Crayfish Festival Paternoster 28th Nov 09

Crayfish Festival

A Crayfish Festival will be held in Paternoster (West Coast) with lots of stalls, entertainment, competitions, music, kids activities, celebs and more.

Come feast your eyes and taste buds
Enjoy the Live Entertainment
Compete in some competitions
Shake hands with some celebs that all enjoy Crayfish

Paternoster will be having its first Crayfish Festival on the 28th Nov 09 (Situated on the West Coast)

With lots of stalls ranging from:
Snoek Braai
Sea-Food Potjie Kos
Crayfish Braai
The day revolves around Sea-Food
Beer Garden
Arts and Crafts - Sea Shells / Ornaments

Once purchased a ticket and you arrive at the entrance gate:
You will be welcomed with a Glass of Wine and directed to a boat there you have a selection of Crayfish to choose from.



The one you choose will be cooked or thrown on the coals for a Lekker Braai.

While you wait your glass of wine will be topped up.
The kids can enjoy some face painting, jumping castles etc
The DJ will be entertaining the crowd with his vibey beats.
You can relax on the grass with your lunch and wine.

Our Fisherman can escort you to their boats and take you for a boat trip
View the seals and penguins if you're lucky

* Competitions would be the biggest Crayfish catch of the day
* Best Crayfish Potjie and Best Crayfish Baai

Entry fee should be paid on the day

Best Crayfish Potjie and Best Crayfish Baai

Crazy Prizes to the winner
Too book a stall or purchase tickets: Kindly give us a ring

For more information please contact:
Creative Spunk "Events & Entertainment"
Events Co-ordinator
Jenni - 0836922201
creativespunk@live.co.za
Skype - jennilee-

Venue

Date: 28 November 2009
Location: Paternoster, West Coast - CT
Cost: R90
More info: Paternoster Sport Grounds

Contact: Jennilee
Company name: Creative Spunk "Events & Entertainment"
Telephone number: 0836922201
Email address creativespunk@live.co.za

News sponsored by West Coast Office National for all your stationery & printing

Shelley Point Hotel, Spa & Country Club

I�ve been roaming the West Coast for the perfect hideaway. Without being a very fussy traveller, there were a few basic standards my ideal haven absolutely had to adhere to. The prerequisites included a short trip (for me, that means no more than a two hour drive); various outdoor activities (if this includes a pool, I'm quite happy); and of course, a great meal.

After much intensive searching I�ve landed the ideal place. Just over an hour drive from the city, Shelley Point offers an idyllic break for the fatigued city dweller. Walking distance from the unspoilt, white sandy beachfront, a nine-hole golf course plus tennis courts and an a la carte dinner menu to spoil you rotten, ah yes, Shelley Point Hotel, Spa and Country Club was more than ideal, it was perfect.

Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, Shelley Point�s 44 luxury suites are stylishly decorated with a soothing ambience which will have you feel right at home. The fully fitted kitchenette boasts a bar fridge, microwave and kettle for that late night cup of coffee. If however you like an after-dinner snack, the hotel�s room service operates until 10pm.

The suite life

Walking into my suite, the bedroom had me in a total gaze. A combination of dark wood and white linen was so picture perfect, I was afraid to sleep and ruin the dazzling portrait. The d�cor wall colour fits perfectly with the king size bed with upholstered ocean cobalt headboard and scatter cushions.

However, my ultimate highlight of the entire suite will have to be the bathroom. I know, sounds a bit silly but I have a clandestine fetish for elegant bathrooms and the one at Shelley Point scores a 10/10 without a doubt.

In line with the overall dark wood and white theme of the suite, the bathroom cupboard consist of two individual his and hers basins with sparkly chrome taps, big dark wood mirror frames and snowy, fluffy towels. A big white bathtub to the one corner ensures for a relaxing soak after a long day in the sun while you also have the option to pop quickly into the oversized shower. Mosaic tiling on the wall and shower floor completes the tranquil, cleansing experience.

Sensual

The hyperactive or super fit can get their daily boost from a range of activities varying from a good round of golf on the nine-hole golf course, a game of tennis or the fully-equipped gym, complete with treadmill, bicycles and weightlifting equipment. However, if you are like me, and like a quiet afternoon in the sun, a lazy day next to the sparkly pool will be absolutely blissful.

The best part of my stay at Shelley Point will have to be the incredible Spa experience both from the hotel itself as well as from the Wellness Centre. The hotel�s Spa experience boasts a state of the art Sensation Shower, with seven showerheads which promotes blood circulation while at the same time distresses your muscles. And if that wasn�t distressing enough, the Sauna, Steam room or perhaps the indoor jacuzzi and pool will definitely do the trick, take my word for it.

The in-house Wellness Centre, operated by internationally renowned therapist, Maryna Psotta and her team of highly qualified therapists added to my ultimate soothing experience. My choice between a range of holistic treatments and specialised massage therapies eventually resulted in a Full Body 60 minute massage (R360) which my masseuse, Juanita Brand, executed with the utmost perfection. Juanita�s hands were a heaven-sent after a fun-filled day at the pool. She pampered my body with a touch of grapeseed oil which proved the ideal exhaust vent for my tight and twisted muscles.

Gastronomy

Being a self-proclaimed diehard food lover, I was especially looking forward to the hotel�s culinary talents and oh my, it didn�t disappoint one bit. The internal Sao Gabrielle Restaurant situated on the second level of the entrance hall offered an array for delicately prepared dishes. From my absolute favourite � the 400g Garlic Rump Steak with homemade garlic butter (R104) served with a dollop of mashed potatoes and butternut; to the morning�s buffet breakfast which offered a range of cereals to yogurts to bacon and eggs and mushrooms and sausages � all done to mouth-watering perfection.

Shelley Point Hotel, Spa & Country Club Tel: 022 742 1508. Website: www.shelleypointhotel.co.za

Article By: Meriza La Key Taken from iafrica.com lifestyle pages.

News sponsored by West Coast Office National

Natural gas fields off the West Coast

BUSINESS views the debacle at Eskom with dismay because it shows that “Eskom does not have a clear plan to overcome the huge and costly challenges facing it and the entire energy sector in South Africa.”

This was said by Jeremy Wiley, outgoing president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce at the organisation’s annual general meeting in Cape Town yesterday.

The ongoing management and financial problems at Eskom had been “a source of increasing concern to the Chamber because of the ever present threat an unreliable and interrupted power supply poses to economic recovery and future growth.”

He said “the Chamber does not believe that Eskom’s request to the National Energy Regulator for an almost 400 percent increase in electricity tariffs over four years is either financially justifiable or sustainable for either private consumers or business.”

The exorbitant increases would drive up inflation in a way last seen in the mid-1980’s. “No private business would even get out of the starting blocks if it projected price increases to its clients at anything much more than the rate of inflation.”

The Chamber urged the Government to support the Eskom Board so that it could fulfil its statutory mandate to manage the strategic utility in terms of best business practice and to further encourage and assist independent power producers to enter the market.

Turning to the City Council, Wiley described the recent 15.8 percent rates increase on commercial property as “punitively high” and said that this increase coupled with the 34 percent electricity increase in July put operating costs of already stressed businesses under even greater pressure.

“There is no justification for business property owners to pay annual rates increases exceeding the rate applied to residential properties, especially since hundreds of businesses pay an additional levy to augment municipal services in many commercial and industrial areas of the City.”

He welcomed the progress made towards the exploitation of the natural gas fields off the West Coast and said that this would not only provide a cheaper and cleaner way to generate electricity in peak hours but would also provide many industries with a viable alternative to electricity.

In particular, the gas supply would benefit the proposed Saldanha Bay IDZ in which “green and sustainable energy” would play an important part.

He reiterated the Chamber’s commitment to transformation which he saw as a business imperative. He said the about 70 percent of new members from the small and medium business sectors were black and the Chamber ran dozens of training and personnel development courses to assist emerging businesses.

Wiley said the Chamber rejected the recent study which concluded that Cape Town was a racist city as biased and one-sided. Professional recruiting agencies had advised the Chamber that there was a country-wide shortage of experienced black managers and professionals and that the majority were attracted and retained in the Gauteng area where there were more posts and higher salaries than in any of the coastal cities.

“To perpetuate the perception that Cape Town is racist not only retards transformation but it is contradicted by the reality that the city region is one of the most cosmopolitan in Africa.”

News from http://www.cbn.co.za

News sponsored by West Coast Office National

Transnet Port Terminals new management structure.

Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) would intensify its focus on total quality management (TQM) and human capital and development over the next two years, in order to achieve its goal of aligning the business with global standards, TPT CEO Tau Morwe said on Friday.

In a statement, TPT said that its new business model and management structure, unveiled this week, signalled a “dynamic approach” to the quality of its operations and a renewed focus on supply chain efficiencies.

“TPT realises that to improve, we have to continuously review our operations and processes and ensure effectiveness to service our customers’ needs,” commented Morwe.

To that end, it has appointed a dedicated GM for TQM and Continuous Improvement, Velile Dube, who would “endeavour to implement transformation and change management processes with the aim of converting customers’ operational requirements to tangible changes that are recognised across the organisation”.

Dube would also be responsible for the new Operations Excellence Centre, which will drive and sustain improvements across the terminals, said Morwe.

Further, the management of TPT’s four operational sectors had been recategorised from the previous container, bulk, break bulk and automotive categories.

Going forward, Zeph Ndlovu will head up the new Mineral Bulk sector, Victor Mkhize the Agricultural Bulk and roll on, roll off (RoRo) sector and Siyabulela Mhaluka the container sector.

Key account executives, namely Thembi Mbele for the Agricultural sector, Tracey Neat for the Mineral Bulk sector, Sidney Bird for the container sector, Gary Kleyn for the Break Bulk Liner Services sector and Beverly Masson for the Automotive sector, would be able to further assist customers.

Meanwhile, Lita Mcwabeni has been appointed as GM of Strategy at TPT, and would be responsible for forward planning of future capacity developments aligned to demand forecasts, best practice benchmarking of TPT operations and liaison with key stakeholders regarding policy issues and government liaison.

Further, the Richards Bay Dry Bulk Terminal and the Richards Bay Multipurpose Terminal, would now be operated under a single management team to improve synergies. Ben Khonyane has been appointed as Terminal Executive for the Richards Bay terminals.

The former Business Unit Executive (BUE) at the Durban Container Terminal, Moshe Motlohi, has been appointed to Terminal Executive for the Cape Town terminals, which would now comprise both the Cape Town Container Terminal and the Cape Town Multipurpose Terminal.

New management for the Durban Container terminal would be appointed in the near future, while the Durban Car terminal operation would be integrated into the Durban Point terminal as a RoRo operation.

Operations at the Agriport and Maydon Wharf Terminals will remain unchanged but would now be led by Johann Botha.

The Ngqura Container terminal would remain under the leadership of Hector Danisa, and would be developed as a standalone facility.

Ntomboxolo ‘Nikki’ Mbengashe would manage the Port Elizabeth terminal as the BUE, while Adil Rodgers has been appointed as the BUE for the Saldanha Iron Ore terminal.

Other changes, Morwe added, would include a more aggressive approach to the safety of assets, cargo, terminal users and employees.

TPT would also implement a reformed planning regime in all port terminals nationally, to ensure the best possible berth utilisation, while taking into account sailing time for vessels that call at more than one terminal in South Africa.

“We will continue to build on the partnership approach to customers and constantly engage, be attentive and respond to their requirements as part of our key strategic thrusts,” he emphasised.

Edited by: Mariaan Webb of the Engineering News

News sponsored by West Coast Office National

Saldanha-Sishen line, Transnet Freight Rail’s

(Based on a Transnet article)
The Saldanha-Sishen line, Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR) export iron ore corridor, forms the backbone of the company’s growth strategy.
The potential of Saldanha Bay as a deep sea port lay dormant until 1969, when feasibility studies recognised it as the perfect setting for launching South African iron ore onto the world market.
Construction of the 861km line started on 1 June 1973 and was completed with the arrival of the first ore train in Saldanha Bay on 14 May 1976. It came to be known as “The Orex Line,” Orex being a strategic business unit of TFR, then known as Spoornet.
The operation continued to break new ground in positioning TFR as a business leader and icon in the heavy-haul and rail transportation industries, locally and abroad.

THE MILESTONES
• 1 June 1973 – Construction begins
• 14 May 1976 – First iron ore from Sishen arrives at Saldanha
• 27 September 1976 – First export consignment leaves Saldanha on the “Fern Sea”
• April 1978 – Sishen-Saldanha line taken over by South African Railways and Harbours
• 15 November 1978 – First train with Beeshoek (near Postmasburg) ore arrives in Saldanha
• 1979/80 – More than 18 million tons of ore exported in a single year
• January 1980 – First metal concentrate from Aggeneys arrives in Saldanha
• 30 October 1984 – The 100 millionth ton of iron ore is exported
• July1988 – The largest single consignment of ore (293,280t) is loaded
• 26 August 1989 – A once-off, record-breaking “monster train” over 7km in length is entered in the Guinness Book of Records
• 1992 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 200 million ton level
• 1994/95 – More than 20 million tons of iron ore exported in a single financial year
• 1995/96 – 22,259 million tons of iron ore exported in a single financial year
• November 1996 – the Sishen-Saldanha line becomes Orex, a strategic business unit of Spoornet
• 20 February 1998 – Amalgamated ISO listing is awarded
• 1998 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 300 million ton level
• September 1999 – Gold Award from the National Productivity Institute (NPI) to business partners Orex, Portnet Saldanha and Iscor for outstanding achievement in productivity improvement
• 2001 – The iron ore export channel celebrates its 25th anniversary
• 2001 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 400 million ton level
• October 2002 – Winner of the Annual Logistics Achiever Awards for the M-ORE (capacity expansion) project
• 22 February 2004 – The highest tonnage throughput for one week is recorded at 585,012 tons
• August 2004 – Radio Distributed Power (RDP) in proof-of-concept tests and radio receptivity tests by means of voice-controlled distributed power (DP) train
• 2005 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 500 million ton level
• August 2005 – Voice-controlled DP test train in both directions, introducing different train compilation to 2004 test
• August 2006 – Locotrol RDP equipment tested on train consists of 5×9E and 3xDE and a single train driver
• August 2007 – RDP test train to verify parameters, witnessed by Railway Safety Regulator
• 17 December 2007 – First ever 342 wagon RDP production train departs from Sishen
• May 2008 – New iron ore mine at Khumani starts railing ore
• 2008 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 600 million ton level
• 5 July 2009 – New weekly throughput record of 899,592 tons in a single week achieved
• 6 July 2009 – 1,000th loaded RDP train arrives in Saldanha
• 12 July 2009 – Highest ever weekly throughput of 919,000 tons in a single week
• 19 July 2009 – Highest ever weekly throughput of 932,000 tons in a single week
• 26 July 2009 – Highest ever weekly throughput of 955,800 tons in a single week. First time ever that actual production matches planned production 100%. (Normally the line operates at 95% efficacy).
• 10 August 2009 – One billionth gross ton traverses the iron ore line

Story from http://www.railwaysafrica.com

News sponsored by West Coast Office National

Marine scientists and recreational fisheries cooperate in research effort on smoothhound sharks

6 November 2009

The Department of Environmental Affairs' marine and coastal management branch and the West Coast Shore Angling Association are jointly hosting a smooth hound shark tag and release tournament on Saturday 7 November 2009 at the Langebaan Lagoon on the West Coast, Western Cape. This forms part of research into the population of smooth hound sharks in the Langebaan Lagoon system.

This tournament, known as the Langebaan Lagoon Smoothhound Shark Derby, is aimed at promoting collaborative opportunities between marine scientists and fishers to strengthen the sustainable management of marine resources. It will further assist with the existing research on the smoothhound shark population in Langebaan Lagoon.

Recent studies have shown that the Langebaan no-take fishing area is a nursery ground for smoothhound sharks. It also shows that smoothhound sharks spend up to 99 percent of their time inside the Langebaan Lagoon Marine Protected Area (MPA) with larger more mature animals more likely to leave the protection of the lagoon than smaller sharks. The tag and recapture experiment will help to identify the stock size of the population of these species within the Langebaan–Saldanha bay area and the results will inform the management of these species.

This competition does not only represent an exciting angling experience but also an opportunity for anglers to actively participate in research on a locally important species aimed to assure the sustainable management of the smoothhound shark, based on sound scientific knowledge.

Only anglers who are registered members of the South African Shore Angling Association (SASAA) will be accepted to fish in this tournament. A maximum of 150 anglers will be allowed to participate. The West Coast Shore Angling Association is a member of the South African Association of Audiologists (SAAA).

The derby is taking place from 5h00 when registration starts at the Langebaan Yacht Club. Angling will be from 06h00 until 15h00.

For further information contact:
Carol Moses
Cell: 082 829 3917
E-mail: cmoses@deat.gov.za

Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs

News sponsored by West Coast Office National, for all your printing & Stationery requirements

Cape Town given most blue flags for beaches in South Africa

Cape Town, South Africa - Over the past few years we have seen the beaches of South Africa fall into absolute neglect, some Durban beaches that used to be some of the best in the world lost their blue flag status and the pollution has never been so high with some places even seeing raw sewerage flowing into the ocean.

Cape Town however received a the most blue flag status beaches in South Africa which tells a lot about the governance here.

Statement by the DA:

The Democratic Alliance welcomes that Cape Town has been awarded the most Blue Flag accredited beaches in the country. The Blue Flag awards will strengthen the warranted perception that Cape Town is a world class tourist destination.

Blue Flag status is a voluntary eco-label award only awarded to beaches that have achieved the highest quality in water, facilities, safety, environmental education and management. The program is run by the independent non-profit organisation Foundation for Environmental Education and covers over 3,450 beaches and marinas in 41 countries worldwide.

For Cape Town this comes at the most opportune time – just ahead of the 2010 World Cup and it means that tourists can enjoy our beaches knowing that they meet the highest quality standards.

However the DA is concerned about the absence of Durban’s beaches on the Blue Flag list and the fact that the city lost several Blue Flag awards on its beaches because its municipal manager, Michael Sutcliffe, does not see the benefits in participating.

Sutcliffe, who appears to be the only one at odds with the national drive to improve our beaches, said the loss of Blue Flag status for the city had not affected tourism. He claims that Durban’s beaches are of a higher standard than required by the Blue Flag scheme. If this is the case, why does he not want the city to take part in it?

If Sutcliffe has any evidence to support his theory he should produce it. Sutcliffe however appears to be driven by his own agenda, despite the support of the Blue Flag scheme by the DA and the ANC.

As the DA sees it, there are plenty of reasons to join the Blue Flag scheme. It encourages good practices regarding water quality, environmental management, safety, services and environmental education. Secondly, it allows the municipality to openly fly the Blue Flag, which helps to promote the beach to tourists.

The Western Cape has several accredited beaches. This year Plettenberg Bay’s Robberg 5, Yzerfontein main beach, Mossel Bay’s Santos, Hartenbos and Kleinmond near Hermanus have been added to the list. Cape Town, meanwhile, has Blue Flag status for seven of its beaches: Clifton Fourth, Camps Bay, Muizenberg, Strandfontein, Mnandi, Bikini Beach in Gordon’s Bay, and Big Bay in Blouberg.

The DA will urge Tourism Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, to encourage all coastal municipalities to engage in the Blue Flag scheme ahead of the World Cup so that South Africa can maximise its tourism potential.

News from FTO.co.za

News sponsored by West Coast Office Natioanl for all your printing & Stationery needs www.pencil.co.za