The South African, Issue 539, 5 November 2013

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5 - 11 November 2013

Issue 539

PISTORIUS FACES TWO MORE FIREARM CHARGES

| Oscar Pistorius’s hopes of clearing his name have suffered a serious dent with two further firearm-related charges added to the murder charges against him

By AYUB NOUINOU PROSECUTORS in South Africa are set to add two firearm charges to the case against Oscar Pistorius, who is due to stand trial in March for murder and illegal possession of ammunition.

Pistorius’s lawyers have received a letter informing them that the additional charges of reckless and negligent discharging of a firearm will be added which will further stack the odds against the Paralympic gold medallist.

The additional charges are believed to be connected to the ‘Blade Runner’ negligently shooting firearms in public and they were not part of the original case because they happened in Johannesburg, a different court jurisdiction to Pretoria, where the fatal shooting of Pistorius’s partner Reeva Steenkamp happened on 14 February 2013.

Prosecutors had to ask for permission from South Africa ‘s new national director of public prosecutions to “centralise” all the charges against the athlete.

Nathi Mncube, spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority, told Associated Press, “These are not new charges, they were charges that already existed.

They were just in a different jurisdiction.”

Mncube refused to provide any details in regards to the charges, only saying that there were two additional counts and they covered “the contravention of the Firearm Controls Act”.

The media has reported that the

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INSIDE:

p3 | Boeremag Madiba assassination plotter sentenced

p8 | From Ballito to Blighty: rising SA rockers What Now tell us what’s next

p13 | Tsvangirai: where has the $2bn of Zim diamond money gone?

|THE LONG WAY DOWN: Further revelations of weapons held without a licence may further weaken the fallen Olympian’s case

double amputee twice previously shot a firearm on public grounds: once out of a moving car when he was driving with a former girlfriend and another at a restaurant in Johannesburg when he unintentionally fired a friend’s gun under a table.

Mncube refused to confirm whether the new firearm-related charges relate to these incidents.

More than 100 witnesses

believed to have been present during the two incidents were included in the prosecution’s list when Pistorius was indicted in August.

The 26-year-old athlete faces a life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison if he is convicted on the main charge of premeditated murder.

Pistorius denies murder and says he shot Steenkamp in self-

defence through a toilet door with his licensed 9mm handgun, thinking mistakenly that she was a dangerous intruder in his home.

However, prosecutors believe he intentionally intended to kill Steenkamp.

The prosecution team is hoping these additional charges will portray Pistorius as a violent and trigger-happy person capable of committing murder.

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South African G4S-run prison rocked by riots, strikes and claims of torture | Claims that wardens allegedly hand out violent and illegal punishments to inmates at the G4S-run Mangaung Correctional Centre are being investigated

by AYUB NOUINOU SOUTH Africa’s Mangaung Correctional Centre, run by beleaguered multinational private security company Group 4 Securicor (G4S), has been hit by a series of security scandals in past weeks that resulted in the Department of Correctional Services taking control of it.

Mangaung Correctional Centre near Bloemfontein is the second largest private prison in the world.

Having played a part in its design and construction, British firm G4S was awarded a 25-year contract 13 years ago to run the prison on behalf of the Department of Correctional Services.

South Africa’s department of correctional services took control of the prison on 9 October after it established that the management had lost ‘effective control of the prison’ following weeks of violence and staff strikes that led to a ‘worrying deterioration of safety and security’ at the centre holding 3,000 high-risk inmates.

Now claims that wardens allegedly hand out violent and illegal punishments to inmates are being investigated.

Officials at the prison are allegedly injecting inmates with antipsychotic medication and using electric shocks to suppress and control prisoners. This is according to around 35 sources – security guards, prison and health officials, prisoners – and based on legal documents, video footage recorded inside the prison and medical

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| Mangaung ‘madness’, or a very ordinary failure of management?

buttocks.

Sello Mogale, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape in 2008, arrived at the maximum security prison in 2012.

He said that the monthly injections commenced soon after his arrival at the prison, when he complained of suicidal thoughts. “I sleep all the time, I cannot stay awake. My mouth is dry and my hands are jumpy. I feel like a zombie or a robot,” he said.

However, the prison operator claimed everything was done by the book. “G4S denies any assaults or use of torture, either by means of electroshocking or medical substances, on inmates. It also has a zero tolerance policy against the use of undue or excessive force,” it said in a statement.

“Mangaung Correctional Centre has become a benchmark in

correctional services in South Africa and has successfully balanced the provision of a range of opportunities for inmates with the need to maintain stringent security and control,” it added.

Andy Baker, regional president of G4S Africa, questioned the credibility of those alleging abuse.

He told BBC News, “These accusations are coming from convicted criminals and dismissed employees. If there anything that warrants an investigation, we will investigate.”

However, according to Andrew Harding of the BBC, a leaked government report shows concerns were being raised about the role of G4S at the prison three years ago.

The department of correctional services will complete a preliminary report on the abuse allegations by the end of October.

Horror KwaZulu-Natal school stabbing captured on video | A video showing an 18-year-old being killed in front of his class in a brutal fight in a Northern KZN school has gone viral

by ANAÏS MUTUMBA

Anaïs Mutumba is a Congoborn, South African bred, London-based freelance journalist and singer with a degree in Pharmaceutical Management. She speaks fluent French, intermediate Spanish and is learning Mandarin.

She reviews films for ShowFilmFirst and also writes two blogs melodiesbyanais.tumblr.com & ilivefilms.wordpress.com.

records that have been seen by reliable sources.

A video shot inside the prison was discovered during a 12-month-long investigation and shows prisoners being assaulted, given medication against their will and the use of electricity to shock them.

The drugs the prisoners are given cause memory loss, muscle inflexibility and other potentially life-threatening side effects, and by law this medication is only allowed under strictly controlled circumstances. But these drugs have been used at the prison up to five times a week, sometimes on inmates who show no sign of being psychotic.

Inmate Willem Vis said, “It feels like my jaw is falling off. I feel dizzy, my muscles are spastic and my memory has gone.” Other inmates nodded as Vis related the side effects of the anti-psychotic medicine they are reportedly given by the authorities. He said the prison started injecting him in 2012 when he complained of hearing voices in his head and feeling depressed. When he refused to take the medication, the prison’s emergency security team – known in the prison as the ‘Ninjas’ – was called. They are a group of 16 individuals who intervene when the warders cannot handle the situation.

Vis alleged that six of them were armed with electroshock shields and held him down on the bed while a prison nurse injected the antipsychotic drugs into his

SHORTLY after the morning assembly at Sizimisele High School in KwaZulu-Natal, 18-year-old Bongani Nkabinde was brutally stabbed in front of his friends and all of it was captured on camera.

The students who witnessed it were still expected to take their exams shortly after.

The fight in the school yard was between two rival traditional music clans, Nkabinde’s group Abaphumeleli (The Conquerors) and the Bhananas from Mdikane, over stolen Zulu dance songs.

Despite Bongani running for cover, along with other teachers, he was dragged back and savagely attacked amid screams from witnesses. He was declared dead when an ambulance took

him to a local clinic, where his father sat waiting for his doctor’s appointment, unaware of his son’s attack. “When I heard the news, I ran through the clinic searching for him,” said the grieving father.

“I saw him lying still in a stretcher with his arms wide open. I could see he was already dead.”

KZN Department of Education spokesman Muzi Mahlambi said the department had sent condolences to Nkabinde’s family.

“We condemn such behaviour at schools. We urge the community to work together with the cops to end these unneccessary faction fights,” he said.

Some pupils fear that this is just the beginning and that further fighting will break out particularly from Nkabinde’s clan in retaliation. This is one tragic story of more examples in a recent

spate of violence at South African schools.

Police spokesman Thulane Zwane was unsure what weapons were used but an assortment was found at the scene. However, a pupil at the school told The Daily Sun that Nkabinde was killed with

a home-made spear.

“It is believed they were carrying dangerous weapons at school including knobkieries and sticks. Seven suspects have been arrested and they are due to appear in court soon.” Zwane said.

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Boeremag extremists who plotted 2002 Mandela assassination sentenced | Boeremag mastermind and former university lecturer Mike Du Toit, along with 20 other defendants, is charged with high treason at Pretoria High Court

by ANAÏS MUTUMBA FIVE white supremacists have been sentenced to 35 years in prison for treason and attempted murder following a failed plot to assassinate Nelson Mandela and drive out non-whites from South Africa.

Sixteen other Boeremag members were also charged with shorter jail terms at North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday 29 October.

Nine of the indicted will walk free, due to suspended sentences, after being detained in prison for the duration of the trial. South Africa’s first treason trial since the 1994 collapse of apartheid has lasted more than 10 years at a cost of R35.5 million.

Boeremag, or ‘Afrikaner Power’, attempted to overthrow the African National Congress in 2002 and restore the white minority regime of old. Their plans included multiple bomb plots, shooting down aircraft, destroying a dam, taking over military bases and blowing up Parliament. One such bomb was positioned near Nelson Mandela’s route on a school visit in Limpopo which was foiled by his decision to travel by helicopter.

| Mike Du Toit in court

They are responsible for nine bombings in Soweto that injured dozens and killed one woman, Claudia Mokone. The radical group, composed of farmers, former soldiers, academics and a medical doctor, were all following Du Toit’s ‘war’ blueprint discovered on his laptop in 2001 after a police raid.

Further strategies were uncovered that would have comprised five car bombs in Pretoria and Johannesburg from the 1.5 tons of explosives stockpiled as well as petrol bombs. The court heard that they even planned to kill any whites who disputed their vision of

a ‘pure’ nation. Over 200 witnesses were called, including undercover police in the Boeremag, and the amassing of evidence are some of the reasons for the lengthy trial.

In 2006, two of Du Toit’s collaborators, Herman van Rooyen and Rudi Gouws, escaped during a court recess and were on the run for months before being rearrested. The same pair, along with three others, attempted another escape five years later, only to be recaptured minutes later.

High Court judge Eben Jordaan said, “The accused had aimed to overthrow the government through unconstitutional methods that included violence. They planned a violent attack against people of colour that would certainly be followed by retaliation attacks against whites as a result.”

Ironically, the sentences were handed down in the very same courtroom that found Nelson Mandela guilty of treason in 1964.

Though racial tensions still linger, right wing groups such as the AWB have declining support from South Africa’s nearly five million whites, analysts say. As the milestone trial ends, many hope that this could be a deterrent to other radicals.

TuksAlumni London reunion

by STAFF REPORTER

7 November 2013 Dan Patlansky at the Half Moon in Putney. South African blues musician Dan Patlansky will return to Half Moon Putney on Thursday 7 November, following his recent London appearances with fellow guitar maestro Nibs van der Spuy. 8 - 11pm. Venue: Half Moon Putney, 93 Lower Richmond Road. Tickets at www. thehalfmoon.musicglue.com 14 November 2013 Care to Taste: join Starfish for an evening of stellar wines. The evening will feature a sensesbased wine tasting equipping you with wine and food matching expertise. There will also be a fun quiz and raffle with exciting prizes to be won. For just £25 you will be able to learn about and taste some of South Africa’s finest wines while raising vital funds to support Starfish projects in South Africa. 6-7.30pm. Venue: Investec, 2 Gresham Street 17 November 2013 Saracens versus Scarlets.

Saracens take on the Scarlets on Sunday as the LV Cup returns to Allianz Park. Tickets on www. saracens.com.

IT’S jacaranda season in South Africa – and that means it’s time for a Tukkies reunion!

All University of Pretoria alumni in the United Kingdom are invited to a TuksAlumni function to be held on Thursday 21 November 2013 at the London Scottish Rugby Club in Richmond.

The guest speakers will be: Mr Wynand Claassen – President of TuksRugby Club (and former Springbok captain); Dr Hinner Köster – Board Member of TuksAlumni and Mr Henry Windell – Chairman of TuksRugby Supporters Club.

Come and enjoy this evening with ex-Tukkies!

Details: Date : Thursday 21 November 2013, 18h30 for 19h00 Venue : London Scottish, The Athletic Ground, Kew Foot Road, Richmond TW9 2SS Cost : £25 p.p. (cash bar available) Please book early with Reinette.

Smit@up.ac.za.

Payment to be made to the following account and proof of payment to be sent to the above email address.

Royal Bank of Scotland Account Name: London Scottish Football Club Acc number: 23117609 Sort Code: 16-00-15 IBAN: GB52RBOS16001523117609 SWIFTCODE: RBOSGB2L TuksRugby Supporters Club

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The Half Moon in Putney welcomes SA blues musician Dan following his recent London appearances with guister maestro Nibs van der Spuy. Tickets at www.thehalfmoon. musicglue.com For more events: www.thesouthafrican.com/events

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Njabulo Madlala and friends celebrate Madiba

by RONEL VAN ZYL

SOME of South Africa’s most talented musicians took the stage last week to support Amazwi Omzansi Africa, a project created and run by award-winning Londonbased baritone Njabulo Madlala.

The fundraising concert, Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Mandela in Song, hosted in the South Kensington home of Sir Vernon and Lady Ellis, included performances from sopranos Filipa van Eck, SarahJane Lewis and Joyce Moholoagae, tenor Sipho Fubesi, harpist Alison Blackhall and pianist William Vann.

Celebrity guests included Dame Janet Suzman, Brian Doctor QC, a South African-born barrister practising in the UK, Dr Saleem Badat , Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University, his wife Shireen Badat and many personalities from the world of opera and the arts.

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Film Review: ‘Ender’s Game’ a sci-fi with heart (but bites off more than it can chew)

| South African director Gavin Hood’s film Ender’s Game is The Hunger Games meets Star Trek and Minority Report which doesn’t quite hit the big pay-off as well as it promises, but is still entertaining with some superb acting from Asa Butterfield and co `

by STAFF REPORTER ENDER’S Game is the intergalactic sci-fi story with a heart, adapted from Orson Scott Card’s 1985 novel with wellknown South African director Gavin Hood at the helm.

Remember those video games you used to play as a kid that your parents couldn’t quite master as easily as you did? Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) in Ender’s Game is looking to harness this dexterity to train truly gifted children to fight a war against the alien race known as the Formics.

Long before you apply any Latin knowledge to the origin of their name (or in my case, French), you can already see their resemblance to their namesake – ants. Earth is in peril and a new leader is needed to follow in the footsteps of their national war hero Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley).

Enter Ender Wiggins (Asa Butterfield), a “third” in the Earth’s two-child policy system, who the Colonel gruffly announces to Major Anderson is The One before promoting him to Battle School. He is scrawny and physically inconsequential but with an intensity in his blue eyes that belies something deeper and almost darker. His siblings Valentine (Abigail Breslin) and Peter (Jimmy Pinchak) didn’t quite make it for reasons which are later revealed that Ender must learn to balance.

Major Gwen Anderson (Viola Davis) is sort of the Jekyll to Colonel Graff’s Hyde, if you will.

He feels the need to prepare to pre-empt another Formic invasion at any cost, whereas she worries about the psychological toll this can have on the warrior. Through a series of video mind games, she monitors the psyche of the “launchies” while Colonel Graff puts them through their paces in various military simulation exercises including a nifty zero gravity version of Quidditch, it seems.

South African talent is the order of the day in Hollywood with Elysium and District 9 most recently faring well. Hood brings his unique touch to the science fiction genre by focusing on the complexities of Ender’s character and the moral battle within while simultaneously making us care for the alien invaders.

This is not new territory for Tsotsi‘s director who chooses to delve into projects where humans seem neither definitely good nor bad but a mixture of both.

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“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.”

Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggins Sean Haworth, Ben Procter and Christine Bieselin Clark providing the futuristic backdrop and amazing suits and Steven Jablonsky’s score, Ender’s Game builds to its zenith in style.

This is not the usual tween fodder we are subjected to but a more intricate and spookily accurate analysis, more so for our day and age than when the book was written, on the consequences of war.

A notable young ensemble cast (like fellow trainees and team-mates including Moises

Arias deftly shedding his Hannah Montana character) and impressive CGI without the unnecessary 3D gimmicks and an interesting interplanetary adventure.

There are missteps along the way that reflect why many, including the author himself, have stated this story is unfilmable – and this is where Ender’s Game falls short.

It is ambitious, it deals with the predominant themes in the book well, it’s an intellectual sci fi adventure but it tries to cram in too much in just two hours.

Ender’s Game is The Hunger Games meets Star Trek and Minority Report which doesn’t quite hit the big pay-off as well as it promises, but is still entertaining with some superb acting from Butterfield and co.

Verdict: 3/5

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The welcome of pampoen-koekies and Earl Grey tea

| Pampoen-koekies and tractor-jams, it’s all happening in my kitchen in the Dorset countryside. The journey from

Koekies to Fritters has not been an easy one, but one that I have bomb-splashed, fully-clothed. And thus has my journey of culinary patriotic self-discovery in deepest Dorset begun

by KATIE-POTATIE IT’S not often in my life that I have found myself looking out of my kitchen window to see a traffic-jam of tractors at the end of our driveway.

I live in Dorset. The quiet countryside of the UK. Thomas Hardy country.

Vodka-made-from-milk country.

Men Behaving Badly’s Martin Clunes country.

But the tractor-jam is a normal site here in the UK countryside.

Well, either that, or needing to reverse half a mile back down the single –track lane because the Combine Harvester you’ve just met isn’t planning on going anywhere.

When my generation of school leavers headed for the bright lights of London, I headed to the Far East.

When many decided to lay new routes in their foreign worlds, I

returned back to South Africa to study, and work, and settle down.

Little did I realise at the time, that my ultimate life path would have me end up in that very same Island that I tried to avoid for fear of “following the crowd”.

Regardless, in the heart of Cape Town, and over a random phone conversation, I’d met my English Gentleman that I would one day marry and follow back to England.

So today, I find myself stirring up a batter for some homemade pampoen-koekies and thinking about that moment when the decision was made that I would leave the country I am so loyal to. The city that I lived and breathed. The family – my cornerstone. My circle of friends that after many years of searching, had finally just clicked into place. At what point did I think to myself, “Hey. I know what. I’m just going to leave

THE BIG FREEZE

now!”.

Although sympathetic to so many of the plights I have heard and reasons given for Saffas leaving the country, I have always prided myself on the fact that I didn’t actually leave South Africa. Rather, that I simply arrived in the UK. Meeting my Englishman, I never contemplated the reality of needing to decide where we would live or which culture we would choose to raise a family in. So without being given a reason to leave, I had to make that choice myself.

I try often to pinpoint the exact moment when that decision was made – and I actively chose to surrender that which I hold most dear, to my own path, and my own choice.

But here I am. Like many others, who live with the perpetual one-foot-here one-footthere dilemma, and as hard as I try to surround myself with all things that remind me of home, I am reminded, daily, that I am not quite at home yet. I’m in a far different place. And until I am able to make peace with the

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years before me. But I live with the pride of who I am as I throw myself into new experiences, new cultures and more so, these pampoen-koekies made from pumpkin bought at the local Fruit & 2 Veg grocer in our little town of Beaminster.

Knowledge of life in the UK test

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WHY am I feeling like a total idiot today? In my hands is the latest, updated version of Life in the UK – and handbook for the test I have to write in four weeks time.

You have got to be kidding!

With this information I would be eligible for De Villiers 008. Her Majesty’s best never had to deal with this crap!

All dates and more dates and enough Henrys, Charleses and William the Conqueror who was Norman, but now English and killed Harold, forever depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. Darling, my often better half, knows that St Andrews is a golf course in Scotland. Period.

I know there was no Green Death, and that being a citizen of England does not entitle you to have every Friday off from work – duh – but the rest is going

to send me into an early heart attack.

My favourite issue at the moment is that my son, schooled in England and now in his third year at University has no degree to prove that he is fluent in “English” and has to write an English exam. It’s costly, as are all the applications, but I love this bit: Question: ‘What is your first language.’

Answer: ‘English.’

Go figure.

Anyway, we ‘pampoens’ from the platteland, are close to the final hurdle.

It has taken years of wondering why, paying foreign University fees and adapting to a new country to finally say – it was worth it. And it will be.

Having the opportunity to give our children exposure to a new country and opportunities where life may not be easy, but is certainly exciting, makes the journey all that more rewarding.

We arrived as five individuals, with little but a new adventure and I believe, in the end, an educated decision about where all will want to spend the rest of their lives.

Sometimes you have to move away from the confines of the

box, to appreciate the view from the outside.

Which has me thinking? What if South Africa has to have a similar test?

What would we put into that little book?

Rather ironic really, that today was the day I was sent a link to a blog about ‘Why I live here’ written by a clever South African woman.

So much has been written about the subject, each with their own, personal and I might add, emotional points of view.

In the end, it comes down to personal choice.

You may applaud all the sentiments, the political and economic reasons, even the noble manifestations of country, soul and blood ties, but in the end, life happens.

You do the bloody best you can.

Your choice may not be yours entirely.

Family, Circumstance, jobs all play their roles in this game.

The trick is to make the best of it.

As the saying goes ‘ if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.’

And I am loving it here right now. Just have to pass this bitch of a test – bring it on Victoria!

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AbuzzWine mobile app – now you can buy South African wine wherever you are | Lovers of South African wine now have the opportunity to purchase South African wines at Tasting Room prices from a comprehensive list of Wine Estates using the international version of the abuzzWine app.

by STAFF REPORTER ABUZZWINE brings you your favourite wines from top South African wine estates directly via your smartphone OR tablet.

You can purchase wine at from a comprehensive list of Wine Estates at the touch of a button, with delivery to your door.

Following the South African launch in of the abuzzWine app for Android in March 2013, the iPhone and iPad versions were released at the end of September, with the international version becoming available at the end of October 2013.

Lovers of South African wine now have the opportunity to purchase South African wines at Tasting Room prices from a comprehensive list of Wine Estates. Apart from physically purchasing wine at the estate, a number of wines listed are available exclusively on the app and are not available in the retail trade.

Another great benefit is that, while shopping on the app, you can compare Tasting Notes and Technical Notes of the different wines, allowing you to make an informed decision about your purchase.

The app is very user friendly, with most of the screens containing user

SUPER DESTINATIONS

instructions. Detailed step-by-step instructions are a click away on the abuzzWine mobi site.

App users can apply to join the listed Wine Clubs, and, as a member enjoy cashback rewards on their purchases, which can be redeemed against future purchases at that wine estate.

Also available on the app is the AbuzzWine Treasure Hunt Club, which provides a fun way to get to know the app, learn interesting facts about wine, and stand a chance to win wine related goodies and other prizes in the monthly Treasure Hunt. Weekly questions (in the form of riddles and cryptic clues) can be solved by using a little savvy, a bit of online research and locating extra clues posted in various places online. The KEY to unlocking the AbuzzWine TREASURE CHEST is the NAME of a MYSTERY WINE

listed on the app.

This ground-breaking product is the only free mobile wine application of its kind, and puts the fabulous variety of the South African Winelands into the hands of wine drinkers everywhere.

visit www.super-destinations.co.uk email us on info@super-destinations.co.uk

people tend to go for a lovely rich red wine to warm up with. But the cold is not necessarily a reason to stay away from white wines.

AS THE cold is starting to enter our lives once again, people tend to go for a lovely rich red wine to warm up with. The idea of snuggling up against the chill with a crisp white takes a little getting used to. But the cold is not necessarily a reason to stay away from white wines.

When white wines are oaked and matured they can have a deep full bodied rich flavour which can go very well with hearty foods. Paired like this, you will find that they keep the cold at bay as well as the heartiest Burgundy. Here a couple of white wines that would keep the chill out of your bones:

Euvrard Family White 2010

Good citrus on the nose is a Chardonnay give away, followed by subdued oak. Flinty and minerally, this wine drinks wonderfully now. Get it while you can. thesavanna.co.uk

£419 £430 £500 £499 £440 £325 £405 £455 £599 £415

Lammershoek Roulette Blanc 2011

The blend of mostly Chenin is rich and deep. A lovely sub tropical fruit on the nose with a buttery texture gives an alluring mouth feel. Delicious! biltongstmarcus.co.uk

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Great nose shows the oxidation used in the making. Madeira in style. Honey and petals with hints of citrus after that. The flavour is balanced with good acidity and a warm, buttery mouth feel. Great with loads of food!! A wine geek’s wine! revolutionwines.co.uk

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| 5 - 11 November 2013 | thesouthafrican.com

Community

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From Ballito to Britain – What Now for rising South African rockers? | We interview London-based South African rock band What Now about

writing music for CSI, their new album ‘Move Like a Sinner’ and their dreams of working with artists as diverse as Die Antwoord, Wiz Khalifa and Bono.

BY AMRIT MATHARU

THESE three South African friends formed their band What Now in guitar player and vocalist Ryan Morris’ garage in Ballito 2001. With the dream to go international from the beginning, Tyron Layley (lead vocals and bass guitar) and Adam Jenkins (drums) joined Morris to risk everything and go overseas. The rockers say the UK was the most realistic option as they all have English ancestry. They were also greatly encouraged by Britain being home to some great bands.

Influences As well as English bands, What Now are influenced by artists such as Kings of Leon and The Black Keys. Their influences have changed over the years, previously listening to Green Day and Blink 182, now enjoying older classics such as Depeche Mode and Led Zeppelin.

The band is interested in collaborating with artists from different genres, for instance Morris is a fan of Wiz Khalifa albums and has always wanted to work with a rap artist. Layley would love to collaborate with Die Antwoord, purely because it would be ‘crazy and

extremely creative’. Jenkins, a Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl fan, says although “people have preconceived ideas about the guy”, he would most like to pick the brains of U2 artist Bono.

Make or Break Although moving to England was a shared dream, it wasn’t immediately the perfect picture the boys had in mind. Layley explains, “We were broke, living in the dodgiest part of London and doing very little music. We started having some musical differences and I decided to leave and start another band. Ry and Ad also started something else and we basically split up for about three years.”

During the time the band spilt, each member used the time to explore their musical differences.

Living in a foreign place with no money had taken its toll and Jenkins says the band “needed to survive first to then be able to be creative.” The guys reconciled their differences and got back together after meeting at a gig Jenkins and Morris were playing at. They decided to ask Layley about starting up the band again. Layley admits to missing “jamming with each other” while

Jenkins agrees, “The side projects we were in didn’t seem to have that special chemistry that What Now had all along.”

New album track features on US hit show CSI: NY Having known each other for years, the guys say it wasn’t hard to reconnect and it felt very natural. Each member of What Now brings their own sound to the band which somehow just works. Take Control, a three track EP released in 2010 after the band reformed is described by Layley and Jenkins as playing it safe.

The boys didn’t want to push things too much in terms of their varied music taste, though come Move Like a Sinner, they were ready to take more experimental risks. Move Like a Sinner’s title track was used in an episode of CSI: NY’s season 8. After being approached by their publisher at the time, the guys had a rough idea of what they were looking for and wrote and recorded the song ‘Move Like a Sinner’ in one day. Layley, Morris and Jenkins

work very closely together in everything the band does including their music videos. What Now collaborates with London based videography company Float Media, who help bring their ideas to life. The guys come up with the concepts for their videos themselves while their friends at Float Media are involved with the filming and production.

Touring the Homeland Returning to South Africa having not toured there in eight years, the band was surprised by the large turnout at gigs.

“It was amazing and we really got

to explore our beautiful country,” says Morris.

With the positive reception of the band and their new album, What Now plan to finish touring Move Like a Sinnerin Poland and Finland this year, as well as a few UK dates.

As the trio continues to write new material, there is talk of a new album and hopes of visiting the United States in 2014.

Catch What Now at their UK gigs on 28 November at The Hope, Brighton and The Seabright Arms, London on 29 November.

Details: www.whatnowband.com

South African dad enlists Spur’s support for future rugby stars

by STAFF REPORTER

Pizza and pasta eat as much as you want for

£10

AL FORNO PUTNEYoffers

traditional, authentic and contemporary Italian cuisine in a true rustic Italian atmosphere.

349 Upper Richmond Road, Putney, London SW15 5QJ 0208 878 7522 | alfornoputney@gmail.com www.alfornoputney.com

MOHAWK Spur Steak & Grill at Southside shopping centre, Wandsworth, is delighted to be sponsoring Rosslyn Park Under 7s rugby team this season.

To kick off the sponsorship, members of the Roehamptonbased team came down to Spur on 24 October to try out their new Spur hoodies, meet restaurant manager Wayne Patterson and his team and to tuck into Spur’s legendary ribs, burgers and milkshakes. Some of the parents couldn’t resist and tucked in too.

As part of the sponsorship deal, Spur is contributing to the cost of the new team hoodies, tents, equipment and tour jerseys and has also promised to help raise funds at various team events.

The first of these will be the Spur tournament on 9 November at Rosslyn Park, when the U7s take on 10 clubs, fielding a minimum of two squads from around the country to play on the 1st XV field.

Spur will be firing up a big braai throughout the day’s tournament and donating profits to the team.

The sponsorship was brought about by a South African dad of one of the team members, who approached Spur.

Darron O’Brien, father of

Kelan O’Brien, has been a Spur fan since growing up in South Africa, and a one-time member of staff. O’Brien is originally from Johannesburg and has been in the UK for 13 years.

At the launch he said, “Many thanks to Spur for helping to alleviate the team’s financial burden and creating an individual team within Rosslyn Park. We currently have 65 members of the Under 7s, which is growing every week, and we’re hoping with

this sponsorship we’ll be able to introduce rugby to a wider group of children in the future.”

Spur’s Wayne Patterson said, “We’re happy to be supporting sport in the community. Exercise and team building are really important as kids grow up and we have huge expectations of our team this season!” www.ukspur.co.uk Join us on social media: facebook.com/U.K.Spur twitter.com/SpurUK

thesouthafrican.com | 5 - 11 November 2013 |

9

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The tightrope towards a negotiated revolution |The final steps to a multi-racial general election were the most important - and precarious

Nelson Mandela’s Living Legacy THE negotiations agreed that a multiracial general election would be held, resulting in a five-year coalition government of national unity and a constitutional assembly that gave the National Party continuing influence. The ANC also conceded to safeguarding the jobs of white civil servants; such concessions brought fierce internal criticism.

The duo agreed on an interim constitution, guaranteeing separation of powers, creating a constitutional court, and including a US-style bill of rights; it also divided the country into nine provinces, each with its own premier and civil service, a concession between de Klerk’s desire for federalism and Mandela’s for unitary government.

The democratic process was threatened by the Concerned South Africans Group (COSAG), an alliance of far-right Afrikaner parties and black ethnic-secessionist groups like Inkatha; in June 1993 the white supremacist Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) attacked the Kempton Park World Trade Centre.

Following the murder of ANC leader Chris Hani, Mandela made a publicised speech to calm rioting, soon after appearing at

a mass funeral in Soweto for Tambo, who had died from a stroke.

In July 1993, both Mandela and de Klerk visited the US, independently meeting President Bill Clinton and each receiving the Liberty Medal. Soon after, they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway Influenced by young ANC leader Thabo Mbeki, Mandela began meeting with big business figures, and played down his support for nationalisation, fearing that he would scare away much-needed foreign investment. Although criticised by socialist ANC members, he was encouraged to embrace private enterprise by members of the Chinese and Vietnamese Communist parties at the January 1992 World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Mandela also made a cameo appearance as a schoolteacher reciting one of Malcolm X’s speeches in the final scene of the 1992 film Malcolm X. With the election set for 27 April 1994, the ANC began campaigning, opening 100 election offices and hiring advisor Stanley Greenberg.

Greenberg orchestrated the foundation of People’s Forums across the country, at which Mandela could appear; though a poor public speaker, he was a popular figure with great status among black South Africans The ANC campaigned on a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) to build a million houses in five years, introduce universal free

| In the final stages of the transition to democracy, white right-wing organisations such as the AWB (seen here in a 1993 Kemptom Park march) became increasingly assertive

education and extend access to water and electricity.

The party’s slogan was “a better life for all”, although it was not explained how this development would be funded.

With the exception of the Weekly Mail and the New Nation, South Africa’s press opposed Mandela’s election, fearing continued ethnic strife, instead supporting the National or Democratic Party Mandela devoted much time to fundraising for the ANC, touring North America, Europe and Asia to meet wealthy donors, including former supporters of the apartheid regime.

10

Business

| 5 - 11 November 2013 | thesouthafrican.com Follow us on Twitter: @TheSAnews

Saldanha Bay IDZ to revolutionise jobs and growth in NC | The new IDZ is expected to give a major boost to the country’s industrialisation and job creation drives,

while attracting both local and foreign direct investment into the country and the region

by STAFF REPORTER PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma officially launched the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) at Saldanha Bay on South Africa’s south-western coast on Thursday.

“Our strategy is...aimed at strengthening the maritime support capacity to create economic opportunities from the gas and oil mining activities along the African west coast, as well as the expansion of iron ore mining production and beneficiation in the Northern Cape” Zuma said. Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said in a statement ahead of Thursday’s launch that a feasibility study had shown that the Saldanha Bay IDZ could potentially contribute 86% to the gross geographic product of the Western Cape and create in the region of 12 000 new jobs.

“Additionally, the Saldanha Bay IDZ is likely to attract foreign direct investment worth approximately R9.3-billion over 25 years”, Davies said. The study also found that

Saldanha Bay is strategically located to serve as a service, maintenance, fabrication and supply hub for the booming African oil and gas sector, due to the increasing number of oil rigs requiring maintenance, and their traffic flow passing from the west to the east coast of Africa.

Last month, German company Oiltanking GmbH entered a joint venture with a number of South African companies to build a commercial crude oil storage and blending terminal at the port of Saldanha. The company said that Saldanha was an excellent location for a crude oil hub, “as it is close to strategic tanker routes from key oil-producing regions to major oilconsuming markets”.

Ideally situated for the blending of west African and South American crude oils, Saldanha “has the potential to establish itself as a global crude transhipment hub focused on certain established trade routes,” the company added.

Davies noted that the oil and gas sector was one of the priority sectors of South Africa’s Industrial Policy

| The shape of things to come? A vibrant Saldanha IDZ, shown above, could be the economic catalyst for the entire Northern Cape province

Rand in for turbulent week

BY STAFF REPORTER

LAST week Friday, saw the Rand trading at an eight week low ahead of new fears of the possible strike action in the Platinum sector. The association of Mine Workers and Construction Union said they would stay in talks with the Platinum producer about the wage dispute. If no resolution is met however, this week could see workers downing tools in a bid to obtain a mandate for a future wage increase.

The weak Rand can also be accredited to the reported deficit in the trade sector for September of R18.94bn, almost R42.77bn larger than that recorded in 2012.

The increase can be attributed to a decrease in various exports such as vehicles, aircrafts, vegetable products, machinery and electrical appliances. SA Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus and her advisor Brian Kahn said that the low level of exports and large capital outflows could mean South Africa is in for a difficult year.

This week could see further turbulence of the Rand with more

manufacturing data coming out in the US. Last week’s stronger than expected US manufacturing data caused the Rand to reach its lowest level since September 6th. The US non-farm payroll data, which measures the number of paid US workers, is due to be released on Friday. If the data beats expectations, we could see the Greenback make a strong comeback against a weakening Rand.

GBP / ZAR: 16.242 EUR / ZAR: 13.775 USD / ZAR: 10.192 AUD / ZAR: 9.682 Exchange rates as of 12:31 (GMT), 04 November 2013

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Action Plan (IPAP), adding that the IDZ would also help to advance the objectives of the country’s National Development Plan (NDP).

Zuma said there was no doubt that, if effectively implemented through well-coordinated stakeholder mobilisation, the Saldanha Bay IDZ project would “generate income, create jobs, grow the tax base and be a net generator of foreign exchange

earnings.

“It is estimated that overall direct and indirect employment creation will be around 25 000 over a period of 20 years. It is expected to generate around R62-billion in foreign exchange. We are determined to turn these forecasts into reality,” Zuma said.

Journalist Donwald Pressly, in a Business Report article

published last month, wrote that a pre-feasibility study carried out three years ago by Western Cape investment promotion agency Wesgro found that Saldanha had potential for three industrial clusters - “a renewable energy production and manufacturing cluster, an oil supply base serving the oil and gas sector, coupled with a maritime ship building and repair cluster, and a

11

thesouthafrican.com | 5 - 11 November 2013 |

Business

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Applying for your Sole SA holds steady in crucial World Bank Ease of Doing Business rankings Representative Visa

BY STAFF REPORTER

THE Sole Representative visa is a very advantageous immigration category for overseas businesses that wish to establish a branch or representative office in the UK. The visa enables the overseas company to send one key individual to the UK in order to establish the branch, or representative office of the company in the UK. In order for a person to qualify for this visa he/she must have been recruited as an employee outside the United Kingdom by the firm which has its headquarters and principal place of business outside the UK and has no branch, subsidiary or other representative in the UK. This person may even be a shareholder as long as he/she is not the majority shareholder. The applicant must be a senior employee, intending to be employed full time, with full authority to take operational decisions on behalf of the overseas firm, for the purpose of representing it in the UK by establishing and

operating a registered branch or wholly owned subsidiary of the overseas firm. The spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner and dependant children may apply to join the applicant in the UK. The visa is granted for an initial period of 2 years which then may be extended for an additional period or periods of up to 3 years. At the end of successful completion of a five-year period on this type of visa the holder can, subject to certain requirements, qualify to apply for permanent residence or Indefinite Leave to Remain. Please do not hesitate to contact BIC with any questions. - JP Breytenbach Director of BIC, Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants Limited. www.bic-immigration.com or info@bic-immigration.com

by STAFF REPORTER

SOUTH Africa was ranked 41st out of 189 economies around the world surveyed by the World Bank, which judges countries on 10 criteria that measure the time, cost and hassle involving in doing business.

The World Bank’s 2014 report, titled Doing Business: Understanding Regulations for Small and MediumSize Enterprises, sheds light on how easy (or difficult) it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run

a small to medium-sized business when complying with the relevant regulations. South Africa received points for its tax reforms, with its rating for paying taxes moving up two points to 24. South Africa’s “distance to frontier” score also inched up in the rankings, to 70.93%. This measure represents the distance of each economy from the best performance observed on each of the topics. The country remains a strong performer when it comes to protecting investors (10),

especially in the category “allowing access to all corporate documents before a trial”. Getting electricity in the country remains weak, however, at 150. However, the good news is tempered by Reuters reports that an independent panel set up by the World Bank and headed by South Africa’s planning minister, Trevor Manuel, has recommended that the practice of ranking be scrapped because it can too easily be affected by small factors and is sometimes not objective. - southafrica.info

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Business: Classifieds FOOD & DRINK NO1 SOUTH AFRICAN SHOP Lots of lekker stuff for a taste of home. Including fantastic biltong, droewors and boerewors. 5 Marlow Drive, St Catherines Hill, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 2RR. The shop is about 2 miles north-west of Christchurch town centre and 6 miles north-east of Bournemouth town centre. There’s loads of free parking and the shop is easy to get to from the A338.

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THE CHICHESTER BILTONG COMPANY www.biltongcompany.co.uk The best of British from a friendly bunch of South Africans who made Sussex our home. But there was one thing we couldnt live without from our native land..Biltong!

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Get our “readers 10% EXTRA FREE” offer by using the VOUCHER CODE ‘SA10’ CRUGA Home of CRUGA biltong. Cruga’s factory shop offers a full range of South African and Zimbabwean groceries plus boerewors, droewors and of course biltong. Tel: 01908 565 432 Email: biltong@cruga.com Web: www.cruga.com Address: Tilers Rd Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes, MK11 3LH

CAMBRIDGE & VILLAGES Toft Shop – Village Shop & Post Office

| 5 - 11 November 2013 | thesouthafrican.com

SA SHOP DIRECTORY BILTONG DIRECT Biltong Direct, in the business of making superior South African meat products since 2004. Online or from our shop (directions on website – www.biltongdirect.co.uk). Retail and wholesale sales.

We manufacture Biltong, Droewors, Snap Sticks, Boerewors & Gluten and MSG free products, offer quick dispatch and a 100% Satisfaction guarantee. Call 01268-685728

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LIMPOPO BUTCHERS We believe in small, well run family businesses, where quality is the number one priority. Come and try our delicious traditional recipe biltong, drywors, and boerewors, as well as aged beef steaks, chicken flatties, and succulent lamb.

9 Horn Lane, Acton, W3 9NJ Tel: 020 8993 8823 www.thesaffashop.com

SAVANNA Good friendly customer service is Savanna’s core principle. Our standards are high, and our rapidly-expanding network of shops are clean and bright and well-laid out, with friendly first-rate staff. Find us at: 20-22 Worple Road, Wimbledon London SW19 4DH Call us at: 0208 971 9177 Online: www.thesavanna.co.uk wimshop@thesavanna.co.uk

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Wide range of stock including excellent boerewors and biltong. Centrally situated, friendly service.

Connecting South Africans. Tel: 0117 929 9879 Address: 88 - 91 The Covered Market. st Nicholas Market, Corn Street, Bristol, BS1 1JQ Email: Info@kalaharimoon.co.uk Website: www.kalaharimoon.co.uk

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ST MARCUS One of the most amazing emporia the capital offers to the carnivorous gourmet. People have been flocking to St. Marcus for their amazing range of Biltong & Boerewors Visit us at: 1-3 Rockingham Close, Priory Lane, off Upper Richmond Road West, Roehampton, London SW15 5RW Call us at: 0208 878 1898 Online: www.biltongstmarcus.co.uk sales@biltongstmarcus.co.uk

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thesouthafrican.com | 5 - 11 November 2013 |

Zimbabwe Community

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Tsvangirai: $2 billion in diamond money gone

| Speaking in Oxford recently, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai said major threats to Zimbabwe’s diamond mining industry include corruption, militarisation and China.

BY SILVIA BIANCO IT is almost that time of the year again: when Zimbabwe holds the “beauty pageant with a difference” – the fourth edition of the annual Mr Ugly competition.

The event was part of the African Studies Seminar at Oxford’s St Antony’s College, and Tsvangirai’s lecture focused on Zimbabwe’s controversial diamond mining industry. Other key guests that took part in the ‘How Extractives can benefit Africa’ Seminar included Uganda’s Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa, the Executive Director of OXFAM International, Winnie Byanyima, and Kevin Fox, Exploration Director for Rio Tinto.

The involvement of the military in diamond mining and the failure of diamond companies to remit revenue to the treasury, remain among the most debated issues in Zimbabwe, yet there was no publicity around Tsvangirai’s lecture. Paradoxically, the state run Herald newspaper was first to inform many Zimbabweans of the event, essentially to criticise Tsvangirai for speaking on the subject.

Tabani Moyo, advocacy officer at media watchdog MISA-Zimbabwe, agreed that Tsvangirai missed an important opportunity, saying whenever he gets the chance to travel he should bring attention to the many issues that plague Zimbabwe .

“The issue of diamond mining and revenue is of national and of international significance and it was going to be quite an opportune moment had the former Prime Minister utilised every platform available to highlight all the key issues that remain mysterious in terms of the mining of diamonds,” Moyo told SW Radio Africa.

In his presentation, Tsvangirai said that, although tempting, the purpose of his lecture was not to discuss the process and outcome of the July 31 elections.

“The paper will however, make reference to the elections to the extent that it is necessary and unavoidable in discussing the interplay between the diamond industry and politics in Zimbabwe,” Tsvangirai explained.

Tsvangirai identified the major challenges affecting Zimbabwe’s diamond mining industry as: - Lack of transparency: While the Minister of Finance expected $600 million from the proceeds of diamond exports in 2012, the State only received about $41 million.

“According to international NGO Global Witness, about $2bn in diamond revenues have been unaccounted for since 2008.”

“The lack of transparency means nobody appears to know exactly how much the country has earned from diamonds and whether the reported figures are accurate. It is clear that there is serious under-reporting of

the proceeds from diamond mining and trade. The corruption is mainly due to the lack of transparency and unbridled greed on the part of those entrusted with overseeing the diamond mining industry. It is to be noted that the former Minister of Mines who has previously been fingered in corrupt deals is now an owner of a bank that had fallen on hard times.”

- Militarisation: “With heavy interest invested in the industry by the military courtesy of Zanu-PF, this has strengthened the bond between the party and the military, resulting in the latter having a greater incentive to ensure the former retains power at all costs.

Not surprisingly, the military played a critical role in the election process, mainly propping up

Zanu-PF and mobilising support, including their role in electoral institutions and processes.”

- China and the diamond industry: “From the prevalence of unfair labour practices in Chinese-run companies to corruption and serious leakages, there have been many complaints regarding Chinese role in the diamond mining industry.

Zanu-PF has always regarded the Chinese as their all-weather friends.

It is probably by no coincidence that in return, China has been one of the biggest backers of Zanu-PF at international level.”

Tsvangirai concluded his lecture by suggesting that Zimbabwe should introduce a Diamond Act “whose objective is to give ownership of diamond concessions to the State, the

creation of a diamond agency, a diamond regulator and to define down-stream beneficiation and compensation for communities, among other things.”

“This will enable Zimbabwe to avert the very real danger of using national mineral deposits to prejudice or promote the interests of political parties as we saw in the last election where Zanu-PF abused the country’s diamonds to steal an election in broad daylight,” said the MDC-T leader.

In fact, Tsvangirai claimed that only in April and May this year, 30 000 carats were clandestinely smuggled out of the country by senior Zanu-PF officials and military generals and sold through an intermediary in Angola for the sole purpose of funding electoral theft.

Manchester United set sights on future Zim star

| Highly rated Chesterfield winger Tendayi Darikwa was watched by David Moyes at a recent match, sparking rumours that the former Everton manager is preparing to make a January swoop for the 21-year-old.

BY AYUB NOUINOU ENGLAND-BORN Zimbabwean footballer Tendayi Darikwa feels that he is not yet ready to join Manchester United despite increased interest from the Barclays Premier League champions.

The highly rated Chesterfield winger was watched by David Moyes during his side’s clash with fellow promotion hopefuls Fleetwood Town at Highbury on 12 October.

The visit has sparked rumours that the former Everton manager is preparing to make a January swoop for the 21-year-old who he was interested in during his tenure at the Merseyside club.

“The Manchester United level is too high, and I do not have enough experience as yet, but if they sign me I will be up for the challenge,” Darikwa said, in response to the possibility of

moving to the Theatre of Dreams.

“I am not yet ready to play at that level, but I know if I continue working hard I will play for them one day.

“But my focus right now is to play well for Chesterfield. We have a strong team and we are looking at promotion into League One.” Comparisons with other Manchester United targets, Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas and

Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera who they both failed to sign in the summer transfer window, have already been made by the British media.

“I did not know until after the match that Moyes was there watching me.

“He did not speak to me. It is a dream come true to be linked to a club like Manchester United because they are one of the biggest clubs in the world. I

am happy and proud and their interest means I am playing good football,” he said.

The England-born player, who qualifies to play for Zimbabwe through his parents, played the full match which ended in a oneall draw. Darikwa has netted two goals in 12 games for the league one club and is valued at £1.5m.

Chesterfield chief executive Chris Turner has stated that the club will only accept an offer that is higher than his current price tag.

Darikwa’s impressive performances saw him named Football League Young Player of the Month for December last year and his reputation continues to rise, with many premier league clubs still keen on signing Darikwa including: Tottenham, West Ham, and Fulham who would have to outbid the champions to lure him away from a move to Old Trafford.

“It depends on the type of deal

to sign with the clubs. Maybe I will move. I don’t know,” he said.

Darikwa has also stated that there is a “strong possibility” he could play for the Warriors if he is considered for selection for future international games.

He was keen to be capped for Zimbabwe a few years ago, but after allegedly being asked to pay a £3,000 “processing fee” to the Football Association he opted out. “I still have not made up my mind as yet, but there is a strong possibility that I can come down there and play for Zimbabwe.

I would be happy to consider that,” he said. He has never been to Zimbabwe and cannot speak a Zimbabwean language.

“Although I have never been to Zimbabwe, I follow the national team and the Premier Soccer League. I watched the goals of the friendly match against South Africa and I can see the standards of the Premier League are good.”

14

Travel

| 5 - 11 November 2013 | thesouthafrican.com Follow us on Twitter: @TheSAnews

Seven great reasons to travel the world

by STAFF REPORTER

IN the current economic doldrums, many of us who yearn to wake up looking at a mountain range or a bright blue sea we’ve never seen before feel a certain kind of guilt that keeps us home. We couldn’t be more wrong. Six reasons you should book that flight, now!

1

Creates lasting relationships

People you meet while on the road usually become some of the most valued ones in your address book, giving you points on the map to visit later on.

2

Develop skills you didn’t know you had

The satisfaction you get when reaching the top of the mountain, or simply successfully ordering from a menu at a restaurant in rural China.

3

Learn a language

There’s something satisfying about being able to throw around a few words of how to say hello and thanks in different languages.

4

A sense of adventure

After zip lining over the jungle canopy in Peru, successfully navigating the alleys of Marrakech, or Jeeping out with the grazing animals in Tanzania you get a feel for what being an active human being is like.

5

To prove to yourself you can do it

Finishing a trip gives you the satisfaction that you were able to accomplish what you set out to do.

And to give you energy to set up the next challenge too.

6

Makes all your dreams come true

If you want to do it now you’ve probably always wanted to. You imagined it, daydreamed about it, envisioned it. Guess what? Now’s the time to do it.

7

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Lonely Planet names Cape Town among top three world cities to visit in 2014 | Lonely Planet picks Cape Town as third best international city to visit for its newly acquired status as World Design Capital 2014.

By STAFF REPORTER

CAPE Town is one of the three best cities in the world to visit, according to travel publisher Lonely Planet. The list, published in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2014 guide released this week, is headed by Paris and Trinidad.

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Cape Town, in third position, is ahead of other global centres such as Zurich, Shanghai, Chicago and Auckland. Cape Town was chosen for its newly acquired status as the world’s design capital: “There’s never a bad time to visit Cape Town,” Lonely Planet declares.

“In recent years the city has received a deluge of accolades paying homage to its undeniable natural beauty. “This year the city is destined to get even prettier as it takes on the title of World Design Capital for 12 months.” The guide goes on to say, “Expect sculpturelined green spaces, sustainable projects, and further regeneration of former industrial districts such as Woodstock and The Fringe, now the stamping ground of trendy shoppers and gourmands.” But Lonely Planet acknowledges that the work of the design team goes beyond making things look pretty: “The main goal of the design team, though, is to bridge the gap between Cape Town’s disparate population, so venture on a tour out of town to see how innovation is turning things around in the disadvantaged townships, then explore suburban sights on the swanky bus system that’s finally making Cape Town feasible on public transport.”

The book also lists the top countries to visit – Brazil is number one, with Malawi the only African country, coming in at No 5. Malawi, described as home of “the Big Five and beach life without the crowds”, was also commended to tourists for high-visibility snorkelling in Lake Malawi, hiking “over hazy peaks in an otherworldly moonscape” at Mount Mulanje and the “haunting wilderness of grasslands and whaleback hills” of the Viphya Plateau.

15

thesouthafrican.com | 5 - 11 November 2013 |

Sport

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Clapham Action Touch powers on ahead of the ‘Super Storm’ | Nothing - not even an impending major weather event - can stop the gees and the spirited play of the Common’s Sunday league

by TRACY ANDREW WE are already into Week 4 of the Late Summer League down at Clapham Common on Sunday.

Despite the wind and initial signs of the approaching South England ‘Super Storm’ the league was treated to yet another Sunday afternoon of sunny conditions with the only ‘storm’ taking place on the pitches in the form of red hot touch!

On pitch 1, Magic Touch Mavericks were in a great battle against The Boffers just winning 3 – 2 as The Boffers were closing in on their score and with a little more time might have won the game.

In another pulsating Mens league game, ‘Cannonballs’ were locking

horns against Chillis (Men’s) with a stunning 4 – 2 win. This was a good clash and although Chillis Men are normally very hard to beat, Cannonballs pulled together as a team and had some well worked strategies to defeat Chills.

On pitch 2, Hot Custard were showing their class even after a big night out to celebrate 2 of their teams members birthdays, John Boyes and Laurie Young, winning 5 – 0 against ‘Galaxy Mixed’. Hot Custard were in fine form playing as a well-oiled machine scoring touchdowns in dramatic style.

Galaxy tried their best to put a score on the board but Hot Custard’s defense was just too good on the day and didn’t concede any touchdowns.

Graeme Smith the kingpin | Graeme Smith’s latest innings after a serious injury and long lay-off highlighted once more just how important he is to the Proteas and what a ‘great of the game’ he is

by JEREMY BORTZ BEFORE the start of the series against Pakistan in the UAE, I wrote about the importance of captain Graeme Smith for a highly successful Proteas side and this was again evident in last week’s second Test.

Smith’s marathon 234 in which he faced 388 balls and batted for 627 minutes, the longest Test innings of the year to date, was decisive in ensuring the Proteas won the second Test, shared the series and maintained their incredible sevenyear unbeaten away record.

Taking over at just 22 to become South Africa’s youngest captain, Smith was certainly not everyone’s favourite. Smith rubbed quite a few people the wrong way with his supreme confidence, which was often taken as arrogance, and there were many who doubted his ability.

Smith himself has acknowledged he’s “not the most talented batter” but his attitude, fighting-spirit and determination cannot be faulted. And while seldom thought of as ‘one of the greats’, this latest innings again highlighted why he should be.

Not only was it an innings of skill and stamina against bowlers Smith has traditionally struggled against, left arm quicks, but it was compiled in searing heat and humidity and on

the back of very high stakes.

With his now 9,034 runs, Smith is the 12th leading Test run scorer of all time. Perhaps more impressive, he sits behind only Sunil Gavaskar as the opener with the most runs (Gavaskar has 9,607 runs). This fourth double-hundred as captain put him on par with Donald Bradman and Michael Clark with only Brian Lara having scored more (five). He has also been involved in five triplecentury partnerships, tied again with Bradman.

He’s captained South Africa a record 104 times with 51 wins, 27 losses and 26 draws. In his first major assignment as captain, he scored 714 runs at an average of 79.33, including two double centuries (one being the highest score by a non-Englishman at Lords), to lead South Africa to a 2-2 draw which ended Nasser Hussians’s career. Five years later he would lead South Africa to their first series win in England since 1965.

He was instrumental in helping win this series scoring an unbeaten 154 at Edgbaston when the side was 93-4 chasing 283.

Perhaps the statistic that best underlies Smith’s importance is that South Africa has not lost one of the 27 Tests in which he has scored a century. Not even the great Bradman has this 100% record.

Also on Pitch 2 was a big game between old rivals, Misfits and BaaBaa’s.

There have played each other many times before in various leagues and it is normally a closely contested game. However Misfits were on a high considering it was another Birthday in their team, Carlie Hoffman. With their team pumped up, they took the early lead and were just too far in front for

BaaBaa’s to come back from and the final score was 8 – 2 to Misfits.

If anyone would like to come and watch these closely contested games down at Clapham Common then feel free to mosey on down to the South end of the Common near the Eagle Pond to see the teams in action from 12:00 onwards. It is definitely worth watching all these teams playing some touch while having fun and socialising with

everyone in Gigalum afterwards.

We have more leagues starting up in January in our great indoors venue as well as our very popular Clapham Common Winter league coming up in February.

If you are interested in entering a team or playing as an individual, please feel free to send an email to tracy@in2touch.com or have a look on our website, www.in2touch. com/uk for more.

SPORT

5 - 11 November 2013

CLAPHAM COMMON ACTION TOUCH A BIG HIT - P15

SMITH STILL THE KINGPIN - P15

NEWS FOR GLOBAL SOUTH AFRICANS

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BOKS BRING YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE TO CARDIFF

| The team for Saturday’s Test against Wales will be named on Wednesday from a 32-man squad that includes four uncapped players and three 2007 Rugby World Cup winners

By STAFF REPORTER A COLD and rainy Cardiff greeted the Springboks on Sunday upon arrival in Wales, where they will kick off the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour at the Millennium Stadium this weekend.

The Springboks will face Wales, the current Six Nations champions, for the first time since their Rugby World Cup pool match in New Zealand in 2011 and will return to the Millennium Stadium for the first time in almost three years.

“We’re all very excited to be here and we are looking forward to the challenge of playing three very tough Test matches on this tour,” said Springbok captain Jean de Villiers.

“At this stage, we’re not looking past the Wales Test, which promises to be an epic match. We had three hard days of training in Johannesburg before we left, but the weather was warm and sunny.

“As we drove into Wales earlier today, it started raining and we’re expecting similar conditions this week. We’ll adapt to the weather conditions this week, but we still want to go out there and play positive attacking rugby. Playing the Six Nations champions will be a big challenge but that is why we all love playing Test rugby.”

The team for Saturday’s Test will

be named on Wednesday from a 32-man squad that includes four uncapped players and three 2007 Rugby World Cup winners.

Wing JP Pietersen (48 caps), lock Bakkies Botha (76 caps) and Jaque Fourie (69 caps), who have been playing their trade abroad, will add plenty of experience to the Springbok squad.

Pietersen is in the squad for the first time this year, following a move to Japan’s Panasonic Wild Knights, while Botha, who plays for Toulon, and Fourie, who plays for Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers, will turn out in the green and gold for the first time since the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said, “It will be great to have Bakkies, Jaque and JP in the squad.

All of them are really excited to play for the Springboks again.

They have heaps of experience and are world-class players.”

The new caps include Siyabonga “Scarra” Ntubeni, who enjoyed a breakout season with Western Province in the recently concluded Absa Currie Cup. He is joined by fellow Province players Frans Malherbe and Louis Schreuder and Natal Sharks’ lock Pieter-Steph du Toit, who turned in a man of the match winning performance in the Currie Cup final.

Gio Aplon, who was part of

| Gemma Blakes of South African Airways welcomes Springboks Duane Vermeulen, Coach Heyneke Meyer and Assistant Coach Johan van Graan to Heathrow airport. The Springboks touched down in London courtesy of SAA.

the squad in June but missed out on the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, is back in favour, while the hugely talented but injury-prone Johan Goosen, who recently returned to action after seven months out injured, was recalled to the team.

Experienced Springboks Schalk Burger and Frans Steyn, who both returned to action recently, missed out on selection.

“Scarra’s inclusion, like that of Gio, is just-reward for continuous great form,” Meyer said. “He’s still young and will learn a lot from our

two front-line hookers, who both rate among the best in the world, on this tour. I want to expose him to this environment and the Springbok ethos and I’m very excited to work with him.

“Pieter-Steph missed a large part of the season because of injury, but has been exceptional since his return to the playing field last month, while we’ve always rated Frans very highly and look forward to working with him again. “And Louis has always been on our radar. He is only 23, fits in with the way we want to play, and

was impressive when he worked with us in June. Since then he’s established himself as first-choice at DHL Western Province, starting in nine of their 12 Absa Currie Cup matches, and I believe he will learn a lot on this tour, improving even more.”

Meyer said the Springboks would like to build on their performances during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship in the tests against Wales (9 November in Cardiff), Scotland (17 November in Edinburgh) and France (23 November in Paris).

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