnerable children.

Currently, 20 children are at the heart of that work. Oasis Haven operates two family homes, historically set up for ten boys and ten girls, and its own current website also refers to supporting 20 young lives.

Oasis Haven operations manager Qondani Tshuma said seeing people turn up to cook for the cause was a reminder that the organisation and its children have a community standing behind them.

That made the day about considerably more than who could make the best potjie.

Although, naturally, nobody told the cooks that until after the judging.

The Bottom Line

Fifteen business networking groups, a collection of fiercely guarded potjie recipes and one Bryanston cook-off ultimately came down to something simple.

Joburg businesses spent the day competing against one another, while working together for the same 20 children.