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Stuff from Johannesburg

Top Honours for Hyundai

Johannesburg: Hyundai Automotive South Africa has claimed top honours in the Gold Category of the 2026 National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) Dealer Satisfaction Index (DSI) Survey, achieving an overall score of 83.8%.

Celebrating its 30th year, the DSI is South Africa’s longest-running dealer satisfaction survey and remains one of the industry’s most respected benchmarks of the relationship between vehicle manufacturers and their franchised dealer networks.

“For us, this recognition is particularly rewarding because it comes from the people who represent the Hyundai brand every day, our dealers,” said Stanley Anderson, CEO of Hyundai Automotive South Africa.

“Topping the Gold Category reflects the strength of those partnerships and our commitment to supporting dealers with the products, systems and service they need to deliver a positive ownership experience. It is an achievement we are proud to share with our entire dealer network.”

Hyundai’s performance was driven by consistently strong scores across key operational areas. The brand achieved 91.2% in the Goodwill, Policy Claims and Warranty category, recognizing dealer satisfaction with warranty administration, goodwill support and the fairness of manufacturer processes.

“Aftersales is one of the most important touchpoints in the ownership journey,” said Michael Rohde, Aftersales Director at Hyundai Automotive South Africa. “Our priority is to ensure dealers have the support and processes they need to resolve customer concerns efficiently, fairly and with confidence. This recognition reflects the close collaboration between our aftersales teams and our dealer partners.”

Hyundai also achieved an impressive 92.4% in Customer Satisfaction Programmes and ranked among the top 5 performing manufacturers and importers for parts availability, recording a 85.1% success.

“Vehicle downtime is one of the biggest frustrations for motorists, which is why maintaining strong parts availability remains a priority” said Sam Matlhola, Parts Director at Hyundai Automotive South Africa. “Our investment in inventory planning and supply chain management enables our dealers to complete repairs more efficiently and get customers back on the road sooner.”

The 2026 NADA DSI Survey attracted a record 1,610 dealer responses across 36 automotive brands, reinforcing its position as the South African motor industry’s leading measure of manufacturer-dealer relationships.

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Top Star Drive-In: The Cinema on the Mountain of Gold

The Ferreira Dump began growing in the late 1800s, composed of the crushed rock and chemical residue left over after early, inefficient mining processes had extracted as much gold as the technology of the time allowed. By the 1960s, it was a flat-topped, man-made mesa overlooking the city. In a stroke of entrepreneurial genius, the surface was tarred and the Top Star Drive-In was opened. It quickly became a South African institution. Its appeal was not just the movies, but the unparalleled view: as the sun set, the massive white screen would flicker to life against a backdrop of the glowing skyscrapers of the Central Business District, separated from the viewer only by the elevated M2 highway.

In the decades before television arrived in South Africa (1976), the Top Star was a primary social hub. It was a democratic space in an undemocratic time; while the city below was strictly segregated, the “car” served as a private bubble that allowed a degree of social freedom not found in traditional theaters. For many Johannesburgers, the Top Star was a site of nostalgic rites of passage—first dates, family outings where children were piled into the back of station wagons with blankets and flasks of tea, and the Saturday “car market” where the parking lot transformed into a sprawling hub for buying and selling second-hand vehicles.