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istorical records deal almost exclusively with facts, and give little indication of people’s state of mind. Cave paintings show that our ancestors hunted mammoths, but we can’t tell whether the stick figures lying down are mammoth roadkill or if they’re just rolling around in

hysterics because Ug fell off a cliff.

Our heritage of humour appears more closely related to the level of egalitarianism in society than to a time in history. So early humour typically involved abusing your minions, as joking about with your authoritarian leader would leave you covered in jam and tied to an ant heap or laying railway tracks in Siberia. The Vikings had a very equitable society, and were notorious for an advanced sense of humour that included wit, irony, sarcasm and self-deprecation. They brought this sense of humour to England when they raided and pillaged the local population, who didn’t find it very funny at the time. However, a few generations later, the cast of Monty Python embraced a lighter view of being invaded by heathens.

Of course, Monty Python was not understood at all by the Americans, Germans and various other societies, whose heritage of humour remained at Ug falling off a cliff. The advent of YouTube obviously promoted the concept of deliberately falling off anything higher than a foot above ground to appease the enlightened masses and earn $10 000, and to prove Darwin right.

Which brings us to the South African heritage of humour. Over the past 20 years, we’ve certainly been liberated in terms of what we are allowed to laugh about. Historically, our leaders were a bit stuck up, whether it was King Shaka, the British, the National Party or even the ANC government. But recently, people have been joking about our South African culture on television – without being condemned to the ant heap.

Perhaps there’s a little hysteria in it or perhaps there’s just so much to laugh about that the funny pot is boiling over, but the mix of desperation and liberty might be the perfect recipe for building a quality of humour that doesn’t rely on recording yourself falling off things or falling into potholes.

Erik Venter, CEO: Comair Ltd

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Contents

SEPTEMBER 2015

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VIEW FROM THE TOP Our CEO on the art of falling off things ÜbER-EdITOR’s lETTER John Vlismas contemplates why great comedy doesn’t start in a funny place kulula PagEs Our fleet facts, and Trev’s Thai remedy for a broken heart

Guide

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gauTEng Get busy, chow down, shop till you drop, then sleep it off in Gauteng

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kWaZulu-naTal Play, eat, dress and dos like a real KZNite

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gaRdEn ROuTE Food, fashion and fabulous getaways along our glorious Garden Route

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TOP TIPPlE Booze with buchu and rooibos

Chat

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bEauTy If you can’t make up your mind, at least can you make up your face

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yOu’VE bEEn judgEd John talks politics, rot and human rights with Judge Edwin Cameron

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CHaka CHakIng THIngs uP John and Yvonne Chaka Chaka talk rights and responsibilities

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lOCal HERO How shipping containers are being turned into classrooms and more

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lOCal HERO Giving the Cederberg back its cedar trees

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COMPETITIOns Win stuff! Lots of stuff!

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THE nOTICEbOaRd Our monthly roundup of what’s going on around the country

WaTCH Searing-hot silver-screen sensory sensations

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REad Larks to satisfy your literary longings

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lIsTEn We rate the latest CD releases,

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WEsTERn CaPE What to do, what to wear, what to eat and where to sleep in and around the Mother City this month

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gaMEs Thumb-twiddling, eye-twitching gaming goodness

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TECH Homegrown apps and innovations you should know about

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129 Travel 96

GettinG steamy All aboard for an old-school rail journey around the country

102 touch, pause, enraGe Scrum down with our Rugby World Cup roundup 110 into the past Take a tour of SA’s lesser-known heritage sites

Action

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Behind the scenes A day in the life of a plastic recycling plant

125 drive We take the new Jeep Renegade through its paces, plus five cars that have stood the test of time

Stuff

129 property Cleaning your home the green way 132 Business How to leave a great legacy when you leave your job 135 Business Why heritage thinking could be damaging to your business 137 health Check out our healthy secrets to a long life 139 column Ben Trovato ponders the computer code on our coat of arms

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EDITORIAL Editor Anthony Sharpe – anthonys@picasso.co.za Content Manager Raina Julies Content Co-ordinator Michéle Jarman Copy Editor Lynn Berggren ART Head of Design Studio Jayne Macé-Ferguson Designers Anja Hagenbuch, Mfundo Archie Ndzo Design Intern Johan Labuschagne Production Editor Shamiela Brenner Cover Photograph Morné van Zyl Make-up Artist Cindy Horton, sponsored by Dermalogica SALES Business Manager Robin Carpenter-Frank – robinc@picasso.co.za Project Manager Richard White – richardw@picasso.co.za khlassifieds Project Manager Steve Norval – steven@picasso.co.za Sales Consultants Stephen Crawford, Jay Deary, Bonnie Eksteen, Randall Grace, Eugene Howard, Louis le Roux, Leanne Ostrofsky, Marc Plastow, Andre Potgieter, Alec Rompelman, Roman Ross, Clint Smith, Zelda Stein, Shaun Westley Advertising Co-ordinator Vanessa Payne OPERATIONS Financial Accountant Lodewyk van der Walt General Manager: Magazines Jocelyne Bayer KuLuLA.COM CEO Comair Limited Erik Venter Head of Department: Marketing, kulula.com Shaun Pozyn Marketing Manager, kulula.com Bridgette Ramuluvhana Brand Manager, kulula.com Thembeka Mabaso COMAIR LIMITED 1 Marignane Drive, Bonaero Park, Kempton Park, 1619 Tel: 011 921 0111 | kulula.com contact centre: 0861 KULULA (585852)

To advertise in this magazine, please contact Richard White (Project Manager) at 021 469 2542, or email richardw@picasso.co.za To advertise in the khlassifieds section, please contact Steve Norval (Project Manager) at 021 569 2435, or email steven@picasso.co.za Copyright: No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the publishers. The publishers are not responsible for unsolicited material. khuluma is published monthly by Picasso Headline Reg: 59/01754/07. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Picasso Headline, kulula or Times Media. All advertisements/advertorials and promotions have been paid for and therefore do not carry any endorsement by the publishers. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents, neither kulula, nor the publisher can be held responsible for any omissions or errors, or for any misfortune, injury or damages that may arise therefrom. We reserve the right to edit interviews for layout purposes.

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ÜBER-EDITOR OF THE MONTH

John Vlismas

The heritage of humour

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t was with a great sense of irony that I took the call from khuluma magazine, asking me if I would be open to hosting the Heritage Day issue. Me. A half-Greek, half-Afrikaans, ex-Zimbabwean and devout absurdist. Heritage Day. I’m glad you’re feeling the warm tide of amusement cross your mind as it did mine, but you’re probably wondering what an absurdist is. Well, we’re basically people who see the profound ridiculousness of being as aware as humans are in a universe that is essentially empty, meaningless and random.

I suppose heritage can be looked at in many ways. Some people define it as solemn and sacrosanct; a set of timeless values that form the foundation of a way of life. I see heritage as dead people’s baggage, using cassettes to control the internet.

But I also see rugby as a way for adults to relive their lives through athletes who don’t know them, nor care for them, and who try to give each other spinal injuries to win an imaginary fight over some leather. And cricket I see as a monumental effort to create complex problems that may not even be resolved in the end.

I realise this is a different view – as is my opinion that when someone tells you to eat snakes or drink petrol, you could just say no. You don’t really have to burn his tent down; you just have to say no.

But enough about me. I chose interviewees Justice Edwin Cameron and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, whom I believe will be central to our legacy. History chose us to be present at the birth of our nation. We were all there, and we all share John’s a responsibility to see her grow. Instead of spending our holidays creds John Vlismas is one of South arguing about what statues deserve to live, which T-shirts Africa’s most outspoken and our democracy can bear, or how gay people need different thought-provoking comedians, and a human rights to straight people, I thought we could hear from co-owner of Whacked Entertainment, which promotes comedians, some South Africans who apply their minds, listen to their musicians and speakers throughout consciences and lead by example. the country, and co-founder of It’s not exactly laugh-a-minute stuff, I know, but again, the Comic’s Choice Awards.

Follow him I have a view on this. Great comedy doesn’t start in a funny @fortyshort. place; it starts with reflection.

I hope you enjoy meeting my subjects as much as I did, that they add value to your day, and that your flight is smooth and comfy.

When you land, go to Computicket and book to see Mass Hysteria at Cape Town’s Artscape Theatre Centre in October.

You’ll see how SA’s best comics take serious subject matter and turn it into belly laughter.

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flying 101: our fleet facts W

e’re celebrating brand-new additions to our Boeing fleet and our knowledgeable engineers have shared some cool insights into these new models. Hopefully some of those nagging questions you might have about our flying machines will be answered.

1. By the end of 2015, we’ll be operating a total of 10 aircraft. The fleet – the youngest in local skies – consists of nine Boeing 737-800s and one 737-400. The brand-new Boeing 737-800 is known as the Boeing Next Generation aircraft and can accommodate 189 passengers.

The Boeing 737-400 planes are the Classic Boeings and have a capacity of 169 passengers.

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4. Our aircraft have three fuel tanks (one main tank in each wing and one in the centre of the plane). These tanks have a combined capacity of 25 000 litres – that’s 500 times an average Volkswagen Polo’s fuel-tank capacity. The fuel used is jet fuel, which is similar to paraffin. Like cars, airplanes need their oil checked regularly – after each and every flight, in fact.

2. If you fly often, you may have noticed that the interior of our new planes is different to some of our original aircraft.

We decided to include the Boeing Sky Interior in our planes for better passenger ambience, because we believe in setting the right mood. The new interior design became available with the Next Generation Boeings and features modern, sculpted sidewalls and windows, LED lighting (which creates a sense of spaciousness), and larger pivoting overhead bins.

fly at an altitude of between 30 000 and 40 000ft (9 000 to 11 000m)? This is the height where jet engines are at their most efficient and use the least amount of fuel.

The engine power of a plane is calculated in pounds per square inch (psi), which is the amount of pressure on a one-inch piece of block. A kulula engine emits 26 300psi.

3. Did you know that one plane flies an

6. Ever wondered how a plane stays up in

average of six flights between Cape Town and Jo’burg each day? This distance equates to around 7 878km per day – that’s a whole lot of flying, and we love every second of it.

the sky? This is due to the thrust produced by the aircraft engines, moving it forward at an incredibly high speed. The airflow over the wing causes a lower pressure on top of the wing than below it, which keeps

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5. Did you know that commercial planes

the plane up in the air (simply put, the plane is lifted by the air pressure produced by its speed).

7. Did you know the average wingspan of a kulula airplane is 35.7m? That’s 5m longer than a netball court.

8. If you’ve ever wondered how the flight numbers on the departures and arrivals boards are chosen, wonder no more.

The flight numbers of each kulula route are chosen by kulula, though the airport codes are assigned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).This means that the flight number for the Cape Town/ Jo’burg route will always range between MN100-199 and the flight number for the Lanseria/Durban route will always be between MN 500-599.

Hopefully you now have more insight into our young and trendy fleet. We’re proud of our investment in new technology, as this ensures that we continue to provide you with a safe and enjoyable journey.

kulula.com

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Fly for less and snack smart with Vitality

Trev’s Hot Spots

break-up Band-Aid

picture: supplied

L

ove is tough. I met a really nice lady person over the interwebs.

She’s from this place that I’ve never heard of before. Anyway, we really got to know each other over email and I felt things, you know. But then it all ended a week or so ago. She just stopped emailing me. I still sent her some money via EFT for her sick aunt and everything. Anyway, I’ll make like a boomerang and bounce back from this. And what better way to get over a break-up than by taking a break?

So I’ve just scored myself a trip to Phuket, Thailand, thanks to kulula’s latest holiday package deal. For a sevennight stay at the four-star Mandarava Resort and Spa for only R13 800 per person sharing, it’s a steal. You basically pay for six nights, but stay for seven.

The price includes return flights from Jo’burg to Phuket, plus all pre-payable airport taxes, fuel levies and return airport-to-hotel transfers. What a deal!

Phuket is rad. It’s one of Asia’s top beach destinations and has everything you could want from a paradise getaway: a turquoise sea; golden sands; palm trees; cocktails in coconut shells … the works. And let me tell you, everything

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goes down at the beach: during the day you can make like a dassie and just chill in the sun, and then at night, the beach sommer becomes a party spot.

Other entertaining things to do in Phuket include snorkelling, diving and sunset cruises. Not that I scheme I’ll ever get tired of this awesome island, but if you feel like a change of scenery, you can hop on a boat and hit some of the neighbouring islands.

The four-star Mandarava Resort and Spa sounds like a real fancy place, so I might have to button up my Hawaiian shirt when I go to dinner there. It overlooks Karon Beach, which is just a five-minute walk away. It’s set against a tropical hillside, among lots of trees and natural waterfalls. Now that’s paradise.

What else? Well, the deal is valid from 1 November to 9 December 2015.

The package excludes meals and beverages not specified, tips, travel insurance and all personal items. kulula legal stuff applies.

Okay then, time for me to check out of Heartbreak Hotel and into the Mandarava Resort.

Until next time, Trevor

Did you know Vitality members save up to 35% on base ticket fare on local flights when they book with kulula.com? Remember, your discount depends on your Vitality status, which increases as you complete healthy activities. One of the ways Vitality is helping you do this is by offering healthier food choices with their new HealthyFood Switch app. It makes your ‘eat this, not that’ choice easier. Download the app today, scan any packaged food and start making healthier food choices. So don’t just fly smart with Vitality – snack smart too!

Choose your favourite Tsogo Sun hotel and let kulula book your room. Now that’s luxury you can afford.

Got some eBucks? Pay or part-pay for your next kulula flight using your eBucks.

Rent a car with your flight and get a 10% discount, or get the best rates with Europcar.

Protea Hotels ensure your stay with them is as unique as the kulula experience.

Try out any one of the hotels – you won’t forget the experience.

twitter.com/kulula facebook.com/iflykulula

THE NOTICEBOARD #GoBeATourist Send us a random pic of anything and we’ll match it to a holiday destination.

Try catch us out to stand a chance to win a holiday for two in Mauritius.

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COMPETITIONS | GUIDE

Camp cleanse

What a rush!

One lucky khuluma reader can win a 10-day detox camp at the CSN Fat Elimination & Diabetes Reversal Camp in Great Brak River, for one couple sharing, worth R15 000!

The CSN lifestyle offers an eating programme with dramatic and permanent weight-loss results, and a substantial improvement of your overall health and wellbeing. Check out csnc.co.za.

Legendary pop diva Jennifer Rush is coming to Southern Africa next month, and we’ve got a set of double tickets to give away to each of her shows! She’ll be performing in Bloemfontein, Jo’burg, Pretoria, Harare, Cape Town, East London, Swakopmund and Windhoek. For the detailed line-up, check out jennifer-rush.com.

Chicken or beef?

We’ve got a hamper containing a copy of Weber’s Chicken and Weber’s Steak to giveaway! Packed with mouthwatering recipes to make the most of your Weber, these books are the perfect companions to the warming spring days.

Check out our write-up on page 58.

Pinot yeah

Two lucky Pinotage quaffers in Durban and Cape Town each stand the chance to win a set of tickets to one of the Pinotage On Tap festivals taking place in Durban on 19 September at The Litchi Orchard in Salt Rock and in Cape Town at Diemersfontein Estate in Wellington on 10 October. The festival will treat guests to delectable food, bottomless Diemersfontein Coffee-Chocolate Pinotage and lively local entertainment. For more info, visit diemersfontein.co.za. Closing date is 14 September 2015.

Competitions

pictures: supplied, © warner bros. entertainment. all rights reserved

To enter

Go to khulumaonline.co.za and hit the competitions tab. Competitions are open to all South African residents over the age of 18, excluding employees of Picasso Headline/Times Media Ltd/kulula.com/ Comair Limited, and close on 30 September 2015.

Honk your horn

One lucky khuluma reader can win this really funky green-spring bicycle horn from Pylones worth R299.95.

Pylones was launched from a basement in Paris in 1985 by designer Braguette Magique. Most Pylones products are available online at pylones-sa.co.za and at selected Spilhaus stores.

Movie merchandise

We’ve got five Dark Places hampers to give away, each comprising a notebook, pen and DVDs of Mad Max: Fury Road and Gone Girl! Based on Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel, Dark Places stars Charlize Theron as a woman who confronts traumatic, childhood memories of the murder of her mother and two sisters. Check out our write-up on page 57. (Ts&Cs apply. Prizes are not transferrable and subject to availability. We reserve the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice.)

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guide | noticeboard

The Noticeboard The who, what, when and why of what’s going on around Mzansi.

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World whisky winners

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pictures: freepik

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Betw er City ee 2015, n 26 Sept music embe C ra week ape Town -long will b nd 4 Octo celeb e unit ber a dive rat ed rs Week ity of gen ion of mus in a r e o ic emer ffers the id s. Cape To across ge w e from nce of mu al platform n Music hip ho sic st for th yl p electr onic m to classica es ranging e sound l, jazz usic a , s n harne . This year d many ot kwaito, , the e ss the her v creat c e ollect nt aim iv penin ity and tale ive inspira s to sula, n t f ound tion, unity throu that p acro , gh u out ca t the spotl a week of ss the event ight o petow s n nmus icwee music. Che k.com ck .

Talk about proudly South African! The Three Ships 10-Year-Old Single Malt has become the first South African whisky to be awarded the Worldwide Whisky Trophy and a gold outstanding distinction at the annual International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) held in London. Sadly, however, it’s long been sold out. Best find a friend with a good whisky collection! Check out threeshipswhisky.co.za for info on the rest of the range.

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GUIDE | WESTERN CAPE

What’s on Western Cape Arts festival The Tulbagh Arts Festival offers music, art exhibitions, literary discussions, and architectural lectures and walkabouts in the lovely Boland town. The festival also incorporates wine tastings at some of the top wine estates in the Cape Winelands, an arts-and-crafts market, food stalls, and live entertainment at participating restaurants. For more, visit tulbaghartsfestival.co.za. Tickets available at Computicket.

Please note: If you know the difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white and eggshell, you might just be an artist!

ENCORE 22 September – 31 October

Theatre Back by popular demand at the Fugard Theatre, Orpheus in Africa is a musical about Orpheus McAdoo and the Virginia Jubilee Singers, who came to South Africa from the USA in 1890. Their tour began in Scotland, where Orpheus met Lady Loch – the wife of the British governor of the Cape – who invited them to Cape Town. It was here, some 125 years ago, that the Jubilee Singers became an overnight sensation.

For more, visit fugard.com. Tickets available at Computicket.

Please note: Did you hear about the actor who fell through the floor? He was just going through a stage.

EN POINTE 25 September – 4 October

Ballet Don’t miss star dancers of the Royal Ballet Covent Garden and Cape Town City Ballet in the ultimate romantic ballet Giselle, on at the Artscape Opera House. This beautiful twoact ballet tells a dramatic tale of betrayal, the supernatural and love that transcends death. All but two of the nine performances will be accompanied by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. Book through Computicket or Artscape Dial-A-Seat at 021 421 7695.

Please note: Why don’t dogs make good dancers? Because they have two left feet.

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FLINGING CARS 13 September

Wine festival Premium Independent Wineries of South Africa (PIWOSA) will be presenting the Wine Car Boot Fair at Journey’s End Vineyards in Sir Lowry’s Pass, where the PIWOSA team will be arriving in vintage, retro and sexy sports cars to present their wines, for tasting and sales, from the boots of their vehicles. Don’t miss the Journey’s End trebuchet, which will fling the car that sells the least wine on the day through the air. Tickets are R150, from quicket.co.za. Kids enter free.

Please note: Don’t wine – we’re sure you’ll like it.

ENDLESS ROOMS 24-27 September

Pop-up showcase SA’s pop-up trading phenomenon rolls on, with Kamers Summer 2015 taking place at Curro Private School in Hermanus. The Kamers mission is to unearth SA’s hottest new creative talent and product ideas. They then combine these with ‘repeat’ traders in a captivating fusion of design and crafts in the form of a vast pop-up retail showcase under one roof. Don’t miss SA’s popup treasure trove of handcrafted creativity! Tickets are available at ffw.co.za for R50, or at the gates for R70.

Please note: Pop in at this pop-up extravaganza.

ROCK ON 1-4 October

Music Festival Rocking the Daisies is celebrating its 10th birthday. This festival takes place in Darling on Cloof Wine Estate, and features live music performances, comedy acts, gourmet food and craft stalls. This year, you can look forward to performances from aKING, Jack Parow, Bed on Bricks, The Cat Empire, Milky Chance (check out our interview on page 62), and The Kooks. For tickets and more info, visit rockingthedaisies.com.

Please note: What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians? A vocalist.

text: christian schroeder; pictures: supplied

ART IN THE WINELANDS 11-13 September

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GUIDE | WESTERN CAPE

Eat Western Cape

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Say cHeeSe

Heritage-focused Fyndraai Restaurant serves food created by chef Shaun Schoeman in association with legendary food historian Renata Coetzee. The menu explores the diverse culinary heritage of the Cape, with indigenous Khoi veldkos (foraged field food) taking its place beside Afrikaner boerekos, Xhosa comfort food, Cape Malay treats and Huguenot-French offerings. Menus change seasonally, but expect the likes of waterblommetjie soup with indigenous herbs, followed by snoek sambal with moskonfyt bread. Desserts include buchu leaf and num-num fruit mousse with wild-berry sauce.

Those who want to know more about the food history of South Africa should also buy a copy of Renata Coetzee’s magnificent book A Feast From Nature: Food Culture of the First Humans on Planet Earth, on sale at the restaurant for R490.

Solms-Delta Wine Estate, off R45, Simondium, 021 874 3937.

There are many foreign food producers working in South Africa and demonstrating their heritage through food. Gerald Tanesse is one of them, expressing his epicurean identity in cheese. He says: ‘I was born in Lyon, France. I named my cheese-making business after my grandfather Pépé Charlot [which just means grandpa Charles in French]. My earliest food memories are of the times I spent with my grandfather. He used to feed me goat cheese that he made and matured himself. We ate it from morning to night during the summer holidays between our fishing escapades.

‘When I came to South Africa, I wanted to bring my heritage with me. So I started making cheese just as Pépé Charlot had – in a traditional way.

I hope I’ve inherited his patience and perfectionism. When I am done, I form the cheese into buches [log shapes]

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and buchettes [small logs the size of wine-bottle corks]. The only thing that is not traditional is that in France we would mature the cheese in natural caves, whereas in Kommetjie, I mature the cheese in a cold room in which I recreate the same temperature and humidity that is found in the natural caves of my heritage.’

Pepe Charlot Cheese Maker, Imhoff Farm, M65 Kommetjie, 083 333 9418, pepecharlot.co.za.

all aboard Chef Abigail Mbalo was a MasterChef South Africa 2014 top 12 contestant.

Her fabulous 4 Roomed ekasi culture food truck offers healthy and delicious food with a modern spin on traditional Xhosa ingredients, recipes and flavours.

She operates out of a vintage Bedford bus and has set up shop outside the Blue Moon Sports Café in Khayelitsha.

076 157 3177, info@4roomed.co.za.

text: anna trapido; pictures: supplied

Hungry Heritage

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WESTERN CAPE | GUIDE

R199, Spree

R999, Markham R350, Karma

R699, miglio.com R2 799, G-Star RAW

R629, Spree

Accessorise wisely

R225, Spree

Radio and television personality Tracey Lange is an ambassador for both Bronx Woman and Miglio Designer Jewellery. So you know you can trust her fashion opinions.

text and pictures: supplied, robert hamblin

R230, Zando

TRACEY’S FASHION TIP R499, Woolworths

R399, Spree

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Make sure you accessorise. The moment you add accessories, it looks like you’ve actually put some thought into your outfit.

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GUIDE | wESTERn cAPE

Spa, bru

I

’d never had a facial before. Being an old-fashioned sort of bloke, I’d eschewed highfalutin beauty regimes in favour of washing my face with soap, shaving with a rusty switchblade, exfoliating by bushwhacking through head-high fynbos, and moisturising by swimming in the stinging Atlantic ocean. I’d never really contemplated the potential beauty benefits of cucumber slices, Alaskan swamp mud, yak urine and moonflower sap.

Granted, I don’t think any of those were actually applied to my visage as I lay slipping in and out of consciousness on a table in the Bakwena Spa in Paarl.

I emerged rejuvenated and feeling, if not exactly looking, five years younger, before heading on down to the poolside Jacuzzi for a glass of bubbly. Through the east-facing windows I could see green meadows and vineyards and mountains beyond. It was a pretty decent setup, all in all.

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At lunch, the beaming purveyors of beautifying and purifying treatments gathered in the spa dining room to sing for us, harmonising in a fashion I couldn’t manage even after three tequilas at my local karaoke joint. The spa has a slightly boisterous feel to it – it’s not exactly a zen retreat, but rather a distinctly African kind of experience. Every prod and poke and scrub felt generous and professional, however, and the setting, 10km outside of Paarl town centre, off the R101, is tremendously beautiful.

Bakwena Spa is attached to the Santé Hotel, a sprawling complex of Tuscanstyle manor suites, spa suites and selfcatering villas. My room was cavernous, with a large balcony overlooking the river, an immensely comfortable kingsize bed, and a colossal four-poster bath. That’s right: a four-poster bath.

It was a sight to behold.

After watching truly old-fashioned blokes pummel one another into oblivion

during a Springboks clash downstairs at the classily appointed bar, I played a few rounds of a slightly more sedate sport in the billiards room.

Dinner was a buffet affair in the downstairs dining room – like all the hotel’s amenities, a generously large space with a fireplace and doors opening to the gardens. Keen to relax in my colossal living space, though, I opted to order room service, which required a bit more prodding and poking of the staff than I might’ve liked. Mercifully, a sirloin steak arrived before I’d furrowed my brow back into an irreparable state, and I tore through that truly delicious piece of protein dressed in my gown and surrounded by pillows, where I drifted once more out of consciousness, dreaming that a giant piece of beef was massaging my scalp.

La Bella Vita Wine Estate, Simonsvlei Road, Paarl, 086 148 8865, santehotel.co.za.

pictures: supplied

Anthony Sharpe balances beauty with boytjie at the Santé Hotel and Spa.

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gauteng | GUIDE

What’s on Gauteng FlasHbaCK 2 September – 11 October

Musical Thank You for the Music brings together the greatest hits from ABBA, Queen and the Bee Gees.

This spectacular tribute will take you back to the 70s and 80s, with an 11-strong cast covering hits from the three beloved groups. Show times are Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm at the Barnyard Theatre in Cresta. For more info and to buy tickets, visit barnyardtheatre.co.za.

Please note: Better get your dancing shoes ready.

HartI goodness 11-13 September

text: christian schroeder; pictures: supplied, nerize raath

Lifestyle festival Less than an hour from Johannesburg and Pretoria, Hartbeespoort has a thriving artisanal food scene and is also the epicentre of South Africa’s cinematic success story: Hartiwood Films. The Hartiwood Food and Film Show combines the very best of local and international culinary cinema with an elite artisanal food-and-wine market and gourmet gala dinner. For more, visit frenchtoastharties.co.za.

Please note: Why does an actor enjoy his work so much?

Because it’s all play.

KranK’d Up 26 September

Music festival Highly influential Alaskan metal stalwarts 36 Crazyfists will be embarking on their first-ever visit to South Africa for the fourth instalment of the ever-growing Krank’d Up Music Festival. They’ll be joined by progressive-metal virtuosos Monuments. Taking place at Sundowners in Alberton and set across two beautiful stages, the show promises to be a glorious affair filled with incredible live acts. Tickets available at Computicket.

Please note: I love classic rock and heavy metal. Sedimentary and molybdenum to be specific.

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WIne not?

4-5 September

Wine festival Travel the world of wine, lifestyle, music and food, and revolutionise your taste buds at the 11th Soweto Wine & Lifestyle Festival, which has outgrown its previous venue and will now take place at Walter Sisulu Square in Soweto. There’ll be more than 900 wines for you to sniff, swirl and spit (who are we kidding?). Tickets are from R130-R400 (VIP), available at Webtickets. Visit sowetowinefestival.co.za.

Please note: Something, something … sour grapes.

green lIvIng 19 September

Fundraiser The annual Plant Sale of the Johannesburg Garden Club returns this month – just in time for spring. As always, proceeds will be going to Johannesburg Child Welfare. The plant sale will take place at the sprawling and picturesque Bryanston Gardens, where a selection of teas, champagne and delicious lunches will be on sale. Tickets are R20, and kids under 12 enter free of charge. For more info, visit johannesburggardenclub.co.za.

Please note: What kind of socks does a gardener wear?

Garden hose.

It’s not over tIll It’s Clover 6-10 October

Arts festival The Clover Aardklop festival is on in Potchefstroom next month, offering everything from musical favourites like Laurika Rauch, Karen Zoid, Bok van Blerk, Kurt Darren, Francois van Coke, Elvis Blue and Amanda Strydom to top-notch theatre performers like AnnaMart van der Merwe, Sandra Prinsloo, Albert Pretorius, Brendon Daniels and Erik Holm. For more info, go to cloveraardklop.co.za.

Please note: Remember folks – once you klop, you can’t stop.

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GUIDE | GAUTENG

Eat Gauteng Mrs O Foods manufacture Africaninspired, ready-made savoury sauces.

The range includes South- and West-African culinary classics. While the cook-in-sauce concept is well established for European and Asian food genres, the Mrs O brand is bringing it into the African epicurean arena.

The real-life Mrs O is Siphokazi Omoluwa. ‘I was born and grew up in the Eastern Cape,’ she says, ‘but my husband Frank comes from Nigeria, and together we share our food heritage to make our sauces.’ She goes on to say that ‘it’s nice to share the food you love with someone who you love. It’s a way of understanding each other. In our home, the sharing of food traditions and skills has gone both ways. My husband adores Xhosa flavours such as umphokoqo [crumbly maize meal with soured milk curds], and I’m equally enthusiastic about Nigerian food.’

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The couple currently manufacture their products at a workshop in Riversands in Fourways, Jo’burg. Some of the sauces in the Mrs O range (such as the rich, tomato-laden sishebo) come from Siphokazi’s culinary culture, while others (such as the palm-nut-based banga sauce) form part of Frank’s food heritage.

Whether customers savour the searing power of Mrs O’s hot-sauce selection or the smooth, silky texture of the okra and spinach-based ogbono sauce, a treat for the taste buds awaits.

011 022 8331, 073 359 3223, mrsofoods.com.

A TASTE OF THE CAPE South Africans love to talk about how much they love Pacific rim, internationalstyle fusion food, and yet they often fail to notice and/or appreciate the glorious, home-grown fusion food genre that is Cape Malay cuisine. This magnificent mix

of Asian, European and African methods and ingredients was born in the Cape and has a deliciously distinct flavour profile.

Curiously, South Africa’s best Cape Malay restaurant is not in Cape Town but in Jo’burg. Whether you eat the clove- and tamarind-rich denningvleis or the brilliant bredies, heritage treats always await at the District Six Eatery.

42B Greenhill Road, Emmarentia, Johannesburg, 011 486 7226, districtsixeatery.co.za.

TAKE-AWAY TRIPE Fifteen is not actually one restaurant, but rather a selection of several makeshift pavement kitchens, each serving up hearty pots of traditional ekasi-style ox tripe. Why not go all out and order a half portion of chicken feet, too?

Corner 15th Avenue and Ruth Road, Alexandra.

text: anna trapido; pictures: supplied

MRS O SHOULD KNOW

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GAUTENG | GUIDE

R495 Spree

R630, Spree

R2 299, T at Woolw

R450, Tres Jolie

R450, Spree

R499, Spree

R449, Zando

The dream

Nicoline Snyman started designing clothes as a hobby. Now she’s living her dream with her Tres Jolie brand.

text and pictures: supplied, bea bornman

R425, Tres Jolie

R1 099, Zando

R1 299, Spree kulula.com

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R565, Tres Jolie

NICOLINE’S FASHION TIP Our Rainbow Nation allows us the opportunity to embrace the heritage of so many cultures. Try something new – often.

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GUIDE | GAUTENG

MAXimum convenience

I

t had been one of those days. Up before the sun, straight into the car, dodging taxis along the N2 on my way to the airport, careening like an out-of-control freight train towards departures and breaking a heel in the process, catching the red-eye kulula flight by the skin of the hair of my teeth, before finally settling into my seat to apply several coats of makeup without elbowing the octogenarian snoozing next to me in the ribs.

Jo’burg offered the usual rollercoaster of delight, including being forced to abandon my smoothie at the Gautrain station, bonding with my Uber driver while getting lost in Kempton Park, meeting after meeting, and a lengthy hike through Rosebank in shredded pumps.

By 5pm, I was frazzled, and dangerously close to spontaneous human combustion in the dry Gauteng winter air.

That was when the vehicle that MAX Apartments had sent to collect me arrived. A Bentley. A frikkin’ Bentley. It crawled out of the haze like an iridescent

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beetle from a sod of dirt, and I crawled wearily inside. If you’ve ever ridden in the back of a Bentley, you’ll know it’s a bit like Mary Poppins’ handbag – it’s somehow larger on the inside than the outside. My day was looking up, and it continued to do so as I chatted idly to Peter Pheko, the driver, as he carved through the afternoon traffic like a hot knife through butter.

Previously The Don Hotel, the establishment underwent a refurb and reopened as MAX Apartments in June this year, offering short-, medium- and long-term accommodation options (with a sliding rental scale). Options include 40-45m2 studio, 80-95m2 two-bedroom and 110m2 self-catering three-bedroom apartments. There’s a garden with a pool, and a deck up top with stunning views across the city.

My studio was bright, clean and (once I’d closed the bathroom door – the extractor fan didn’t have an off switch) quiet. I flopped down onto the enormous, profoundly welcoming bed, kicked off

what were once my shoes, and drifted into a serene state. Having neglected to bring any non-work-related reading material, I grabbed a book from the little library downstairs and sank into a leather armchair for an hour before dinner, which MAX had booked at Sophia’s Bistro next door. Not being brave enough to face the Jo’burg restaurant scene alone, I went with their recommendation, and was utterly charmed to find a quaint Italian restaurant dedicated to that goddess Sofia Loren. And it was so close that I could walk home … barefoot.

Breakfast was served in the Seconds Lounge, which does a mean omelette and also offers an all-day menu. When it came time to depart for the odyssey back to the airport, I noticed a little boardroom with capacity for up to 16 people. Guess where I’ll be doing all my meetings next time I’m in Jo’burg? And best of all, I can do them barefoot.

5 Rivonia Road, Illovo, Sandton, 011 058 3100, maxapartments.co.za.

pictures: supplied

Anna Sheridan finds her feet at MAX Apartments in Sandton.

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KWAZULU-NATAL | GUIDE

What’s on KZN ROYALLY ROCKED 1 September – 11 October

Musical Be sure not to miss Rock Royalty at the Barnyard Theatre at Gateway in Durban. Expect a performance of note, where personality, stage presence and flamboyant stage costumes meet to make up a most spectacular show. A 10-piece cast will be paying tribute to legends such as Freddie Mercury, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Pink, George Michael, Prince, David Bowie, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston and many more. For ticket details, visit barnyardtheatre.co.za.

Please note: Unfortunately, the royal family will not be present.

TAKE THE DETOUR 17-20 September

Cycling event Detour Trails presents the Heritage Month Battlefields Ride, where 50 outdoor enthusiasts will take on the natural trails in KwaZulu-Natal by mountain bike, while tracing the footsteps of the British soldiers and Zulu warriors who fought in the Anglo-Zulu wars of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift. The Detour Trails team will be leading the riders on this unforgettable adventure, where they’ll get to see and experience some of SA’s most beautiful historical sites. For more info, visit detourtrails.co.za.

Please note: What do you call a crazy pavement? A cycle path.

text: christian schroeder; pictures: supplied

WINE ON TAP! 19 September (Durban) 10 October (Cape Town)

Wine Festival The Diemersfontein Pinotage on Tap festival is guaranteed to delight guests, with events taking place in Durban at The Litchi Orchard in Salt Rock, and in Cape Town at the Diemersfontein Estate in Wellington. Guests will be treated to yummy food, bottomless Diemersfontein coffee-chocolate Pinotage and local entertainment.

Tickets are on sale via Computicket: R350 for Durban; R410 for Cape Town. Visit diemersfontein.co.za for more info.

Please note: Age is totally irrelevant, unless you’re a bottle of wine.

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GLOBAL GENIUSES 13-16 September

Science forum The World Social Sciences Forum (WSSF) 2015 is a global event of the International Social Sciences Council (ISSC), bringing together an international audience to address current topical global issues and future priorities for international social science. For registration details and more information, visit wssf2015.org.

Please note: Schrödinger’s cat walks into a bar. And doesn’t.

What’s on Garden Route BOOZY ARTISANS 18-19 September

Food and beer festival The Thousand Sensations Craft Beer and Food Festival will take place at the Wilderness Hotel in Wilderness, with a total of 24 breweries participating. There’ll be plenty food stalls available to line your stomach, with music by Marius de Bruyn, Herman Grobbelaar, Leroy Botha and Jimmy T to keep you entertained. Tickets for sale at the festival.

Please note: There’s nothing like an idyllic seaside town to take your mind off all of life’s distractions… Oh look, beer.

RED, RED FRUITS! 26-27 September

Food festival Don’t miss the Nestlé Ice Cream Strawberry Festival at Redberry Farm in George. Expect a perfect day out for the family, with a variety of food, wine and craft stalls, as well as entertainment, including a live performance by Lianie May, a Strawberry Talk and Tours Experience, a strawberry-eating competition, a variety of sporting events and a kids’ playpark. For more info and tickets, visit strawberryfestival.co.za.

Please note: What is red and goes up and down? A strawberry in an elevator!

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GUIDE | KWAZulu-NATAl

Eat KwaZulu-Natal Jeera offers Durban-heritage dining deluxe. Chef Sandren Govender’s menu specialises in local Indian culinary classics such as chops in a richly spiced tomato gravy. The blissfully burny crab curry (served with an amasi-based raitha-like sauce, locally known as sour milk salad) is the talk of the town. Great bunny chows are served with jackfruit chutney and a very spicy sambal described on the menu as an ‘English salad’ – this chunky relish could not be less English if it tried. The primary ingredient is chilli but waiters explain that it’s called an English salad because it also contains a considerable quantity of radish!

Suncoast Towers Hotel, 20 Battery

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Beach Road, Durban, 031 314 7878, tsogosunhotels.com.

PumP uP the jam Borders are artificial lines drawn in the sand. The tiny town of Kestell, found at the edge of the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, is technically in the Free State, but it’s spitting distance from the KZN provincial line and jam making is heritage food on both sides of the border.

KZN foodies flock to Karma Jam, which is set amid orchards of peaches, figs and almonds. Stock is seasonal, but expect the likes of apricot-and-almond jam and a plum-walnut compote from heaven.

2 Piet Retief Street, Kestell, 058 653 1433, 083 442 3973.

Wash anD braai Who says heritage food has to be posh?

Nina’s in Cato Manor is cheap as chips but much, much nicer. This shisa nyama braai spot with attached car wash is an ideal hot spot for cool people with dirty cars.

Buy raw meat at the on-site butchery and either grill it yourself or hand it over to the skilled braai masters, who’ll sizzle and sear your choices to perfection. There is an Afro-Indian vibe with great bunny chows, in addition to the Zulu culinary classics such as isibhindi liver. There are also epic DJs who encourage customers to dance off the dombolo dumplings, as well as big-screen TVs for sport fans.

242 Booth Road, Cato Manor, Durban, 031 261 7224, 031 261 7224.

text: anna trapido; pictures: supplied

Durban Dining

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KWAZULU-NATAL | GUIDE R299, Spree

R1 500, Spree

R2 995, Spree R18 100, Cape Cobra Leathercraft

R895, Spree

R69, Spree

Prodigal son

Designer Gavin Rajah is a household name on the African continent, so he’s got more than enough heritage to share.

text and pictures: supplied, clinique

R10 995, dorefashion.co.za

R875, Kirsten Goss

R599, Zoom

GAVIN’S FASHION TIP R18 050, Cape Cobra Leathercraft R2 470, Kirsten Goss kulula.com

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Try and always integrate something of your personality into your dress sense. This is a sure way of bringing a unique style to your wardrobe.

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GUIDE | kWAZULU-NATAL

Into the woods

A

nyone who’s driven from Durban to the Eastern Cape will be familiar with the stretch of N2 between Port Shepstone and Kokstad. A national road (almost in name only), it’s the kind of stretch you either love or hate. It’s a single lane in either direction, so if you’re in a rush, it can be maddening to be stuck behind some lorry. But if you enjoy the open road, it’s one of the lovelier stretches around, with gentle curves and dips, sugarcane plantations and natural forest tightly packed against the road, which opens up to views over valleys and gorges.

Ingeli Forest Resort is halfway along the stretch between Harding and Kokstad, nestled at the foot of the mountain range from which it takes its name. Set on a small rise above the road and surrounded by plantation and forest, it’s about as chilled a place to stay as any, particularly in winter, when the mercury drops and all you want to do is drink a bottle of wine in front of an open fire.

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Ingeli’s 44 units range from log cabins to garden and forest-facing rooms, all with their own verandas, en-suite bathrooms, DStv, undercover parking, and heaters and electric blankets (you’ll need these in winter). The rooms are set facing the central garden or looking out at the forest.

If you’re a birder, spend some time on the porch in the afternoon, as the endangered Cape parrot frequents the area, as do a host of other species.

The dining room, deck and lounge – warmed by roaring fires – are great places to hang out and play a board game or, if that’s too much effort, just gaze into the middle distance while you wait to eat or digest the last meal. The food is hearty as can be, with a breakfast buffet complete with omelette station and pastries, an à la carte lunch menu (the home-made burger is recommended) and, depending on occupancy, a buffet dinner or à la carte menu for dinner. They do a mean steak, so come hungry.

The good news is there’s loads to do to work up an appetite. The 3.5km dam walk is stunning, descending through a steep natural forest and popping out at a tranquil dam. A number of 3-30km mountain bike trails crisscross the area, and a few hiking trails are great for amblers and runners – the two trails that go through the Ngele Nature Reserve are a must-do, if only to appreciate the gorgeous stinkwood and yellowwood trees (and perhaps to get yelled at by a troop of baboons).

The kids can stay occupied with the tennis court, jungle gym, action golf and playroom, so you can get them out of your hair quite easily. While you’re in the area, make sure you take the stunning drive to Oribi Gorge, where there are a couple of self-guided trails with insane views. It’s one of the province’s most beautiful yet undervisited reserves, so don’t be that person who just drives past.

R56, Harding, 039 553 0600, ingeliforestresort.com.

pictures: supplied

Will Edgcumbe contemplates bottles of wine and baboons at Ingeli Forest Resort.

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GarDEN rOuTE | GUIDE

Eat Garden Route

text: anna trapido; pictures: supplied

AwArd-winning goodness Chef-patron Siyabulela Dandala’s award-winning sports bar and shisa nyama cooks up a storm in the heart of Walmer – Port Elizabeth’s oldest township. The ekasi culinary team from Chillek’s Place recently won the national Nando’s Shisa Nyama Championship. Their prize-winning dish of marinated pork kebabs, mango salsa and pap beat out 11 other shisa nyamas from around the country.

2 Bucwa Street, Walmer, Port Elizabeth, 073 547 2826, chilleksplace.co.za.

TrAdiTionAl TreATs Enjoy traditional Xhosa-style heritage food at Patido’s Pub and Grub. Most customers opt for the well-loved shisa nyama meat, but there are also fabulous

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umleqwa free-range chicken stews, hearty portions of umphokoqo (crumbly pap with amasi) and superb umngqusho (samp and beans). There are also hotly contested snooker tournaments and live jazz evenings.

27 Jabavu Street, New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, 041 454 0663, 073 934 2014.

BreAd gAlore Heritage is served up in warm hearty portions at Brokwa. The restaurant’s name is derived from the Griekwa word for bread. The name is apt because great breads are constantly coming out of the old-fashioned bakoond-style oven. The restaurant offers traditional boerekos flavours. Menus change regularly, but expect the likes of bobotie, puff-pastrytopped chicken pies and offal galore.

Sweet-toothed types adore the rusk, koeksister and biscuit selection.

Rietvlei Road, Plettenberg Bay, 081 271 3885, brokwa.co.za.

geT losT in flAvour This charming boerekos heritage hot spot is hard to find – 14km outside of Oudtshoorn on the road to the Cango Caves – but the food is worth the effort.

De Oude Meul restaurant is housed inside an 150-year-old building with an attached, eponymous watermill. Both buffet and à la carte options are available, with bobotie and venison pies being the specialities of the house. Damn fine malva puddings and koeksisters too.

De Oude Meul Country Lodge and Game Farm, R326, 044 272 7308, deoudemeulrestaurant.co.za.

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GUIDE | GARDEN ROUTE R1 900, kisua.com

R2 290, Ballo R595, Spree

R 2 999, G-Star RAW

R6 900, Missibaba

R1 795, Spree

The first resort

R1 350, Henriette Botha

Originally from Plett, Robyn Victor is a Cape Town-based designer who started her own resort-influenced label, August, in 2009.

R600, adorethis.co.za R180, maxhosa.co.za R495, Brother Vellies

ROBYN’S FASHION TIP

A dash of colour can brighten up anyone’s day. Make sure you have enough colour-statement pieces in your wardrobe for summer.

R650, Spree 46

SEPTEMBER 2015

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GARDEN ROUTE | GUIDE

Under Merlin’s spell Keith Bain finds magical escape at Angels Rest Farm in Harkerville.

pictures: supplied

T

he sign at Ekaya Lengelosi (also known as Angels Rest Farm) said to close the gate behind ourselves, so I hopped out and let us in, and moments later we pulled up alongside Merlin’s Cottage, a wooden cabin raised on stilts overlooking a vast, empty meadow fringed by forest.

Horses gambolled, birds twittered, the neighbour’s sheep stared and up at the main house a dog barked. Then our hostess arrived bearing keys and a warm, countryside welcome that included a basket filled with freshly laid eggs from free-roaming chickens and herbs from the garden. She told us about the solar power and the rain-harvested water supply, and warned us to keep the front door closed so that the horses wouldn’t come wandering in. ‘They think they’re dogs,’ she said.

There was talk, too, of curious monkeys, walks in the forest, and a lovely dam. All of which made the children’s eyes widen as they rushed to the wooden deck to stroke the horses that had gathered to see who was moving in for the week.

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Our two-bedroom self-catering cottage wasn’t fancy schmancy, but it had everything our hearts desired. It was the kind of homey space in which we all felt instantly at ease, free to put our feet up as though we’d been living there all our lives. Beds were soft, floors creaked and, when we looked through the windows, we were aware of being far away from anything resembling a crowd.

The large living area had sofas to sit, lie, snuggle or curl up on, and in lieu of a television, there was a decently sized library to dig into, plus a stack of board games, impossible-to-crack puzzles, and – best of all – a Mexican fireplace that we cranked up to stave off the winter chill.

Our days were lazy and carefree. At times we did nothing but stare into the distance, hypnotised by the shimmering green of the forest, mesmerised by a stillness that’s so foreign to city dwellers. We strolled to the end of the driveway, across the road and through the cemetery, and ended up at Harkerville’s wolf sanctuary, where there was a little café with a playground for the children.

And when they needed more stimulation, we nipped down the highway to The Crags, where we visited Monkeyland, gawking at human-faced gibbons and watching lemurs meditating in the sun.

A short drive along back-country roads led us to Robberg Nature Reserve, where we took a brisk hike along the high craggy cliffs of the protected peninsula. We spied on a basking seal colony and gazed across the water towards Plettenberg Bay. And when we reached Robberg’s pristine beach, the children ran down the steep dunes, tumbled in the sand, and screamed with unbidden joy.

At night, we cooked, sipped wine and stood on the wooden deck staring up at star-rich skies. Then we’d snuggle around the fire until it was time to go to bed.

And when it was time to leave, the horses gathered at the door as if to say goodbye. Then they turned and watched as our car trundled down the driveway, taking us back to noisy civilisation.

Plett Airport Road, Harkerville, Plettenberg Bay, 044 532 7744, angelsrestfarm.co.za.

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GUIDE | TOP TIPPLE

Bosberaad

Rooibos, buchu and aloe. Ingrid Graham gives you three good reasons to go bos this month. high antioxidants in the wood, it’s not necessary to use any preservatives or sulphites in the wine’. That’s great news if you’re allergic to preservatives. But beware, if you’re a one-glass-a-night kind of person, best you invite a friend to help you finish the bottle. Preservative-free means that once the bottle is opened, it’s best consumed within a day or two. The range of sulphite- and preservative-free wines includes a Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, natural white and Chenin Blanc. Priced around R109 per 750ml. audacia.co.za Carol Mills (nee Green) engenders the entrepreneurial spirit of her forefather EK Green, who set up EK Green Liquors in 1814. She’s created a unique Kaapse buchu-infused limoncello. Buchu, the distinctive herbal fynbos, is native to the Western Cape and renowned for its many health benefits.

Carol’s passion for her creation is obvious. ‘Our buchu is hand-picked among wild fynbos found 800m above sea level at the top of Piekenierskloof,’ she says. ‘Immediately after picking, it’s infused with our limoncello lemon liqueur, which is made from locally produced export quality lemons and triple-distilled alcohol. The herbal aromas make a flavoursome marinade for poultry and selected game dishes. The distinctive flavours and acclaimed medicinal prpoerties make it an ideal aperitif

or digestive, or simply serve it ice cold.

You won’t find this infusion anywhere else in the world. It’s a must-have!’

I reckon it’s a must-have for my medicine cabinet – at 24% alcohol and with buchu’s antiseptic properties, it’s the perfect mouthwash to kill any nasties left over from winter. R120 per 375ml. kaapseliqueurs.WIX.com While aloes are not unique to South Africa, we do have nearly 120 different species of the medicinal plant. Aloe juice is fast becoming a sought-after health supplement.

Forever Active Boost (FAB) is an energy drink containing aloe gel. To kick start your day or to remedy that morning-after feeling, add a tot of gin to your FAB! foreverliving.com

pictures: supplied, thinkstock

I

bet the early San people, who left their stunning rock paintings high in the Cederberg mountains, knew a thing or two about the medicinal and health benefits of the red bush with soft needle-like leaves exclusive to the region.

Nutrition experts tell us that rooibos is high in antioxidants, helps with insomnia, fights depression, keeps you slim and … the list goes on.

Innovator Trevor Strydom, owner of Audacia – The Red Wine Boutique Winery in Stellenbosch, was looking for an alternative to the traditional oak influence in wine. So Trevor, along with winemaker Michael van Niekerk, experimented with indigenous wood, and found that rooibos was the best to use.

The rooibos chips are infused during fermentation and maturation and, according to Trevor, ‘because of the

* Alcohol sale prohibited to persons under 18 years of age.

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FRESH CITRUS

Long & Lasting’s Triple Oil Rescue helps restore your hairline, while nourishing your scalp.

THE LOGIC BEHIND EXFOLIATION

Try SKNLOGIC’s enzymatic exfoliator and granular exfoliator to leave your skin glowing and looking healthy.

R70 (100ml), Fino

BURN-AND-BUMP CONTROL FOR MEN Tired of putting an ice pack on your skin to reduce the burn after shaving? Fino’s Bump Control will reduce the appearance of razor bumps and help with that terrible post-shave burn.

R32 (125ml), Long & Lasting

MIRACLE PAPAYA

SKNLOGIC’s cleansing cream, a powerful skin polisher with exfoliants and papaya extract, will refine skin texture and enhance the penetration of actives into skin.

R122, SKNLOGIC

GET THAT LOOK NOW

GO BIG OR GO HOME!

Give your lashes an extra boost with Maybelline’s Colossal GO Extreme! mascara.

R140, SKNLOGIC

LASTING HYDRATION

R89.95, Maybelline

R134.95, Maybelline

This all-body moisturiser will soothe and hydrate, leaving skin feeling silky smooth and soft.

SEND NASTY PESTS PACKING

MAGICAL ERASER

Maybelline’s Baby Skin Pore Eraser should be in every women’s make-up arsenal. Simply apply and wait for unsightly blocked pores to disappear.

R85.50 (250ml), Pure Beginnings

Ward off mosquitoes, gnats, sand fleas and other pesky insects with this all-natural bug repellent formula from Earthsap.

R35.50, Earthsap

PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN

Show how proud you are of your heritage with these Morgan Taylor nail lacquers in the colours of the South African flag.

Firecracker, Making Waves, Later Alligator, Little Black Dress, Give Me Gold, All White Now, all R123, Morgan Taylor 54

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BEAUTY | GUIDE

KEEP IT NATURAL

FRESHEN UP

Perk up your morning using Africa Organics’ refreshing marula shower gel, with a mild, natural foaming agent that won’t strip your skin.

R105, Baobab

R39, (210ml) Africa Organics

R650, Lancôme

No one wants to see your eyeshadow matching your new bright-blue top. So create a range of natural looks with Lancôme’s Hypnôse Star Palette ‘Terre D’Ivoire’.

R234 (100ml), ECO Products

R275, TiGi

SUPER POWERS Indigenous to the African continent, baobab is a super fruit rich in vitamin C, calcium and magnesium.

Check out some tasty baobab powder recipes online, and soon you’ll start seeing the healing effects on your skin and body.

PURE AND NATURAL

Baobab oil, derived from the nutrientrich baobab tree, is an excellent skin moisturiser, absorbing quickly into the skin without clogging pores.

FLEX YOUR STYLE

We could all do with some flexibility in our lives. TiGi’s Flexi Head hairspray will keep your locks in place, while leaving your hair flexible.

R25, (125ml) Long & Lasting

FINAL STEP TO YOUR CLEANSE

Esse toner completes the cleansing process with healing actives to revitalise, protect and improve skin texture.

STRONG STYLIN’

Perfect for wet and dry hair, Moroccanoil’s styling gel will help create sleek and structured looks with long-lasting hold.

HOLD ON TIGHT

Get a handle on your dreads with Long & Lasting’s holding wax.

The addition of avocado oil will make sure both your hair and scalp stay nourished.

EXTRA-DEEP NOURISHMENT

R165, Esse

Excellent penetrative qualities allow Esse’s rich moisturiser to treat your skin from below the surface, leaving it feeling soft and nourished.

THE DARK SIDE

Black Opium, a rock ’n roll interpretation of the classic Opium scent, highlights the dark, mysterious side of the Yves Saint Laurent brand.

Full of mystery and energy, Black Opium will delight the senses.

R995 (50ml), Yves Saint Laurent

R250 (180ml), Moroccanoil

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R380, Esse

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WATCH | GUIDE

Watch this...

No remakes, no superheroes, and only one sequel? What’s going on this month?

MiSTReSS aMeRica

the maze runner: the scorch trails

mistress america

Release date: 4 September Mistress America reunites writer-director Noah Baumbach with star Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote the screenplay. Tracy (Lola Kirke) is a lonely college freshman in New York, having neither the exciting university experience nor the glamorous metropolitan lifestyle she envisioned. But when she is taken in by her soon-to-be stepsister, Brooke (played by Greta) – a resident of Times Square and adventurous gal about town – she is rescued from her disappointment and seduced by Brooke’s alluringly mad schemes. It’s a light, fun film that’s tailor-made for its star’s talents.

Anticipatometer: n n n n

MoVie GiVeaWayS dark places

maya the bee

See page 15 for details

text: anthony sharpe; pictures: supplied

DaRk PlaceS Release date: 11 September Our favourite blonde Charlize Theron stars in this rather ill-conceived adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel of the same name. Charlize plays Libby Day, who was only seven years old when her family was brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. Twentyfive years later, she agrees to revisit the crime scene with a group of amateur investigators calling themselves The Kill Club, and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night.

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Maya The Bee Release date: 18 September Remember Maya the Bee? A staple of 80s kids’ entertainment, Maya is back – this time on the silver screen. Maya is a little bee with a big heart. She dreams of an exciting life of freedom, fun and adventure – the world is simply far too interesting to stay inside a hive! With her best friend Willy, Maya buzzes out into the meadow on an exhilarating adventure of self-discovery. But when the Queen’s royal jelly is stolen, it will take Maya and all of her bug buddies to save the day!

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The Maze RunneR: The ScoRch TRialS Release date: 24 September In this next chapter of the Maze Runner saga, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organisation known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.

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GUIDE | READ

Library lounge Celebrate cultural, culinary and natural heritage with these new books.

WeBer’S chicken and WeBer’S Steak

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Book GiVeaWaYS See page 15 for details

100 common Bird callS in eaSt africa

Dave ricHarDs anD Brian FincH Penguin Random House Almost every South African can recognise the incessant call of the hadeda. But chances are they can’t say the same about the myriad of other bird species on the continent. School yourself with 100 Common Bird Calls in East Africa, which includes a CD and booklet with full-colour photographs, species descriptions and maps.

You’ll probably best enjoy this book if you’re an avid birder, although this is also a perfect starting point for those trying to get into the game.

Dave Richards and Brian Finch have also included helpful tips on how to distinguish the difference between various species, covering pitch, tone, repetition and length.

text: lynn berggren; pictures: supplied

Go Set a Watchman

Harper Lee Penguin Random House You have to be a really brilliant one-hit wonder to cause such a stir 20 years on, but that’s exactly what happened to Harper Lee. Two decades after the release of her critically acclaimed To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee has released a sequel.

Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch, fondly known as Scout, returns home to the fictional town of Maycomb in Alabama, only to find that not much has changed. There’s still racism, the minority groups are still fighting for equal rights, and Scout still has to separate her own mind from her father’s. Go Set a Watchman has enjoyed unprecedented success since its announcement, but whether that was just fans going wild or because the book is actually good remains to be seen.

Jamie purviance Penguin Random House There’s very little more South African than a braai. And the same can be said for a braaied piece of chicken or a deliciously grilled steak. Now you can make braai time even more enticing – just in time for National Braai Day – with Weber’s Chicken: Best Braai Recipes and Weber’s Steak: Best Braai Recipes.

Each book contains more than 60 delicious recipes, as well as fire-building techniques. And if the braai seems a bit droog, you can always try one of the yummy marinades, dips or sauces.

Author Jamie Purviance is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (where they don’t braai; they barbeque), but he’s a Weber expert, so he should know what he’s talking about when it comes to creating masterpieces on the fire.

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LISTEN | GUIDE

Listen up

Raina Julies throws impartiality to the wind with this month’s crop of new CD releases.

pictures: supplied

TYRESE

BLACK ROSE VOLTRON RECORDZ You’ve got to remember Tyrese for a 1994 Coca-Cola commercial, singing ‘Always Coca-Cola’. Well, he shot to fame with that jingle and now, just over 20 years later, he’s promoting his latest release with a re-enactment of that famous bus ride. He gets onto a bus, casually singing the lyrics to his latest single ‘Shame’, and you can’t help but get goosebumps.

After all, it’s that same bus ride and soulful voice that got us swooning back in the day. These days, Tyrese’s voice is much more mature and he’s sounding more like the great hitmakers of yesteryear.

Black Rose is smooth and the lyrics are raw and honest, complemented by soulful vocals. With ‘Prior to You’, featuring Tank, Tyrese’s voice is super mellow. ‘Shame’ is powerful and the old-school choir in the background, led by Jennifer Hudson, makes this track soulfully smooth.

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HEY VIOLET

I CAN FEEL IT CAPITOL RECORDS, LLC I know, I know, it’s an EP and begs the questions: why bother? Why not just record a full album? But to the defence of this not-so-new, three-girls-and-a-boy band, this EP kicks some serious ass.

This four-piece band started gaining recognition earlier this year after touring with 5 Seconds of Summer. So this EP – embracing a garage-recording feeling minus the gritty, grunge-rock aspects – is well timed and powerful. I love ‘Sparks Fly’; it’s slower than the rest of the EP, but simply pop-licious! The title track starts things off strong and the chorus is definitely a crowd anthem in the making.

‘Can’t Take Back The Bullet’ and ‘You Don’t Love Me Like You Should’ have solid guitar leads and the vocals are a bit more edgy.

For an EP with only five tracks, I’m not disappointed at all.

RATATAT

MAGNIFIQUE XL RECORDINGS I’m not a big fan of electronic ‘noise’, no matter how well the guitar and synths work together. But everyone else seems to like this fifth studio album by guitarist Mike Stroud and producer Evan Mast.

So I tried it, but the repetitive patterns, songs that drag on for what feels like days, and genre hopping just didn’t sit well with my ears. But if you’re into that kind of sound, then I can’t help but admit that the mastering on this album is simply sick!

Mike and Evan outwit, outplay and outlast on every track, using solid instrumentals layered with spacey effects and crunching guitars. They’ve stuck with retro impulses on tracks such as ‘Cream on Chrome’, and their take on the 1971 Springwater song ‘I Will Return’ is a soft-rock cover hit – and incidentally the only track on the album I wasn’t tempted skip.

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GUIDE | LISTEN

Rocking the

Milky Way

Ahead of appearances in South Africa next month, Keith Bain chats with Clemens Rehbein, one half of Milky Chance, the German musical duo whose first single ‘Stolen Dance’ took the world by storm after going viral on YouTube.

Philipp [Dausch] and I met in a high-school music class and hit it off instantly. We hung out together and began making music from day one. We quickly discovered that we have a very similar way of hearing music.

When I started playing guitar, music quickly became an all-consuming part of my life. At school, I would spend all my time playing guitar instead of doing homework. I started writing songs when I was about 12 or 13, and it was always in English. Most of our influences are from outside Germany, except when it comes to electronic music. We have a big electronic scene, and we’re fans of producer Hans Zimmer. But we’re not generally into music with German lyrics.

We’re influenced by reggae and singer-songwriter-type folk music,

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and I played guitar with a jazz quartet at school. Ray Charles was a big influence, as was Django Reinhardt. We played plenty of gypsy jazz and swing.

We decided to record an album after we’d played just two gigs. It was never a planned ‘thing’. We just did what we wanted to, and what felt good in the moment. We simply wanted to record our music. We never thought it would go further than that.

We recorded [our album] Sadnecessary over two weeks at my childhood home. We created a studio using a guitar and a microphone, plus a MacBook Pro and Logic Pro music software. No fancy equipment, no producer. We just experimented, tried things out, and we were very curious.

We’d push buttons and turn knobs and

see what came out. I’d written the songs and Philipp brought all the software and hardware knowledge, and took care of the electronic beats and production.

Once people started listening to us, we just got more and more attention, and it all happened very spontaneously and very quickly. There was never a conscious decision to embark on a music career as such. It was more a case of ‘Let’s do it!

Let’s do whatever’s possible to allow us to continue making music’.

Once we’d recorded the album, we drove around Europe, going from gig to gig, performing anywhere and everywhere, and the crowds slowly grew.

We only used Facebook to announce our appearances. The highlight of that tour was a 7 000-strong crowd at the Dockville Festival in Hamburg.

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LISTEN | GUIDE

For me, the melody always comes first. I write songs on my guitar, whistle a melody or sing random words, and when I’ve got the tune, I’ll write lyrics to go with it. The words are mostly very personal – thoughts about experiences I’ve had, or how I’ve felt during a particular moment, and an attempt to capture these emotions.

The music I listen to is definitely not mainstream. I’ve always been into indie music and singer-songwriters who aren’t particularly famous. But the term ‘mainstream’ is problematic. People tend to say that once a musician or band goes big, they’re mainstream, and people stop liking them. But everyone starts out the same – independent, small, not famous.

I don’t understand it. In my mind, the important thing is for the music to be real.

Many people tell us that our sound is unique, but I wouldn’t say that we’ve invented a new sound. We just try to do what we love. We create music that we feel right doing and that we can identify with. I don’t know if it’s unique or not, but it has to be what we feel.

One South African act that I know and have seen live on stage is Die Antwoord.

They’re mad people and it’s a really crazy show. Sometimes, it’s a little scary.

I think they’re more like artists and they’re staging a kind of artwork, so what they do is more about the concept behind what’s happening on stage and less about the music.

Our touring schedule is determined by who wants to hear us play. Being asked to come to South Africa and being told that South Africans are interested in seeing and hearing us perform made it important for us to come. I wouldn’t say I know all that much about South Africa.

I’ve been told about the natural beauty, but I don’t have any preconceptions about

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‘BEING TOLD THAT SOUTH AFRICANS ARE INTERESTED IN SEEING AND HEARING US PERFORM MADE IT IMPORTANT FOR US TO COME’ the people or the culture. When I travel, I like to form my own impressions. But I’d like to take time off in 2016 and return to South Africa and travel around a bit.

We really like festivals, so we attend regularly, even when we’re not performing. We enjoy playing outdoors, but whether it’s indoors or open air, sunshine or after dark, we love the festival vibe. When I attend music festivals, I try not to take too many things with me. I’m not a fan of going around festivals taking pictures of myself and sharing them on Facebook. I try to be in the moment and focus on enjoying the music. I try to soak up as much of the energy as possible, and experience the music as intensely as possible.

Some people are curious about my hair. Sometimes they want to touch it, or assume I do something weird to make it stand up the way it does. Basically, I’m just too lazy to stand in front of the mirror in the morning and style my hair.

I don’t try to make it look ‘crazy’ – this ‘look’ is completely natural.

Philipp enjoys walking around barefoot. Sometimes, the weather forces him to wear shoes, but whenever possible, he prefers to be barefoot.

I guess it feels more natural.

There’s no story or meaning behind our band name. I made up different artist names for each song as a way of remembering them, and when we started uploading our songs onto YouTube, we picked one. It’s just a random name that existed before the band existed.

The last two years have been really jam-packed and everything has happened really quickly. What I’ve learnt along the way is that it’s important to pause every so often and take a look in the mirror – ask myself if what I’m seeing is actually me and how I want to be. No matter who you are, you need to consider your impact on your surroundings and the people around you. Strive to be a better version of yourself, no matter how successful you think you are.

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Thumb� twiddling therapy Kick back and blast some pixels with this month’s latest digital delights.

METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN

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Features such as realistic time passage, real-time weather and an AI-buddy system expand the MGS experience to new levels. Gather resources from the game world to expand your Mother Base’s defences, and technology to invest

in upgrades for Snake’s character, companions and vehicles.

Become Snake and exact your revenge in the first open-world adventure in the series and take down Cipher’s super weapon to save the world! Now available.

pictures: supplied

PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 Metal Gear Solid (MGS) returns and Snake is back for revenge! His first task: free an old friend; then settle the score against the Cipher intelligence network. The battle will embroil the whole world as Snake unearths a sinister plot to wreak unimaginable destruction.

The new world of Metal Gear Solid offers unparalleled features to launch the player into the world of tactical espionage operations. Witness the evolution powered by the Fox Engine as you explore an open world showcasing strategic freedom and a new breed of stealth.

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GAMES | GUIDE

3DS, PS4, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, iOS Family fun at its best returns! Skylands is in peril after Kaos unleashed his most evil weapon yet – the Doom Station of Ultimate Doomstruction! Assemble a special team called the SuperChargers, who pilot an unstoppable fleet of incredible vehicles over land, under the sea and through the sky to stop Kaos and save Skylands from his evil clutches once more.

For the first time in the franchise, players have vehicles and can play co-operatively online throughout the whole adventure, with chat options available when playing with friends.

Supplementing this, online races allow up to four players to partake in races across a variety of colourful environments filled with devious obstacles. Vehicle upgrades and purchasable mods offer players the opportunity to customise and improve their vehicles’ characteristics as they complete missions and stages.

Players can also use their old Skylander characters from the previous titles to experience the new story in all its glory, and the new SuperCharger units open up gameplay to new levels of excitement for the whole family. Get your starter pack from 25 September at any BT Games store.

laser-scanned roads ranging from a fictional Rio circuit to the more classic Hockenheim and Monza tracks.

Forza 6 introduces rain effects, with specific attention paid to how wet weather affects the handling and performance on distinct track locations. Experience nighttime racing on infamous circuits such as

Le Mans and the Daytona Speedway, and learn how lower track temperature can affect your overall grip.

Free play, career mode and online multiplayer leagues offer newcomers and professionals fresh opportunities to become the king of the road in Forza once more.

SKYLANDERS: SUPERCHARGERS STARTER PACK

pictures: supplied

FORZA MOTORSPORT 6 Xbox One For 10 years, Forza has defined racing on the Xbox family of consoles.

This year, the stakes are raised with the biggest, best-looking and most ambitious racing game ever to grace an Xbox.

Roaring ahead with stunning graphical features running at a smooth frame rate, with up to 24 cars on the circuit, the latest iteration is set to define the racing genre. Boasting 450 vehicles from a selection of regular, super and specialist race cars, the racing takes place on

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TECH | GUIDE

Talking tech

Andy Walker of Gearburn.com investigates five bright South African tech companies you should know about.

z

z

NOW THAT’S NIFTY

SMAAK IT

z

A company that’s perhaps the leader when it comes to melding creativity with older technology is Nifty250. The Cape Town-based startup doesn't believe our database of digital snaps deserve to live on our phones and cameras alone, and thus offers an online printing service for those Instagram and smartphone snaps.

If you've ever taken an image of a Table Mountain sunset, or a sunrise over Ponte City, you probably wished you could have it hanging in your living room.

Well, now you can. And show off profusely at the same time. Prices vary, nifty250.co.za.

GOOD WOOD Houdt is definitely one of the trendiest companies in the South African market, crafting bespoke accessories – from headphones to smartphone covers – from the greenest material available: wood.

The company regularly contributes to the Greenpop tree-planting programme too, which aims to reforest patches of land that have been ravaged by climate change or other human impact.

One of Houdt’s more popular products is the rosewood iPhone 6 cover (R399), but it has recently offered a set of limited-edition covers for Apple smartphones, crafted by local artisans. If you don't have an iPhone, the company also crafts wooden headphones, known as the Cyclone range. They retail for around R799, but come with tonnes of style.Prices vary, houdt.co.za.

z pictures: supplied

THE FUTURE IS NOW Future Mobile Technology’s offerings are fairly popular in South Africa and England alike, with the company becoming the first in SA to produce a dual-SIM Android tablet. Founded in 2010, it has two distinctive brands at its feet, Netsurfer and Wyseman, catering to a younger and more serious audience respectively. One of its more interesting products is the Netsurfer Scholar, a device that aims to embrace millennials’ love for technology, while nurturing their hunger for information. It’s loaded with over 180 hours of governmentbacked educational content, features built-in parental control software and as well as a full office suite wholly compatible with Microsoft Office. R2 999, TFGmobile.co.za.

Smaak doesn’t get more South African – in name at least. Along with smartphone covers, stands, car accessories and powerbanks, Smaak also boasts an array of must-have products, including a nifty microSIM adapter kit.

One of our favourites is the Cuboid speaker, which attaches itself to practically any surface by means of a suction cup. This also improves the audio reproduction of the speaker and, well, it makes for one great conversation starter. R399, ismaak.com.

z

IN A SNAP

A company at the forefront of mobile payments in the country is SnapScan. According to its founders, the company started from a simple question: how do we want to pay for things? SnapScan uses a mixture of two ubiquitous technologies: the QR code and the smartphone camera. Snapping a picture of the code within the app allows users to transfer cash without the need for notes or coins. Free, Android, iOS, BlackBerry app stores.

For more insightful gadget and gaming news, check out gearburn.com.

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John Vlismas goes over to the dark side because ‌ well, load-shedding

dwin E e g d u lls J John gri ing on e b t u o b na law e Camero h t f o e (s) sid the right thers r u f a k a aka Ch h C e n n ation Yvo c u d e l a c oliti John’s p

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Chat

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JudgE | chat

judged You’ve been

John Vlismas talks politics, rot and human rights with Judge Edwin Cameron.

John Vlismas: Hi Judge Cameron, you’re a bit of a hero of mine, so I’m quite excited to meet you.

Edwin Cameron: That’s very kind of you.

JV: I don’t want to say you’re a troublemaker, but you’ve been very bold in your principled stands, especially in an environment where it seems so difficult to remain principled. There seems to be

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this constant erosion of the judiciary. But to me, it’s not the judiciary, but rather the powers that be and their relationship to the judiciary that seem to be in decline.

How does it feel to be, on the one hand, part of one of the most amazing constitutions in the world, but the environment in which it was formed has changed, and how do you reconcile that?

EC: Good question. It’s no longer the golden years. The golden years were the years of rainbow headiness. And we’re now down to grim, practical hard work.

We’ve moved into a post-rainbow reality for everyone in judiciary, politics and business. And I think it’s a rough time for a lot of people. But I firmly believe that it’s actually natural. If you’re going to do what

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JudgE | chat

the constitution does, which is to split up power, it’s impossible for there not to be tension and some conflict. So I see it as natural.

And you’re right: I’m quite unconventional. I’m a proudly gay man on a still-homophobic continent, in a very accepting but still quite conservative country.

I live openly with HIV on a continent where I’m the only public office bearer who has stated his HIV status. In an epidemic of 30- or 35-million people, we’re still waiting for cabinet members, leaders, premiers, MECs, entertainment people and soccer stars to do so. So in that sense, I’m markedly unconventional. But I don’t think that I’m alone in taking stands of principle; most of my judicial colleagues would do the same, and they’re willing to take flak for it. However, I do think we have a judiciary that has integrity, principal and self-respect.

JV: I think that the principles of the judiciary seem to be pretty solid, even though there’s this perception of a rot setting in.

EC: I don’t think there’s rot in the judiciary; there’s mal-governance. I think there’s significant corruption and ineptitude. But when we speak about a rot, we’re almost speaking about a systemic decay, which I don’t think we’ve reached yet.

I believe we have a duty to deliver South Africa to the next generation in the best condition possible. And I don’t accept that rot is part of that because you wouldn’t pass on a rotten apple to the next generation. So certainly, we agree on significant structural and managerial leadership problems, but not rot.

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JV: Okay, that’s good to know. You spoke about being unconventional, but I think you’ve actually established a convention.

According to my kind of philosophy, being gay is a simple screensaver between people. It’s not a huge difference at all.

EC: Which is why the gay marriage movement in the United States was established. Their big breakthrough was to say: ‘We’re not claiming equality because we’re different; we’re claiming equality because we’re the same.’

JV: Exactly. I do a thing on one of my shows where I say: ‘How can you

possibly claim to have human rights when you call these things gay rights?’

That’s inhuman. It doesn’t equate. I would never teach my daughter about gay rights. There are only human rights and you must treat everyone humanely.

EC: Which is what Obama has just said in Kenya.

JV: Right. And it was very nice when Bishop Tutu said: ‘If heaven is homophobic, then I don’t want to go there.’ That for me is a remarkable statement for a bishop to make.

EC: It’s a remarkable statement for a comedian.

[Laughs] JV: Exactly. [Laughs] EC: He’s a man of the cloth, a spiritual leader of enormous stature, but he’s also a brilliant comedian.

He pierces people’s bigotry.

And he makes these funny, quirky statements that take you off guard.

JV: And the context of a guy in a bishop’s outfit saying that is remarkable. So we have the tools to give people the most equal life, but is there a way we could get rid of the differentiation between people, even though we have the most liberal constitution in the world? How do we stop talking about gay rights? Do we first have to get people to understand what gay rights are?

EC: That’s the paradox. Why do I say I’m proud to be white? Not because it’s better than being black, but because it’s the way I am. We’re all human in different ways.

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chat | Judge

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‘The poinT of saTire is To ridicule ridiculous noTions, noT To ridicule people’ speech-related through what I’m doing and I had to take it. I was allowed to write a defence in the daily news, but I found the BCCSA finding a bit overboard.

EC: Yes, it was deliberately satirical, and it was broadcast out of context.

JV: Right, so my question to you would be: how far do we go to protect satire or humour?

EC: The point of satire is to ridicule ridiculous notions, not to ridicule people themselves. But of course, we tend to exaggerate things about whiteness, about our Hinduness, or our Christianess, or our Jewishness. And those things deserve to be satirised.

But when satire hits home at the dignity of the person herself or himself, then that becomes hurtful. And of course that’s a hard line to draw. But I think there are

very, very few bounds to free speech. Hate speech is one that’s in the constitution, but it’s a narrow bound. It says you actually have to be inciting people to violence. In a flammable country with deep differences, I think you should be over-careful in enforcing the hate speech thing.

JV: The other thing about satire is that it should be used to attack power or keep power on its toes.

EC: Or a source of power. I agree with that.

JV: As opposed to the personal…

EC: Either the personal or the weak. That’s the difference between satire and cheap jokes about Jews, or blacks, or gays, or women. Really clever satire makes you rethink human interrelationships and power relationships.

JV: Absolutely. Thank you for chatting with me, Judge Cameron.

pictures: supplied

And you’re absolutely right, they’re not gay rights; they’re human rights.

JV: Yes, like why is it gay marriage and not just marriage?

EC: And it’s not gay dignity; it’s human dignity. I don’t want gay dignity; I want dignity. I don’t want gay equality; I want human equality.

JV: Raising my own daughter, I too feel like we’ve got to pass on an improved situation to the next generation. So I constantly analyse my own sense of what’s correct. I live in a world where there’s very little prejudice, but I’m aware of my own inner prejudice – I was raised with it. So I get black and gay pride. But then I find that we default when crisis hits in South Africa. We tend to default back to our polar opposites. You know the straight people all group together, the white people all group together, or the black people all group together…

EC: Or the taxi driver is a ‘black taxi driver’, instead of a Muslim or white or just a bad driver.

JV: Or a left-handed taxi driver. We don’t talk about him. So we tend to default back to that. But here’s what I find interesting, I was found guilty of hate speech by the BCCSA… EC: Remind me of that.

JV: Well I have this late-night radio show where we do satirical sketches. One character was a very bigoted Christian priest. Every week on my late-night show, in the correct context, he would talk with great authority and bigotry about another religion. Essentially, the joke would be on the priest.

Now the station manager one day decided that he would play my sketch without telling anyone on a Saturday morning, out of context. I was found guilty and it was really hurtful because I had never been found guilty for anything hate-

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Chaka chaking things up

Yvonne Chaka Chaka is a singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and an ambassador we can be proud of. John Vlismas has an audience with the Princess of Africa.

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SingER | chat

John Vlismas: Hi Yvonne, I’m not going to ask you all the normal questions.

Because I know everyone gets bored to death of the same old, same old. Like where did you start, blah blah. You’ve featured heavily on the South African landscape. As one of the country’s ambassadors, how do you feel about the current situation in South Africa?

Yvonne Chaka Chaka: You know, I wish we could actually go back to the drawing and say, we’ve come a long way, and I think we need to build the South Africa that we all want to see and we all want to live in, one that can benefit everybody. We can’t be saying we’ve moved away from apartheid and yet so many people are sleeping in the streets, education is still not equal and so many jobs are being lost, and there’s so much crime. You know, it’s not the SA we anticipated.

JV: Absolutely. There’s been a lot of talk about the president, but let’s say you were elected president tomorrow morning, what would your priorities be?

YCC: I wouldn’t want to be in the president’s shoes. I’m not a politician. I’m very happy to be Yvonne Chaka Chaka the musician. I’m happy to be the humanitarian that I am because I arrived on earth with absolutely nothing, with my hands open to give and receive, and when I die, I take absolutely nothing with me. So I would not want to be the president. I don’t envy him.

You know, it’s sad: we wish to be in positions, but do we know the consequences that come with those positions? When you’re president, you’re not there for your own good. You’re there for the people, you’re there for society.

I just came back from the US last week.

It was amazing. I’m doing work with the Princesses of Africa Foundation and an organisation called Results. They’re just

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ordinary people communicating with senators and the like. Going to a senator is like just going to any other office. It’s not like here. Have you been to parliament?

Can you even go to parliament?

JV: No, I’ve never been.

YCC: Do you know your councillor in your constituency?

JV: I don’t.

we should start doing things for ourselves. we as communities need to come together and ask: what do we need to do?

YCC: You don’t even know. People know who their senators are and the senators are happy to engage with ordinary people because they know they’re in those positions because of these people.

JV: Absolutely. Following on from that, I would have to agree with you. No one wants to be in the president’s shoes.

That’s a great answer. What do you think the man and the woman in the street should do in South Africa? What do you think our responsibility is as citizens?

YCC: That’s exactly what I was talking about. We need to know our rights as

ordinary people. But first, we need to know that we should be paying our rates and taxes, we need to know our responsibilities as people. We cannot start blaming government if our backyards are dirty.

We need to clean up our own backyards.

Government’s job is to level the playing field, to make sure that the environment is conducive for us to be able to do the things we need to do. If I’m a taxpayer, I need to know that my tax is working for me. So people should know that if you pay your taxes, if you pay your rates, then you’re able to demand services. That’s why service delivery is not working. People don’t want to pay. People think they should be getting things for nothing.

JV: Everything you’re saying is absolutely right. And we seem to fall into a pattern of finger pointing, and it doesn’t change because it doesn’t matter which group you see yourself in; we all seem to have a way to point a finger. It’s government or it’s them; it’s never us.

YCC: Exactly. We should start doing things for ourselves. We as communities need to come together and ask: what do we need to do? Because if we’re not going to do it, just fold our arms and wait for money to come, it will never come.

JV: Absolutely. Now you obviously have a very good bird’s-eye view of South Africa in context with the world. Something I find a lot in my own work in comedy is that there is this perception that the problems we face, like corruption, are unique to South Africa. But when you look at the world view, it’s not just a South African issue – there’s FIFA, there’s corruption in the Eurozone. We’re in danger of writing ourselves off as the only country that has these problems.

How do we teach SA that it’s not just us; it’s a global problem?

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Ycc: Corruption is and always has been there. How do we solve that? it’s about you as a human being, asking yourself how you are going to sleep at night if you steal. How will you deal with your conscience? Do you look at yourself and feel proud, do your kids look at you and say John Vlismas is an honourable man?

When you die, you go six feet under and you are eaten by the maggots. When we die, we take nothing with us. That’s why i’m not hard up about being a celebrity or high-profile person. You just have to do the right thing, because for me, heaven is right here on earth. What you do here is what’s going to be left when you’re dead.

JV: What you said has been fantastic and I just wish more people had a conscience like yours. One last question. Regarding censorship of artists, how do you feel about what seems to be the increasing control about what is expressed by the media, by artists and citizens that seem to be critical of the government.

Ycc: Well, darling, we are creative people and we can create whatever we want.

When there was apartheid, people like Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Brenda Fassie and i, we sang about apartheid, so what changes now? We are creative people, we talk, we write, we laugh about what we see. so nobody will ever censor us. They will try, but when John Vlismas goes on stage and says something, the crowd knows what he’s saying. so they can try to censor us, but they will never win.

JV: That’s the most powerful statement to end on. They will never win. And I’m very glad to hear that. Let’s hope it carries. Let’s hope people hear.

Ycc: if you and i don’t do it, our children will judge us. We need to keep on doing it.

JV: Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time.

Ycc: Thank you, darling.

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BREADLINE AFRICA | LOCAL HERO

Thinking inside the box

Breadline Africa, an NPO that found a novel way of getting classrooms to kids instead of the other way around, has touched the lives of more than 60 000 South African youngsters – with many more to follow. Delia du Toit finds out more.

W

hile a kitted-out karavaan might have been the height of holiday sophistication in the 80s, selfcontained homes all but disappeared from sight over the last few decades.

Enter the shipping container. Though they’re not quite mobile, these livingroom-sized metal boxes have become all the rage in recent years. Fashion-forward, eco-conscious types started converting them into offices, multistorey homes and even fully functional kitchens – and are now selling them at a steep price.

No one’s saying they stole the idea from somewhere else but, just for the record, a local charity was doing it long before it became cool.

Breadline Africa, an NPO founded in 1993 in the Western Cape, has placed 289 of these converted containers in impoverished communities since its inception. Converted into classrooms,

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‘The need was massive indeed, and Breadline realised ThaT These shipping conTainers could provide a quick soluTion’ libraries, kitchens or ablution facilities, these containers have already changed the lives of more than 60 000 people in all nine provinces.

‘Back in the day, when the organisation started out, thousands of children were being educated in shacks or mud huts – if at all,’ says Tim Smith, director of Breadline. ‘In many cases, these kids were simply left on the streets.

‘Today, still more than 5-million young kids aren’t being cared for in a preschool, and as many as 61% of children live in impoverished circumstances. The need was massive indeed, and Breadline realised that these shipping containers could provide a quick solution in the direst cases.’

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Clever Conversions The organisation used its funding, which was mostly coming from European countries at the time, to convert the containers into classrooms. With their newly installed doors, windows, flooring, insulation, air conditioning and a fresh coat of paint, the containers were more luxurious than what many of the children were used to at home.

But that only took care of part of the problem, because many of the children who now had a school to go to had to do so on empty tummies. Once again, Breadline had a creative solution: shipping containers fitted with kitchen appliances. Then, containers that could function as ablution

facilities, community centres, clinics and libraries were the next obvious step.

‘Today, we have a very long list of applicants who are asking us for containers – so many that our small organisation of 11 staff members almost can’t keep up,’ says Tim. ‘We’ve partnered with the Department of Education and a few literacy foundations, and together we decide which applicant is most in need of the next container. We’ve also started sourcing local funding from businesses in or near the communities, and it’s great to see the local funding and excitement grow.’

The containers, which used to be free before they became such a lucrative investment, are purchased by Breadline

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loCal heRo | BrEAdlINE AfrICA

FuTuRe conTained in hope Occasions like these make Tim hopeful for the country’s future. ‘There’s so much need in South Africa,’ he says. ‘Even when these young children go to a preschool, 45% of the schools are of such poor quality, with untrained teachers and no meals, that the child has a huge lag by

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Building Blocks

Breadline Africa also works with various other organisations to improve living conditions and literacy rates in communities. Get involved with these great organisations to lend a hand: Room to Read This organisation has touched the lives of more than half-a-million local primary-school kids, fostering their love of reading and improving literacy skills. They’ve established 423 libraries, provided literacy instruction to 184 schools and 564 classes, published 48 storybooks in various indigenous South African languages, and distributed more than 230 000 books to libraries and other organisations.

They also train the librarians at Breadline’s libraries. ‘Breadline’s container libraries are fantastic and really fill a gap, as so many schools don’t have a spare classroom in which to establish a library,’ says Vanessa Francis, literacy director of Room to Read.

‘Our vision is: “World change starts with educated children”,

home, even though her own family hardly has enough to eat. No matter what else goes wrong in our country, these amazing people and places always remind me that so much goes right.’

And Breadline, which is already working on 15 libraries and six preschools to be placed in the coming year, is certainly a part of what’s going right.

To donate funds, toys, clothing or books to Breadline, visit breadlineafrica.org to get in touch.

and we believe that literacy is the cornerstone of getting educated.

I joined Room to Read because I loved that there was an NGO so committed to reading that it would do everything in its power to make that happen.’

To sponsor a school library, donate books or funds, or volunteer at Room to Read, visit roomtoread.org. the NelsoN maNdela FouNdatioN The Nelson Mandela Leadership for Literacy project believes literacy and a culture of reading are the building blocks of education.

The project aims to drive literacy and reading through the distribution of books and various initiatives aimed at improving literacy. They’ve also published two books aimed at younger generations. Nelson Mandela: The Authorised Comic Book is aimed at teenagers, and The Children’s Long Walk to Freedom, for six- to 10-year-olds, is available in all of South Africa’s official languages.

Visit nelsonmandela.org for more.

pictures: maryatta wegerif

and then sent to service providers, such as Container Conversions, to be fitted with all the trimmings. After that, the biggest mission is often just to get the finished container to the communities. ‘These communities often have no roads, no electricity and no water,’ explains Tim. ‘Coordinating with the community and getting the container to them, on poor roads with no names, is often a huge challenge.’

But the results are worth all the effort. ‘We once had to get a library container to a very remote place in the North West province,’ says Tim. ‘Everyone involved got lost or stuck on the way and we were up all night just trying to locate the container, which was on a separate truck. It finally arrived a day late, but just in time for the launch at 7am that morning. When the people there saw it for the first time, they couldn’t believe their eyes. They couldn’t believe that someone had actually gone to the trouble of helping their small, remote community. There was a huge celebration and seeing the joy and excitement on their faces was so rewarding.’

the time he or she gets to primary school.

And even then, 80% of our primary and high schools don’t have libraries, so literacy remains a huge challenge.

‘But when I go into these communities, I’m often reminded of why I do what I do.

There’s a hero in every single community – be it the woman who freely gives her time to take care of these preschoolers, the grandmother who looks after all the young ones while the parents work, or the mom who sets up an orphanage at

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Seeding

cedars An ambitious project is bringing the cedar tree back to the Cederberg.

Anthony Sharpe dug in.

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ARBOUR MONTH | LOCAL HERO

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t was barely a road. More a collection of rocks scattered across a hillside, alongside other larger rocks on one side and a vertiginous drop on the other, punctuated by more jagged rocks, hungry for the metal of unwary 4x4s and their delicious, fleshy occupants. Our driver chatted animatedly, gesticulating with his hands and occasionally glancing over his shoulder at his passengers, while my cohort’s expression grew ever more fearful. The Cederberg is not for wimps.

It is, however, great for Land Cruisers. Ours trundled along steadily, if not gracefully, past great ancient boulders white with the chalk of sport climbers, eldritch fingers of stone clawing at the sky, and breathtaking vistas spreading out towards the north. Gazing out over this rocky, scrubby landscape, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s looked the same for thousands of years. You’d be wrong.

Until the late 19th century, the Cederberg was home to great forests of – would you know it – cedar trees. Clanwilliam cedars – Widdringtonia wallichii – once stood tall along the mountain range. Unfortunately, their sturdy trunks made them rather popular in the construction industry, and as telephone poles – more than 7 000 of them were felled to fulfil this purpose between Piketberg and Calvinia. A combination of unmanaged exploitation and fires devastated the cedar, and though their removal was halted in 1963, their numbers have never recovered, and the tree is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

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RestoRation In 1987, CapeNature created an initiative to turn back the clock on this deforestation, planting cedar trees in appropriate places around the Cederberg. The trick is that cedar trees need pretty specific conditions to thrive – naturally irrigated nooks and crannies among rocks, out of the way.

Such conditions were what lay at the end of our treacherous Land Cruiser journey.

Every year, CapeNature holds a treeplanting day, bringing sponsors, school children, interested parties and journalistic hacks like me together to help create the forests of tomorrow. This year, the event was held in the rural town of Heuningvlei.

It’s not just a matter of sprinkling some seeds along the mountainside

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and then going for a beer, though. The process begins at uber-luxury resort Bushmanskloof, an ardent supporter of the programme, where saplings are cultivated in their nursery (which also produces all of the fresh ingredients they use at the resort, so you know they’re in good hands). These grow to a foot or two in height before they are hauled off into the mountains to fend for themselves.

Making aMends At Heuningvlei, the youngest kids were given handfuls of seeds to push into trays of soil, forming the next generation of saplings. Then the operation got underway in earnest – bakkies laden with saplings trundled up along the dirt road to the planting site and dozens of enthusiastic humans set about trying to make amends for their species.

Despite the fact that we were toiling in the midday sun, there was a festive atmosphere, the sounds of happy labour filling that quiet corner of the Cederberg.

Grabbing two young trees, a trowel and a couple of litres of water, I tried to find a safe and suitable home for my

arboreal charges. I climbed up a rocky slope, heaving the plants ahead of me, until I found two sheltered corners I thought suitable. One of these required some minor excavation with the trowel, and my curses rang out clearly over the sound of steel on stone. Finally, saplings embedded in the moist soil and sprinkled liberally with live-giving H2O, I had my trees geotagged – each one has an identification tag so its progress can be monitored the following year.

Despite an understanding of ideal growing locations, it’s currently uncertain what environmental factors might hamper the regeneration of cedar-tree plantations.

And a further difficulty is that the trees take about 30 years to produce their first seeds. However, with sound environmental management and the support of initiatives like this, you can hope that one day the landscape of the Cederberg will look a little greener, a little more forested and a little more forgiving. to find out more or get involved, contact 021 481 1863 or jill@rchmail. co.za, and check out capenature.co.za for more info.

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Steam,

punk!

Keith Bain climbs aboard for a flashback to a bygone era.

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STEaM TRainS | travel

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t’s a scene indelibly etched in memory.

Bundles of excited families huddled on the platform as the toot-toot of the high-pitched whistle signals its approach.

Then the lazy chuffing and slow-down screech of metal on metal, as a colossal chunk of human engineering huffs and puffs into the station, plumes of billowy steam erupting, and hundreds of tonnes of train in its wake.

Once the pinnacle of transport technology, witnessing a steam train in action today is more like some theatrical spectacle, a touch of mechanised wizardry connected to a bygone era. in South africa, steam only went out of mainstream use in 1992, yet wending through the world on a train hauled by one of these clunky iron horses is pure time travel.

‘Steam trains were part of the industrial revolution, and drastically changed the way we lived,’ explains kulula.com pilot and steam enthusiast Steven Green. ‘it’s thanks to steam engines that people began to explore beyond their own towns and villages, and started looking at the world in a new way.’

transport evolution The rail revolution began in 1804 in southern Wales, when the first highpressure steam engine powered its way along a set of tram tracks, forever altering the way humans thought about travel. never before had it been possible to imagine conveying large numbers of people simultaneously with such unimaginable speed.

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‘They’re an important part of our heritage,’ adds Steven, who’s also a director of Reefsteamers, one of a small handful of local organisations that run regular steam-powered train trips today.

‘They need to be kept alive so that people can understand what steam trains brought to the world and how they influenced the way people lived – how we travelled and experienced the world once upon a time.

‘There was a time when steam trains were this fantastical thing – little boys would run after trains and there were trainspotting enthusiasts who’d collect locomotive numbers. Train drivers were the plane pilots of their day. The aeroplane is sort of the modern steam train in a way. ‘nowadays, of course,’ says Steven, ‘boarding a steam-driven train is all about slow travel and reliving a historical age. it’s a throwback to yesteryear, when travel was experienced at a considerably gentler pace. Plus, it’s quite a rare experience, since only a handful of operational steam locomotives remain in South africa.’

For many, the wonder of travelling by steam train rather than speeding along the asphalt highway is independence. it’s a kind of luxurious freedom – not having seat belts and being able to walk about, enjoy a drink, read, or simply stare out the window, meditate on the unfolding scenery, and contemplate the moment.

Many passengers rave about the immediacy of the world outside the window and their ‘connectedness’ with the landscapes they’re passing through,

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TRAVEL | STEAM TRAINS

‘IT’S A THROWBACK TO YESTERYEAR, WHEN TRAVEL WAS EXPERIENCED AT A CONSIDERABLY GENTLER PACE’

often reporting that the rhythm of the train and its slower pace enable a nearmeditative state of mind. It all comes down to a sense of being on an unhurried, hassle-free journey, say the regulars.

NOSTALGIC NOTIONS Aside from the connection with another era and the chance truly to engage with the world just beyond the window, the locomotives themselves have nostalgic value, says Steven. Each steam engine not only has a unique number, but drivers would name them, usually after wives or daughters. ‘Depending on her personal history,’ he says, ‘she might have had several names throughout her lifetime.

Generally, her current name will come from the last person to have worked on or driven her.’

Reefsteamers, for example, operates Susan, a big 12-class locomotive who’s the last of her kind left in the world, and Janine, a slightly faster mainline engine. They aren’t all necessarily girls’ names, though, says Steven. ‘Umgeni Steam in Durban has Wesley, who’s obviously a boy!’

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Steam trains occupy a special place in Durban’s transport heritage, since the East Coast city is where the country’s first train ran in June 1860, along a section of track between Market Square and Point Station. The first-ever South African steam engine was called Natal, a green 12-tonne locomotive with black trimming, a huge dome cover of polished brass, and an enormous American-design chimney on its snout shaped like an upside-down dunce’s cap.

Parts for this historic iron horse arrived by sailing ship and were assembled by a former marine engineer, who was also the loco’s first driver.

Memorialising this heritage, Umgeni Steam offers monthly train trips from Kloof’s Stoker’s Arms Station, along the edge of the Valley of 1 000 Hills, to Inchanga, a station dating back to 1895, running along one of the oldest active railway lines in South Africa.

KZN’s other famous resurrected steam journey is the stretch between Ixopo and Carrisbrooke, undertaken by the Alan Paton Express, named to honour Paton’s description of the very same journey in his

cherished novel Cry, the Beloved Country.

The trips are operated by Julian Perreira, an agricultural scientist who developed a passion for steam and the way these engines work after learning of a plan to scrap the old tracks. Now, he and his team also restore and preserve old engines. ‘Our most ambitious project right now,’ says Julian, ‘is the restoration of the very last garret ever built in the world. It comes from Germiston – one of six built in South Africa.’

COAST TO COAST In Cape Town, on the other side of the country, Atlantic Rail runs weekly steam-train trips that offer an altogether different kind of scenery, through the city’s historic southern suburbs and along the Atlantic Ocean coastline, often within metres of the pounding waves.

‘Because the steam trains are so scarce, people pop out of their homes to see us passing by – every week we see them waving,’ says Ian Pretorius, who began the private service after years spent running South African Railways’ heritage service.

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Steam trainS | travel

All AboArd! Atlantic Rail Most runs are between Cape Town and Simon’s Town, but there are also less frequent excursions to two Stellenbosch wine estates. atlanticrail.co.za Friends of the Rail This Pretoria-based organisation runs steam-powered train trips between their private Hermanstad Station and Cullinan. friendsoftherail.com Paton’s Country Narrow Gauge Railway With a trip between Ixopo and Carrisbrooke, the Paton Express operates once a month, but will also run at any time, on demand. pcngr.co.za

pictures: hannes paling, richard sparks, supplied

Reefsteamers This Gauteng-based organisation occasionally runs countrywide trips in conjunction with South African Rail Steam Tours. reefsteamers.com, sarsteamtours.com Sandstone Estates Sandstone Estates has operational steam engines that run on narrowgauge tracks. They have quite a few engines, but instead of regular scheduled trips they have an annual event at which they showcase their equipment and run short steamtrain trips. sandstone-estates.com Umgeni Steam Railway A volunteer-run organisation with monthly excursions along one of the country’s oldest sections of railroad. umgenisteamrailway.co.za

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‘Steam trains were always in my blood,’ says ian. ‘the bug bit me as a child in the 50s, travelling by train between Cape town and Johannesburg. it was a long journey of 26 hours, but with overnight beds, superb meals in the dining car, and hanging out the window, watching the scenery changing. ‘the railway lines didn’t follow the main roads, so you’d get a different perspective – one you wouldn’t get when travelling by car. it was an adventure. i’d stay awake to watch them change the locomotive at different stations along the way. there were specific classes of loco used to handle different situations – main-line locos, for example, and mountain-climbing locos, which were stronger and slower. ‘each steam locomotive has a character of its own,’ explains ian. ‘Some steam better than others, some are stronger than others, and they’re very temperamental.

You have to nurse them. if you get it right, they’re marvellous of course.’ much of that nursing is up to the fireman, who feeds the coal furnace that heats the water to produce the steam that drives the locomotive – precisely the kind of labour-intensive job that fell into abeyance when diesel and electric engines replaced steam locos. ‘the firemen work extremely hard,’ says ian. ‘On an average trip to Simon’s town, we use up to five

tonnes of coal, all of which one man fires with a shovel, making sure the furnace doesn’t lose temperature.’

Plus, says ian, each of atlantic rail’s two locos – built in 1930 and 1948 respectively – use about 5 000 litres of water per trip, filled up at the start and at the midway destination for the return journey. ‘it’s not a piece of equipment where you flip a switch or press a button and it just operates,’ says Shaun ackerman, who drives locomotives for reefsteamers.

‘Steam locomotives are alive. they work with fire and steam, without which they’re just hunks of metal. ‘that technology is all relatively old,’ adds Shaun. ‘not primitive, but old – it’s all pre-1930s stuff. But once you’ve got your locomotive going and you’re on the main line running at the maximum speed we’re permitted to operate, it’s exhilarating. even if 60km/h doesn’t sound like much, on a steam loco it’s pretty fast. When you’re going down that main line and the signals are all green, you’ve got the power at your hands and it’s a serious thrill. ‘there’s something about the feel of the locomotive – generally they’re pretty rough and they shake around and make lots of noise. it’s a totally different atmosphere to anything that you would experience today – unlike anything we associate with modern travel.’

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enrage Touch, pause,

This month, the world’s greatest spectacle of burly men thumping each other into the ground kicks off in sunny olde England.

Craig Ray grabs a pint of warm beer and darts for the line.

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RUGBY WORLD CUP | TRAVEL

R

ugby World Cup. Three simple words that drive people to tears and send nations into delirium or despair. Twenty teams, seven weeks, 48 games, one winner and 19 losers. It’s a cut-throat business, and for many nations, it’s the culmination of years of planning that will either be vindicated or exposed.

The Springboks have twice walked away with the Webb Ellis trophy – in 1995 on home soil and in 2007 in France – and they have a good chance of becoming the first team to win the title a third time. But standing in their way are some significant obstacles, most notably an unkind draw. That means in order to win it, the Boks would have to do it the hard way.

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travel | rugby world cup

The boks, currently ranked second in the world, are in drawn in pool b alongside old adversaries Samoa, Scotland, the uSA and Japan. In terms of ranking, the Springboks should cruise through the group with four wins and advance to the quarterfinals.

If that scenario plays out as it should, the Springboks would meet the runners-up from pool A, dubbed the pool of death, in the quarterfinals. pool A features hosts England, two-time world champions Australia, Six Nations powerhouse wales and dangerous wild card Fiji. only two of those four will reach the last eight.

And if, for argument’s sake, the boks win their quarterfinal against one of those teams, they are then likely to meet the mighty All blacks in a semifinal. It’s a hard road to the world title.

Anyone’s gAme Springbok captain Jean de Villiers, however, isn’t overly concerned with the permutations and vagaries of a draw that appears to be stacked against one of the southern hemisphere giants winning another title (the All blacks have also won two world cups).

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‘To win the world cup means winning seven games – it’s that straightforward,’ Jean says. ‘And when we analyse the draw, it looks like it could be really tough, but you know, the world cup has a funny way of not working out like you think it might.’ our captain speaks from experience. In 2007, the boks beat England 36-0 in the pool phase, seemingly ending England’s realistic hopes of advancing deep into the tournament. yet, five weeks later, the Springboks and England lined up again for the world cup final. Along the way, the All blacks, massive pre-tournament favourites, were beaten by France in the quarterfinals and Australia fell at the same stage to a revitalised England.

In 2011, France lost to both New Zealand and Tonga in the pool phase, but made it to the last eight and then went to the final, only to lose 8-7 to the All blacks.

sA’s PooL A oPPosITIon JAPAn: South Africa has yet to meet Japan on the rugby field, but several key bok players such as Fourie du preez, Schalk burger and Jp pietersen play club rugby in Japan, so they should

have a good understanding of the Japanese approach.

Eddie Jones, who was famously a member of the Springbok management in 2007, coaches Japan. Eddie is an astute operator who’ll extract every ounce of ability from his players. The Asian side offer an up-tempo game but they will be outgunned by the Springboks’ meaty approach. sAmoA: This is the fifth time the Springboks and Samoa have been drawn together at the rwc. In 1995, they met in the last eight, when chester williams famously scored a hat-trick to make the boks triumph 42-14.

Since then, they’ve met in 2003, 2007 and 2011 and each contest has been massively physical, even though the boks have prevailed every time. The last time they clashed four years ago, Samoa came close to causing an upset, with the Springboks winning 13-5 in a spiteful game.

UsA: The sides first met in 1981 and clashed again in 2001 and at the 2007 world cup in Montpellier. rugby is growing in the uS and their recent success in the Sevens series indicates that it’s only a matter of time before

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RugBy woRld cuP | travel

their 15s programme takes a giant leap forward as well.

Springbok wing Bryan Habana will remember SA’s last clash with the USA with mixed emotions. The Boks won comfortably 64-15 eight years ago, but Habana suffered a personal embarrassment. The Bok flyer was the star of the 2007 World Cup and would go on to score a record-equalling eight tries in the tournament, including

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two against the USA. But an unknown American wing named Takudzwa Ngwenya scored one of the tries of the tournament by skinning Habana on the outside. Habana graciously took it in his elegant stride, praising Ngwenya afterwards.

SCOTLAND: The Scots have recently become a tricky subject for the Springboks in the northern hemisphere, and this is certainly not a match South Africa can take lightly.

They’ve only met once at a World Cup – at Murrayfield in 1999 – with South Africa winning 46-29. But in 2002 and 2010, Scotland scored surprise wins over the Boks in Edinburgh, and with an abrasive pack of forwards, they’ll be competitive.

RIVALS FOR THE TITLE NEW ZEALAND: The All Blacks are the reigning world champions and the standard bearers of rugby excellence.

Since the last World Cup (excluding their final Rugby Championship game against Australia), they have played 45 games, winning 41, losing two and drawing two.

It’s been an unprecedented era of success and, with a string of brilliant players to choose from, they’ll be the team to beat.

ENGLAND: Home-ground advantage and some excellent players should ensure they emerge from the Pool of Death. If they top Pool A, they have a good draw to the final, where they have a healthy chance of winning. At the time of going to print, England and SA were the only two teams to beat the All Blacks in the past four years.

IRELAND: Under no-nonsense Kiwi coach Joe Schmidt, the Irish have been in superb form, winning the last two Six Nations crowns, including the Grand Slam in 2014. Their draw is kind, and they should amble to the semifinals, where they could face hosts England.

They can dare to dream.

AUSTRALIA: Emerging from the difficult Pool A is their first target, but if they do that, they’re capable of toppling any side. This team is blessed with huge and dynamic outside backs, and if the forwards provide a solid enough platform, the Wallabies will take some stopping.

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HOPEFULS AND NO HOPERS Only about six teams have a realistic chance of winning the title, but the likes of Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Argentina and Italy could cause the odd upset, while Japan, the USA and Georgia will be competitive.

Sadly, Namibia, Uruguay, Romania and Canada have no hope.

BOKS TO WATCH DUANE VERMEULEN (No 8): This back rower is a vital component of the Boks’ unflinchingly physical approach to the game. He missed the entire Castle Lager Rugby Championships after neck surgery and it might take a few games at the tournament to hit his stride, but once he does, he’ll make a huge impact.

EBEN ETZEBETH (lock): Another huge man cleaved from the same granite as Duane, Eben brings massive physicality but also underrated work rate and skills to the position. He was in superb form during the Rugby Championships and, if he stays fit, will play a huge role in the Springboks’ campaign.

HANDRÉ POLLARD (flyhalf): It appears that coach Heyneke Meyer has settled on Handré as his first-choice pivot and, after some strong displays this season, especially against the All Blacks, it’s a calculated gamble. Only 21, Handré lacks experience but makes up for it with sheer class and confidence. He takes the ball to the gain line with impressive intent and is a very clever general player in open play.

INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS TO PONDER There are so many high-quality players in view at present. Here are just a few who are likely to make a telling impact on the tournament:

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NEMANI NADAOLO (Fiji, wing): The massive 1.96m, 125kg wing is familiar to South Africa audiences, thanks to his marauding runs for the Crusaders in Super Rugby, and he’s going to explode on the world stage in England. Fiji are in the daunting Pool A, but that provides Nemani the perfect stage on which to show his skills. He’s become a force to be reckoned with, after scoring tries in 10 consecutive World Cup qualifying matches for Fiji.

JULIAN SAVEA, (New Zealand, wing): The All Blacks flyer is the most lethal finisher in world rugby, as 30 tries in only 33 tests indicate.

Perched on the wing of a team that sometimes makes it easier for him, Julian has often gone where others dare not tread, scoring tries from seemingly hopeless situations. If the All Blacks advance deep into the tournament, expect him to be near the top of the try-scoring stats.

Others to watch are: Kieran Read (NZ), Sam Warburton (Wales), David Pocock (Australia), Sonny Bill Williams

(NZ), Jesse Kriel (SA) and Courtney Lawes (England).

THE TOURNAMENT The eighth edition of the Rugby World Cup is hosted in England from midSeptember to the end of October, although Wales will host eight matches at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, including one semifinal.

Thirteen stadiums will hold matches across England, with the 81 605-capacity Twickenham – the home of English rugby – in southwest London hosting the opening match between England and Fiji on 18 September, and the final on October 31.

World Rugby, the sport’s governing body, claims that the Rugby World Cup is the third-largest global sporting event after the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, and this year’s edition will be the most watched yet.

In total, 2.45-million tickets have been made available to the public and by late July, 2.15-million of those had already been sold.

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Pool D

Australia

South Africa

New Zealand

France

England

Samoa

Argentina

Ireland

Wales

Scotland

Tonga

Italy

Fiji

Japan

Georgia

Canada

Uruguay

United States

Namibia

Romania

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Into the

past There’s a lot of legacy to be enjoyed all over the country – you just need to know where to look. Will Edgcumbe dusts off the old history book.

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heritage sites | travel

M

ost people think heritage and history are a bit drab, perhaps thanks to that uninspired highschool teacher who was practically a relic himself, droning on about dates and dead people with hard-to-pronounce names.

But without some kind of personal connection, history, although interesting, fails to come alive. that’s a shame, because to listen to the story of a battle being woven on a remote koppie, to visit a listed building and learn about who built it and why, to explore a natural feature unique to our country or to stand at the grave of a person of interest from centuries ago is to understand what it means to be south african. it reminds one that we’re all part of a bigger picture. south africa doesn’t lack for fantastic stories, places and people, and although we all know about robben island, san paintings and the great trek, there’s so much more to our heritage. Drive through any dusty town and you’re likely to find a handful of provincial heritage sites, from an anglo-Boer War blockhouse and a sandstone Dutch reformed Church to the grave of some kickass dead guy and a greenbelt that forms the only breeding ground in the world for a kind of fruit bat.

Best of all, you don’t even need to go looking for this stuff – we’ve come up with a starter list for you to check out.

Saartjie Baartman’S grave Eastern Cape You’d be hard-pressed to find a more tragic story than saartjie (sarah) Baartman’s, or one that shows the casual racism with which europeans treated the nonCaucasian subjects from their colonies.

Born to a Khoisan family near the gamtoos river, saartjie was a slave

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Heritage sites | travel

tHe OWl HOUSe

Battle Of BlOOd river Site

who was taken to england in 1810, where she was exhibited before streams of crowds, entertained by what they thought were her unusual features. she was sold to a Frenchman and exhibited in France, and died destitute on 29 December 1815 of an undetermined disease. after her death, she was dissected by an anatomist and her remains were on display for more than 150 years, before being repatriated to south africa and buried on a hill near the town of Hankey in the gamtoos Valley. at her grave, you can read the poem written about her by Diana Ferrus, and a plaque explaining the significance of her story.

BeaCHWOOd MaNGrOveS NatUre reServe

The Owl hOuse

BaTTle Of BlOOd RiveR siTe

Eastern Cape One night in 1945 in the town of NieuBethesda, as Helen Martins lay ill in bed, she resolved to express her dreams and desires through art, and transform her surroundings into something beautiful. she created sculptures of sun faces, owls and other images, often elaborately patterned with coloured crushed glass embedded in bands of brightly coloured paint. Years of industry transformed Helen’s home into a startling place of fantastic figures and mythical beasts, and although she sadly took her own life in 1976 at the age of 78, her home is now a museum and her work lives on.

049 841 1733, owlhouse.org.za

KwaZulu-Natal One of the most fabled battles in south africa’s history, the Battle of Blood river took place in 1838. Voortrekker leader andries Pretorius and his 470-odd Boer commandos took on Zulu king Dingane’s army of 10 000-20 000 Zulu warriors on the banks of the Ncome (Blood) river, to avenge the lives of Piet retief and his party, killed at Dingane’s command. the Boers laagered their wagons and the ensuing battle left 3 000 Zulu warriors dead, with just three Boers injured. the site is remarkable for its two interpretative centres, each telling the story of the events leading up to the battle from the perspective of each side,

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and the 64 full-sized replica ox wagons are a sight to behold. it’s a sobering place to visit, especially when you consider the battle was fought on 16 December – now commemorated as reconciliation Day. Blood River Monument and Museum Complex 034 632 1695, Ncome Museum and Monument Complex 034 271 8121

BeaChwOOd MaNgROves NaTuRe ReseRve KwaZulu-Natal there’s a pretty amazing place a stone’s throw away from Durban’s CBD and the golden Mile: Beachwood Mangroves Nature reserve. stretching north from the mouth of the Umgeni river, the mangrove swamp forest and estuarine system

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Drakenstein CorreCtional Centre (formerly ViCtor Verster Prison) Western Cape Robben Island tends to get all the play when people think about Nelson Mandela’s incarceration at the hands of the apartheid government, but he served the last 14 months before his release on 11 February 1990 at the then Victor Verster Prison in Paarl. His move here was one of the most significant events in SA’s recent history.

The prison was often used as a stepping stone for releasing lower-risk political prisoners, and is in fact still a working prison (albeit with a new name).

A statue dedicated to Madiba stands outside the prison gates, unveiled on the occasion of his 90th birthday, and is definitely worth a visit the next time you’re in the winelands.

national Women’s monument Free State Also called the Vrouemonument, the deeply moving National Women’s Monument in Bloemfontein was the first monument in the world dedicated to women and children, and was unveiled in 1913 to commemorate the suffering of

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ENOCH SONTONGA’S GRAVE

some 27 000 Boer women and children who died in British concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War. The monument is striking, consisting of a 37m-high obelisk, and a bronze statue of two sorrowful women and a dying child in a camp, with two half-moon-shaped walls forming a horseshoe in front of the statue. The walkway that leads to the monument is lined with memorial stones commemorating those who passed away in the concentration camps during the war. vrouemonument.co.za

NATIONAL WOMEN’S MONUMENT

enoCh sontonga’s graVe

pictures: rute martins of leoa’s photography, kim stevens, renier maritz, salome bothma, supplied

cover 76 hectares, and you can explore it on a raised boardwalk from the southern end. The swamps are home to red, black and white mangroves, as well as beautiful birds, mudskippers and drunkenly lopsided fiddler crabs sifting through the silt. Bear in mind that the reserve is only open to the public on the third Saturday of every month from 8am to 1pm. Visits can also be arranged by appointment.

082 559 2839, kznwildlife.com

Gauteng You might not know his name, but you’ll definitely know one of his works.

Enoch Sontonga was the composer of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, which has been part of our country’s anthem since 1994, and is still the national anthem of Tanzania and Zambia, as well as the official anthem of the ANC since 1925. Born in 1873, Enoch was a teacher and choirmaster, composing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika in 1897.

He died in 1905, but the site of his grave was unknown until it was finally found in Braamfontein Cemetery in the early 1990s. His grave was declared a national monument in 1996, when Nelson Mandela unveiled a memorial at the site and bestowed the South African Order of Meritorious Service (Gold) upon Enoch posthumously.

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RECYCLING | BEHIND THE SCENES

day life A

in the

of a recycling plant

Experts tell us that planet earth is in trouble. Our landfills are chock-a-block, tyres in the ocean are causing plastic islands of waste, and the hole in the ozone is messing with our summers. What can we as consumers do to ease the burden on our planet’s resources?

Justin Nurse sorts and separates.

O

n any given Thursday, there’s a long line of cars and trolleys on an unassuming stretch of road in Bellville, Cape Town, all queuing to get inside the MyPlas recycling plant to convert their plastic into cash. Thursday is payday and cash is king.

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MyPlas is at the coalface of SA’s recycling future. The process is fascinating: bailed (compressed) plastic is what usually gets delivered and paid for by the kilo. It then gets chopped up and ground into flakes before being rigorously washed. The plastic flakes

then get melted and screened (similar to how you’d pan for diamonds), so as to remove any lingering dirt and residue. And then it gets turned into pellets, at which stage necessary virgin plastic additives are included to beef up the quality.

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BEHind tHE sCEnEs | reCYCLING

Cutting and CompaCting

It’s easy enough to learn online what can and can’t be recycled in South Africa, and it’s easier than giving blood – just put your recyclables (paper, cans, glass and plastic) into one clear plastic bag and they’ll do the sorting. Like giving blood, it feels good to be a contributing member of your community.

If we all separated at the source a lot more, we’d be the All Blacks of recycling.

As it currently stands, South Africa is considered one of the world leaders in mechanical recycling. Not bad for a third-world country, hey?

the bigger picture sorting and grinding

The pellets are turned into a variety of different products, ranging from agricultural piping to plastic furniture, drop sheets, toys, stationery and in some cases even back into packaging.

Separation at Source You (yes, you), me, all of us: reduce, reuse, recycle. This much we all understand by now from the environmental movement’s mantra.

How we apply that thinking is through diligence and a sense of civic duty.

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Tell yourself that you don’t want your child to grow up in a world filled with overflowing landfills. Take comfort in the knowledge that someone’s had the genius idea to make some bucks out of your trash as you schlep your carefully separated recycling off to your nearest recycling depot.

First step: visit mywaste.co.za, polyco.co.za or plasticsinfo.co.za and find out where your nearest recycling depot is – usually at a shopping centre or local school.

Let’s zoom out to the bigger picture here quickly. As a country, we use 1.4-million tonnes of virgin plastic each year, and of that, roughly 800 000 tonnes go into packaging. We recycle 290 000 tonnes each year, give or take. In 50 to 60 years, when our oil fields run dry, we’ll run out of plastic. Ouch!

So the plastics-producing industry has plenty of room for growth. And by growth, I really mean shrinking: using lighter packaging, recycling and reusing more to ensure that less plastics end up on the country’s landfills, where a valuable resource is lost forever.

Getting on board with POLYCO and other material recovery organisations

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RECYCLING | BEHIND THE SCENES

GROUND PLASTIC

PREPARING THE PLASTIC FOR WASHING

(MROs), whose mandate is zero plastic waste at landfills by 2030, not just ‘greenwashing’ (outrageously misleading claims on packaging), and adopting a more long-term, ‘what’s in society’s best interests’ bottom-line approach are all things that brand owners and retailers could do a whole lot more.

Here’s what SA’s doing so far:

THE BIG PLAYERS POLYCO is one of SA’s major players, operating as somewhat of a ‘conscience’ for the plastics industry by getting membership buy-in from our plastic producers and then spending that dough on worthy initiatives that increase the recycling rate of polyolefin plastics, typically used in the harder, stronger

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THE GRINDING MACHINE

packaging materials of milk bottles, margarine tubs, ice-cream containers and household cleaning bottles. Apart from POLYCO, the plastics industry has other MROs that focus on specific types of plastics. PETCO supports the recycling of PET bottles; the Southern African Vinyls Association encourages the recycling of products made from PVC; and the Polystyrene Packaging Council drives polystyrene recycling projects around the country.

TROLLEYPRENEURS A ‘trolleypreneur’ is a noble name for the trolley brigades who scour our streets collecting valuable trash from the kerbs and hauling it off to buy-back centres. They can make an average of

R150 a day doing this – if the going’s good. Depending on where you live, the going’s only good if we play our part and provide clean, separated, compacted recycling packaging. Because the thing with plastic is that it’s voluminous.

Pound for pound it’s worth more than scrap metal, but it’s lighter, and there are only so many two-litre milk bottles you can fit in your trolley. By compacting the material, transportation costs are cut down where it matters.

There are various civic and community-driven initiatives nationwide that are attempting to tackle this problem. Recycling speaks to the heart of how we engage with each other as a community, and herein lies the seed to our future success.

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BEHIND THE SCENES | RECYCLING

Whether it’s trolleypreneurs with identifiable bibs patrolling your neighbourhood and keeping your streets clean, or an on-site recycling depot at your office block, it’s really up to each and every one of us to start taking ownership from the get-go.

CLOSE-UP OF A PLASTIC BAIL

PLASTIC PELLETS FOR PIPING

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PLASTIC PELLETS

At this stage of the operation, we see the entrepreneurial spirit alive and kicking.

And truly, if we are to save our asses on earth (that’s if Elon Musk doesn’t whisk us all away to life on another planet first), we’re gonna need market-driven economics to play its part.

The buy-back centres are the link between the trolleypreneurs and the community-driven recycling depots, and then recycling depots such as MyPlas. They are the guys with the bailers and the grinders, the small business owners who rock up on a Thursday at MyPlas with bakkie loads of compacted recycling.

When imagination meets supply and demand at this juncture, entire micro-industries can be the result.

Jimi in Pretoria recycles 20 tonnes of polystyrene a month that goes into mouldings for things such as picture frames and the cornices used on coffins. Oliver from Cape Town is a social entrepreneur who started Street Sleeper, converting used PVC billboards into waterproof, windproof survival sleeping bags for the homeless. Success stories are out there.

So whether you’re a housewife with a handbag or a corporate cool cat with access to the company’s CSR budget, listen up to the truths that have here been proffered and help play your part in shaping SA’s bright recycling future.

pictures: supplied

BUY-BACK CENTRES

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DRIVE | ACTION

Jolly old Jeep Seeing as it’s Heritage Month, David Taylor gets to grips with a brand that has arguably the most heritage of them all: Jeep.

pictures: supplied

F

irst seen in World War II as a troop-carrying vehicle, the humble Jeep has evolved and spawned multiple incarnations. Here’s the Jeep Renegade, the brand’s latest offering.

It’s also one of the first products from the Chrysler-Fiat merger, which means American muscle combined with Italian flair. But does it work?

Essentially, yes. Forget about the Italianness for a second. Just look at it.

The looks are unmistakably Jeep and the vibrant colour only adds to the fun.

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There’s the traditional Jeep grille on the front and, upon closer inspection, you’ll see a little Jeep at the base of the windscreen. The devil’s really in the details here, and you’ll find some Jeep Jerry-can logos located in the tail lamps.

For a bonus point, there’s a Yeti located on the rear windscreen.

The only Fiat involvement in this Jeep is at the heart of the Renegade.

The engine comes from an Alfa Romeo and is a 1.4-litre turbo petrol. There are other engines in the range and a choice of manual, automatic and 4x4. At the moment, it’s the Launch Edition, which deserves your attention as it comes with a number of optional extras, such as sat nav and big wheels thrown in free of charge.

It’s a pleasure to drive too, and the six-speed manual gearbox is slick in operation. You don’t need to fork out extra for the 4x4 version, as this 4x2 Launch Edition has 175mm of ground clearance, meaning kerbs and simple gravel roads are dispatched with ease. If you’re after something more capable, there’s a Trailhawk version.

Whether you take it down a dirt road or are just happy to do the city commute, the Jeep Renegade is a surprisingly competent vehicle, and it offers a lot of car for not a silly amount of money. From its humble beginnings carrying soldiers across Europe, Jeep has come a long way and it continues to offer a lifestyle that few others can match.

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ACTION | DRIVE

FORD MUSTANG

ii This muscle car, made famous by numerous screen appearances, is still going strong. Thanks to the likes of Gone in 60 Seconds and Bullitt, the Mustang has a huge fanbase and Ford is capitalising on this by making the latest version of the Mustang available globally. This means that by the end of 2015, we’ll have the Ford Mustang sold right here in South Africa, complete with a roaring V8 engine.

w

BEETLE u VOLKSWAGEN ii This is probably the most iconic car ever. From its simple people’s car beginnings, the Volkswagen Beetle is still desirable today.

I’m pretty sure while reading this you know someone who has owned a Beetle at some point. Volkswagen recognised this desirability and tried to reincarnate the Beetle. Sadly, it didn’t quite work, but fanatics didn’t care and many were sold.

Five cars that have stood the test of time

COOPER x MINIii This original little British car lives on thanks to the ownership of German car giants BMW. While the MINI of 2015 is substantially larger than the tiny car from back in the day, it still retains its fun-to-drive characteristics.

Despite the range getting oddities like the Countryman and Paceman, the good old Cooper and Cooper S offer charm, performance and cute looks in abundance.

FIAT 500

PORSCHE 911

ii Porsche epitomises the phrase: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’

The 911 is often regarded as the purest sports car and has been on sale since the 1960s. Modern technology has crept into the 911, and while you can fit all the bells and whistles into it, the recipe of rear-wheel drive and rear-mounted engine is still essentially the same. I feel sorry for the engineers who have to start planning the next generation. How do you improve on perfection?

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ii Fiat followed a similar route to BMW/MINI and brought the iconic 500 city car back to life. While the MINI has become quite expensive, the Fiat 500 is still affordable. The original was launched in 1957 and exactly 50 years later, Fiat launched the modern 500. If ever you wanted a city car that’s dripping with cuteness and European charm, then this should be your first port of call. At the time of going to print, the Fiat 500 had just been facelifted internationally.

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text: david taylor; pictures: supplied

Heritage and cars just go together so well.

Despite the continual advancement in car technology, many brands are happy to look back to the past for inspiration.

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PROPERTY | STUFF

A cleaner,

greener home

Commercial cleaning products are more toxic than we realise, but there are organic solutions and products available to keep our homes and environment healthy, says Kerry Hayes.

T

here’s something about spring that gives you a kick up the blossom to dust away the dregs of winter, apply some pine-fresh polish to the old dining table, and generally do a good old clean. I guess that must be why they call it spring cleaning.

One of my favourite scents is the crisp, clinical, no-nonsense twang of bleach, which says to me: ‘My kitchen is clean.’

But that smell alone should be a warning bell as to the toxicity of the bleach to the environment. In fact, there are some eye-opening statistics about the effective – yet detrimental – cleaning products that we use at home every day. Twenty-fiveyear-old ‘green’ company Organic Cleaning have shared these scary stats:

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• Only 30% of the 17 000 petrochemicals available for home use have been tested for their effects on human health and the environment.

• 150 of the chemicals commonly found in our homes have been linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer, and psychological abnormalities.

• Only 1% of toxins is required to be listed on labels, because companies classify their formulas as ‘trade secrets’.

• In the past 50 years, more than 75 000 chemicals have been introduced into the environment. Today, 300 synthetic chemicals can be found in human bodies.

• Bleach, paint stripper and carpet cleaners used in the home can cause wheezing and asthma in children.

So with the movement towards greener living, it’s a good thing there are some brilliant organic cleaning alternatives out there!

THE BASIC ARSENAL • Lemon juice has the ability to kill mould, cut through grease, and leave a beautiful shine on glassware.

• Olive oil mixed with some lemon juice will leave your wooden furniture glistening and smelling fresh.

• Vinegar, with its naturally acidic nature, can dissolve grease and it makes a great kitchen and bathroom surface cleaner. Mix one cup of vinegar with water and use it to give mirrors and windows a glossy shine.

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STUFF | PROPERTY

• Baking soda has an abrasive quality that will remove stains in the kitchen and bathroom. It can even clean the inside of an oven, and has the benefit of deodorising at the same time. Add some salt, and you’ll have a powerful scrubbing solution.

SUCK IT UP While you have your spring-cleaning hat on, what about all that dust? It has to be one of the most dogged, persistent, recurring indoor pollutants, especially if you live away from the sea. It makes sense that dusting your home with a duster or rag simply moves the dust around, so it’s agitated into the air, and then reintroduced into the same living environment – particularly hazardous to asthmatics and allergy sufferers. And if you have a conventional canister vacuum cleaner like mine, then you'll know it seems to have a blind spot where dust is concerned.

Enter the central vacuum system, which is built into the walls of your home and sucks up the dust to vent it outside, away from your interior and nose. Bonus: these systems are less noisy, and add selling value to your home as well!

STAY CALM AND BREATHE While a good vacuum and organic clean can remove many of the settled pollutants in your home, the air can carry germs and bacteria that are not conducive to a healthy living environment. A super way to clear and moisturise the air is with a humidifier. There are five basic types of humidifiers available: • Central humidifiers are built into the heating/air-con systems of your home.

• Ultrasonic humidifiers emit a cool mist with an ultrasonic vibration.

• Impeller humidifiers also produce a cool mist, using a rotating disc.

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SEPTEMBER 2015

YOUR BASIC ORGANIC CLEANING KIT Baking soda, vinegar and lemon.

• Evaporators blow air through a wet wick, filter or belt with a fan.

• Steam vaporisers use electricity to cool steam created inside the machine before pushing it out into the air.

Different humidifiers are used for different purposes, from easing the effects of a cold, to moisturising dry air and settling dust. One global technology innovator even has a type of technology based on the humidifier function, called a Virus Doctor. Using plasma ion technology, the Virus Doctor generates negative ions that eliminate airborne viruses, bacteria fungi, mould and allergens, as well as neutralise the harmful active oxygen (OH radical) for cleaner and healthier indoor air quality.

With thanks to Beyond Green, Guardian Technologies, Organic Cleaning and Samsung.

For more inspiring home and décor ideas, visit sahomeowner.co.za.

If you aren’t the DIY-cleaningproduct type, there are more companies than you may realise offering products and services to clean the green way: • Blendwell Chemicals produce cleaning products that are biodegradable, reduce our carbon footprint, are eco-friendly and include biological cleaners.

• Bloublommetjieskloof products are certified biodynamic and organic.

• Dynachem uses its own carefully selected bacterial strains to create a range of cleaning products.

• Enchantrix products contain organically grown essential oils, pure spring water, and a combination of two superior soaps that are safe and biodegradable.

• Geochem products are carcinogenic, mutagenic, persistent, bioaccumulative and toxin-free.

• HYGivit cleans with saturated dry steam, a natural and ecologically harmless method of deep sanitising that removes chemical and toxicity resistance between the surface and dirtiness without using solvents.

• Just Great Imports cleans, purifies and revitalises air by means of an aqua filter.

• Pescathech is an ergo-clean mop system, with ergonomic handle, mop plate, microfibre mop cloth, which reduces water and chemical consumption by up to 65%.

• Silver Signature manufactures biodegradable guest amenities, Sappi’s Triple Green range of 100%-recyclable toilet paper, and chlorine-free serviettes made from sugarcane fibre.

Courtesy of greenstuff.co.za.

pictures: supplied

SHO’T LEFT TO THE GREENER CLEANER

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STUFF | business

What kind of leader do you want to be remembered as when you leave your current job? Katherine Graham believes defining legacy goes a long way to understanding the mark you’ll leave on the organisation you work for.

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eritage is one of those intangible qualities – difficult to capture in words, but easy to recognise. it’s the same when it comes to the legacy leaders leave behind when they resign or retire. Think of nelson Mandela – the humility and desire for reconciliation that characterised his presidency. Or steve Jobs, the innovator, or Jack Welch, the eradicator of inefficiency. On the negative side, consider sepp blatter who, despite his achievements at FiFA, will always be remembered for the massive corruption he left in his wake.

How do you define legacy and wHy is it so important? simply put, legacy is what you’ll be remembered for when you leave an organisation. ‘A legacy is not necessarily about the products and services you leave behind, but more about the people who will continue to carry on your vision after you’ve left,’ says business coach izak strauss.

A legacy is a living testament of the body of work you’ve built up to date and your professional integrity, which is why it’s crucial to always leave on good terms when you resign. ‘never burn bridges,’ warns Jason bernic of Old Mutual Wealth.

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'People of the past will introduce you to people of the future, and one door will open another.’

wHat kind of legacy do you want to leave beHind?

This will depend on your value systems, and unique skills and talents.

‘You should aim to leave a positive legacy, a legacy of person-guided values and achieving great company

results,’ explains Frank Magwegwe of Momentum Retail. Anyone in an organisation can achieve this, he believes, not just those in management. However, Frank argues that it’s difficult for CeOs of state and listed companies to develop a legacy if their tenure is too short.

An integral part of leaving a legacy is succession planning, something many business owners fail to do. ‘if you think to yourself: “i built this business from scratch and no one can run it like i do,” you'll never invest in people to manage the transition to new management,’ asserts izak. ‘As a consequence, when you leave abruptly or pass away, everything will be in a shambles.’

A much better strategy is to groom leaders who’ll carry your vision forward, ensuring the company doesn’t fall apart in your absence. ‘ideally, you would want your organisation’s good reputation to continue long after you’ve left,’ adds izak.

celebrating legacy Management would do well to make the most of the legacies left behind by exceptional leaders and employees.

‘Companies should tap into an employee’s legacy by maintaining contact with them since they are still highly regarded,’ says Frank.

Jason believes it’s important to celebrate the legacy left by former employees. ‘When current employees see management remembering the positive contributions of their predecessors, rather than belittling them, a wonderful staff spirit is fostered, which will continue to attract good people to the company.’

picture: freepik.com

How to leave a legacy

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Spring Allergies Spring is in the air, and so are billions of tiny pollens that could trigger allergy symptoms in many people. This condition is called seasonal allergic rhinitis, commonly referred to as hay fever. Allergic rhinitis is an extremely common illness that is often mistaken for an ordinary cold. However, rhinitis may develop into more severe problems, such as asthma. Hay fever can affect your quality of life. It can lead to sinus infections, disrupt your sleep, and affect your ability to learn at school or be productive at work.

SYMPTOMS Allergy symptoms occur when your immune system overreacts to an allergen – something that is usually harmless, such as plant pollen, dust mites or mould.

If you have an allergy, your immune system behaves as if the allergens are dangerous, releasing a chemical called histamine, which then causes the allergy symptoms. If the allergen is something you breathe in from the air, your reaction will most likely affect your eyes, nose and lungs.

HOW DOES THE TEST WORK? Together with your doctor, you can discuss which allergens to test for. Your doctor will take a small blood sample and send it to a laboratory for analysis. The test is quantitative and measures the amount of allergy antibodies in the blood (IgE), which is an indicator of allergic sensitisation. Based on a physical examination, your case history and the results, your doctor will be able to make a proper diagnosis.

THE RESULTS CAN HELP OPTIMISE TREATMENT The test results can help identify your unique allergy profile. With this information, you and your doctor would be able to tailor an individual action plan to reduce exposure to those triggers, which will: • decrease the symptoms; • decrease the risk of a severe allergic reaction; and • decrease the need for medication.

A negative test result can help your doctor rule out specific allergies as a trigger of the symptoms, and the search for the true cause can continue. This means you or your child can avoid taking unnecessary measures to reduce exposure. It also means you can avoid taking allergy medications (such as antihistamines) when they aren’t truly needed. You are not exposed to any allergens during the testing procedure, so there is no risk of allergic reactions.

ASK YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT A BLOOD TEST FOR ALLERGY A blood test can test for hundreds of allergens, such as weeds, trees, pollen, mould, food, and animal dander. Adults and children of any age can take a blood test, and it can be performed irrespective of skin condition, medication, symptom, disease activity and pregnancy. Any doctor can take the blood sample and request the test, and the tests are covered by medical aid. Allergies are very common and we often treat the symptoms, without finding the cause!

Visit info.thermoscientific.com/AllergyGuide_SouthAfrica to download your free Allergy e-book

Are the symptoms really signs of allergy?

Nasal congestion/sneezing, itchy/watery eyes and nose:

65%

• of patients diagnosed as having allergic rhinitis and prescribed antihistamine may not be allergic. 1, 2 Wheezing, coughing, breathing problems:

•

60%

Dry skin, pruritus, scratching:

30%-70%

• of infants and young children with eczema have underlying allergy. 3, 6

Rule in or rule out allergy early – ask your doctor for a specific IgE blood test to increase certainty Visit www.isitallergy.co.za to complete your Allergy Profile

Reveal the secrets behind

the allergy-like symptoms A single blood test that helps you to rule in or rule out allergy References: 1. Szeinbach SL, et al. J Manag Care Pharm. 2004 May–Jun;10(3): 234–8. 2. Welsh NR, et al. J Am Pharm Assoc 2006; 46(5): 627. 3. Host A, et al. Allergy. 2003 Jul; 58(7): 559–69.4. Milgrom H. AAAAI news release. Milwaukee, WI: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; June 17, 2003. 5. Allen-Ramey F. J Am Board Fam Pract. 2005; 18(5):434–9.

6. Spergel JM. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2008; 9(4): 233–44.

ThermoFisher Scientific 197 Fabriek Street Strijdom Park Randburg 2125. Tel 011 792 6790 Fax 011 793 1064 www.isitallergy.co.za www.thermoscientific.com/phadia/en-za

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90%

of children and of adults with asthma have allergy. 3-5

2015/02/09 4:22 PM

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HEALTH | STUFF

Secrets to a long life Don’t kick the bucket just yet, says Raina Julies. Not until you’ve tried these health tips.

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t’s certainly no secret that eating right holds a host of benefits for you. So why aren’t we all living well beyond the normal life-expectancy age?

Well, because health information is a moving target!

Atkins one day, Banting the next. It’s simply becoming a minefield of dos and don’ts as health gurus develop ‘new’ food rules, when the tried-and-tested staples are all you really need.

picture: freepik.com

OLD RULES TO LIVE BY Real food. Eat anything that’s grown naturally and doesn’t display a facts label about its nutritional value.

Red wine. Now don’t open up a bottle and aim to finish it because you believe your heart needs extra care. Have one glass a night if you’re a lady and two if you’re a guy.

Fish, fish and more fish. Cold-water fish, such as salmon, sardines, tuna, trout, anchovies, herring and mackerel are excellent sources of high-quality protein, healthy fats and naturally occurring vitamins and minerals.

Never skip breakfast. You’ve fasted for the past eight hours, so give your body a boost of energy with a good healthy breakfast.

Fat-free and low-fat foods are always the healthier option. This is only true for dairy products and meat. But with salad dressing for instance, those made with healthy monounsaturated fats – such as olive or canola oil – may help prevent heart disease and other conditions. And a low-fat option without some fat impacts negatively on your digestive tract, as it won’t absorb most of the nutrients in the salad.

OLD MYTHS TO IGNORE

Chicken skin is a no-no. Baking, boiling, grilling or roasting poultry with the skin intact helps preserve its natural juices.

Cook with the skin, and then remove before serving.

Eggs are bad for you. About 25% of the cholesterol in your blood comes from food.

The other 75% is manufactured by the liver, which produces a lot of cholesterol when

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you eat saturated fat. And guess what: eggs are low in saturated fat.

Raw carrots are better than cooked.

Cooking actually increases the nutritional value of carrots. The process breaks down the tough cellular walls that encase the beta-carotene.

Margarine vs butter.

Butter and margarine have about the same number of calories.

But while margarine (made from vegetable oils) was created as a healthier alternative to butter (which contains cholesterol and saturated fat), some margarines are actually unhealthy because they contain trans fats, which have even more adverse effects on cholesterol and heart health. If you choose margarine, look for trans-fat-free brands.

Nuts are cheese burgers in disguise.

Nuts are an excellent source of protein, as long as you keep servings to a handful.

Researchers found that women who ate a handful of nuts about five times a week were 20% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Additionally, several studies found that a regular intake of nuts protects against heart disease.

Frozen and canned fruits and veggies are less nutritious. Fresh fruit and vegetables are more nutritious than the frozen and canned variety, that’s if you’re eating them straight after picking! But if you’re buying them from a produce store, after it has gone through a lengthy journey to get there, the natural enzymes have in all likelihood already been released, causing them to lose nutrients. By contrast, food processors quick freeze fresh-picked produce, which preserves most of its vitamin and mineral content.

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COLUMN | STUFF

Loudly South African

Ben Trovato on why we should be proud – and happy – to live in Mzansi.

illustration: pete woodbridge

I

doubt I’ll ever want to emigrate. Life on the southern tip of Africa is way too entertaining. Besides, it’s not as if I have a broad range of choices. As the product of an educational system that offered only Afrikaans as a second language, I’m pretty much restricted to English-speaking countries. None of which, I might add, will have me.

Britain is all very well if you can live with three days of sunshine a year, which I can’t.

Australia is also an option, but the chance of running into a disenchanted South African is almost more terrifying than the prospect of encountering that other unpredictable creature: the kangaroo.

Canada is too cold and New Zealand too wet. That leaves America, a sprawling beast of a country with a sprawling beast of a population.

Right now, I’m happy where I am. From where I’m sitting, I can see a family of Cape clawless otters. Under the cover of darkness, they have scampered in off the beach and are having a seafood party in my pool. In the morning, I’m going to have to fish out a bunch of crayfish shells. If only I could train them to leave a few live ones for me.

A troop of chacma baboons has moved onto the hillside behind my house.

Sometimes I come home to find them rooting around in the fridge, sleeping on the couch or watching the Discovery Channel. My wife says they’re becoming more like me by the day.

It’s not just our indigenous fauna that makes South Africa’s natural heritage so special. Our flora, too, is quite spectacular.

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Our national flower the protea is a protected species. Our national cricket team is named after the protea, but they’re only considered an endangered species when they play against Australia.

Fynbos is unique to the Cape Floristic Kingdom and you’ll be fined if you’re caught picking it. Cannabis sativa is unique to KwaZulu-Natal and you’ll be arrested if you smoke it.

The central image on our coat of arms is a secretary bird, a graceful creature capable of pinning you to the ground and pecking your eyes out.

Canada’s national bird is the common loon. Draw your own conclusions.

The motto on our coat of arms is !ke e: /xarra //ke. No one outside of the |Xam tribe knows what it means and most South Africans think it’s some sort of computer code.

Our national anthem is made up of four or five languages. And when it comes to the national animal, we have the springbok. France has a chicken. Our rugby team is also called the Springboks.

The French once accused us of playing like animals. This made us feel proud.

Our national fish is the galjoen. Like South African men holed up in bars, the galjoen will fight to the death. Cooked over an open fire, however, our national fish tastes better than our national drunk.

When it comes to trees, the yellowwood wins. Given that we grill our national fish and braai our national animal, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that we make tables and chairs out of our national tree.

Finally, there are five national orders that the president bestows on exemplary citizens, none of whom have been me.

Not yet, anyway.

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khlassifieds Like stuff? Like buying stuff? Wanna know what stuff to buy?

Then look no further than our new ads directory.

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