Green’s Dictionary of Slang

kwaai adj.

[Afk. kwaad, bad, evil, hence on bad = good model]

(S.Afr.) a general term of approval, fantastic, great.

Eng. Usage in Southern Afr. V:1 6: Kwaai, [...] a general term of approval, retaining only the force of ‘kwaai’ not the meaning — denotes anything from ‘good’ to ‘beautiful’.. a kwaai movie. She’s a kwaii goose. Kwaai, man, thanks [DSAE].
[SA]E. Patel They Came at Dawn 9: The music is kwaai but nobody wants to d-a-n-c-e [DSAE].
[SA]A. Lovejoy Acid Alex 126: I finished the second beer. I was feeling seriously fucking kwaai. I told Martin he was a kwaai dude too.
[SA]Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg) 18 Apr. 🌐 My chommies and I have beaten up a couple of kaffirs. You are young, that‘s what you do. In those days your dad told you that’s kwaai (cool).
[SA]Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. 🌐 Don Laka’s ‘kwaai’ township breezes.