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19 October 2007
Sarah of the seas in EL Port
DEON VAN DER MERWE

South Africa's marine protection ship the Sarah Baartman tied up in front of G-shed in the Port of East London last night where she'll be taking centre stage in tomorrow's National Marine Day celebrations.

National Ports Authority spokesperson Terry Taylor told BuffaloCity.info this morning that final touches are being put to a full-on marine and shipping-related exhibition inside and around G-shed on the East Bank.

He reminded the public that G-shed was the venue where so many highly successful port festivals have been held in the past.

Entry restrictions to the port are being relaxed for tomorrow, so visitors can enter along the road leading down to the harbour from the Quigney and from Latimer's Landing. On foot the exhibition can also be accessed from the Orient Beach pier.

Gates open early, says Taylor, adding that a 5km Big Walk in support of cancer will start at 8am. The event is being sponsored by AlgoaFM and Caltex. Children who complete the walk will receive prizes and be treated to free boat rides within the harbour.

Taylor says the programme for the day, ending at 2pm (to allow people to gear up for the RWC final between SA and England), has been designed in a way which will allow visitors to see and do the entire exhibition within about 90 minutes. It will be repeated four times. 

The Baartman's three sister ships are the Lillian Ngoyi, Ruth First and Victoria Mxenge. All are named for women who played significant roles in shaping South Africa's history and are tasked to protect the country's marine resources, monitor the  marine environment and to respond rapidly to incidents within its territorial waters.

19 October 2007
Balindlela woos Germany
ANDREA JONKER-BRYCE

Barefoot and in traditional garb, Eastern Cape Premier Nosimo Balindlela received thunderous applause and a standing ovation from public representatives and the gallery when she addressed Parliament (Landtag) in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, this week.

The first woman premier, and the first foreigner, ever to address Landtag, Balindlela spoke from her heart about the lessons her government had learnt from twinning with Lower Saxony .  “We have since mastered the German efficiency and effectiveness,” said Balindlela, who explained that in her province the word Germany was synonymous with hard work, punctuality and efficiency.

“Following the success of the e-learning project where servers have now been installed in the further education and training (FET) colleges, I am committing to being more computer literate myself, and to start using emails and Internet without relying on secretarial support.”

Balindlela spoke of the challenges of fast-tracking development for a better life for all, and highlighted that her government has committed R20 million to meet the Lower Saxony government's efforts at supporting the province.

“This is to show that we are equal partners and we are committed to this long-standing partnership”, said Balindlela, who concluded her address by singing Bambelela – we will never give up – joined by her delegation and the entire parliament and the public gallery.

Balindlela said the song was dedicated to the poor people of the Eastern Cape : “I would like the poor people to be assured that as long as I am the premier, I will strive to look after their interests and I will continue to do all that I can to fight poverty and under-development.”

The Landtag address was preceded by the official opening by Balindlela of the renowned Art from the Ground Up exhibition – a joint collaboration between German and Eastern Cape artists – which will soon tour the Eastern Cape.

Besides the Landtag address, the EC delegation has been busy with twinning visits covering areas such as education, housing, sport, communication, and capacity building. They return on Sunday 20 October.

19 October 2007
R11m footprint site handed over
DEON VAN DER MERWE

An R11-million education and visitors centre at the site of the world's oldest known human footprints, in East London's Nahoon Point Nature Reserve, was officially handed over the city's executive mayor Zintle Peter yesterday.

Scientists believe the fossilised footprints are those of a child of between seven and nine years which were left just off the beach some 120 000 years ago. This makes them the oldest known human footprints in the world.

Present at yesterday's function were former municipal officials Bill Hartley and Rhett Kaiser, who discovered the footprints 43-years ago in 1964.

The DaimlerChrysler SA Coastal Education and Visitor center represents the fruition of a two-year project sponsored by the motor manufacturer, the Buffalo City Municipality, the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

Comprising lecture and auditorium facilities, an information  centre, an administrative wing and ablution facilities, the centre's well-equipped coffee shop will be run privately. Rental income will form part of a financial strategy geared to raising funds for the running of the centre which, with its stunning view over several kilometers of pristine coastline within the city limits, is set to become a sought-after venue.

DCSA yesterday announced that in addition to its R1m donation to the centre, it would increase its investment to R3m over three years. 

Viewed from the air the new centre clearly looks like a barefoot footprint, complete with five toes and a heel imprint. Two of the major roleplayers in the establishment of the centre, marine biologist and top coastal resource management expert Wille Maritz, and East London Museum Director, Kevin Cole, said when all the threads of the project were drawn together, the footprint shape of the building made perfect sense.

Situated just a stone's throw from Nahoon Point, a major international surfing competition venue, and located between the Nahoon,  Eastern and Orient Beaches, the "footprint" would be clearly visible to people flying in and out of East London's airport. Both men say the unique building, situated in a unique spot adds value to East London's claim that the city was not only a preferred investment destination, but also a preferred city in which to live. 

19 October 2007
Seeing stars at the Guild on Sunday
ANDREA JONKER-BRYCE

Around 100 delegates from around the world are flocking to Buffalo City this weekend for the Night of the Stars Hair Extravaganza at the Guild Theatre on Sunday night.

This Intercoiffure production will include dance, music, ramp modelling, a few powerful motorbikes and, of course, a lot of fabulous hairdos.

Included in these is an elaborate display of Australia 's 11 official flowers – and you know where those will be: Delicately sculpted on the crowns of 11 glamorous models.

The show is being organised by Francois de Jongh of Chez Francois and features three overseas stylists – one from New Zealand and two from Australia – as well as the Oceanic SA president, Johan Nortje.

Top hairstylists from all over the country are bringing their own models to our seaside city for the event.

“East Londoners must come,” says De Jongh. “It's going to be spectacular. The public won't see another show like this for a while.”

The show falls in the middle of the Intercoiffure Congress which starts today and ends on Tuesday 23 October.

Tickets for this glitzy do are still available from Chez Francois at Vincent Park on 043 726 4160 at R250 each. This includes hot snacks during two intervals, and proceeds are being ploughed back into hairstyling development in the form of the YICD, where young students will be sent on overseas exchange programmes.

19 October 2007
5 QUESTIONS: Ian Humpel

Ian Humpel has recently been appointed the new store manager of Exclusive Books here in Vincent Park. At 29, he is one of the youngest store managers in the stable. BuffaloCity.info asked him five quick questions this week.

What's your background?

I am a born and bred East Londoner. My parents moved here from Queenstown. I went to Grens and then studied economics and German through Unisa. The idea was to go into banking (laughs). I started with Exclusive Books as a night staffer back in 2000 and have been here ever since.

What's it like working in a book store? Every book lover has the romantic notion that you sit and read wonderful books all day.

Oh, you know that old adage, a bookseller who reads either has no work or is a lazy bookseller. There is always something to do, you have to deal with staffing issues, make sure there are sufficient (and relevant) stock levels, you have to see book representatives and then there's the aspect of dealing with the public and their queries and needs.

How much autonomy do you have in determining what books you stock in your store?

A lot. It's huge. We are encouraged to determine what books we stock but we also need to take into account our internal annual campaigns such as the Boeke Prize, The List (formerly Publishers' Choice) and Homebru.

How do you keep a balance, book buyers are not a homogenous bunch?

That's not any easy question to answer. It's not possible to please everyone but that's where one's bookseller's knowledge of local tastes comes in.

What do you do in your down time?

I do a lot of socialising with friends. I watch a lot of movies – I love foreign-language films and art house movies. And of course I read.

Go to our BOOKS PAGE on Monday to see Ian's best five books from recently released The List and his five best books ever.

19 October 2007
Tax jitters? Sars can help!

Is the idea of sorting your tax returns still daunting you? Worry not – you still have time, and the South African Revenue Service (Sars) is at Metlife Mall in King William's Town today, and Vincent Library tomorrow, to help.

At Metlife Mall, you can still make it today until 3pm, and in East London , at Vincent Library, get there between 9am and 12 noon on Saturday.

You will need to take with you the following: Tax return form; IRP5 from employer; medical aid certificate (if applicable); retirement annuity contribution certificate (if applicable); investment income advices [ITB(3)] (if applicable); all supporting documents to substantiate claims.

Once this documentation has been used to fill in your tax return, you will need to keep the supporting documentation in a safe place for five years.

So, have no fear. Get your papers together and make life easier for yourself: Visit Metlife Mall today (or from 22 to 26 October) or Vincent Library (tomorrow or Saturday 27 October).

18 October 2007

George Randell, Fort Hare join hands in literacy
ANDREA JONKER-BRYCE

George Randell Primary School has become the country’s fourth TalkTogether School – putting them at an exciting advantage when it comes to literacy and learning.

Officially known as the Thrass Absa TalkTogether Literacy Project, this phonetically based programme – which is being launched at George Randell today – partners schools, universities and other groups in an attempt to create an approach to learning and teaching that is unique to South African schools.

Although Thrass – which stands for Teaching Handwriting, Reading and Spelling Skills – is already underway on a private basis in South Africa, and many local teachers have already obtained accreditation, the university-school project is Absa-funded and supported by Thrass UK, which means the two institutions receive the training and materials – including software and an interactive Smart whiteboard – for free.

The programme is being implemented into one university per province, and that university chooses a school with whom to partner.

It began with Wits University selecting Roseneath Primary in Parktown, Johannesburg, in July this year. The second university, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), chose Sunlands Primary in Cape Town; and the third – the University of Pretoria – was coupled with Eendracht Primary.

Fort Hare was the project’s Eastern Cape choice, and George Randell Primary the university’s choice.

From the Absa-Thrass sponsorship, all staff at George Randell and all Foundation and Intermediate Phase students and language lecturers of Fort Hare’s Education Department will be trained in Thrass methodology and the implementation of the project, which will run for five years starting next year. The Fort Hare students will teach with George Randell staff once a week for the length of the project.

Language, while a unifier, can also be an obstacle when it comes to literacy – and in a country of 11 official languages, both teachers and pupils feel the pressure when it comes to learning, says Fort Hare University lecturer and local Thrass liaison Margie Brookes.

“As far as literacy goes, it’s very, very important that we focus on how to teach, especially with our language diversity. In the past, pupils learnt to read and write by memorising. But reading is a problem-solving activity. Teachers need to give pupils the skills to approach any book – not just the class reader.”

She says many teachers still don’t know how to teach phonics – and Thrass should start alleviating this problem through a system of decoding (so students can read) and encoding (so students can write).

What language teachers are “really getting excited about”, though, is that Thrass here is geared towards isiXhosa readers.
“Most of our learners speak isiXhosa as their first language,” says George Randell principal Hilton Williams. “However, according to the School Language Policy (SLP), English has been chosen as the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT).”

Research shows that second-language pupils who are taught in English are disadvantaged if their English language skills are not well-enough developed.

“If these learners find reading and writing in English difficult, their entire academic, creative and divergent thinking processes are affected. I see Thrass as one of the keys in helping our children and teachers overcome some of the many language challenges we encounter on a daily basis in our classrooms,” says Williams.

Thrass materials have been translated into all 10 official South African languages, and plans are afoot for the programme to be extended into the communities surrounding Buffalo City in the near future.

Thrass’ role at George Randell is in keeping with the school’s passion for reading. As previous provincial Readathon winners, George Randell staff are “mentally prepared to introduce this creative and innovative methodology to enhance the literacy skills of all learners from Grades 0 to 8”, says Williams.

Brookes says judging from global research that has been done on Thrass methodology, there should be an improvement in literacy levels for all learners irrespective of their first language.

“George Randell is truly blessed to be the Eastern Cape pilot school in partnership with UFH,” says Williams. “Without the positive intervention and exceptional social responsibility of Absa, our learners would not have been able to experience the benefits of this innovative programme. It is hoped that their investment will unlock the potential of all our learners.”