19 August 2020
Published every Wednesday by CXpress 2006 (Pty) Ltd - PO Box 1449, Plettenberg Bay 6600 - 6 Park Lane, Plettenberg Bay - Tel: 044 533 1004 - Fax: 044 533 0852 Email: editor@cxpress.co.za / advertising@cxpress.co.za Web page: www.cxpress.co.za Printed by Group Editors
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Back to booze and business
Photo: Esther de Villiers
When Level 2 lockdown regulations permitted the reopening of alcohol sales by 9am on Tuesday morning, many a Garden Router braved the cold to ensure there would be something liquid to warm frozen bodies from the inside out, since extreme weather conditions were predicted to lash most parts of the province for days to come. Pictured here, Plett local Chancy Munthali buys a bottle of his favourite tipple from Tops stalwart Uricha Plaatjies. Turn to page 3 for news and views on the level of business now allowed.
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CXPRESS
NEWS & VIEWS
19 August 2020
Master KG’s upbeat ditty of hope inspires Plett to be various lockdown periods part of global #Jerusalema Challenge the experienced throughout the ITH Merle Hagerman - local Zumba queen and quintessential warrior in the fight against cancer - as ‘voordanser’, the initial rehearsal for the Plett Tourism Jerusalema dance challenge was held on August 11 at LM restaurant in the town’s main street. Practice sessions involving a troupe of fleet-footed locals followed this past Saturday and Tuesday, and the next few days will see this dedicated group of dancers prepare for the main event on Saturday August 22 at 2pm in Main Street. And everyone’s invited! For those who are not yet in the know about this worldwide phenomenon: it all started many months ago when South African DJ and record producer Master KG sparked a global dance frenzy when releasing the single Jerusalema, featuring home-brewed vocalist Nomcebo Zikode. The upbeat gospel-influenced house song was initially released end-November last year, with a music video following on December 21. It was later included on Master KG’s second album of the same title, and
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STRIKE A POSE: Pictured from left, Trevor, Merle, Denise, Leigh, and Leela show they’re ready for Plett’s Jerusalema dance challenge; Leigh contacted CXPRESS on Tuesday as soon as he had received word from Sagree Chetty to confirm that her SABC team would cover Saturday’s event, due for broadcast on August 23... be there! - Photo: ShowMe Plett
eventually hit streaming services on July 10 this year, garnering international reaction due to the #JerusalemaChallenge. The original music video has accumulated over 45-million views; since then, a number
of inspired dance videos from a variety of sources have been popping up, and the rest of the planet could not but take up the challenge. Jerusalema has become a theme song of hope during
world. Even patients in hospitals in Europe have been filmed enjoying the vibes of this tune created on the streets of a township in Africa. A handful of locals from all walks of life decided to take on the #JerusalemaChallenge to help spread the positive vibes, and quickly gained the endorsement of Plett Tourism. Weather permitting, final rehearsals will take place on Thursday at 5pm at LM in Plett, but take note that the Jerusalema tutorial is pinned on Merle’s Zumba Plett Facebook page for easy access - in fact, so easy that it had garnered 26K views by Monday! One of the event’s main organisers, Denise McNamara, advised that participants would be divided into smaller groups to stay in line with Covid-19 protocols. Please wear white shirts and jeans and don’t forget your mask (call Denise on 082 222 6555 for more info). This event is open for all to join, so if you have what it takes or would just like to enjoy the festivities, head down to LM in Plett on Saturday afternoon.
Cape Summer Villas #TeeOff4Tourism Challenge: Fab day had by all means food on table for hospitality workers HE #TeeOff4Tourism Challenge charity golf day hosted by Cape Summer Villas on August 8 at Goose Valley Country Club in Plett was a huge success, according to Cape Summer Villa Boutique Collection general manager Paul Duverge. “We had a record sell-out of four-balls within four days, and garnered a whopping R31,000 from ticket sales and hole sponsorships,” he said. The main objective of the Cape Summer Villas #TeeOff4Tourism Golf Day was to raise funds for the procurement of food for Plett’s hospitality workers, many being the sole
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breadwinners of their families, who have been adversely affected by the Covid-19 lockdown. “All proceeds from the Cape Summer Villas #TeeOff4Tourism Golf Day will be allocated to providing food parcels for affected hospitality workers,” Duverge explained. “Our focus has always been about uplifting our community, and what is gratifying about our golf day initiative is the way it brought in generous support from the entire town and community of Plett. We’re hoping that other companies, towns, and provinces will follow our lead and start similar
initiatives of their own.” He said it was a fabulous day: “Well done to the team and a big thanks to all our supporters.” Great prizes included the Grand Prize of a five-night stay at one of the Cape Summer Villas Boutique Collection properties, along with hotel and meal vouchers, golf goodies, and a prize for the best-dressed team. “It makes me proud that Goose Valley Golf Course was part of this important initiative. It was a hugely successful event,” said Daniel Gouws, PGA head professional at this Gary Player-designed 18-hole, 72-par golf course.
GOOD PLAY PAID OFF: Grandprize winners Martie and Jelli Jelliman - visit the gallery at www. cxpress.co.za for more photos
NEWS & VIEWS
19 August 2020
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CXPRESS
Western Cape liquor authorities scrutinise licence holders to promote responsible drinking ROVINCIAL Community Safety minister Albert Fritz urged residents to drink responsibly, following the resumption of the domestic sale and transportation of alcohol
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Agri minister says wine industry will bounce back
Western Cape Agriculture minister Dr Ivan Meyer welcomed Sunday’s presidential announcement that the sale and distribution of alcohol would resume. “The wine industry is of crucial importance to the economy of our province, so lives and livelihoods will now be saved. Lifting the ban on domestic wine sales is the only way to halt further job losses, business closures and irreversible damage to the industry. Workers and the wine value chain must now be allowed to carry on with their business without any further interruptions so our journey to economic recovery can begin,� said Meyer. Here’s looking forward to supporting the Plett Wine Route and other Southern Cape estates en masse, as the industry embarks on the road to recovery.
on Tuesday. He noted that, to date, the Western Cape Liquor Authority (WCLA) had investigated 117 contraventions of the National Disaster Risk Management Act Regulations and suspended 38 licenses in its efforts to reduce alcoholrelated harms. Of the 117 investigations, 48 Section-71 matters were placed on the Liquor Licensing Tribunal case roll, of which 38 licences were suspended; eight applications were dismissed; and two applications were pending. Said Fritz: “Liquor licence holders such as restaurants and bars have been struggling to stay afloat, some having sadly shut their doors. The unbanning of the sale of alcohol is a welcome step in restoring the economy. “The alcohol ban has further had a significant impact on the WCLA’s rev-
enue stream as it has been unable to grant or renew licences during this time. The unbanning will allow us to again open our economy and resume business as usual.� He added: “While the resumption of the sale of alcohol is a positive step in supporting bars and restaurants adversely affected by the ban, I call on residents to drink responsibly. There are numerous harms associated with the abuse of alcohol. “Residents who are over the age of 18 may legally drink, but have a responsibility not to abuse or misuse alcohol.� Fritz expressed his support of Western Cape premier Alan Winde’s call for a smart approach on the sale of alcohol, adding that his department continued to drive the process of amending the Western Cape Liquor Act to effec-
tively reduce and prevent alcohol-related harms. He concluded: “We may suspend a licence on an interim and urgent basis
ESTERN Cape Government Health has identified the next 100 days as crucial to refocusing its health system and services, while managing the pandemic with continued interventions to increase immunisation coverage and treatment for TB and HIV patients - this according to Garden Route and Central Karoo spokesperson Nadia Ferreira. By August 14, the Garden Route had 7,520 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 223 deaths recorded as follows:
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Hessequa 11, Mossel Bay 49, George 79, Knysna 33, Bitou 16, Oudtshoorn 34, and one in Kannaland. “From our latest available information, there are currently 170 patients admitted in public and private hospitals of which 41 are in high care or ICU. To date 147,772 people have been screened of whom 1,284 have been referred for testing,� Ferreira said on Friday. See the latest news on CX Country cases and recoveries at www.cxpress.co.za and on Facebook.
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CXPRESS
19 August 2020
NEWS & VIEWS
BUSINESS
19 August 2020
Lessons learnt from history can inform today’s C-19 investment trends HERE are various permutations of a well-known saying, but Winston Churchill sums it up best with “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. Remembrance of history is especially poignant 75 years on from VJ Day. On August 15 in 1945, Imperial Japan initially surrendered, announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito, and subsequently signed on September 2. Captured Allied POWs suffered appalling atrocities and deaths numbered in the many thousands. On the 75th anniversary of its surrender, Emperor Naruhito expressed “deep remorse” over his country’s actions during WWII, saying: “I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never again be repeated”. In the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and other countries, VJ was commemorated last Saturday. The official US commemoration is on September 2. On a more prosaic subject but one that affects our pockets, several statements were issued by listed companies this week, in the wake of equally sobering figures released of late. Inter alia, Absa six-month earnings will be effectively breakeven, Woolworths full-year adjusted earnings will halve, PPC requires an undisclosed quantum of recapitalisation, KAP annual headline earnings will be down by 70%, Anchor earnings for the six months will decrease by 70%, and both Tongaat Hu-
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lett and Barloworld remain at loggerheads about an alleged material adverse change in respect of a corporate action. Speaking about Absa, things weren’t quite as bad at Commonwealth Bank in Australia, which reported a respectable annual result. Cash net profit after tax was down 11% on a doubling of loan impairment expenses. Capital adequacy is at 11.9% and compares favourably with peers internationally. The final dividend was 50% of statutory second half earnings. Interestingly, Simon Property - the largest mall owner in the US - has been in talks with Amazon to take over space in ailing department stores. They are exploring the possibility of turning some of the stores into Amazon distribution hubs. These negotiations reflect the intersection of two trends that predate the Covid-19 pandemic but have been accelerated by it: a decline of malls and the boom in e-commerce. The benefits of being an essential healthcare service provider is seen by the forthcoming Clicks results (the chemist has traded throughout Covid-19). Group turnover increased by 10% in the 49 weeks up to August 9 and consequently earnings per share for the year ending August 31 will increase by around 12%. • This is an excerpt from Ingham Analytics’ latest weekly research summary released on August 16 - visit www.inceconnect.co.za and click on ‘news’ for more market information.
Expert says it’s cheaper to buy than to rent in current state of property market CCORDING to regional director and CEO of RE/ MAX of Southern Africa Adrian Goslett, the record-low interest rates have already encouraged many first-time buyers to enter the market, and for good reason. At the current interest rate of just 7% (prime), and with room for another cut before the year is out, it is possible that the monthly repayments on a home loan will cost less than the rent on the same property. At today’s interest rate of 7%, repayments on a R1-million home loan taken over 20 years would amount to just R7,753 per month. In many suburbs, that works out to be less than one would expect monthly rental to be for the same home. For example, tenants can expect to pay roughly R8,500 on a 1-bedroom apartment in Rondebosch East. These kinds of homes usually sell for between R850,000 and R1-million, making the monthly bond repayment more affordable than rent on these properties. “There are so many opportunities for first-time buyers across South Africa right now. Those who want to stretch their budget
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even further should look for new developments to avoid the expense of transfer duties and related fees,” Goslett recommends. For example, a new development in Sedgefield, 1 On Cisticola, is marketed by RE/MAX Coastal and here buyers can purchase a one-bedroom unit for just R595,000 or a twobedroom unit for just R895,000 - with no transfer costs/duties. The rental for a one-bedroom unit is estimated to be between R5,000 to R5,500 per month (9.25% yield), while the bond repayments on this home at the current interest rate would be just R4,613. The two-bedroom units could rent for R7,000 to R7,500 per month (a 9% yield), while bond repayments on this home at the current interest rate would be just R6,939. “For those who can afford to do so, there really has never been a better time to enter the market than right now. I would just advise buyers to leave room in their budget for if and when the interest rates return to pre-lockdown levels,” Goslett concludes. Visit www.remax.co.za for more advice around homeownership.
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Did you know this? • Glass takes one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times. • Gold is the only metal that doesn’t rust, even if it’s buried in the ground for thousands of years. • Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end. • If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. When a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off. • Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals. • Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers. • Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61%. • Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn’t smoke unless it’s heated above 450F. • The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear. • Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean. • The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man. • Airports at higher al1
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titudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density. • The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself. • In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted. • Warner Communications paid $28-million for the copyright to the song ‘Happy Birthday’. • Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. • A comet’s tail always points away from the sun. • The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent. • Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers, which is why it is found in some medicines. • The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armour raised their visors to reveal their identity. • If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day. • When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight. • In ancient times, strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed.
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Lovely stroll with the dog today... still a bit windy
• The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year. • The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust. • Due to Earth’s gravity, it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 metres. • Mickey Mouse is known as ‘Topolino’ in Italy.
• Soldiers don’t march in step when crossing bridges, because this could create a vibration that could be sufficient to knock the bridge down. • Everything weighs 1% less at the equator. • For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, lift-off will require 530kg of additional fuel.
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B AN L O I R O M K P T B T U T C T R E E S O S
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A V I A T O C R
People are simply amazing: if you tell a person that there are 270,678,934,341 stars in the universe, they’ll believe you. However, if you put up a sign that says ‘FRESH PAINT’, that same person will be compelled to effect a personal investigation...
INTERVAL
19 August 2020
C H A E WE T H I E F R A T U
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ON THE SOAPBOX
19 August 2020
Letters to the Editor
Email: editor@cxpress.co.za - Fax: 044 533 0852 - PO Box 1449, Plett 6600
Plett’s security operators prevent us from spreading love around town It is with sadness that I write this letter. My colleague Daniel and I arrived in Plett last month as part of a backpacking tour of the Southern Cape Coast for The Secret Love Project (TSLP). We left Cape Town on May 13 due to severe circumstances experienced there. We used to live at a place called Safe Space under Culemborg Bridge in the city’s foreshore area. So we both decided to leave the Cape and go to Mossel Bay, where we started our TSLP Backpacking Tour. I personally have been involved with TSLP for almost two years and Daniel for a year. It turned into a dream fulfilled for us both as we got to follow the passion of our hearts. Our next stop was Hartenbos, and might I commend the people of that small town for their acceptance of us. I know they all enjoyed the LOVE we shared with them. We stayed with wonderful people in Hartenbos for two months and then we journeyed on towards Knysna. We were there for about a week and then moved on to Plett. Since we had lost our tent also in the process while overnighting in Wilderness, it was now the
NOT SAFE IN THE BAY: Wikus and Daniel say their work for the Cape Town-based Secret Love Project has been hampered by security companies in Plett
start of a Plett night shelter horror story. But that is a tale for another day - suffice to say, we now have to pay for accommodation. One day we were walking out of the residential area where we worked and suddenly a security company car stopped very suddenly in front of us. One of the employees,
aggressive from the start, told us we were on crime watch and should leave “right now”. We told him what we were doing and then the security guard became verbally abusive towards me, threatening to break my legs and “bliksem” me; whenever I tried to talk he would become al-
most violent with me. I had to open a case with the Plettenberg Bay Police, which is currently under investigation. Then, on August 7, at least four different security companies stopped us again and we were again threatened with physical violence. We have to pay R300 a day where we stay and as a direct result of this harassment we are behind in our rent. We barely get to eat healthy as we scarcely make any money now, and we are fearing the worst. It has happened to Daniel before, so it can happen again. Well that is in short what happened with us in Plett thus far. Our ultimate goal is to take The Secret Love Project throughout the country in five years and to build some solid partnerships and relationships in the process. Wikus and Daniel, by email (The Secret Love Project was founded in Cape Town and is a registered charity dedicated to helping the homeless, aiming to offer a lifeline to those who have been marginalised and neglected - out of extreme poverty and towards reintegration into society. Visit www. secretloveproject.co.za to find out more. - Eds.)
Undersized underpants can take years off any gentleman’s life expectancy The scenario described on the Interval page in your edition of July 29 refers [turn to page 6 of that edition and read ‘Six months to live’]. The same thing happened to a friend of mine when he experienced similar symptoms - weight loss, headaches, dizziness, and nausea; he, too,
was being handed down a six months sentence... He then went out and bought a Porsche, a Tiger Moth bi-plane (which he learnt to fly!), and a flashy wardrobe. After selecting suits, shirts, socks, shoes, etc. - during which an experienced salesman had correctly suggested sizes, styles
and colours - the salesman then recommended size 36 underpants. But my friend said he had always worn a size 32. “Size 36,” insisted the salesman. Well, the rest you can guess! Ronnie Samuel, Knysna (Aah, Ron, thanks for this cautionary note on the trials and tribulations, ad-
verse symptoms and sleepless nights that undersized underpants can cause. As far as we understand from Ron, once ‘the friend’ had adjusted these essential items, he survived another many years of delighting in his various modes of transport while being perfectly ‘à la mode’. - Eds.)
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News for today’s kids: you’re no less the master of your mother tongue than previous generations Every generation has complained about deteriorating standards of literacy, but over the past century general standards of literacy have, in fact, steadily risen. There is nothing to suggest that today’s youngsters are less competent at speaking and writing their native tongue than older generations of children were. There’s also no sense in imposing the patterns of one language on another. Doing so is like trying to make people play tennis with a golf club. The English language is full of words which have changed
their meanings. Nice, derived from the Latin adjective nescius (meaning ‘not knowing’ or ‘ignorant’), arrived in English around 1300 and at the time meant ‘silly’, ‘foolish’ or ‘shy’. Over the centuries, its meaning gradually changed to ‘fussy’, then ‘refined’, and then (by the end of the 18th century) to ‘pleasant’ and ‘agreeable’. For much interesting information on this subject, read ‘6 Common Myths About Language and Grammar’ by Richard Nordquist as posted on the ThoughtCo.com website. Gerhard Burger, Port Elizabeth
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CXPRESS
19 August 2020
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