The 90-minute ceremonyfor the long-awaited draw for the 2010 World Cup starts at 7pm tonight. The ceremony will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and it seems the live broadcast will start at 6.30 pm?   Amidst all the politics, hype , glitz and spin, there will be appearances by some great African performers. The [...]

… with thanks to the November issue of House and Leisure (page 140).  Of the ten reasons  to visit Johannnesburg, seven are in the Greater Rosebank Region. The other 3 are:  Joburg CBD, including Arts on Main, and the Cradle of Humankind.  The 7 in the Rosebank Region are listed by House and Leisure (with different numbering) [...]

The town is a-buzz with its latest architectural and cultural landmark.  Circa, a striking elliptical building on the corner of Jellicoe and Jan Smuts Ave, is the daring project of Mark Read of Everard Read Gallery fame.  Seemingly encased in dark streamlined metal fins, the Gallery space has 3 levels.  Exhibition spaces are visiblethrough glass from the [...]

All South African mobile phone SIM cards must now be registered under strict new legislation which came into force on 1st July. From that date mobile telecommunications providers operating in the country are required to record a customer’s cell phone number, full name, identity number or passport number and address before activating a new SIM [...]

I have a school friend called Carol who has lived out of the country since the mid 1970s but has returned often since the 1990s. Recently her mother died. She had been living at a frail care facility down on the southern Cape coast and had been looked after with loving gentleness by wonderful care-givers. [...]

The disastrous 2008 power outages in Gauteng and the recent announcements of shocking electricity price hikes, (45% for the next 3 years), bring into focus yet again the political nature of electrical power. There has long been a contest and tussle between municipal power supply and national power supply. The city of Johannesburg historically generated [...]

There has been a long silence on my blog as I was out of action for a couple of weeks in September. So energy levels coming back and lots to catch up on. The rains have come, the days are crisp and clear with new spring shoots washed and sparkling, and the dry and burnt [...]

The following was taken from the Johannesburg Planetarium’s newsletter (28/08/09)
The International Space Station (ISS) passes directly over South Africa on Sunday evening (Aug 30th) – possibly accompanied by the shuttle Discovery!  Discovery is scheduled to launch Friday evening (SA time) to deliver crew and equipment to the orbiting station, but has been delayed twice this [...]

Yes we are spoilt. South Africa faces so many challenges, challenges with which both locals and the rest of the world are ALL  too familiar. However a day like this last Sunday makes up for a lot. In the spring, SAPPI a very large paper making public company, generously sponsors concerts at the National Botanical [...]

Little beats a week-end in the bush. Spent 4 nights in the Kruger National Park in early August  at a bush camp called Talamati in the central area of the Park, west of the big main camp Satara.  August is the best time for the Kruger Park as it is dry and game congregates around [...]