Proudly adding our colours to the rainbow.

June 10, 2020

This rich diversity - in times of adversity - pulls us together

Proudly SA

South Africa is the rainbow. All the reds of the earth. All the blues of the sky and sea. All the cloudy silvers and whites, deep mountain darks, every different forest and veld green. All the different dances, stories, accents, voices and values of diverse nations and tribes swirl together here. It’s noisy, vibrant, fiery, forever exciting. We were all drawn here, once upon a time, by South Africa’s great heart and her fields of opportunity.

This rich diversity - in times of adversity - pulls us together. Italians, Venda, Germans, Tswana, Brits, Tsonga, Afrikaners, Swati, San, Irish, Dutch, Asian, Belgian, French, Xhosa, Americans, Ndebele, Waswahili, Indian, Portuguese, Sepedi, Greek, Spanish, Shona, ... we all wear the rainbow scarf with the same passion when the Boks smash England. And during this time of Corona, we all honk our vuvuzelas at 7pm in grateful thanks. We are all different. But we are same-same inside.

Our Italtile story began in Italy, but it’s here that we truly put down roots, branched out, and flourished, with showrooms right across South Africa.

We might say ‘lekker’ with a bit of an accent... but after more than 50 years, we’re local, and we love it! Read more about our journey, and how we brought ‘la bella vita’ - beautiful living - to the Rep of SA:

We’re proud to be South African at heart, and we’re grateful to be ‘locals’. Here are a couple of our favourite reasons to love local:

Italians love nuts. We were brought up on a steady diet of hazelnuts and almonds, so we are super-stoked to feast on South Africa’s macadamias. Did you know that SA is the world’s largest producer of macadamias? And the world goes nuts for them.

We ‘maak a plan’ here. It’s an inventive nation, and when times get tough we get clever. Some South African inventions that have helped the world include:

-The CAT Scan: Originally invented for the mining industry, this extraordinary x-ray machine now helps doctors diagnose patients.

-The Kreep Krawly: the slurpy-slurpy pool cleaner we all take for granted.

-Pratley Putty: The world’s stickiest adhesive is the only South African invention that has travelled to the moon! It was used in the 60s by NASA to stick components on

Space craft.

-Dolosse: Enormous concrete structures that break the power of waves crashing against our coastline. 

The tastes of home. We might have been weaned on mamma’s pasta, but we’re mad about biltong, potjiekos, boerie rolls, Mrs Balls, All Gold tomato sauce, Marie biscuits, Chappies, Peppermint Crisp, ‘walkie talkies’, umngqusho, Flings, Fizzers, Bovril, bokkoms, bredie, Sparletta Cream Soda, magodo, pap, chakalaka, bobotie, bunnychow... all the tastes of here that expats miss the most.

Meet our South African suppliers.

We’re doing our part by sourcing the very best local luxury so you can do your part and buy local. Localising our spending and investing, not just for now, but into the future, will make all the difference to our communities and to our country. 

Global Stone supply us with their signature ecochic, 100% recycled glass mosaics.

Dominus are the makers of exquisite bathroom accessories for sale. Many of their ranges are exclusive to Italtile. All items come with a lifetime guarantee (which speaks to the superb quality and finish of their manufacture.

Thanks to luxurious, local Jeeves, we have exceptionally beautiful heated towel rails. Cleverly designed to look good and do good, too, using only the power of one electric light bulb.

Jeeves

Our gorgeous local porcelain tiles and sanware are the handiwork of Ceramic Industries, a group focused on creating sustainability – reducing their carbon footprint and reaching out to the communities in which they work and operate. 

Our lush, luxe Victoria and Albert range of baths, and their unique, trademarked QuarrycastTM material are created by proud, local wine-loving South Africans in the Western Cape. Their top tubs are the last word in luxury around the world. 

V&A

Did you know that our fabulously sophisticated freestanding Dado baths - with global acclaim - are also made right from a locally developed super-material called DADOquartz, invented by the superheroes at DADOAFRICA.

EzeeTile is our trusted adhesive partner, and we’ve stuck together (boom boom) for decades. In fact, Ezee Tile joined our Italtile family in 1994! This industry front runner has grown into the biggest adhesive and grout manufacture business in sub-Saharan Africa.

In solidarity with our retail colleagues around the country, we are rubberstamping our support of local by attaching the Proudly South African icon to all our local, lekker products. So look for the logo if you, like us, want to support South Africa.

Now, as we stand #TogetherApart to face a common enemy, we all see more clearly than ever where our civil duty lies. It’s always been a ‘want’ of ours. Now it has become a need: to keep our hearts and minds focused on our communities, to give back more than we received, looking out for each other, investing in local talent, creativity and manufacture, supporting each other in sustainable ways. It’s been a difficult time, but we are #StrongerTogether and we know South Africa will recover, survive and thrive.

 

Be lekker, South Africa, buy local and let’s all live beautifully.

Proudly SA