Bring out your vuvuzelas as sport takes center stage in South Africa... - Marlan Padayachee
Durban Dateline: South Africa’s sports industry has taken center stage ahead of the countdown to the FIFA World Cup in 2010.
For a country that has had a painful history with sports apartheid, international isolation and almost world-wide boycott until the 1990s, South Africa is taking the enormous challenge of hosting the biggest soccer spectacle in its stride as giant stadiums rise in the skylines from Durban to Cape Town.
The 2010 World Cup enjoyed good branding at the recent Indaba – Africa’s top tourism show – in Durban where more than 10,000 people from all over South Africa and the world exhibited products and showcased tourism and travel opportunities.
Soccer was featured strongly with the SA Tourism staff wearing the official yellow and green South Africa jersey and World Cup chief organizer Danny Jordaan addressing the world media about how the nation was preparing for an event that brought tears to Nelson Mandela’s eyes when FIFA boss Sepp Blatter named SA as the 2010 host country.
S.A Tourism had guests who were visibly excited with the exhibition and the opportunities 2010 will bring to the sports and tourism industry.

Hosting the Big Sporting Events -www.southafrica.info

 

The Rugby World Cup, Cricket World Cup, World Cup of Motorsport, Women's World Cup of Golf, Swimming World Cup, African Cup of Nations... If you think South Africa will have any trouble pulling off the 2010 Fifa World Cup, look at the country's track record for hosting major sporting events - and think again.

International events
• 1995 Rugby World Cup
• 1996 African Cup of Nations
• 1996 World Cup of Golf
• 1998 World Cup of Athletics
• 2003 Cricket World Cup
• 2003 President's Cup
• 2003-2008 Fina Swimming World Cup
• 2005-2008 Women's World Cup of Golf
• 2006-2008 A1 Grand Prix Durban
• 2006 Paralympic Swimming World Champs
• 2007 World Twenty20 Championships
• 2010 Fifa World Cup preliminary draw
• Red Bull Big Wave Africa
• Six-star rated surfing events.

 

GENE, GENE – THE KICKING MACHINE! -

Drienie Hattingh

I had to smile when I heard Johan (retired in Utah) and Eugene (Navy in San Francisco) discussing the draft.  The draft that I’m talking about has nothing to do with a wind coming through an opening in a window.  As some of you might know, ‘the draft’ in America is the once-a-year ‘American Football Draft.’  This is when all the NFL teams can buy players from other teams.  Or, that is how I understand it.
For weeks, before, during and after the ‘draft’, – Eugene and Johan were discussing all the possible players that the Vikings should sell or buy or get rid of. 
I remember the first time that Eugene came face to face with American Football.  He was seven years old and we still lived in Bryanston, Johannesburg, South Africa.  At the time Eugene could recite all the rugby and cricket players’ names in all the provinces in South Africa and, living in Transvaal, his heroes were the Transvaal rugby and cricket teams.  And of course, he played rugby and cricket in school. 

 

  

Brief Vannie Hys Af-Blouwillem

Liewe Ouboet,
Ja, en daar kom die diewens toe sowaar en steel duisende rande se aluminiumdraad van onse President Thabo se blyplek, Mahlambandlovu, se dak af. Sommer so terwyl Rome brand en onse grootbaas snoesig lк en slaap!

 

Sport-Blouwillem

Between the two of them they have only one good leg but in the final days and months before Beijing 2008, they have become the darlings of the media world. No other two athletes have probably gone through more personal pain and sacrifice to achieve their dreams than South Africa’s  Natalie du Toit and Oscar Pistorius. Natalie, who swam herself into the hearts of all South Africans when she came fourth in the World Open Water Swimming Championships in Sevilla, Spain, became the first disabled athlete to qualify for the Olympics.

 

NATALIE Makes Olympic history-www.southafrica.info

Paralympic superstar Natalie du Toit's career is littered with ground-breaking achievements, but her latest - becoming the first amputee to qualify for the Olympic Games - might be the most amazing of them all.
Du Toit booked her place in Beijing at the weekend by finishing fourth in the 10-kilometer race at the World Open Water Swimming Championships in Seville; she needed to place in the top 10 to earn a spot at the Olympics.
Victory went to Russia's Larisa Ilchenko in two hours, two minutes, and 2.7 seconds, with Britain's Cassie Patten in second place, just over three seconds behind, and Spain's Yurema Requena in third in 2:02:07. Du Toit narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fractionally behind the Spaniard, although they shared the same

 

Debt: A Burden for the Future-Colin Donian

Record debt levels place households on knife edge, screams the headline (Business Report, Hazelhurst, E., May 13, 2008).  “A record high level of household debt - close to 78 percent of disposable household income - makes South Africans ‘highly vulnerable’ to interest rate increases,” says John Loos of First National Bank (FNB).
Debt, debt, debt.  Everywhere you go there are indebted citizens and households.  While circumstances may differ, the indebtedness of South African households is little different from those in the USA.  So what is ‘debt’ how do we get into it, and more importantly, how do we stay (get) out of it?
Taking the household as the unit of analysis, let us assume it is a micro-business.  If we create a very simple income (Y) – consumption function (C) that is represented as follows:
Y = f[Cc + Cf] = f[(Eh + Aa) + S + I]

 

SA athletes on track for BEIJING -www.southafrica.info

We all know that “the Cape Rocks” as a place to visit and/or live  in, so in celebration of that South African icon, 4 Wines Plus More and Van Loveren launched a special label.
The Cape Rock Brand was created to represent the very best of South Africa wines at every day affordable drinking prices. 
4 Wines Plus More only represents family owned Wine Estates.  Van Loveren has an incredible reputation in South Africa where they consistently over the years have been recognized by all as the best value winemakers in S.A.

 

Southern Desk -Daniel Silke

For all the talk about load shedding and the ongoing need to cut power consumption, Eskom has now announced that there would be no-more load shedding! Yes, power cuts which plunged the country into darkness and depression have now been suspended. And, Eskom spent millions of Rands taking massive double-page newspaper spreads to proudly announce the fact – as if they should be applauded that there would be no more outages!

 

Fares for All Seasons! -Source: South African Airways

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--South African Airways (SAA), Africa’s most awarded airline, announced the “Fares for all Seasons” sale, with prices as low as $790(a) round trip for travel on its flights from the U.S. to South Africa and Senegal during the late summer season, as well as the upcoming fall, winter and spring seasons. The $790(a) fare applies to travel from New York or Washington, D.C. from Oct. 5 through Dec. 6, 2008 or Jan. 7 through March 31, 2009. Fares start as low as $935(a) for travel from Aug. 20 through Oct. 4 or Dec. 24, 2008 through Jan. 6, 2009. The fares apply for travel on SAA’s flights from the U.S. to Dakar, Senegal, or Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth in South Africa.

 

Lions’ 2009 Tour schedule released -www.southafrica.info

The itinerary for the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2009 has been released. It features 10 matches, including three tests.
Competitions such as the Tri-Nations Championship have left "traditional" tours, during which teams undertake long visits to countries and play matches against provincial teams, as a rare occurrence.
In fact, it is only the British and Irish Lions that nowadays undertake tours of the traditional nature. Still, their tours are rare, and because of their rarity and their gathering of talent from the best that England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have to offer, they are big events on the calendar of rugby lovers.

 

Boks vs Pumas for Mandela's 90th - -www.southafrica.info

In 2007, world football's governing body, Fifa, celebrated former South African President Nelson Mandela's 89th birthday with a match between an African XI and a World XI in Cape Town. This year, Mandela's 90th birthday celebrations will include a test match between the Springboks and the team they beat in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup, Argentina, in Johannesburg on August 9.
The one-off contest was confirmed on Wednesday. Managing director of SA Rugby, Jonathan Stones, said, "Argentina has confirmed that they will have their strongest possible team available for the match and on that basis we are delighted to announce the fixture.”