On the way down the eastern coast of South Africa the Voyage for Cleaner Energy yacht, skippered by Conor Fogerty, elected to stop in Port Elizabeth as a safe haven to wait out the particularly bad weather pattern expected to hit our coastline to-morrow, 18 May 2012. 2041, a company dedicated to the preservation of the Antarctic was founded by Robert Charles Swan, OBE, FRGS – the first person to walk to both Poles. In 2002, at the 2nd World Summit on sustainability held in Johannesburg, World … [Read more...]

The annual Spar Ladies race took place on 5 May 2012. A tradition of the fun race is that men may take part only if they look the part. Of course this offers a great opportunity for one like myself to showcase this “aberration” or “predilection” that certain men have for making themselves pretty. Only joking guys, really, maybe, could be, whatever. Today we bring you two images of brave men looking the part – if you know their names please post them in the comments section below. See … [Read more...]

Saru report that a further meeting of franchises of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) to discuss participation in the Vodacom Super Rugby competition will take place on Monday. Representatives of South Africa’s five existing Super Rugby franchises (Vodacom Bulls, Toyota Cheetahs, MTN Lions, The Sharks and DHL Stormers), the Southern Kings, the SARU presidency and management met in Johannesburg on Thursday in the latest in a series of meetings on the subject. “Everyone was agreed that we … [Read more...]

Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT) and the municipality report that they have reaped the benefits of their collective efforts at the South African tourism event of the year, Indaba 2012, saying that they have returned to the city together with enthusiast international media all set to tell millions of readers and viewers all about Nelson Mandela Bay. Chinese and Argentinian journalists from their respective countries’ top travel media have selected Nelson Mandela Bay as their post Indaba tour. … [Read more...]

Retail trade sales rose by 6.8% year-on-year in March, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday. In February, retail sales rose by a downward revised 6.7% increase. According to Stats SA, retail trade sales for the first quarter of 2012 showed an increase of 5.9% compared to the first quarter of 2011. Contributors to the increase were general dealers at 5.9%; other retailers at 8.3% as well as retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods at 5.4%. On a month-on-month, … [Read more...]

This week, the Property Poser panel deals with a rental issue from a reader whose landlord sent her an SMS instructing her to vacate his property by the end of the month. She admits that, since her husband has been retrenched, they have been in arrears with the rental. The couple had offered to repay the amount in instalments or set up a debit order, but received no response. The reader would like to know whether they could give their landlord one month’s notice or whether they should wait for … [Read more...]

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Protests against the efforts to remove sexual orientation protection from the Constitution will be held around the country this weekend. These protests will take place in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban on 19 May and Port Elizabeth on 20 May. The protests are in reaction to the recent proposal by The House of Traditional Leaders to remove the term “sexual orientation” from section 9 (3) of the Constitution, which prohibits unfair discrimination. While the ANC and the DA have said that … [Read more...]

Volkswagen Group South Africa has been recognised by the Global Business Coalition on Health (GBC Health) at its annual conference in New York for its outstanding work in the category – Workplace/Workforce Engagement with the designation “Commended Company”. Volkswagen Group South Africa has previously received award at this conference for its pioneering work in the field of HIV prevention under the leadership of company Doctor Alex Govender. “Volkswagen’s health and wellness programme … [Read more...]

The water supply to Walmer – below 7th Avenue, South End, Forest Hill, Humewood and some surrounding areas, will be affected today as a result of a water leak being repaired on the runway of the Port Elizabeth International Airport. The work could result in some areas having no water and others experiencing low water pressure for at least eight hours. The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused by this unforeseen leak. … [Read more...]

John-Lee Augustyn, one of South Africa’s foremost cycling exports, has returned home to share the benefit of his extensive international experience with the Port Elizabeth cycling fraternity while he recovers from a lingering hip injury. The 25-year-old is one of only two South African cyclists to have participated in all three European grand tours – the Tour of Spain, Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. The other is Robert Hunter, who he helped to win the national road championships earlier … [Read more...]

Dear Editor The massive publicity surrounding the Democratic Alliance’s march on Cosatu House has placed the youth wage subsidy-proposal of the DA firmly in the public domain. This proposal will create 400 000 jobs for young South Africans who are desperate to find employment. There is R5 billion in the current budget to fund this proposal. It should also be noted that President Zuma supported this concept in his 2009 State of the Nation Address. The obstacle to this proposal being … [Read more...]

I was forwarded an e-mail today by Nanette from the 50 College Drive Guest House in Mill Park and contained within were the most wonderful kudos for St Georges Park, Nanette and Port Elizabeth. The writer, John Waters, was full of praise and wrote: In our periodical reminiscences on our travels in South Africa we always talk fondly of our stay at your beautiful guest house. When we left you on the last morning (Editor’s Note: of John and wife Cheryl’s stay in 2011), we went to the impressive … [Read more...]

With an ever increasing health care infrastructure backlog of more than R19 billion, there is realistically no chance that the Eastern Cape Department of Health (EC DoH) will EVER be ready for the planned roll-out of the NHI (National Health Insurance) unless drastic measures are taken immediately. In a sitting of the Eastern Cape Health Portfolio Committee in the Provincial Legislature on 15 May 2012 it was confirmed by the Department of Health that the current health care infrastructure … [Read more...]

Port Elizabeth paralympic swimmer Kevin Paul is home after a rigorous week of training under the watchful eye of Dr Karen Hugo, the head biokinethetist at the Stellenbosch University Sports Institute. Paul has qualified for four races to date for the London Paralympics in August and September and is currently at the height of his preparation. Paul’s week in the wine country consisted of nine swimming sessions of between two and three hours each, gym work and conditioning programmes which took … [Read more...]