Eastern Province surfers Gina and Emma Smith made it through to round three in the U20 girls division at the Billabong SA Champs atLong Beachin Cape Town yesterday.

The Champs will determine the top provincial team in the country.

Surfers battled it out in freezing cold, rain and small, onshore conditions yesterday.  “It started off pretty small and cold this morning,” said Billabong South Africa marketing manager Chad D’Arcy. “In the afternoon there were a few spots of sun, and some highly contestable three-foot lefts.”

Border surfer and defending Women’s Champ Nikita Robb made her intentions clear when she won her early morning first round heat convincingly. “I know that there are so many girls snapping at my heels for the title,” said Nikita. I’m just going to keep focused and take it heat by heat throughout the event. I’m lucky to be in the Border team. Their support is unbelievable.”
In the U20 girls Holly Armstrong and Tanika Hoffman, among others, also made through to Round 3.

In the Open Mens division, two-times SA Champion Sean Holmes (SC) advanced out of the repecharge heats to round three of the competition, along with surfers like Wayne Monk (Bor), Ian Armstrong (WP) and Scott Venter (SKZN).

Border surfers are the current holders of the 40 year old Presidents Cup. WesternProvinceis going all out to maintain its past record of winning the event every time it has taken place in the CapePeninsula.

In addition to the R30 000 being handed out to the four champions in the four divisions, the winner of the newly introduced VonZipper Airshow will earn R1000, and there will also be R1000 prizes for the DaKine Highest Heat Score and the Kustom Kustomised Maneuver.  All  contestants will be allocated 4A PST points, which is an increase from last year.

Sarah Baartman

This followsthe acceptance of a request yesterday by the Executive Mayor of the municipality, Khunjuzwa Eunice Kekana, to support the renaming.

The National and Provincial Government will now be informed plus traditional leaders, stakeholders and all affected communities will be informed. In addition the renaming requires the amendment of the Section 12 Notice of the Municipal Structures Act of 1998 (Act 117 of 1998).

The communities and stakeholders of the Cacadu District Municipality are also urged to provide comment when the proposal is advertised for public input.

The significance of Sarah Baartman

Sarah Baartman is an international icon, synonymous with the commitment to democracy by the South African Government. Baartman, of Khoikhoi descent, was born in 1789 and raised within the Gamtoos Valley in the Cacadu District Municipality and was laid to rest in Hankey along the banks of the Gamtoos River on 9 August 2002.

She became orphaned when her family was attacked in a commando raid and was subsequently taken to Cape Town as a slave. At the age of 20, in 1810, William Dunlop, a British ship’s doctor, took her to London.

There she was put on display as a human novelty, due to the fascination of the Europeans with her body shape. Her inhumane treatment was exposed and a court case was brought in her defence by the African Association, an anti-slavery group in London.

When she could no longer be displayed in London, she was sold to an animal trainer in France, who also used her as if she were a circus animal. She died of a respiratory illness in Paris in 1815, after which her body was dissected by a scientist named George Cuvier, Napoleon’s surgeon-general. A body cast was made of her corpse and her body parts were put on display until 1974.

In 1994, President Nelson Mandela appealed to the French Government for the return of the remains of Sarah Baartman from the Musee de l’Homme in Paris. It was only in 2002 that the French Government finally agreed.

On 22 August 2002, the former president, Thabo Mbeki, declared the grave of Sarah Baartman a national heritage site.

In related matters it was announced last month that the Construction of the R168-million Sarah Bartmann Centre of Remembrance at Hankey will start as soon as the Department of Agriculture gives the go-ahead for the rezoning and subdivision of the site earmarked for the development. Kouga, the Dept of Arts & Culture and the Dept of Agriculture are still negotiating, but Arts & Culture are optimistic that the contractor will be on site before the end of the year.

The teachers are also urged to bring and submit their profiles at these districts.

This was announced in a media release by the Eastern Cape Education Department.

The announcement marks the beginning of the implementation of plans to priorities the provision of teachers in all schools in the province  - a core business of the department.

The municipality apologies for the  inconvenience

Ernest Bendeman, a Links member and MD of SA Billabong visited Links CEO Jeff Clause to request to use the golf cart paths around the 5th tee.

Links staff set the golf course tee sheet in a way to accommodate golfers and  S9 participants.

Youngsters competed in different age groups – families and friends made a day of it.

The St Francis Bay Super Spar donated Boerie rolls. The Prize table was excellent and it was well received by all.

The winner of the ‘Open’ division was Zoomie Arderne, following in fotsteps of his brother Matt..

Info on other winners has, unfortunately, not been received yet.

But take a look at the fab photo gallery of the skateboarding . Photos by Stan Blumberg

Also Click here for a fab video of last Sunday’s skateboarding:

http://www.facebook.com/sector9.south.africa

Much excitement was had putting up tents and getting the campsite organised.  The children had much fun on the beach with activities like a litter bash, surf and sea safety talk and games.

Children braaied their own food and enjoyed making “stokbrood”.  Evening entertainment was provided by the children themselves doing various skits.

Photos provided by Lucy

This was part of the seven-week tour of South Africa.

Volunteer in SA, a Christian outreach volunteer organisation in Cape St Francis recently hosted and trained the 13 Youth With a Mission (YWAM) volunteers from the Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Colorado..

The group assisted with various volunteer programmes drawn up by Volunteer in SA founder, Mandy Weschta for the school children in Sea Vista. They also enthusiastically supported the outreach ministry to provide food support and practical assistance in improving the flimsy shack homes in Zwelitsha.

“Twice a week our volunteers go door to door in this community and through prayer identify the needs, says Weschta. “We then do what we can to assist. We supply up to 100 of the most needy residents with bread for the day and where possible offer blankets for the coming winter.”

The most common appeal is for better housing or at least the means to weatherproof their existing houses.

The volunteers were tasked with identifying shacks with leaking roofs and re-covering these roofs with donated waterproof plastic sheeting.  The materials used are all donated.

“We are always grateful for supplies of waterproof plastics, wooden boarding, corrugated iron sheets or anything that can be used to help keep the weather out of these homes,” says Weschta.

In addition, the volunteers taught soccer and ball skills, swimming and surfing to the after-care children at the Talhado Children’s Haven and  at Sea Vista primary school.  “Before we can teach children to surf they need to be able to swim and understand water safety,” says Weschta. “We have been given access to the old hotel swimming pool in St Francis Bay and are now teaching groups of children the basics of water safety and swimming. Once they are competent they can choose to learn to surf.”

“We are in need of sponsorship,” Weschta adds. “With the winter approaching there is an immediate need for towels and old wet suits for the swimmers and surfers.  For the community outreach programmes we need blankets, old clothing, food and building materials.”

Weschta can be contacted on 079-138-6116 or volunteerinsouthafrica@gmail.com .

All articles written, all photos taken, plus all adverts designed, by the Editor and printed in the St Francis Chronicle are protected by Copyright.  Reproduction or copying of any part of the contents of this newspaper and its concept and design can only be done with the Editor’s written permission.

An emotional moment when Raffik gets on his bicycle for the first time.

The St Francis Bay Rotary Club’s recycling project in Sea Vista is still going strong.  Some, children like Raffik, have been saving their tokens up instead of buying small things, so that they can buy something big.

With the help of his doting father Sam, Raffik saved hard over the past weeks to get 200 points he needed to make his dream come true.

He wobbled away on his bike with his Dad following behind shouting support and instructions to help him ride his bike.

And as he rode off the crowd of recyclers all stopped to give him a cheer and loud applause.

The youth in Sea Vista are hard at work collecting items they can exchange for tokens to buy products at the recycling shop.

Another youngster, Patrick de Lange, earned himself this fishing rod he has been working towards. 

He was also cheered by other young boys in the waiting crowd.  Patrick has been one of the regular recyclers since the project started.

See related posts:

http://stfrancischronicle.com/2012/02/17/hundreds-of-kids-overwhelm-recycling-projhect/

 http://stfrancischronicle.com/2012/02/13/how-to-help-with-the-recycling-swap-shop-project/

All articles written, all photos taken, plus all adverts designed, by the Editor and printed in the St Francis Chronicle are protected by Copyright.  Reproduction or copying of any part of the contents of this newspaper and its concept and design can only be done with the Editor’s written permission.

Standard Bank has been awarded the Eastern Cape provincial account.  This is the third provincial account win for Standard Bank in the past 18 months, following the previous wins of the Free State and Mpumalanga provincial accounts.

“Our track record in the province spans a century and a half of the province’s developmental history beginning with the bank’s establishment in Port Elizabeth 150 years ago,”  says Standard Bank Director of Public Sector Banking, Bongi Kunene.

She adds that the bank has current relationships with major municipalities and some of its biggest educational institutions, including Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the University of Fort Hare.

The Eastern Cape’s current provincial annual budget is R55 billion. Standard Bank already banks the province’s two largest metropolitan municipalities, Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City, as well as the Amathole District Municipality.

“The Eastern Cape provincial government gains the advantage of our deep understanding of the province’s needs,” Kunene maintains. “Together with this, the structuring of our dedicated public sector division ensures we are able to provide ‘just in time’ solutions that enhance their own service delivery capabilities.”

Standard Bank’s public service division combines a range of practitioner skills from the full spectrum of local, provincial, and national government, education, healthcare, and state enterprises – in South Africa and other countries. “Together with traditional banking skills, our team includes specialised public sector practitioners who have experience in government finances and a thorough understanding of government processes and requirements,” Kunene says.

Involvement in the province ranges from funding the roll-out of 110 000 solar water heaters to low cost houses in Port Elizabeth, to helping the East London Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ) attract businesses to the area, and providing education and leadership training to emerging farmers together with Fort Hare.

“In addition, we are in discussions with national government about how best to trigger economic and enterprise development and are able to extend these initiatives and concepts to our provincial government clients,” Kunene says.  “We see banking as more than transactional capability; it’s also about harnessing all capabilities to improve the quality of life for society as a whole.”

Standard Bank’s efficiencies, plus its financial and technological platform enables the bank to offer the province a price suitable to a public sector pocket – without compromising on the range or quality of services required, Kunene says. “‘Business as usual’ for Standard Bank benefits the province at a cost and operational level.”

The burn is taking place on the open ground on St Francis Drive between Tarragona Road and Cape St Francis Road Airpark.

The Fire Department will be present at all times. It has requested that residents please stay away from the area.

Should you have any queries (or complaints) during this exercise – please ring the Fire Department on 042-291-0250.