Three major South African brands have joined forces with Springbok Bongi Mbonambi in a collaboration built around something that continues to cross communities and cultures: the braai.
Eskort, Checkers and Toyota have partnered on the Braai-Lux campaign, using food, sport and a shared South African tradition to create a campaign centred on social connection.
The collaboration brings together companies from three different sectors, while Mbonambi provides the human connection between the brands and the audience.
At the heart of the project is a simple piece of South African culture. Braais happen across communities, generations and backgrounds and remain one of the country’s most recognisable forms of social gathering.
Eskort CEO Arnold Prinsloo believes that shared experience is what gives the collaboration its relevance.
“This mix of three iconic brands, braai’ing and Bongi is the ultimate South African combination, and we’re excited about the conversations and cultural connections that are springing from the campaign,” Prinsloo said.
The physical expression of the collaboration is the Braai-Lux.
Toyota has provided a new-generation 2026 Hilux 2.8 GD-6 4×4 Raider Double Cab, which has been transformed into a vehicle designed around the South African braai.
The customised bakkie includes a Megamaster grill, dual fridge and freezer, roller drawer system, canopy, 270-degree awning, roof rack, off-road tyres and other equipment.
Ironman 4×4 and Halfway Toyota Honeydew completed the conversion.
Mbonambi’s involvement adds another layer to the collaboration.
As a two-time Rugby World Cup winner, the Springbok hooker is associated with a national team that has increasingly spoken about its role beyond rugby and its ability to bring South Africans together.
For Eskort, that made him a natural fit for a campaign built around another shared South African experience.
“Bongi is the kind of person South Africans would genuinely invite to their braai,” Prinsloo said.
“He represents the values that sit at the heart of every great braai: bringing people together, celebrating community, and creating moments that last.”
The campaign also demonstrates how brands from unrelated industries can collaborate around cultural experiences rather than simply placing their individual products alongside one another.
Checkers provides the consumer platform, Toyota the vehicle, Eskort the food connection and Mbonambi the sporting and cultural association.
One customer will ultimately win the Braai-Lux and share a braai with Mbonambi.
Customers enter by purchasing a participating Eskort product at Checkers or through Checkers Sixty60 and swiping their Xtra Savings card. The competition runs until 22 November 2026.
While the Braai-Lux is ultimately a consumer competition, the broader collaboration taps into something considerably more familiar: the role food and sport continue to play in creating spaces where South Africans connect.
