The South African, Issue 521, 2 July 2013

2 - 8 July 2013 Issue 521

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p2 | Is Julius Malema’s new party political suicide?

INSIDE:

South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs might introduce visas for British officials travelling to South Africa but will spare other UK visitors for now, according to Minister Naledi Pandor

p3 | Agang SA will flounder unless it gives a name to its ideology

p5 | South African sci-fi/paranormal TV series Room 9 to hit UK screens this week

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WAVES OF HOPE: Tom Hewitt MBE with Durban street children turned surfers, Sihle Mbuto, Lucky Nozisali and Andile Zulu, who were hosted at a reception at Nedbank last week as part of their current UK tour. See more photos on page 4 and read their inspiring story on www.thesouthafrican.com/news

SA CONSIDERS ‘TIT-FOR-TAT’ VISAS FOR UK DIPLOMATSby PAULA BARANOWSKADIPLOMATS and officials from the United Kingdom might soon need to fill in a visa application to enter South Africa, according to Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor. This comes after her recent hints that it could be time to ‘consider reciprocity’ for Britons as far as visas were concerned.

Pandor told Parliament in May that government was considering visas for all visitors from the United Kingdom, but she announced in a written reply to a question in Parliament on Wednesday that for the time being, this would be limited to officials and diplomats, should the plan go ahead.

“The Republic of South Africa intends to introduce visa requirements for diplomatic and official passport holders of the United Kingdom,” Pandor said in response to a question from DA MP Manny de Freitas, who asked what her department had done “in respect of the decision of the United Kingdom on the requirement of visas for South African citizens entering the UK”.

The British High Commission in South Africa said that the matter was still under discussion: “We are in constant discussions with the South Africans on these issues and it remains a priority for us and South Africa to protect our borders.”

Since 2009 all South Africans, including state officials, have needed a visa in order to enter the United Kingdom.

Because the British government

cancelled South Africa’s visa-free status due to concerns about corruption, the Department of Home Affairs invested in costly redesign of South African passports, which introduced new security features and a stricter issuing process.

The Department of Home Affairs has taken “drastic steps” over the last five years to root out corruption and redesign the security features of passports, Home Affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni said.

But the UK did not change its requirements after the

improvements. Pandor said in May, “We had been given a promise that following the London Olympics, there would be a focus on whether this visa requirement can be lifted. There hasn’t been any movement and I think the time has come for us to consider reciprocity.”

For the last five years thousands of South Africans have had to pay for costly visas to come on business trips, holidays or to visit family here. Diplomatic and official passport holders also need visas. It costs about R1,180 for a short-term visitor’s visa.

2 | 2 - 8 July 2013 | thesouthafrican.com

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Each week we profile one of the many writers who contribute to The South African.

Megan Hutchison

SA Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor

For the latest news, and to have your say on issues affecting South Africans abroad, visit thesouthafrican.com/news

I grew up in the Midlands in Natal, South Africa and moved to London in April 2011. As well as working at The South African, I am studying towards a B.A Fashion Journalism at the London College of Fashion

Megan’s recent articles on thesouthafrican.com include:

▪ Grave wars: Mandela family feud over Madiba’s resting place

▪ Rica puts South Africa under closer surveillance than Americans

▪ Zimbabwe and IMF strike up agreement for first time in 10 years

5 Jul 2013 - 7 Jul 2013 Africa Writes 2013: The RAS’ annual festival of African literature. The UK’s largest celebration of African literature features voices from the continent and the diaspora with an excellent selection of writers, poets and thinkers for a weekend of events and peformances. British Library, London

13 Jul 2013-14 Jul 2013 Tuks Alumni Networking in

Oxford: Alumni and their partners living in the United Kingdom are invited to an informal networking weekend in Oxford featuring a guided tour of the campus by alumni, a picnic lunch and pub supper. Oxford University

25 Jul 2013 SA Chamber of Commerce Summer Drinks: Join London’s SA business leaders for delicious Rainbow Nation food and drinks high on the deck of Nedbank’s London office. Tuck into a proper home-style braai with sweeping views of the Thames while you network, or simply enjoy the fine Mzansi entertainment on offer.

Nedbank Limited, Londonwww.thesouthafrican.com/events

Is Julius Malema’s new party “political suicide”?Julius Malema’s new political platform, the Economic Freedom Fighters, is not about South

Africans’ welfare but simply a product of personal frustration, anger, and egocentricity, some of his former allies claimby SILVIA BIANCOJULIUS Malema’s new political platform is doomed to fail because it grew out of personal anger and frustration, Thami Ka Plaatjie – Deputy Chairperson of SABC Board, wrote in an open letter in the Sunday Independent after Malema’s launch of his Economic Freedom Fighters.“You are aggrieved because you have lost property and

have suffered public humiliation for what you regard as your beliefs. Are these the ranks that you wish to abandon and curse?” Ka Plaatjie asked. “My counsel to you, son of Africa, is to stay within the ranks of the glorious movement, lick your wounds, regain your resolve, up your chin and submit to organisational discipline and fate will be the best arbiter.” Malema

rejected Ka Plaatjie’s advice by reminding him that – unlike the ANC ruling class – he is not a carreerist, and accused the ANC of being an association of “neo-liberal bureaucrats whose sole mission and role is protecting the interests of white monopoly capital”. In his response to the open letter, Julius Malema also denounced the ANC for “demoting South Africa into

a government of thieves, who use selective prosecutions and secrecy to hide their looting of resources that should better the lives of our people.” Malema added that his Economic Freedom Fighters was not a schism from the ANC. Instead, it consisted of “revolutionaries who, having realised suppression of radical economic thoughts and policy direction in the ANC, have chosen to establish an independent platform to gain mass power, political power, the State and then transform the economy for the benefit of all South Africans”.

However, some ANC members admitted they were concerned about the erosion Malema was likely to make in the ruling party in next year’s elections, largely because of perceptions that President Jacob Zuma is unethical and corrupt.

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Agang SA will flounder unless it finds a name for its ideology

by BRETT PETZERAGANG SA is taking the first steps to failure by refusing to define or declare its ideology.

This was the conclusion of a penetrating analysis into Mamphela Ramphele’s philosophy of pragmatism by Gareth van Onselen (@GvanOnselen) of the Sunday Times.

At Agang SA’s official launch as a political party, held at the Tshwane Events Centre in front of 5000 supporters, its new policy director Mills Soko refused to put a name to the party’s ideological foundation.

This echoes Dr Ramphele’s repeated emphasis on a consultative approach – especially in the era when Agang SA was as yet a ‘platform’ rather than an election-contesting machine.

However, the claim to be post-political is a commonplace of politics that is seldom true – Barak Obama campaigned as a ‘post-racial’ president, but his presidency has altered the race discourse in the US, rather than ending it.

Van Onselen’s analysis outlines very carefully the ways in which Agang SA cannot pretend to be aloof from ideological politics for the same reason politicians cannot wish away their race, class or sex: in the same way that everyone is raced and gendered, whether they

acknowledge the power that confers on or denies them or not, every political party has an ideology.

A casual reading of Agang SA and Dr Ramphele’s statements reveal, in fact, not one but several ideologies – sometimes that party skews liberal, sometimes they sound like statists; sometimes, in her less guarded moments, Dr Ramphele sounds like the black consciousness movement in which she cut her political teeth and in which her late partner Steve Biko played such a seminal role.

As van Onselen points out, the fact that Agang SA’s manifold ideologies remain nameless – as Soko claimed, “It’s not about ideology”, “It’s not about doctrine” – does not mean that they cohere with each other, or that they do not compete with each other.

Secondly, an ideology – even if it borders on a slur in South African politics, in the same way that ‘socialist’ has become a term of abuse in American politics in the Obamacare era – still represents an attempt at an internally cohesive system of ideas and values.

The DA’s liberalism, although it develops and grows in response to the national discourse and electoral strategy, can trace its lineage of federalism, progressivism and a minimal state back to the time of Alan Paton’s Liberal Party.

The ANC’s ideology extends

back twice as far, to 1912, and its central ideology of the liberation of ‘African Natives’ has broadened and developed since then from genteel activism through satyagraha to armed resistance as well as from black African liberation to the formal embrace of a non-racial, non-sexist society.

Even the ACDP has a very clear ideology: although it is a political minnow, it has an advantage in being based on a founding text (the Bible) that most people can quote at least a little of.

Van Onselen’s point is that ideology is a contract with voters that attempts to explain the party’s past behaviour in terms of an intellectual framework and that also constitutes a promise (of fluctuating worth) about the party’s future behaviour.

An ideology of liberalism is a promise that your vote in 2014 will not go towards a massive expansion of state control into, say, crop production in 2017.

In return for voting for the ANC’s idea of a national democratic revolution in 2014, you are unlikely to find that the National Parks have been privatised and their entrance fees fixed in US dollars three years later.

The point is that Agang SA is not a poltical party until it nails its ideological colours to the wall; Dr

Ramphele cannot have it both ways.The problem of a political ‘big

tent’ is therefore laid bare by Dr Ramphele’s continuing statements.

Her launch speech amounted to a promise to provide the things South Africans already love and demand, and to abolish, roll back, eliminate and reduce a list of things they already loathe.

Dr Ramphele and Agang SA’s Political Director, Moeketsi Mosola, have promised that the party platform will emerge from consultation, and that the leadership are expected to foster this discussion and then run on the resulting

As Business Day’s Gareth van Onselen has pointed out, political parties do not deserve our votes until they have nailed their ideological colours to the wall. Between now and 2014, Agang SA wastes every day that it fails to articulate and defend a coherent ideology

policies in 2014. If the policies that emerge this

process are incompatible, the party can only run dishonestly (promising mutually conflicting things to different electoral constituencies) or concede the election.

This is the danger of cobbling together an ideology from the results of a survey.

Unless and until Dr Ramphele identifies a clear, rigorous set of ideas she believes in, and situates herself relative to other parties, Agang SA cannot become the real political alternative South African voters so richly deserve.


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LAST week Old Mutual held a drinks reception at its London office to showcase the charity Umthombo’s successful surfing programme designed to transition Durban street children out of life on the streets. Sihle, Lucky and Andile, three of the former street

Surfers Not Street Children reception

children and now top South African surfers, attended the ‘Surfers Not Street Children’ reception as part of a UK tour where they will be hitting various beaches in England and Wales. The trio told heartbreaking stories of how they ended up on the streets and how Umthombo and their surfing has given them a new life and a bright future.


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Khoisan in Londen| So amper tien jaar gelede, toe ek nog ‘n ‘groenetjie’ was in Londen, het ek die ding, daai ‘tube train’ of moltrein (in suiwer Afrkaans) vir kort afstande gery – diep onder die aarde, tussen Embankment en Charing Cross!by JUNE BAM-HUTCHISONLONDEN is ‘n plek wat jou sowragtiewaar kan laat lag, sug, huil en skree van blydskap of frustrasie! Die lang rit van suid-Londen na noord-Londen, of van oos-Londen na wes-London; my eie naam dus vir die globale stad is ‘Ninety Minute City’. Ek se dit in Engels, want ek kan dit nie in kort Afrikaans so goed opsom nie.

Jy weet wat ek bedoel. Nou as daar ‘n ding is, wat my sooibrand gee, dan is dit daai rooi stadige voertuig (met die onvriendelike drywer) wat ‘n ‘replacement rail service bus’ genoem word. Hy maak sy verskyning so op ‘n

Saterdag, Sondag of op ‘n ‘Bank Holiday’ net wanneer die son ‘n bietjie lekker skyn na die lang donkerte en wanneer die miljoene êrens wil gaan vir ‘n blaaskansie! Nou, ek het al oorweeg om ‘n helikopter te probeer om my van een punt in Londen vir so vyf myl of minder te vlieg so bo die koppe van die miljoene sodat ek darem êrens betyds kan uitkom. Ja, ek weet, ek droom! So amper tien jaar gelede, toe ek nog ‘n ‘groenetjie’ was in Londen, het ek die ding, daai ‘tube train’ of moltrein (in suiwer Afrkaans) vir kort afstande gery – diep onder die aarde, tussen Embankment en Charing Cross!

Ek het so bakgat in die diep donkerte gery vir ‘n paar weke – lekker gedog ek het Londen goed in die hande beet, en ek was nou in my kop ‘n ‘seasoned world traveller’ – toe ‘n vriend vir my mooitjies eenkant toe roep en in my oor fluister. Ons staan toe daar by die Pizza Express op die Strand en hy wys vir my: ‘Kyk hier, daar is Embankment en daar is Charing Cross, binne ‘n kort twee minute loopafstand!”. Ek hol toe daar weg, bloedrooi van skaamte! Ons lees mos nie landkaarte nie.

Ons funksioneer op ‘landmarks’ — ‘daar oor die bult’, ‘net links verby Waterstones, sal jy ‘n bedelaar sien – hy staan altyd daar –nou loop net so vyftig meter van hom afweg, dan kyk regs oorkant die pad, dan sal jy sien daar is ‘n winkeltjie wat allerhande tydskrifte verkoop. Nou net so drie deure duskant van daai winkeltjie is die ‘insolvency’ besigheid. Hulle is baie vriendelik daar. Die plek is mooi weggesteek. Moenie worrie nie. Niemand sal jou sien nie.’

Nou, ja, dis die ander ding van Londen – blerrie skuld!

South African sci-fi/paranormal series Room 9 hits UK screens| Room 9, one of South Africa’s most talked about detective series, has its UK premiere on The Africa Channel on Monday 8 July at 9pm.

by STAFF REPORTERUK Fans of all things occult, sci-fi and paranormal should prepare to get hooked by Africa’s answer to The X-Files, CSI, The Walking Dead and Doctor Who.

Hit South African drama Room 9 joins the fantastic entertainment line-up of The Africa Channel (Sky 209, Virgin 828) with its UK premiere on Monday 8 July at 9pm.

This 13-part series is set in a post-apocalyptic, divided Pan-African world called ‘The New Azania’ and in a city that could be Johannesburg, Kampala, Nairobi or Lagos. A special undercover division of the NAPD (the New Azanian Police Department) by the name of Room 9 investigates

cases of supernatural incidents, ranging from werewolf and tokoloshe attacks, satanic cults and muti murders to occurrences of poltergeists, zombies, aliens and vampires.

The illustrious cast includes Zethu Dlomo as police officer Alice Kunene; David Butler as Detective “Darkness” Gabriel Harkness, head of Room 9; Angela Ludek as Ruby Prins, a blind officer with foresight powers; and UK born Anthony Oseyemi (Wild at Heart, Flood, The Bill) as Solomon Onyegu, expert on all things related to voodoo.

Series producer Danie Ferreira (Urban Brew Studios) wanted to create a genre based drama to rival celebrated US exports,

saying, “In Africa we have a limitless source of fabulous paranormal stories. Room 9 weaves these stories into compelling television.”

The series is directed by several profilic South Africans including Darrell Roodt, best known for his feature films Sarafina, Cry the Beloved Country and Yesterday. According to head writer, writer and director Athos Kyriakides, “Certainly, there has never been a locally produced show in South Africa that has been bold and audacious with its genre influences as Room 9 hopes to be.”

TheSouthAfrican.com/entertainment


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Claire Clark’s recipe for lemon yoghurt mousseTHIS recipe is derived from Master Pastry Chef Claire Clark. The mousse can be used as a lovely alternative to breakfast or as a summer dessert. The various textures when spooning through the layers make it a joy to eat.

Ingredients•400g Natural yoghurt•9 leaves gelatine•175g Egg white•400g Cream•175g Sugar•400ml lemon juice•200g Thyme honey (most types of

honey will work.)•400g macerated fruits•200g homemade granola

Method•Meringue the egg white and sugar.

Hydrate the gelatine and add to the yoghurt. Add the lemon juice to the yoghurt. Mix in the meringue and fold in the semi whipped cream.

•Leave to set for at least 12 hours. •Garnish with brunoise of tropical

fruits.

Serves 8

Lemon yoghurt mousse

Nelson Mandela’s Living Legacy

The Freedom Charter and its aftermath| Rusty Bernstein’s Freedom Charter text was based on extensive consultation with the broadest cross-section of South African society, who gathered at Kliptown for a Congress of the People in 1955. The eloquent result went on to be a major influence on South Africa’s 1996 Constitution.

BASED on the responses, a Freedom Charter was drafted by Rusty Bernstein, calling for the creation of a democratic, non-racialist state with the nationalisation of major industry. When the charter was adopted at a June 1955 conference in Kliptown attended by 3000 delegates, police cracked down on the event, but it remained a key part of Mandela’s ideology.

Following the end of a second ban in September 1955, Mandela went on a working holiday to Transkei to discuss the implications of the Bantu Authorities Act, 1951 with local tribal leaders, also visiting his mother and Noengland before proceeding to Cape Town. In March 1956 he received his third ban on public appearances, restricting him to Johannesburg for

fiveyears,butheoftendefiedit.His marriage broke down as Evelyn left Mandela, taking their children to live with her brother.

Initiating divorce proceedings in May 1956, she claimed that Mandela had physically abused her; he denied the allegations, and fought for custody of their children. She withdrew her petition of separation in November, but MandelafiledfordivorceinJanuary 1958; the divorce was finalisedinMarch,withthechildren placed in Evelyn’s care. During the divorce proceedings, he began courting and politicising a social worker, Winnie Madikizela, who he married in Bizana on 14 June 1958. The young Winnie later became involved in ANC activities, spending several weeks imprisoned.

Faith47’s mural of the first demand in the 1955 Freedom Charter

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name. Perold was attempting to combine the best qualities of the robust Hermitage with Pinot Noir, a great wine-making grape but difficult to grow.

Perold planted the seeds from his cross in the garden of his official residence at Welgevallen Experimental Farm.

It typically produces deep red varietal wines with smoky, bramble and earthy flavours, sometimes with notes of bananas and tropical fruit. Perfect for the cold weather!

Here are some of my favourites:

Beyerskloof Pinotage 2011, Stellenbosch: Red berries and a lovely spiciness with just enough mocha to make this as always a great example of what Pinotage is all about! Open and enjoy with some proper VLEIS!thesavanna.co.uk

Lammershoek Pinotage 2007, Swartland: A rich red berry character on the nose. Hints of oak and warm spices. The wine is fresh and elegant with typical Pinotage tannin structure

dominant on the finish. The wine is a more serious example of Pinotage and shows the ability to age well.revolutionwines.co.uk

Kaapzicht Pinotage 2009, Stellenbosch: Layers of plums, black cherry and dark mocha tones, a trace of banana and forward oak aromatics adds to even more complexity. Very rich and luscious! Stand out wine from the Steytlers!tanners.co.uk

Kanonkop Pinotage 2010, Stellenbosch: Wonderful wine from our “Grand Cru” wine makers. Ripe red and blackberry on the nose with a lovely overtone of “piesang” brood and vanilla. Integrated tannins on the palate follow the medium to full body of a wine that can keep for another 5 years. Bring the rump steak and enjoy!majestic.co.uk

Are we allowed to indulge in a little fantasy time on holiday?

KAREN DE VILLIERS

The OPTIMIST

| The robust Pinotage, South Africa’s signature cultivar, combines a robust smoky/earthy flavour with tropical fruit. Perfect for winter!

Plaasmoord in Mykonos

MYKONOS is not the destination for Beluga whale impersonators. Wobbly tummies and cellulite as scarce as rain. So I guess getting a topless tan is out of the question, something my son has made me promise to refrain from no matter how much Ouzo I may consume on the beach.

The sun has changed my life and as I write this even the skin has come out to play, turning a pale cherry rather than my usual gecko white; and yet I am most definitely not one of the beautiful people – lithe, olive-skinned with hair that does not frizz and an attitude that would make any man quiver at fifty paces. I am also past caring

about it all; content to spread the kilos on the lounger and watch the beautiful people swim among the billion-dollar yachts.

Time for reading. None of that schmaltzy romantic stuff and happy endings, but a tome about farm murders in South Africa. I am a huge fan of Karin Brynard; her writing style is poetic yet direct, descriptive and captivating, and this subject is one close to my own personal experience. Farm killings are usually particularly brutal, the victims isolated – easy targets. The fallout is extensive – families that have co-existed for decades become splintered, unemployed and homeless. I remember calls coming in the dead of night from groups of vigilantes just waiting to take the law into their own hands; ‘the government will not help us’ they said. The farm radios become

hotbeds of suspicion and theories. And then, it happens somewhere else, the attention fades and one simply learns to live with it. South Africa learns to live with violence.

A little like Mykonos. Not the violence, but here is a country on the edge of collapse. The scenery is idyllic but there is a sadness too. There are no jobs, no creation of wealth; Mykonos is totally reliant on tourism. For six months of the year one has to pander to travellers to overcome the winter months. Waitrons want to know if there are jobs in London and as you approach the beach, the locals are literally begging you to sit on their little space. They will offer you discounts; you can sense the desperation. I wasn’t expecting hawkers plying sunglasses and hats on the waterfront, it sort of felt as if I was back in Durban, and I know it is illegal but I kind of feel happy when someone buys a fake watch.

The reality is this: we go on holiday and along with the sunburn comes a sense of separation from the real world. We see the scenery and not the street children, spend our money on food and wine and leave. Do we need to remind ourselves all the time of the harsher aspects of life, of farm murders and failing economies or are we allowed to indulge in a little fantastical time? I am choosing the latter, just hoping that I do not arrive at Gatwick looking like a lobster.

May be a little too optimistic on this point – but I do love the sun!

Four Bottles of Pinotage

THE Pinotage grape is South Africa’s signature variety. A red grape variety, it was bred in 1925 by Abraham Izak Perold, first Professor of Viticulture at Stellenbosch University, as a cross between Pinot Noir and Hermitage (Cinsault), hence the


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Australia, UK and USA are providing the South African Revenue Service with information that may help to track down South Africa’s tax evaders at home and abroad.

SARS on the hunt for tax evaders abroadby PAULA BARANOWSKA AUSTRALIAN, British and American administrations have shared intelligence, including names of offenders, relating to tax evasion through complex offshore structures, with the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

This information is aimed at helping to trace South Africa’s tax evaders abroad including locals, expats and international businessmen, according to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

Gordhan said that the tax authorities of South Africa and other countries suffering from fiscal instability had gained a “significant” amount of data revealing trusts and companies holding assets for residents in jurisdictions worldwide. His remarks came on Thursday in a written reply to a parliamentary question from Inkatha Freedom Party MP Narend Singh.

“The data contain both the identities of the individual owners of these entities as well as the advisers who assisted in establishing the structures,” Gordhan said.

He added that in combatting tax evasion seven main areas will be targeted: large businesses and transfer pricing, the construction industry, wealthy individuals and their associated trusts, illicit cigarettes, clothing and textiles, small businesses, and tax practitioners and trade intermediaries.

Tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance was, according to Gordhan, a ”major problem” that undermined South Africa’s and other countries’ fiscal stability in the ongoing process of recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.

He warned that the biggest obstacle in finding the relevant information for SARS would be the magnitude and complexity of

the obtained data.The Finance Minister assessed

that it was “extremely difficult,” to determine the extent to which tax havens were used: “The structures used range from the simple to the extremely complex, requiring the commitment of skilled resources over extended periods of time to unravel.”

In May 2013, SARS commissioner Oupa Magashula said Oxfam International estimated that financial outflows from around Africa in the form of tax evasion and trade mispricing by extractive industries were estimated at $200 billion (about R1.8 trillion) every year.

South Africa has negotiated as many as 76 double taxation agreements – which provide an exchange of tax information – and nine tax information exchange agreements. It has also signed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and

Council of Europe’s Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

Another eight double taxation agreements and 11 tax information exchange agreements are being negotiated.


BusinessLike us on Facebook:facebook.com/thesouthafrican

Graham Vass| Top Luxury Hotelier

Q: I am South African and have lived in London for 4 years. I have recently bought a rental property in Cape Town. How can I make sure I don’t lose out to adverse currency fluctuations with my ZAR mortgage payments? Nat Davison, a currency specialist at Global Reach Partners, responds:A: This is an interesting question given recent currency fluctuations. In the last few months we have seen the Pound make rapid gains against the Rand.

At the start of 2013 the Pound was worth 13.66 Rand before appreciating to 16.12 in June. Based on a monthly mortgage payment of ZAR 15,000, the variation in rate so far this year could mean that each repayment is costing you up to £168 more.

If you look at the same scenario over the last 12 months, in which time the Rand strengthened to 12.59 against the Pound, you could be £261 worse off.

Many people would feel tempted to just enjoy this period of relative Pound prosperity; however those

Ask Nat| How can I ensure I’m not at the mercy of the ever changing currency market?

in the know see this as an excellent opportunity to use tailored currency solutions to secure a good rate for the longer term and make sure that their money is protected should the markets change.

So how do you ensure that you are not at the mercy of the ever changing currency market?

One thing is certain, until an exchange rate has been agreed you cannot budget with any certainty.

A sure fire way to give you consistency is to lock in a favourable GBP/ZAR exchange rate for up to 12 months in advance by way of a forward contract.

Fixing your monthly payments in this way will give you peace of mind as you will know exactly how many Rand your Pound will equate to for the year ahead.

When is the right time to lock in to a rate of exchange? We are all guilty of wanting to trade at the peak of the market, however, in reality; we only

know the top when it has gone. Nat recommends that you work

alongside a currency specialist to buy your currency at an achievable, yet favourable rate of exchange that fits within your costed budget.

You can then draw a line in the sand against exposure to any future negativecurrency movements.

You should take care when selecting a bank or specialist broker and ensure they have the right solution to suit your needs. Currency brokers, such as Global Reach Partners have come to the fore in recent years as they are able to offer more flexible and cost-saving solutions, although many people still use their banks for currency transfers.

Ultimately, it is your money so you need to be comfortable with who you opt to work with. In continuing uncertain times and with so many factors in play in South Africa, it is hard to predict with any certainty the long term picture for the Rand. In the interim do all you can to mitigate risk so you don’t lose out to adverse currency swings should they happen.

To speak to Nat or his team about your foreign exchange requirements call 0203 3465 8204, email [email protected] or visit globalreach-partners.com/fx/rand.

WHEN did you arrive in the UK? In SA I worked for Sun International for some 35 years until I retired as General Manager of their flagship property, GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World. I trained at the ‘old’ Carlton Hotel in central Johannesburg in 1972, then returned to Swaziland where I grew up, and where I had schooled at St Marks and, later, at St Stithians in Randburg.

Why the UK?[Apart from the fact that] I have a UK passport (during WWII, my father was sent to SA by the RAF to train pilots in Grahamstown) I also love London. I worked at the Holiday Inn in Marble Arch in 1978 and upon my retirement in SA I was offered this wonderful opportunity to open the Ellenborough Park in Cheltenham for Mantis, a SA company who secured the management contract

for Ellenborough Park.

What were the initial challenges at the Lord Ellenbo-rough? How did you manage to take a relative minnow and transform it into the kind of destination that elbows out the great luxury hotels in rankings? Ellenborough Park has been a private home, a school and a hotel since it was built in 1485, so there’s a deep history to the place. Lord Ellenborough was governor-general of India in 1842/44 and on his return to England he remodelled the place after his delusions of grandeur. So we had plenty to live up to! I put our achievement down to meticulous attention to the smallest detail; the quality of Nina Campbell’s interiors, the best operating equipment and supplies (linen, crockery, cutlery, Penhaligons guest amenities), the privilege of being able to attract and

recruit only the finest staff available, and great care and attention paid to induction and training.

We have an excellent Welsh chef and a German sommelier who I worked with at The Grande Roche in Paarl. Within two years of opening, Ellenborough Park had been voted “Top Luxury Hotel in England” by Tripadvisor, as well as ‘Best Employer in the UK’ in its sector - a formidable achievement in so short a time.

If you were PM for a day, what would you alter about your job? If I were in SA I would love to stop the rampant violent crime as that affects all of us - tourism, our families , our economy , ourselves…too many of my friends and colleagues in the hospitality industry (and of course broader society) have been victims….we are all victims. If in UK I would do

everything possible to stimulate the economy, to get industry rolling…a tough call as I think the PM here has a really tough job.

Domestic holidays in Britain have seen somewhat of a resurgence for both ecological, cultural reasons (a renewed vogue for traditional British landscapes and food) and budgetary reasons. What, in your opinion, does the future of the luxury hotel in Britain look like? The future looks good. Occupancies are good for the leisure sector, particularly in the summer months but they take strain in the

winter months. Ellenborough Park enjoys very

pleasing leisure occupancy over weekends, race days at adjoining Cheltenham Race course and traditional holiday breaks.

We have some 80 weddings booked. The Cotswolds are very popular and we are located in the very heart of this area of outstanding natural beauty.

Mid week occupancies, which are more reliant on Corporate support, are growing but it is here that the austerity measures in place in so many sectors are most severely felt.

How do you manage diversity in your workplace to bring out the best in everyone? I strive to ensure that every member of the team knows exactly what is expected of him/her personally - and then of each other.

Every member of the team must have the same objectives and service ethic so that we are all “pulling in the same direction” irrespective of your particular position in the team. I try regularly to praise my team, and to give recognition of extra effort.

I aim to always ‘try to catch someone doing something right’.

Graham and the Ellenborough House team



by STAFF REPORTERFROM 28 October 2013, all applicants for settlement (Indefinite Leave to Remain) in the UK, as well as UK citizenship would be expected to fulfil two requirements, unless exempt;• To pass the Life in the UK test; and• To have an English speaking and

listening qualification at the B1 Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR).This is known as the KoLL

requirement – Knowledge of Language and Life requirement.

Persons who are nationals of majority English speaking countries, and those who have obtained a degree taught in English will be required to take the Life in the UK test, but will not be required to take the English test. Note that South Africa is not reckoned to be an English speaking country.

Who will be exempt?The following persons will inter alia be exempt from the KoLL

requirement;• Children under 18 years of age;• Persons aged 65 years and older;• Persons who have a physical or

mental condition which restricts their ability to learn English and/or communicate and/or to take the Life in the UK test;

• Persons on the adult dependent relative, and retired person of independent means migration routes;

• Spouses of British citizens or persons settled in the UK who have been victims of domestic violence or whose spouse has died;

• Refugees and those with humanitarian protection;

• Certain categories of persons will be able to apply for further periods of limited leave to enable them to meet the requirements, including;

• Dependants of HM forces personnel ;

• Dependants of persons who originally entered as PBS migrants or work permit holders.

• Provisions will be also be

Knowledge of Language and Life requirement for settlement in the UK

introduced for certain individuals who have been in the UK for 15 years with limited leave as a partner, child or parent, or dependant of HM Forces personnel. Please speak to one of our consultants for more information about this category.

For more information, please contact our offices at [email protected] or phone us in London on 0845 074 0514.For more information, please contact our offices at [email protected] or phone us in London on 0845 074 0514.JP BreytenbachDirector of BIC, Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants Limited.www.bic-immigration.com or [email protected]

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The foreign exchange experts you can trust

Rand strengthens again on brighter US jobs databy COURTNEIGH HUMPHRISSTHE Rand strengthened against most of its major trading partners last week Thursday. US jobless claims and consumer confidence showed marginal improvement on Thursday and left the market questioning the scaling back of quantitative easing in the world’s largest economy. This weekend, South Africa was visited by current US president Barrack Obama and this seems to have left the country with an optimistic view. Obama has announced the creation of a $7bn USD African energy infrastructure fund. This is great news for the African economy as a whole and is likely to accelerate economic development. Monday will see the release of SA PMI and car sales data. The market expects car sales to grow and show improved consumer spending. During the European trading session today, the Eurozone Consumer Price Index data will be released. This will be important data for the European Central Bank as they prepare to meet later this week.

GBP / ZAR: 15.1206EUR / ZAR: 12.9541USD / ZAR: 9.9208NZD / ZAR: 7.7155Exchange rates as of 10:54 WST, 1 July 2013

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by BRETT PETZERKEVIN Peter Pietersen is a South African-born English cricketer who, in a brilliant domestic and international career, has also courted controversy for speaking his mind about quotas in South African sport.

Kevin debuted in South Africa in 1997 before moving to England, after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in place in South Africa. Kevin’s English mother made him eligible to play for England and after serving a qualifying period of four years playing at county level (for Nottinghamshire and Shane Warne’s Hampshire), he was called up almost immediately into the national side. Pietersen’s time at Nottinghamshire yielded a first glimpse of the difficult relationship the star batsman would have with those in leadership positions: a dispute over pitch conditions at the home ground led to club captain Jason Gallian throwing Pietersen’s kit off the Trent Bridge balcony and breaking his bat. After a meteoric rise through country cricket, Pietersen made his international debut in the One Day International match against Zimbabwe in 2004 and his Test

also has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only the Australian Donald Bradman, and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000, 5,000 and 7,000 Test runs. He became only the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings, doing so in March 2007.

In July 2008, after a century against South Africa, The Times called Pietersen “the most complete batsman in cricket” and in 2012 The Guardian called him “England’s greatest modern batsman”.

The mix of confidence, what some might call cockiness, and cricketing excellence is sustained by the solid family grounding Pietersen has in a sports-centred family ethic.

Born to an English mother, Penny, and an Afrikaner father, Jannie, Pietersen had a strict and well-disciplined childhood. According to Kevin, “discipline is good. It taught me that I didn’t always have to have what I wanted; that what I needed was different from what I wanted.”

While at school at Maritzburg College, a 17 year-old Pietersen made his first-class cricket debut for Natal’s B team in 1997, where he was regarded predominantly as an off spin bowler and a hard-hitting lower-order batsman.

After two seasons, he moved to England for a five-month spell as the overseas player for club side Cannock CC, where he played a major role in helping them win the Birmingham and District Premier League in 2000. A lack of bowling opportunities at Cannock had improved Pietersen’s batting, but winds of change were already blowing through South African sport. When Pietersen got home to the newly-named KwaZulu-Natal Cricket side, he would begin to encounter the sacrifices (and opportunities) inherent in a process of wholesale transformation in South African sport.

Having seen Pietersen play at a school cricket festival, South African cricket legend Clive Rice invited him to sign for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Pietersen accepted without hesitation, keen to make the most of

top-class cricket under a coach for whom he had the

utmost admiration. Kevin impressed members of Nasser Hussain’s

England side when

on our website: TheSouthAfrican.com/Business/SAPower100

Read interviews with other SA POWER 100 achievers

Kevin Pietersen MBERight-handed England, Surrey and Delhi Daredevils batsman and off spin bowler

BULLET BIOGRAPHYBorn: born 27 June 1980, PietermaritzburgEducation: Maritzburg CollegeSA Debut: Natal B TeamUK County Debut: NottsEngland Debut: ODI for Eng-land against Zimbabwe, 2004 Highs: Second-highest run-to-tal from his first 25 Tests behind Sir Don Bradman; 4th English-man to make the top score in both innings of debut Test; one of only twenty-five players to have a peak ICC batting rating over 900; achieved 5,000 test runs in the fastest time, reach-ing this feat in 4 years, 243 days.Lows: Failed bid by others to have ICC investigate Pietersen for bringing cricket into disre-pute; Youtube video furore dur-ing 2012 England tour to South Africa in which Pietersen ap-peared to announce that he was leaving cricket; February 2013 knee injury in New Zealand.

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match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia the following year, for which he and the entire English team received the MBE. England’s subsequent reliance on Pietersen resulted in only a single first-class appearance for Hampshire between 2005 and 2010. On 17 June 2010, Pietersen announced his wish to leave Hampshire and he subsequently joined Surrey on loan for the remainder of the season before joining the club permanently from the 2011 season onwards.

He was captain of the England Test and ODI teams from 4 August 2008 to 7 January 2009 but resigned after just three Tests and nine ODIs, following a dispute with England coach Peter Moores, who was sacked the same day.

Pietersen’s relationship with the ECB never fully recovered. This came to a head in 2012 when, after a disagreement over his schedule, Pietersen annouced his retirement from all forms of international limited-overs cricket on 31 May.Although he later retracted his retirement, his relationship with both the ECB and his team-mates soured during the series against South Africa and he was dropped for the final Test of that series.

Pietersen’s confidence, which has made him less than universally compatible with coaches as well as leading Proteas cricketers, may be explained by the fact that he also became the fastest batsman to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket. Kevin

playing for KwaZulu Natal in 1999, leading to a recommendation that Pietersen secure a contract with an English county side. This was the season in which it would all come to a head: opportunities were opening up in the UK just as Pietersen was dropped from the KZN side - as he claims, for political reasons. Pietersen would, in subsequent interviews, become a leading voice for those who oppose quota-led transformation in South African sport. Pietersen’s remarks, especially as they appear in the his 2006 autobiography Crossing the Boundary, would eventually lead to attempt to at an

ICC investigation for bringing the game of cricket into disrepute, but the iniative floundered. Despite his reputation, Pietersen readily admits that his mentors are a crucial source of counsel for him. Referring to Graham Ford (currently Sri Lanka coach) he said, “He saw my talent when I was five, at school in my home town. When I need anything in my career, I consult Fordy.”

This year, Pietersen featured in the two-Test series in New Zealand in February, scoring 73 in the second match.

Pietersen is married to Liberty X singer Jessica Taylor, who gave birth to a son, Dylan, in 2010.

Vincent Ebrahim Kumars at No. 42 personality, actor of stage and screen

Wayne VisserWriter, academic, social entrepreneur and

futurist



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CAMBRIDGE & VILLAGESToft Shop – Village Shop & Post OfficeWith a South African section selling all your favourite tastes from home! Pop in and pick up your treats – Biltong; Boerewors; Koeksisters; Rusks; Sweets; Chips; Groceries etc. Web: www.ToftShop.co.ukTel: 01223 262 204. CB23 2RL

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NO1 SOUTH AFRICAN SHOPLots 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 49604110’ish to 6pm 7 days a week.www.no1southafricanshop.co.uk

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Travel: City BreaksLike us on Facebook:facebook.com/thesouthafrican

Just an hour and a half by Eurostar gets you from London to moules frites anwhich probably would have to be moules-frites and a glass of local beer in the Grand’ Place, a magnificent square encircled by elegant buildings and gracious shops. (Pause between moules to glance up to the facade of the Old Bourse to notice the black dots around the windows near the roof. Not high-flung graffiti but Austrian cannonballs lodged in the facade.)

The Citadel of Lille (French: Citadelle de Lille; Dutch: Citadel van Rijsel) is a pentagonal citadel of the city wall of Lille, in France. It was built around 1668. It hosts the Corps de réaction rapide France. Image by Maxdufour.

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Lunch – and more – in Lille

by MARIANNE GRAYLILLE is lively, the food is great and they have a pretty interesting selection of things to drink.

Apart from that, since it was Europe’s Capital of Culture in 2004 when it was radically spruced up, it is one of the best-looking cities in Europe. There is absolutely no reason not to take the train to Lille for lunch. Travel time from London to Lille by Eurostar is less than an hour and a half, you don’t have to go via Paris, and you can walk from the station to the middle of this extraordinary city in French Flanders, so close to Belgium that with a push it could be in Belgian Flanders.

But go for longer than just lunch, which probably would have to be moules-frites and a glass of local beer in the Grand’ Place, a magnificent square encircled by elegant buildings and gracious shops. (Pause between moules to glance up to the facade of the Old Bourse to notice the black dots around the windows near the roof. Not high-flung graffiti but Austrian cannonballs lodged in the facade.) There is plenty to see in Lille. The old Flemish quarter is absolutely alive with cobbled alleys filled with bars and boutiques, music, fashion and ‘gaufres’ (waffles) you buy in the street. The local cheese, maroilles, you can smell a few blocks away and being so close to the coast the fish is excellent, so fresh it jumps off the plate – literally.

Over a dinner at the art deco fish restaurant La Paix in Place Rihour, I attacked my dorade (sea bream) so enthusiastically that its head leapt from my plate and flew to the floor several yards away. The waiters, clearly being used to this, without so much as a raised eyebrow scooped it and secreted it out of sight before I had a chance to blush. There are also lovely, classical avenues of imposing buildings and lots of oddities like a museum in a former art deco swimming pool, La Piscine in Roubaix and Charles de Gaulle’s 1890 birthplace in rue du Faubourg Saint Martin, now a museum.

And, of course, from August 31st

to September 1st, the city becomes home to the largest flea market in Europe. A hundred kilometres of Lille pavement are covered by stalls selling everything from antiques to anchovies and up to a million people descend on the city. It’s a market that has been going since the Middle Ages when valets had the right to sell their masters’ unwanted clothes and so on once a year.

Lille, although it is the fourth largest city in France, is quite contained which makes for pleasant strolling. It has a population of almost 1.10

million and its foundations go back to 640, mentioned in the legend of Lyderic and Phinaert as L’Isle (for ‘the island’) as it was once marshy. It was invaded by the usual gangs of Vikings, Normans and Magyar, and became renowned for its cloth in the 12th century. As the textile industry boomed and coal mines thrived, Lille grew in wealth. Its style and dignity is still very much there. Isolated off the tourist track, Lille is a bit of a dream city and les Lillois are super-cool. It’d be a real waste to go there just for lunch.


Follow us on Twitter:@TheSAnewsZimbabwe Community

International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde has approved a programme that will oversee Zimbabwean economic reforms this year.

IMF approves a staff-monitored programme that will oversee Zimbabwe authorities’ economic reforms this year. The programme, if successful, would “be an important stepping stone toward helping Zimbabwe re-engage with the international community”

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Zimbabwe and IMF strike up agreement for first time in 10 years

by MEGAN HUTCHISON THE International Monetary Fund announced last week that it would work with Zimbabwe for the first time in more than a decade – the first key step towards making the country eligible for external borrowing – in a move set to fast track the country”s progress.

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde approved a staff-monitored programme that will oversee Zimbabwe authorities’ economic reforms this year. The programme, if successful, would “be an important stepping stone toward helping Zimbabwe re-engage with the international community”, according to Lagarde. In a statement, Lagarde said that while the IMF’s agreement will not involve financial assistance or mean an endorsement by the IMF executive board, the programme would focus on protecting infrastructure investment and priority social spending, strengthening public financial management and improving transparency on diamond revenue as well as restructuring the central bank.

Initially, the IMF’s restrictions were imposed when Zimbabwe fell behind in its repayments to the Fund – the debt of loan and

interest payments owed to the Fund totaling $125.3 million as of May 31 this year. According to the Fund, Zimbabwe’s entire external debt totaled $12.5 billion in 2012, which is a heavy 116.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product – something that has prevented it from tapping any external financing. However, in October last year the IMF began to relax its restrictions on providing consulting support to the country as it was seen to be making constitutional reforms and showed improvement in economic policy co-operation with the Fund.

The announcement came just as pre-election tensions in Zimbabwe have reached an all-time high, with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai vowing to fight a decision by President Robert Mugabe to hold elections on July 31 – a date which has been fiercely contested despite complying with a constitutional court order to hold elections by the end of July.

Tsvangirai has vowed to veto any election date that comes before democratic reforms are put into place that will ensure fair elections – as the world holds its breath in anticipation and fear that Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party may, once again, attempt to manipulate

the vote. If that were to be the case, any efforts that the IMF make to help the country progress will ultimately fall on deaf ears.

Zimbabwe tourism on the mend, thanks to influx of SA visitorsby MEGAN HUTCHISON THINGS are looking up for the tourism industry in Zimbabwe largely thanks to South Africa – which accounts for the largest number of continental visitors to Zimbabwe – according to a new report released by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA).

According to the report, 37,294 South Africans visited Zimbabwe during the first quarter in 2013 – a 6% increase on the previous comparative period – and which can be attributed to a resurgence in strong trade ties between the two countries. Trade between Zimbabwe and South Africa amounted to about $5.9 billion in 2012, with South Africa being the country’s biggest trade partner, according to Zimbabwean government statistics. Other regional countries that recorded increases in the number of visitors to Zimbabwe include Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi – Africa as a whole contributing 86% of the arrivals, followed by 8% from Europe, 3% from Asia and 3% from the Americas.

Tourist arrivals from China grew by an impressive 165% which is “especially commendable considering it is currently the world’s top tourism outbound and spending market” according to the report. The UK dominated other

European markets with arrivals almost doubling from 24% in 2012 to 41% this year which proves the ZTA’s observation in the report that “despite the ongoing economic challenges especially in the western world, performance of the overseas market is quite positive“.

It seems the Hilton Hotel Group has chosen a great time to announce that construction work on a Hilton hotel is due to begin in October this year. The $160 million, 275-bed hotel and office complex will go up in the neighbourhood of Eastlea and construction is set to be completed by 2016 according to the state-owned Herald newspaper. Harare Town Clerk Tendai Mahachi told the paper that “as a city we are very excited that such a brand is coming to Zimbabwe” and it definitely does seem to a promising step in the right direction for the tourism industry which took a knock in 2000 when the government embarked on a violent land reform programme that displaced more than 4,000 white farmers.

Last year, ZTA reported a $30 million dollar increase in tourism receipts from 2010 to 2011 and this only looks to improve in 2013 in response to the recently released tourist statistics – offering a much needed glimmer of hope for the country.


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Why do the Proteas fail to dominate in the shorter versions of the game?

by JEREMY BORTZWHILE South Africa’s Test team enjoyed their finest season and a remarkable 18 months, and now sit comfortably atop the ICC test rankings, the Proteas consistently fail to deliver at major one-day and T20 international tournaments.

The recent disappointing Champions Trophy was another dent in a badly smashed car that first went into the ditch some 17 years ago at the 1996 world cup (I’m excluding the 1992 world cup as rain denied us there).

It’s hard to understand why this is the case. History shows that teams can dominate in both versions of the game: the great West Indian side of the 1970s won the first two world cups in 1975 and 1979 while the dominant Australian side of the late 1990s and 2000s won three consecutive world cups from 1999 to 2007.

It’s certainly not because of a lack of quality. Players like Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villers and Dale Steyn are ranked right up there with the best in the world while we have some great young talent coming through. For some reason, though, these players often to fail to perform together when it matters most in the shorter versions of the game.

With the amount of cricket being played, it is becoming increasingly difficult for players to perform and stay injury-free in all formats of the game and thus selection has become a real issue. A case in point is Vernon Philander with many believing he should have been at the Champions Trophy. But if we want him to play in the shorter versions of the game, we must understand that he may miss extra Tests through injury. And the question then is whether we are willing to accept this? Why it is very clear who are our best 11 are in the Test arena, it does not appear that the selectors

know the same when it comes to the shorter versions as evidenced by the fact that 16 players made their debut in Gary Kirsten’s two year tenure as coach. Our Test side is a mature, settled and highly experienced team that knows how to win and has the ability and ambition to dominate Test cricket for many years to come. In my opinion, this needs to remain a priority and I would hate to see us flourish in the shorter versions of the game at the Test team’s expense.

Moving on from selection and player issues, perhaps a reason for our lack of success lies with our domestic cricket set-up? Given our consistent issues performing in knock-out games, why do the administrators not change matters so that our younger players play regular knock-out cricket. There is no substitute for experience and players need to be exposed to more pressure situations more often.

Finally, I do think we need to reconsider whether De Villiers is the long-term solution for the captaincy job. While there is no doubt that he is an extraordinary talent, doubt does still remain about whether he can perform all three roles. Just a few months back he relinquished the wicket-keeping gloves in an attempt to concentrate on leadership and batting, before taking them back when Kirsten decided that he would give South Africa their best chance.

With so much cricket being played, dominating in all versions of the game is incredibly difficult. That said, I believe we have the talent to do just this.The tricky tour to Sri Lanka in late July and August, where the Proteas play five one-day and three T20 internationals, is the start of a new road that South African cricket has traveled down many times before. Hopefully, though, we’ll finally reach of destination when the world cup comes round in February and March 2015 in Australia and New Zealand.

Why do our players often fail to perform together when it matters most in the shorter game?

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SPORT2 - 8 July 2013 NEWS FOR GLOBAL SOUTH AFRICANS www.thesouthafrican.com

British hope for the title developed his cycling talent as a teenager in Johannesburg

Chris Froome in Stage 5 of Switzerland’s Tour de Romandie in 2013

WHY DO PROTEAS FAIL TO DOMINATE IN THE SHORTER GAME? P15

MADE IN AFRICA: TOUR DE FRANCE FAVOURITE CHRIS FROOMEby PAULA BARANOWSKACHRIS Froome, 28, is a strong favourite to win Tour de France 2013, which began on Saturday in Corsica, with victories at this year’s stage competitions – Tour of Oman, the Criterium International, Tour de Normandie, and Criterium de Dauphine. Froome was second in last year’s Tour de France and claimed a bronze medal in the road time trial at the London Olympics.

But did you know that this British rider was born in Kenya and grew up in South Africa, where he still lives and trains?

Froome has always had British citizenship as his father is English, while his mother’s British parents emigrated to Kenya to run a farm. As a youngster he gained his passion for mountain biking in the rural highlands north of Nairobi, training with professional cyclist David Kinjah. He moved to South Africa at the age of 14 to attend St John’s College, a boarding school in Johannesburg. Froome started road cycling in South Africa although he only turned professional at 22, regarded as a late age to turn professional for a successful road cyclist.

According to Donald McRae from The Observer this African connection makes Froome a unique cyclist: ”I met Froome in January soon after he had arrived for Team Sky’s winter camp in Mallorca. He emerged as a warm and generous

man – whose humility could not mask his fierce determination. His African past lit him up from the inside and, to me, made him more interesting than most in the Tour peloton,” he wrote. In the South African cycling community Froome is perceived as a colourful personality yet in the UK he remains somewhat in the shadow of charismatic teammate Sir Bradley Wiggins, who was the first Briton to win the Tour the France last year, but is not participating this year due to an injury. Whereas Gareth Edwards, who managed Froome’s first team, Super C, which they recall today as a bunch of amateur riders in ill-fitting gear, remembers a slightly different Froome to what we see today: “A fluffy creature who drove to races in his wreck of a car. He had long, straggly hair and wore more bangles than a girl. Chris was fluent in Swahili and he dressed in clothing, made from hemp, in the colours of the Swahili people.”

Two years later, he was invited by Robbie Hunter, the first South African in the Tour de France, to join his team, Barloworld. Froome finished 14th in the time trial and Hunter was so impressed and thought that “Froome could win the Tour one day.” However he missed the next three as he suffered from undetected bilharzia, a disease transmitted by parasitic worms, symptoms of which include muscle ache, cramps and exhaustion.

Because the condition is rather unknown in Europe, it was not until he underwent blood tests in Kenya, when he found out that he had been ill, which almost cost him a place in the Sky Team as his performance was very inconsistent.

Robbie Nilsen, the attorney who worked with Froome when they started an under-23 team together at the Hi-Q cycling academy in Johannesburg, was shocked that Chris was able to compete on a relatively high level despite such undermined health, which convinced him that fully fit he would win the Tour.

According to Nilsen, Froome would have won the Spanish Vuelta, where he came second, if he did not have to hold back in the early stages in order to protect Wiggins. Possibly during the last year’s Tour de France, where he ended as runner-up, he could have ridden away from his teammate, but the team stuck to the plan, and Wiggins won.

In the lead-up to this year’s Tour, there was a row between the two cyclists over who should be the team’s leader, which even involved their spouses exchanging opinions on Twitter. The issue was resolved by Wiggins’ injury.

Gary Blem, South African mechanic of Team Sky, said of Froome: ”Chris wants to win the Tour seven times. He is intensely focused. Honestly, this guy’s unbelievable.”

Documents

The South African, Issue 521, 2 July 2013