A total of 19 non-governmental organisations have qualified to receive aid from the City to help them deal with the expected influx of street people seeking shelter during the cold winter months. Read more below:

The City of Cape Town’s Social Development and Early Childhood Development Directorate has officially launched its winter readiness programme to assist street people.

This year, the directorate is spending R699 000 in total on the programme. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were required to apply for a share of the aid. A total of 30 applications were received and 19 applicants met the qualification criteria, including being registered NGOs or non-profit organisations, having facilities where people can overnight, and complying with all health and safety regulations. Continue reading →

e.tv’s popular breakfast show Sunrise will refresh its look and feel from Monday, 06 June 2016.

The makeover will include fresh on air imaging, a new studio, an earlier start to your popular breakfast show and include the language news into the main show completing a three hour block.

The new show revamp will see the viewer’s wake up to a fresher, friendlier and homely look to the show. Viewers can still look forward to seeing their favourite presenters, Penny Lebyane, Faith Mangope and Mark Haskins bringing them the best in current affairs, entertainment and sports.

Sunrise will start at 05:30am from Monday, 6 June. The show will continue to inform and entertain viewers with their edgy content which include viewer participation with the use of social media and live telephone engagement. Continue reading →

Jozi’s senior citizens to show that age ain’t nothing but a number

Joburgers are known to love a good party and its senior citizens are no different. On Wednesday, 1 June 2016, the festival will kick-off its Road to Standard Bank Joy of Jazz campaign with its community outreach programme, Jazz Cares.

To date, Jazz Cares has helped bring the arts as well as live entertainment to communities with limited access to amenities. Communities such as Diepsloot, Soweto, Alexandra and Newtown have seen its senior citizens, the disabled and community workers in hospices, orphanages and social welfare centres benefit from this annual Arts, Health & Lifestyle inspired programme.

“Through Jazz Cares we are able to include communities on the outskirts while expanding the circle of people given the opportunity to experience the richness of our country’s music and arts culture”, commented Standard Bank Executive Head: Group Brand and Sponsorship, Jenny Pheiffer.

Continue reading →

Most South African men can tell you what’s in every obscure alcoholic drink and where you can get the best one, but if there’s one drink men should know more about, it’s Rooibos tea.

This June is National Men’s Health Month, which is celebrated across the country with screenings, health fairs and other educational activities to encourage men to make their health a priority.

Men’s health has already shown a steep decline in recent years as chronic lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and cancer tightens its grip. Aside from cigarette smoking and poor diet, alcoholism is considered a leading cause of many of these debilitating conditions.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently declared South Africa the drunkest country in Africa, consuming 27 litres of pure alcohol per capita annually, which is about 53% more than the rest of the continent. Continue reading →

Recently Statistics SA announced that the country’s unemployment rate had jumped in the first quarter of 2016 from 24.5% to 26.7%. This means that today there are 8.9 million South Africans who want to work, are able to work, but are not able to find employment and most of these willing citizens are of South Africa’s youth.

Besides data from other emerging world economies suggesting that entrepreneurial activity increases job security and contributes positively towards Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report notes that in South Africa such activity remains considerably low, and although it has increased marginally over the last 10 years, in 2014 it dropped by a staggering 34% (from 10.6% to 7%). The report further states that there has been an increase in women’s entrepreneurship primarily due to government support, but that the perception of opportunities to start a business, and confidence in one’s own abilities to do so, remains alarmingly low compared to other sub-Saharan African countries. Continue reading →

While you can bet a treasure chest of gold, diamonds and pearls that the food served on the set of the pirate drama series Black Sails (the fourth season is currently filming in Cape Town), is nothing but the best, the menu aboard ships in the Golden Age of Piracy in the  early 1700s was anything but nutritious, appealing or even edible!  Pirates lived in cramped, miserable conditions and suffered from debilitating diseases, with the majority of them dying before the age of 30 as a result of warfare, the gallows or indeed a very poor diet.

Shipboard food was limited to what would keep in the course of prolonged voyages. Bread came in the form of hardtack or ‘ship’s biscuit’, rock hard squares of flour-and-water dough that after a few weeks at sea was inevitably infested with weevils. Beef was salted or dried and so tough that sailors often carved it into buttons and belt buckles. Beer, ale, and rum were the choice of drink since all kept better than fresh water. Continue reading →

Fun for the whole family

(South Africa – May 2016) The 2016 Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival takes place from 1 to 10 July 2016 and promises fun and exciting activities for the whole family. Besides the delicious oysters and many other seafood delights on offer, there’s a diverse programme of more than 100 events, with something for every age and interest.

To whet your appetite, here’s a look at just some of what’s lined up:

Sporting events for adults

• On Saturday, 2 and Sunday, 3 July Momentum Weekend Argus Knysna Cycle Tour presented by Rotary
• On Thursday, 7 July Momentum Health OatWell DualX powered by Peptopro

Sporting events for children

• Sunday, 3 July Spur Rotary Knysna Children’s Cycle Tour –  for children aged two to 9
• Saturday, 2 July The Casper Kids Adventure Run and from 1 – 10 July Dare 2 Dash Challenge for kids – for children aged six to eight

Continue reading →

“The Return of Tevin Campbell”

Cape Town – GrandWest – 22 July 2016
Johannesburg – Carnival City – 23 & 24 July 2016

Marmalade Productions are proud to bring Tevin Campbell back to South Africa after sold out performances in 2013.

Tevin Campbell was born in Dallas, Texas on November 12, 1976. At the age of 12, he became one of the youngest solo artists to ever be signed to a major record label. Quincy Jones took a special interest in Tevin’s talent and he appeared on Jones’ LP Back on the Block and was featured on “Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me),” which hit number one on the R&B charts in June 1990. Later that year, he appeared in Prince’s Graffiti Bridge film singing “Round and Round,” which Prince wrote for him and which became a gold single.

Tevin Campbell by Divos konsert foto Peter Abrahams

Next, in the summer of 1991, he appeared on the soundtrack to Boyz in the Hood singing “Just Ask Me To,” a Top Ten R&B hit. All of this set the stage for his debut album, 1991’s T.E.V.I.N., which went platinum and spawned two R&B chart-toppers, “Tell Me What You Want Me to Do” and “Alone with You,” as well as the R&B Top Five hit “Goodbye.” I’m Ready, released two years later, did even better, going double platinum and featuring three R&B chart hits — the number one “Can We Talk,” “I’m Ready,” which went Top Five, and “Always in My Heart,” which reached the Top Ten. Campbell’s compilation album “The Best of Campbell” was a huge international success, reaching multi-platinum status in Africa, Japan and the UK. Campbell has worked with some of the industry’s top writers and producers including Prince, Babyface, Al B. Sure, Narada Michael Walden, Wyclef and Sean “Diddy” Combs. Continue reading →