I attended an interesting meeting the other day, and one of the guys that were in the meeting was telling us about the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and a little bit more about how it works.  I cannot help be impressed by what he said… I had no idea that…

1.  When a child get looked after by the fund, it’s a holistic funding.  A foster family is found.  They get money from the fund and instructions on how they expect the child and his/her siblings (cos they’re never split up) must get looked after.  The funds pay for everything including all the schooling until the age of 18.

2.  When the child reaches 18, they then get educated further by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.

3.  When they’ve finished studying they have to go back into the community where they grew up, and work there for the first 3 years to uplift the community.

Impressive hey?

Then, you know those 46664 bracelets?  Well, I didn’t realise that the serial numbers on them were so important.  I knew they were serialised, but had no idea what the reason was… it’s so that you can track where your money went.

Cool hey?!

I like what I heard

… and I’m in!!

I know it’s not like going out into the country, but seriously, a few nights away would just be awesome… and we could catch a show… just wander around… maybe book some time at a spa… and just spend time by ourselves!  Sounds divine, and it sounds especially divine after the crap traffic this evening that ended up causing me to get home after 7pm!! Can you say stress?!!

Anyhoo, here are the details:

Southern Sun announced last week the opening of their latest hotel on 24^th April, the Southern Sun Montecasino.

What’s really cool is that they’ve opened up a competition to bloggers!  Just think, how awesome it would be for some of the other city bloggers to win this and to come up for a weekend and meet all us awesome Jozi bloggers!!  So get to it, and write your blog post!!

Here’s the deal.  Blog about the Southern Sun Montecasino opening

1. In the blog post mention that this competition is open to all bloggers

2. Answer the 6 easy questions

3. Send the blog post link to sheenag@aquaonline.com to tally all entries

Questions are as follows:

1.       What is the opening rate special?

2.       Where has the latest Southern Sun opened? (they opened on 24^th April)

3.       Who is the General Manager of the hotel?

4.       How many rooms are there in the new hotel?

5.       When is their room service available? [How many hours a day?]

6.       Which item would you most like to order off the Punchinello’s menu?

*Hint: visit the website and download the fact sheet for more info.

On Friday 14^th May, one blogger will be chosen to win a weekend stay at Southern Sun Montecasino for 2 adults sharing, bed and breakfast and dinner to the value of R200 each.

Terms & Conditions:

Subject to availability, not applicable during 2010 World Cup

Children under 18 sharing parents’ room stay and eat breakfast free

Valid for 6 months from date of issue

Winners need to make their own travel arrangements to the hotel.

They fixed it!!

They arrived yesterday to fix the water problem.  I didn’t actually realise that they were also striking… that makes sense then.

And then they also went above and beyond duty a little.  The main tap inside our garden had also been leaking, and Lance had fixed it, but not covered it up yet, because he was waiting for them to fix the problem on the road so he could stop the water for a while, while he sorted it out properly.

They looked at what he had done, and asked where the cover was for it.  He told them that there had never been a cover, and the one reason he’s left it open was so he could put a bigger pipe around it to protect it.

They proceeded to go the truck and get him a proper meter cover!! How cool is that?!  So now it looks proper too

Today is Earth Day 2010, and I should really be blogging about what I’m doing to help the environment, and to encourage everyone else to do the same.

However, I’m too irritated with Joburg Water… and the subject matter is actually related!

We have a leak at our water meter on the road, and Lance reported it 3 days ago… do you think anyone has bothered to come and fix it?  Of course not!  When he logged the call, the guy couldn’t even tell him how long it would take to fix.

And it’s not a trickle!  OK, it’s not a fountain either, but that’s not the point, it’s SUCH a waste of a precious resource.

We only found it because we had a leak at our main tap, and we needed to turn it off at the meter to fix the problem.  So, until they fix the leak at the meter, we can’t actually replace the fitting that’s worn out inside our garden walls.

I wonder how much water has been lost with the leak so far?  It makes me mad even thinking about it actually.

Not only that.. but when Lance opened it up, he had to scoop out the muddy deposits on top of the actual meter to get to it.  Which leads me to the next question… when last did they actually read our meter?

And it’s not only ours, Lance went to check our neighbours meter too… and it’s even worse.  His is completely covered in hardened soil!!

How the hell are we being charged?

And also… if they’d freaking bothered to read the meter more regularly they would have found the leak sooner and less water would have been wasted!! So much for their banner on the home page of their website talking about being a water warrior – if you start some kind of campaign like that – you should start with your own employees!!

Every single little girl grows up learning about the gracefulness being a ballerina.

Every single little girl, at some point in her life, yearns to dance.

Every single little girl wants to wear a tutu and a tiara and prance around on tippy toes and dance to her hearts content.

Every single little girl dreams of dancing to audiences on a stage and getting praise and applause for being beautiful and graceful and perfectly girly.

Dancing to me, is an essential part of growing up.

Dancing is an essential part of human culture.

I got the link to the Save the Cape Town City Ballet site yesterday, and I think it’s a crying shame that the company is not getting the funding that’s needed to develop and bolster all the little girls in Cape Town’s dreams of being a ballerina.

Basically the Ballet company will close down if it doesn’t receive urgent funding.  We cannot let that happen.

I don’t have a little girl, but I have a niece.  A little girly girl, who learnt to walk on her tippy toes, before she walked on flat feet.  She has just turned 3, and is forever twirling and dancing and prancing around.  The thought of her not being able to go to that prestigious company, if she ever gets that good, just because a few bureaucrats were shortsighted, makes my blood boil.

So, lets all pull together to do something about it.  Please tell your companies.  Please tell your colleagues.  Please tell your friends.

If you donate something, you also stand a chance to win one of the following:

• One of 5 sets of double tickets to the Poetry In Motion Gala Event, to be
  held at Artscape Opera House on Sunday, 9 May 2010 [ More info ... ]

• 24 Bottles of wine, kindly donated by Michael Oliver, along with 3 signed
  copies of his books.

• A magnificent poster-size photographic print from Cape Town City Ballet’s
  current photographer, Pat Bromilow-Downing.

Please use the reference JV1 for your donations:

Cheques should be made out to:
CAPE TOWN CITY BALLET and posted to
PO Box 94, RONDEBOSCH 7701

For direct internet transfers:
Bank: NEDBANK
Account name: CAPE TOWN CITY BALLET
Branch code: 123 209 (Please note: Some banks will require 2 extra 00′s at the end, eg. 123 209 00)
Account no: 123 200 8842
Reference: Name + Reference Number (JV1)

If you make a donation, please send an email to win@savecapetowncityballet.co.za and with details of  your name,
contact details and the amount donated. All emails received will be placed into a
random draw, to be held on Tuesday, 4 May 2010.

One of the things I normally miss when going on holiday is the current news of the goings on in the world.  Not this time however, and it was such a different experience that I needed to blog about it.

OK, you all know how much I love twitter etc, but seriously, it was the only way we got news of what was going on with the world this time.

Twitter peeps tweeted about the political goings on with Malema and the ET debacle etc etc etc as it was happening… then I went looking for more in-depth articles to read up more about it.  And every single time, the best source I found, that was the fastest… with the most comprehensive news… was The Daily Maverick.

Maybe it’s because I follow a few of their journalists on Twitter, so I got the links too… but seriously, the coverage of the current news on that site was phenomenal compared to all the other news sites.

So thanks all my tweeting peeps, and the guys at Daily Maverick, for helping me stay informed.

So now, I’ve subscribed to their First Thing newsletter too… it’s awesome… you get the news that happened overnight in a newsletter when you wake up in the morning!

I’m a little late, but my freedom of expression was curbed at work today, because Websphere has decided that my blog is a games site… but anyhoo… I cannot be stopped

There was a call a few days ago for all SA bloggers to unite against the threat against freedom of expression in South Africa. Now I don’t normally get involved in political issues on my blog… but this time I feel strongly enough about it, so I’m joining in the fray.

Expression of my thoughts is why this blog has been going for so long. Yes, some thoughts have been tempered over time because there have been huge ramifications about what I’ve said in the past, but in essence, my blog has remained about my thoughts about what happens to me and affects me and my family and friends.

From my blogging, I know how difficult it is at times to stand by what you write… there are very often times that a lot of people disagree with me, but it’s important to get those thoughts out, I think. If I think about something in some way, guaranteed someone else will think the same thing but not be able to put it into words. And by getting those thoughts on my blog, I get to properly explore my feelings and get to rationalise them too (well hopefully anyway)

Anyway, this was a very long preamble, and hopefully you’re still awake but because of the reactions to some of things I’ve blogged about in the past, I take my hat off to investigative journalists. I really do! They play an extremely important role in our society and even though, I don’t necessarily agree with the tactics they might employ to get the story… get the story they must!

And so, that is why I join Chris Roper and other SA bloggers in this campaign, and post the message as written by Sipho Hlongwane

Last week, shocking revelations concerning the activities of the ANC YouthLeague spokesperson Nyiko Floyd Shivambu came to the fore. According to a letter published in various news outlets, a complaint was laid by 19 political journalists with the Secretary General of the ANC, against Shivambu. This complaint letter detailed attempts by Shivambu to leak a dossier to certain journalists, purporting to expose the money laundering practices of Dumisani Lubisi, a journalist at the City Press. The letter also detailed the intimidation that followed when these journalists refused to publish these revelations. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reprisals against journalists by Shivambu. His actions constitute a blatant attack on media freedom and a grave infringement on Constitutional rights. It is a disturbing step towards dictatorial rule in South Africa.
We call on the ANC and the ANC Youth League to distance themselves from the actions of Shivambu. The media have, time and again, been a vital democratic safeguard by exposing the actions of individuals who have abused their positions of power for personal and political gain.
The press have played a vital role in the liberation struggle, operating under difficult and often dangerous conditions to document some of the most crucial moments in the struggle against apartheid. It is therefore distressing to note that certain people within the ruling party are willing to maliciously target journalists by invading their privacy and threatening their colleagues in a bid to
silence them in their legitimate work.
We also note the breathtaking hubris displayed by Shivambu and the ANC Youth League President Julius Malema in their response to the letter of complaint. Shivambu and Malema clearly have no respect for the media and the rights afforded to the media by the Constitution of South Africa. Such a response serves only to reinforce the position that the motive for leaking the so-called dossier was not a legitimate concern, but a insolent effort to intimidate and bully a journalist who had exposed embarrassing information
about the Youth League President.

We urge the ANC as a whole to reaffirm its commitment to media freedom and other Constitutional rights we enjoy as a country.

See the blogroll here

Ooh and an update… the ANCYL has responded

I know, I should be excited about the World Cup, but I’m not really.

This morning on 5FM, Gareth Cliff was waxing lyrical again about the World Cup, and after being asked whether people will be working during this time, Gareth said yes, all businesses will be working, and should be profiting on the back of it… and only teachers will be off.

Well, I don’t see it that way.

I’m a mother who works.  Like most people who work, there are only a certain number of days leave that you get allocated every year.

I would like to know the following… if all the schools are closed, and all the daycares are closed, who is going to look after the kids for 6 weeks?  Who?

I don’t know about you, but I can’t take that much leave.

So, guess what’s going to happen, companies will have to let people bring their kids to work.  And guess what… productivity levels will drop… therefore less money to be made by everyone!  Let alone the increase in frustration and aggravation levels in the offices because of the kids creating havoc everywhere – and not just for the non-parenting, but also for the parents who will be endlessly hassled for drinks and entertainment during the day.

Oh yes, I see fun ahead.

What happens to clothes that don’t sell at local retailers?

Burghbaby wrote a blog post about what she’d heard from various sources about what H&M does (and it seems other retailers too based on the comments she’s received)…. they destroy them in the stores and then chuck them in the dumpsters.

I find that shocking, but it got me wondering about what happens here.

I can’t say what happens at other retailers but when I worked at Woolworths years ago; if the stores didn’t sell a range, it was sent to another store where it was selling. If that wasn’t an option, or it didn’t sell there, it was put on sale. If it didn’t sell on sale, after a number of markdowns, all the end of sale items were sent to one of the inner city stores, where they were sold for a pittance.

I have no idea what happened after that. But, I’m almost sure it wasn’t destroyed.

What a waste of good clothing if that’s what actually happens in South Africa too!

If you follow me on Twitter and FB you would have noticed that I’ve changed my picture to this one with me and a Christmas hat… well… iMod is running a challenge at the moment and the first 500 people to change their photos to include a photo of themselves with a Christmas hat will get R2 donated on their behalf to Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and FeistyFemale (Beverley Merriman) will match the donation

http://imod.co.za/2009/12/01/twismas-time/

What are you waiting for?!!

Change your photo and add your name to his list, it’s for a great cause!