It is something the rest of us have known about Cape Town, but now it is official and in a tourist guide book - the locals are a "cliquey" bunch, with a reputation for being aloof and unfriendly.
This is a guide - Time Out Cape Town - that speaks plainly. But this is hardly surprising as many regard the Time Out series as the best city guides in print.
The books are often praised as much by locals as by tourists, as the guide to show, where and what is happening when in a city.
All the guides are written by a team of local experts, with the perspective of insiders.
Included is comprehensive arts and cultural coverage, along with hundreds of independent reviews. For every destination the guide's writers identify the best, the worst, the most fashionable and the most overrated.
Of Cape Town the guide notes that finding parking and avoiding criminals are major headaches and discovering South African cuisine is a bit of a mission. Another myth, according to the guide, is that Cape Town is the gay capital of Southern Africa.
Time Out Cape Town is a useful guide for any traveller, giving honest, authoritative, detailed and incisive advice on the beaches, the surrounding winelands and beyond.
The guide recommends seeing the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meeting at Cape Point, Franschhoek for food and wine, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Robben Island for the political history, Table Mountain and shopping at the V&A Waterfront.
It says the best beaches are Bloubergstrand, Boulders, Camps Bay, Clifton's Fourth Beach and Fish Hoek.
The 320 page paperback also contains recommendations on restaurants and bars, theatres and art galleries, shopping and spas, as well as political and social perspectives.
Then there is the local colour. Several of the city's more famous residents are profiled and give their opinions on their city.
Singer David Kramer cannot understand why anyone would want to leave, while satirist Pieter Dirk Uys finds his neighbours "rude, lazy, opinionated, dull and unadventurous". Comedian Marc Lottering says it is the friendliest city in the world.
"Some of us might get OVERfriendly when it comes to your wallet and your expensive camera, but we generally mean you no harm," he says.
Bankole Omotso, drama professor and Vodacom's "Yebo Gogo" man finds the city has the greatest number of cul-de-sacs in the world and he is frustrated by the impatience of drivers. Singer Koos Kombuis grumbles about the locals' habit of double parking in the centre of the city.
Missing are the views of some of the city's better known women personalities - their take on the city is likely to be very different. Renowned chef Bruce Robertson of one.waterfront at the Cape Grace hotel describes his preferred kind of food - chunky white-bread peanut butter and jam sandwiches and his favourite South African flavours - Kalahari truffles and West Coast oysters.
International tourists will also be grateful for the description of local food and drink. The guide gives practical information on how to get there, where to stay and even where to find legal counsel.
Time Out Cape Town is the kind of guide armchair travellers enjoy just as much as those who are "doing Africa" - it is funky, fun and informative. Other guides available in the Time Out travel series cover Berlin, Boston, Brussels, Prague and Eating and Drinking in Great Britain and Ireland.
Time Out Cape Town is available from Random House at a recommended price of R190. Contact Lyn Riesnik at 011 484 3538, or Laura Boon at 011 658 1581.
- This article was originally published on page 28 of The Sunday Tribune on November 28, 2004