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Melanie Sellar is a 27 year old Emergency Care Technician who was born in Cape Town and grew up in the small Overberg town of Genadendal. She joined Western Cape Government Health Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in 2008 through a learnership programme. Melanie completed her qualification as a Basic Life Supporter (BLS) in 2009 and followed this up with a qualification in Intermediate Life Support (ILS). At the end of 2014 she qualified as an Emergency Care Technician and today she can be found saving lives from Du Noon to Bonteheuwel.
Melanie fell in love with emergency services as a child while she admired her father who is a Rescue Technician. All she ever wanted to do was be like him and fly to mountain calls in helicopters and extricate people from accident wrecks amongst others.
As for challenges that come with this profession…Melanie says there are a few too many to mention and being a female in a previously male dominated working environment is something she deals with regularly. Being rather short of stature with child like features…it’s not always a breeze she says.
Melanie often has to deal with patients and crowds, families and bystanders who mistake her for a student until she starts with treatment. Her fears include entering areas with high crime rates. Areas she knows her colleagues experienced life threatening situations and especially when on night shift. Continue reading
Talented youth given the opportunity to travel to Cape Town to prove themselves in front of Rabada, Gibson and van Zyl
20 October 2017. Cape Town. The Audi Q5 Fast Track, South Africa’s first cricket development initiative designed to utilise state-of-the-art technology to identify bowling talent, held its national final this week at the Clifton Oval in Cape Town. The final included Proteas players who were on hand to scout for the next fast bowling stars and brought together 24 of the best young bowlers from around the country. The aim of the day was to allow standout young bowlers to showcase their talent in front of Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) development team. Gerhardus Fourie from Limpopo and Constance Sardick from Gauteng emerged as winners in the day, recognising their all-round bowling skills.
Sardick, who experienced her first trip to Cape Town, said “The Audi Q5 Fast Track final was definitely one of the most exciting experiences of my life. Not only did I get to experience the amazing technology of the Audi Bowling Lab or have the opportunity to show my talent in front of Cricket South Africa but I also got to meet my heroes and experience Cape Town for the first time.”
The Audi Q5 Fast Track initiative, in collaboration with CSA, was conceived with the aim of utilising the Audi Bowling Lab (a set-up which uses world-leading Pitchvision technology to assess a bowler’s action, line, length and speed) to identify young bowling talent in untapped rural areas. It has since visited Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Limpopo and Western Cape. Former Protea fast bowler, Mfuneko Ngam, served as the lead talent scout and was directly involved in selecting standout bowlers in each region who would ultimately make it through to the national final.
Ngam commented, “The Audi Q5 Fast Track was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my career. Audi has helped us to realise the depth of bowling talent that exists across our country – something which makes me very hopeful for the future of South African cricket.” Continue reading
Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the Springboks’ second Rugby World Cup final victory, beating England, 15-6, in Paris to become only the second team in history to win the Webb Ellis Cup twice.
SA Rugby President, Mr Mark Alexander, said on Friday that the Bok Class of 2007, under the coaching of Jake White and captaincy of John Smit, had done the country a wonderful service when they won the World Cup in the French capital.
“It was a great day for South Africa,” said Mr Alexander.
“We must never forget what that team did for us as a country, but also for rugby as a sport here in South Africa. They achieved something very few thought was possible and did so with grace and humility, something that lifted South Africans and showed what we can achieve.
“Just like the 1995 team of the late Kitch Christie and Francois Pienaar, rugby united our country in a very special way. These teams will always be dear to our hearts.”
Mr Alexander thanked the 2007 Springbok squad once again for their efforts of a decade ago and reaffirmed that they held a special place in the hearts of South Africans, both today and always.
The Boks kicked off the tournament with a 59-7 victory over Samoa in their pool match in Paris before they laid down a significant marker by disposing of England, then the defending champions, 36-0, at the Stade de France. Continue reading
DHL Western Province U19 will face Toyota Free State Cheetahs U19 in their semifinal clash which will be played as a curtain-raiser for the Currie Cup semifinal at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
DHL Western Province U19 topped the standings, having claimed 11 wins from their 12 matches in the regular season and will face the fourth-placed visitors from the Free State in a clash that kicks off at 14h30 on Saturday.
Captain Salmaan Moerat leads a settled side that has performed well as a unit all season, scoring 529 points including 76 tries and conceding just 176 for a points difference of 353.
Centre and vice-captain Lyle Hendricks, who is also the goalkicker, is third on the list of top points-scorers this season, with 115 points to his name, while powerful wing Christian Ambadiang is second on the list of top tryscorers with 14 five-pointers.
DHL Western Province U19 Head Coach Nazeem Adams said that his team are determined to make the most of the opportunity tio play at DHL Newlands in the semifinal.
“It will be a special experience for the players, a chance for them to build on all of the hard work they have put in this season.
“It is pleasing that we have been so consistent, but we also need to ensure that we are as accurate as possible in the play-offs,” he said.
DHL Newlands season tickets are valid for the Currie Cup semifinal, with match tickets available from wprugby.computicket.com or any Computicket outlet.
DHL Western Province U19: 15 Marko Labuschagne, 14 Christian Ambadiang, 13 Lyle Hendricks, 12 Henlo Marias, 11 Mike Mavovana, 10 Wian van Zyl, 9 Labib Kannemeyer, 8 Muller Uys, 7 Shaine Orderson, 6 Charl Serdyn, 5 BJ Dixon , 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 Schalk Erasmus, 1 Leon Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Reece Buizendenhout, 18 Adam Neethling, 19 Bernard Jansen, 20 Regardt du Plessis, 21 Deon Carstens, 22 Francke Botha, 23 Sako Makata.
Cobus Wiese will start for DHL Western Province U21 in their semifinal against Xerox Golden Lions U21 at Emirates Airline Park on Friday.
There are just two changes to the team that faced Leopards U21 in the last round of league fixtures, for the clash which kicks off at 14h30 in Johannesburg on Friday.
Both changes come in the forward pack with Wiese starting at blindside flank and captain Ernst van Rhyn shifting to the second row where he will partner the returning Eddie Zandberg.
The only changes to the replacements bench are the inclusion of lock Ruben de Villiers and utility back Cornel Smit.
DHL Western Province U21 Head Coach Jerome Paarwater said that his team are looking forward to the challenge of travelling up to Johannesburg to play some knock-out rugby.
“This is a great opportunity for this team to show what they are capable of against a strong Xerox Golden Lions U21 team.
“The players have put in the hard work, so the challenge now is to make sure we execute our plan as accurately as possible,” he said.
DHL Western Province U21: 15 Aidynn Cupido, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 David Brits, 12 Michaine Fick, 11 Edwill van Der Merwe, 10 Tiaan Swanepoel, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Daniel Maree, 5 Eddie Zandberg, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Nico Peyper, 1 Wikus Groenewald.
Replacements: 16 Percy Mngadi, 17 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 18 Ruben de Villiers, 19 Nama Xaba, 20 Paul de Wet, 21 Jordan Chait, 22 Cornel Smit.
STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S EXECUTIVE MAYOR, PATRICIA DE LILLE
Note to editors: the following speech was delivered by City of Cape Town Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille, at the City and its partners’ Energy, Water and Waste Forum at the Cape Town International Convention Centre today, 19 October 2017.
Good morning, goeie dag, molweni, as-salaam alaikum, shalom.
It is a privilege to address such a large group of business leaders at a crucial stage of actions needed to navigate our way through an unprecedented drought crisis.
You are the men and women who contribute to driving our economy and who create and sustain jobs. For that I applaud you.
For some time now, we have been positioning Cape Town as a forward-looking, globally competitive business city. Our city is a great place to live, work, visit, play and invest in.
In recent times our economic growth has outperformed the national average. That is due to the creativity and resilience of our business leaders, and due to the enabling environment and infrastructure supported by the city government. Continue reading
The pressure on the four Currie Cup Premier Division semi-finalists – the Cell C Sharks, DHL Western Province, Xerox Golden Lions and Vodacom Blue Bulls – will reach boiling point on Saturday as they go head-to-head in their biggest match of the season for a place in the Final.
The Cell C Sharks, who finished the pool stages as the top team, will take on 2016 runners up, the Vodacom Blue Bulls, at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban at 14h30, while DHL Western Province will host the Xerox Golden Lions at DHL Newlands in Cape Town at 17h00.
The clash in Durban is the KwaZulu-Natalians’ first appearance in a Currie Cup knock-out match since 2014. It’s also the first time the Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Blue Bulls meet in the semi-final in five seasons.
Fuelling the hosts’ motivation, they won both encounters between the sides in the pool stages, while they have only gone down once against the Pretoria outfit at home in the competition in more than a decade – since 2006.
The visitors, meanwhile, will draw inspiration from the fact that the Cell C Sharks’ winning margins against them in the competition were by only eight and 13 points respectively, while most of their defeats in Durban have also been by less than 10 points. Adding to this, they have been fighting for their survival in their competition for several weeks, and will be up for the challenge. Continue reading
