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April 2011
SINDIWE MAGONAAuthor, poet, Marina Resident, Sindiwe Magona received The Order of Ikamanga from the State President on 27 April 2011, Freedom Day, in honour of her outstanding achievement in literature, playwright and for using her pen as a weapon in the struggle for peace, social change and freedom. Sindiwe describes the ceremony and the speech of the State President as moving and was extremely humbled by the award. At the same time, she felt elated and fired up to keep writing, renewed in her inspiration and obligation to take her role seriously and strive to deliver more. She has already produced over 100 readers in our schools, translated into most of our official languages, including a series in isiXhosa. These books are aimed at Grade 1, 2 and 3, the foundation years. Plans are underway to extend the series to the intermediate groups. Sindiwe is determined to encourage a culture of literacy in our children by creating a love for reading and having our children follow the characters in her books as they navigate through their primary years.
Having also written her autobiography, she has been commission to write the biography of Archbishop Njongo Ndungane. This 3 year project is nearing completion and this rich heritage would make many a South African proud to add that to their coffee table selection.
I first had the privilege to meet Sindiwe a few months ago when she first visited the Eastlake Centre for a coffee. During our brief chat, I got a deeper insight into the grace, drive, beauty and initiative of a woman who lives just down our street, Sindiwe Magona. Words alone do not capture the true essence of this phenomenal woman. Long may you continue your wonderful contribution to the future of our country.
Elaine Meyer
CHAIRPERSONS REPORTThe first five months of this year have seen several improvements in the Marina. The painting of the boundary wall is now complete, the Marina has at last acquired rubbish bins for the foot bridges and some of the main streets, and Gerry Bush, the standards inspector, assisted by one of my workers, has started an ongoing war on graffiti. Please let the office know if graffiti appears in your area and it will be dealt with as quickly as possible. Despite cut- backs to their budget, the parks department has found some funding for the watering system for the Uitsig park; and we are very grateful to them. The installation of the sprinkler system will be started soon, weather permitting.
As a further exercise in sprucing up the Marina, a meeting has been arranged with a member of the roads department to deal with a variety of issues such as speed regulation, faded road markings, traffic and street signs that need to be replaced, and a wheelchair friendly route to the Centre.
One limiting factor in carrying out improvements and in the running of the Marina association in general, is the extent to which the size of the executive committee(excom) has been reduced over the last nine months. There are at present only seven members to run the nine portfolios, and several of these members have full time careers and businesses. New members are urgently needed not only to ensure the continued efficient running of the Marina, but to provide fresh approaches and new ideas, and to help to keep the association more closely in touch with the residents.
I would particularly like to have representatives from Marina Moorings and San Marina serving on Excom, so that we can have a better understanding of the needs and problems of these areas.
Members of excom serve in a voluntary capacity, and must be paid up members of the association. The executive committee meets once a month and the duties need not be onerous. If any property owner feels that he or she would like in some way to be involved in the running of the Marina, or if you know some one who you feel might have a contribution to make, please contact me directly or through Marcia at the office. I really hope that members will respond to this urgent plea and offer their services.
Two Marina residents have recently received awards from the City of Cape Town to honour them for outstanding service to the city and its residents. Congratulations to Demetri Qually who has been made an Alderman and George Ellis, who has signed the civic honours book.-Both honours well deserved.
Toni Joubert.
PORTFOLIO: STREET REPS| Area Rep: Karen Cousins Street Reps: Dennis Mortimer Debbie Clark for Mallard |
46 Units: Eastlake Drive South East - Geneva, Teal, Mallard, Port, Starboard |
| Area Rep: Street Rep: Dee Rossouw for Dabchick Street Rep: Elaine Meyer |
49 Units: Eastlake Drive East, Palm Mews, Eastlake Island Way to the Bridge, Waterside, Dabchick Quay |
| Area Rep: Street Rep: Brian Hope |
16 Units: Eastlake Island Way East 98 128 Eastlake Island Way 28 Units 18 68 |
| Area Rep: Gabby Perez Street Rep: Jill Curling |
31 units: Eastlake Island North: Tiller Arm, Capstan, Compass |
| Area Rep: Street Rep: Malcolm Boyle |
42 Units: Burgee Bend and Ripple Quay |
| Area Rep: Vacant Volunteer required Street Reps: John Crowhurst Vanessa Cross |
44 Units: Eastlake Island Central, Cable Close, Turkshead, Cutter Close, Halyard Walk |
| Street Reps: Karen Cousins Helen Paterson Ray Van Eyssen |
44 Units: Fisherman's Quay Tower Quay, Eastlake Drive West |
| Area Rep: Ken Burke Sandy Moffat |
54 Units: Battle Ridge & The Row |
| Area Rep: Vacant Volunteer required Rep required for Cannon Island Way! |
61 Units: Cannon/Admiral's Walk |
| Area Rep: Martin & Marina Gee Street Reps: Richard and Amanda Van Greunen |
16 Units: Spearhead Quay |
| Area Rep: Eddie & Merle Windsor |
14 Units: Sonnet Quay |
| Area Rep: Les McCarthy Street Reps: Jenny Knapp Lesley Jones Peter Wright Charles & Carol Hutton (for Park Island Quay) Llewellyn Jordaan Mike & Barbara Evans Joyce Reddell for T'Wagen Georgi Tuckwell Lynne Abrahamson Lynne Weight Rosemary Borden Rob Maclean Graham Winkworth Stef Meierhans David Rogers |
225 Units: Park Island Way West, Park Island Way East, Park Island Quay, Constantia, Tokai, Thibault, Park Close, T'wagen, Meulen, Rusten, Stellen, Michell, Alphen, De Lille Square, Eastlake Drive North, Eastlake Drive South, Bridge Island 107 Units: Park Island Quay |
| Area Rep: Theresa Beetge Street Reps: David Derbyshire Alex Fredericks Sheppard Pye Heidi Vanneck Lisa Wellman Mr Winton Scott |
233 Units: San Marina Shearwater, Spurwing, Cormorant, Pelican, Coot, Heron |
| Area Rep: Cathy Helmbold |
38 Units |
| Area Rep: Simon & Joanne Russell Street Reps: Peter Felmore Gerry Bush Colin Hurst |
65 Units: Uitsig South Baalen Walk Eastlake Drive Oudevlei Road Texel Close |
| Area Rep: Pixie Levesque Street Reps: Debbie Len & Heyla Murgatroyd Jane Doy Mrs Sarah |
82 Units: Uitsig West, Uitsig Road, Delft, Gelder, Brabant, Zee |
| Area Rep: Vacant Volunteers required Street Reps: Sue Harwood assists with deliveries Ronald Williams Caroline Zutphen |
136 Units: Marina Moorings Bluefin, Leervis, Springer, Mullet, Carp, Red Roman, Oudevlei, Conifer Close. |
Elaine Meyer
GOING AROUND THE BEND - THE ROYAL WEDDINGYes, you read that correctly. Today I'm writing about the Royal Weeding, which is the subterfuge I resorted to in order to watch the Royal Wedding which you may recall recently, sandwiched between Easter eggs and an eternity of long weekends.
The trick was to discreetly organise my life so that I could, along with a gazillion other TV viewers, watch the biggest and most glamorous reality show on earth (thereby avoiding playing into Ampie's hands as a 'Pom-dasher', a term he loves to tease me when I remind him of my Irish blood).
How to put aside all the daily chores so I can park with a clear conscience in front of said TV with my best friend and a pile of cake? With the washing stacked up after days of rain, and the garden in need of a firm hand, there was no excuse. But wait, I think. How to conjure up rain, given that I don't have the skills of a sangoma. Where's the Rain Queen when you need her?
So I did what I always do when I want it to rain. Wash windows, hang up the laundry and weed the veggies. Sure enough, down came the rain. So the 'royal weeding' turned, like a pumpkin, into a royal prince and princess, and we watched it all, just like you.
Or not. Earlier on that morning of April 29, I was in the local Lakeside pharmacy full of sulky-looking staff. Where's your TV, I chaffed cheerily? We asked, they said between gritted teeth, but we didn't get. While we're busy speculating about 'the dress', a tall bloke, who's been patiently waiting for his prescription, finally snaps.
Why do you want to watch the wedding, he demands (though with a grin)? I'm an Afrikaner and it's BORING! No, it's fun, we ripost. No, BORING! he replies, and this witless repartee goes back and forth until I deliver a nasty thrust: as boring as a Blue Bulls rugby match, I ask him? I support the Stormers! he quickly defends himself, but its game and match over, and we laugh as we leave. And by the way, sir, Die Burger was full of royal photographs the next day.
Including those weird hats. Victoria Beckham looked as if she was wearing a large melanoma on her forehead. As for Princess Beatrice who convinced her that wearing reindeer antlers was a good idea? And, Your Majesty, why do you think we gave your ancestor the Star of Africa if you're not going to trot out the royal gems for formal occasions? Blind us authentic bling!
Having a royal non-executive head of state may seem an anachronism in the modern world, and indeed it may well be, but the alternative, a political appointee, feels much worse (think of George W. Bush). Trust me on this: we had one in the family, with less than thrilling results.
It must be nice to have a unifying figure like Queenie, rising neutrally above the political fray, representing all her subjects despite the codswallop that goes on in Parliament. The closest we get is 'Princess' Sisulu who at the moment seems to be embellishing her wardrobe with the uniform of Commander in Chief, just in case .
So let's be nice and wish not only Will and Kate but all young couples setting forth together on their lifes' journey, the very best. It's lovely to know that romance is still alive.
Now, sod it, back to weeding the veggies.
Beverley Roos Muller
NEWS FROM ZANDVLEI...The 3rd butterfly census was done at Zandvlei on the 26th, 28th and 29th of April. The data gets submitted to the Southern African Butterfly Conservation Assessment. More information about the census can be found from their website: http://sabca.adu.org.za.
We found over 200 Cape Autumn Widows(Dira clytus),over 60 silver-bottom browns (Pseudonympha magus) and a rare sighting of a Common Hottentots Skipper (Gegenes niso niso).
CAPE AUTUMN WIDOWSThe family Satyriinae or browns are grass feeders, but have been successful in colonizing the grass-poor fynbos. Their diet of grass means they are not poisonous, so theoretically they cannot afford to be highly visible and they rely on camouflage to escape detection. By far the most common here in the Cape is the Cape Autumn Widow or Cape Autumn Brown, Dira clytus clytus. They have eyespots on their wings which are thought to confer some protection against predatory birds. Seldom do you see them on flowers, but females are often seen flying low over grass tussocks in which they scatter their eggs.
Info from: veldfloraed.blogspot.com
THE EASTLAKE VILLAGE CENTRERoyal High Tea
It was a splendid day at Upper Crust! The ladies (and some gents) from Marina Da Gama, donned their hats and gloves for the Royal High Tea and watched in awe as Prince William married his astonishingly beautiful bride, Kate Middleton.
Elaine served cucumber sandwiches, delicious sweet and savoury treats, Earl Grey tea and champagne and orange juice to toast the newly weds.
The day was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone!
The Red Geranium
The Red Geranium Nursery is owned by Sidney Farrell-Thorne and Gerry Jacobs who have both been Marina residents since 1985. Sidney and Gerry started selling their plants at the Marina Craft Market in 2009 as a fun thing, and met with such a wonderful response from gardeners in the Marina, that they decided to do so every Saturday, and finally to open a small nursery in the shopping centre. Gerry owns a large wholesale nursery in Malmesbury, and supplies mostly to the big retail nurseries, and also to the supermarket chains.
Sidney comes from a gardening background. His mother was the resident landscaper for the George and Oudtshoorn Municipalities in the 60's and 70's. He was a senior manager with the Nedbank group for 18 years, and owns a financial services company. Both Gerry and Sidney feel a strong sense of commitment to the Marina community. "This is the greatest place to live in the world, and we want this little shopping centre to be great, as well. It has become a " community centre" where people have drinks and good food, and meet people they never knew before."
We would like to see all our friends in the Marina share in our commitment, and support everyone in the centre.
After all, we all live here as well, lets support each other.
Body talk
BodyTalk is an astonishingly simple and effective holistic therapy that allows the body's energy systems to be re-synchronised so they can operate as nature intended. Each body system, cell and atom is in constant communication with each other at all times. Through exposure to the stresses of day-to-day life, however, these lines of communication can become compromised or disconnected, which then leads to a decline in physical, emotional and/or mental wellbeing. Reconnecting these lines of communication enables the body's internal mechanisms to function at optimal levels, thus repairing and preventing disease while rapidly accelerating the healing process. In this way, BodyTalk stimulates the body's innate ability to balance and heal itself on all levels.
Flexible and Safe
BodyTalk can be used as a stand alone system to treat many chronic and acute health problems or can be seamlessly integrated with any healthcare regimen to increase its overall effectiveness. BodyTalk's major assets are its simplicity, safety and the speed of results.
BodyTalk is non-invasive, objective in application and works effectively on humans and animals alike. If a BodyTalk technique is implemented incorrectly, there will be no result or change; it will not make things worse. Because of this built-in safety factor, anyone who receives BodyTalk has nothing to lose and everything to gain as far as his or her health and wellness is concerned.
There are nearly 2,000 BodyTalk Practitioners worldwide and 80 instructors teaching BodyTalk in 35 countries.
Jacques Smit Certified BodyTalk Practitioner 082 922 9043
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines "health" as "A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
BodyTalk is a new healthcare system that addresses this complete definition. It is the new language in health.
It combines Western medical expertise, Eastern philosophy, modern physics, the energy dynamics of acupuncture and the clinical findings of Applied Kinesiology. It is therefore a state-of-the-art energy medicine system that optimises the body's internal communication, thus helping it to operate more efficiently and respond more effectively to injury and illness.
I am Jacques Smit, a Certified BodyTalk Practitioner. This revolutionary healthcare system is now available in Muizenberg and surroundings. It can literally address everything from acne to phobias, and all conditions in-between.
To find out more, contact me at 082 922 9043 or visit my website www.MuizenbergBodyTalk.com
A GOLDEN VISTORThis summer we were fortunate enough to play host to 3 Golden Globe Spiders in our garden on Eastlake Island.
They were our guests for about 2 months and then suddenly, they and their exquisite golden webs vanished overnight , as silently and unobtrusively as they had arrived.
They had made their temporary home in our Eugenia hedge, and we enjoyed testing their web strength gingerly with a finger and blowing lightly onto the bodies of the brightly coloured girls (undoubtedly females, as the males are up to 1000 times smaller! And, not nearly so pretty!) which sent them scurrying up to the top of their inner web and turning upside down as if to be ready to take on an unseen predator.
They spin 2 webs, of beautiful golden thread. An inner one is flat and more like the webs we are familiar with, and then an outer orb, which seems to protect the inner web, is a completely separate structure. These spiders can be 20 cms across from toe to toe ,with a body of about 3-5cm. Certainly our visitors were in this category.
Usual distribution seems to be tropical areas of Africa, India, China, Japan, Northern Australia and the South Pacific Islands so I wonder how come three of them fetched up in our garden??
These beautiful spiders , Nephila maculata, are quite harmless to humans and while they are not the largest spiders in the world , they have the largest and strongest web of any spider. According to the web ( that is internet type web!) the silk of their web is almost as strong as Kevlar, which in my windsurfing days ,was the latest material used for sails. Maybe it still is?
It will be interesting to see if they or their progeny are around next summer.
Gabby Perez
Eastlake Island
PS Lots more info on www.
MEDAL FROM THE CAPE TOWN MAYOR...Shannon MacLean, the daughter of Rob and Sandy MacLean of Thibault Walk, Marina da Gama, graduated from U.C.T. at the end of 2010 not only with 1st class honours in Mechanical Engineering, she was recently awarded a silver-gilt medal by the City of Cape Town Corporation for being the top final year Mechanical Engineering student at U.C.T. in 2010.
She was presented with the medal by Cape Town Mayor, Mr. Dan Plato, along with other students who were top of their respective engineering courses for 2010.
But Shannon isn't just a top-notch academic, she being involved in many different areas of interest over the years - before and since graduating.
Born to the Marina in 1987, three years after her parents Rob and Sandy moved here, Shannon started her education at 'The Friend' in Muizenberg before progressing to Muizenberg Junior School.
Moving on to Springfield Convent in Grade 8 in 2001, Shannon immediately started to make her presence felt there academically, and was also involved in the various sports that were offered. In her own time (extra-murally), she continued with gymnastics, music, ballet and karate.
In her matric year at Springfield, Shannon was the Dux of Springfield in 2005, winning several of the subject prizes and also the Valentina Ivancich Trophy for All Round Scholastic Excellence and Extra-Mural Activities.
In 2006, Shannon took a gap year in the U.K., where she worked as a teacher assistant at 'The Riley's', a private boy's junior school in Alderley Edge, near Manchester, She was also extensively involved in the music side of the school, participating in the school concert and the end of the UK school year, During her time in the UK, she also worked in a local pub, travelled extensively around 'Mud Island' - crossed the sea to Ireland, hiked the 'Great Glen' and toured the Western Isles of Scotland, watched Scotland play Australia rugby at Murrayfield, watched Manchester United at Old Trafford, travelled to London on outings to shows in the West End and to party (!) and toured Europe on a Top-Deck tour which was undoubtedly the highlight of her GAP year.
Returning to South Africa for the start of the academic year in 2007, she enrolled as a Mechanical Engineering student at U.C.T. - this as a stepping stone to her ultimate dream - to become a commercial pilot. During her 4 years at U.C.T, notwithstanding the very heavy academic pressures brought to bear on students studying engineering, she still found time to play for a ladies hockey team in the university's internal league, continue with her gymnastics, ran the Two Ocean's Half marathon, cycle the Argus Cycle Tour and competed in a number of one-day canoe races in 2009 and 2010, culminating in her taking part in and completing the multi-day Breede River canoe marathon and the Fish River canoe marathon in 2010, all in UCT colours.
Throughout her UCT student days, she has also worked as a maths and science tutor to a number school learners (some of them in the Marina!) and found the time to visit those good Aussie friends she had made on the Top-Deck tour Europe by touring Australia at the end of 2008/beginning of 2009. Then in mid year, 2010 and with 3 other UCT students in 2010, drove to and from Malawi to spend time on the lake there and hike Mount Mulanji - all in a Corsa Lite, covering almost 7000kms in the process!
In 2011, Shannon is continuing to investigate the possibility of commercial flying, but in the meantime has been working for a number of local adventure companies, being involved in running river trips on the Breede and Orange Rivers and spending time guiding and helping hikers and abseilers on Table Mountain and in the Kamikaze Gorge, Steenbras River, near Gordon's Bay.
So, if anyone has any ideas about getting into the flying game or keen on experiencing some river/climbing/abseiling adventures- give her a call!!
Rob
LAVENDAR IN LAVENDER HILLYou all know me as a crazy guy with lots of crazy ideas. But you do know me as someone who makes these crazy ideas work. And then they're not so crazy after-all.
I need your help with my next idea...
Why is there no Lavender in Lavender Hill?; a gang infested community that really needs help.
I aim to plant an urban farm of 1,000,000 Lavender Plants in Lavender Hill.
I will plant and process these plants over the next 12 months.
I want to reclaim the land into something positive, beautifull ( I can see the colours from the highway already), calming and productive.
You can help me by letting my team come and take cuttings of the Lavender in your garden or you could sponsor one plant for R20.
If you are willing to donate lavender cuttings/plants, please email marcelle the amount of plants/cuttings that you will be able to donate.
These you can drop off at: Zerilda Park Primary School Lavender Hill (Coming down st George Drive, turn left into Military road at the robots, and the first right after the stop street, the school is at the end of that road).
If you are dropping these plants or cuttings, please ensure that they are each wrapped in a cone of newspaper which is filled with some soil.
If you are really not able to drop them off or if you need someone to come cut them for you, please contact me (my details at the end of article) or alternatively contact Vuyesile on 0786982371. Let us know your address and the best time and day for us to collect.
If you have any old planting trays, old yogurt cups, cans or little bottles, please bring them along as well and tell everyone you know to start collecting. We will use these to plant the seeds/cuttings in. And feel free to plant your own in there as well instead of newspaper cones.
If you are willing to donate some funds, please deposit donations into the following bank account and if possible send me a proof of payment.
Innovation Shack
Standard Bank
Thibault Square
Account Number: 070984174
branch code: 020909
Reference: Lavender
If you would like to donate money towards us buying a plant, one plant costs us R20.
If you would like to help in any other form, please email me. All the help will be appreciated.
Right now, we could really do with some people who are willing to help us drive to people's homes who have lavender plants who want us to take some cuttings, to take these cuttings and bring them in their soil container.
Thank you so much for all your help and enthusiasm thus far.
Just a quick update of where we are at at the moment. We have set up our first little nursery at Zerilda Park Primary School Lavender Hill. The Grade 5's at this school will take this as their project. Two of our gardeners will be there full time and will teach the kids how to take care of the Lavender. Once this nursery is full, we will move to the 4 other schools in Lavender Hill.
We have looked for the appropriate land for our lavender farm and have found a lovely large piece right on the M5. We are in the process of getting permission from CT city council. Once our lavender plants are big and strong enough they will be transported to this location. This will be a big celebration and we will celebrate this with a Launch Party.
I am looking forward to hearing from you and thank you for your support.
Please feel free to contact me at any point and also look out for our Facebook page which will be online soon :)
Kind Regards
Marcelle van Zyl
BAS Bachelor of Architectural Science (UCT); PDE Post Graduate Diploma in Management in Entrepreneurship (UCT)
Lavender in Lavender Hill Team Manager
Cell: +27 (0)82 3577 613
Tel: +27 (0)21 552 4790
Fax: +27 (0)86 6232 927
vanzylmarcelle@gmail.com
NEW COMPUTER TRAINING FACILITY OPENS IN VRYGRONDMymoena from Where Rainbows Meet, recently hosted the opening of their new computer training school for local residents.
It is located in a large shipping container donated by supporters from Hamburg. The equipment is state-of- the art, with Sponsorship from Al-Baraka Bank and Vodaphone Germany to an overall cost of almost R250,000.
The technical installation was carried out by Incredible Connection from Kenilworth.
Basic tuition will be given in Microsoft Word, E-mail and use of the Internet.
Training resources within the community, are, understandably, limited. If however any Marina residents with the necessary skills/ teaching experience could afford to devote a little time in supporting the trainers, troubleshooting or developing a training programme, this would be a wonderful opportunity to help this exciting project become firmly established.
The little everyday things we take for granted are a whole new world to those who have never been exposed to them. How on earth did we communicate before we had E-mail?
Anyone able to help should please call Mymoena on 021-701-0328.
Peter Harrison
SAFE COMPUTERThe following needs to be repeated often because it seems people are still falling prey to the various scams and phishing tactics continually being employed by fraudsters. These scams vary from poorly written emails encouraging you to divulge your PIN's and passwords, spoofed websites that look and react almost exactly like the financial institute you normally deal with, scamware that requires a purchase to activate or remove or keyloggers that record everything you type on your computer.
When you receive an email asking you to click on a link embedded in the email to verify any details then that email is a scam. This is an absolute, no matter how authentic the mail appears. Banking and secure sites always have the https address e.g. https://yourbank.co.za. Always make sure that your internet browser has the Address Bar displayed.
When you receive an email informing you that you have won money in a foreign Lotto then that email is a scam.
When you receive an email asking for your help to transfer a huge sum of money in return for which you will receive a significant cut then that email is a scam.
When you receive an email offering free goods or money in return for your participation by forwarding this email to everybody in your address book then that email is a scam.
When you forward any emails purporting to be a petition of some type or warning that you will be doomed to eternal bad luck if you don't forward this email to 10 people in 10 minutes then you are adding yourself to mailing lists, prepare to be inundated with offers to increase the size of your wedding tackle, pills to increase virility and offers from Russian brides.
Internet
Any pop-up window while browsing is to be treated with suspicion. Close them by clicking on the X at the top right hand corner. Clicking on a button could be a ruse to disable your antivirus software and allow a Trojan to be installed.
Always make sure that your anti-virus software is up to date. Read any warnings or messages it displays carefully. If you not sure what to do choose the option that prevents the suspicious software running. Usually this will be BLOCK or similar wording.
The only software that needs to be updated regularly is FLASH and JAVA. Both of these normally update automatically or the website will have a requirement clearly displayed (This Site requires Flash version X to run correctly). Most newer web browsers will also have a warning that this software needs to be downloaded and give you an option to proceed or block the download.
Make sure you are running the latest version of your internet browser (Internet Explorer 8 for most users)
A new or growing phenomena is scamware. This purports to be legitimate software like computer optimizer software or anti-virus software. Often it is "free" and will identify various threats or problems with your computer with a "Click here to fix" solution. Once downloaded and installed it requires the "paid" version to fix the problems or to remove it. They use various tricks to make it very difficult to remove and some are outright malicious and will degrade your PC's performance. Completing the payment via credit card will just mean you handing over your credit card details to somebody in Khazakhstan.
Flash Drives / Removable Media
All flash drives, non-pressed CD's, DVD's (home made) and flash memory cards are to be treated with extreme caution. Always scan them for virus's. Flash drives (especially those used at schools and varsities or technicons) are the second largest method of spreading virus's.
General
View any unsolicited offers or products with suspicion. Free is a four letter word. If it looks too good to be true than it is. Err on the side of caution. Always read the messages or popups you get, if unsure what to do use the X on the top Right Corner of the popup. Block anything that is mildly suspicious and nevber trust any media that has been used on any other computer other than your own. Backup regularly and make sure you have decent anti-virus software and that it and your operating system is kept up to date.
Daryl Meyer
MAKE A TIMELY INVESTMENT IN COASTAL PARADISEIf you're combing the beach for great returns on coastal property, take a look at Soralia Village - now making waves in Muizenberg. Situated close to the beach, shopping centres and major access routes, Soralia Village ticks the right boxes for first time buyers and 'buy- to-let' investors: convenience, security and appeal. It can best be summed up as "affordable coastal luxury". A R10 000 deposit secures, with units going from R549 900 including bond and transfer costs.*
Of course, when it comes to property, it's all about location, location, location. Perhaps the greatest attraction of Soralia is its convenient access to Cape Town - along with numerous activities right on the doorstep, such as swimming, surfing and sailing; the main beach being a ten minute stroll away. Muizenberg has a friendly, small town feel and marks the first of a string of attractive "deep south" locales along the False Bay coastline, with nearby St James, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simonstown.
The 182 plot & plan development, consisting of 2 and 3 bedroom homes, boasts attractions in its own right. Soralia's homes range between 52m² and 92m² and include quality finishes, aluminium windows and other stylish features. Provision for essential kitchen appliances is provided and entertaining is easy thanks to upgrade options, such as built-in braais'. Landscaped nature zones connect with walkways and paths within the village, and include a dam and bird hide. Being a gated complex with 24 hour manned access control, Soralia Village twins safety with comfort.
Soralia is one of the latest developments from MSP Developments, a company with a track record of providing quality homes from entry level to luxury level, at a value-for-money price.
*Terms and conditions apply.
KIM'S NOTE...How nice is this lavender in Lavender Hill idea! Lavender has such a calming fragrance, and many health benefits - only good can come from this!
Why is it that after a holiday we seem to feel like we need a holiday to recuperate from our holiday! I got to put this all to the test this last month, we had school holidays at the beginning of the month, then went back to school and work for a week, feeling like we need more holiday, only to get more holiday the following week again. A very disruptive and unorganized time, but I do think it worked. The second holiday came just in time ? unfortunately back to school and work now though, I have quite a wait till my next holiday!
Hope you all have your nice winter woolies ready for the cold weather!
Kim
kim@kedesing.co.za
COUNCIL CORNERHaving decided to stand only as a proportional councillor on the DA list, this is my last column as ward councillor. By the time you read this, the municipal elections will probably be over and you will know who your new ward councillor is (I trust that you exercised your democratic right/responsibility and voted).
It has been my privilege to serve the ward for the past 15 years. It has been a challenging one, comprising very different communities everything in between billionaires and poverty stricken jobless, those living in mansions to those in shacks, and the full rainbow nation. Some areas have well organised formal civic bodies and others barely functioning or even none. While this mix has been very stimulating, it has meant having to deal with vastly different needs.
There have been a wide variety of issues that I have had to deal with, from simple to solve problems through a full range to much more complex matters. Unfortunately, some of the bigger issues became conflict ridden, emotional and, at times, very personal. I always tried to remain focused on the issue and not the person. By and large, that approach has paid dividends and some good relationships have developed from rocky beginnings.
May I make the following suggestions for getting the best interaction with your new councillor. If you have a complaint, please report it in the first instance to the call centre at 0860 10 30 89 (further methods detailed below). In doing so, be specific for example, there is a pothole in the road opposite number 22 Admirals Walk, or there is a burst water pipe in the public open space off Oudevlei Road. More generalised complaints, such as weed harvesting, are best channelled through the Marina Excom portfolio holder, rather than having many individual notifications. Other problems may require one or more meetings with the councillor and even officials. Finally, please recognise that it may not always be possible to solve every problem in the way or time scale that you would like.
In conclusion, I remain a resident of Marina and will still take an interest, as a councillor, in its affairs. Au revoir.
Regards
Cllr Demetri Qually
Chairperson - South Peninsula subcouncil
DA Councillor - Ward 64
Office 021 784 2001; Fax 0865 760 582; Cell 083 629 1326
Civic Centre, Central Circle, Fish Hoek, Private Bag X1, Fish Hoek, 7974