In the small fishing town of St Helena Bay on South Africa’s West Coast, you’ll find a restaurant that’s become more than just a place to eat. It’s called Oppikaai, which means “on the quayside” in Afrikaans slang – and it’s doing something special for tourists and the local community.
Owned by Melody van Rensburg, Oppikaai is known for its fresh seafood, cultural flavours, and big heart. It’s also the first restaurant in the area to be owned by people of colour, which makes it even more meaningful.
Melody didn’t plan to start a restaurant. In fact, she was recovering from post-traumatic stress and unable to leave the house when her father asked her to help fix up a rundown building in the harbour. Slowly, what started as a way to pass the time became something much more.
By September 2018, the doors to Oppikaai were opened. They had no restaurant experience or big business plans – just a deep connection to their home and a desire to try something new.
Two months after opening disaster struck, a fire destroyed their entire kitchen. But instead of giving up, they rebuilt quickly to reopen for the December tourist season.
In 2019, the restaurant hit another rough patch. Sales dropped, and they considered closing. That’s when Melody and Charl made a big decision: to stop serving regular dishes like burgers and ribs and focus only on seafood.
It was a risky move, especially because other restaurant owners warned them not to. But they knew it was the right step. “People come to the West Coast for the sea, for the fish,” says Melody. “We wanted to give them something true to the area.”
That decision changed everything. Oppikaai became known for offering local seafood dishes made with fish caught by their own family members – from boat to plate.
The restaurant’s menu is deeply personal. Many of the dishes are based on family recipes passed down through generations. Melody calls it “food from our grandmother’s kitchen.”
For example, the fish they serve is often caught by Charl’s fatheror Melody’s brother and cleaned by Charl’s mother. Charl fillets the fish, and Melody helps turn it into a plate of food that tells a story. It’s not just a meal; it’s a taste of their heritage.
Even though most of their customers are tourists, Oppikaai plays a big role in uplifting the local community. St Helena Bay is a rural area where many people are unemployed or living with limited opportunities.
Melody and Charl try to help in many ways: they donate school supplies and care packages to local children, they support employees with fundraising efforts like helping one worker’s daughter raise money to play netball overseas, they host an annual Heritage Festival that brings together local food, culture, music, and fun for children and families.
One local woman told them the festival helped her laugh again after months of depression. That kind of impact is what keeps them going.
Running a restaurant is not easy. Melody and Charl admit that during the first five years, they hardly had time for anything else. “We didn’t know how to switch off,” says Melody. “Our kids felt the pressure too.”
Eventually, they started learning how to delegate tasks and trust their team. That helped them focus on their mental health and spend more time with their children. Today, they work hard to keep boundaries between personal and work life – even though it’s not always easy when your business is so close to your heart.
Each winter, Oppikaai closes its restaurant for three months – but that doesn’t mean they stop working. Instead, they use this time to offer catering services, repair and upgrade the restaurant, plan new menus and ideas.
It’s their way of staying creative and making sure the restaurant comes back stronger each year.
Oppikaai is not just about seafood. It’s a story of survival, culture, and making something meaningful out of pain. It’s about showing that people from small towns can do big things, and that food can bring hope, heritage, and opportunity to a whole community.
When visitors leave, they often say the same thing: “You haven’t truly visited St Helena Bay until you’ve eaten at Oppikaai.”
And that’s something Melody and Charl are proud to hear – because what they’ve built is more than a restaurant. It’s a legacy.
*Oppikaai Restaurant is a participant business on the SAB Foundation’s Tholoana Enterprise Programme.
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About the Author
Terrena Rathanlall is the SME Media Portfolio Manager at Fetola.
