South Africa Blog

Friday 18th September is Do It Day – the one amazing day each year when South Africans take time out to share their energy and skills with good causes around the country. Note it in your diary – this year is going to be the biggest Do It Day yet! Do It Day is an annual call to action event organised and hosted by GreaterGood South Africa and brought to you by The Old Mutual Foundation and other associate sponsors. It’s a day of nation-building that connects South Africans with good causes, to give something back to our communities.

It’s easy to make a difference on Do It Day – all you need to do is sign up online for a project in your city that you’d like to volunteer at and arrive on the 18th September. GreaterGood SA aims to mobilise ‘Team South Africa’ and recruit a record 20 000 volunteers working on 2 000 projects this year, providing a huge range of options, so that everyone will be able to find something that appeals to them. The non-profit organisations registered with GreaterGood SA have loads of jobs that need doing, from painting homeless shelters, to making sandwiches for the hungry and clearing alien vegetation at animal welfare societies.

Do It Day projects are categorised into ‘heart’, ‘head’ and ‘sweat’ projects. An example of a heart project might be reading to the elderly at a care home in your community, whilst a head project might be using your computer skills to create a database or a website for a local organisation. Sweat projects simply require hard work and vary from fixing a roof to creating food gardens.

As we are gearing up for 2010, many of the Do It Day projects will have an urban greening focus this year, so that we can clean up our beautiful country in preparation for the soccer world cup. There will also be a focus on youth development, to get our children off the streets and onto the soccer pitch, and doing something constructive and empowering.

In these challenging economic times, the message of Do It Day rings loud and clear – everyone has something to give – and making a difference doesn’t have to cost you a cent. Do It Day is all about encouraging a culture of volunteering by leveraging the huge pool of human capital resources that are readily available, namely, our time, skills and energy, to uplift our communities.

GreaterGood South Africa sees Do It Day as a powerful, symbolic tool for change, with the potential to promote sustainable, long-term relationships between volunteers and causes and transform mindsets about giving. The event promotes teamwork, motivates staff, demonstrates the virtue of hard work and supports good causes in communities across South Africa.

You can sign up online from 1st July, at www.doitday.co.za, or simply SMS the word ‘Volunteer’ and your name to 33009.
*SMS’s are charged at R1,50. Free SMS’s don’t apply.

Signing up as a volunteer is quick and easy. And if you can’t make the actual day, you can still contribute – we have some ready-made alternatives for you. Just visit the website or contact us on (021) 762 7338 to find out. www.doitday.co.za

By Dominic Khuzwayo

Sydney Ace Mnisi, one of the greatest saxophonists in South Africa finally launched his album on Tuesday 29 July 2008 at Barrington’s Restaurant, Johannesburg (Killarney Mall). The album title 20 years celebration indeed attracted many jazz artist and fans to come witness the celebration of this offering.

Started the music journey at age 28, Bra Sydney has toured to places like London, US, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium just to name the few. He also shared stage with great artist, Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim, Feya Faku, Pat Matsikiza and recently the Voice. He is one of those few musicians you can easily tell that is humble when he is playing, ‘he has a soft touch.’

Just by listening to the first track named it’s about time, one can’t dispute that this nine tracks album is going to be played even after 20 years. And adding to good flavour to the sound is Andile Yenana (pianist), Jimmy Mngwandi (bassist) and Clement Benny (drummer).

It was all hands clapping as the band ‘strum the first note’, you could see Bra Sydney happiness popping out his eyes. There’s a guy who was sitting next to me that I think describe the song title Afro nicely, “Oh! this is good song when you’re driving’, I can’t say more but if you want to beat the stress of traffic Afro is the tune.

In addition, the are other good tunes like Blues Tembisa, Global village, Lost a few times, Courtyard, Skuka & Kwela Gontsana, but the one which gave me a he! moment was the last tune from the set, Grooving in hell.

One might say it’s quite a contradictory to rap artist 2pac thug mansion, ‘a place where thugs go to when they die’. But Bra Sydney’s horn will turn your thoughts off, thinking hell as a scary place to a place where you can groove!

It might not be a favourite title for Christians but no doubt is tune that will make them forget about the name and start taping through the whole 20 years of experience.

More info:
Name: Dominic Khuzwayo
Company: CRN Magazine (Journalist)
Cell: 078 5745 807

Nelson Mandela will again host a star-studded concert in South Africa in December. Madiba will bring together the world’s greatest musical acts for the show which is scheduled to take place at Ellis Park Stadium in Jo-burg on World AIDS Day on 1 December 2007.

2007 marks the fifth concert Nelson Mandela has organized under his 46664 campaign (named after his prison number from the 27 years he spent in jail on Robben Island). The campaign raises awareness about HIV and AIDS.

“We are grateful that the City of Johannesburg has made it possible for 46664 to stage our first concert on World AIDS Day. Johannesburg has long asked for a concert to be held here and I am happy that we can now deliver to the people of Johannesburg. We look forward to being joined by thousands of citizens on that day”, said the Former South African President.

The Johannesburg concert is set to feature 35 world-famous artists and is expected to attract +/- 50,000 music fans. This will contribute substantially to the $3million already raised for AIDS awareness through the 46664 concerts. Mandela said, “The 46664 campaign has done great work in putting the global spotlight on the issue of HIV and AIDS. We will continue to use celebrities from the world of music, sports and entertainment to speak to the youth about the disease.”

The line-up for the December concert is expected to be announced on October 15, 2007 – Watch this space!

New website www.adamandeve.co.za showcases South African fashion designers. A forward-thinking South African company has launched a first of its kind in SA website to encourage established and up-and-coming fashion designers to showcase clothing and accessories in their unique online, virtual shop.

Showcasing popular Designers such as Ape Town, Kluk CGDT, Levis, Rosenwerth, Puma amongst many others, the site is sure to delight any ardent online shopper. This online shopping centre makes top end fashion easily accessible to local and international clients.

Visit the site at: www.adamandeve.co.za

Hundreds braved the stormy, cold weather in Cape Town on Saturday to take the 4-5 hour car trip to catch a glimpse of snow. Some even managed to gather enough snow together to make snowmen …. Snow men in Africa!

Related Links:
Ceres Accommodation
Ceres Attractions
Breede River Valley

The Connections Zulu Choir returned from Australia last week after introducing the country to the unique sounds of South African music on a three-week tour of Australia. The choir, from Kwa Nyuswa, is made up of 20 teenagers and young adults. The tour was organised by The Oaktree Foundation, an Australian aid group run entirely by volunteers under the age of 26.

While in Australia, the choir travelled over 1,500km to perform at 20 mostly sold out concerts to around 10,000 people. As well as receiving great feedback from excited audiences, media outlets around Australia were very keen to interview the choir. Through their media appearances, the choir reached around three million people, performing live on Australia’s highest-rating breakfast television program, Sunrise and appearing in major metropolitan and regional newspapers.

They were also in hot demand by Aussie bands while they were in the country. One of the highlights of the tour was a collaboration with Evermore, one of the country’s highest-selling bands. The choir also appeared at Evermore’s Melbourne concert to sing two songs to over4,000 screaming audience members. The choir also impressed Bliss n Eso, one of Australia’s biggest hip hop groups, when they recorded tracks together for Bliss n Eso’s forthcoming album. Both Evermore and Bliss n Esso visited South Africa this week with The Oaktree Foundation and MTV, and again they worked with Connections Choir whilst in Kwa Nyuswa.

The choir met a group of young Australian musicians in early 2005 when the Aussies were on a study tour with The Oaktree Foundation, and they have shared an amazing friendship and partnership since then. They wrote and recorded a CD in 2005, and then in 2006 the Australian musicians returned to South African again and recorded a second CD with the choir. This CD was called Simunye Sound (or ‘we are one’ sound in Zulu) – and it is a mix of Australian and South African sounds and influences, including the Zulu choir, a jazz singer, a punk singer, an electric guitarist, a bass player, a percussionist, a keyboardist and a guitarist. The group of Aussie musicians joined forces with The Oaktree Foundation at bring the choir to Australia. The choir performed both by themselves and as Simunye Sound with their Australian musician friends.

Nhlanhla Jila, the leader of the Connections Zulu Choir, said the tour was an amazing experience for all the choir members. “We feel so lucky that we were given this amazing opportunity to travel to Australia and share our music with the people there. This trip was the biggest thing any of us have ever done,” he said. “We met so many wonderful people in Australia and are looking forward to keeping in touch with our new friends across the ocean. And of course we’re hoping to go back to Australia soon to do it all again!”

Olivia Brian, one of the Australian musicians the choir toured with, said it was an experience that she was proud to be a part of. “The choir touched so many people in Australia with their music and their inspirational story while they were here,” she said. “The tour was a huge success and I know many people in Australia are keen to have the choir return”.

 “The choir also did a great job at promoting South African music and culture, and giving Australians a taste of South African life – I’m sure that there will be many Australians looking forward to visiting the country after seeing the choir perform!” 

Connections Choir are hopeful that this will not be their first international music tour. “We feel this is very much the beginning. None of us had ever been overseas before this trip to Australia – and it was the best thing we’ve ever experienced. We hope to continue our friendship and partnership with our Australian musician friends. We want to record more CDs with them, write more music and tour again. We’re also hoping to expand our reach within South Africa – there is a lot of exciting things to come!” said Mr Jila.

For interviews, photo opportunities and media enquiries please contact:
NhlaNhla Jila, Choir Leader, on 07823110998
Olivia Brian, Oaktree Foundation volunteer, +61 410 531 436

Happy 89th Birthday Madiba! South Africa loves You and celebrates with You!

SO WHY CAN’T THE REST OF THE WORLD GET ALONG ??

Join us in wishing President Mbeki on his 65th Birthday!
We hope you are having a wonderful day and celebrate another 65 years!
Wishing you a very happy birthday, from all at the www.SouthAfricaBlog.co.za

The Road Safety website www.arrivealive.co.za was launched in March 2003 as a private initiative to create awareness of road safety via the internet. The Arrive Alive Website is managed and funded by individuals and companies in the interest of road safety in general and endorsed by the Department of Transport.

The Arrive Alive website complements the government’s Arrive Alive campaign, and was developed in co-operation with the Department of Transport and the Road Traffic Management Corporation, which provides statistical information and news releases. The website records more than 450 000 impressions per month and is utilized not only by the Department of Transport but various other role players, stake holders, government and transport officials, interested parties, researchers, journalists, students and learners worldwide.

ArriveAlive.co.za covers road safety related topics across the board, ranging from vehicle and driver fitness, drunken driving, aggressive driving, drowsiness and speeding and the safety of other roads users, including pedestrians and cyclists. The site has also gone a step further, helping South African motorists to contribute to a growing pool of information – on hazardous road conditions, on bad drivers – aimed at increasing awareness of road safety and reducing the number of deaths on the country’s roads.

South Africans can also register via the website as “voluntary traffic observers”, and make online submissions on bad driving. These registrations and reports are delivered directly to the Department of Transport’s national traffic call centre which relays the information to departments of roads, public works and transport countrywide.

The developers pay close attention to feedback from the public, and new information is regularly added. The Arrive Alive Website is an invaluable and extremely useful source of information on virtually all matters related to transport and issues including road safety in the broadest sense of the word.

All road users are invited to share their recommendations on how to increase awareness of road safety!

Visit the Arrive Alive Website at: Arrive Alive
or their Blog at: Arrive Alive Blog

Whatever your plans for the weekend, be sure not sleep through the lunar eclipse on Saturday night. But be warned, the Moon will become an eerie, coppery-red colour that could bring out the Wolf in you.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into the shadow of Earth, becoming dim until it emerges from the shadow. This is a rare occurrence, only one will happen this year.

On Saturday the partial eclipse begins at 23:30, the total eclipse begins at 00:44 early on Sunday morning and lasts until 01:58, and at 03:11 the last sliver of the Moon will emerge from the Earth’s shadow.

Our astronomers will be doing special eclipse event talks and telescope viewing for visitors in the National Parks – Kruger, Golden Gate, Mapungubwe, Marakele and Mokala – and at Forum Homini in the Cradle of Humankind. We’re also doing some events in neighbouring countries – at The Falls in Zambia, Hwange Zimbabwe and in Mauritius.

Enjoy, wherever you are on Saturday night.

From Astronomy Africa
photo: bluepearlphoto.com
By: Barberton Manor

Comet McNaught, the brightest comet since 1965, is expected to be visible until Sunday. Dave Laney of the South African Astronomical Observatory says that the comet is unpredictable but will probably be visible for the rest of the week. Dave Laney recommends Llandudno as the best vantage point.

Photograph: Photograph of Comet McNaught over Hout Bay, Cape Town.

Comet McNaught is now the brightest comet in 40 years, according to the International Comet Quarterly at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Comet McNaught was named after Australian astronomer RH McNaught, who discovered it last year.

A site I always enjoy spending time on is the http:ZAR.co.za site. Authored and created by two South Africans, they have collected an amazing amount of information about South Africa and her people, which they are obviously very proud to share. From interesting facts and trivia that are known or not so well known about South Africa to statistics on population, growth, economy, languages, religion, provinces, capitals etc.

My personal favourite section of this site is a section on notable South Africans: “Meet some of the people that helped inspire a nation to greater heights. Some are tragedies, some are the stuff of legends …” (see this section at: http://zar.co.za/bio.htm). Here you will find bios on famous South Africans such as our beloved Nelson Mandela as well as Desmond Tutu, Miriam Makeba, Prof Chris Barnard, Olive Schreiner, Charlize Theron – and many, many more well know South Africans. Written in a style that is easy to read and interesting at the same time, I often spend a few hours reading these bios and learning even more about people who make me proud to be South African!

A nice touch on the site is their Quiz section. Do the “South African Slang” quiz – words we use every day such as Yebo! “vrot” and “aikona” – with explanations of their origination and meaning – well done. (I scored 86% – seems I need to brush up on my slang!). Other quizzes you can do (they only take a few minutes) is a Who’s Who? And geography quiz. (Geography is not my strongest point so I’ve saved this one for a day when I feel like learning something!).

Go to http://zar.co.za/sound.htm and listens to “Sounds of South Africa”. Includes animal sounds and bird calls, some of our languages and another favourite – Music. Listen to Mandoza, the Johannesburg African Choir, the famous Drakensberg Boys Choir, our South African Anthem “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” amongst others.

This is a site for all South Africans – and I love it!
Visit the site at: http:ZAR.co.za

Songs of Hope at the Desmond Tutu 75th Birthday Bash Concert:
Media release: 28 November 2006 Issued by Marlene Truter Communications

South African super band Freshlyground will be joined live on stage by jazz legend Vusi Mahlasela for a benefit concert at Spier on Thursday, 07 December 2006.

The Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation have teamed up with Freshlyground, winners of the Best African Act at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards, and Mahlasela to raise funds for the non profit organisation’s community sites in the Guguletu and Masiphumelele townships.

In particular, the concert marks the start of a campaign to raise funds for the Kethuphila Youth Centre to be built at Masiphumelele. This youth centre will bring new hope and opportunities for the young people of Masiphumelele.

This celebration of South African musical talent and Desmond Tutu’s 75th birthday gives music lovers the opportunity to support the Foundation in their efforts to bring hope to people living with HIV.

The Desmond Tutu 75th Birthday Bash Concert is part of the Spier African Arts Music Festival. Tickets cost R 170.00 per person.

For more information log on to www.computicket.com or www.spierarts.org.za or call the Spier Box Office on tel. 021 809 1111.

Robben Island: For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, 12 kilometres from Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment. It was here that rulers sent those they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society.

Photographs of Robben Island © Judith Malloy – To see more of Judith’s photos visit: http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/robben-island.htm

During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. The duty of those who ran the Island and its prison was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs. Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded on a psychological and political level in turning a prison ‘hell-hole’ into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation. Robben Island came to symbolise, not only for South Africa and the African continent, but also for the entire world, the triumph of the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity …

Related Links:
Robben Island, Cape Town
Nelson Mandela
South Africa