3 - 9 December 2013 Issue 543

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p7 | Review: Mandela biopic a flawed but powerful film

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p13 | Cape to Patagonia: sailing along the Tropic of Capricorn

p3 | Jacob Zuma accused of corruption on ‘a grand scale’

BY NICÓL GROBLER

THE President has signed the amendment bill, which now allows South Africans overseas to register to vote in next year’s elections.

However, the regulations now need to be published and that process completed before the IEC can start overseas registration.

1. If you have voted before, you are registered (your name stays on the Voters’ Roll for life).

2. If you have not voted before, and cannot remember if you have ever registered yourself as a voter, you can check your status online with the IEC’s handy tool.

3. If you are not registered you will be able to register at the South African High Commission in London, or at any South African High Commission, Consulate or Embassy. Watch this space for further details.

For registration outside of South Africa, you must have the green bar-coded Identity Document as well as a valid passport.

You must register:• in person• with a green bar-coded ID (in

South Africa) or the new smart ID card or a temporary ID book

• with a green bar-coded ID and valid passport (outside South Africa, and only once the new law comes into effect)

NEW ACT ALLOWING SA EXPATS TO VOTE ABROAD IS NOW LAW | President Jacob Zuma has signed the Electoral Amendment Act, which means Saffas living abroad can now register to vote, and vote, at their local embassy. Here’s how to do it

• in your voting district (unless abroad)

• after your 16th birthday (you can only vote after your 18th birthday)

• and get a Proof of Registration sticker in your green bar-coded ID book.

5. You must apply to register before 5pm on the day that the President proclaims the date of

an election, or you won’t be able to vote in that election.

When the President announces the date of the election South Africans living abroad will have 15 days to complete a VEC10 form online and submit to the IEC to notify them of your intention to vote abroad and indicate at which diplomatic mission, embassy or high

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commission you will vote. This form is not yet available,

but will be made available closer to the time.

You will then receive an email or text message to let you know if you qualify to vote abroad.

Voters will only be able to vote in the National Assembly ballot and not for candidates in the provincial legislatures.

| TRAILBLAZING BUSINESS LEADERS: Mark Warren (Innovator of the Year), Sharon Constancon (Woman in Business of the Year), Mark Jankovich (Business Leader of the Year), Karine Torr (Entrepreneur of the Year) and Kurt Won (Rising Star of the Year) were announced as the winners of the annual South African Business Awards UK at a prizegiving on Thursday at Dexter House in London

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

Carin Bevan

Carin Bevan is a writer and historian who loves pop culture as much as the smell of dusty libraries. She’s written a master’s dissertation on the history of South African television, but really only as an excuse to relive the stories of her childhood. Visit her website at www.vintagemedia.co.za

and follow her on Twitter: @carinbevan

Will AgangSA run out of time to campaign before 2014 Elections?

BY BRETT PETZER

WITH a new logo and Mamphela Ramphele’s star power, AgangSA has plenty to attract voters. But the party’s election plan for 2014 seems to be cutting it dangerously fine: the party will hold its inaugural national conference in January, where it will also confirm its leadership.

Those leaders will then have no more than six months to canvass their constituencies and build a personal and party brand before the elections are held, as many predict, in or around June 2014.

Thabo Leshilo, the party’s communications director, confirmed in a communiqué that the party was building its support

|Ramphele’s party’s election plan for 2014 seems to be cutting it dangerously fine: the party will hold its inaugural national conference in January, where it will also confirm its leadership. Those leaders will then have no more than six months to canvass their constituencies and build a personal and party brand before the elections are held, as many predict, in or around June 2014

structure at the present time so that the listing of candidates could begin early next year.

The party, which has frustrated some commentators through its lack of ideological clarity, seems to be coming to the end of the thoroughgoing process of national consultation that Ramphele announced would precede any announcement of a manifesto when the party ‘platform’ was first launched.

The key points around which any final manifesto will revolve must include the points Ramphele has stressed again and again: excellent social services, clean and transparent governance, jobs for all – and fast, as well as improved public safety.

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Leshilo also stated that the relationship between citizens and the state would have to change, with South Africans becoming far less passive about the way they were governed.

In addition, Leshilo announced his party in favour of the constituency-based electoral system that parties such as the Democratic Alliance have long championed.

SA education charity tackling HIV wins major UK award|World Aids Day was on Sunday 1 December, and SA education charity plans on tackling HIV head on as more people are infected by HIV/AIDs in South Africa than any other country in the worldby NICÓL GROBLER

MORE people are infected by HIV/AIDs in South Africa than any other country in the world. UN figures reveal almost 6 million people are infected in South Africa – with three quarters of all new HIV-infections occurring amongst 15-25 year olds.

Confronting the epidemic prevalence of HIV and AIDS amongst the South Africa’s young people, IkamvaYouth has identified a shocking trend: ‘Most children enter the education system HIV-negative; a growing number leave school HIV-positive, and many more become HIV-positive shortly after leaving.’ Tackling HIV and AIDS IkamvaYouth targets poor townships through awareness sessions, testing and counselling – enabling young people to take responsibility for their own health and protection. If HIV-positive, they learn how to manage the disease; if HIV-negative, they learn how to protect themselves from future HIV infection.

IkamvaYouth also addresses the challenges of urban poverty and inequality perpetuated by South Africa’s education crisis.

Started by two young researchers in 2003, IkamvaYouth has evolved into a countrywide network, drawing on local university students, volunteers and IkamvaYouth alumni acting as educators, mentors and role

models. Endorsed by Stellenbosch University, the organisation provides tutoring in academic subjects and life skills to empower disadvantaged youth to escape poverty and create fulfilling futures.

“We have been inspired to dream big, to rise above our situations and inspire others,” said one student.

This is particularly significant given that 1.3 million learners start school each year in South Africa but less than half reach matriculation (high school graduation).

And yet, regardless of HIV status, IkamvaYouth matriculation results have far-exceeded national averages since 2005.

Last year, volunteers provided the equivalent of more than three million rand in HIV awareness programming, tutoring, career guidance mentoring, computer literacy training and workshop facilitation to over 700 young people. But while remarkable progress has been made, significant challenges remain. IkamvaYouth now aims to enhance and expand services to more townships across South Africa. Provisional plans include identifying more organisations to replicate the Ikamva model, setting up programmes in rural areas and targeting children of primary school age. The remaining Impact Award Winners will be announced in the first week of December.

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5 December 2013SAAX Group: End of Year Networking Drinks Join your fellow SAAX Group members for an night of networking, drinks and a hot fork buffet at Staple Inn Hall for only £10. E-mail us: contact@saaxgroup.org

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WILLS & ESTATESLondoners / South African Ex-Pats

12 December 2013Christmas Breakfast Indaba PutneyThe Breakfast Indaba will offer a one-minute business presentation by each business present, a presentation on educational and other opportunities by the Chamber, and a special offer to attendees who want to join the South African Chamber of Commerce. Admission: £12.50.7:00 AM - 8:30 AM

7 December 2013South African speakers at TEDxEuston 2013TED-licensed annual event TEDxEuston, dedicated to sharing ideas and inspiring Africans, has once again delivered an exciting line-up of thinkers and doers, three of them South African.9:00 AM - 10:30 PMThe Mermaid Conference & Events Centre, Puddle Dock, Blackfriars

Jacob Zuma accused of corruption ‘on a grand scale’| Opposition say president should be investigated if preliminary findings that he misspent huge sums of public money are upheldby AYUB NOUINOU

OPPOSITION parties have accused President Jacob Zuma of being at the centre of one of the biggest corruption scandals in democratic South Africa, after reports that millions of rands of taxpayers’ money were spent on a swimming pool and other facilities at his private home.

Zuma was accused of deceiving parliament about the expense and scope of the security upgrade to his residence in a scathing draft report by the country’s anti-graft watchdog, entitled ‘Opulence on a Grand Scale’. Opposition parties said that, if the findings are upheld in the final report, the president should face a parliamentary investigation with the potential to lead to his impeachment.

The scandal over state-sponsored construction at Zuma’s private residence in Nkandla, a modest rural town in KwaZulu-Natal province, has been rumbling for some time. The cost has soared over the years to R215 million rand, with a further R31 million in work outstanding, triggering intense media scrutiny and public condemnation, as well as an investigation by official public protector Thuli Madonsela. The acrimony over “Nkandlagate” has intensified in recent weeks as ministers went to court in an attempt to block the release of her report, while newspapers published photos of the home in defiance of a government warning that this might break security laws.

Newspapers published details of Madonsela’s provisional report, saying she found that Zuma had derived “substantial” personal gain from the security upgrade at “enormous cost” to the taxpayer, and that he must repay the state. According to Madonsela, the improvements include a visitors’ centre, amphitheatre, cattle enclosure, marquee area, extensive paving, new houses for relocated relatives and a swimming pool – referred to in official documents as a “fire pool” on the pretext it could double up as a water reservoir for

fire fighting purposes. It is estimated that these facilities added up to R20m (£1.2m) of taxpayers’ money – a striking revelation in a country where the average household earns R5,051 (£302) a month.

In what “may be Zuma’s greatest embarrassment since taking office”, Madonsela recommends that Parliament call him to account for violating the executive ethics code on two counts: failing to protect state resources, and misleading parliament for suggesting he and his family had paid for all structures unrelated to security. Zuma told Parliament a year ago: “All the buildings and every room we use in that residence was built by ourselves as family and not by government.”

The report also said Zuma ordered that his private architect be drafted in as “principal agent” to oversee the upgrade, even though he was not a security expert. This led to an “uncontrolled creep” of the project and eightfold increase in the cost, with elements such as an underground bunker going way over budget. The R215m spent on Zuma’s home is in stark contrast to state money spent on improving the security of previous presidents’ residences. FW de Klerk, South Africa’s last white president, who left office in 1994, received R236,000 (£14,179) for upgrades to his house, while R32m (£1.9m) was spent on Nelson Mandela’s home.

The opposition Democratic Alliance said the provisional findings contained in the report “are so damning that, if accurate, they would warrant the most severe sanction of president Jacob Zuma’s conduct”. The party’s parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said she would consider tabling a parliamentary motion to investigate Zuma.

“As more and more details surrounding Nkandlagate emerge, it is becoming increasingly clear that President Zuma is at the centre of one of the biggest corruption scandals in democratic South Africa,” she said. “He must be accordingly held accountable by parliament for his actions.”

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BY LOREDANA DENICOLA

THE inaugural Starfish wine tasting at Investec, London, was a great success and 100 people attended. Following an introduction from legendary South African wine writer Dave Hughes, guests had the chance to enjoy canapés and taste their way through wines of the world.

Starfish Greathearts Foundation is an international development charity that brings life, hope and opportunity to children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

Starfish charity wine tasting

Win a £20 Spur meal voucherVisit www.ukspur.co.uk to locate your nearest Spur

If you have been spotted in the circle on this page please email your address to editor@thesouthafrican.com and your voucher will be posted to you.

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SAA announces two winners of this year’s Capture South Africa photography competition| A panel of five judges has chosen a nocturnal landscape study and a striking portrait as the two best evocations of South Africa this year. Both winners will receive return flights between South Africa and London on SAAby STAFF REPORTER

A PANEL of five judges chose Alco Brand’s winning scenery shot of the view over Cape Town entitled ‘Cape Town by Night’ and Moira Enslin’s thought-provoking portrait of an elderly gentleman, entitled ‘Memories’ out of thousands of entries as the two winners for the Capture South Africa photography competition.Both winners have won two return flights between South Africa and London with South African Airways.

Capture South Africa aimed to encourage visitors and South Africans alike to celebrate the beauty of South Africa’s people and scenery through inspiring images. After thousands of entries to the competition, selecting a winner was a difficult task for the judging panel, which comprised of South African rugby player Francois Louw, TV adventurer

Charley Boorman, international travel photographer Sasha Gusov and SAA’s own Michelle Snodgrass and Sylvia Morton.

The competition saw almost 2,500 photography entries and over 12,000 new Facebook fans engaged with the competition on the campaign microsite capturesouthafrica.com. With so many stunning scenic shots capturing the beauty of South Africa entered, Facebook votes helped elevate the most popular images that went before the judges.

The unique twist on the iconic image of Cape Town meant this night-time image stood out from others. The judges loved the stunning colours of the night sky with the reflection on the rocks and the bustling city below. The winner, Alco, from the Western Cape in South Africa, says of winning, ‘This is the biggest surprise that I could have wished

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Nelson Mandela’s Living Legacy

Presiding over the transition from apartheid minority rule to a multicultural democracy, Mandela saw national reconciliation as the primary task of his presidency.Having seen other post-colonial African economies damaged

Reconciling a rent nation through personal example

by the departure of white elites, Mandela worked to reassure South Africa’s white population that they were protected and represented in “the Rainbow Nation”.Mandela attempted to create the broadest possible coalition in his cabinet, with de Klerk as first Deputy President while other National Party officials became ministers for Agriculture, Energy, Environment, and Minerals and Energy, and Buthelezi was named Minister for Home Affairs. The other cabinet positions were taken by ANC members, many of whom – like Joe Modise, Alfred Nzo, Joe Slovo, Mac Maharaj and Dullah Omar – had long been comrades, although others, such as Tito Mboweni and Jeff Radebe, were much younger. Mandela’s relationship with de Klerk was strained; Mandela thought that de Klerk was intentionally provocative, while de Klerk felt that he was being intentionally humiliated by the

for. This shot was a favourite from when my girlfriend came to visit me in March. It was her first time to Cape Town and she was blown away by the view from Table Mountain and the city by night. After she left I had this photo printed on a massive canvas to be delivered to her door in London. Pleasant memories of a fantastic trip. I’m absolutely honoured to be selected as the winner.’

The winning ‘people’ image was chosen because the judges felt it perfectly captured the emotion, character and personality of the elderly gentleman in the photograph, taken in the Eastern Cape. Each time the judges looked at the picture, they noticed something new, which further enticed them to find out more about the subject.

CaptureSouthAfrica.com generated more than 36,000 visits, with over 4,500 votes in total for the competition.

president. In January 1995, Mandela heavily chastised him for awarding amnesty to 3,500 police just before the election, and later criticised him for defending former Minister of Defence Magnus Malan when the latter was charged with murder. Mandela personally met with senior figures of the apartheid regime, including Hendrik Verwoerd’s widow Betsie Schoombie and the lawyer Percy Yutar; emphasising personal forgiveness and reconciliation, he announced that “courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.”

| ‘Memories’ and ‘Cape Town by Night’

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| South African harmonica player Adam Glasser and vocalist Pinise Saul will be joined by top British jazz guitarist Nigel Price to perform a vibrant mix of township jazz, Broadway standards and Glasser originals

| Londoners gathered Friday before last to help the star author and writer on French rural life raise funds for children’s health

KAREN DE VILLIERS

The OPTIMIST

For Goodness’ sake

HER name is Goodness. Not her Zulu name, but the name I know her by. I last saw Goodness more than five years ago. She worked for me, I left and to this day, every now and then, I get a text message from her asking me to find her a job or send her some money.

It has been five, long years. I know she did a Caring course but seems unemployed most of the time. I don’t get messages or pictures of her at her wedding, or when things may go well, but only hear from her when the situation seems desperate. What’s that? Can I hear you saying? ‘ You are such a patsy, a gullible fool woman! This Goodness is playing you like a well fiddled tune.’ Part of me knows that, the madam she remembers with the big house and fancy car. Way back. Way, way, way back.

In her eyes, the pot of money must still be there. How to try to explain how different life is here, but even so, can anything be worse that having lived in poverty most of your life? Keep trying to put myself into those worn shoes. This is the story isn’t it – the one of seeing things from both sides. Goodness sees me as privileged and able to take care of her. The outstretched hand that both angers

and upsets me. I hate feeling used, or convenient for those who make excuses and never move forward. Equally telling is the raw reality that opportunities are slim. Who will employ anyone with a hopeless CV? Demand outstrips supply and those like Goodness are washed away in the stream of the forgotten. But they exist, and they do want to work and earn and get out of this destructive path of poverty. So am I going to help her but saying no and perhaps provide the impetus for action? Will the tough love of saying ‘sorry’ get her out of this fall back on the madam mode and even then, once you get up and get out there – who will believe you? Who will give you a way to earn an income?

I want to take those hands that are facing upwards, with palms open and turn them down to till the soil, thread the needle and create a life of substance. For Goodness’ sake I want to help, but by helping her out like this all the time am I not hindering?

It’s Christmas. With no income, Goodness has sent me a message. Please can I send her some money for Christmas. Hate myself for admitting that my soul sinks into my shoes every time her name appears lately. God help me for being a reluctant giver but I am. You will say, if you cannot give with an open heart, don’t give at all. You would be right.

What is it Goodness with the lovely name? Do you care for me and know I will be there for you, or reject me, if I say ‘sorry’ this time? Thank you for letting me put it out there – we all know what I’m going to do anyway. It’s Christmas …

BY STAFF REPORTER

ON Friday 6 December South African virtuoso harmonica player Adam Glasser and his dynamic new line up with top British jazz guitarist Nigel Price and legendary South African vocalist Pinise Saul will perform a vibrant mix of township jazz, Broadway standards and originals from his CDs Free at First ( SAMA Award Best Jazz Album 2010) and Mzansi (SAMA Nomination Best Jazz Album 2012).Line-up:Adam Glasser – harmonica and keyboard, Pinise Saul – vocals, Nigel Price – guitar, Larry Bartley – double bass, Frank Tontoh – drums. Adam Glasser is a London-based musician and composer who was introduced to jazz at an early age by his father, the South African composer Stanley Glasser. Adam studied jazz piano in South Africa in the 1970s and moved to London where he became a regular keyboard player on the commercial jazz circuit. He has played keyboard for artists such as Martha Reeves, Jimmy Witherspoon, Hugh Masekela, and Dudu Pukwana.

Adam Glasser quintet to treat all South African jazz lovers in London

He is also one of the UK’s leading chromatic harmonica players, appearing in various albums, films and performances, some of these with stars such as Stevie Wonder, Sting and the Eurythmics.

Pinise Saul is originally from the Eastern Cape, but came to London in 1975 as a cast member of the musical Ipi Ntombi. She decided to remain in exile in the UK, and toured the world in various shows and groups for the ANC. Major concerts included Boston University Stadium with Bob

Marley and Patti La Belle.Nigel Price is one of the UK’s

top jazz guitar players and has performed with the BBC big band and is an in demand sideman as well as leading his own groups, preferring the organ, drums and guitar combo but performing in a variety of musical scenarios.Friday 6 December | 8.30pm to 11pm | Venue: The Ivy House, 40 Stuart Rd, Nunhead, London, SE15 3BE www.ivyhousenunhead.comTickets: £10 exclusively from www.wegottickets.com

by RONEL VAN ZYL

ON 22 November 60 people joined celebrated South African author Marita van der Vyver, her husband and daughter for a wonderfully relaxed evening at one of London’s most unique venues. Marita van der Vyver was born in Cape Town and holds a masters degree in journalism from the University of Stellenbosch. She published three novels for adolescents before her first adult novel, Griet skryf ‘n sprokie, became a best-seller, winning the M-Net, Eugène Marais and ATKV Prizes in 1992. Since then she has been a full-time writer of fiction for readers of all ages, producing novels, a collection of humorous essays, a collection of short stories, picture books for young children and numerous stories included in anthologies.

She has won several awards as well as a bursary for international study from the SA Foundation for Creative Arts, and was invited to take part in the renowned writers’ programme of the University of Iowa in the USA. All her adult novels are translated from the

Celebrated author Marita van der Vyver meets South Africans in London

original Afrikaans into English, Dutch and German, while Griet skryf ‘n sprokie has been translated into a dozen languages including Chinese and Icelandic. She lives in a small village in the south of France with her French husband, Alain Claisse. They have three sons and a daughter.

Marita, who was visiting London to promote her new book ‘n Fontein voor ons deur shared extracts from her books, catering for both the English and Afrikaans audience. After the readings all attendees had a chance to have their purchased books signed, while enjoying South African wine and delicious appetizers, all

kindly supplied by the host for the evening, Nedbank. The attendees were all surprised to meet the wonderful South African illustrator Piet Grobler too, who collaborated with Marita van der Vyver on her book Mia’s mom. Piet Grobler is a senior lecturer and course leader in Illustration at the University of Worcester in the West-Midlands of England. The evening was a great success, with a full house and raising a total sum of £1,400 on tickets alone and an extra £214 from the evenings raffle. The evenings donations were all in aid of the Children’s Hospital Trust, South Africa and their Sarah Fox Foundation: Pallative Care Unit

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|Country Brew | I want that fake snow, and I want to hear Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly – while smelling the snoek baking on my dad’s braai, and my mom humming along to Dean Martin’s Let It Snow Let It Snow Let it Snow

BY KATYPOTATIE

THE dreaded Christmas advert. They seem to get better and better each year. Not better in a good sense, but better in a cynical, somewhat sarcastic sense where one tries to outdo the other on levels of emotive guilt-ridden tear-jerking images that bring to mind the true meaning of Christmas. After all, the true meaning of Christmas is absolutely about a giant truck delivering sugar-filled carbonated drink to every town to the ends of the earth. Isn’t it?

I project. Naturally.It’s usually this time of year,

when the leaves turn orange and gold, and the morning chill seems to tickle my earlobes in a creepy “I’m coming” kind of way that my mood seems to take on a slightly sour twinge.

When my favourite plants seem to droop under the evening frost and the moss seems to form a new layer of hazardous green on my paved driveway that I walk a little slower, become a little quieter.

The shops have hardly packed away the ghoulish ghosts and witches and red-eyed Halloween pumpkins, that they now laden their shelves with light-hearted, warm and fuzzy, mushy Christmas decorations of angels, snowy village scenes and

Fake snow, a snoek braai and a little bit of Deck the Hallstwinkling lights.

My first Christmas in the UK was a magical spectacle. For the first time, Frosty the Snowman actually did make sense and Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire actually were roasting on an open fire, and not on the braai. Hang on, they weren’t roasting on the braai at all. We were lying on the beach, in the sun, dribbling watermelon juice down our chins and getting suntan lotion in our eyes.

I remember observing the frosty South African Christmas vibe from a new perspective, the first time My Englishman spent Christmas in South Africa. Walking around the Somerset Mall in shorts and flops, and pointing out the fake snow on the shop windows, and the icicle lights hanging from the ceiling, I recognised the slightly ridiculous sight we portrayed to people who actually did come from a snowy Christmas.

But I didn’t really care. It was my Christmas.

But now I am in the UK, and my Christmases are cold, and snowy, and chestnut-roasting. All that should seem beautiful in its perfection and idyll dreamed about on years of Christmas cards and dressing up games now appearing like something foreign and unfamiliar.

I want that fake snow, and I want to hear Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly – while smelling the snoek baking on my dad’s braai, and my mom humming along to Dean Martin’s Let It

Snow Let It Snow Let it Snow.Of course. I still project.For me, regardless of fake or

real trees, fake or real snow, fake or real chestnuts, Christmas is so much more than a commercial excuse for credit card debt accompanied by a mad frenzy to feel satisfied and accomplished with the best Christmas lights adorning the house, and the biggest, most glittery tree. For me, Christmas is about having my mom in the next room, and Pa at the braai outside.

It’s about knowing that my brothers and their families will soon be arriving, where we’ll eat until we cannot move any more, where we’ll roll ourselves into the family room, where Papa will put on the Father Christmas hat, as he always does, and with his Ho Ho ho, hands out each of our gifts, much to the delight of us all – as we polish off Ma’s frozen

triangle cheesecake, that she makes every year, for Christmas.

And as many of us sit in far-away lands, many having forged new Christmas traditions and customs, and many who, like us, will be spending Orphaned Christmas with other friends and

families who find themselves in similar positions, my prayer is for love and peace and happiness for you.

But most of all, for a little bit of fake snow and the smell of a braai – somewhere in your Christmas season.

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16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and ChildrenBY STAFF REPORTER

THE 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children is an international campaign, and takes place every year from 25 November to 10 December. In the spirit of this campaign, BIC would like to remind victims of domestic violence that you need not stay in the abusive relationship in order to remain in the UK.

In order to qualify under the domestic violence rule you have to inter alia fulfil the following requirements;

You must be the spouse/civil partner/unmarried partner of a British citizen or someone settled (someone with indefinite leave to remain) in the UK;

Your relationship must have subsisted at the time the visa was granted; and

You must prove that you are a victim of domestic violence and that it was the cause of the breakdown of your relationship before you qualified for settlement.

You do not need to wait until your current leave in the UK expires before you apply under this rule, and the UK Home Office recommends that you apply as early as possible so that they can deal with recent or up to date

evidence. It is also important to keep in mind that you have to apply from within the UK.

The UK Home Office defines domestic violence as follows;

“Domestic violence is any threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between adults who are or have been in a relationship, or between family members. It can affect anybody, regardless of their gender or sexuality. The violence can be psychological, physical, sexual or emotional.”

For more information or to apply under this rule, please contact Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants Ltd at info@bic-immigration.com

JP BreytenbachDirector of BIC, Breytenbachs

Immigration Consultants Limited.www.bic-immigration.com or

info@bic-immigration.com

| The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is calling on the public inside and outside South Africa to comment on the government’s plans to make the teaching of an African language compulsory from grade 1by BRETT PETZER

THE Department of Basic Education (DBE) is calling on the public inside and outside South Africa to comment on the government’s plans to make the teaching of an African language compulsory from grade 1. The scheme will be piloted in the Foundation phase, at Grade 1

level, from next year, with plans to roll the initiative out nationally from 2015 (and phase it with every additional grade annually thereafter).

If the new initiative becomes policy, all South African students will learn an additional African language for the length of their secondary school careers and will take the language up to

Matric. A DBE spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, has told the press that the department “values the constructive comments of the public and wishes to encourage all stakeholders and interested parties to make their comments which will serve to inform the implementation of the policy.”

The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga,

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State to compel pupils to learn one African language – should it?

has announced that this move is intended as a fulfilment of the state’s Constitutional obligation to promote progressively and as speedily as is practicable the flourishing and inclusion of previously marginalised languages. The indigenous languages plan is also in line with the National Development Plan, which calls the need for South Africans to be able to communicate with and acknowledge each other in a language other than European and European-derived languages essential to nation building and social cohesion. Mhlanga further

commented that the pilot scheme would “inform the feasibility of the extended school day (to accommodate the subject); teacher provisioning models (to ensure a sufficient number of teachers with the right skills are in place) and support; and resources to support teaching and learning”.

The deadline for international and in-country South Africans to comment on the proposal is February 12 2014. Submissions can be made via email to publiccomments@dbe.gov.za or faxed to (012) 000 0000 or by post to Private Bag 895, Pretoria, 0001

11thesouthafrican.com | 3 - 9 December 2013 |

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Winners of South African Business Awards 2013 announced in London

by STAFF REPORTER

THE winners of the annual South African Business Awards were announced last night at Dexter House in Tower Hill, London.

The awards, which aim to recognise excellence within the South African business community in the UK, celebrated five deserving winners in 2013.

Business Leader of the Year: Mark Jankovich

Entrepreneur of the Year: Karine Torr

Innovator of the Year: Mark Warren

Rising Star of the Year: Kurt Won

Woman in Business of the Year:Sharon Constancon

| Mark Warren, Sharon Constancon, Mark Jankovich, Karine Torr and Kurt Won

| Five trailblazing South Africans in the UK business community were honoured at this year’s South African Business Awards in London

The awards were organised by the SA Chamber of Commerce UK.

Cape Town only SA city to receive clean audit

BY STAFF REPORTER

THE City of Cape Town has been congratulated by Auditor-General Terence Nombembe as the only large city to receive a clean audit in a general report on municipal accounts released by Nombembe yesterday.

Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson said in a press statement that “There is a lot of work, skill and expertise that goes into achieving a clean audit. It is not merely about accounting. It is about accountability.”

Neilson said that the audit meant that the Auditor-General had made a vote of confidence in the city’s

ability to account for public funds. The finding also strengthens Cape Town’s ability to put its case to investors nervous about the transparency and cleanliness of local government.

“This administration understands that it is public money we are entrusted with, which must be used for the benefit of the people who live in this city...The Auditor General did not identify any significant deficiencies in the City’s internal controls,” Neilson said.

The backslapping in Cape Town is unlikely to play out this week in the municipal offices of

| South Africa’s only city to have had 10 years of unbroken clean audits is also 2013’s only big city with clean accounts

Johannesburg, Ekhuruleni (the East Rand), Tshwane (Pretoria), eThekwini (Durban), Buffalo City (East London) and Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth). None of these cities, which harbour Africa’s busiest airport and harbour and something like 20 per cent of its gross regional product, could prove that they had spent public funds in the manner prescribed by the law. There is therefore much work to do across the board, but municipal governments can take inspiration from the opposition-run city in their bid to achieve basic financial probity.

Rand falls to new low with ‘fragile five’by STAFF REPORTER

THE South African Rand hit new lows against major currencies towards the end of last week with poor data announcements and further talks of the Federal Reserve burring back on tapering.

Data on the South African economy last week has confirmed the structurally vulnerable position of the ZAR and showed clues as the why the growth trends were far smaller than the weakening trends.

Both the government budget and the trade data for October confirmed larger than expected deficits. Looking at the size of these deficits on a cumulative year-to-date basis, one can get a sense of the magnitude of the issue. The cumulative trade deficit now stands at R140.2bn vs. R126.7bn in the same period last year. “The size and persistence of South Africa’s current account

deficit leaves it looking less robust to the tapering of QE than other countries in the “fragile five,” Absa Capital analysts wrote in a note.

Besides South Africa, the so-called “fragile five” emerging market economies are India, Turkey, Indonesia and Brazil. They are seen as particularly vulnerable to the effects of the United States winding down its bond-buying programme.GBP / ZAR: 16.6609EUR / ZAR: 13.8091USD / ZAR: 10.1528

NZD / ZAR: 8.34124Exchange rates as of 09:09

(GMT), 02/12/2013

12 | 3 - 9 December 2013 | thesouthafrican.com

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13thesouthafrican.com | 3 - 9 December 2013 |

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FOR many South Africans, Argentina is a strangely familiar place: the most Europeanised part of a continent that pulls in the other direction, toward a uniquely South American identity. Cape Town is often described this way – and with contempt and envy in equal measure. But Patagonia, the icy Southern extremity of Argentina and Chile, is something different again: a snowy province complete with fjords and grizzled Northern European settlers as well as the Tierra del Fuegans who have always lived there.

Exploring this mountainous country very much at the end of the world as a South African exposes you to the constant tug of Cape Town and the end of Africa, just across the pond. Some of this might be ascribed to the uniquely wonderful way we got there: the small, but perfect Silversea – Silver Explorer that plies the Cape Town-Ushuaia route and the lonely but intensely storied islands in between.

The Explorer took us past Tristan da Cunha – famous only for its prodigious isolation – and the Falklands. Cruising away from the fresh calamari and war graves of the Falklands capital, Stanley, towards the country Thatcher vanquished – and all over a few sheep-nibbled islands in the South Atlantic – gives ample opportunity for reflection on the absurdity of borders. The sea itself, of course, helps thinking; by the time we reached Ushuaia, we were better prepared for a real travel, as much in the mind as in the body,

| For many South Africans, Argentina is a strangely familiar place: the most Europeanised part of a continent that pulls in the other direction, toward a uniquely South American identity

than we could ever have been had we stepped off a crowded economy-class flight.

Preparation is important because Patagonia offers little to the cursory tourist. Instead, the epic scale of its landscapes and their singular weirdness at being the only snowy place this far down on the world map really only reward the patient traveller; we had come to write, photograph, hike and drink beer, and the expanses of this tapering muy acogedor (very cosy) end of a long continent could not be better suited to reflection. What helps a great deal is the quality of the beer and the talkativeness of the people, which stayed a constant from the time we cruised into Ushuaia, which looks exactly like a huge Antarctic weather station, and throughout our circuit of Cape Horn, the Glaciers and Punta Arenas.

The hiking was on fresh glaciers and between warm wooden huts straight out of a Scandinavian Airlines System advert; the bird life and biodiversity is necessarily very unique, to survive in such odd conditions on a largely tropical continent. Rafting and canoeing here are superb, if you can handle occasional cold (and this was all, mind you, in summer).

But what lingers in the mind from a journey to Patagonia are, in the words of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries, “I now know, by an almost fatalistic conformity with the facts, that my destiny is to travel…”

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SPORT3 - 9 December 2013 NEWS FOR GLOBAL SOUTH AFRICANS www.thesouthafrican.com

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BAABAAS BOK FORCE DOWNS FIJI IN LONDON

| The Barbarians’ Pat Lambie takes on the Fiji defence during the Killik Cup match at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

| Invitation-only Barbarians side including eight Springboks and captained by Jean de Villiers dispatched the Fijians 43-19 at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday

by STAFF REPORTER

SPRINGBOK hooker Bismarck du Plessis was the star of the show at Twickenham on Saturday, scoring two tries for the Barbarians and upsetting Fiji’s Centenary celebrations to win the game 43-19. The invitation-only side made up of players from all over the world was led by Springbok captain Jean de Villiers and included a number of other South African players such as Tendai Mtawarira, Pat Lambie, Duane Vermeulen and Schalk Burger.

Missing several experienced internationals, with the game being played outside of the international window, it seemed inevitable Fiji would be on the receiving end of a Barbarians mauling, and so it proved.

The Fijians produced a brave defensive display under intense territorial pressure from the BaaBaas but the experience and dominance upfront of the Barbarians – Du Plessis devastating in the 50 minutes he played – eventually told as the Fijians collapsed after the break.

The Fijians were first on the scoreboard on seven minutes after a majestic piece of play from full back Nikola Matawalu.

A 15-minute siege in the Fijian 22 was eventually rewarded as Du Plessis managed to burrow his way over from close range. Fijian flanker Mala Ravulo was yellow carded on 21 minutes for tackling a ball carrier out in the air from the restart, which seemed to spark Barbarian dominance, particularly upfront.

Vermeulen was the next BaaBaa to go over on 36 minutes as Fiji managed to lose possession from a quick tap penalty in their own 22. The No. 8 kept playing while Fiji stopped for a knock-on, allowing Vermeulen to run in unopposed for a score, Lambie adding the extras.

The Barbarians stretched their lead to 17-7 at the break as Du Plessis burrowed over for his second score following a line-out, Lambie this time missing his goal kick. The Baabaas’ momentum showed little sign of slowing in the second half as the TMO was again called into action four minutes after the restart – wing Sam Speight adjudged to have got back to touch down the ball under severe pressure from Vermeulen. In the space of five minutes De Villiers and Charles Piutau both went over for the Barbarians as Fiji seemed to run out of steam,

Lambie converting both. Burger and De Villiers combined for the Barbarians’ sixth score on 64 minutes, offloading to Tom Taylor to score in the corner but Fiji refused to lie down and

responded with a score of their own seven minutes from time through Henry Seniloli.

De Villiers rounded off the Barbarians’ dominance in the final few minutes, collecting a

chip over the Fijian defence to score under the posts. But it was fitting that Fiji, having scored first, also had the last laugh as Alex Rokobaro scored with the final play of the game.