Perdeby
Dust lust: it’s a Sweet Thing
NADINE LAGGAR
The week of Oppikoppi Sweet Thing is upon us and an expected 20 000 festival-goers are preparing to descend upon Northam for their annual hedonism fix. The budgets have been drawn up, checklists have been made and tents, still filled with last year’s dust, are being inspected. In lieu of these preparations, Perdeby has come up with a few titbits that might come in useful.
First time attendees – Oppikoppi virgins as they’ve come to be known – are on the
cusp of having their minds blown. It seems, however, that veterans can expect a few surprises as well: the Oppikoppi team have been hard at work constructing an extra stage, named Wesley’s Dome, found between the Skellum and James Phillip stages. There are even a couple of new roads criss-crossing the expanded camping area – a daunting prospect when people already had trouble navigating the smaller area of yesteryear. It was like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. With vodka.
The festival card has made its second appearance. And some good news for those
with money left on their cards from last year. Just stagger over to the mimoneyTM load desk to transfer last year’s leftover funds onto your new card.
Now, it’s quite obvious that besides a complete disregard for the confines of social decorum, everyone is really there for the music. And with a line-up boasting epic international and local artists, the new and expanded entertainment area is going to be put through its paces. There is, however, some alternative entertainment available. Like the 500m naked race on Boomstraat
on Saturday. It was going to be a 1000m race, but someone decided that there might be casualties and the distance was promptly decreased – not too shabby when the winner gets free Oppikoppi tickets for 2013. It would probably be a good idea to wear shoes and avoid thorn bushes if you plan on running.
In an effort to encourage planning Perdeby has included a pull-out with a map and line-up in this week’s edition. Lastly, bring jackets, endurance and your happy faces. And adhere to Corné and Twakkie’s second rule, which Perdeby believes still applies: don’t be k*k.
Oppikoppi map and line-up
Perdeby
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Editorial
Editor-in-Chief: Carel Willemse carel.willemse@up.ac.za @Ed_in_Chief
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Copyright
Perdeby is printed by Paarlmedia. All rights reserved. Contributions are welcome. All due care will be taken with materials submitted, but Perdeby and printers cannot be held responsible for loss or damage. The Editor reserves the right to edit, amend or alter in any way deemed nescessary. Perdeby cannot be responsible for unsolicited material. The opinions expressed in Perdeby are not necessarily those of the editors and printers of Perdeby
In dust we trust
I want to discuss two very important things: freedom of the press, and Oppikoppi. Let’s start with the less important one first: a little birdie told me that the big, bad student parliament recently passed a motion which would force Perdeby to provide a quarter page space every week for parliament to use, presumably as they see fit. The details still remain somewhat unclear. After I had stopped laughing, I began to wonder what would happen when I turned around and told them there is no way in hell I would ever let them have a space in the paper, space reserved for content that is actually important (unless, of course, they bought advertising space)?
Nothing, that’s what.
What are they going to do? Picket outside our offices? Throw eggs at my windows? I find it completely hilarious that they think they can achieve anything by putting their hands in the air and voting, like their play-play democracy is some magic wand they can wave to make unicorns appear out of thin air. Perdeby does not fall under the jurisdiction of student parliament and I will treat the idea that they think it does with the condescension it deserves.
No democratic government in the world has power over its free media, nor is there a daily broadsheet in any democratic country that gives up space for government to use as they see fit, without seriously comprising its credibility and betraying its audience. We do not even provide space for UP management to communicate with the students unless they have paid for it. And they think student parliament stands a chance?
Insert laughter here.
From the Editor
But now, on to the main event: Oppikoppi. Oppikoppi is the greatest place on earth. I say this every year, and every year it remains true. If you’ve never been, your life is sad, and is missing a fundamental constituent: you cannot truly call yourself a student if you haven’t spent your weekend on the fields of Oppi, getting drunk, down and dirty; reveling in great music and great company; watching high hippies sway in the wind, rocking out like this is the last day of their lives. Oppi is a hedonist’s heaven, a place for people who like good tunes and good vibes, who just want to be happy, want to make friends with strangers, and dance like nobody is watching.
You will never party harder, you will never be happier, you will never be dirtier.
You’ll notice we’ve put an Oppi survival guide of sorts on the front page, as well as the full line-up and a map of the entertainment area inside, easy to pull out and use at Oppi, for your convenience. We also take a look at the new smoking laws currently under consideration by government (which will hopefully not affect Oppi) as well as the normal myriad of awesome content. We have a smaller edition this week, so no Fun & Games page, but the Top Ten and Pssst… will be back in the next edition, promise. We’ll be taking a week off, so no Perdeby next week, but we’ll make our triumphant return on 20 August.
As jy nie dans nie is jy f*kol.
Beyers
Rag: set for change
BEYERS DE VOS
Rag could cancel UP Beats within the next few weeks.
UP Beats is the music festival traditionally hosted on Rag Farm to kick off the start of Rag weekend.
This would be the biggest in a string of changes set to be made by Rag over the next few months after a set of workshops earlier in the year aimed at identifying the problems that have recently been plaguing the charity organisation.
According to Dr Rina Wilken, Rag’s acting manager and the Coordinator of Special Programmes with UP’s Department of Student Development, the decision is still pending and has not been finalised, but is very likely. “We are strongly considering getting rid of UP Beats,” she said.
However, Gebrand Lindeque, the Vice President of the SRC, denies the change, telling Perdeby that Rag is merely investigating the
possibility of changing the date of the festival. There will be no change to the other big Rag weekend activity, the Rag procession. Dr Wilken stresses that there is a strong desire from the student body to see the procession proceed, but that there would be a bigger emphasis on recyclable floats during the procession next year. There will also be little change to the debutante programme (from which the Rag queen is chosen). This despite the fact that both the procession and the debutant programme made a financial loss in both 2011 and 2010. How the push by the Department of Residence Affairs to suspend the Res of the Year competition will affect the procession (which is a component of that competition), is still unclear. “The decision has been made to keep the [Res of the Year]
award next year, so we haven’t reached that catch-22 yet,” says Dr Wilken.
“Rag is only giving an average of 30% of its profits to charity, when the industry average for welfare organisations should be 60%.”
Other changes include revamping their annual Spring Day event (which was cancelled last year, sparking a protest on campus) line-up to include artists that cater to all students, and not just specific segments of the student body. “Spring Day is a big event on every student’s annual social calendar and it was very important to both Rag and the SRC to provide students with the opportunity to flourish on both an academic and a social level,” said Lindeque.
The main problems facing Rag according to findings presented at the workshops are financial. Over the previous year, Rag made approximately R1,3 million, of which they
spent R422 033 on events and R700 866 was given to charity. However, according to the UP Department of Finance, Rag is only giving an average of 30% of its profits to charity, when the industry average for welfare organisations should be 60%. The workshop indentified a lack of accountability as one of the main reasons for these financial problems.
The workshops also concluded that, in general, Rag culture places too much emphasis on partying and has lost focus of the community development initiatives which is meant to be at the core of the organisation.
According to Rag chairperson, Rag will therefore make a concerted effort to refocus its charity efforts and become much more involved with community engagement projects. Rag will so begin targeting their charity efforts more specifically at students and the community immediately surrounding campus. “There will be a shift to the student community. We want to help our own students. We want to properly identify students in need,” adds Dr Wilken.
Possible lower Gautrain prices for students
Res Bites
Kiaat
Kiaat’s annual House Week kicked off last Monday with a Golf Day at the army base and the Jackson Pollock social.
Kiaat’s Finance EC, Sfiso Sokhela, said the events were unforgettable and get better each year. Tuesday night was the infamous pub crawl, or “Tour de Pub”, which began at Springbok Bar and ended in the early hours of Wednesday morning at Hatfield Square.
The annual informal dinee took place on Wednesday night and was, for many Kiaat men, the highlight of the week. The theme was “masquerade ball” and all attendees were encouraged to wear an appropriate mask.
The week wound down with floor braais, bar games and inter-floor rugby and soccer matches.
Second-year journalism student Hilton Thom told Perdeby, “House Week defines the res student life. It’s simply good times with good mates.”
Lilium
Last Tuesday was the annual Miss Lilium pageant, hosted at Ty’s Nightclub, with a Moroccan theme.
There were eight contestants, all of whom had applied and been for professional photo shoots before the event. The judging panel included the 2012 Miss Varsity Cup, Cayla Esterhuysen; Mr Centurion 2012, Marnus Ferreira and the Lilium Primaria, Takatso Masekela.
There were three categories: Moroccan wear, formal attire and nightclub wear. During the formal attire round the ladies answered questions about themselves. The judges were looking for ladies with confidence, personality and inner beauty. The contestants were also judged on how well the crowd responded to their performances.
Winners were announced for Miss Congeniality, Miss Photogenic, as well as the three Lilium Princesses. After much anticipation, first year Claire-Ann Kenney was crowned 2012 Miss Lilium Princess. Miss Varsity Cup told Perdeby that “the winner was perfect for me and the crowd went wild [for her].”
Go to Perdeby’s Facebook page or to pPerdeby7414a for photos of the Miss Lilium pageant.
Taaibos
Taaibos hosted the Taaibos July as part of their culture week on Saturday 28 July.
The theme for the event was “vintage with a touch of modern colour” and saw people dressed in their most impressive vintage outfits with top hats, blazers, stockings, suspenders and
MAXINE TWADDLE
Tuks students may soon be able to purchase cheaper Gautrain tickets.
SRC member in charge of the transport portfolio, Jordan Griffiths, has started negotiating with the Bombela Concession Company with the aim of introducing a special rate for students.
The SRC is currently gathering information about students using the Gautrain. Griffiths told Perdeby that the aim of the survey is to learn how many students use the train, how often they use it, and how much money they spend on it.
The initiative targets students who use the Gautrain daily. According to Griffiths, Bombela is “very interested” in the idea of a student rate and is waiting to study the statistics drawn from the survey when it is completed. The company is in the early stages of examining the possibility of introducing a student rate and a reduced price for pensioners.
At the time of going to print the surveys were available at all campuses except Mamelodi for logistical reasons. Griffiths is hoping to interview a minimum of 3 000 students. He
high heels.
The event started in the morning with fun races ranging from an egg-and-spoon race, a three-legged race and a potato-sack race. As the day progressed, Miss Taaibos was held, with the judging taking place in the categories of vintage and evening wear. The judges were Maritza Lubbe from Stuku, Taaibos Chairman Curtis Loehmer and an old Taaibos HK Mauritz de Bruin. The judges looked for grace, poise, stage confidence, personality and good looks.
Nina Greyling from Asterhof was crowned Miss Taaibos at the event.
Taaibos hopes to make the Taaibos July an annual occurence.
Jasmyn
Jasmyn held their annual Mr and Miss Jasmyn at Oxford’s last week Wednesday.
Five men from the male residences (chosen by Jasmyn ladies) entered and eight ladies from Jasmyn competed for the title. The categories were casual, occupational and formal attire.
BSc Biological Sciences student Leandri Klopper was crowned Miss Jasmyn 2012 and BCom Investment Management student Joel Shepherd, from Kollege, was crowned Mr Jasmyn 2012.
To see photos of the event go to pPerdeby7414d or our Facebook page.
aims to have all the surveys completed by the end of August.
First-year psychology student, Amanda Ndlovu told Perdeby that rates should be lower for students. Her friend Noxee Shangase, who is also a first year, agreed but added that she does not mind paying the regular ticket price because “you get what you pay for.”
Kirsty Roberts, who is in her second year of hospitality studies, spends R2 380 on transport every month to travel between Hatfield and Sandton. She also pays for parking at the station and for bus trips. Roberts says that ticket prices are “very steep” and agrees that student rates should be introduced.
Currently, it costs R46 to travel to the Hatfield Station from Rhodesfield Station (the furthest station from Hatfield on the north-south line) and R49 from Park Station (the furthest station from Hatfield on the east-west line). It costs R19 from Pretoria (the station closest to Hatfield) and R24 from Centurion (the secondclosest station to Hatfield). It costs R125 to travel to and from the airport.
Photo: Melissa Kemp
STEPHANIE VAN DER PLANK AND ZUBENATHI JIZANA
Photos: Brad Donald
Miss Lilium 2012
Mr Jasmyn 2012
Smokers in a huff over new laws
BERND FISCHER
“The present regulations are a school picnic. We are going to hit smokers hard.” Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi has threatened to enforce even more stringent smoking laws in South Africa, where smoking has been cited as the second highest concern after HIV/AIDS.
According to the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa, there were nearly eight million adult smokers in South Africa last year. Despite cigarette consumption decreasing by 30% from 10 years ago, Motsoaledi has maintained that in order to create a healthier South Africa, drastic measures need to be taken. If the Department of Health gets its way, smoking will no longer only be banned in the workplace, in restaurants and on public transport, but the new laws will target smokers puffing outdoors. Possible new regulations include the criminalising of smoking within ten metres of any doorway or window. When on a beach, smoking will be prohibited within fifty metres of the closest person.
South Africa is already internationally known for having some of the strictest smoking laws in a developing country. Amendments to the act aim to comply with the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a global agreement signed by 168 countries, whose aim is to protect individuals from the “devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequence[s] of tobacco consumption.”
The public has been quick to respond from both sides of the argument. Dr Yussuf Saloojee, Executive Director of the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS), spoke in support of the government’s plans to target smoking at a media briefing held on 25 July. “We applaud the Minister of Health and hope the amendments will be made into law as soon as possible,” he said. According to Saloojee and the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 54 million smokers die annually of diseases caused by tobacco, while the same diseases kill nearly 600 000 non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke. “This is not about punishing smokers but about protecting the majority of South Africans
who don’t smoke,” he continued. The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) has supported Saloojee’s argument.
“Separation of smokers from non-smokers, ventilation systems, air cleaning and filtration are all ineffective strategies to eliminate second-hand smoke exposure and its harmful effects,” says Professor Lekan Ayo-Yusuf from UP. Ayo-Yusuf states that research done on the air quality of restaurants in Pretoria found that a significant amount of tobacco smoke was found in these so-called enclosed areas and that the only effective way to prevent this exposure is by the implementation of a “100% smoking ban”.
Executive Director of the Free Market Foundation Leon Louw has criticised the new regulations. Louw argues that businesses will suffer greatly under the new laws, especially
those in the hospitality industry such as restaurants, bars, nightclubs and casinos.
The proposed regulations would put those establishments which cater entirely to smokers completely out of business. In Ireland, 11% of the country’s pubs were forced to close down within four years of their 2004 smoking ban.
“How can we allow laws that will undoubtedly harm our country’s economy by putting people out of business and make our unemployment situation even worse?” says Louw. However, research conducted in 2004 by Professor Corné van Walbeeck of the University of Cape Town disproves these assumptions. The study investigated the effects of the 2001 smoking ban on the hospitality industry which forced establishments to provide enclosed smoking areas. The results showed that 59,3% of
restaurant owners interviewed said that the ban did not have a negative impact on their income. In fact, 21,7% of owners believed the ban had a positive effect on their finances.
Apart from an economic loss, Louw maintains that the new conditions would diverge from the constitutional right to dignity, privacy and freedom of association. They have also been slated as too vague to be imposed, as well as elitist and ill-considered. For example, the question of implementing the amendments in township areas where building structures are relatively smaller has been raised. However, the Director of the NCAS, Peter Ucko, has denied that such a problem exists as there are significantly fewer smokers in these areas.
As expected, UP will also be affected by the new regulations. There are currently demarcated areas on campus where smoking is allowed but once these regulations come into effect, smoking on campus will become a challenge. Perdeby asked students at Tuks how they felt about the issue. “It would be great. [I] especially hate it when people smoke on campus. [It’s] so inconsiderate to everyone else,” says Mikayla Profe, a second-year BDietetics student. However, not everyone appears to be as optimistic. “Whatever the government’s ruling is, people won’t stop smoking in public. People smoke in front of ‘no smoking’ signs anyway,” says second-year medical student Aashiq Cassim. If the new regulations do become law, the government has warned that those opposing the system will suffer the consequences. Smoking in public will result in individuals receiving a R500 fine while business owners and employers can be charged up to R50 000 and R100 000 respectively.
The age-old battle between smokers and non-smokers is set to continue for the next few months until the government makes a final decision. It’s up to the public to decide whether the government has the public’s best interests at heart or whether they are disregarding constitutional rights.
HIV home-testing: a new solution?
Last month, news broke that HIV home-testing kits were to be made available. Locally, a R22,5 million tender was approved for the kits, despite an international warning by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the kits were inaccurate. Later, Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi announced a government decision to recall 500 000 of the kits already distributed under the tender.
The Star reported that “the WHO did a laboratory assessment of two batches of the kits and found that 50 percent of them gave invalid readings”, which is why they never distributed them. According to Motsoaledi, the batch of test kits that South Africa received from a South Korean company were tested and concluded to be functional by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). The Star goes on to say that “it was found that the two institutions (the WHO and NICD) were dealing with different batches from the same company.” The fact that the different batches are not equally accurate is an obvious cause for concern.
The tests work like the rapid tests conducted in clinics. You stick your finger with the lancet and allow one drop of blood to fall into the testing strip. You then add two drops of a developer solution which will detect the presence of HIV antibodies if you are infected. Alternatively, there are tests which use saliva from an oral swab instead of blood samples.
One of the major issues regarding the hometesting kits is whether or not a person will seek counselling if they test positive.
This is also a concern for professionals working in the HIV research field. Lerato Lebona works at the AIDS Research and Development Centre on campus. She explains, “The problem
with HIV testing kits is that there is no precounselling to prepare you for whatever result you might receive and no psychological aid to help you deal with the news efficiently. We all react differently to news such as being diagnosed with HIV and there’s the possibility of an increased potential to commit suicide when one takes the test alone.”
Nadine Kumar*, a student at Tuks, has a similar point of view: “Some people don’t want counselling but if you’re tested positive, it’s
within your best interests to have it because even though the likelihood is that you’ll be thinking ‘I’m gonna die’, the counsellors sort of give you a glimmer of hope that would be absent if you tested at home alone.”
Dimakatso Modigoe, a first-year student studying metallurgical engineering, has this concern about the kit. “I wouldn’t use it because I don’t trust it to be as accurate as tests taken in a clinic,” she says. “I also prefer the counselling service offered at a clinic because I believe the
information I receive from there will be more practical and understandable than information on a pamphlet attached to the kit.”
Sister Bongi Mdletshe, who works at the Student Health Centre where free HIV testing is available for all students, says, “The hometesting kit and the testing we do here at the clinic are similar, but the home-testing kit provides you with only one testing strip,” she says.
“When you’re tested at a clinic and the first result is positive, we perform another test using a different brand of testing strips and if that second test comes back positive, a blood sample is taken for lab testing as further confirmation of results.” She also mentions that there is an option to skip the pre-counselling, but post-counselling is given to those who test positive. “The average number of students who test for HIV here is 2 000 per year and that is far below the number we’d like to achieve seeing as there are more than 55 000 students on campus,” she says.
Tuks student Amogelang Tshabalala* says, “Buying a home-testing kit is like buying condoms. You don’t want people to see you buying things related to sex.” Conversely, there are many students like Tshabalala who do not wish to have counselling. So the kit could eliminate a factor that discourages a certain part of the population from getting tested
Perdeby surveyed one hundred students on campus on whether they’d opt for HIV hometesting kits or use the conventional way of going to the clinic, and the response was precisely 50-50.
While there are many obstacles facing the HIV home-testing kit, what is certain is that this is a technological leap which, if correctly handled, could change HIV testing for the better.
* Name has been changed.
Image: www.theatlantic.com
Photo: Hendro van der Merwe
DITSHEGO MADOPI
The Empire strikes back
Fans of Arcade Empire were relieved when the popular Pretoria live music venue opened its doors after relocating in July. The re-opening consisted of two free shows and saw bands such as Van Coke Kartel, Taxi Violence, Isochronous and Wrestlerish playing to an audience of 1 800 people on the first night. On the second night, electro artists like Hyphen, Mix ‘n’ Blend, Hugs on Drugs and Doctor Khumalo take to the stage.
“I think we proved something epic,” said owner and founder of Arcade Empire, Robert Pereira.
“We were closed for about three weeks, which gave people enough time to miss what we
do. At the end of the day it made a difference, I think, having a free show with those four acts in a venue that we have pimped up to a great standard with an awesome sound system that we put in. It just couldn’t fail. It just couldn’t.”
Despite a successful re-opening, Arcade Empire ran into more than a few problems on the first night. “We had a big problem with the municipality. We didn’t have electricity for the whole of the first weekend so we ran on generators. Connecting the DB boards to the generators was quite a mission so our power went on at 19:15, when there were about 200 people in the venue. We only started stocking the bars at 19:30,” said Pereira.
The venue, which was previously located
LARK: there be dragons here
LARK have finally released their third studio album, Gong is Struck, for which, Perdeby is certain, the cosmos aligned. This is more than just nine tracks showcasing the talents of the electro band from Cape Town. Inge Beckmann (vocals), Paul Ressel (production, audio manipulation, guitar, keys), Simon “Fuzzy” Ratcliffe (bass and doudouk) and Sean Ou Tim (drums and percussion) have created an album that travels through our primordial origins, weaving mysticism and legend with a tribal base that penetrates from the darkest recesses to the summits of the unknown.
The journey starts with “Long Mantra” and it’s near impossible not to become completely entranced by Beckmann’s ethereal vocals. An apt introduction for “Ascending”, where Ressel, Ratcliffe and Ou Tim begin with a formidable bass that beats down and breaks with Beckmann as she rises and returns with concentrated and controlled power, her voice becoming another character in the track’s narrative, which lends itself to the theatrical quality of the album but never strays far from the untameable undertone of each track.
“Seek to Find” is a journey unto itself, the lyrics pushing through the slowed, consistent pace. When Beckmann says “fly”, you fly with her and seamlessly move into the next track,
on the corner of Hans Strijdom and the N4 Highway, is now situated in The Highway Street, opposite The Grove Mall in Equestria.
“It’s perfect for what we are trying to do. It’s something that we can mould into the whole arcade theme, which I think we have done very well,” said Pereira.
With foosball tables, arcade games and the Super Mario Brothers painted on the walls, the massive new space has definitely set the bar high for live music venues in Gauteng.
“We’ve always had this dream about opening a venue that’s an arcade theme. We all love the Mario Brothers vibes and the Space Invader vibes. When we first started with the concept of a bigger venue, we literally had a month to
come up with the whole concept about what’s going to be behind it,” said Pereira. “We knew we wanted to do shows, we knew we wanted to have big DJs [and] big productions but we didn’t know what the theme of the venue was going to be. We wanted to get loads of arcade games in the previous venue but we couldn’t really cater for that and they’re a bit tough to get hold of but over here we can cater for it perfectly.”
Does the Arcade Empire team plan on expanding the brand in the future? “More venues? Not anytime soon,” said a smiling Pereira. “I feel this is something unique and it’s not something that you want to abuse. It has to become something that is unique to Pretoria.”
Photos: Eleanor Harding
Peachy Keen: a little Elvis cool
“Afflatus” (meaning a divine communication of knowledge or inspiration).
Even when the dense bass line lets up there’s a distinct rawness, such as with “Stole the Moon”, the violin (Vicente Espi) and intermittent distortion creating an unnerving edge to the melodic. It’s this edge that’s internalised in “Two Wolves” where Beckmann’s lyrics create a foreboding tale of an encroaching conflict with an inevitable victor.
“We are Growing”, LARK’s cover of the Shaka Zulu television series’s theme song, originally performed by Magaret Singana, was unexpected. Besides eliciting a bout of childhood nostalgia, the cover adds a distinctly South African thread to the mythic tapestry woven throughout the album.
“I am Zeus” is a final war cry, with Beckmann assuming the role of commander on the battlefield of your conscious. It’s challenging, appealing to the basest instincts of survival, with an added edge of invincibility.
This is LARK at their most primal and most divine. Get a copy. Get struck.
See the music video of “Stole the Moon” at perdeby.co.za or pPerdeby7414b.
RATING: 9/10
Image: www.theasembly.co.za
When you imagine Peachy Keen, they are standing in an Old West saloon, glasses of whiskey in hand, twirling their skirts and swinging to the sound of their 1950s-inspired rock, calling up the ghost of Johnny Cash.
Fronted by sexy vocal duo Dominique Otto and Alexia Wise and backed by Greg Abrahams on guitar, Ryan McArthur on base and Brandon Shore on drums, their debut LP Backseat Bingo is a refreshing and welcome entry into the current South African pop-rockblues scene.
The strongest song on the album, “I shot a man down”, exemplifies the talented Cape Town-based outfit beautifully. Lyrics such as “I shot a man down, shot him down dead, took out his ’45 and shot him in the head”, that speak of cowboys, revenge, old guitars and the southern blues, are present throughout a collection of songs in which it is difficult to find a weak link.
They are fun and catchy and possess a sound that is both cheekily vintage and unique: something the current South African music scene is definitely missing. Their cover of “Oh, darling” is a highlight and their crooning, country edge comes through strongly on this number. Here the upbeat
tempo, tempered with lyrics of desperation and longing, mixed with vocals that move from a whiskey-growl to the higher range with ease and emotion (Adele-style), is at its most powerful.
Perhaps a little too dependent on a dated country sound which has traditionally not found much love with South African audiences, the band should invest in ways to contemporise their music without losing any of their core influences which make them so remarkable. There is a danger that the novelty will wear off – the suspicion is that it would be difficult to tell some of the songs apart without the album cover in front of you. Still, for now they have managed to capture the imagination of festival-goers throughout the country. Their sound won’t find widespread appeal any time soon but if you want something new, vibrant and oozing with country-rock-Elvis-Presley-cool, give them a listen.
See Peachy Keen perform at Oppikoppi Sweet Thing on Saturday 11 August at 12:00 on the James Phillips Stage. See the “I shot a man down” music video at perdeby.co.za or pPerdeby7414c.
RATING 7/10
Image: www.eurotrashmusic.com
MELINA MELETAKOS
BEYERS DE VOS
NADINE LAGGAR
aandklas presents
ROCK Thursdays
Buy 1 get 1 free: 20h00 - 21h00
Tuks beat TUT to regain top spot
KATLEGO PHEEHA
Tuks 1 regained the number one spot on the Carlton Cup log after beating rivals TUT Vikings 64-3, scoring nine tries at TuksRugby Stadium on Saturday 28 July.
A few weeks prior to the match Tuks had suffered a shocking loss against Centurion in their first Carlton Cup defeat since July 2010, losing 19-13. Before that match Tuks were on a spectacular winning streak of 28 matches. “It was not a case of them winning the match, but rather us losing it,” said the disappointed coach, Bart Schoeman.
Tuks seemed to have erased the defeat from their minds, as they came back on Saturday 21 July with yet another big win when they beat Silver Valke 88-0. Tuks scored 14 tries that day, and by half time already had the game well under control with a 45-0 lead. Despite what many may see as a most impressive win, coach Schoeman was still not satisfied with the team’s performance on the day. “I am happy with the big win, but even so, the performance itself was too far beneath the standards we set for ourselves. They fielded a weakened side and we should have beaten them by 100 points or more,” said Schoeman. “The fact that we did not is most worrying as it reflects a loss of concentration and urgency on our side. We were never close to clinical game-plan execution.”
Tuks received contributions from all the players to earn the win, with ten different try scorers on the day. Tian Schoeman, Cameron Dunlop, Lee Thompson and GD Kotzé all got two tries each.
Tuks
Tuks rowers win gold
TuksRowing’s Matthew Brittain, Lawrence Ndlovu, John Smith and James Thompson claimed South Africa’s third gold medal at the London Olympics on Thursday 28 July. The quartet finished in a winning time of 6:02.84 in the men’s lightweight four 2 kilometre race.
The South Africans, in lane five, came from fourth place with 500m to go powering past Great Britain, Australia and Denmark to hit the line first in a photo finish. Only 1.21 seconds separated South Africa in first from fourthplaced Australia after 2000 metres of gruelling rowing.
Conditions were difficult with a strong crosswind and the South Africans, despite reaching the final, were not expected to spoil the British party. Despite that they managed to stay within touching distance of the lead and pounced when it was too late for the Brits or Danes to recover. They were in second place, 1.49 seconds behind Denmark after the first 500m, before Britain went past them, leaving them in fourth at the 1000m and 1500m stages, but they were never more than 2.45 seconds behind the leaders.
The win meant team South Africa had claimed its third gold medal of the Games following the heroic exploits of Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh in the swimming pool. This means South Africa has already
equalled its best gold medal haul at a postisolation Olympics. This was also the country’s first rowing medal since Donovan Cech and Ramon DiClemente won bronze at the Athens Games in 2004.
The tributes poured in from all quarters, with the most celebrated Olympic rower of all time, Sir Steven Redgrave, saying: “For them to come from behind, with all that effort and win South Africa’s first rowing gold medal was incredible.”
On the TuksSport website Kobus van der Walt, TuksSport Director, said: “It was an incredible performance. They kept their cool and came through when it mattered most. We are extremely proud of them and they will be treated as heroes on their return.”
The magnitude of the achievement was not lost on the rowers either. Ndlovu, who took up the sport at school, told AFP of the enormity of winning South Africa’s first Olympic rowing title. “Rowing is big in schools but otherwise financially it’s an expensive sport,” he said. “So this gold will be good for South Africa’s rowing community and help give it a better image.”
With several of South Africa’s medal prospects such as LJ van Zyl, Caster Semenya and Khosto Mokoena still to compete in their events, London 2012 could yet be the country’s most successful Olympic Games ever.
Photo: www.supersport.com
star inside-centre Dabeon Draghoender involved in a collision that saw him stretchered off the field after suffering a
concussion. Draghonder’s substitute Donnovan Marais did not take long to make his mark as he showed a good eye to find gaps in the TUT defence and scored a good try with a 10-metre run to give Tuks an early lead. Tian Schoeman failed to extend the lead to seven as he missed conversion.
Tuks controlled their ruck well, building through the phases with good clean outs, but mistakes from both teams saw very few chances being created.
The second half would not be as close as the first, and with the very first play replacement centre Donnovan Marais continued his good form in the match with his second try, which was once again converted by Schoeman to extend the lead to 22-3. Tuks did not let TUT breathe and just minutes after scoring was once again over the try line, this time courtesy of flyhalf Tian Schoeman to score Tuks’s bonuspoint try. TUT defence looked tired and Tuks took advantage with five more tries to take the lead to 66-3. The match, however, may very well be remembered for the try scored by GD Kotzé, which saw the winger sidestep defender after defender to score a dazzling try from near the halfway line.
“We had a slow start, but we managed to get our act together and in the end it was a satisfactory performance. It is definitely something to build on for the rematch against Police,” commented coach Schoeman. Tuks now lead the pack with 59 points after 13 matches. Second on the table is Police, just one point behind with 58 points.
The rest of the tries were scored by Louis van Biljon, Dirk Dippenaar, Jan-Hendrik Bosman, Ruan van Rooyen, Clayton Stewart and Wesley Kotzé.
hoped to keep the winning trend going when they faced Varsity Cup rivals the TUT
Vikings. This year Tuks already had three crushing victories against TUT and the trend continued on 28 July. Tuks had a terrible start to the game with
Photo: Kobus Barnard
CARLO COCK