We've never done discounts, and five years in, that hasn't changed. But this year's Black Friday story isn't really about what we're not doing. It's about who's actually behind everything we do. Because before a Donkey Long Tong ever reaches your braai, it passes through the hands of a small team of Cape Town artisans, and this Black Friday, we want you to meet them.
The Barn on Marine Drive
48 Marine Drive, Paarden Eiland, has become our home away from home. A place where all our Donkeys can work and play. From the outside, you might just see a nice building, but it is so much more. Step inside, and that's where the fire tools that you know and love are all made by hand.
Our tools move between hands. Someone cuts components. Someone shapes the head so it grips a steak without tearing it. Someone sands a length of white oak until it stops fighting back and starts feeling like it was always meant to be a handle. Someone rivets it, tests the spring tension (we call it the Donkey's kick), boxes it, and sends it out the door.
Every Skill Started Somewhere
Nobody on our workshop floor was born knowing how to read the grain on a piece of oak before cutting it, or stitch a leather apron so the seam won't split after two hundred braais. They learned it here, in our Barn, from whoever was standing at the bench before them.
That's the part of the Donkey story that never quite fits on a product page. When we bring someone onto the team, we're not just filling a seat. We're handing over years of trial and error: which way the wood splits, how hot 304 stainless can get before it warps, what happens when you rush stitching leather. It takes time, but that's exactly what we want. People upskilling people, and getting back to making things by hand with expertise.
After all, a skill stays with someone for the rest of their working life, and so does everything they go on to build with it.
What We Do Instead of Discounts
We've said it before, and we'll keep saying it every November: discount culture and handmade brands don't mix well. Every Donkey Long Tong carries real hours of someone's actual time. Knock a chunk off the price and something has to give somewhere, and it's usually the person at the bench, not the margin on a spreadsheet.
So instead of slashing prices this Black Friday, we put that energy into the people who make the product possible in the first place. That's a handwritten engraving, scanned and engraved. That's every corporate gifting order built by the same small team, at the same standard, whether it's one tong or a hundred.
Buying a Donkey Long Tong this Black Friday is a vote for the way we'd rather run this business, and for the artisans who make that business possible in the first place.
What This Means for You This Black Friday
When looking at us this Black Friday, you'll find a braai tool that someone in Cape Town made with their hands, that can carry someone's actual handwriting into steel, and that's built to outlast your grandkids.
Buy it for the guy who braais every single weekend, rain or shine. Buy it as a corporate gift that your clients and staff will love. Buy it because you'd rather put your money behind a person than a price tag. And keep an eye on our socials, because there's something handmade, proudly South African, and worth the wait, coming for Black Friday 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Black Friday in South Africa in 2026?Black Friday 2026 falls on Friday, 27 November, with most South African retailers running specials through the weekend and into Cyber Monday. |
Does Donkey Long Tong do Black Friday sales?Not in the traditional sense. We don't discount our tongs, aprons, or accessories. Instead, we mark the day with limited, handmade pieces and by putting the spotlight on the artisans behind everything we make. |
Are Donkey Long Tong products really handmade in South Africa?Yes. Every tong, apron and accessory is shaped, sanded, stitched and riveted by hand at our workshop at 48 Marine Drive, Paarden Eiland, Cape Town, by a small team of South African artisans. |
How does Donkey Long Tong support local artisans?By training people on the bench rather than outsourcing to a factory line, keeping production small enough that skills get passed on properly, and building every corporate and personal order, big or small, to the same handmade standard. |
