Crash Nearly Sank Soweto Burger Shop's Balance Sheet

A single traffic accident nearly wiped out the balance sheet of a Soweto burger business, and the speed of its recovery shows why broadcaster Nick Hamman is now a Forty Under 40 award winner.

When a driver crashed into the Mofolo South premises of And Fries, owner Lwazi Madonsela and his team were left with extensive damage and an uncertain future. For a small, independent food operator, that kind of disruption threatens more than premises. It threatens the entire commercial lifeline: the customers who walk through the door. Hamman did not simply tell his audience where to find a good burger. He told the story of the people affected, then rallied South Africans to respond. Within a couple of weeks, And Fries was officially back in business, a turnaround Time Out describes as the Culture Connector concept in action: discovery becomes storytelling, storytelling creates attention, and attention converts into feet through the door of a local business.

That commercial logic sits behind the recognition itself. Hamman, a broadcaster, storyteller and Time Out South Africa Culture Connector, has been named a 2026 Forty Under 40 winner in the Media (Digital and Social) category. While such awards are often judged on digital reach, his work is rooted in the small, often surprising efforts of everyday locals, and in the economic value those efforts generate when amplified.

“It’s still sinking in, and I’m overwhelmed and deeply honoured,” Hamman told Time Out. “It’s easy to pretend that awards don’t matter, but this one really feels special to me. To be recognised at something as prestigious as the Forty Under 40 Awards and to join a global community of such incredible people feels like the culmination of a career’s worth of work.”

He acknowledges the recognition fuels the purpose behind his platform. “My hope is to keep playing my part in building the future our country deserves.”

Hamman joined Time Out South Africa as a Culture Connector in May this year, a title that was deliberate given how his work has amplified that purpose. It aligns with Time Out’s own mission of showcasing the best of the city while giving the individuals creating those experiences a bigger platform, hopefully to make a tangible difference.

His wider portfolio follows the same instinct. Through his Hammy Eats endeavour, he spotlights small businesses doing the most to hero authentic South African cuisine, and he walks through bustling vintage markets in neighbourhoods far off the popular tourist-beaten paths. When Johannesburg was named one of the world’s best cities for street food, he treated it as an opportunity to celebrate delicacies such as mogodu, morogo, chakalaka and vetkoek, made by independent traders who set the benchmark for the city’s real food culture. In Cape Town, he has shared why a Langa food tour belongs on everybody’s radar, framing it as more than shisanyama and as an invitation into Xhosa culture and the history of the city’s oldest township.

The through-line, from Time Out’s perspective, is the translation of local stories about everyday South Africans into viral must-experience trends, turning attention into measurable custom for the operators behind them. A recommendation for a hole-in-the-wall dumpling spot or a next burger destination can start as a tip and become something more meaningful: homegrown food culture getting its flowers, or a corner of the city seen through an entirely different, more approachable lens.

“Well done, Nick,” Time Out concludes. “This is the best kind of impact, worth celebrating.”

The open question now is how far that attention economy can scale, and how many more independent operators a single amplified story can pull back from the brink.