Private Edition Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty 18

ISSUE 13

RING MASTERS RIPPLING ABS AND ABSOLUTE CONTROL

IN DEEP

THE DARK SIDE OF BLACK GOLD

RARE FINDS

HOT FRENCH DATES AND ARTFUL TICKNOLOGY

HIDDEN ASSETS

SIX APPEAL IT’S ABOUT POWER AND TECHNIK

A Q U E S T FO R D E P T H .

ROYAL OAK OFFSHORE DIVER Designed and developed for deep-sea exploration, the Royal Oak Offshore Diver is equipped with a dedicated divingscale on an inner rotating dial ring and meets the demanding criteria of the Swiss watch industry diver’s watch norms. Water-resistant to 300 metres. Stainless steel case. Proprietary selfwinding calibre 3120, all parts finely decorated; oscillating weight engraved with the AP monogram as well as the Audemars and Piguet family crests.

BOUTIQUE HAUTE HORLOGERIE, HYDE PARK SHOPPING TEL. 011.325.4119 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT ARCHITECTS OF TIME 011.669.0790 www.audemarspiguet.com

IRELAND/DAVENPORT 67139

PERfORMaNCE aRT. The new BMW 6 Series Coupé captures the sporty yet elegant character of a classic coupé in a design so dynamic it seems to move, even when standing still. A wide stance and muscular wheel arches highlight precise handling, while a flowing roofline and elongated proportions suggest effortless power. Even on the inside, elegant curves and

top-quality finishes reflect unique refinement and sporty appeal. For more information go to www.bmw.co.za/6

THE NEW BMW 6 SERIES COUPÉ.

The new BMW 6 Series Coupé is available in 640i, 640d and 650i.

BMW 6 Series CoupĂŠ

www.bmw.co.za/6

Sheer Driving Pleasure

BMW. Official vehicle partner to the Springboks.

Engraved gold version of the first CORUM automatic baguette-shaped movement.

shop 55, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton / Tel /Fax (011) 784 4062 info@bellagiojewellers.co.za / www.bellagiojewellers.co.za

Linear-winding automatic movement, 18K red gold case with sapphire crystal sides and back.

Each office is independently owned and operated.

CONTENTS

44 12

ED’S LETTER

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The theme for this issue is ‘hidden assets’ – there are some more obvious ones too, but we love the unexpected triumphs revealed in top-end creations and careers.

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PSST

Fine wines travel the world to reach savvy investors while obsessive watch collectors indulge in their favourite passion.

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Sophisticated adornments, in ya face cars, and clothing to die for.

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OLLING WITH R THE PUNCHES

VINTAGE RESERVE

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I ’M ALWAYS IN THE KITCHEN AT PAIRINGS Harmony and contrast star in a culinary performance.

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DRIVING FORCE Get that top-down feeling in the BMW 6 Series Convertible or the 1 Series M Coupé.

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Moët & Chandon teases our palates with a dream vintage.

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NEST EGGS Will Fabergé’s new clutch appreciate as much as the last one did?

Brawn vs brains? Not quite. This one’s a beautiful, intelligent fighter.

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VEN STEVENS: E INVESTMENT

IN DEEP WATER Oil riggers brave a hostile environment to hunt for black gold.

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OUT OF THIS WORLD The Audi A6 traces the tread tracks of former champions on Formula 1 turf. OF THIS

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Cover shot by Mark Cameron. Alzheimers South Africa ambassador Chad Melhuizen, represented by Outlaws, wears G-Star Raw. Styling: Suzannah Garland. Hair and make-up: Merle Titus, represented by Infidels. Postproduction: Clone.

CONTENTS

A boxing match is like a cowboy movie. There’s got to be good guys and there’s got to be bad guys. And that’s what people pay for - to see the bad guys get beat.

- sonny liston 54

68

72

76

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If you’re looking for adventure, try white-collar boxing.

GRACE UNDER FIRE Discipline drives Mapula Bodibe, MTN’s General Manager: Consumer Segment to succeed.

BATTLEFIELDS AND BOUNTY Malta is the destination for prospective South African property owners.

AFRICA ‘LITE If you are keen on low carbon footprints and getting up close and personal in the wild, head for Zambia.

AUSPICIOUS RETREATS Take the tranquillity of a luxury wilderness retreat or ocean-facing splendour. Or both.

BY THE WAY Travel goes extra-continental.

PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK CAMERON

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RING MASTERS

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LEFTFIELD 24/08

Val de Vie is South Africa’s only luxury wine and polo estate, situated a mere 45 minutes from Cape Town on the historic Franschhoek Wine Route. Surrounded by majestic mountains and bordering the flowing Berg River, Val de Vie is truly situated in paradise. Home to the most comprehensive collection of award winning Rhône varietal wines in South Africa, the historic wine cellar has over 185 years of heritage, producing some of the finest wines in the country.

With activities to suit the needs of every individual, you'll soon discover that life is full of possibilities at Val de Vie.

EDITOR

Zoning in to indulgence – be it material, physical or psychological – gives meaning to the joyous luxury of living. The payoff?

Pure pleasure.

EDITOR LES AUPIAIS privateedition@tppsa.co.za PUBLISHER MARK BEARE CREATIVE AND FASHION DIRECTOR SUZANNAH GARLAND EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION ASSISTANT JACQUI TURNER COPY EDITOR DEBBIE HATHWAY, RIEKIE HUMAN ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER NIC MORKEL 021 488 5926 082 468 6490 nmorkel@tppsa.co.za

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Ms Lasley (in compensation for the rig ordeal) got to play with Fabergé’s new collection of eggs – their first since the Russian Revolution. (page 40) Ranging at close to between R1 million and R4 million each, they’re for serious collectors who appreciate old-world craftsmanship combined with new-world materials. Why the mix for this edition? At a SALA (South African Luxury Association) event on the challenges and opportunities inherent in marketing and selling luxury to China, I spoke briefly to guests and members about what luxury means to Private Edition. On one level, yes, it is about investing in the world’s rare and beautiful goods and gadgetry but, on the other, it’s also allowing time for rare experiences, great service, sports and pastimes that take you into the ‘zone’. We’d like to think we are artfully unpredictable every issue when we do so. There are no seasonal themes, no trends to follow and no obvious celebrities in PE. There’s quite enough of that about. We’re loving the response from the country’s most talented photographers who, based on a theme we’d like to explore, are given artistic freedom by our creative and fashion director Suzannah Garland to ‘just shoot’.

AD SALES CO-ORDINATOR SIMONE JACOBS 021 488 5928 sjacobs@tppsa.co.za EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS MARK BEARE, JOHN MORKEL HR MANAGER JOLINDA KEMP ACCOUNTS NAEEMA ABRAHAMS KAUTHAR CERFF ELMON SEARLE OFFICE MANAGER MARCHÉ JASON RECEPTIONIST TESSA MBANGA PRIVATE EDITION IS PUBLISHED BY

Private Edition is published by The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd, 9th Floor, Tarquin House, 81 Loop Street, Cape Town 8001. Copyright: The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd 2010. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent from The Publishing Partnership or the authors. The publishers are not responsible for any unsolicited material. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Publishing Partnership or the editor. Editorial and advertising enquiries: PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018; tel: 021 424 3517; fax: 021 424 3612; email: privateedition@ tppsa.co.za. Reproduction: Hirt & Carter.

Printing: ABC Press. ISSN: 2218-063X Private Edition is produced using certified paper from GOLDEAST PAPER CO LTD, an accredited company committed to environmental protection. The paper is made from legally harvested trees using environmentally friendly materials. The supplier is subjected to regular environmental audits.

PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK CAMERON. TRENCH COAT: BURBERRY, SCARF: LOUIS VUITTON

SWEAT EQUITY. That’s usually the term for effort versus reward in business. When it comes to white-collar boxing, it’s a tad more literal. André Wiesner finds out that the sport’s ‘character building, highly disciplined, takes massive commitment and gets you in bloody good shape’. (page 54) Our photo-essay, ‘Ring Masters’, brilliantly captured by photographer Mark Cameron, drops you an arm’s length from a left hook and into the heart of the club and locker room where you can practically smell the leather and feel the heat of the moment. Men who mine for black gold are a little less gentile.

Tabitha Lasley’s investigative feature on the life of oil riggers who live hard and play harder – ‘I could be dead tomorrow, I’m going to enjoy life while I’m here’, – took her on to a North Sea rig and into nightclubs for the other side of the game. (page 44) The safety drill she did was compulsory and she was ‘waterboarded’ to pass the survival test. While Tabitha learnt to hold her breath under water for what seemed to her to the edge of consciousness, we sent Kathy Malherbe to Abu Dhabi in July where the ambient temperature was 44 degrees Fahrenheit, which was a bit like living in a tumble drier on max. (page 50) Her payoff was testing the Audi A6 on the Yas Marina Circuit and she concluded that it was a car that worked its way into your psyche in the time it took it to accelerate from 0 to 60km/h. She also dined 200 storeys up at the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai for a jet’s eye view of the city. From extreme architectural folly to extreme artistry,

ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVES SAMEEGHA SAMAAI 021 488 5938 078 356 9521 ssamaai@tppsa.co.za SIMON TULLY 021 488 5944 083 500 4888 stully@tppsa.co.za

CONTRIBUTORS MARK CAMERON

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TABITHA LASLEY

some of the world’s most hostile environments. ‘What shocked me most was the way they got so quickly inured to the possibility of death or serious injury on the job. They’re brave and pragmatic. They just treat it as another occupational hazard.

I was impressed – I barely survived my BOSIET (Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training), and that was in a swimming pool!’

ANDRÉ WIESNER

André Wiesner is a professional writer, who lives in a swish mountainside villa in Cape Town with his wife, two dogs, three children and the occasional visiting cobra. Born in 1967, he studied English and politics at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

He played Beetle Bailey in the army as the Berlin Wall collapsed, then returned to UCT as Andy Capp to while away the rest of his twenties by writing a Master’s thesis on violence under the supervision of J.M. Coetzee. André dug J.M. and succeeded in making him laugh – twice, loudly. After this career peak there was nothing left to do but join the masses and get a job, first as a hustling freelancer, then as a portal news editor in the Wild West of the Internet, post-9/11 as a tenured lecturer in media studies at UCT, and then, post-resignation, as … well, a hustling freelancer. André has won awards for his work (Mondis, PICAs, and all that), and was once Journalist of the Year. Which year it was escapes him completely, but he claims he has trophies and some photocopies as proof.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

Mark Cameron was born in Swaziland in 1969, and spent most of his schooling in different South African cities. He studied photography at the then Technikon Natal in Durban with the idea of becoming a wildlife photographer. While there, he developed an interest in fashion and portraiture, and focused his final thesis, ‘Soul Images’, on the concept of shooting ‘real people’ in both fashion and portraiture. He started shooting professionally in 1993 and has since worked mainly in fashion and advertising. Mark has shot covers and editorials for many of South Africa’s top magazines (Elle, Marie Claire, Sports Illustrated Swimwear, Cosmopolitan, GQ, FHM and Glamour Magazine). He has also shot for foreign publications such as the German Maxim and Bloom Magazine (Paris). The concept of shooting ‘real people’ still interests him and he has been able to indulge in that during some Woolworths retail campaigns, featuring South African icons such as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and Lucas Radebe, among others. His advertising portfolio includes work for Elizabeth Arden, Garnier, Nivea, CocaCola, Yardley, Wonderbra, Guess Jeans, Shell, Coty, Marks & Spencer, Lenthéric, L’Oréal, Oriflame, Matalan and Shimansky. Mark is energetic and loves to be outdoors when he’s not working. He enjoys downhill mountain bike racing, dirt jumping and trick riding, walking his dog and wildlife trips to safari lodges. Mark is married to his wife, Henri, and they have two sons, Elijah and Jude.

Tabitha Lasley backed into a career in journalism after her recruitment consultant sent her to the wrong interview. Still, it hasn’t turned out too badly. She spent three years in London as a travel journalist (which meant dividing her time between flopping about in expensive hotels and quizzing C-list celebrities on their favoured brand of sun cream) before moving to Johannesburg in 2009 to pursue a freelance career. She now writes for Private Edition, Marie Claire, Elle, Glamour Magazine, Food & Home, Cosmopolitan, Wanted, W and Fair Lady on food, fashion, beauty, travel and sex. This issue, she talked to men on the front line of the oil industry about the risks – and rewards – of work in

Emanuels Jewellers Exclusive Watches and Jewellery, Shop 51, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton.

Cherry Design Shop G318, Gateway Shopping Centre, Umhalnga.

Mauritius Adamas Ltd, Mauritius, Adamas Center, Floreal.

Tel: +27 11 784 1337 Fax: +27 11 784 1471 Tel: +27 31 566 5665

Tel : +230 696 5246 / +230 686 5246

Psst

UTTERLY RANDOM AND OCCASIONALLY TACTICAL TRIVIA

NEVER TOO RICH OR TOO THIN

Elegant, refined and functional – these Cartier accessories can make it on to anybody’s wish list as long as they have style on their agenda

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Never did the adage ‘never too rich or too thin’ fit quite as neatly than with Cartier’s extra-flat Ballon Bleu and the Ligne Sellier document holder. The watch feels weightless on the wrist and plays with the notion of being neither masculine nor feminine in a style that is both classic and futuristic. The winding mechanism is decorated with a sapphire cabochon with a glass that magnifies the numbers and distorts time. The Roman numerals, in a rather wanton display of individualism, stray from their usual path. The dial and sword-shaped hands create a narrative, but the wearer may choose between a platinum case with blue alligator-skin strap or 18-carat pink-gold case and brown alligator-skin strap. It is a sliver of artistry and mechanical finesse. And if you’re wrapping up the deal of the century and there’s paperwork to be signed, then it should be slipped into the equally slim, elegant, saddle-stitched document holder in ebony-coloured grained calfskin, with one internal zipped pocket, one computer compartment, one holder for keys, two pen holders, and two telephone pockets (one small and one large). Talk about keeping a low profile ... For further information, visit www.cartier.com.

TEXT: LES AUPIAIS. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

Cartier’s Ballon Bleu and Ligne Sellier

AN AUDI RELEASE

A8 L Redefines Excellence See it at the Johannesburg International Motor Show in October.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

Space and comfort are high priorities in the A8 L, which offers significantly more head room than its competitors. The full-on luxury driving experience is further enhanced with a glass sunroof and electric sun blinds in the rear windows. Clean, functional lines create a gentle “wave� flowing around the driver and front seat passenger.

Elegance is optimised in the car with soft leather finishes and top-end accessories

Audi is getting bigger and better, quite literally, with the introduction to South Africa of two magnificent long-wheelbase models to its A8 range. The Audi A8 L is notable for its superlative luxury, top quality craftmanship and impressive performance credentials. What sets it apart are its engine choices: the 4.2 TDI twin-turbo V8 diesel, which is the only diesel long-wheelbase model available in SA, and the 6.3-litre W12 FSI petrol engine. Beyond standard fittings like rear seat entertainment consoles, rear MMI controller and Bluetooth wireless headsets, there are optional ventilation and pneumatic massage functions built in to the individual seats.

Never mind the driver controls, this is back-seat driving de luxe

JHB 32771

Power attracts power.

The new Audi A8 L 6.3 W12.

Witness the powerful sovereignty of the Audi A8 long wheelbase.

With an outstanding degree of comfort in the rear, the Audi A8 L welcomes you to your very own sphere of relaxation and comfort. An interior that exudes quality craftsmanship, from the finest leather to the highest quality wood. The potent range of FSI® and TDI engines gives it breathtaking responsiveness and performance.

With the sublimely powerful new 6.3 W12 engine now available, the Audi A8 L ensures that you’ll never be short on power. Even when you’re sitting in the back seat.

Visit audi.co.za for more details.

Official fuel consumption for the Audi A8 L range: From 7.8l / 100km - 12.4l / 100km. CO2 emissions from 204g/km - 290g/km (combined). 5 year / 100 000km Audi Freeway Plan standard.

The figures given were calculated using specific operating conditions. These figures are indicative only and may vary according to the conditions under which the vehicle is operated.

PSST LIFESTYLE

HITTING THE BIG TIME IN DURBS TEXT: LES AUPIAIS AND HANNAH MOORE. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

Movie: Florida Road

When American producer/director Brad Glass finally made the independent feature film that he began dreaming up over a decade ago, he chose South Africa as his location. Set in Durban and named after the city’s trendy entertainment strip, Florida Road has already won numerous international accolades and is set to hit the local silver screen in October this year. The film was written and also produced by Fred Fontana. The cast of local and international actors features Bollywood heartthrob Ashmit Patel (The Flag; Banaras) in the lead role. Denton Douglas handled the local casting and sought out the likes of Vicky Davis (7de Laan), Corine du Toit (Egoli) and Cokey Falkow (Doomsday; Americano). The casting of these stars was not coincidental, but rather a deliberate step in the right (financial) direction. When investors heard that the movie would include Bollywood headliners and local favourites, it was an incentive to open their wallets.

The movie also received support from the Durban Film Office, whose acting CEO Toni Monty was delighted to present the city as another top film location in South Africa. Glass explains that the story 'resonates through all cultures; it’s really a love story about a father and a son'.

A quiet manner and a vigorous style When your art master gives you 100 percent for your art project and then buys the piece, you’ve pretty much got the thumbs up when it comes to a career. It sparked Laurens Barnard’s frenetic journey as a visual arts practitioner, until film intervened. He enrolled as a fine arts student, but the lure of the cinematic industry made him change genres midstream. Barnard was involved in 800 film productions spanning a fecund 25 years.

Having returned to painting, the Stellenbosch-based artist draws inspiration from a specific visual flow peculiar to the art of filmmaking. His technique and style, while reminiscent of the 20th century French Fauvist and German Expressionist school, has an emphasis on humour and an underlying concern with the ambiguities of gender-related issues. For further information, visit www.laurensbarnard.com.

AN ICONIC MODEL Montblanc Eyewear

Extremely lightweight, luxurious and contemporary, wood is the star of these elegant double-bridge aviator glasses. The design is inspired by tradition and artistic craftsmanship, creating glasses with a unique rosewood and ebony wood grain.

They are embedded with the iconic star. This model is also available in versions with a dark grey front and green lenses or a grey front and graduated lenses.

For further information, contact one of the Montblanc sales representatives: Jacqui Aubery: 082 776 9669 or Drew Valentine: 083 454 1937.

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FORBIDDEN FRUIT Val de Vie Wine and Polo Estate

Franschhoek may well have a strong claim to French history, but Val de Vie in Paarl is making it. The Wine and Polo Estate, where wine was produced in 1825, is now the most comprehensive grower of Rhône varietals outside France, with 10 out of the 14 cultivars enjoying the micro-climate. It accounts for its standout GVC Rhône-style blend from the premier black label range. Described as a versatile wine with 'elegance, freshness and subtle fruit', it was given a splendid four-star Platter rating. The estate’s flagship wine is the Seventeen Eighty Three, a red blend (50% Mourvedre, 20% Shiraz, 15% Grenache Noir, 10% Carignan and 5% Cinsaut). If the wine was a woman, she’d be the epitome of dusky and sultry. It combines 'hints of dark fruits, perfume and warm spices', and has a deep, rich colour with a delicately smooth finish. The estate’s new tasting room is open, so give in to temptation.

To book a tasting, visit www.valdevie.co.za.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

CREATIVE BURST

HIGH PERFORMANCE BRONZE

Luminor Submersible 1950 3 days Automatic Bronzo Fifty years ago, Panerai made a professional underwater watch for the commandos of the Egyptian navy. Its modern equivalent, the Luminor Submersible 1950 3 days Automatic Bronzo is a striking design (the dark green dial complements the bronze) with high performance. The alloy combination of copper and pure tin is resistant to corrosive sea and air, while the material preserves the aged appearance of the original.

The brushed bronze case is water-resistant to 300 metres and has a unidirectional rotating bezel with ratchet click and graduated scale for calculating times of emersion. The sapphire back of the watch has a ring of titanium known for its hypo-allergenic qualities. For further information on the Luminor Submersible 1950 3 days Automatic Bronzo, visit www.panerai.com.

A WORLD EXCLUSIVE

Franck Muller: Limited Edition

A SEA CHANGE

TEXT: LES AUPIAIS. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

Girard-Perregaux: ww.tc John Harrison Out of an 18th-century maritime disaster came an intriguing watch by Girard-Perregaux. The limited edition, 21st-century ww.tc (worldwide time control) John Harrison was the result of a challenge issued by the British parliament in 1714 ... who could invent a method of calculating a ship’s longitude to within half a degree (about 30km)? The government was reacting to the grounding of an entire squadron of ships off the Scilly Isles and the loss of 2 000 lives, because of a longitude miscalculation by an admiral. The reward of 20 000 pounds (the equivalent of several million US dollars in today's money) challenged the scientific minds of the day. Making a timepiece that could calculate the time difference between the journey’s starting point and the ship's current position (based on the earth’s rotation) became an all-consuming passion for watchmaker John Harrison. In 1773, his spectacular H-4 watch was acknowledged as the winner. The 21st-century tribute is a combination of superb sculpting by a craftsman-engraver, beautiful materials and an ingenious mechanism that indicates the time in 24 zones. The ww.tc John Harrison is available in a limited series of 50 individually numbered timepieces.

South African consumers, and especially local watch collectors, will have a unique opportunity to purchase one of only 22 watches made by the master of complications, Franck Muller, in September and October. These masterpieces, which symbolise the 22 Springboks in green and gold, honour the great South African rugby champions of the past, present and future …. This limited edition, a world exclusive, is based on the Conquistador GP 8900 watch case, fitted with an exclusive Franck Muller automatic movement. The typical Franck Muller Arabic numbers are filled in green and framed in gold colour with the Springbok logo in the centre of the dial. The three hands also pick up the key colours and the counterweight of the second hand is in the shape of a rugby ball. The back of the watch is engraved with the South African flag and the wording Limited Edition Springboks plus a number from one to 22. The titanium pieces will retail at a recommended price of R110 000 and are now available at the six local Franck Muller retailers. In Gauteng these are Charles Greig in Hyde Park, Emanuels Jewellers in Sandton City, Deonne le Roux in Menlyn Park and Mark Gold in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg. The watches are also available at Mark Gold in Fancourt, George, Cherry Design at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping in Durban as well as Christoff at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.

ISSUE 13 P R I V A T E E D I T I O N 2 1

PSST BEAUTY

SHHH: SKIN SELF-HEALING

La Prairie's Cellular Power Infusion It’s only the second month of the Private Edition trial of La Prairie’s Cellular Power Infusion but already the subject is murmuring about a a healthier, younger-looking skin. The beauty house bills the product as an ‘age defiance’ system to restore the skin in a three-pronged programme that reverses cellular energy loss.

It activates cellular power stations (mitochondria), protects cells from external environmental stress, supports the skin’s natural ability to regenerate and supplements its natural structural rebuilding. It’s all about ‘cellular communication’. Never mind what it does. Even activating the ingredients is a cool process.

By turning the silver base of the bottle, a discreet click suddenly infuses the clear serum with blue concentrate and, once the phases are combined, the Cellular Power Infusion is active for seven to 10 days. Applied twice a day for 28 to 40 days, the treatment is repeated about four times a year. Watch this face ...

For further information, email linda@pcgroup.co.za.

SMOOTH OPERATOR

For most of us, when we think ‘olive oil’ we think gorgeous, leafy salads, drizzled with feta. We think lazy summer afternoons; the Italian countryside … you get the idea.

For Annalene du Toit, the picture is somewhat different. While her husband opted for a career among the vineyards, Du Toit is onto a juice that the gods might just prefer. From ancient Crete to modern civilisations, olive oil has been celebrated for its healing properties. Perhaps that’s why, at the Kloovenburg estate just outside Cape Town, groves of grey-green olives cover over 30 hectares of land, edge to edge. The terrain here is arid, dry – perfect for the cultivation of this multi-purpose super-plant. Du Toit, the brainchild behind Kloovenburg’s sumptuous range of nonculinary olive products, has created a collection of creams, gels and scrubs that one might call the Cleopatra of beauty therapy. For the ultimate bath-time treat, team the Kloovenburg Olive Oil Shower Scrub with the Body Butter or Body Oil Treatment. You’ll never think salads in Italy again. For further information, visit www.kloovenburg.com.

A young girl reads a newspaper in the Dead Sea, circa 1930. Now, there's a local alternative

WHAT MAY FLOAT YOUR BOAT Sculpt's Floatation Room

There are 101 ways to relax. Nipping off to the Dead Sea for a warm alfresco float is an idea but the air travel, the crowds ...

A Cape Town-based aesthetics and wellness centre, Sculpt, headed by medical practitioner Dr Melanie Gerolemou, MBChB (Pret) ABAARM, has installed a private floatation room with soft cool-hued lighting and rather trippy whale and dolphin song to simulate the experience. A 20-minute float (equal to a four-hour nap) in warm magnesium sulphate-rich water does a marvellous job of zoning out the real world. Other floatation tanks encase you in a sarcophagus-like structure that can bring on instant claustrophobia. This is aqua-bliss. If you do decide to dip into the treatment menu, you’re in good hands. For further information, visit www.sculpt-life.com or email info@sculpt-life.com.

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TEXT: LES AUPIAIS AND HANNAH MOORE. PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTYIMAGES.COM AND SUPPLIED

Kloovenburg's lavish olive oil beauty products

KNIT-PICKING

Campaign: Pringle Autumn/Winter 2011 Delete any notion of Pringle, and the word ‘conservative’, and think luxury knitwear with serious attitude. Yes, yes, it is still glorious to wear and a skin-caress that reminds you it’s no ordinary knit but, by association, the brand is becoming a star in its niche. For a second season photographer Walter Pfeiffer, known for his provocative subject matter, flash, and off-kilter cropping of often imperfect beauty, was commissioned to capture what the brand means to a new generation.

Academy Award-winner Tilda Swinton ‘stars’ for the third season in the Autumn/ Winter 2011 campaign. It was shot at the famous Glasgow School of Art because Pringle’s hotly promoting Scottish talent from art to architecture and design.

The best way to experience Pringle? Try it on. The new collection’s available at Johannesburg’s Hyde Park Corner and Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront stores.

For further information, call 011 325 5089 or visit www.pringlescotland.com.

OZZIE RULES!

Lifestyle: Move, Nourish, Believe

MURDER SHE WORE Trend: Knitwear

Gudrun & Gudrun didn’t know what had hit them. Based on the Faroe Islands northwest of Scotland and halfway between Iceland and Norway, the knitwear company produces a rather classic Scandi knit in navy and cream. It might have been a rather average line if it hadn’t been for the lead character in what has become a Danish cult thriller series called The Killing. The actress who plays Sarah Lund, Sofie Grabol, chose the iconic sweater to represent the heroine’s confidence and her choice not to use her sexuality in her role as lead detective. Rather than being a low-key character statement, the sweater had fans clamouring for it. It’s available on line for about R2 800 for those who want to join the queue – or ewe. Gudrun & Gudrun knitwear make-up includes lambskin, yarn and fish leather, which are surplus products from local industry. Their pieces are handmade mostly by Faroese and Jordanian knitters. For further information, visit www.gudrungudrun.com.

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If you’re one of those women who lives in her baggy-kneed, ill-fitting tracksuit during the day or, worse still, fears being spotted in it as she makes a frantic dash to pick up essentials at the shops, all you really need is a trendy wardrobe upgrade. Activewear can be stylish, flattering and right on trend when you invest in the right gear – look for exceptional fit, fabulous fabric and hot designs by Lorna Jane, Australia’s premier brand now available in South Africa. Creator Lorna Jane Clarkson shares her approach to active, healthy living through her range of fitness and yoga apparel, casual wear, footwear and accessories. Her designs have attracted numerous RAQ Fashion Design Awards, led to the opening of her 100th store in 2010, and grabbed the attention of a growing fan base that includes celebrities like Nicole Kidman, Danni Minogue, Naomi Watts and Jennifer Hawkins. And if wearing Lorna Jane motivates you to get moving into shape for summer, that’s all the better.

For further information, visit Lorna Jane South Africa on Facebook or email leigh.stringfellow@lornajane.co.za.

TEXT: LES AUPIAIS AND DEBBIE HATHWAY. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

PSST FASHION

PRIVATE EDITION READERS CAN NOW RECEIVE A FREE ROOM UPGRADE WHEN BOOKING AT THE MOLOKO STRATHAVON HOTEL For reservations, email reservations@strathavonhotel.co.za.

Subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply.

S E RE N E • TR A N Q U I L • E XC LU S I VE

More than just somewhere to sleep, the Moloko Strathavon Hotel is a style statement.

It’s the future of the boutique hospitality industry which embodies all that is great in the modern luxury hotel market, and then takes it one step beyond. The exclusive hotel encompasses an award-winning organic spa, fine dining at the Ambassador Restaurant and the sought-after post-dinner night spot Off the Record cigar lounge. Taking its cue from Mother Nature, the hotel has been designed to blend seamlessly into the indigenous gardens surrounding it. Moloko Strathavon Hotel is a mere stone’s throw from Sandton, Johannesburg’s trendsetting business and shopping hub.

160 Helen Road (off Grayston Drive), Strathavon, Sandton, Johannesburg • +27 11 384 4900 reservations@strathavonhotel.co.za • +27 861 MOLOKO (66 56 56) • www.strathavonhotel.co.za

TEXT: LES AUPIAIS AND DEBBIE HATHWAY. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

PSST DESIGN

DIVINE DESIGN

Gandia Blasco Mesa Saler Bar Table Decorating in a minimalist style can go two ways – strongly masculine or über-chic. Either way, the stark lines of the Gandia Blasco Mesa Saler Bar Table will add contemporary flair to your outdoor entertainment area, whether you choose to share your space over a sundowner or selfishly savour it in solitary splendour. Designed by José Blanco for style and longevity, this outdoor bar table is part of the Spanish Gandia Blasco range now available exclusively at Limeline in southern Africa. Its anodised or powder-coated aluminium leg frame is topped with a polyethylene, slatted surface available in four colours and retails for R9 990. It will withstand the harshest temperatures too, whether hot or cold. For further information, visit www.limeline.co.za or the showroom at 15 on Orange Hotel in Cape Town.

CHEERS FOR CHAIRS

Ergonomic: Counterweight

A CLASS ACT

Concept Car: BMW Robert Middlemann says he is just ‘a Bot River farmer’, but with a grin in his voice. He’s much more of a lifelong collector of cars. One in particular, a 1938 BMW 328, was love at first sight and bought in the same way a man might rush down a street after a particularly gorgeous girl and sink to his knees spontaneously to propose. Private Edition asked him what was going through his head at the time. ‘It looked so beautiful standing there,’ he said. She was – and is. A friend, Tony White, sold it to him and to his dying day regretted the sale. Why the passion for this particular car in Robert's collection? ‘For the time, it was comfortable, it had a top speed of 150km/h with a 6-cylinder engine and a 2-litre motor. It also had superb roadholding ability and handled extremely well.’ Between 1936 and 1940, 464 cars were produced and excelled on the racing circuit. The model won at the Mille Miglia (an open-road endurance race place in Italy) in 1938; in 1940 it was first in class and first overall and in 1939, at Le Mans, it was fifth overall and first in class. It’s tempting to give the car a Hollywood star analogy ... it was much like Katharine Hepburn, who had great bones and brilliant acting ability. In 1999, the model was named one of 25 cars of the century. For the next 20 years Robert restored his 328 to pristine state. Over the years, minor modifications had been done professionally, but when she turned 50 it was time to ‘restore’ her. The stripping operation revealed seven coats of paint. The 328 took a new silver coat with black upholstery and was ready for the Bill Milligan Rally in Port Elizabeth in 1988, when the car received the coveted Concours d’ Elegance trophy in its class and overall. It’s not surprising then that BMW now has a concept car on the drawing board that pays homage to the 328’s inimitable style.

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If you want your brain to work at optimal levels then sit correctly. That’s what Dauphin believes it has achieved in the design of the DucaRe swivel chair, which allows the upper part of the chair to be individually adjusted forwards and backwards by using a specialised lockable Synchron® counter-pressure mechanism.

It’s all about correct posture, which allows the lungs to expand at full capacity and hence increase oxygen flow to the brain. By customising your own seating position, the chair becomes your personal ‘trainer’.

Next time you are credited with a brilliant corporate manoeuvre, you might have to secretly give the DucaRe a nod of acknowledgement.

Shares for chairs perhaps? For further information, visit www.dauphin.co.za.

Dauphin's DucaRe swivel chair has got your back. It retails from R18 500

A HOUGHTON ESTATE RELEASE

10 2ND AVENUE Houghton Estate

10 2nd Avenue, Houghton Estate is an established five-star, luxury boutique hotel that nestles in lush, landscaped gardens in Johannesburg, South Africa. The hotel has 14 luxury rooms and a presidential suite.

Features include LCD screens, the full DSTV bouquet as well as optional underfloor heating or a fireplace. It has several boardrooms, can host functions for up to 60 guests and, at lunch time, guests are served its signature deli lunch. 10 2nd Avenue, Houghton Estate is renowned for its mouthwatering cuisine and warm South African hospitality. For those seeking relaxation, the outside area allows guests to soak up the warmth of the African sun beside the sparkling pool, which is next to a cocktail bar. In the evening, guests love the special ambience of the wine cellar or choose to unwind with a pre-dinner drink beside a cozy fire before savouring the hotel's culinary delights. Whether it is for business or pleasure, 10 2nd Avenue, Houghton Estate offers guests’ impeccable, consistent, personalised service at all times.

26 SUNSET AVE Llandudno

26 Sunset Ave, Llandudno, holds an exclusive location on the Atlantic Seaboard. It is a fivestar, ultra-luxurious, sole-use villa, which is situated in the prestigious residential suburb of Llandudno in Cape Town, South Africa. Each new day is heralded with spectacular sea and mountain views from each of the six identical suites. The villa offers an overwhelming impression of the finer things in life and guests can expect to experience the best in stylish accommodation and superior service. This impressive villa is located next to the Sandy Bay Nature Reserve.

For more information, email tensecond@houghtonestate.com or visit www.houghtonestate.com.

No 10 Second Avenue Houghton Estate Johannesburg +27 11 853 2400 +27 11 483 3037

AT YOUR SERVICE

Rolling With the Punches Olivia Jackson: from model to champion trainer Words LES AUPIAIS Photography MARK CAMERON

DOES A NAME PREDETERMINE YOUR LIFE COURSE? Olivia Jackson’s parents might have held out for a delicate, feminine child, perhaps slightly fey and small framed ... The name does have a pretty ring to it. What they got was a strikingly attractive daughter with Nordic cheekbones, a dimpled chin and eyes the colour of Arctic ice. She’s also tall.

So they ended up with a successful international model who, unlike many a former ramp goddess who goes into PR, fashion accessories or saving whales by proxy, became a champion Thai boxer. What began as a kickboxing workout to get into shape for her career turned into what Olivia readily admits was an obsession to be not just fit but a fighter.

At first she tried to mix careers. The trouble with Thai boxing is that it’s not play-play stuff.

You watch your opponent as closely as you’d watch a cobra, looking for ‘tells’ – a microtwitch in a muscle, a slight favouring of stance, a repetitive move that leaves a body area wide open – and then you strike. It can be brutal – and bruises and swimwear shoots make bad bedfellows. It didn’t help that Olivia won her first fight and then lost her second bout ending up with a black eye as a trophy. Score Thai boxing one; modelling nil.

Being tall, fair and fierce had something to do with her growing celebrity status in Thailand where she settled – but she was also a damn good boxer. By 2004 she was SA Champion and, in her adopted country, she was voted Number 1 Female Fighter in the world by The World Professional Muay Thai Federation. ‘I’m not an aggressive fighter,’ she says. ‘I prefer to be intelligent in my style.’ What she does is keenly observe her opponent and look for advantages in fighting-style patterns.

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She came home to SA an unusual route. To continue boxing meant a gruelling regime of eight hours of training every day to hone a body that was as lean as a whippet. She’d lived with other boxers at a training centre in Thailand and life was a routine of training, fighting, kilojoule cramming and one day of rest. Where to next after champion status? For Olivia it was the movies. By 2011 she was performing stunts in The Impossible with Ewan McGregor, Safe House with Denzel Washington, The Burma Conspiracy with Sharon Stone, and The Hangover Part II with Bradley Cooper.

Olivia didn’t need a body double; she was the body double. Somewhere between it all, she qualified as a nutritionist and a personal trainer with Exercise Teachers Academy (ETA), which is why if she trains you at The Armoury Boxing Club in Cape Town, you’re in her hands from the moment you swallow that first lowGI oatmeal breakfast. Olivia has a client who BBM’s her on her Blackberry when she’s faced with a dietary dilemma. Keeping in touch with her trainer is even reflected in her Facebook status, which is ‘happy’. Olivia tackles what’s good for your mind and body.

At 30 years old, she’s moved on to manage the boxing club and personally train a select group of clients. Just a small word of warning: don’t push her to test her. If she goes quiet, narrows her eyes and looks particularly intently at your body, you’ll discover quickly that she’s much more Million Dollar Baby than former model.

Olivia Jackson: The Armoury Boxing Club, Buchanan Square, Sir Lowry Rd, Cape Town 021 461 9141.

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Boxing is like a drug. It’s one of the few ways to experience the joyous swoop of victory.

Enter the ring and all you have to worry about is your opponent. Women like Olivia Jackson have the drive, the determination and the stamina for it

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AT YOUR SERVICE

Well Moët Marc Brevot visited Cape Town to present Moët & Chandon’s Grand Vintage 2002 and explains why Asia may be big in numbers but SA has a certain je ne sais quoi.

MARC BREVOT IS ONE OF THE 250-YEAROLD HOUSE’S DOZEN WINEMAKERS and gives a deft Gallic defence of winemaking by committee. He points out that for an establishment brand like Moët & Chandon (who also produce Dom Pérignon), there are considerable advantages to having a strong consensus that can eliminate eccentricities or inconsistencies that might elsewhere be considered originality. While the head winemaker takes the final decision, they see big advantages in having multiple insights.

Marc’s own trajectory has taken him to working in Japan (his wife is Japanese) and back to France. He sees the Japanese as greater appreciators of wine than the Chinese (in spite of the Chinese splurges on French wines) because of the traditions linked to saki. When he talks of the best way to enjoy the Grand Vintage 2002, he invokes an idea of friends enjoying a drink during the day rather in the spirit of a tea ceremony. When asked what characterises the wine, he gives a Zen answer, invoking the particularity of the occasion: the brilliance of a Cape Town day, the pleasures of the view from Ellerman House over the Atlantic, and the spirit of the conversation. Having said that, the 2002 benefitted from a little divine intervention and the perfect alignment of planets in its making.

The year’s weather read like a winemaker’s dream; a sunny winter, humid but mild, was followed by a warm, dry spring with no frost and a sun-filled summer with dry spells interspersed with rainy periods. September rainstorms were the ‘wild cards’. Subsequent winds, which dried the grapes, and the excellent health of the fruit allowed the beginning of the harvest to be extended and meant that each cru

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reached the optimum stage of ripeness. The quality of the grapes was remarkably uniform across all varietals and regions.

Why is Moët & Chandon marketing in South Africa at a time when the Asian market seems to be the target of most luxury brands?

It has something to do with our palates that, according to Marc, are well on the way to being attuned to the right taste. He believes that because we are a producer of sparkling wines, we are seen as a place to influence and where contacts need to be maintained.

International observers such as Robert Parker and Steve Tanzer see the Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage 2002 as the best since 1996. The tasting notes are lyrical: ‘Mature, harmonious and precise vintage. Seven years in the cellars have developed the mature, toasty flavours, both sweet and dry, with warm notes of grain and frangipane along with toasted almonds and malt, mocha and light tobacco.

Notes of ripe fruits follow: pear, candied citrus, plum, nectarine and white peach. On the palate, the construction is precise and the substance is velvety. The first impression of creamy roundness progressively allows the linear, tight structure to appear. The flavours of fruit become fresher: mandarin orange and pink grapefruit. The vintage has a firm, precise finish, deliciously tonic and refreshing, with notes of rhubarb and currant as well as quinine and citrus.’

While the Grand Vintage 2002 was wonderful, I found the Grand Vintage Rosé even more intriguing: a 51% Pinot Noir (of which 27% is still red wine), 28% Chardonnay and 21% Pinot Meunier blend. Alchemy in glass – and as they say, each to their own.

The opportunity to taste these fine wines together is an exceptional experience once rarely available outside of the Grand Vintage Reserve

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

Words IAN GLENN

THE VINTAGE COLLECTION Having created its first vintage in 1842, Moët & Chandon possesses one of the Champagne region’s most valuable collections of vintage wines, securely stored in the Grand Vintage Reserve cellars.

Since 2007 the introduction of each new Grand Vintage has been accompanied by a selection of the oldest wines from the Grand Vintage Reserve, which make up the Grand Vintage Collection. The wines associated with a newly released Grand Vintage share certain similarities of harvest, assemblage or style. The opportunity to taste these fine wines together is an exceptional experience.

Grand Vintage Collection 1992 Assemblage: 45% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier Tasting notes: Grand Vintage Collection 1992 is distinguished by its maturity and harmony. The progression is complex: both sweet and roasted, with notes of pastry and candy as well as candied fruit. The flavour is rich, warm and creamy.

Grand Vintage Collection 1982 Assemblage: 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir Tasting notes: The aroma is mild and warm. Darker notes of toast, malt, spiced bread and chestnut enrich the warm notes of grain, brioche and candied fruit. The wine charms as much by its full-bodied creaminess as by its light, airy finish tinged with a very delicate note of vanilla.

Grand Vintage Collection 1975 Assemblage: 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay Tasting notes: The progression is both fresh (orange peel, dark chocolate and leather) and sweet (toffee, tiramisu, dates, dried figs and nutmeg). If the first impression seems soft and tender, the wine’s power is quickly felt.

Grand Vintage Collection 1964 Assemblage: unknown Tasting notes: The first notes have the roasted flavour of grilled pine nuts, cashews and vanilla followed by notes of honey and dried fruits. The taste is in perfect harmony with the aroma.

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AT YOUR SERVICE

I’m Always in the Kitchen at Pairings It’s the kind of experience that has you theatrically shutting your eyes and murmuring sweet nothings to yourself.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

Words LES AUPIAIS

Chef Pascal Tingaud visited South Africa to launch the Dom Pérignon Vintage 2000; a spectacular dish was the extraordinary Turkish Delight ice-cream, purposefully softened slightly at room temperature and paired with the Rosé 2000; Tingaud balanced taste with texture to find harmony

ELLERMAN HOUSE IN BANTRY BAY strategically devotes space to art, with grand reception rooms and suites that seem to hover magically on the rocky edge of the Atlantic Seaboard. Their kitchen – usually off limits to guests – is more modest-sized galley than grand theatre for food. Still, on a day earlier this year, it was the setting for a culinary performance.

Chef Pascal Tingaud, global ambassador for Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon, has 30 years’ experience and serious foody DNA. His grandfather (President of Les Maîtres Cuisiniers de France from 1974 to 1982) opened his restaurant, l’Auberge de Condé, in La Fertésous-Jouarre, which was later taken over by his father, who was awarded the prestigious title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 1968. Tingaud himself was appointed chef to French President Giscard d’Estaing at the Élysée Palace and over the following five years moved in Michelin star territory before being appointed Chef de Cuisine in 1999 for the private estates of Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon in Champagne.

For all his grand credentials, he cheerfully

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jammed himself into the kitchen with journalists who are all quietly relieved this is no SA version of Masterchef. No-one was expected to blind taste a thing or wield anything more dangerous than a teaspoon. We are there to listen and taste as he paired vintage Dom Pérignon with deceptively simple dishes.

‘I always try to find the harmony and to play on the contrast. Sometimes, it’s a little bit more difficult but it’s always fun. The other thing is to not put too many different ingredients or spices or herbs in the food. Put only what is needed and add a pinch of love.’

He demonstrates this by serving, for example, parmesan biscuits without salt ... asking us to taste the champagne ... and then repeating the experience, but with a dash of salt on the biscuits.

The effect is immediate. Your palate responds as if taken on its first baby steps and is in discovery mode.

What may seem discordant in concept – oysters with a grating of ginger – simply zings with the Dom Pérignon Vintage 2000. Both

food and champagne delight.

His inspiration? ‘The balance and the harmony,’ he says. ‘The balance with the different tastes of sweetness, acidity and bitterness and the harmony with the texture of the food and of the wine.’

He ‘paints’ with flavours at times with the sensuality and smooth brushstrokes of a Renoir nude, at other times with the vigour and exact brush strokes of Seurat in which the eye and mind is required to blend colour to create tone and form. Tingaud asks us to interpret what we see and what we taste in order to sense a new dimension to food.

He reinvents combinations in food by travelling and preparing feasts for VIPs worldwide. Still, with presidents and royals to impress, he is utterly accessible and charming to the hoi polloi gathered that day.

How does he ‘dream’ it all up? The answer lies in grand experiments and a strong team he trusts. ‘There are no forbidden ingredients,’ he says, ‘so we try, we try and we taste plenty of times and we share with all the team.’

When it's about the quality of life ... discerning palates demand discerning wines.

South Africa's leading importer of fine wines, specialising in Bordeaux Grand Crus dating back to 1906 People are our business ... wine our product.

For more information and our full investment portfolio, email steven@internationalwines.co.za or visit www.internationalwines.co.za.

58 Bompas Road Dunkeld Johannesburg +27 11 447 6427 Not for Sale to Persons Under the Age of 18.

EVEN STEVENS: INVESTMENT

The Secret Life of Blue-chip Bordeaux Fine wines outperform share indices, gold and crude oil.

Words STEVEN LACK Photography FIONA ROYDS/INFIDELS

If you want to invest in fine wines, like the superb Lafite-Rothschild 1983, find an honest wine broker with low-key style. The three-carat diamonds on his cuffs may point to a lifestyle that buys everything but wine with your money

SOME PEOPLE ARE BORDEAUX PEOPLE, others are Burgundy people. Whatever your inclination, this column aims to give you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (about wine), so help me John. Yes, JohnBaptiste Bouyer – my personal wine god and future star employee.

With five minutes to spare and LafiteRothschild an hour’s drive from my preferred Bordeaux hotel, John still got me to Lafite’s recent Vinexpo dinner on time. Yes, he’s my wine god not only for knowing the back roads with no traffic cameras, but for his passion for Bordeaux. After all, passion is the key to success in wine.

Sitting at Lafite enjoying the LafiteRothschild 1983 with host Baron Eric de Rothschild prompted the idea for this column.

Lafite-Rothschild, after the 2010 primeurs campaign, was a hot topic. When you ask Lafite’s winemaker, Charles Chevallier, when he could produce an even better vintage, he replies, ‘next time’. The time may have come. Again.

The 2010 vintage is described as ‘elegant, perfumed, black fruit and crushed fig, an elegant nose of wild violets and a wonderful

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lissom texture backed by aristocratic firmness – a totally captivating wine’. With both vintages being hailed as ‘a wealth of riches maturing in Bordeaux’s cellars’, the ‘classic Bordeaux’ vintage was being compared with the mythical 1927 and 1945 vintages. Lafite 1982 was the best performing asset of the noughties, earning investors an 870 percent return on investment over the period 2000–2010. Any vintage Lafite offered almost 100 percent return within 24 hours of en primeur release, such is the demand for this sublime wine.

Bordeaux blue chips is where the savvy are investing their money today, with the Liv-Ex 100 and 500 indices consistently outperforming all the major share indices, gold and crude oil.

This multi-billion dollar investment market is driven by Lafite. Investors in South Africa are reaping the rewards. If your cellar contains 100 cases of Mouton Rothschild 1945, you’d be in the pound seats having forked out a mere one French franc per bottle in 1946. Today it’s worth R311 535 per bottle. A good investment?

Perhaps, but try and sell 100 cases at that price.

Always consider what a future secondary buyer will want from your portfolio as it’s only a return

when sold and you cash the cheque.

To be a good investment, a wine should have a consistent track record of quality, and of fetching high to very high prices. Other important factors are the provenance of the wine, that it should be supplied in its original wooden case and have full traceability. For example, four electronic microchips accompany every bottle of Chateau Latour on its travels around the world.

So here’s the truth that brokers won’t tell you: trust your wine broker. You’re forking out hard-earned dosh for a product that will only be bottled and released two years later. Foster a good relationship that allows him to treat you to lunch (often) while spoiling you with a Margaux ’98 or Mouton Rothschild ’89, and don’t forget to check out his cufflinks and shoes. Look for low-key style. The three-carat diamonds on his cuffs may hint at a lifestyle that buys everything but wine with your money.

Go to www.liv-ex.com for more information on these indices or www.internationalwines.co.za on how to invest from South Africa. The editor also has the inside track on reputable brokers

EVEN STEVENS: INVESTMENT

Spellwinding Collectors are defined by passion and obsession.

Words STEVE KOCHER Photography FIONA ROYDS/INFIDELS

PHOTOGRAPHY OF PRODUCT: SUPPLIED

Whether you collect bling that ticks or a timepiece that would sit comfortably alongside the cost of a new McLaren, the lure of collecting is much the same.

The Franck Muller Aeternitas is one of the ultimate prizes. Only two pieces exist. Or you might like this model from the Grand Prix range. The 9900 T GP 5N (18ct gold 5N and Titanium) Tourbillon retails at R995 000

HOW DOES ONE BECOME A WATCH COLLECTOR? I’d hazard a guess: slowly, then as the allure of possessing a fine watch takes hold, with increasing speed.

Collecting is addictive and as one continues on the path of completing or expanding a collection, it becomes a passion, perhaps even a magnificent obsession. True collecting has nothing to do with making a profit and collectors seldom seek buyers for their ‘precious’ items.

Contrary to addictive hoarders, collectors do not amass stuff. They find a product they can afford and a basic reasoning for doing so.

So, if you plan to start collecting watches, it’s not important whether you collect cheap plastic watches or limited edition luxury watches, but that you find a theme which makes your collection more than a disorganised pile of timekeeping items. Quite simply, it’s personal.

If the investment in a vintage Patek Philippe Tourbillon, a diamond set Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Bi-retro or a Franck Muller Aeternitas Mega 4, the most complicated mechanical watch ever produced, scares you off, there’s no need to abandon the idea of collecting. Go for an especially interesting aspect that appeals to

you, like a small second hand found in most pre-1940 timepieces. You could also find this feature in mechanical models of the ’50s and ’60s, and in today’s quartz movements with a nostalgic look.

Another popular theme is sport watches with stopwatch functions (chronographs). This category allows you to collect from accessible fashion brands such as Guess to the Haute Horlogerie brands. The latter are produced in very small series with special attention to movement, cases and dials and would retail from R50 000 upwards. On the other hand, there are gems to be had at minimal outlay for quality. For more than a decade, Festina, the official timekeeper for the Tour de France, has produced at a price starting below R3 000 a new series of quartz chronographs of exquisite quality for every Tour de France. It’s a great watch to start your sports watch collection.

If your budget allows it, I’d recommend you specialise in mechanical watches either with an automatic (self-winding) or hand-winding mechanism. This will mean that you’d have to look at Swiss-made watches only, as the Swiss master the micro-mechanical challenges

to produce accurate mechanical timepieces.

Entry-level automatic Swiss-made watches are offered by numerous reputable Swiss brands.

Oris, for example, produces exclusive watches with automatic movements, their signature being a red rotor that can be seen through a sapphire glass back.

If your sole motivation to buy a watch is return of investment, go the vintage route.

The problem with vintage watches is that you require in-depth knowledge of the brand’s history and of the collectors’ market. They must be in perfect working condition in order to be resalable and thus it’s advisable to have a qualified watchmaker check out the movement before you make your purchase.

On the other hand, never polish or refurbish your case and dials to make it to look new. This might spoil your chances of reselling it!

While modern watches will only give you the enjoyment of owning and wearing one, that in itself is enough for most of us.

For the true collector, return or no return on investment, is moot. Parting with a special edition for mere money, may never equal the pleasure of owning it.

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INVESTMENT

Nest Eggs Fabergé’s new collection of eggs – their first since the Russian revolution – has made headlines all over the world.

But can they hope to appreciate the way the last clutch did?

Words TABITHA LASLEY

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involves very particular craftsmanship, things that haven’t been done before. So yes, I think they will increase in value with time.’

Of course he’d say that. But John Anderson, associate director of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) agrees: ‘There will always be a market for the good designer pieces. Particularly if they have an interesting and verifiable provenance. People have come to appreciate that this sort of antique jewellery is limited in supply. Demand for new jewellery during the first half of the 20th century was simply not as strong as it is today, when some people have more money to spend and more women are buying it for themselves.’

Anderson adds that the price of precious metals has rallied in the past three years. Gold seemingly has the knack of weathering every economic storm, while the Arab Spring and attendant worries over oil mean people are looking for viable alternatives. Although with prices starting at R735 446 and going all the way up to R4 million, these eggs aren’t exactly entry-level investments.

But let’s assume for a minute that money is no object. Which one to go for? Gilbertson’s pick is the Diaghilev Egg, set with rubies and an invisible diamond drawer, which opens at the push of a gemstone. Sarah Fabergé singles out the Diamond Egg, a titanium ovoid studded with invisibly-set diamonds: ‘The actual structure itself is lighter than the weight of the diamonds. So it’s a jewelled egg pendant but very easy to wear.’ Flohr favours the Ribbon Egg – all folkloric floral prints, diamond beads and layered enamel. ‘It’s a very lively, very happy, very positive one.’

Flohr is proud of the collection that’s relevant today, but will still look beautiful tomorrow. And therein lies its real worth, says Gilbertson: ‘I’ve watched ladies try these things on and seen their response – it’s emotional.’ www.faberge.com

[Above] The Diaghilev Egg [Below, left to right] The Diamond Egg and the Ribbon Egg

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

THE FACT THAT MOST PEOPLE THINK OF GOOD JEWELLERY, rather than bad aftershave, when they hear the word ‘Fabergé’ suggests a brand identity more robust than most. Still, when Brian Gilbertson paid Unilever R269 million for the licence, he wasn’t even slightly worried that 50 years spent flogging Brut (the men’s grooming and fragrance line) may have taken its toll on the name.

The South African mining magnate says it ‘just hadn’t been managed properly or brought to its full potential’. To this end, he set about ‘killing off the Brut story’ and restoring a link with the original line.

Having set up a heritage council helmed by Fabergé’s great-great-granddaughters Tatiana and Sarah, drafted in Katharina Flohr as creative director, and launched Les Fameux de Fabergé, a collection of 12 new eggs, Gilbertson predicts that the revived company will soon be worth more than R7 billion.

Of course, in some ways he’s profited from the brand’s painful past. The original eggs are inextricably tied up with the doomed glamour of the Romanov dynasty, and the royal connection has gifted the line with lasting cachet. Meanwhile, the imperial eggs’ rarity value – Carl Fabergé created only 50 of them before his stock was confiscated and his company nationalised – has ensured that prices have skyrocketed in the last century. In 1933 you could pick one up (as King George V did) for the knockdown price of R2 925. Four years ago, the rare pink and gold Rothschild Egg sold for R104 million, smashing three auction records in the process. These days, Gilbertson admits, on the rare occasion an egg does go up at auction, you can expect it to reach ‘double figure millions in sterling’. So will the batch appreciate in the same way?

‘The eggs are unique pieces that you’re not going to find anywhere else,’ he says. ‘Each one

DRIVING FORCE

Surfin’ the 6

Glide with the 6 Series Convertible.

Words KATHY MALHERBE

The BMW 6 Series Convertible roof takes 19 seconds to open. You can do it at speed, too, as long as you don’t exceed 40km/h

MOTORING EDITOR LES STEPHENSON of Wheels24 says quite rightly that you should earn a car like the BMW 6 Series Convertible.

‘If you can’t control it to limits that instil a frisson of fear then this Six should not be yours – you haven’t earned it.’ And I see his point. No posers. The car asks to be really driven. Which we did.

Everybody loves a convertible and according to BMW SA’s group automotive communications manager, Edward Makwana, ‘Convertibles have never lost their appeal in 70 years and lovers of top-down cars will pay for innovation and elegance.’

So what’s stopping the really affluent car

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enthusiast and serious collector from rushing out to purchase one? Nothing really, except a quite understandable, three-month waiting list. That’s a high, albeit niched, demand.

Considering the flooded roads on our Garden Route trip, it was comforting to know that the car teeters on the edge of amphibious. Starting with a streamlined shape and, according to BMW, ‘harmoniously curved surfaces of the body which take their cue from the movement of waves sent out by the bow of a motorboat cleaving the water.’

The maritime analogy didn’t end there.

‘The waistline surface, which leads the body into the interior, mimics the character of

a boat deck’. Water images extend to ‘its shark nose – master of the ocean and master of the road’. Hyperbole? Maybe, but the profile does whisper sleek and nautical.

Makwana says, ‘We didn’t want to just create a car, but an attitude to life.’ Rather than take his word for it, we negotiated the serpentine Robinson Pass in the lush Outeniqua Mountain range. My driving partner (another petrolhead) and I turned down the Beethoven and rolled down the windows so that we could hear, feel and absorb the sound as the car accelerated eagerly up the Outeniqa Pass.

It’s not just the performance and looks, but it is claimed that the drive features are

DRIVING FORCE The BMW 1 Series M Coupé is sporty, agile and surprisingly fuel-efficient

Winning by a Head Still your beating heart before you reach for your wallet.

Words LES AUPIAIS

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

YOU CAN BEHAVE AS BADLY AS YOU LIKE in a car when you’ve got an entire abandoned airstrip to play on. There is one, up in the hills of Bellville, Cape Town, and that’s where BMW let loose lifestyle writers and dyed-in-the-wool fanatics to dodge cones and burn rubber. The BMW 1 Series M Coupé is exhilaratingly easy to handle because of its power-to-weight ratio ...

Putting it through its paces is a bit like releasing a combination of the winner of this year’s July handicap, Igugu, and the J&B Met’s Past Master from the starting gates and breaking all track records. The thoroughbred analogy is on the money. The BMW 1 Series M Coupé’s design lines are all sleek metallic muscle, more a swimmer’s build though, than that of a body builder. Look, it’s better to picture a flesh-andblood body than dazzle you with the staggering 10 000-word press release on the car, because it’s highly technical and only there should you want to challenge their findings. Let’s just

unmatched by rivals. The selection of optional driver assistance systems includes a rear-view camera, Surround View, BMW Night Vision with pedestrian recognition and BMW Parking Assistant. The latest-generation Head-Up Display – a unique feature in this class – is making its debut in the new BMW 6 Series Convertible. The system projects drivingrelated information onto the windscreen within the driver’s direct field of view.

Exceeding the speed limit? The proof is on the windscreen. In your face.

The 6 Series Convertible will give competitors a good run for their money. The Mercedes’ SL Roadsters (R1 549 000 to R2 415 300), the

Porsche 911 Carrera (R1 059 000 to R1 250 000) and Jaguar’s XK (from R1 154 300) invite a price-power comparison. The 640i costs R914 558 and the 650i R1 178 530 (both figures including CO exhaust emissions tax at 185g/km and 249g/km respectively).

The new convertible boasts 300 litres of boot space with the roof open – which means it can accommodate two 46-inch golf bags and a business case with ease. With the roof closed, the variable soft-top stowage compartment can be folded up in a single movement to increase boot capacity to 350 litres. Although the front cabin is luxurious and spacious, you need a petite frame to sit comfortably in the back.

drool a bit; it’s sporty, agile, fuel-efficient, has a six-cylinder engine with M TwinPower Turbo and direct injection and, with a six-speed manual transmission, you feel it every second of acceleration – or is that exhilaration? If you’re not breathless about its performance (0 to 100 kph in 4,9 seconds with a maximum speed of 250km/h) then look at the interior.

There’s something sexy and understated about the sporty orange contrast stitching. What’s alluring about the letter M is that it’s the single letter representation of power delivery, and as near as you’re going to get to a racing car with all the luxuries. In short, it’s a thrill. If you’re tempted to buy one, you may have to still your beating heart – and wallet. There’s a queue. In the meantime, dream on. You have a choice of colours: sapphire black metallic, alpine white non-metallic and an outrageous, in ya face Valencia orange, which in our minds, is the only colour to go with a car of this class.

Hard not to pose just a tad as you cruise round Chapman’s Peak on a test drive on a balmy winter’s day with the roof down.

By the way, the roof takes a mere 19 seconds to open but the good news is you can do it remotely at up to 40km/h. Faster than that and you will find yourself in the ignominious position (as we did on Fish Hoek main road) of the unfolding halting halfway and the car looking like some kind of mutant beetle – half poised for flight.

Not cool.

Owning one means you’ve not only arrived, but made a red-carpet entrance. Try not to screw up the moment.

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CORPORATE WATCH Almost 18 months after the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig blowout at BP’s well in the Gulf of Mexico, US investigators have still not released their final report. It could affect lawsuits filed by BP and its contractors after the worst offshore oil spill in US history killed 11 men and spewed over four million barrels of crude into the ocean.

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INVESTIGATIVE FEATURE

In Deep Water

Our unslakable thirst for oil has seen offshore exploration push back increasingly hostile frontiers. What does this mean for those on the front line who bring home the black gold?

Words TABITHA LASLEY

An operational North Sea offshore oil rig older than 20 to 25 years is deemed dangerous.

Shell’s recent Gannet Alpha platform spill is the worst in UK waters in the last decade. The 19-year-old Gannet Alpha is one of many rigs extracting black gold near the Scottish coastline

A COLD FRIDAY NIGHT IN NOVEMBER, and the Red Door in West Kirby, a small seaside town in the north-west of England, is already filling up. People are spilling out of the doorway; the air outside is thick with cigarette smoke and steaming breath. Two young men pull up in a silver BMW, park at a skewed angle, and walk straight in. Tanned and muscular, wearing thin, expensive T-shirts, at first look they’re indistinguishable from the rest of the label-loving, inadequately dressed crowd. But five minutes in, their reckless spending is already turning heads.

One pushes his way to the bar, pulling a thick sheaf of notes from his wallet, and gestures to the row of bottles along the wall. The other takes ownership of a booth. He runs a lazy, appraising eye over two girls nearby, his gaze trailing them as they walk across the room.

He sits back, and eases a plastic drugs bag from his pocket, sniffing reflexively. The weekend has begun.

Men in this corner of the country have often had to move for work, and the sight of North Sea riggers, flush from two weeks offshore and spending gratuitously, is still a common one. The generous packages offered by oil companies see roustabouts start on a salary of around R474 000 a year. Their shift patterns mean they spend two to three weeks at a time cooped up on the rigs, all costs covered. They then return home for two to three weeks; coiled spools of energy, with money to burn.

Bob Wringe worked as an engineer on the rigs for 26 years and is a lecturer in offshore studies. He says things are now relatively restrained, as compared to the high-spending, hard-drinking culture of the early ’80s.

Alcohol is banned offshore and, back then, roughnecks would often spend their first few days on the rig battling delirium tremens.

‘A lot of guys were big drinkers when they went to shore. Saturation divers were

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TRAVELLER BUCKET LIST

Offshore oil workers execute an operation called yo-yoing on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

The risks of the job are high; the rewards arguably higher

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INVESTIGATIVE FEATURE the worst,’ he remembers. ‘We called them the nutters of the industry. They had a dangerous job, and made huge amounts of money. When they got onshore (it was) non-stop drinking, gambling, womanising. They said: “I could be dead tomorrow, I’m going to enjoy life while I’m here.” That was their attitude.’

It’s one that still prevails today. Thirty years on, safety standards have improved beyond all recognition. But offshore workers still face a litany of dangers: explosions, fires, gas leaks and chemical burns.

Drillers tasked with extracting oil from the sea bed are always going to be locked in a pitched battle with the elements. Rigs can – and do – sink, as in 2001, when Petrobas 36, then the world’s largest semi-submersible platform, capsized off the coast of Brazil. In the North Sea, it’s the brutal winter weather that poses the greatest threat. Wringe recalls his fear the first time he saw the wind whip 50-foot waves (‘great, green monsters’) up around his installation. On the west coast of Africa, there’s the possibility of kidnapping to contend with.

Roustabouts off the coast of Cabinda Province (an enclave and province of Angola) are rumoured to start on salaries of R177 700 a month. Men who work there describe being picked up at the airport by a fleet of blackedout 4x4s, and instructed to lie on the floor until the cars reach the heliport. Mitch Cogan, a sea captain who worked in Angolan waters

five percent of the workforce) tend to be tough. Some are ex-firemen; many are exarmed forces. Others have been in prison.

All exert the same air of fierce optimism, and talk about the dangers of the job in flat, pragmatic terms.

Rob Andrews works on a R5,7 billion drill ship called the Pacific Scirocco, currently moored a mile off Cape Town. Small and thickset, he looks much younger than his 34 years. But he carries himself with the sort of buoyant authority professional success confers. He’s been on the rigs since he was 20, worked his way up from roustabout to driller, and now commands a salary of around R119 000 a month. He’s due to sail to Nigeria soon, but says he isn’t worried about the region’s reputation for piracy. His concerns are more prosaic: ‘The hardest thing about life on the rigs is being away from home.

That, and having to deal with people you don’t particularly like. Living in such close proximity to people, you can’t afford to have any issues.

‘But back in the day I did. I hated my drillers; hated my ADs (assistant drillers).

Every roughneck hates the drillers.’

Chris Fleming worked as an offshore inspection engineer for 15 years and has seen this kind of tension flare many times, despite the fact that anyone found fighting is usually sacked on the spot. He likens the effect of boxing hundreds of men up together, miles

‘You’ve got a wide variety of people; some are educated and some aren’t. Some people are well travelled, others aren’t. I’ve had to share a room with people I’d never spend time with in my life. But if I ever go to prison – God forbid – I know I could handle it. Because I’ve worked offshore.’ throughout the ’90s, remembers seeing rigs that came with guns appended to the deck.

In the relative calm of British waters, the commute to work is still a calculated risk. In 2009, 16 oil workers died when their helicopter ditched 56km off the coast of Aberdeen.

But even the hostile environment is no match for human error, the root cause of most offshore accidents. Installations operate 24 hours a day, with teams of drillers, divers, roughnecks and roustabouts working 12hour shifts. Ask people to work 12-hour days, every day, for three weeks at a time and, inevitably, mistakes will be made. Given the conditions, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the men who work offshore (and it is still mostly men, women accounting for only

from civilisation, to that of ‘a pressure cooker’.

‘You’ve got a wide variety of people; some are educated and some aren’t. Some people are well travelled, others aren’t.

‘I’ve had to share a room with people I’d never spend time with in my life. But if I ever go to prison – God forbid – I know I could handle it. Because I’ve worked offshore.’

Small wonder then that the men onboard tend to picture partners back home in the most idealised terms. Unfortunately, when they get back on ‘the beach’, relations often crack under the freight of expectation. Sue Jane Taylor, an artist who spent years documenting the lives of North Sea oilmen, said she saw many wives become so self-sufficient that their returning husbands were rendered de trop.

‘The women were very independent. Their partners went offshore for two or three weeks, and they had to carry on at home. It was very difficult for men to come back and slot into that.’

So common is this dynamic among oil workers’ families that psychologists even coined a term for it: ‘intermittent husband syndrome’.

Divorce rates are high, and a fractured love life is considered an occupational hazard. Andrews admits that if it weren’t for his job, he’d be married with children by now.

Yet, Wringe is ensconced in a ‘rock solid’ second marriage, but watched his first disintegrate.

Strangely, few seem deterred by the sundered relationships, the stark conditions, the sheer physical toil. The platforms seem to exert an addictive pull. Even after Wringe watched his offshore installation manager (OIM) die when a tugboat knocked the rig they were repairing off balance, he went back: ‘We’d been hanging off the perimeter nets when the OIM had dragged himself back on deck to get something. Shortly after, we heard this almighty crack, and the jack-up went over, and threw us all into the water. From there, we were rescued by the crew-change boats. They found his body a few days later.’

Wringe suffered hypothermia and shock, but was out on the North Sea within five weeks.

He was still based there when the Piper Alpha disaster struck. He remembers seeing the blaze 16km away ‘lighting up the sky at night’.

In the history of offshore oil exploration, there is no bleaker parable than that of Piper Alpha. Nicknamed ‘The Monster’ it was once the single largest oil producer in the world.

But by 1988, its best days were behind it. Piper Alpha had become known throughout the industry as a place were accidents happened.

On 6 July, the ageing platform was undergoing essential maintenance. Managers at Occidental (the company that owned the Piper field) considered halting production while the work was carried out, but decided it was too expensive. The bill for stopping production – even for a day – would run into the millions.

But the human cost of their decision proved to be ruinous.

That night, a gas leak triggered an explosion. The neighbouring Tartan and Claymore platforms continued to pump fuel into the fire, even as men were abandoning Piper. Their production managers later claimed they weren’t authorised to stop the flow of oil and gas. Within two hours the platform was

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INVESTIGATIVE FEATURE

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engulfed in flames that could be seen 113km away; 167 men were killed. Many of those who escaped had to hurl themselves off the platform, through sheets of flame, onto burning water 170 feet below. Others plunged back into the accommodation quarters through thick black smoke. When one of the few who survived was later asked why, he said simply: ‘I did not want to die alone.’

For the 61 who lived, the horror was not over. Many exhibited symptoms of severe post-traumatic stress disorder. One committed suicide. Survivor’s guilt manifested itself in the most unsettling of ways. One woman reported coming home one day to find her husband standing at the bottom of a six-foot hole he’d impulsively dug in the garden. Others struggled to find jobs offshore again; they were regarded as ‘Jonahs’ who would bring bad luck to the rig.

Taylor visited Piper Alpha for a week in 1987. In the days after the disaster, Occidental’s head of PR tried to buy up every sketch, every photograph and every negative she had of the platform. He told her she could name her price.

‘They were so paranoid,’ she says. ‘They wanted to quash any mention. I was just a really small speck on their horizon but, even so, they didn’t want me to show any of the work.’

Taylor refused their offer and her exhibition went ahead as planned. Occidental has since exorcised any mention of Piper Alpha from its history. Read the corporate timeline, and you’ll find just one sentence about the year 1988: ‘The chemicals business continues to grow with the acquisition of Cain Chemicals Inc.’ The industry’s official line? That lessons have been learnt, safety offshore is now paramount and anyone on an installation has the right to halt work they deem hazardous.

Yet whistleblowers have spoken of a tacit rule that accidents go unreported. Last year, leaked documents detailed over 100 potentially lethal oil and gas spills in the North Sea during 2009 and 2010. The majority went unpublicised. It seems that only incidents on the scale of last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which saw 11 men killed and 4,9 million barrels of crude oil released into the Gulf of Mexico, make news headlines worldwide.

Statistics like this throw the oilmen’s high salaries into cold, sharp context. They work in the knowledge that our insatiable appetite for oil will see them driving back newer, harsher frontiers. That there will be more like Deepwater Horizon and Piper Alpha to come.

In spite of this, most feel the remuneration makes the risks worthwhile. Andrews says he’d

have no hesitation waving his son off to the rigs.

He cites the time off, the travel, the freedom that money affords. Even after 15 years, he still sounds as if he can’t quite believe his luck: ‘I’ve lived in Thailand and the Philippines, Australia, Egypt, Holland, Indonesia, Malaysia. I’ve been places people only ever dream of going to see.

The money is unreal and I’ve met some great people along the way. Come on. Who wouldn’t love a job like this?’

KNOW THE DRILL: WHAT IT TAKES TO GET OFFSHORE Every year, offshore employers are deluged with applications from hopefuls lured by the high salaries and generous holidays. Although the requirements will vary according to where the installation is based, most companies will expect candidates to at least get their BOSIET (Basic Offshore Induction and Emergency Training) qualification before they apply.

Norwegian waters have their own safety standards, and British waters require a further qualification, the MIST (Minimum Industry Safety Training).

The three-day BOSIET course, which costs around R8 900, includes modules on fire fighting, first aid, sea survival and helicopter safety. Since various health and safety executives have intervened, the ‘burning’ buildings trainees must escape from are only filled with cosmetic smoke, while the helicopter simulators ditch into swimming pools, rather than the sea.

Veteran riggers claim the course is now too anodyne to give trainees any real idea of what it’s like to be involved in an offshore emergency. But even in its current incarnation, the BOSIET is not for wimps.

The helicopter safety module sees trainees dressed first in a boiler suit, then a sealed safety suit (which grips with claustrophobic tightness at the neck and wrists), a selfinflating life jacket, a pair of swim shoes and a helmet. They’re then strapped into a simulator and sunk underwater six times (more if they make a mistake first time round). In the final round, they’re submerged and turned upside down. They must activate their breathing apparatus, but stay strapped into their seats until the simulator stops moving, then undo their seatbelts, kick out the windows, and swim to the surface. They’re only ever underwater for around 12 seconds at a time, but for the untrained delegate, it feels much, much longer.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTYIMAGES.COM

‘I’ve lived in Thailand and the Philippines, Australia, Egypt, Holland, Indonesia, Malaysia.

I’ve been places people only ever dream of going to see.

The money is unreal and I’ve met some great people along the way. Come on. Who wouldn’t love a job like this?’

DRIVE BY DESIGN

ABU DHABI IS ANOTHER PLANET. In another galaxy. An eclectic mix of futuristic design, technology and architecture that has transformed a blank and very sandy canvas into a monument to hard-edged opulence.

Rumour has it that the powers-that-be watched from the wings while Dubai sprang magnificently out of the arid desert. Then built one better …

Why Abu Dhabi? First, it’s hot (rather literally at 44 degrees Fahrenheit in July) and happening – a superpower where billions and billions of dollars are the weapons of mass construction. More to the point, it’s the home of the Yas Marina Circuit, which grabbed the world’s attention at the inaugural Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009. The racetrack was the point of my journey there; to take the new Audi A6 through its paces while following in the very famous tread tracks of Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

The Yas Hotel was our base, as it spans the track, offering a racing fanatic the ideal perspective. This iconic structure shouts engineering masterpiece with its huge steel gridshell veiling the hotel and incorporating 5 000 diamond-shaped glass panels that reflect a myriad coloured lights into the surrounding desert sand and sea.

His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Abu Dhabi, has put tourism in pole position. Apart from the Formula One circuit, there’s Ferrari World – with the fastest roller coaster on the planet at 240km/hour); and there’s the construction of the man-made island of Saadiyat (aka ‘the island of happiness’). A partnership with Paris means Saadiyat will house the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a Guggenheim contemporary art museum and a spectacular maritime museum – each designed by a portfolio of the world’s biggest names in architecture and design engineering. At least R718 billion will be spent on development in the next five years.

Abu is a brave new world and you see it best in one of the most ambitious development plans in the world. The Emperor’s Palace is a massive, gilt-edged testimony to opulence. The future, in the form of Saadiyat Island, is played out in a series of architectural models of the new island. And just as a reminder that you’re not in Kansas or any other Western equivalent, the Palace has an ATM machine that spits out not crisp, clean dollar bills, but little 24-carat

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Out of This World If you want to push a car to its extremes, then take it to a destination where every manner of record is broken.

Words KATHY MALHERBE

The new Audi A6 is a serious contender for market share.

Its what legends are made of ... rumour has it that the design was based on that of a sushi knife and a fencing joust. The car has status and presence, the seventh chapter of an extraordinary story of Vorsprung durch Technik

The Yas Hotel is designed to embody aesthetics associated with speed and spectacle. At first glance it looks slightly out of place, a spaceship that spotted a mooring at the marina and just berthed.

The iconic hotel spans the Yas Marina Circuit, which hosted the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009. This was where journalists ventured into the tread tracks of racing giants to put the Audi A6 through its paces. This beauty has been engineered with 10 percent more horsepower and uses 11 percent less fuel through drag-coefficient, energy conserving technology to enhance the start-stop function of its predecessors

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The connection between Vorsprung durch Technik and the Abu Dhabi genesis is obvious. Of the UAE’s seven emirates, Dubai and Abu Dhabi vie for the most recordbreaking architecture. Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit competes with Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. At more than 828 metres and 200 storeys high, the Burj surpasses the previous recordbreaker by 300 metres. The 60-second earpopping blast in the lift to the top affords a panoramic view especially at night of colours, angles and reflections. As restaurants go, Atmosphere on the 123rd floor begs you to ignore the engineering certainty that anything this high sways, albeit imperceptibly

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gold bars in 1,5g and 10g sizes. You may also buy gift boxes of gold coins bearing symbols such as the Krugerrand, a maple leaf or a kangaroo.

When hotel guests want to exchange their cash for something a little more economically stable, they don’t have to bother with gold store clerks or business hours. The ATM computer keeps track of gold prices in real time, and prices its gold accordingly.

So how does the Audi A6 fit into this landscape? Neatly; very neatly. We’re told that Audi has a 22 percent share of the market in which the three German musketeers battle it out.

The new A6 is a serious contender for market share. Even the car has generated its own legend – rumour is that the design was based on that of a sushi knife and a fencing joust (makes a nice change from Riva boats). It shows. The body is a combination of aluminium and state-of-the art steels resulting in a structure that’s light, yet rigid and very streamlined. Shane Brand, marketing director in the UAE, described it as the ‘seventh chapter of an extraordinary story of Vorsprung durch Technik’. A car that ‘has status and presence’ and where the technology is not gratuitous. We’re told that the Audi A6 is subject to the Inca test where the car is aged 12 years in 19 weeks to test the durability of parts (no big deal really – anyone who has a child in the throes of writing matric does this – sans technology).

Finally, the racing track. The Yas Marine Circuit is unlike any other anywhere in the world and a challenge to even the most experienced driver. German architect Hermann Tilke, most notable for the Grand Prix circuit in Shanghai, has incorporated high-speed passes, varying elevations, slow corners and the longest straight in Formula One. We were taught the control of the car depends on seating position and hand position on the steering wheel. Firstly, you need to get up close and personal with the steering wheel (preferably high enough to look over and not through it). The three no-no positions according to our very stern German instructor were: ‘The “up-yours” stance (one straight arm and hand on the steering wheel), the “rabbit position” (clutching the top of the steering wheel, hunched up and ready to bolt – think granny Agnes in her old Austin) or the classic “milking the cow” (when you take your hands on and off the wheel repeatedly and well … milk it).’ The correct position? Hands on both sides of the wheel (quarter to three) and slightly bent for maximum control.

After extensive briefing, the drivers were let loose on the circuit to accelerate, brake, aim for the apex, drift out and take the ideal line (newly,

nonchalantly acquired racing jargon). We all negotiated the corners and skidded round the track like seasoned pros. The car’s that forgiving.

To come was the parcours, jargon you chuck about on a trip like this, and which basically comes from the French parcours du combattant – or obstacle course. It went something like this – accelerate flat out for 100m, then swerve without warning (think standard taxi manoeuvre in rushhour traffic), in what’s known as the suddenlane-change exercise. It’s exhilarating and perfect for excessive personalities. Then, the slalom weaving in and swerving around a series of cones.

The finale was screeching to a halt between four cones to see if we could activate the anti-lock brakes. We did.

Then it was onto the skidpan for aquaplaning.

The ground is prepped to be as slippery as possible, then covered with water. The first attempt was a spectacularly elegant 360-degree turn with a pirouette at the end. It gave new meaning to the term ‘taking the car for a spin ...’

Instructors taught us how to engage this Audi’s superb ride control, feathering the accelerator (don’t try this at home unless you’re in the allwheel drive Quattro), and soon we were gracefully gliding over the skidpan and around corners with the grace of a performing ice-skater. What’s not to like?

We also had an opportunity, after all the adrenalin of the track, to test the cruise control with stop-and-go function. This isn’t for control freaks. Like a meek line of remote-controlled lambs we sat in the driver’s seats, only steering.

The car accelerates and brakes on its own, mimicking the car in front and keeping the correct distance. Liberating feet-free driving – great if you just want to zone out in rush-hour traffic on the way home (actually you can even paint your toenails while you stop and go remotely through suburbia). There are four different distances you can set from the car in front, but my money’s on the fact that no matter how small the distance is – a taxi will find a way to cut in.

The day’s driving was brought to a close with a demonstration of the Park Assist. First the car identifies the parking space, then takes you in – parallel or reverse. Watching the steering wheel turning to its own tune is a bit like watching a session of Glassy Glassy. The car makes a few adjustments to make sure the position is exact – 25cm on either side. German precision at its most endearing.

Is the A6 a cracker? Let’s put it this way: It wriggles into your psyche to neatly displace stratospheric towers and Formula One racing and become the kind of car that’s the dream drive.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

DRIVE BY DESIGN

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PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

Ring Masters Getting in to the ring to box is character-building, asks for commitment and demands fierce discipline. But once you start the journey, there’s a surprise in store. It’s not only your body that it shapes.

Words ANDRÉ WIESNER Photography MARK CAMERON Styling SUZANNAH GARLAND

INSERT THE HORSESHOE, SNORT THE LINES, dip the glove in broken glass. Find your anger, slugger: outside they’re playing your fight song. Like to gut a website developer? Fancy body-bagging a corporate banker, or some other superior pantywaist?

Here’s your chance – and screw the cash you took to take the fall.

Checklist. You weighed in, scowled for the flashbulbs, and duly raved abuse at your foe. You kitted up over cigarettes and French fries, and waited your turn. Now we’re on: ‘It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the cream of the fight …’

Rhino through the curtains and the shadowed, pumping mass of spectators towards the apocalypse, the luminous space of encounter, and demolish that MD, movie-maker or (most risible of all) journalist. Only it will be different once you’re there.

In the world of white-collar boxing, where members-club ‘fight nights’ are focal events, the anthems that contestants choose could as easily be classical music as folk rock, and while gangsta rap is always du jour, the undertone of matey self-parody is often heavier than the bass boom. Fighters might affect elements of the bad-ass boxing script in wry irony or partial delusion; they don’t necessarily live them.

White-collar boxing emerged in the 1990s in New York and other cities such as Hong Kong and London. Since then, it has flourished internationally as a recreational sport with its own code of rules. In South Africa, Cape Town’s Harrington Street Boxing Gym was a well-known centre for the sport, and now a new contender has emerged: The Armoury Boxing Club.

For owner Steve Burke, white-collar boxing is as intriguing to think about as it is engaging to do. It offers an enigmatic, paradoxical excitement: the state of safe danger.

Where the high-stakes professional boxer usually aims to win by knocking out the opponent, amateur and white-collar boxing follow the Olympic style based on clean, i.e. non-scraping, blows to the body’s point-scoring regions. But unlike amateur boxing, white-collar bouts are shorter – three two-minute rounds – and, in addition to standard headguards, gum guards and groin protectors, gloves are twice as padded as those of the pros, making facial injury a rarity, nicks and scuffs aside. If things get too one-sided or someone is ailing, the fight ends.

An even more pertinent contrast is that as much as the sport might stir fantasies of fratricide among the professional classes (annihilate the accountant!), by pitting dayjobbers of similar footing against one another, it limits potential for damage. Steve’s patrons, about a third of whom are women, range in age from the early twenties to mid-forties, with many drawn from banking and media sectors. Amateur boxers are typically township youths, peaking in their late teens and competing hell for leather

Sparring: Almost the real thing but not quite. It’s the time for testing combinations, footwork and fitness. [Left] Vest R70, Woolworths; shorts price on request, The Armoury Boxing Club; trainers R700, Adidas Originals. [Right] Vest R70, Woolworths; shorts and trainers, boxer’s own 55

to become big-game professionals. As Steve puts it, ‘If you step into the ring against someone who’s training full-time in the Bronx and living the gutter-to-glory story with every fight, he’s going to tear you apart.’

None of which will happen on his watch. ‘I get the boxers together before fight night and talk about the club’s expectations. They must behave in a very sportsmanlike manner. We ask them to embrace the other guy at the end of a fight, which they do – naturally. We don’t encourage bloodthirstiness. We’re the exact opposite of that ... This is a boxing club where not everyone actually boxes.’

Shrewdly mindful, on the one hand, that boxing is perceived as ‘brutish’, yet convinced, on the other, that boxing training provides ‘the best overall workout you’ll get’, The Armoury asserts as its key value proposition that it ‘uses boxing as a superb training technique’ to suit its members’ diverse sporting or fitness goals. The boxing regime is a means to an end. The end need not be boxing itself, even though the foretaste of experience is always beckoning as an opportunity accessible to comfortably-off, regular Joes and Josephines.

So the vast majority of members come only to exercise, working in classes or oneon-one with physical-training instructors and boxing coaches. The more adventurous try full-contact sparring. Only an estimated 20 percent of members go the distance and participate in fight nights. And here’s the coup de grâce. At The Armoury there are no losers, no winners – only heroes. To avoid partisanship from contaminating these festive assemblies of members, pals and relatives, no scores are kept and no winners declared. Both sweating fighters have their arms raised to the cheers of the crowd.

How perplexing. What’s your objective in the ring, then?

Steve laughs. ‘You want to win!’ Never mind scores. You’ll know how you’ve fared, as will the crowd. When it’s suggested that for some ‘staying alive’ might be the main thing, he laughs even louder.

Because you shouldn’t get the wrong idea. When Steve says his club ‘has no place for people who want to prove themselves in a macho way’, he does so not in a nanny-statist spirit but in the name, if you like, of a higher machismo – toughness epitomised. And when he remarks that he’s ‘not a tree-hugger’, believe him.

It’s a working morning and we’re shooting the breeze at The Armoury, located within a boom-gated complex in Woodstock and neighboured by such outfits as a publishing house and The Institute for Security Studies. That gets a good mutual chuckle, and Steve, 50, genial and joshing, British-born but long resident in South Africa, doyen of a programme for street kids, also digs the fact that it’s Woodstock, a downtown suburb going upmarket. ‘It’s edgy, and boxing’s a bit edgy.’

The same is true of the gym itself, a far cry from the dank, tattooed armpit canonised in folklore or the cosseted cruise-liner facility with martini glasses adjacent to the StairMaster. Think industrial loft. Think clean, friendly, functional. It’s said to be ‘quiet’ but is pervaded by the ambient sound of PA music and human to and fro. There is a trainer, the Olympic weightlifter. And over there, offering coffee, is the manageress, a world-champion kickboxer. From the ring, a shuffle-hustle-thump marks a woman who is pummelling the bejesus out of her coach’s hand pads.

Beneath its whited walls the building is sheer Dickens, and it actually was once an armoury. Light streams through high windows, girders line the ceiling, and pillars display poster-sized engravings of Victorian boxers with walrus moustaches. Juxtaposed to the lounge, with its wood panelling, library and framed clippings, is the weights room and the favoured tools, kettlebells and TRX bodyweight suspension system.

The former, ‘a hand-held gym’, resemble chunks of Boer War ordnance; the latter, a US Navy SEALS gizmo, could be stuffed in a kitbag with your Woodbines and used

Skipping: The boxer’s exercise (as was chopping wood) demands hand/feet coordination, footwork and stamina. Often used as a warm-up before sparring. [Left] Vest R70, Woolworths; shorts price on request, The Armoury Boxing Club; trainers R700, Adidas Originals. [Right] Vest R70, Woolworths; shorts and trainers, boxer’s own 56

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anywhere. Aside from being useful in training, they’re illustrative of boxing’s portability.

Hell, you don’t need much. All it takes, Steve says, is good stance, keeping your guard up and knowing the blows – the jab, lead, hook and uppercut – stuff you can explain in seconds yet not perfect in a lifetime; basics that can spiral into combinatorial infinity.

And, so saying, he demonstrates. An interesting moment ... having former Major Burke’s fist held inches from your face ... a long history manifests itself as his arm swings out and the knuckles steady into view.

In feudal England, bare-fisted contests were popular at village fairs. Come the Industrial Revolution, they spread to cities where these spectacles gained such cachet among aristocratic spectators that the prizefighter Jack Broughton, seeing opportunity, opened an academy in London, introduced gloves and rules, and advertised for ‘persons of quality and distinction’. Thus was boxing born, a pursuit of the nobility that, in time, flourished in public schools, universities and military academies.

Steve Burke revives these traditions of the English amateur, the gentleman boxer.

‘Boxing was seen as a vehicle for expressing one’s noble side,’ he says.

And, by Jove, talk about exemplifying your own brand.

A management consultant and eloquent conversationalist, Steve sports a crisp, striped shirt and close-cropped gelled hair. As he takes his boxing stance, the movement is executed with elegant sureness. When the fist appears, it’s like looking down the barrel of a gun held by James Bond.

Steve grew up in a boxing milieu and is a former manager of the British Army boxing team. He went to Sandhurst, and was commissioned in the elite Parachute Regiment.

During 16 years of service, he held only one desk job, in covert surveillance and agenthandling, activity where he reported at ministerial level. The rest of it was active duty worldwide, in training or combat. ‘One minute you’re crawling in the jungle, the next, parachuting into the Arctic.’ And then we trail into off-the-record territory.

So he’s tough. With all its safety measures, is white-collar/gentleman boxing equally as tough? Look, he says, boxing is boxing. It’s psychologically intimidating to get into a ring for the first time, trade blows, and feel the turmoil of fight-or-flight reflexes.

Some people cannot bring themselves to throw punches at another person; for most it’s receiving them that’s the issue. Then again, there you have it – people do it; genteel citizens who are not after career advancement and cash, who are motivated not by need but an order of desire. For Steve, this is the crucial consideration, one that casts the enigma of boxing into relief and which, by implication, makes white-collar boxing less a sideshow to the amateur and professional acts than the sport’s central or purest expressive stage, its main psycho-cultural laboratory. ‘While relatively safe, there’s always the fact of violence and fear of getting hurt – it’s strangely compelling.’

Safe/danger. The ambivalent allurement of boxing turns and turns on this edge.

Seen from one direction, it’s all about your safety becoming endangered. From another, it’s about engaging danger and making it safe, about parachuting into the Arctic of the ring time and again to rehearse the mastery of a primordial challenge, be it the shadowboxing foe cowled beneath a hood, or the self, the zone of autonomous nature we are behind our eyes.

‘To decide to box is a real adventure. It’s character-building, highly disciplined, takes massive commitment and gets you into bloody good shape. Yet when you start the journey, you’ll realise it’s all about this.’ He thumps at his heart; touches his crown.

Fighting with hand pads: The improvement of hand speed, punching power and other skills, with comment and encouragement from the person behind the pads.

[Left] Black vest R229, Adidas Performance; shorts and trainers boxer’s own.

[Right] Grey hoodie R499, Ess Grey tracksuit pants R399, both Adidas Performance; trainers JS Wings GID R1 799, Adidas Originals 60

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Let any other sportsman try and tell you that his sport is more exhausting than a comprehensive workout of throwing punches in or outside the ring. He would be wrong 62

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The similarity between boxers, jockeys and models is the importance of weight. Boxers competing below their normal weight can take huge strain to shed the extra kilos before the official weigh in

[Above] ADI Firebird tracksuit top R599, ADI Firebird tracksuit pants R449, both Adidas Originals. Grey shorts R249, Active towel R279, both Adidas Performance. [Opposite] Airo jacket R4 500, Weigley Hoodie R2 000, both G-Star Raw; blue inside out printed T-shirt R999, Diesel

Boxers are not always bent noses, cauliflower ears and scarred eyebrows. A handsome face usually means a champ boxer. ‘My face is so pretty; you don’t see a scar, which proves I’m the king of the ring by far.’ – Muhammad Ali

Photography: Mark Cameron; fashion director: Suzannah Garland; model: Chad Melhuizen/Outlaws (Chad is Alzheimer’s South African ambassador and dedicates his free time to creating awareness for the cause, see how you can get involved by visiting http://www.alzheimers.org.za); trainer/ professional boxer: Johannes Sallie; grooming: Merle Titus/Infidels; photographer’s assistant: Jacques van Zyl; fashion assistant: Jacqui Turner; fashion intern: Hannah Moore; captions: Martin Oosthuizen; post-production: Clone. Shot on location and with special thanks to The Armoury Boxing Club: 021 461 9141. STOCKISTS: Adidas Originals: 021 421 8262; Adidas Performance: 021 419 6754; Diesel: 011 630 4000; G-Star Raw: 021 418 9000; Woolworths: 021 415 3411 00 6 6

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There’s nothing usual about Mapula Bodibe, MTN’s General Manager: Consumer Segment. Her level of dedication, drive, and that word that winds like a golden thread throughout her life – discipline ­– is exemplary

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AN MTN INITIATIVE

Grace Under Fire Taking her cue from lessons learnt in her own life journey, Mapula Bodibe – MTN’s General Manager: Consumer Segment – tackles tough business challenges with her trademark discipline and turns them into multi-billion rand opportunities.

Words RIEKIE HUMAN Photography FIONA ROYDS/INFIDELS

FROM A SHY TEENAGE TOWNSHIP GIRL’S first encounter with tough love – having to cough up 50 cents a pop for using the vernacular of her childhood at a demanding New Era school – to heading up one of MTN’s toughest make-or-break divisions, Mapula Bodibe’s life journey has been filled with challenges. It’s a similar trajectory that many businessmen and -women have faced, but these hurdles strengthened her resolve to the extent that she’s turned every one into an opportunity.

Meanwhile, she’s added to her considerable skill set and unwittingly been part of what is now a multi-billion rand market segment.

When Mapula joined MTN six years ago, Prepaid – or the mass marketing segment as it was then called – was still an area of MTN’s operations that was not well understood and, for a long time, she was the only segment manager dealing with it. But that didn’t stop her from growing in spite of it, while applying her full armour of passion for customer insights and marketing savvy – which ranges from a firm belief in classical marketing disciplines to her personal brand of tenacity.

As a young girl with few advantages in life, Mapula’s world changed dramatically at the end of her last year in primary school, when she was awarded a prestigious scholarship at one of the first so-called New Era schools sponsored by a German NGO, then named Phuthing Nest School. It was 1991, in a South Africa dogged by gross inequality in every sphere including education yet, that January, Mapula left her township home in Springs, checked into the school’s dormitory, started her high school career in a completely new milieu, and was surrounded, for the first time, ‘by all these white and Indian kids’.

Her new alma mater was also home to fellow students that included luminaries such as ‘the Sisulu and Mandela children’.

It was there that her teachers provided her first taste of uncompromising discipline, and literally made her pay for every time she lapsed into township vernacular in order to encourage communication in English among a multicultural group of students. ‘Within three months, my intimidation by the English language was a thing of the past.’

It laid the foundation for what would become one of her most valued work principles, and something she feels is often short-changed in modern-day marketing practices: ‘Core disciplines are all too often forgotten,’ she says, adding that she got her second schooling in them after completing degrees in economics and accounting. She then had the opportunity to join a major FMCG company’s graduate marketing programme, an 18-month course that drilled classical marketing disciplines, which have been entrenched in all she does. This was followed by a stint at a major franchise food group where she was introduced to market segmentation and segment marketing. Thereafter she joined MTN. While market segmentation and novelties such as Prepaid cellphone options were hardly as pervasive then as they are today, let alone any part of her career thinking at the time, she is still astonished at what a business-altering phenomenon it turned out to be.

‘Back then, there wasn’t a realisation of the significance of Prepaid, or how big it would become. It seemed rather unglamorous, but it turned out to be a pivotal stage in MTN’s growth, and in that of our team.’ From a fairly small and niched focus area within the

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AN MTN INITIATIVE company’s hallways, Prepaid has since grown into one of the biggest cogs in the MTN wheel, with over 10 million new customers coming on board in just a few years.

After Prepaid came MTN Zone, to date the highest revenue contributor in the business, and accounting for 70 percent of Prepaid’s turnover, as well as an even more niched breakdown of market segments. Naturally, it came at a high price, involving tremendous amounts of hard work by a cross-functional team of passionate enthusiasts across the business – something Mapula embraces. Even during the busiest and most stressful times, it was business as usual – although in Mapula’s case, there’s nothing usual about her level of dedication, drive, and that golden thread that is evident throughout her life – discipline.

Revisiting her childhood, and talking about how she had to leave Phuthing at 16 to return to her childhood home and look after her younger sister when their mother left to work as a nurse in the UK, Mapula illustrates that this discipline was part of her personal and professional DNA. With a life that can arguably be described as a succession of life-changing challenges, her career at MTN mimics that same journey with new opportunities being thrown at her just as she’s mastered the previous one. Which is probably why Mapula is the first to recognise that ‘joining MTN was the major defining moment in my career. It set the tone and foundation of where I am now’.

She explains that from those first days as an almost lone ranger in the vastly unexplored field of the Prepaid phenomenon, to the point where she was being roped into high-level business strategy sessions, each new step came at exactly the right moment and led her to the ‘most daunting’, and most rewarding part of her career so far – as General Manager: Consumer Segment, working with an amazing team truly passionate about meeting customers’ needs.

But the tough love stakes were now even higher than before and the interview process for this position – let alone mustering the kind of mettle needed to make the shortlist – can only be described as gruelling. ‘It was like The Apprentice,’ says Mapula. ‘Apart from a panel interview, it also involved a full four-hour personality assessment by a psychologist.’

The final hurdle? Yet another panel of five senior MTN managers presented her with a major business problem, and asked Mapula to come up with and present a full-scale solution – within an hour. It’s the kind of professional

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baptism of fire that would send lesser candidates running, but it had the opposite effect on Mapula. ‘It’s amazing how resourceful one can be under fire,’ she says, while pointing out that questions were relentlessly fired at her throughout her presentation, and that it was a taste of things to come.

Not one for claiming that the job – in the bigger-picture sense of the word – is ever done, especially not in the fast-paced and constantly changing world of telecommunications, Mapula’s already made the mindshift to the next step, and the next opportunity. The only thing that’s changed in the constant succession of challenges in her life is that she’s now graduated to a place where she’s leading and developing her team to strive for even more, constantly engaging and learning from her colleagues and managing the next batch of hurdles thrown at her. These include an even more detailed zoning in on market segments, such as women – a topic that gets her enthusiastic about the vast potential that can still be unlocked on that side, and the business imperative to respect each market segment.

‘It can actually all be traced back to that daunting case study during my interview for my current position. I was asked how I would move beyond the plateau of 2009 (in terms of market saturation) and generate the same high levels of growth in the business.’ Her presentation revolved around three previously untapped niche market segments – the Afrikaans sector (‘and all the fantastic unique marketing streams available, from rugby events to festivals and farming expos’); the Indian market (‘which includes thinking creatively about things such as Bollywood content for our websites’), and women. ‘We’ve launched an incredible range of relevant applications – from tracking products to monitor the whereabouts of your children to the 2MyAid functionality for assistance when you’re in danger.’

There’s no doubt that once Mapula and her team achieve the full range of potential for each of these segments, they would have identified – and begun preparing for – the next challenge.

Which begs the question: ‘What next?’ She doesn’t miss a beat. ‘I’ve been with MTN for six years, and I haven’t updated my CV in ages.

I’ve never needed to think about the next step, because MTN’s done that for me. Sure, I do get a lot of head-hunting calls, but I don’t even want to entertain them. I’ve found my calling,’ she says, and adds that almost everything in her life journey has led her to this moment.

And she’s making the most of it.

Back then, there wasn’t a realisation of the significance of Prepaid … It seemed rather unglamorous, but it turned out to be a pivotal stage in MTN’s growth, and in that of our team

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A narrow walkway in the ‘Silent City’ of Mdina, Malta’s former capital, where over 300 villagers are the only ones allowed access by vehicle

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Battlefields and Bounty The Romans invaded it, Napoleon seized it, Britain ‘rescued’ it …

Malta today is the sum of its historic past but embraces modern travellers and investors keen on a foot in the door of this centre of the Med.

MALTA TOURISM AUTHORITY: WWW.VISITMALTA.COM

Words ROY WATTS Photography ROY WATTS AND MALTA TOURISM AUTHORITY

EVERY COUNTRY IS THE END PRODUCT OF ITS HISTORY, and the Maltese archipelago has one that stretches back 5 611 years to the carbon-dated megalithic Ggantija Temples on the island of Gozo, built by an advanced civilisation that crossed from Sicily on a land bridge that no longer exists. These are the oldest structures in the world, and were built 1 400 years before the Pyramids.

Although blessed with a sublime climate, it’s also been cursed with a strategic significance at the crossroads of Europe and Africa. It’s impossible to appreciate the present without at least skimming its history.

Various nations have battled to colonise it throughout the ages, giving rise today to a unique cocktail of genes and architecture. The long chain started with the Phoenicians, who succumbed to the Carthaginians, who were then overthrown by the Romans. Byzantine rule followed this in 395AD, accompanied by an ongoing tussle with the Vandals and Goths.

In the 9th century AD an Arab invasion secured occupation, which was ended by a Norman conquest that returned the islands to the Christian faith in 1090.

Charles V of Spain, as King of Sicily, ceded the Maltese islands to the Order of the Knights of St John in 1530. This was a cosmopolitan assembly of English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian and Bavarian knights who became the biggest influence in the eventual development of the islands. After surviving a heroic siege in a concerted attack from the Turks in 1565, they went on to become Malta’s greatest benefactors as they developed an infrastructure that contributed much to the architecture and culture existing today.

The Knights of St John’s reign lasted until

Napoleon Bonaparte seized the islands in 1798, at a time when the knighthood had basically run its course. He needed Malta as part of his strategy for conquering Egypt. The Maltese archipelago was rescued by Britain, when Admiral Nelson sunk most of the French fleet at Alexandria while Napoleon was disembarking for his Egyptian campaign. This brought them under a lengthy period of English rule that ended with the granting of independence in 1964, when it became a sovereign state within the British Commonwealth.

The Maltese islands and Britannia were close allies during the Second World War. They were subjected to the most vicious onslaught from neighbouring Italy and Germany, as Malta was a big thorn in the supply route for Rommel’s North African campaign. Until Italy was defeated in 1943, more bombs rained down on this tiny enclave than in any other locality during the whole war.

Much of Malta’s commerce and government operates from the nation’s historic buildings, particularly in Valletta, the capital. They were built across a wide span of its dramatic history – especially during the reign of the knights. My introduction to the many enchanting links with the past was a night visit to the ‘Silent City’, Mdina, which was a colonial settlement of Imperial Rome, and thereafter the first capital city of the knights before the seat of government moved to Valletta. In Roman times it was where the Apostle Paul was kept when he was washed ashore from a shipwreck on the island in 60AD. From there he was later deported to Rome, where he was executed.

Malta’s greatest natural resource is a vast deposit of a distinctive butter-coloured

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limestone that has been used for building throughout the past, and is the medium still in use today. Far from being a collection of historical buildings, Mdina is a fully functioning village with over 300 residents who are the only people allowed access by vehicle.

Apart from Malta’s rich historic and architectural heritage, it’s a great place for a holiday, attested by the legions of visitors pouring into the country, mostly on Air Malta that lists no less than 84 international destinations on its website. Lying in the centre of the Mediterranean with close proximity to Africa, the climate is influenced by the Sahara desert that dispatches dry air and corresponding blue skies. In the west, the Atlantic Ocean sends in the moist air responsible for the mild rainy winters. There are plenty of bays, beaches and coves along its 196km coastline, with crystal clear water ideal for swimming and water sports. Scuba is especially popular. There are many wrecks lying quite close to the shore in Malta and Gozo, and these are frequently explored by the diving clubs.

A visit to the satellite island of Gozo in the north will be a high point in any itinerary.

It’s accessed by a ferry that leaves every 45 minutes, and transports people and cars across the 6km channel in half an hour. This is a magnificent travel bookmark and a place of great enchantment. Only 14km long and 7km wide, it has a coastline of craggy cliffs, seductive coves, blue grottos and beaches where turquoise waves break onto brilliant orange-red sand. The best way to see it all is from a speedboat and Kevin Vella at Galaxy Charters is your man.

Gozo’s history is built into many of its buildings, most notably The Citadel – a small, fortified city in the heart of Victoria that dates back to the Bronze Age – around 1500BC.

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Rising from the sea, the Azure Window is a giant natural rock arch framing a distant cliff, and the Basilica of Ta’ Pinu is the island’s most famous destination for pilgrimage. All three are fascinating and a visit to the megalithic Ggantija Temples will have you wondering about the origins of this nation. It’s a good idea to arrange a day around a lunch there. Several piazzas and waterfronts provide a tempting array of alfresco restaurants.

The measure of a destination’s charm lies in its ability to make you want to live there.

The romance of a good holiday aside, it’s quite possible to buy your own slice of Malta.

For some time, the country has been running an interesting permanent residence scheme linked to property ownership, which grants automatic access to the European Schengen countries. The entry level in the past was restricted to the purchase of an apartment in excess of R1,1 million, or a house costing more than R1,9 million. This has caught the attention of South Africans, and the Maltese archipelago has become a viable alternative to Mauritius for people seeking a home overseas.

Frank Salt Real Estate, leading realtors on the island, have been quick to realise this and have been marketing the concept vigorously with frequent trips to South Africa. They’re linked to Johannesburg-based firm Crusader Rock, leaders in facilitating and expediting European Union residency applications through Malta. The two companies work in tandem to provide expert advice to people keen on buying property in that country, and they host monthly seminars in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town to present compelling reasons to consider Malta.

The permanent residence scheme has been temporarily suspended while the government reviews the minimum investment levels,

as the current figures are considered to be too low. The revised conditions are due out soon, and both companies are gearing up for a concerted sales drive. In 2011 Malta placed second along with New Zealand (just behind the USA) in the International Living Magazine’s Quality of Life Index.

In arriving at these rankings, official sources such as the World Health Organisation and UNESCO were tapped for statistics and information concerning cost of living, culture, economy, environment, freedom, safety and, most importantly, health infrastructure.

I’d have liked the medical care to remain one of those ‘nice to know’ draw cards, but it turned out to be something I’d experience a lot more closely. After falling off a motorcycle and badly mangling an ankle, I had to check into the St James Hospital. The professionalism, excellence of equipment, and friendliness of staff were beyond anything I have experienced in recent years. It was a rather more civil reception than any other ‘invading’ foreigner might have had in the past. It seems as if the Malta of today has come to terms with its strategic importance and, while it holds fast to history and tradition, it’s flying a very alluring flag for worldwide travellers.

IN SHORT International Living Quality of Life Index: http://internationalliving. com/2010/12/quality-of-life-2011/ Properties: www.franksalt.com.mt Crusader Rock, SA-based firm for property/investment/EU residency: www.crusaderrock.com Guide Darrell Azzopardi: email dazman@onvol.net Galaxy Speedboat Charters: www.galaxy-charters.com

Opposite: The cliff face on the island of Gozo, an enchanting travel bookmark; soak up the ambience with an alfresco meal.

This page: The French-designed Carmelite Church and Priory is now open to visitors to the medieval, walled town of Mdina

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Africa ‘lite’

You’d be well advised to ditch the 4x4 and hoof it about on eye level with the wild.

Walking evens the playing fields.

Words JANE BROUGHTON

Zebra Plains is a seasonal camp, open in the dry winter months.

Logistical challenges aside, the food that appears from the openair kitchen is impressive

I’M A SUCKER FOR A WALKING SAFARI. On foot feels like the original and authentic way to ‘go bush’. Maintaining a light carbon footprint by sleeping in a tent is also part of the appeal.

You don’t get much more authentic than Sanctuary Retreats’ new Zebra Plains camp in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park. It’s a region synonymous with walking, thanks to experienced outfits like Robin Pope Safaris – the benchmark in the area for over 30 years.

Unlike other bucket-list safari destinations like the Masai Mara, where the traffic at sightings can become chaotic in season, it’s extremely rare to bump into another human being in the 9 000-plus square kilometre South Luangwa.

That’s the way I like it.

Getting there is a trek in itself. From Cape Town, it takes three flights followed by a long and bumpy road transfer that includes a river crossing on a rickety pont and ends with an

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overnight stay at one of Sanctuary’s other properties, Chichele Presidential Lodge, before setting out early the next morning for the final three-hour transfer – essentially, one big game drive. The delight factor kicks in when the track peters out and I walk the last kilometre into camp through a dry river bed.

Zebra Plains is a seasonal camp, open during the dry winter months from June to October. Before the heavy rains descend, the camp will be packed up completely leaving little trace of its existence or impact on the earth. It is luxurious where it counts. The four en-suite tents have proper loos, bucket showers and multi-tasking Africology amenities (think body lotion with built-in insect repellent). The beds are vast with beautiful linen, billowing mosquito netting and the niftiest gooseneck reading lights run, like the rest of the camp, on solar power – ideal for marathon Kindle

sessions in the depth of the night when the surrounding bush feels and sounds too close for comfort. Each tent is assigned a ‘kapaso’ (a Zambian butler), who is on call to rig up a hot shower anytime you request it, whisk away dusty, dirty safari clothes and return them clean but smelling of smoke from a coal iron.

My man, Elias B Banda, was also tasked with waking me at dawn with a plunger of strong coffee and Millionaire’s shortbread served on a handcrafted bentwood tray.

Even without taking the logistical challenges of its location into consideration, the food that comes out of the open-air kitchen is impressive and just what I felt like eating. Salads made with crisp, green lettuce, a roasted vegetable frittata, grilled beef fillet and export-quality vegetables cooked to al dente perfection. Breads, baked three times a day in a hole in the ground, are served with butter, as

TRAVELLER BUCKET LIST The en-suite tents have proper loos and bucket showers. The vast beds are dressed with beautiful linen and draped with mosquito netting

PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF SANCTUARY RETREATS

A walking bush safari feels more authentic.

Buffalo and elephant are common sightings

pale and sweet as French beurre, from a local dairy farm outside the park. Sugary doughnuts and dense chocolate cake appear at teatime before the afternoon walk.

Zebra Plains’ USP is Garth Hovell, an experienced guide who leads all the walks. In his company, learning about animal behaviour, birds and trees is fascinating in a way that school could never be. Passion, knowledge and a sense of humour are prerequisites in a decent guide, but what really counts is someone who picks up on individual interests within the group and effortlessly deepens your understanding as the days pass. More ramble than route march, the walks are designed to take in the sights, sounds, signs and smells of the wild.

The concentration of game around the Luangwa River and its numerous oxbow lagoons becomes almost incidental. It’s difficult

not to become ho-hum about the hundreds of hippos clogging up the river in front of camp or tracking lion on foot. Thorneycroft giraffe (unique to the South Luangwa), puku, kudu, buffalo and elephant are common sightings, the birding is legendary and anyone who loves trees – vast groves of ebonies and ancient baobabs – is in for a treat. As it turns out, you get a bunch of intriguing facts that may or may not save your life. Like, never stand beneath a sausage tree (the fruit weighs up to 20kg and could kill you on impact – much like a falling coconut) – or never get between a hippo and his path back to the river. The walking safari mantra of ‘don’t run; ever’ seems redundant now, but I still don’t know whether Garth was joking when he told me that the tea porter’s real job was not to dispense bottles of icecold water, but to rugby tackle anyone who disobeyed ‘rule number one’.

WHAT IT COSTS: A four-night trip (one night Chichele, three nights Zebra Plains) costs R5 530 per person, including road transfers, all meals, water, soft drinks, wine with meals, laundry and two game-viewing activities per day. The rate excludes all other alcoholic drinks, park fees (R142 per person per night), departure taxes (about R156 per person) and flights. It’s best to book the flight from Lusaka to Mfuwe with Sanctuary Retreats – about R3 616 return per person, with Proflight Zambia.

HOW TO BOOK: Atlas House, 31 Harley Street, Randburg, 2194, South Africa Tel: 011 438 4650 Fax: 011 86 218 1482 Emergency mobile: 083 326 2687 www.sanctuaryretreats.com

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TRAVELLER BUCKET LIST

What a Wallow Londolozi’s private riverside baths open another angle to understated luxury.

WHEN THE PIONEERING MEMBERS of the Varty clan arrived at Londolozi in 1926, bathing on the Sand River banks was a regular indulgence. For the early settlers, the effect of being surrounded by nature was so invigorating that not even hippos and crocs could deter them from their evening dip. Not quite your cup of tea? Well, not to worry because at Londolozi’s Private Granite Suites, you can enjoy that wilderness encounter without fear of loss of life or limb. The safer option is a private riverside tub. Add Londolozi’s new signature body range infused with avocado and essential oils, and you’re in for a treat. Londolozi offers accommodation that is opulent without being over the top, which is perhaps why it was the first game reserve in the world to achieve Relais & Châteaux status. For further information, visit www.londolozi.com.

PHOTOGRAPHY: ELSA YOUNG

Words HANNAH MOORE

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TRAVELLER BUCKET LIST

Winning Numbers The hotel quite simply defines luxury in a way that many other hotels cannot.

Words LES AUPIAIS

could write in the spirit of Ernest Hemingway.

Robben Island is a green sliver on the ocean and passing ships create an intriguing distraction to your reverie. Words simply couldn’t fail you.

The service and privacy rules are legendary at Ellerman House, which is why so many Hollywood stars stay there. The only way in is past a phalanx of doorman and valet parking attendants, who enquire about your business there ever so firmly, but very politely. Once you’ve passed through the hotel entrance to its cool interior, your eyes adjust to the new light and then to the art from Francois Krige, Beezy Bailey and Jacob Pierneef to George Pemba and William Kentridge, now housed in the hotel’s own gallery. The collection is a draw card in

itself. The hotel was featured in an article that grouped some of the world’s most iconic hotels with art collections including The Ritz-Carlton in Singapore, the St James’s Hotel and Club in London and La Colombe d’Or in Provence.

But should you tire of fine art, therapeutic ministrations at the hotel spa, splendid food, reading on your veranda, drinking champagne and toasting a sunset, then the hotel’s concierge service will dream up an itinerary for you of anything the city and surrounds has to offer.

The hotel defines luxury. It has position, offers attention to detail, has historic genes and is the first and last word in utter discretion.

For further information, call 021 430 3200 or visit www.ellerman.co.za.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED BY ELLERMAN HOUSE

AT A RECENT SALA MEETING (South African Luxury Association), the topic was China and South Africa on the luxury stage together. The subject of China’s preoccupation with numbers, and particularly the allure of number eight, was intriguing. Ellerman House might do well to tout their very beautiful rose and oatmeal number eight suite with its glorious views over the hotel’s signature palms and the Atlantic sea beyond. Chinese guests would be enchanted, and perhaps thrilled, at its auspiciousness.

Then again, Private Edition rather fancies suite number one, Lady Ellerman’s original bedroom that is now a luxurious space in soft mint and sage with a real veranda – broad, shady and a retreat in itself – and a place where perhaps one

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BY THE WAY

Class Acts Travel is not for the faint-hearted. You’ll love it more when its relegated to the mists of memory.

IN 1851 MR THOMAS COOK INVENTED THE HOLIDAY TOUR INDUSTRY, discovering that he could get reduced rates from the railways if he took his teetotal party in one lump on guided tours to stay in basic hotels on the continent.

Over a century-and-a-half later, travel has taken an extra-continental turn. A North Korean university lecturer recently told his students that interplanetary junketing was on the cards in the not-too-distant future, and that they would soon be able to visit Mars and Pluto regularly. In response, one of his students piped up: ‘That’s great but when will we be able to travel to South Korea?’

While methods of travel have greatly improved in recent years, it’s ironic that the universe is being offered to us before we have sorted out the basics back home.

Speaking of travel basics, we now turn to Birnbaum’s First Law of Travel, which unequivocally states that if there is a pretty girl on the flight, she won’t be sitting next to you. No advances required. Still, we must be grateful for other advances that have been made in travel, in the form of luxury accommodation.

Your travels in far-flung lands, which broaden the mind, lengthen your conversations and flatten your purse, are more comfortable now, and easier to finance, with the 21st-century equivalent of Mr Cook’s currency in your pocket – the global credit card and cheque book.

Of all the books that dictate travel it is the cheque book. You see, as Peter Benchley says,

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there are only two classes of travel: First Class, and With Children. Another way of putting this is if you want to be classified as a traveller who is taken seriously, there is First Class or No Class.

What is it that attracts us to fivestar establishments? Travel writer Peter Biddlecombe loved the Mount Nelson’s fivestar treatment and considered it the best hotel in Africa. He had a different way of grading, though. He said that there were a lot of five-star hotels in Africa he had stayed in. When you lay on your bed at night you could see five stars through the holes in the roof!

In the upmarket McLeod Hotel in Alberta in 1882, a sign instructed guests: ‘To attract attention of waiters shoot a hole in the door panel. Two for iced water, three for a deck of cards. The proprietor will not be accountable for anything.’ If it wouldn’t result in half the room taking out their weapon du jour and opening fire indiscriminately, we might resort to it in Johannesburg just to get the bill brought smartly to the table.

Fringe benefits vary in top hostelries. My friend Selwyn booked into the world’s tallest hotel in Do-Buy. Depending on the room you booked, there was a matching car. His ‘more economical’ accommodation entitled him to a very ordinary 745 Beemer. By comparison, rich soccer players and hedge fund prestidigitators had two dozen white Rollers and Ferraris at their disposal. Nevertheless, Selwyn found comfort and solace in the four-storey quarters his more

economical accommodation permitted.

But it is not always flash and bling that entice returning guests. My editor herein loves The Grace’s thinly sliced lemons for the end of day Gee & Tee. My friend, Brian, enjoyed The Floridiana’s remote controls for his room, including hot and cold running women and, of course, the Nespresso coffee machine with the prettily coloured slugs.

There are pretty prices to match of course, and it recently dawned on me why so many resort hotels are called The Palms. My friend, Vaughan, belongs to that group of travellers who intensely dislike the tip-seeking porters with permanently upturned palms, who lead you or stalk you to your room.

Vaughan often quotes this poem written 100 years ago by a young traveler who also resented the constant forking out of money at hotels: Bills are long and cash is fleeting And I wish to make it clear That the bill you are receipting, Is the last I settle here.

So I leave you, poorer, sadder Lest you make me poorer still.

Sharper than the biting adder Is the adder of the bill.

Travel is only really appreciated when you return home, the travails diminished. Then you will have forgotten about the lousy ersatz coffee in the plastic envelope, a small pot of something unlike milk and that folder of dull information on what to do when in … wherever.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTYIMAGES.COM

Words ROLAND ACKERMAN

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