Zakes Bantwini Wants to Change What Happens When the Workday Ends
Zakes Bantwini Office Politics is reimagining what happens when the working day ends, transforming ordinary workplaces into unexpected after-work experiences filled with music, culture and human connection.
Johannesburg, 16 September 2026 — What happens when the laptop closes, the final meeting ends and the working day is officially over?
For many professionals, the answer is increasingly complicated.
Emails continue arriving. WhatsApp notifications keep buzzing. Deadlines follow people home. And the line between “work time” and “life time” has become increasingly difficult to draw.
That is the tension at the heart of Zakes Bantwini Office Politics, a collaboration bringing the Grammy Award-winning South African artist’s lifestyle platform together with Corona’s Living Is Calling philosophy.
The concept transforms workplaces into sunset experiences, creating a deliberate moment between professional responsibilities and personal time.
Zakes Bantwini Office Politics Brings the After-Work Ritual to Life
Two workplaces were transformed as part of the new collaboration during August.
The first was the South African Breweries (SAB) offices, where the working day gave way to a Corona Sunsets Edition experience.
Kusasa opened the session before Bantwini was joined by surprise guest Sun-El Musician, turning the corporate environment into an unexpected music experience.
The second activation took place at Universal Music Group, bringing the concept closer to the music industry itself. Bokkie ULT performed before Bantwini took over the stage.
The launch video captures the idea at its simplest: employees close their laptops, the working day ends and the atmosphere changes.
Rather than asking people to escape work completely, the campaign is built around creating a clear moment between professional responsibilities and personal time.
Why Switching Off Has Become So Difficult
The timing of the campaign speaks to a wider workplace conversation.
According to the Working Life Survey, cited in the campaign’s September 2026 announcement, 75% of professionals struggle to switch off after working hours, while 52% report living with a diagnosed stress-related mental health condition.
Those figures point towards a familiar reality for modern workers: finishing the workday does not necessarily mean mentally leaving work behind.
Technology has made it possible to work from almost anywhere, but that convenience can also make the working day feel endless.
For some employees, “I’m done for today” has become less of a reality and more of an aspiration.
Music as a way to mark the transition
For Bantwini, the solution is not necessarily about abandoning work. Instead, he sees music and human connection as ways of creating a psychological shift.
“People weren’t finishing work anymore, they were simply carrying it into the rest of their lives,” Bantwini says.
That idea sits at the centre of Office Politics, the lifestyle platform he has used to bring music into unexpected corporate environments.
The format originally gained attention for transforming ordinary office spaces into stages and DJ environments, effectively turning the workplace into an unexpected cultural setting.
The latest collaboration takes that idea a step further by introducing Corona’s Living Is Calling philosophy into the working environment.
Corona’s South African platform describes “Living Is Calling” as an invitation to embrace experiences, outdoor living and moments beyond the everyday routine.
The global campaign has also been linked to Tripadvisor experiences across more than 30 countries, positioning the idea around exploration, connection and making time for experiences.
From office politics to actual living
There is an interesting irony in the name Office Politics.
Workplaces are traditionally associated with meetings, deadlines, targets and, yes, office politics.
Bantwini’s version flips that expectation.
The office becomes a place where the working day can end with music, conversation and a shared experience rather than another notification or another meeting.
That approach also fits into the broader trajectory of Bantwini’s partnership with Corona.
As Everyday Mzansi previously reported, Bantwini was announced as Corona’s first African brand ambassador in August, with the partnership connecting his music and international career with the brand’s broader “This Is Living” philosophy.
The collaboration has since expanded from travel and lifestyle experiences into the places where many people’s daily lives actually happen: the workplace.
A different kind of after-work ritual
The bigger idea behind the campaign is surprisingly simple.
People do not necessarily need another productivity hack.
Sometimes they need a reason to stop working.
By bringing music into the workplace at the end of the day, Office Politics and Corona are creating a physical and emotional marker between one part of the day and another.
The laptop closes.
The music starts.
The workday is over.
And, at least for a few hours, living gets its turn.
For Bantwini, that is ultimately what Living Is Calling represents.
“It’s about making space for the moments that make work worthwhile.”
And perhaps that is the real challenge facing the modern workplace: not simply learning how to work better, but remembering when it is time to stop.
Watch the Office Politics x Corona experience above and follow Everyday Mzansi for more South African entertainment, lifestyle and culture stories.
