Bestmed Cycle4Cansa Championship operations manager Darren Herbst confirmed partial road closures would be implemented to enhance rider safety during the event's road races at Sun City on Sunday. He said the 103km and 70km events got under way from 6.30am and that a section of the R510, between the R556 and Monnakato, would subsequently be closed between 6am and 12pm. "This partial road closure really is a great benefit to the event. We've always aimed to put the rider first and this was primarily done for safety reasons," said Herbst. "We've had a big buy-in from the municipality and we hope, together, that we can raise awareness and get people to avoid this area on Sunday." With more than 4 000 participants expected this year for the road races alone, Herbst said their number one focus was on ensuring a safe passage for everyone who took part. Last year organisers made a call to move the road races to the Sunday to avoid the heavy mining traffic that passed through the area and this was well-received. Sparks are set to fly in the feature event where BCX's defending champion Nolan Hoffman will come up against the in-form RoadCover duo of Willie Smit and Brendan Davids. Smit, the African continental champion, won the recent Lowveld Tour while Davids took the title in last month's tough Bestmed Jock Classic. National road race champion Heidi Dalton and Bestmed-ASG's Sanet Coetzee, who has been impressive in both road and mountain bike races this season, are two of the big names in the women's category. Apart from the road events, the 20th edition of the Bestmed Cycle4Cansa features 25km and 50km mountain bike races on Saturday. These pass through the Gary Player and Lost City golf courses as well as the neighbouring Letsatsing Game Reserve. Go to www.cansalostcity.co.za for more information. CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za. …
More than 5,6m South Africans see Milk offers Hope for Change
Tetra Pak’s annual Milk for Change campaign to raise awareness of the nutritional benefits of long life milk and donate portions of long life milk to children in underprivileged communities in partnership with non-profit Feed SA has already exceeded expectations as the campaign heads into its final 10 days. Milk for Change has already reached an audience of 5,66 million South Africans and delivered 140 000 servings as the push via the SMS line (“Milk for Change” to 40380) and i-Pay (via milkforchange.co.za) reaches its climax. “We raised 35 000 litres of long life milk,” says Liesl Gruber, marketing director at Tetra Pak South Africa. “And this campaign has already shown me that South Africans are a can-do nation. While the world and our own country are beset by technology-driven business disruption and economic uncertainty, ordinary people are getting on with looking after one another where it matters. We’re proud to be playing a role in making a better future a reality for all South Africans, starting with the children.” Milk for Change announced its intermediate success at an event in Alexandra to hand over collected milk to Feed SA on August 8, 2017. Genevieve Nathan, director of FEED SA, says: “As a non-profit, we cannot survive without the help of communities and corporates that help us get the tens of thousands of rands per month we need to give our kids the most important meal of the day – breakfast. We know that children cannot achieve their full academic potential, the key to their future success, without a nutritional, balanced breakfast, the most important meal of the day, which is why #MilkForChange resonates so strongly with our own vision. It is not easy growing up in Alexandra or being one of the nine million South Africans who don’t get the food they need each day, but with the long life milk from the #MilkForChange campaign we can make sure it’s not quite so hard.” Tetra Pak South Africa MD, John Strömblad, says: “Milk for Change is …
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WeCAN campaign aims to boost Cansa funds
Organisers of the Bestmed Cycle4Cansa Championship have launched a new initiative to boost funds for the Cancer Association of South Africa when the event celebrates its 20th anniversary at Sun City this month. The cycling festival in the North-West Province has raised more than R3.6-million for Cansa since its inception and organisers are hoping to build on that through the #WeCAN - Riding for Survivors campaign. Outlining the concept, ASG Events spokesperson Sonett de Villiers said that, apart from the usual proceeds, it was just another way to assist Cansa nationwide in their efforts to combat the disease. "After entering the race, participants will have an opportunity to challenge anyone else to match their entry fee by making an equivalent donation to Cansa." De Villiers added that donations were not limited to riders and that anyone could contribute any amount by visiting the campaign on the event's Facebook page. She urged participants and the public to spread the word by sharing the campaign as widely as possible while tagging possible contributors. The title sponsors of the event - which takes place on August 19 and 20 in and around the Pilanesberg resort - said their top priority was to encourage their members to live healthier and more active lifestyles. "Our partnership with Cycle4Cansa has provided a great opportunity to do so over the years," said Bestmed's marketing executive Chris Luyt. "With August being declared Cansa Care Month, we hope to go the extra mile by encouraging entrants to make a donation over and above their entrance fee and inspiring friends and family to do the same. "We are committed to the cause and will continue to support all those affected by cancer in all possible ways." The feature race of the Bestmed Cycle4Cansa festival is a premier seeding event for the Cape Town Cycle Tour and De Villiers added that the offering provided the ideal opportunity to shake off winter cobwebs. This includes 25km …
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Vibescout – SA’s Largest Movie Aggregator Listing Movies on 688 Screens In 94 Cinemas
Vibescout, an innovative start-up that provides event listings and city guides, is now listing movies showing on 690 screens in 94 cinemas across South Africa. Vibescout is now officially the largest movie aggregator in South Africa and continues to take the country’s entertainment scene to new heights. Cape Town, South Africa, July 5, 2017 – Co-founded in 2015 by brothers’ Paul and Jonathan Myburgh, Vibescout’s vision is to provide an easy-to-use platform used to smartly curate the best things to do near you. This is done through event listings, comprehensive go-to guides and now, movie listings. The idea behind Vibescout was first born when Paul was travelling in Saigon, Vietnam in January 2014. After visiting all the regular tourist destinations, he scoured the hostel notice boards for more unique things to do and began to wonder how he could get better insight into truly local events and activities. After realizing there was definitely a void that needed to be filled in this space, Paul brought the idea back home to South Africa later that year and soon began work on Vibescout’s first version. Vibescout officially launched out of beta and started providing event listing in October 2016; by April 2017 they reached over 100 000 users for the month! As of 27 June 2017, Vibescout became the largest movie aggregator in South Africa, listing movies showing on 688 screens in 94 cinemas throughout the country. “It took roughly 6 weeks to get a MVP release and from it we have had amazing user feedback. We are currently getting nearly 10 000 users weekly using our movie section to find the latest movies and locate cinemas around them. We didn't realize it at the time and such a goal wasn't even on our radar, but we are now officially the largest movie aggregator in South Africa.” JONATHAN MYBURGH, CO-FOUNDER OF VIBESCOUT Connect with or contact with us: Jonathan Myburgh - …
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Property owners are still falling into the traps of private property sales
Despite various investigative reports on Carte Blanche and general media exposure, private property buyers are still getting caught by non-disclosed defects. Although the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) provides relief to most consumers by ensuring that a seller or estate agent discloses all defects, the CPA does not apply to one-off, private sales. These sellers are still protected by the old voetstoots clause. While a quick walkthrough and a second visit to the property for a spot check of the condition of the home can help buyers sift through their options and narrow down the property they would most like to purchase, it is best to have a professional inspector undertake a thorough check and advise accordingly. Eric Bell of Inspect-a-Home, (a professional home inspection company) warned consumers against signing a disclosure before getting the property checked by an accredited inspector. He said countless buyers nationally were left with extensive repair costs after signing the documents as they gave some consumers a false sense of security. “These documents ask buyers to sign off on a number of key areas, including roofing, geyser condition, and damp problems. Unless you are a structural engineer or qualified building inspector, it is highly unlikely that you or the seller will be able to identify any latent defects. Every day throughout the country we see houses that are painted to make them look good and unsuspecting buyers are then taken to the cleaners with extensive and unexpected repair bills once they have moved in – their dream house becomes a nightmare.” He said sellers were liable for latent defects that existed at the time of the sale but, by signing a disclosure document, buyers were signing away their rights to that claim, effectively making the defects the buyer’s problem. He gave an example of a consumer who bought his home through an estate agent who tried to get him to sign a disclosure document which stated that the house, …
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Bakwena delivers First Aid training to 12 schools along their N1N4 route
Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire, operator of the N1N4 highway, in partnership with the South Africa Red Cross Society (SARCS) trained more than 200 learners and teachers in First Aid Level 3. The training was delivered to Grade 8 and 9 learners of 12 secondary schools among communities along the N1N4 route. The training took place at Lagai Roi, Mooinooi from 1 to 9 October. Charmaine van Wyk, public relations manager of Bakwena, says that this initiative was embarked upon as a means of aiding road safety in rural areas, as well as providing first aid skills to schools, which are often the focal point of community activities, such as the most recent local elections. Bakwena trained and sponsored community-based Disaster Teams and school first-aiders on the day of the election. The following schools took part: Zeerust Combined, Ngotwane High School, Zeerust Hoërskool, Ikageleng High School, Ramotshere Secondary School, Ramatu Secondary School, Ntebogang Secondary School, NR Mandela Commercial Secondary School, Thuto ke Maatla Secondary School, Reebone Secondary, Swartruggens Intermediate and Moedwil. The training was done in three groups of 4 schools, over a period of 3 days each. Pioneers (Youth volunteers from Dinokana and Bapong) have been included in each group to expand their skills and to assist with logistics. Four ladies from the Department of Education Safe Schools joined the programme, representing both Ngaka Modiri Molema and Bojanala Districts Learners were accompanied by two teachers per school. Certificate Handover ceremonies will take place in November. During November some teachers and learners who have been part of the programme for a few years will be trained in First Aid Level 3. This is an intense, 5-day programme. CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za. …
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South Africa’s playground safety re-evaluated
Senior Landscape Architect, Lizelle Wolmarans at GIBB, one of South Africa’s leading black-owned engineering consulting firms, presented a paper on child safety in playgrounds at the three-day Congress for the Institute of World Urban Parks (WUP) and Environment and Recreation Management (IERM) in Cape Town last month. Leading parks professionals and parks agencies from around the world resolving to protect and enhance the world’s urban parks and green spaces in the face of looming global challenges was present at this Congress. The paper, titled Risky Play and Children’s Safety: Balancing Priorities for Optimal Child Development focused on the construction of playgrounds, safety and safety standards of equipment used in playgrounds as well as the influence it has on physical and mental child development. Play experts such as Environmental Psychologists, Child Development Specialists, Landscape Architects and Educators are advocating a re-assessment of the play environment. While the safety of children should never be neglected, Wolmarans explained the dangers of being over-protective as potentially detrimental to a child’s development. “Our environment is not without risk and therefore, we need to learn how to manage risk continuously as a survival skill. However, where risk is eliminated from playgrounds, challenge is eliminated leading to boredom where children may potentially feel the need to take excessive risk using equipment inappropriately that can cause unintentional injury,” said Wolmarans. South Africa has adopted the international playground safety standards, these standards are not legalised but serve as a guideline to prevent hazardous risks. Locally, our decisions need to be influenced by security, economy and future sustainability. In the case of security, it is a fact that children are living in dangerous environments in their homes and neighbourhoods. Some of the dangers are traffic, kidnapping, crime and drugs. Supervision and …
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Smit, Olivier surge to Satellite Classic titles
RoadCover professional Willie Smit broke away on the Hekpoort climb to solo to an impressive victory in the Bestmed Satellite Classic 106km road cycling race at Saloon Route 66 near Hartbeespoort Dam in North West today. The 23-year-old Nelspruit rider has not competed in the event since 2013 and was delighted with his performance, which follows his triumph in the three-day Bestmed Jock Tour in July. Smit crossed the finish line 2:25:19, nearly 40 seconds ahead of Telkom's Nolan Hoffman, who edged out reigning Cape Town Cycle Tour champion and Smit's team-mate Clint Hendricks in the bunch sprint. As Smit predicted ahead of the race, the climb up Hekpoort about 30km from the finish proved decisive. He paid tribute to his team for placing him in the right position to allow him to launch an attack at that stage. "The race was very fast until Hekpoort when my team set me up for the win, for which I'm so grateful," said Smit. "I'm quite a big guy and so it takes me a while to get going, but I managed to get a gap halfway up Hekpoort and built up a lead of about 50 seconds. "From there, with about 25km to go, it was a matter of staying mentally strong and I managed to go solo to the finish." Smit, who has set himself the target of winning the individual time-trial at next year's national champs, said he was very happy with his form ahead of next month's 947. He added that the Satellite Classic victory was an important scalp for any professional and something he wouldn't have been able to achieve without his team's support. "This is a well-established race so it's great to get the win. You never really know in professional racing when these things are going to happen so you have to take every opportunity," he said. "I have so much to thank my team for because these guys train just as hard as I do and make it possible for me to achieve what I have. So I never take anything for granted." Lise Olivier, of Time Freight, took the honours in …
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Marico Bosveld Myl
Bakwena N1N4 Toll Road Concessionaire once again joined members of the organising committee to welcome sporting enthusiasts from across the country to the annual Marico Bosveld Myl, held on the 1st October in Groot Marico, North West. This year almost 600 participants took part in three main sporting activities which included running, cycling and swimming. The 42.2km and 21.1km are Two Oceans and Comrades qualifiers while the 3000m as well as the 1600m are Open Water Swim qualifiers The Marico Myl boasted a variety of activities on the day, ranging from sports to live entertainment and shopping. The highlight of the day included a performance by well-known artist, Brandon Peyper. Charmaine van Wyk, PR Manager for Bakwena, says, “As a socially responsible company committed to improving the lives of community members who live along the Platinum Corridor, we strive to play an active role in aspects relating to road safety, health and well-being, as well as local economic development through tourism. Bakwena has been the proud sponsor of The Marico Bosveld Myl for the past seven years, which is just one of many initiatives that we undertake on an annual basis to support the local communities.” For instance, this year the toll concessionare also sponsored stands for Pink Drive and Wheel Well to promote their causes. The Marico Myl brings an injection to the local tourism industry as guesthouses in Groot Marico and surrounding areas are typically fully booked. The local markets and churches benefit from stalls that they set up throughout the day. The crowd was kept entertained by performances from Anchen, Brandon Peyper and Hans Dromedaris, while local entrepreneurs showcased their wares at the flea market and food stalls. Whether attendees were running, racing or swimming through the beautiful route to compete or simply enjoying the day out, the Marico Bosveld Myl was once again a successful event. “We would like to thank the community who assisted and …
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Hekpoort will be key at Satellite Classic, says Smit
RoadCover professional Willie Smit has identified the Hekpoort climb as a critical stage to push for victory when the Bestmed Satellite Classic road cycling race takes place near Hartbeespoort Dam in North West on October 22. The 23-year-old rider from Nelspruit, who has not done the Satellite Classic since 2013, said he was looking forward to an event which had gained an excellent reputation over the years. Besides the feature race over a distance of 106km, it offers 80km and 60km options and attracted well over 3 000 participants last year. "It's one of the better-known races which has been around for a while because I remember doing it as a 16-year-old, although the route was a bit different," he said. Positioned about 30km from the finish, Smit said Hekpoort was certainly a tough enough climb to rip the elite bunch to pieces. "So if you can get over there in the lead group, and you have the right team-mates with you, it will be much easier to push for the win." Although the main ascent of the day was followed by another nasty uphill test in Poeierbult, Smit felt the race "should be decided on Hekpoort". He added that, after a long year, which included team-mate Clint Hendricks's Cape Town Cycle Tour victory in March and his in the three-stage Bestmed Jock Tour in July, it was important to pace themselves properly at this stage of the season. "The Satellite Classic is a nice one to win, but we have to keep something in the tank for next month's 947." Smit said the Satellite played a very important role in testing their form and power output ahead of one of the country's premier national classics. The RoadCover leader, who was out for several months after suffering a crash in the Tour de Bretagne in France in April, said he was in good condition. "Most of our tours are over winter, so I'm pretty sure most of the guys will be in good form," said Smit, who has just returned from a multiday race on the island of Reunion. "For me, …