Emailing: Article3

 

November 23, 2007

Zululand OBSERVER

	Caravan shocker for Jopie Jopie de Kock displays the after effects of an encounter with a live caravan Dave Savides IN a timely reminder to caravan owners as the holiday season approaches, an Empangeni businessman narrowly escaped death by electrocution last Week. Jopie de Kock is left with a shattered shoulder and extensive bruising all over his body and will undergo an operation today (Thursday). 'We use a caravan on our construction site but took it into the Empangeni workshop where we connected it via an extension cord,' said de Kock. 'I was trying to pull a tent peg out the ground and rested my left hand against the caravan to balance myself - only to find out with a literal shock that I had completed the circuit by earthing the caravan.' A violent 220 volts shot through de Kock's body. The earth leakage failed to trip and his left shoulder bone was torn out of its socket, the ball shattering. 'I remained conscious and on my feet, aware of what was happening. 'Doctors told me I was extremely lucky to survive and I will be having a steel plate and pins put into my shoulder.' De Kock says that because the rubber wheels of the caravan were always in contact with the ground, it was not known that the caravan was live. 'I suggest all caravan owners have them tested to avoid a nasty experience like mine,' he said.

 

Emailing: Article15

 

November 23, 2007

Zululand OBSERVER

	Powerboats ready to rev Dave Savides THE excitement of Formula powerboat racing returns to Richards Bay this weekend with a full programme in the Small Craft Harbour off Naval Island. Hosted by the City of uMhlathuze and Remax-Marine, the event is presented by Race Promotions and promises to be a feast of spectator thrills and spills. Transnet National Ports Authority has supplied the venue and the good news is that there is no admission fee. 'Richards Bay is rated by the F1 pilots as a real driver's course, with its unique layout making it both dangerous and exciting, with spectators enjoying close-up views of the action,' said F1 pilot Christo de Jager, who heads the organisation of events nationally. He said successful running of the event could also lead to an international race in the Bay next year. Official F1 practice starts on Saturday morning with the main racing taking place on Sunday. There are plenty of excellent spectator vantage points so bring your braais and enjoy the occasion. Programme • Saturday 24 November 8.30 - 9am: F1 and Junior Pilots briefing 9am - 9.45am: Scrutineering 9.45am - 10.45am: F1 official practice 10.45am - 11.30am: All Junior classes official practice 11.30am - 11.50am: Mercury Development Class Heat 1 (5 laps) 11.50am - 12.20am: Junior Powerboat Classes A and B Heat 1 (8 laps) 12.20am - 12.50pm: F30 Time Trials 12.50pm - 01.10pm: Mercury Development Class Heat 2 (5 laps) 01.10pm - 2pm: F1 official practice 2pm - 2.30pm: F30 Heat 1 (9 laps) 2.30pm - 3.30pm: F1 Powerboats Time Trials • Sunday 25 November 8.30am - 9am: F1 and Junior Pilots briefing 9am - 9.30am: F1 warm-up 9.30am - 9.55am: Junior Powerboat Classes A and B Heat 2 (8 laps) 9.55am - 10.20am: F30 Heat 2 (9 laps) 10.20am - 10.30am: Official Opening 10.30am - 11.20am: F1 Grand Prix Heat 1 (15 laps) 11.20am - 11.40am: Mercury Development Class Heat 3 (5 laps) 11am - 12noon: Skydivers/Air display 12noon - 1pm: Lunch 1pm - 1.pm: F1 Drivers' Parade 1.10pm - 2pm: F1 Grand Prix Heat 2 (15 laps) 2pm - 2.30pm: Junior Powercoat Class A and B Heat 3 (8 laps) 2.20pm - 3pm: F30 Heat 3 (9 laps) 3pm - 3.50pm: F1 Grand Prix Heat 3 (15 laps) 3.50pm - 4pm: Lap of Honour F1 Grand Prix winner 5pm: Prize-giving

 

Fishing Update 21 November 2007

 

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Wetlands Smalls Fishing News Letter 21 November 2007 Issue 5 Year 1   Editor: Petrus Viviers        email         0835847473 December 2007 - Tide Table Date Day High am Low am High pm Low pm 1 Sat 08 41 - - - 20 55 14 55 2 Sun 10 06 03 00 22 32 16 31 3 Mon 11 32 04 35 23 56 18 00 4 Tues - - - - 06 00 12 34 18 55 5 Wed 00 59 06 55 13 21 19 41 6 Thur 01 46 07 45 13 57 20 15 7 Fri 02 23 08 17 14 31 20 47 8 Sat 02 57 08 55 15 01 21 20 9 Sun 03 27 09 25 15 33 21 52 10 Mon 03 56 09 57 16 00 22 18 11 Tues 04 28 10 28 16 35 22 50 12 Wed 05 00 10 59 17 08 23 19 13 Thur 05 30 11 34 17 45 23 56 14 Fri 06 15 - - - 18 20 12 15 15 Sat 06 55 00 35 19 05 13 00 16 Sun 07 45 01 16 19 58 13 55 17 Mon 08 52 02 10 21 08 15 05 18 Tues 10 15 03 17 22 30 16 35 19 Wed 11 35 04 45 - - - 17 59 20 Thur - - - 06 10 12 37 19 05 21 Fri 01 13 07 17 13 40 20 00 22 Sat 02 12 08 15 14 31 20 49 23 Sun 03 00 09 00 15 20 21 33 24 Mon 03 47 09 52 16 03 22 17 25 Tues 04 31 10 33 16 48 23 00 26 Wed 05 13 11 13 17 27 23 36 27 Thur 05 53 11 52 18 05 - - - 28 Fri 06 30 00 08 18 41 12 35 29 Sat 07 10 00 48 19 20 13 13 30 Sun 07 50 01 24 19 55 13 56 31 Mon 08 40 02 05 20 45 14 52 Whale Watching 20 November 2007 The clients that went out on the whale watching this morning had a BALL of good sightings ! Tail slaps , breaches , 8 Humpback Whales !!!!!!!!!!!!!1 So it's still wonderful out there , we're taking it day by day with the weather , DON'T NOT book because of possible bad weather , as sometimes people are disappointed IF the ''bad'' day DID turn out to be a GOOD day indeed …. We'll rather then cancel and refund if need be , but rather make the bookings not to be disappointed . GROETE vir eers ! Warm Regards Riëtte Bennett St.Lucia Tours & Charters WebSite: www.advantagetours.co.za e-mail : advantage@zululink.co.za +27 (0)35 – 5901259 (Tel) +27 (0)35 – 5901053 (Fax) Cell: 083 487 2762 Weather Conditions 21 November 2007   Currently over cast and threatening to rain.           Best Drinking Days St. Lucia Ski Boat Club Beer Festival 1 December 2007 Best fishing Days Tidal changes, moon phases and barometric pressure changes, all influence fishing conditions This Phenomenon where first experienced by monitoring aquarium fishes and their feeding habits                 St. Lucia Ski Boat Club Bill Fish Competition 15, 16, 17 December 2007 [For Africa] [iSimangaliso] [Elephant Coast]

District Mayor ousted

 

November 19, 2007

Zululand OBSERVER

	District Mayor ousted Taking on the challenges of the region, the new uThungulu District Mayor - Stan Larkan (middle) is congratulated by the Mayor of Mabonambi - ME Mthethwa and the Mayor of uMhlathuze City - Zakhele Mnqayi Tanya Waterworth DESPITE High Court action still in progress, a new Mayor was elected for the uThungulu District Municipality at a Special Council Meeting held in chambers on Friday. IFP Councillor Stan Larkan, the current Mayor of uMlalazi was voted in, his nomination not contested by the ANC. Larkan succeeds Cllr BV Mthethwa, who has lost favour with the IFP hierarchy. The re-election of the Mayoral position, as well as that of Deputy Mayor, Speaker, Representation on the Executive Committee and Portfolio Committees took place as part of the reconstitution of Council. This follows the floor crossing period which ended in September. Ivan Naidoo was re-elected as Deputy Mayor, while Dr Nkonzoyakhe Donda was re-elected as Speaker. Heated discussion When the meeting started concern was expressed, particularly by ANC members, that re-elections would take place despite the fact that former Mayor BV Mthethwa and the IFP are locked in High Court action, following the expulsion and subsequent reinstatement of Mthethwa as a party and council member. The IFP appealed the previous court ruling which found in favour of Mthethwa, and the case is currently sub-judice in the High Court. Fears were raised that the situation could result in two members holding the mayoral position, while the impact of related legal costs came under heated discussion. Both the ANC and IFP caucused, following which it was decided to proceed with the reconstitution of Council and re-elections as a separate matter. Service delivery The meeting ended with the new mayor being warmly congratulated by City of uMhlathuze Mayor - Zakhele Mnqayi and Mayor of Mbonambi - ME Mthethwa. It was agreed by all that service delivery to the Zululand community remained the top priority of all political parties, who will work closely to achieve such goals. 'I know there are huge challenges ahead. 'I am blessed in being fluent in isiZulu and together with the councillors and municipal management team, we are committed to promoting good relationships between all our communities, especially between our rural communities and the Amakhosi,' said Larkan. A profile on the new District Mayor will appear in our next edition.

 

District Mayor ousted

 

November 19, 2007

Zululand OBSERVER

	District Mayor ousted Taking on the challenges of the region, the new uThungulu District Mayor - Stan Larkan (middle) is congratulated by the Mayor of Mabonambi - ME Mthethwa and the Mayor of uMhlathuze City - Zakhele Mnqayi Tanya Waterworth DESPITE High Court action still in progress, a new Mayor was elected for the uThungulu District Municipality at a Special Council Meeting held in chambers on Friday. IFP Councillor Stan Larkan, the current Mayor of uMlalazi was voted in, his nomination not contested by the ANC. Larkan succeeds Cllr BV Mthethwa, who has lost favour with the IFP hierarchy. The re-election of the Mayoral position, as well as that of Deputy Mayor, Speaker, Representation on the Executive Committee and Portfolio Committees took place as part of the reconstitution of Council. This follows the floor crossing period which ended in September. Ivan Naidoo was re-elected as Deputy Mayor, while Dr Nkonzoyakhe Donda was re-elected as Speaker. Heated discussion When the meeting started concern was expressed, particularly by ANC members, that re-elections would take place despite the fact that former Mayor BV Mthethwa and the IFP are locked in High Court action, following the expulsion and subsequent reinstatement of Mthethwa as a party and council member. The IFP appealed the previous court ruling which found in favour of Mthethwa, and the case is currently sub-judice in the High Court. Fears were raised that the situation could result in two members holding the mayoral position, while the impact of related legal costs came under heated discussion. Both the ANC and IFP caucused, following which it was decided to proceed with the reconstitution of Council and re-elections as a separate matter. Service delivery The meeting ended with the new mayor being warmly congratulated by City of uMhlathuze Mayor - Zakhele Mnqayi and Mayor of Mbonambi - ME Mthethwa. It was agreed by all that service delivery to the Zululand community remained the top priority of all political parties, who will work closely to achieve such goals. 'I know there are huge challenges ahead. 'I am blessed in being fluent in isiZulu and together with the councillors and municipal management team, we are committed to promoting good relationships between all our communities, especially between our rural communities and the Amakhosi,' said Larkan. A profile on the new District Mayor will appear in our next edition.

 

Load shedding here to stay

 

November 19, 2007

Zululand OBSERVER

	Load shedding here to stay Ronelle Ramsamy LOAD shedding will continue for the next five to seven years while South Africa's power supply infrastructure is upgraded to cope with increased demand. This is according to the country's power supplier Eskom, following further planned power outages countrywide last week. While the City of uMhlathuze was not affected by load shedding, Eskom's system of rotating existing power supplies took place in most parts of the country as a result of a national capacity shortage. According to Eskom, additional failures had occurred on generating units over their period of planned maintenance. The Summer season is when Eskom schedules routine maintenance on its generating plant, transmission and distribution infrastructure. 'All emergency energy resources have been exploited, which include the use of Eskom's gas turbines and buying back power from large industrial customers. 'However, this is not sufficient to address the shortfall, hence the need for load shedding,' said an Eskom statement. In the past, when Eskom had high excess capacity, they would have comfortably gone through the convergence of events such as maintenance, unplanned outages, load losses, and an increase in demand without affecting end users. However, over the last decade, South Africa has experienced a steady growth in the demand for electricity on the back of robust economic growth. Exhausted The power utility said the continued growth in the economy had exhausted Eskom's surplus electricity generation capacity and reduced their reserve margin progressively. 'We expect the reserve margin to continue on a downward trend for the next five to seven years until new base-load power plant is built. 'Eskom has accelerated the implementation of its capacity expansion programme and will invest R150-billion in the upgrading of South Africa's power supply infrastructure. 'The biggest percentage of the expenditure will go towards improving generation capacity through, among others, building new power stations,' said the statement. Eskom urges all businesses to turn off all non-essential lighting and office equipment during the day and evening. Residential consumers are also encouraged to switch off their geysers and non-essential equipment, especially during peak periods (7am - 10am and 6pm - 9pm). Load shedding schedules are available on the Eskom website: www.eskom.co.za and customers can contact Eskom on 086 0037566.

 

St. Lucia and Security

 

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Wetlands Smalls Fishing News Letter 20 November 2007 Issue 3 Year 1   Editor: Petrus Viviers        email         0835847473 Camping Accommodation fully booked over the Christmas Period. Some Self Catering Accommodation available in St. Lucia Town. St. Lucia and Security We had a very informative meeting with Alpha Security Services this morning. The long and the short of the story is that proactive security is needed to safe lives. There is nothing wrong with reactive security, but by adopting your security to suite your safety many criminal actions against you can be avoided. This was very informative and each individual has different needs, by analyzing these needs many security risks can be avoided. To keep in touch with these meetings send Petrus or get in touch with Alpha Security Services on 082 945 7181. They operate from Kosi to Balito. December 2007 - Tide Table Date Day High am Low am High pm Low pm 1 Sat 08 41 - - - 20 55 14 55 2 Sun 10 06 03 00 22 32 16 31 3 Mon 11 32 04 35 23 56 18 00 4 Tues - - - - 06 00 12 34 18 55 5 Wed 00 59 06 55 13 21 19 41 6 Thur 01 46 07 45 13 57 20 15 7 Fri 02 23 08 17 14 31 20 47 8 Sat 02 57 08 55 15 01 21 20 9 Sun 03 27 09 25 15 33 21 52 10 Mon 03 56 09 57 16 00 22 18 11 Tues 04 28 10 28 16 35 22 50 12 Wed 05 00 10 59 17 08 23 19 13 Thur 05 30 11 34 17 45 23 56 14 Fri 06 15 - - - 18 20 12 15 15 Sat 06 55 00 35 19 05 13 00 16 Sun 07 45 01 16 19 58 13 55 17 Mon 08 52 02 10 21 08 15 05 18 Tues 10 15 03 17 22 30 16 35 19 Wed 11 35 04 45 - - - 17 59 20 Thur - - - 06 10 12 37 19 05 21 Fri 01 13 07 17 13 40 20 00 22 Sat 02 12 08 15 14 31 20 49 23 Sun 03 00 09 00 15 20 21 33 24 Mon 03 47 09 52 16 03 22 17 25 Tues 04 31 10 33 16 48 23 00 26 Wed 05 13 11 13 17 27 23 36 27 Thur 05 53 11 52 18 05 - - - 28 Fri 06 30 00 08 18 41 12 35 29 Sat 07 10 00 48 19 20 13 13 30 Sun 07 50 01 24 19 55 13 56 31 Mon 08 40 02 05 20 45 14 52 Armed Robbery: Jo-A-Lise Holiday flats where robed on Saturday 18 November 2007. Luckily no body where injured although the ladies where badly traumatized by this incident. We all feel their pain and it is sad that no one feels safe at their work place any more. The negative spin continues as confidence are lost in certain race group as customers. St. Lucia and the surrounding communities are totally dependant on the Tourism Industry. It is very difficult to distinguish between races and criminals. Due to the lack of proactive policing, with a tip off that where received about 6 weeks ago, this crime still took place. Lack of armed response probably saved some lives. Good response from Alpha Security lead to the arrests of four suspects and the other two are still at large. St. Lucia is generally a very safe town with few criminal activities taking place. During the year Day Watch does a great job with their visible policing. Their friendly quick response solves many of the crime. Car breakings and attempted high jacking have been foiled by them during the year. This time off the year puts lots of strain on security companies since crime increases drastically. Since Day Watch is employed to do visible policing and crime prevention it makes business sense to approach another market leader to do proactive policing and panic response. What is the difference one may ask. Day Watch is tasked to patrol the streets and respond to call outs but they cannot monitor each persons well being and protect individual properties. Armed response is needed for families and people that need a reaction service when a panic button is pressed. This is an added service that is over and above the call out and response from the patrolling vehicle. The company tasked with preventive policing can not automatically be tasked for panic responses, since this is added pressure on their resources. So when they need to respond on personal alarms and panic call outs they need extra payment. Up until recently St. Lucia only had one alarm and panic response company to choose from. Current market trends has developed to such an extend that more companies are approached to render this service. New technology, proactive security systems and response time will play a great role in dictating this growing market segment.