The South African 4 - 10 February 2014 by The South African

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4 - 10 February 2014

Issue 551

‘Embarassing fiasco’ as DA and Agang split after 5 days

| Mood between opposition parties Agang SA and the Democratic Alliance sours as their prospective political merger is rejected by Agang leader Dr Mamphela Ramphele, only a week after being named as the DA’s presidential candidate By Sertan Sanderson It was a bold move last week when the Democratic Alliance made the announcement that Agang SA, led by struggle activist Dr Mamphela Ramphele, would form a partnership. Details were limited at the time of the announcement, revealing the nomination of Dr Ramphele as the DA’s presidential candidate for the upcoming 2014 general elections only, although DA leader Helen Zille later publicly shared that a full incorporation of Agang into the DA was planned all along. The prospective merger of the two parties did apparently not sit to well with Mamphela Ramphele, who over the weekend changed her mind about their political union. On the Agang SA website, Ramphele said: “I am leader of Agang SA, and Agang SA will continue its work to restore the promise of our freedom. We will continue to campaign for a better South Africa,” while also blaming party politics for the split. “The opportunity we saw, in announcing the partnership with Agang SA and the DA, has fallen victim to party politics. Let us remember the DA has served SA with conviction; it has within its ranks many who want only the best for SA. If have to be a DA member [...] then I cannot pursue the DA offer.” The Democratic Alliance did, however, not take the broken promise lightly. Zille said on Monday that this move “signals the death knell for Agang”. Western Cape Premier Zille also described how this latest move has personally affected her long-standing relationship with Ramphele as a consequence of their abandoned plans: “Our personal friendship has taken a very bad knock. Dr UK Immigration • UK Visas • Permits • EEA visas • Residency • Citizenship • Appeals • Sponsorship Licences South African Immigration

After a five-day political affair, empty promises are all that remain

Ramphele has accused us of a lack of integrity.” “What the voters want more than anything else is a strong, united opposition force. It doesn’t help to have tiny, shattered, splinter parties all over the place. I knew Agang was in big trouble.” Zille went on to name Ramphele’s suggestion of remaining the leader of an independent Agang SA while also accepting the nomination as the DA’s presidential candidate “electoral nonsense”, adding that it would be an unconstitutional move

barring her from entering parliament as an MP as well. “You can’t have the leader of one party be the presidential candidate of another. You can’t have an onagain off-again process. It was a premature announcement, which resulted in unhappiness between both DA and Agang leaders.” Dr Ramphele said that the past week had been difficult for all parties involved, “but they come out of it stronger and wiser. Since the announcement last Tuesday, we have all been reminded that you

have to listen to your members. Members within both parties have shown unhappiness at the announcement.” Zille, however, believes that Ramphele backed out of an inevitable, thought-out plan for success. “From the DA’s point it had been a long time in coming. From boardrooms to shacks, people have said ‘Why don’t you and Mamphela get together’?” she said at the most recent press conference held by the DA leadership in Johannesburg. “I’ve been talking to Dr Mamphela Ramphele since 2010 actually. She said that the time was not right then but she said there would be a time when it was right. In OctoberNovember, Ramphele said the time was right to make this move.” Zille also went on to elaborate on the strategic value of the initially proposed partnership between the DA and Agang SA: “We can’t say that race doesn’t matter and is irrelevant. Being black in SA politics today is a very powerful message. But Dr Ramphele has a world brand. She has been a leader in many, many institutions. Ramphele has a worldwide reputation as a doctor, academic and manager. She’s also black and that is a powerful combination.” But despite such candid words from Zille, the real disagreements behind press releases and news conferences remain unknown. The failed merger has already been coined “one of the most embarrassing political fiascos in recent South African history” in the press, setting the two protagonists of opposition politics up against each other in a seemingly Shakespearean plot of conflict and betrayal. There is more to this leadership competition than just two impeccably dressed ladies hoping to get votes. With Zille’s concession of the number one seat to multi-

billionaire entrepreneur Ramphele, the DA’s parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko’s prospects of securing her own ongoing ambitions might have been compromised and possibly challenged. Similarly, the idea of a struggling Agang SA without Ramphele’s sporadic yet insufficient cash injections may have shaken at the idealised self-image of the new grand-dame of the South African opposition, who would rather admit defeat now than be held accountable for failing her electorate later.

With the main opposition parties made up of (and contested by) such powerful women, the question arises how fairly the reporting on these events represents the actual events and how far distorted views purported by cultural notions of misogyny go to further erode credibility. With artificially created images of Zille and Ramphele caught up in compromising positions trending across various social media platforms, it is the public that should perhaps take the campaigns for the upcoming elections more seriously and not just the politicians themselves.

In the words of Zille: “South Africa is in a race against time to save its democracy. We have to take risks to save the country from becoming a failed state. We have to do this by 2019.”

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p2 | DStv to launch 24/7 Pistorius channel during March trial p8 | South African ballet star named UK’s best male dancer p13 | Tearing down the wall on Berlin

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by Sertan Sanderson The feud between South African President Jacob Zuma and former President Thabo Mbeki continues, as ANC branches in Gauteng Province have nominated political heavyweight Mbeki to return to parliamentary politics in this year’s general elections in a show of defiance against the President. The Gauteng candidacy list, on which Mbeki occupies the 51st position (out of 200), is filled with Zuma’s opponents devised to give the President a hard time in parliament should any of the nominations be finalised on the ANC’s national

list this week. The ANC is currently holding its national list conference in Irene outside of Pretoria in preparation for the 2014 general elections – an event, which is usually marked by heavy disagreements within the party. Ongoing divisions within the ANC with regards to Jacob Zuma’s leadership continue to erode the underbelly of the party, as the general elections begin to draw near. The Gauteng candidacy list, long considered a litmus test for the mood within the party, also features other popular opponents and critics of Zuma’s from within the ANC, such as businessman and Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, who had unsuccessfully challenged Zuma as ANC president at the Mangaung conference in late 2012. Several of Mbeki’s then-ministers from his Presidency terms are also on the same list, including Sydney Mufamadi, the former Provincial and Local Government Minister, and Thoko Didiza, former Public Works Minister. The list is chiefly a reflection of the general mood within the ANC’s Gauteng branch, which has fiercely been opposed to Zuma’s Presidency and re-candidacy as ANC President and, subsequently, likely re-election as South African President again later this year, but hints at a general shift among the South African electorate as well. President Zuma’s ongoing challenge with his popularity

ratings was most notably seen, especially by international audiences, at former President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s memorial service in December 2013, where he was booed by the crowd gathered at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. Zuma was elected President in 2009 following several years of leadership challenges between Mbeki and Zuma within the ANC, which ultimately culminated in Thabo Mbeki’s resignation as President of South Africa. Though likely to win the 2014 general elections as the ANC’s Presidential candidate, Zuma’s public image has been scrutinised over the years more so than previous Presidents

of the new South Africa. Jacob Zuma is not only confronted with growing disparagement from within his own ranks, but faces measurable defiance across party political platforms as well: with the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) announcement to join forces with Agang SA’s leader, Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, and growing defection from Zuma’s supporters to Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, Zuma’s unrelenting stronghold on power may prove to be the first paving stone towards building a new political establishment in South Africa characterised by a true, multi-party system.

DStv to launch 24/7 Pistorius channel during March trial

| Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and wished you could get a nice, generous serving of Oscar Pistorius news right then and there? Well, now you can. By Sertan Sanderson South Africa has decided that it hasn’t heard enough about Reeva Steenkamp‘s murder on Valentine’s Day last year. Or rather, DStv has made that decision on behalf of all South Africans, and will be launching a new popup television channel dedicated to covering the media event of the year – running 24/7. Indeed, we are not yet sure whether Pistorius may get his own dedicated cell if found guilty of the charges presented against him, but the “Blade Runner” will have his own dedicated TV channel to cover the proceedings of the court hearings, which are set to begin in Pretoria on 3 March. The trial is expected to determine whether Pistorius is responsible for the deliberate killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, or whether there is credence to his version of events, saying that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder. The channel is being put together by M-Net’s current affairs show Carte Blanche and will be called The Oscar Pistorius Trial: A Carte Blanche Channel. The producers say they are planning to fill the gaps between actual reporting from the trial hearings with documentaries and commentary on Oscar Pistorius’s life. The Pistorius channel is a first in assigning an entire channel just to one person – but it is not an entirely new invention when it comes to courtroom reporting: CNN had galvanised wall-towall style coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial in a similar manner in the USA almost 20 years ago.

Simpson was eventually acquitted of murder charges relating to his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her alleged lover Ronald Goldman. The handling of the trial by the media created precedents still used today in legal reporting worldwide and is likely to be a factor in the programming decisions taken on the Carte Blanche Pistorius channel. However, it is not yet clear whether any of the actual courtroom proceedings will be broadcast at all; the trial judge is yet to decide what parts of the trial – if any may be broadcast live. However, it is expected that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom at least in some capacity, as there are no jurors in South African courtrooms, voiding the likelihood of influencing or personally endangering a jury. The trial is expected to last just under three weeks, during which DStv channel 199 will be dedicated to all things Oscar Pistorius, and will be available to customers in South Africa on the top three viewing bouquets available: Compact, Extra and Premium. MultiChoice, owners of DStv, promise full “social media integration” as part of the initiative to start this channel and are likely to feature tweets from the public as part of their coverage. But the decision to launch the popup channel has received mixed reviews, with many people taking to Twitter to express their dismay at the decision to milk what is so far treated as the ‘trial of the century’ in the first place. Whether guilty or not, Oscar Pistorius is set to at least become a “guilty pleasure” for many.

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Dream vs Reality: Why e-tolls are anti-democratic

| The idea of paying tolls is not a new one and has been successfully implemented in other countries, so why is South Africa’s interpretation so contentious? I believe it’s because it is flawed and ultimately anti-democratic

by Anaïs Mutumba Democracy by its very definition implies that all eligible citizens participate equally in the proposal, development and creation of laws, directly or through elected government officials.

In Greek, it means “rule of the people”. This is not what happened when e-tolls were introduced in Gauteng in December 2013. This is why e-tolls are fundamentally antidemocratic. No alternatives have been offered, no notice has been paid to thousands of citizens refusing to pay and its problems far outweigh its perceived benefits. E-tolls are not the solution they were promised to be, with initial reports indicating a potentially embarrassing failure. The dream

The South African National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) had a dream to transform and improve Gauteng’s road infrastructure. The Gauteng Open Road Tolling Intelligent Transportation System should ease congestion, upgrade and build better road systems, aid in commerce between suppliers and consumers, reduced costs of traditional toll roads and more. Tolling has been a successful endeavour for some cities such as London where it is used to regulate city centre traffic.

Sanral Chief Executive Nazir Alli said, “If you do calculations in terms of the loss of production, the wear and tear to your car, vehicle operation costs which increase, the pollution we were creating… Once you take that into account the benefits far outweigh the tariffs publicised earlier this year. Can we for one moment just imagine that if we didn’t have a good national road network, what would happen to the economy?” He acknowledged there were others factors in a stable economy other than road network upgrades, such as job creation. The reality

The reality of e-tolling is far removed from the dream. E-tolls appear to be a five year ill-conceived plan with five missed launch dates and with most vocalising dissent. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the Democratic Alliance, the Automobile Association of SA, the Freedom Front Plus and the Economic Freedom Fighters are just some of those opposing the e-tolling system. As a result, The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) has garnered weighty local support. Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini said, “[Our campaign]… was never about the legality of the tolls, but on a fundamental

principle – that our roads are a national asset, already paid for through taxation and the fuel levy, and motorists should not therefore have to pay again to drive on these public freeways.” With only 15% of users having registered their e-tag by 12 December 2013, a far cry from the intended 85%, according to the Mail & Guardian, it seems that the people are listening. Significant delays, mounting opposition, limited attempts at public engagement apart from a few newspaper adverts seeking responses in 2007 and little to no public transport alternatives are just some of the reasons why so many are up in arms about e-tolls. Many argue that foreign companies are the ones that will benefit and not South Africa as is purported. For example, Austrian company Kapsch TrafficCom stands to gain an annual revenue boost of more than €50 million (R678 million) for eight years from e-tolling. So much for helping the South African economy. Other reasons include alienating those who cannot afford e-tolling, such as students and those from lower income households. In protest, an online petition by AfriForum Youth has been launched for students against the e-tolling system. “Most students do not earn an income. Those who do have an unpredictable income that is far below the tax threshold,” said University of Pretoria Afriforum Youth spokesperson Rochelle Oosthuyse. The alternative routes are subject to huge traffic jams, as motorists readily use them to avoid the tolls. Enforcing a national tolling system without viable alternatives is a harsh reality that is costing the taxpayer dearly. Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, simplifies the arduous task of revamping public transportation and proves how effective it can be when applied correctly in this YouTube video. A seemingly innocuous

plan with disastrous results; inadequate public consultation and expensive alternatives are just some of the many reasons why e-tolling is antidemocratic. The people were not consulted, the execution is fraught with errors, the price to pay extortionate on top of the usual taxes, fuel levy and other living costs. How the price tiers were decided and other financial aspects of Sanral’s plans are deemed confidential so we can’t access the information that should be available to the public. Should we not know what we are paying for? Even in death it seems you cannot escape Sanral, as some relatives have reported receiving bills in their dead family members’ names via letter or text message. Portugal’s failed SCUT

system should be considered a cautionary tale. Sanral’s Chief Financial Officer Inge Mulder insists Sanral does not need a bail-out and the system is not close to collapse and that the Gauteng e-toll systems is performing “about 1% above expectation. The system is solid. The extent of the glitches is small.” The various political parties are gearing up for the upcoming elections. If e-tolls are not dealt with effectively soon, this may be the straw that breaks the ANC’s back. We elected these officials; they are supposed to fight for the good of the country and its citizens instead of playing political hot potato with the disastrous e-tolls. At the time of writing this article, the e-tolls website was down – another symptom of the system’s teething problems.

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African dance craze hits Shaka Zulu By Staff reporter

Every Wednesday Camdenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s African restaurant Shaka Zulu hosts Kizomba dance classes. Kizomba is a partner dance from Angola, accompanied by Semba, Zouk, Afro Beats and Kuduro music from Angola, Cap Verde, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome, Portugal, Ivory Coast, Congo, Cameroun and Senegal. Dance classes for all levels are held from 7.30pm each Wednesday at Shaka Zulu.

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Tales from the City of Gold: A photo exhibition in London | In this incisive and layered series, British photographer Jason Larkin explores the social and environmental impact of the vast waste dumps created by Johannesburg’s once powerful gold mining industry.

by staff reporter Flowers Gallery will hold an exhibition of photos by British photographer Jason Larkin, who spent two years in Johannesburg from 2010, focusing on the legacy of the mine dumps, a long ignored aspect of the city. His photography from the project has been exhibited across South Africa and now the series, called Tales from the City of Gold, will be shown at Flowers Gallery Kingsland Road from 21 February to 29 March. Larkin will also give a talk about his project at the Frontline Club in London on Wednesday 12 February. A city built on gold, Johannesburg was founded in 1886 when settlers and immigrants descended on the largest reef of the precious metal ever to be discovered. The area transformed quickly into a mining mecca with the vast and rapid expansion of the city reflecting the increasing global thirst for gold, and helping to fuel a government that changed South Africa for ever. In this incisive and layered series, Larkin explores the social and environmental impact of the vast waste dumps created by Johannesburg’s once powerful gold mining industry. Six billion tonnes of these deposits form the backdrop of South Africa’s largest city with around four hundred

thousand people currently living surrounded by six billion tonnes of toxic waste. Larkin’s images of life on and around the city’s incongruous man-made hills; territory where history, economy and contemporary South Africa collide, shed light on some of the most challenging questions facing the region today. Photographing the landscape and people affected by these toxic monuments, Larkin highlights the ignored realities of these spaces, and the denial of the complicated legacy left behind. Tales from the City of Gold explores these tailings as an extension of the thriving metropolis that surrounds them. Ethnographic in its approach, this project is the result of Larkin living in Johannesburg for two years, observing the ordinary and extraordinary nature of life alongside the dumps. Focusing on the co-existence between past and present allows a unique perspective on the actions of previous generations and reveals that impact on the current society and environment. Larkin is internationally recognised for his long term social documentary projects and environmental portraiture. His immersive process and slow approach allow for comprehensive bodies of work that reveal and frame important social, economic and political issues. His work is often

concerned with contextualising present realities through historical legacies. After completing his MA in 2007, Larkin moved to Egypt. His first body of work, Past Perfect, a meditation on the way museums present history to us, was widely recognised with awards, including the PDN New Portraiture Award in 2011. Cairo Divided, a unique and freely distributed bilingual newspaper explored the capital’s rapidly-mutating urban landscape. Exhibitions have included the Brighton Photo Biennial 2012 and the Hereford Photography Festival Commission in 2011. The exhibition will be accompanied by the book Tales from the City of Gold, published by Kehrar Verlag. The publication, designed by Realise Creative, contains archival images, original etchings by Ester Svensson and phrases from a Fanagalo dictionary, an old pidgin language developed for and still used in South Africa’s mines. Essays are by South African based writer Mara Kardas-Nelson and the photography academic Julian Rodriguez. Details on www.flowersgallery.com Tickets for Jason Larkin’s talk at Frontline Club on 12 February are £12.50. Book on www.frontlineclub.com/in-thepicture-tales-from-the-city-ofgold/

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Neil Aggett biography review: ‘Death of an Idealist’ by Beverley Naidoo | Evan Bartlett reviews the biography of Neil Aggett, a 28-year-old doctor and trade unionist who was the first white person to die in the custody of the apartheid regime’s security police. regard for a young white man by John Vorster Square prison, Dr

By Evan Bartlett Found hanging from the bars of his Johannesburg prison cell in 1982, Neil Aggett’s death, as the first white person and 51st detainee to die in the apartheid regime’s custody, sent shockwaves around South Africa. Death of an Idealist is a fullyreferenced biography of a doctor and trade unionist who was pushed to death at the hands of security police after he was wrongly accused of being an ANC collaborator. Neil Aggett had dedicated his life to promoting a just and fair society and made a notable impact on many people, not only on those close to him, but thousands of South Africans of all creeds and colours. When 15,000 workers turned out to attend Dr Aggett’s funeral Desmond Tutu was moved to describe it as: “An incredible demonstration of affection and

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thousands of blacks.” This biography is a meticulous and fascinating work by Aggett’s second cousin Beverley Naidoo who, although not knowing him personally, offers an intimate and warm account of a man with a commitment to democracy and the concepts of representation and accountability at all costs. But it also attempts to uncover the web of detail shrouded by the apartheid regime’s systematic secrecy. Laced with diary excerpts, interview transcripts and newspaper clippings from the time, the book adds colour and drama to a story that could otherwise become bogged down in detail. Naidoo finds an accomplished balance between swathes of fine detail and sections of intense drama and suspense. Beverley Naidoo Beverley Naidoo is a South African author who lives in the UK. She details his radicalisation from a student of medicine to a thoughtful union organiser and conscientious young man involved in the ‘white left’ community. The book portrays a life spent under the constant surveillance of security police and the paranoia and stress that this engendered. Following a police sting operation in 1981, Aggett, his long-term partner Liz Floyd, and dozens of other activists were arrested. Spending 70 days in the notorious

Aggett was subjected to despicable and inhumane torture methods in order to extract a warped version of the truth that suited the regime’s vision of him as a revolutionary dissident. The corruption of the apartheid state was compounded by a lengthy inquest that gave an astonishing exemption to Dr Aggett’s torturers. Ultimately, no one has been punished for these heinous crimes despite two senior police officials being found liable for induced suicide by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1998. A foreword by George Bizos, the senior counsel who acted as prosecution at the inquest into Aggett’s death, showing his dedication and passion for the case exemplifies his impact and his relentless pursuance of a just society, on those who came into contact with him. This book is a fitting tribute to a ‘man of the people’ whose life was taken unjustifiably early. The strap-line reads – ‘In search of Neil Aggett’ – and it is fair to say that Naidoo finds him. Not only does she offer a compelling account of his story, but she also gives the reader a chance to get to know Neil Aggett, the person. Beverley Naidoo is a South African author who lives in the UK. Her first novel, Journey to Jo’burg (1985) was banned in South Africa.

I need a garden. A real one. Not an app.

| I hardly read any more. When the author of the book engaged her audience with delightful anecdotes about trips to the nursery and gardens of the world, I wondered about the emails stacked for responses. Karen de Villiers

I gave up the finer things in life for social media. Always thinking my love for wine was going to pickle the brain; that old habit of youth could be my nemesis, I suspect that social media is my doom.

I was invited to a book launch at Daunt on Marylebone High Street. For those who have not been endeared by this quaint home for books, you have one more thing on your bucket list. A film set design, where one can ponder for hours over the possibilities of love in a Tuscan village, or the life story of someone who actually had one – and I was flicking the eyes at this imp in my palm, just in case the world had changed in the last thirty seconds. I do it all the time. I hardly read any more. When the author of the book engaged

her audience with snippets from her work; delightful anecdotes about trips to the nursery and gardens of the world, I wondered about the emails

stacked for responses. Who had time for gardening and trips to other landscaped jewels I ask you? We have more important matters, like checking the

weather, currency, box office times, snippets of gossip – and skimming over anything that may delay the immediate delivery of … of what. Of nothing that cannot wait. The PC has become the central beacon in our home. Conversation is replaced by beeps and clicks and tapping of fingers. This has all been said before. What one does not admit is that looking up and listening are skills we have lost. I looked up from my palm pilot, on silent but still on, only to see a writer lost in her journey of calm, peace and utter joy at creating a garden. The excitement of watching the seasons shift in her patch of nature suddenly made me feel like someone who has won the prize, only to find out that no-one else wanted it anyway. A hollow victory. I had the heart rate of Twitter, Linked in, Instagram etc, but I did not have the taste of that serenity. The stillness of a bookshop

should be a lesson to us all. Imagination grows in a bookshop. Self worth develops in a book shop. I needed to temper my addiction. Delighted with my new read, I edged my way to the author, poised at a writing desk to sign the first copies of a labour of love. ‘What shall I write for you? ‘ She said. Grinning, and so proud of my clever friend’s achievement, I bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek. ‘My friend is a published …’ I try to say. Oh my word! Unmannered woman armed with mobile barges her way to the table, interrupts our conversation and mutters something about getting a picture for Facebook. A social media bullying moment. There is a right time for social media and there are times when it will turn you into a total, uncaring bitch. I need to remember that. And I need to start gardening – not on an app.

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An afternoon shared with MasterChef Petrus Madutlela | Petrus Madutlela, who made it to the quarter final of BBC TV series

MasterChef: The Professionals in November, cooked a South African feast for a group of expats in Kent. by Anton van Zyl

Photos by Ronel van Zyl

The hunger of a group of South Africans for pap en vleis was satisfied last Saturday by MasterChef Petrus Madutlela at a private function in Kent. What makes this so remarkable is that the story of Petrus is one of an opportunity spotted by a very talented junior chef at Pecanwood Hartbeespoort keen to follow his dreams. It led from Brits in the Northwest Province of South Africa through Stellenbosch and Franschoek to Sevenoaks in Kent. This remarkable trip included a stint as a chef at the Savoy in London. The food that Petrus prepared was a culinary feast, from an entree of a balanced butternut soup with garlic and coconut to a main course of rump steak with pap balls and chakalaka prepared to a special recipe. There was potato and coleslaw salad, as well as beetroot salad with feta cheese, and for dessert a very special malva pudding. A surprise was the peppermint crisp tart, prepared as tasty as all could remember their grandmothers making. Accompanying all of this was accordion music, and a healthy kuier was had by all. IMG_2652 (Medium)Petrus, who made it to the quarter final of BBC TV series MasterChef: The Professionals in November, is a chef at the Vine Restaurant in Sevenoaks. His favourite South African dish, pap and morogo, does not feature on the menu. “Here I only make pap and chicken because they don’t have morogo here and I wouldn’t want to substitute spinach for that.” He met his Liverpudlian wife Shirley in Stellenbosch where they were both training at the Institute of Culinary Arts and has been living in the UK for the last three years. He and Shirley made it a memorable afternoon and I recommend the services of this chef for private or corporate functions. His attention to detail, knowledge of food and outgoing personality made meeting him an absolute pleasure.

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South African ballet star named UK’s best male dancer

| Dane Hurst started dancing at the Toynbee Ballet School in Port Elizabeth and won a bursary to dance in London. He is now part of the Rambert Dance Company, the oldest ballet company in Britain.

by Marianne Gray Port Elizabeth’s Dane Hurst was voted the best male dancer in the UK at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards this week. Beating other nominees from The Royal Ballet, Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet and English National Ballet, Hurst is part of the Rambert Dance Company, the oldest ballet company in Britain. “It’s such a privilege to win this award. I’ve been dancing professionally for 10 years and it’s a great reward for being away from home for so long. It has always been my dream to be a dancer in London and that has now been fulfilled by receiving this prestigious accolade,” says Hurst, 29, who has been with the London company since 2004. He started dancing at the Toynbee Ballet School in Port Elizabeth while moving between Gelvandale, Booysen Park, Salsoneville and Salt Lake, the rough, neglected areas of the city. “When I was a kid I used to

lie under the table and watch feet dancing all day while my grandmother made costumes for a small dance studio in my neighbourhood. I did break-dancing and all kinds of sport like football then I heard about the Toynbee Studio, which was situated on the outskirts of a very hostile suburb in a disused municipal building,” he recalls. “When I walked into the studio I didn’t know what I was doing. I was transfixed by this beautiful chaos, the movement, the music, the smell. Then I saw one boy jumping around higher than anybody else. Before seeing him, it had never occurred to me to try dancing myself. That was it.” One of their students had won the National Society of Dance Teachers (NSDT) bursary award in Johannesburg to train in London. When he heard about that, he decided he wanted to do the same. “It became a blind obsession. Gwen Mary Wells was my very supportive teacher, and never questioned my motives!” Hurst won the NSDT bursary and received additional funding from the Linbury Trust and Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial trust fund. dane hurst Photo by Simon Weir. He found that life as a dancer in Britain was massively hard work. “When it comes to training, the Rambert School normally trains Mondays to Saturday, for up to 44 hours a week. On tour, which is three quarters of the year, we work from 12pm – 10pm. It’s quite a lot

of dancing.” When he sustained an ankle injury he was forced to turn to choreography and was nominated to create a work for the Place Prize, a prestigious choreographic platform in the UK with a prize fund of £35,000. “I have since then regularly choreographed for Rambert’s Evening of New Choreography, have received numerous choreographic commissions and have just completed a two year MA Choreography degree with Central School of Ballet. I’m at my physical peak and approaching the end of my dancing career but still have a few years left and hope to travel and dance wherever the momentum takes me, especially in South Africa. “None of my family members have seen me dance professionally and I hope to one day invite my mother and three sisters over to see me dance here in London. My father passed away six months after I left for London. “It’s such a crazy world, you never can tell what lies around the corner, so lets just say I’m happy where I am right now and when that changes I will move on.” Part of Hurst’s future plans include transporting the equipment from the old Rambert Dance Company, which has been modernised and re-housed on London’s South Bank, to Port Elizabeth to start a dance studio there. “I have the vision of setting up a dance studio or creative base for students and professionals in South Africa. At present I have

Dane Hurst fell in love with ballet as a youngster in South Africa. Photo (left) by Simon Weir and above, by Eric Richmond.

negotiated the purchase of the old dance floor, some sound equipment and an old ballet barre from the previous studio. It’s all packed into storage and the plan is to arrange a fundraising gala performance to gather some money to transport this equipment, along with dance shoes

and clothes to South Africa. “The project is in its infancy but it has to start somewhere and I hope this recent award will help me to reach out to some influential sponsors who could help make this dream a reality.” www.danejeremyhurst.com

Cass Abrahams’ recipe for milk tart | Best-selling cookbook author and chef Cass Abrahams shares her version of South Africa’s ever popular melktert

By Staff reporter An evergreen favourite dessert with a slightly sweetened shortcrust pastry. Pastry 750ml flour Salt to taste 10ml baking powder 30g butter 45ml (3 tbsp) sugar 2 eggs A little iced water Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Cream butter and sugar in a separate bowl. Beat eggs and add to creamed butter and sugar; beat thoroughly. Sift flour into egg mixture and gently mix to form a soft dough. Add a little iced water if necessary. Roll out into 5mm thickness and line a loose-bottomed tin of 25cm

diameter. Press dough lightly into tin, neatly finish off edges, prick with fork and brush with lightly beaten egg white to prevent the dough from becoming soggy. Filling 500ml sugar 50ml flour Pinch of salt 1 litre milk 5ml vanilla essence 4 cardamom pods 2 sticks cinnamon 9 eggs, separated 30g butter 30ml cinnamon sugar Mix half the sugar with flour and salt. Bring milk to the boil over low heat. Carefully stir the flour mixture into the milk and continue stirring over low heat until the mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and add vanilla essence, cardamom and cinnamon. Beat egg yolks. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until mixture is light and creamy. Stir egg mixture into milk mixture. Leave to cool slightly and remove cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into filling. Spoon filling into unbaked crust. Dot with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 1800C for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 1600C and bake until crust is golden. Recipe: Cass Abrahams, Cass Abrahams Cooks Cape Malay: Food from Africa Food Styling: Pete Goffe-Wood, PGW Eat

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Reserve Bank raises interest rate to stabilise SA economy | Economists are surprised by rate hike as South Africa’s economy struggles to recover economy. By Sertan Sanderson The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has announced that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will raise South Africa’s interest rate by 50 basis points, adjusting its key repurchase rate to 5.5 per cent. The decision to raise the interest rate follows the ongoing weakness in the Rand exchange rate against other currencies. The interest increase has, however, not managed to stabilise that trend in its initial hours, pinning the exchange rate of the Sterling Pound against the Rand at GBP 1 = R 18,61 (mid-

market rates) at market-close on Wednesday. The adjustment in the interest rate brings the prime lending rate in South Africa up to 9 per cent. With lending becoming an increasing luxury in South Africa, economists fear that the move might take the country into a recession. But keeping up with other emerging markets such as India and Turkey, which took aggressive measures earlier in the weak with major rate hikes, South Africa faces the difficult decision to favour long-term gain over short-term easing, staying competitive as Africa’s strongest

The move is also intended to secure the rate of inflation in South Africa, which analysts forecast to soar to 6.6 per cent later in the year. SARB Governor Gill Marcus said that the issue of inflation looked particularly worrying: “Inflation forecasts indicate the possibility of being out of the target range for an extended period, largely due to the impact of the depreciating currency.” The US is expected to announce another round of quantitative easing measures later in the day, which are likely to strengthen the US Dollar but subsequently further destabilise the exchange rate against the Rand.

SA Tourism opens first office in Africa by staff reporter

The opening of a South African Tourism office in Lagos, Nigeria, was an invitation for Nigerians, Ghanaians and other countries in West Africa to explore the beauty of South Africa, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said at the opening in the Nigerian capital on Tuesday. Van Schalkwyk said the regional office would serve as a tourism hub from which South Africa would look to grow its presence in West Africa. It is the first South African Tourism regional marketing office on the African continent. “Yes, we mark an important milestone here today, but it is exactly this, a milestone, along a road we have long been walking with the travel trade of this region.”

“During this time we’ve invested heavily in understanding the needs of the West African traveller so as to ensure that your holiday experience is as rewarding or memorable to you as it is to us. “To that end, we have also been working tirelessly to ensure that South Africa offers West African travellers a holiday that enriches their lives through a world of new experiences,” he said. Growth Despite the pressure brought about by 2008’s global recession, South Africa’s tourism sector continued to grow. While tourist arrivals from the United States and the Eurozone – South Africa’s trade partners – had not shown a large increase, those from the rest of Africa recorded positive growth. Van Schalkwyk said that 73 282 Nigerian tourists visited South

Africa in 2012 – an overall 13.8% increase from the 64 402 Nigerian tourists who visited South Africa in 2011. At the end of June 2013, Nigerian arrivals had continued to grow on a strong trajectory: 15.9% growth on the same period in 2012 to 40 097 tourist arrivals. “Likewise, tourist arrivals from Ghana to South Africa grew a phenomenal 23.8% in 2012, when South Africa welcomed 22 953 Ghanaian tourists. Up to end June 2013, arrivals from Ghana were growing at 27.3%, to 13 663 tourist arrivals for the six- month period. “Global interest in visiting Africa is at an all-time high, and it is also our intention to do our bit to convert this interest into increased arrivals across the continent,” Van Schalkwyk said. - SAinfo Read more: http://www. southafrica.info/news/ tourism-290114.htm#.

South African Rand feels new lows | The South African Rand continues to reach record lows last seen in 2011 as investors sell off their emerging market stock amid reductions in the Federal Reserve stimulus. By david sutherland THE selling of the Rand has mostly been in response to fears in emerging markets; stronger economies showing signs of stabilisation are looking for safer investments and potential growth. The South African Reserve Bank has raised interest rates to try and slow currency weakness. However, this has had little effect so far. Interest rates have climbed from 5% to 5.5%, making it slightly more attractive to hold funds in an account. The weaker Rand would normally lead to increased exports, one of the benefits of a falling currency. This has not been the case in South Africa, as inflation in SA is generally higher than the country’s competition. Although the weaker Rand boosts sales, prices in SA are already so high that we cannot see

the advantage at this point. Meanwhile, on the beaches of SA, many tourists from gloomier regions are enjoying the heat and taking full advantage of cheap drinks and food. Many will see their budgets taking them a lot further than they thought possible just a few months ago. GBP / ZAR: 18.3752 EUR / ZAR: 15.0930 USD / ZAR: 11.1891 NZD / ZAR: 9.06329 Exchange rates as of 08:32 (GMT), 27/01/2014 Note: The above exchange rates are based on “interbank” rates. If you want to transfer money to or from South Africa, please register/ login on our website, or call us on 1800 835 148 for a live dealing rate. You can make use of a Rate Notifier to send you alerts when the South African exchange rate reaches the levels that you are looking for.

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Dependants of Points Based Immigration Categories

by staff reporter

ONE of the biggest concerns of prospective points based immigration applicants is whether their dependants will have permission to work in the UK. Below we provide some rough guidelines on the issue. Dependants of Tier 1 and Tier 2 migrant are allowed to work in the UK without restriction. Dependants of a Tier 4 (General) Student will be allowed to work, if the main applicant’s grant of leave is for longer than 12 months. If the grant of leave is for shorter than 12 months, the dependant will not be allowed to work, unless the main applicant is a Government Sponsored Student. Dependants of a Tier 4 (General) Student will not be allowed to work in the UK if the grant of leave is for a course

| 4 - 10 February 2014 | thesouthafrican.com

of study below degree level, unless the main applicant is a government sponsored student. It is also important to note that dependants will not be able to be employed as doctor or dentist in training. There are however exceptions to this rule.

For more information or guidance in your specific circumstances, please contact your BIC consultant at info@bicimmigration.com JP Breytenbach Director of BIC, Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants Limited. www.bic-immigration.com or info@bic-immigration.com

Durban developer’s mobile app scores in Nokia competition

| Matt Cavanaugh’s TapShoot application allows mobile phone users to take photographs via remote control so that no-one is left out of the picture. His favourite and most-used apps

bY Aneshree Naidoo A Windows phone developer based in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Cavanaugh’s app earned him runner-up status in the Nokia Future/Capture contest, held in Sweden in 2013. The contest is a forum for Windows phone developers to submit their most creative image-related application ideas for phones using the Windows operating system. It attracts developers from around the world. The 2013 event, which took place in Held, Lund, involved 10 teams – six soloists and four pairs – programming for more than 27 hours to produce their applications. Rudi Chen and Shida Li, from the University of Waterloo in Canada, won the contest with their Smart Resizing app, which lets users edit phone pictures without compromising the image quality. Cavanaugh, a mostly self-taught developer, says entry into the competition was secured by having “an awesome idea”. Worldwide mobile usage Mobile applications, or apps, are generally easy-to-use software applications that allow phone users to do everyday activities such as banking, sending messages, looking up directions and taking photos and videos. Their popularity is soaring, as mobile usage grows rapidly across the globe. Mobithinking, a research company that provides mobile trend data to marketers, estimates that by the end of 2017, there will be some four billion app

users worldwide. Silicon India recently reported that the number of “active cellphones will reach 7.3 billion by 2014”, and in South Africa, according to the 2014 World Wide Worx Mobility report, some 10 million smartphones were sold in 2013. Most apps work on smartphones, but even basic phone apps such as SMS (Short Message Service), or texting, are still hugely popular. Popular apps often solve everyday problems, such as letting users apply for jobs or edit images on their phones. Cavanaugh explains his app to Nokia SA: “If you want to take a photo of yourself [and friends etc.] someone either has to sit out of the photo to take it, or you need to hand your phone to a stranger – neither of which is ideal. So this app is made purely to solve that problem.” The everyday aspect of applications is what attracted Cavanaugh to working in the field: “Being able to create something that people use every day of their lives is pretty cool. It’s like inventing bread – but with less flour.” Through his company, Roguecode, he has developed News24’s MyEdit, which lets readers streamline the information they want to receive from their favourite publications. The application, an aggregator, also learns what its user’s tastes are, to further streamline the content it presents. Cavanaugh says apps “should be beautiful and fast… If something isn’t nice to use, then your hundreds of features probably won’t get touched.”

meet these requirements. “My favourite app would probably be Readit – which is a reddit client,” he says. Reddit aggregates news from users and publishes those stories with the most reader votes. He also regularly uses social media application Twitter, messaging service WhatsApp, and Toshl Finance. “But the app I couldn’t live without is Nokia Camera.” His favourite devices are the Lumia 620, 920, 1020, and 1520, but he’s “torn between the 1020 which has as awesome camera, and the 1520 which has an awesome screen”. App development in South Africa Cavanaugh believes there are some world-class products coming out of South Africa, but that there should be more. “A lot more companies are popping up in Durban doing great work.” Of the Durban programming community, he says: “It isn’t as vibrant or large as I would like, but we’re definitely getting there – so hopefully the laid-back mindset here will start to fade.” Through Roguecode Cavanaugh has “ended up doing a hobby for a living”. Ultimately, he wants to get his applications “into people’s pants [pockets] around the world”. TapShoot is well on its way there; the app is available on the Nokia Collection store category, on all Nokia Lumias, for free as a trial version, or for $1 for the full version.

We’re looking for a Web Writer / Sub-editor in Cape Town | The publishers of TheSouthAfrican.com are looking for a Cape Town based journalist with web writing and subbing skills. and the ability to sub-edit copy

by heather walker TheSouthAfrican.com requires the services of a journalist with news writing and subbing skills in Cape Town. You will be working full-time (Monday to Friday) at our office in Claremont. The position is available from 23 January 2014. The job requires assisting the

editor by writing South African news articles and interviews as well as sub-editing online content. Skills/attributes required News-writing experience and passion for current affairs Interest in Search Engine Optimisation and strategies to drive web traffic Excellent spelling and grammar

fast and accurately Attention to detail and able to meet strict deadlines. An affinity for the South African community abroad. Ideally the candidate would have had some experience living overseas, as the newspaper/website is focused on the international South African community. Job details Remuneration: R10 000/ month Job level: Junior Travel requirement: None Company Description TheSouthAfrican.com has been running for 10 years. We provide news, events, sport, entertainment, community, travel & business articles for global-minded South Africans. Through our website, online network, e-newsletter and weekly free newspaper, we reach more than 250,000 South Africans per month. Contact details To apply for this challenging role, please send your CV, a covering letter and an example of your writing (preferably a news or opinion piece) to editor@ thesouthafrican.com

thesouthafrican.com | 4 - 10 February 2014 |

Zimbabwe Community

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Zimbabwe asks Britain to fund schooling of one million children

| As funds run out to bankroll Zimbabwe’s public school system, Robert Mugabe’s government turns to help from Britain in hope of financial aid to keep one million application amid general cut backs children in school. By Sertan Sanderson

| ‘God’s Ivory’, photo by Brent Stirton.

Multiple murder suspect kept brain of alleged ivory poacher

| A gruesome murder story involving a payment dispute between groups of suspected ivory poachers in rural Zimbabwe highlights the brutal reality of elephant poaching in Africa. ritualistic killings, even though in the crossfire between guarding By Sertan Sanderson

The crime scene must have resembled a set straight out of Hollywood: four bodies discovered within the vicinity of a picturesque game park, each one having undergone a different set of murder rituals. One male victim was decapitated with his lips, tongue, nose, ears and even eyes removed from his head, while a female victim had her brain removed and stored in a plastic bottle. The two remaining bodies were riddled with gun-shot wounds from AK47 rifles, execution commando style. All four of the victims came from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city. But what could possibly prompt such brutality on the banks of Lake Kariba on 5 January? Elephant poaching is alive and well in the bush, especially in the outlying regions of Zimbabwe, which may easily escape the rule of law. Local poachers continue to ignore and break agreed international agreements governing the ivory trade, setting their own prices and often undercutting government-regulated standards for the highly-priced tusks. It was only last year that organised poachers had poisoned watering holes in Hwange National Park, which borders Binga, resulting in the targeted deaths of more than 100 elephants later used for the ivory trade. Although the import of ivory is closely monitored with Asian countries and prohibited in most Westerrn countries, dealers still trade directly with poachers in many southern African countries to supply them with tons of ivory annually. When this relationship sours, violence is often used as the fail-safe option to cover the tracks of the trade. But the brutality of this particular crime spree is also sending messages of fear to local villagers, whose families might often be complicit in the local ivory trade, spreading concerns for their own safety of falling victim to active smuggling cartels. Finding itself

the law and being directly pursued by poachers as well, the police are also aware of the possibility of suffering retribution themselves, having fallen victim to poachers before or being complicit in facilitating smugglers themselves. Witnesses had identified the four bodies, found in an abandoned vehicle in Binga, as part of a travelling party of six. The whereabouts of the other two persons were unknown until the police followed a credible lead in the investigation, which led to a number of arrests following a dramatic shoot-out near the original crime scene. At least one of four murder suspects was killed during the police ambush, and another one was reported to have succumbed to gunshot wounds later. The remaining four are in custody, undergoing pretrial hearings. In a twisted plot, it was revealed that the two dead suspects were part of the original travelling party of the murder victims. Sinola Jameson Dube, a former police officer, and his son Emmanuel were initially part of a dealer group coming to Binga to pursue an illegal ivory poach. Following a disagreement over money, the two turned their backs on the remaining group and plotted the murder with four other confederates in the crime. The four surviving suspects include another son of Dube’s as well as three members of another family identified by the surname Muleya. They are all alleged to have been complicit in the killings and are awaiting trial in February. Other individuals involved in supplying weapons and ammunition to the Dube and Muleya families are also awaiting trial for facilitating the murder, likely to face fines as well as prison terms of up to several years. The police are struggling to piece together the exact motivations behind the butchering amid a climate of fear, as the elements of local superstitious beliefs also creep in with these

acts of decapitation and removal of body parts are considered uncommon in Zimbabwe. During the ongoing investigation it was also revealed that the deceased Sinola Jameson Dube was a practising traditional healer (inyanga), taking inspiration for his particular manner of slaying from supernatural beliefs associated with his occupation and keeping his female victim’s brain in a jar for this reason. The entire story reads like a modern-day version of a Joseph Conrad novel, as it becomes evident there is more to the ivory trade than just ‘pulling teeth’. In the words of the novelist himself, the ivory trade is “the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience.”

Zimbabwe made a formal request last week to the Department for International Development (DFID) to cover the school fees of up to one million children in the country’s underfunded public school system. The funding application would only cover one third of all elementary school children, as a government programme known as Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) is supposed to subsidise any further shortcomings. However, hit by ever-increasing inflation, Zimbabwe’s government is finding itself unable meet its own expectations. Other international donations, chiefly from EU countries, have until now paid for certain items such as text books, within the context of greater foreign aid. But the future of those donations is unclear as foreign aid in Zimbabwe is slowly drying up; many of the international financial assurances the impoverished country depends on ended after last August’s disputed landslide win of Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF – a development interpreted as a move away from democracy in Zimbabwe. Britain had also previously financed the school fees of 300,000 school children annually for three years from 2010 to 2013 while a multi-party government was in power under a coalition arrangement with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The UK may yet reject Zimbabwe’s current

in foreign aid payments under Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat coalition government. Furthermore, there’s a push for more transparency in the UK as to where taxpayers’ money goes after revelations that government loans have previously funded several pariah states and unstable regimes, including Zimbabwe. Despite President Robert Mugabe’s ongoing antagonistic rhetoric against the UK – the erstwhile colonial power in presentday Zimbabwe – the DFID says it will consider the application fairly. The fact that Zimbabwe has one of the most successful public school systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a literacy rate across the country of approximately 90 per cent, may help with the country’s application. But a corrupt schooling system run by parent committees, who decide who does and who doesn’t receive aid money, may well count against the otherwise promising track record. And with fresh threats against foreigners operating businesses in Zimbabwe to expropriate their properties for the sake of “Economic Empowerment”, securing funds may likely be off the table. Robert Mugabe, a teacher himself by trade, helped to improve the literacy rate by supporting mandatory schooling as part of his career in politics. But he may hit a wall by not being able to secure foreign finance in as forceful a manner.

Travel

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Tearing down | 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, we visit this restless city to examine a very European transition into democracy. By Sertan Sanderson This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – without any doubt one of the defining moments of an entire generation, bringing an end to the Cold War and paving the way for lasting peace in Europe and beyond. Everyone born in the 1980s or before will remember the images of scores of people racing to the 150km long edifice dividing the city, the “wall of shame” as US President John F. Kennedy once called it, taking down this oppressing metaphor for the ‘iron curtain’ piece by piece and heralding in a new era. With the opening of this border fortification came the biggest urban remodelling project of the 1990s, transforming Berlin into Europe’s biggest single construction site. Most importantly, the newly unified government had to face the task of replacing the former Communist architecture of the East, including much of the wasteland that stood as a safety buffer between East and West along the wall, and creating a new, a timeless Berlin free of the symbols of its past oppression. Tracing the Berlin Wall today Only little remains of the Berlin Wall, die Berliner Mauer, as Germans call it, and no one can really blame Berliners for not wanting to preserve this rather insulting heritage site. But you can still follow it along the city,

tracking a thin, brass line laid on the ground in commemoration of the 45 years of intra-German separation. Bernauer Straße, just north of the inner city, has about 80m of the wall preserved for public viewing as part of a memorial. Alongside other fortifications preserved there, like watchtowers and moats, you will get a feeling what it must have felt like being – quite literally – imprisoned within your own city. Beside the World War II exhibition, Topography of Terror, a fascinating journey into Germany’s dark past as the SS police state under Adolf Hitler, you can witness another long stretch of the Berlin Wall preserved for visitors. Berlin Wall Another Cold War memorabilia hotspot is Checkpoint Charlie, not far from the city’s trademark building, the Brandenburg Gate. This was one of the few places where you could cross over from East to West, from Communism to Capitalism, from oppression to freedom, from a “banana republic” to a federal republic that actually sold bananas in its supermarket (once considered a highly-prized delicacy in Eastern Europe). Hanging with the “anti-establishment” establishment But fast forward 25 years to the present and you will find that the erstwhile frontier of the Cold War has transformed into

the European capital of cool, where every Tom, Dick and Harry (or maybe Helmut, Fritz und Sven) pretend they’re all ultra-hip graphic designers or independent photographers living in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin’s hipster village located in what used to be the former East Berlin. With their screen-print tank tops and skin-tight jeans you see this young crowd each day, weekday or weekend, imbibing pints of frothy German beer at Prater - one of those places that is so unpretentious that it is pretentious again. This is the face of today’s Berlin, a city no longer defined by lamenting its own imperfections but instead compelled to celebrate them. This is the anti-jetset from all over Germany, and indeed the world, flocking to this young city to pick up the pieces of a lost dream and trying to make most of their lives, while only being able to afford groceries from the local ALDI store living off benefits on Germany’s infamous Hartz IV welfare system. It’s certainly not the quality of the beer that draws in the punters into such modern Biergarten establishments as the Prater, but rather the celebrity factor: where else can you go to ignore Tom Cruise and feel like you are being ironic about it? Shopping spree by the River Spree But therein lays the timeless charm of this uncompromising city – where urban grit and

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the wall on Berlin retro-chic fur coats will often be spotted walking side-by-side along the Kurfürstendamm, the “Bond Street” of Berlin. The seasoned Berliner will snub at the very idea of such materialistic concerns being paraded on this manicured shopping mile at the heart of town; being lavish and boasting with your accumulated worldly riches is much rather associated with Berlin’s rival, Hamburg, or even the Bavarian enclave of Munich – the mention of which will give hives to most Berliners. But if you are indeed a visitor to the city and want to soak up a little bit of living, contemporary history, there’s no way of avoiding the Ku’damm, as locals refer to the city’s famous high street. Designed after World War II to artificially create a city centre for isolated West Berlin, which was landlocked by communism in every direction, the design and street planning reflects the best and, more significantly, the worst of 1950s and 1960s architecture, as Berlin had to be rebuilt from utter ruins – and fast. The Kaufhaus des Westens, or KaDeWe in short, is the Ku’damm’s answer to Harrods in London and Lafayette in Paris. Unless your airline lost your suitcase and you need to shop for all of modern life’s necessity’s, you can cut right past the lower storeys and browse through the incredible delicatessen stalls on the sixth floor, where you might find decadent perversion such as salmon-infused dark chocolate or fig-leaf battered pork belly. Got no plans for lunch? Go to the seventh floor Winter Garden restaurant, which is covered in

glass windows from wall to wall. Confessions and confections of power Another lunchtime favourite, which requires advance reservations and security clearance from the German Intelligence Agency (“Bundesnachrichtendienst” – what a word!) is Feinkost Käfer, right on top of the Reichstag building. Enjoy 360 degrees of mind-boggling views across Berlin, as you sip the finest coffee in town and dig into all five creamy and chocolatey layers of a Black Forest cake (Schwarzwaldtorte). Furthermore you’ll have priority access to exploring the cupola on top of the parliament, the Bundestag; if you’re lucky you’ll get to witness Angela Merkel doing her thing as chancellor, way below, observing German democracy in action, or – as Berlin’s unique brand of apathy might rather cynically regard it – German democracy inaction. After all, this is the German capital, yet you won’t escape any Berliner’s reluctance to accept it as such. Forget IKEA – meet MöbelOlfe Many of the younger urbanites in the city, however, are much more concerned these days with local community events and alternative lifestyles, acting absolutely blasé about the fact that you might be the only macrobiotic, vegan, one-legged, Lebanese lesbian pining for the exclusive rooftop access at Möbel-Olfe – a former furniture warehouse turned into a night-life

hotspot. Located in Kreuzberg, once ignored in your typical tourist guides as a decaying council estate cluster right at the heart of the city but now touted as the next “up-and-coming” neighbourhood, Möbel-Olfe is part inner-city utopia and part unadulterated hedonism served up in traditional beer mugs, bound to give you a good time no matter what your expectations may be of the imperative Radler,

a German shandy mixing beer and lemonade. Still, even Möbel-Olfe in all its youthful idealism can’t even begin to hold the water (or Radler) to some of the other underground clubs dotted around the city that make liberal-minded people

seem prudish. It is this ease in attitude that might be the most powerful symbol for modern-day Berlin

indeed: a city that fought its very own apartheid wall for decades has managed to move forward into an egalitarian

“anything goes” mindset within one generation, priding itself with being uniquely unusual while giving the world the first luxury caravan hotel (Huettenpalast), a 24-hour metrosexual Vietnamese restaurant (Monsieur Vuong) and funky design markets (Hackesche Höfe) all within walkingdistance radius from each other, dotted around Berlin’s very own “Silicon Valley”, Europe’s hub for tech start-ups and social media. It really makes you wonder why other places in the world can’t reconcile the past and move into a graceful future as elegantly.

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CHICHESTER BILTONG COMPANY BILTONG doesn’t get any better than this ! Arguably the best and most authentic South African biltong in the UK. WE ONLY USE ORGANIC SPICES. Our FINEST range has no e’S , gluten, sugar or preservatives. Use promo code SAFFA10 for 10% EXTRA FREE. www.biltongcompany.co.uk / 01243 699 722 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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The African Corner Three miles off Junction 26 of the M5 in the centre of Wellington, Somerset, TA21 8LS. Pull in if you’re in the West Country or find us online at www.theafricancorner.co.uk and we’ll come to you. Email: theafricancorner@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 01823 619184 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. Tel: 01202 496041 10’ish to 6pm 7 days a week. www.no1southafricanshop.co.uk

The Springbok Café The Springbok Café offers traditional South African food, wine and beers served with a smile in a friendly atmosphere. All this plus the option to grab your favourite S.A. groceries before you leave after relaxing and kuierring with us for a while. The Springbok Café` Ltd, 1 East Reach, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 3EN, 01823 254966,thespringbokcafe.co.uk

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KALAHARI MOON The Southern African Shop in Bristol. 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 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

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Shebeen bar Edinburgh’s only South African bar has opened in Leith. A unique, stylish bar with something for everyone,delivered by experience and friendly staff. As expected we stock a large range of South African beers, wines, ciders and snacks, including a classic selection of cocktails and Dom Pedros. Opening hours are from 12pm to 1am. Come down and enjoy a true taste of Africa. 3-5 Dock Place, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 6LU. 0131 554 9612.

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thesouthafrican.com | 4 - 10 February 2014 |

Sport

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Lucas Sithole: The next Oscar Pistorius?

| South Africa has its share of paraplegic sports heroes, but tennis ace Lucas Sithole is the one pipped to take over the mantle of fame from the disgraced Oscar Pistorius. He is the first African to win a Grand Slam title, and has his eye on the South Africa Open. your mistakes are. You realise there stage. “You would expect Lucas to personal sponsor, his triumphs Once he returns to Johannesburg by staff reporter

In September 2013 Lucas Sithole made history. The world’s number two quadriplegic tennis player became the first African to win a Grand Slam title when he beat the top ranked player at the US Open. Last week he had a second opportunity to beat David Wagner when they met in the final of the Australian Open. His challenge may have bit the dust over three gruelling sets but his sense of regret has already begun to dissipate. Back home with his family in Newcastle, KwaZuluNatal, he sounds ready for his next challenge – winning the Airports Company South Africa SA Open at Ellis Park from April 29 to May 3. “It’s a dream I need to fulfil, winning at home in front of South African fans,” he says, the chatter of his excited family in the background almost drowning out the sound of his voice. Sithole headed straight home after being greeted by Fikile Mbalula, minister of sport and recreation, who handed over a cheque for R50 000. It was Sithole’s reward for being an inspiration to South Africans, ablebodied and paraplegic alike. For a moment he summons up the loss in Australia. He feels he did not make Wagner work hard enough for his victory. He wasn’t as patient as he should have been and his ground strokes weren’t as lethal as he needed them to be. “The thing about losing is it allows you to see where

is still room to fill in. It gives you the motivation to improve your game in training.” Coming back from loss has been the driving narrative of Sithole’s life since 1998. He is reticent when it comes to the accident that caused him to lose both legs and his right arm. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he says firmly. Sithole was helping to load trains at an agricultural storage depot when he fell on to the tracks as the train began to roll.

Acceptance of change The loss of his legs could have caused Sithole, then a 12-yearold who dribbled a soccer ball around the streets of Dannhauser in northern KwaZulu-Natal, to drop into a well of depression. But going to school in Emadadeni Township with other disabled children was his saving grace, he says. “Living with other disabled children lightened up my life. Seeing other children made it easier for me to accept that my life had changed.” Sithole picked up a tennis racquet when he was invited to a wheelchair tennis camp in 2005, when the sport was first launched in the country. In 2006, he was selected to represent South Africa at a tournament in Netherlands, the home of the best wheelchair tennis player of all time, Esther Vergeer. His success comes as no surprise to his coach, Holger Losch. Sithole lost his first competitive international match 6-0, 6-0, but he enjoyed playing on the big

In2Touch: touching the world by staff reporter

With the countdown until the beginning of the 2014 Winter Season now well underway, teams across London signing themselves up for 8 weeks of competition. Played on the renowned Clapham Common, the winter league sets the benchmark for the year of touch to follow. Ladies, Mixed and Men’s leagues from Sunday the 16th of February will be showcasing their skills in an 8 week competition. With many divisions however, this league is the perfect way to begin your touch career. We at In2Touch know how popular Touch Rugby is becoming across not only London, but the UK, so to help new players ease into the sport; our individual’s registrations are now OPEN! No team? No worries! Simply go to www.in2touch.com and follow the links to the individual player registrations. Our individual’s teams have a mixture of beginners, intermediate and advanced players – so there is a wealth of knowledge to be shared. We also offer beginner coach sessions dotted throughout the year at various locations. Run by

some of England’s best players, In2Touch provides nothing but the best for welcoming our new members. Not only does playing In2Touch provide a physical workout and a social catch-up, we also provide the opportunity to get into contact with Touch clubs across London. Being involved in a touch club is a fantastic opportunity, to meet like-minded people, travel and play at local and international leagues and competitions! In 2013, one of the UK’s touch’s clubs, Hot Custard, had teams travelling throughout the UK and Europe in the bid to play touch across the world. Recently, they travelled all the way to Australia to play in the annual YASS competition. Touch with In2Touch provides a London based sport competition and has the ability to offer the world of touch!

If you want to get involved with In2Touch, we have many upcoming leagues at various venues across London. As an individual, simply email jess@in2touch.com. Or any further questions or queries – tracy@in2touch.com or London@ in2touch.com

struggle physically, but he has this strength of character. He pushes himself, he faces down challenges. He is competitive and lives life to the fullest,” Losch told CNN of his carefree charge. In the nine years since his international debut in Amsterdam, Sithole has won seven titles and risen to become the second best singles player in the world. His only regret about losing in Australia is the points he lost in his attempt to overhaul the lead Wagner has over him in the International Tennis Federation rankings. Sponsorship needed Continuing success will make it easier for Sithole to attract a

are one of the key reasons that the audience for quadriplegic tennis has grown from a minority sport to one drawing in a larger audience. South Africa has been spoilt for choice when it comes to paraplegic heroes. Sithole is talked about as the athlete to take up the mantle that was lost by disgraced Oscar Pistorius. On his return from New York he was greeted by fans at the airport, all eager for him to sign their “Rolling Inspiration” posters. “Even going out to get bread at the local shop people knew who I was. I have no problem with that,” he says confidently. This belief in his ability, and the recognition it brings him as well as his self-reliance underpins his success.

Sithole’s schedule will return to normal. He trains for four hours a day on Mondays to Fridays because there are still mountains to climb. Besides winning a title in front of his South African fans he has his eye on the podium in Brazil in 2016. “You know why I love tennis? It has given me the opportunity to show the world that people in my situation are capable of doing anything they set their minds to. When you are doing something you love you don’t want to change anything in your life.” For now Sithole is free to enjoy his beloved uMaskandi music and just chill with his family. www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com

Sport

4 - 10 FEBRUARY 2014

Lucas Sithole: The next Oscar Pistorius? p15

NEWS FOR GLOBAL SOUTH AFRICANS

In2Touch : touching the world p15

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Proteas begin life without Kallis

| With the great Jacques Kallis having retired from test cricket, the biggest question surrounding

the Proteas’ line-up has been about how to replace him.

by staff reporter South Africa’s cricket selectors have named allrounders Wayne Parnell and Ryan Mclaren in a 15-man squad for the forthcoming three-test series against Australia, which begins at SuperSport Park in Centurion outside Pretoria on 12 February. With the great Jacques Kallis having retired from test cricket, the biggest question surrounding the Proteas’ line-up has been about how to replace him. While doing that properly is, frankly, impossible, the selectors did the expected by naming Mclaren and Parnell in the line-up.

Limited test experience Parnell has previously played in three tests, while McLaren has appeared in just one match, ironically with Parnell in January 2010 at The Wanderers where Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel spearheaded South Africa to victory by an innings and 74 runs over England. McLaren boasts a superior first class record to Parnell, averaging 30.63 with the bat to Parnell’s 22.34 and 25.47 with the ball to Parnell’s 32.94. However, McLaren, at just shy of 31 years of age, is over seven years older than his fellow allrounder. What those figures reveal very clearly is that neither man will be able to come any near to emulating Kallis with the bat.

However, they may be able to match him with the ball. Three other players in the squad are in a similar class of all-rounder, with off-spinner and left-handed batsman JP Duminy offering more with the bat than the others. Robin Peterson brings the option of left-arm spin and a left-handed batsman, while Vernon Philander, the world’s number one ranked test bowler, has shown on a number of occasions that he is more than useful with a bat in his hands.

‘We’re not looking for another Jacques Kallis’ In an interview with ESPN Cricinfo’s Firdose Moonda, Proteas’ coach Russell Domingo explained: “The mental shift is going to be just as important as the statistical shift. We’re not looking for another Jacques Kallis. We’re looking for someone to step up to the plate.” Underlining the hole that Kallis has left, he added: “It’s not going to be a set strategy like we had in the past. Something’s got to give. Either we will have four seamers, no spinner or only six batters.” ‘We want to stay constant’ “We want to stay constant to the brand of cricket we have played over the last few years that has brought us such success,” Cricket South Africa selection convener Andrew Hudson said in a statement.

“I believe that this squad covers all possible options we may wish to exercise, as well as the conditions we are likely to encounter.” With an eye to the future, Hudson added: “Two other players, Beuran Hendricks and Simon Harmer, will be joining the squad to assist with the preparation leading into the first test match. “They are both highly talented cricketers who will benefit from being introduced to the Proteas environment. They also possess individual skills that will assist the team with their preparation for the Australian attack we are likely to face.”

South Africa Test Squad Graeme Smith (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras, capt), Hashim Amla (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), AB de Villiers (Nashua Titans), JP Duminy (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Faf du Plessis (Nashua Titans), Dean Elgar (Chevrolet Knights), Rory Kleinveldt (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Ryan McLaren (Chevrolet Knights), Morne Morkel (Nashua Titans), Wayne Parnell (Chevrolet Warriors), Alviro Petersen (bizhub Highveld Lions), Robbie Peterson (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Vernon Philander (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Dale Steyn (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Thami Tsolekile (bizhub Highveld Lions). -www.southafrica.info

| South Africa’s batsman Wayne Parnell plays a shot during the first T20 cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on November 20, 2013. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)

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