Author: Olivia Jones

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Images from Mark Addison Sardine Run talk at Crocworld Conservation Centre

Linda Kent (Mtwalume), Mark Addison (Assagay) and Tom Kent (Mtwalume).
Images from Mark Addison Sardine Run talk at
Crocworld Conservation Centre
Gordon Wood, Mike Kanerman and Val Kanerman (Pennington).Mark Addison (Assagay), Gail Addison (Assagay) and Olivia Symcox (Scottburgh).Laurain and Jim Goss-Ross (Umkomaas).Mike Bentley (Pennington) Lesley Bentley (Pennington), Mark Addison (Assagay) and Doug Cooke (Scottburgh).Linda Kent (Mtwalume), Mark Addison (Assagay) and Tom Kent (Mtwalume).Linda Kent (Mtwalume), Mark Addison (Assagay) and Tom Kent (Mtwalume).Christine and Bryan Makepeace (Pennington).

On Saturday 09 April, Crocworld Conservation Centre hosted a talk by renowned local marine life expert, Mark Addison (Assagay).  Addison’s talk was entitled ‘A visual journey of the sardines and where to now for these special little fish”, and gave guests an insight into the world of these incredible creatures using state-of-the-art visual technology. From marine research on projects covering a variety of wildlife, to saving sharks through constant awareness, Addison brings the ocean to life for millions of people around the world, and his presentation was a truly captivating experience.

 

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Light the Fire

Bungee jumping, jet skiing and charitable donations planned for Light the Fire familiarisation trips

light the fire

The second annual Light the Fire lifestyle biking event has a non-stop line-up of familiarisation trips which will take a number of VIP guests to the tourism hotspots of the South Coast from Thursday 28 April to Saturday 30 April.

 

“This will be a forerunner to the main Light the Fire event which runs from 30 April to 1 May,” explained event organiser, Sinethemba Dhlomo of Integrated Concepts. “This will give us an opportunity to showcase the amazing venues, sights and activities on offer in and around the Paradise of the Zulu Kingdom.”

 

Participants of the familiarisation tourism excursions will include the main sponsors – the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development Tourism & Environmental Affairs and Tourism KZN, among others – as well as VIP celebrity bikers, Motorcycle Club (MCC) presidents, media and other invited stakeholders.

 

On Thursday 28 April, visitors will get to experience the Wild Swing at the top of Lehr’s Waterfall where bungee jumping or ziplining 165m over Oribi Gorge will start the weekend with a serious adrenaline rush. This will be followed by a game drive, or horse ride for the adventurous, at Lake Eland Game Reserve and brunch at Leopard Rock overlooking a quintessentially African view. The day will ease off with a sunset boat cruise, snorkelling, jet skiing and shark cage diving at Shelly Beach and sundowners at the upmarket Stages Restaurant & Lounge, promising 270-degree ocean views from Port Shepstone’s beachfront.

 

Day two will have a gentler start with breakfast at Mac Banana, a unique shopping, food and entertainment destination with a fantastic Lifestyle Centre. Here visitors can stroll through the food emporium, participate in paintball, quad biking and adventure golf or peruse the art gallery and animal farm. The day’s highlight will be a mass charity ride to Gamalakhe Sports’ Ground to hand over a cheque to the Gamalakhe Community Development Foundation which assists the local community with uniforms, school shoes, tertiary fees, career training and business opportunities. Ending off the day will be a fantastic rooftop pool party at Hillbillion Estate where guests can enjoy a complimentary three-course dinner, welcome drinks and Top DJ line up to start off the lifestyle entertainment of Light the Fire 2016.

 

The following two days will be a spectacular motoring extravaganza with a motorcycle manufacturer exhibition, custom bikes show and shine, spinning and stunt area, drifting, kids’ action zone, motorcycle club village, novice and advanced riding demonstrations, live stage music and other entertainment all staged at the scenic Dezzi Raceway, Marburg in Port Shepstone. There will also be amazing spinning, wheelies and stunts by Seipei ‘Biker Queen’ Mashugane, Alfred ‘King Donut’ Matamela, Brian Capper and other MCC riders. A much anticipated race is the spectacular showdown of bike vs car with Africa’s fastest brother, Gugu Zulu, behind the wheel of a Backdraft Racing Cobra. There will also be a VIP precinct offering upmarket hospitality for the signature biker lifestyle including cigar and whiskey lounge, photo booth, sushi bar and prize giveaways.

 

During the two-day event there will be a number of cash prizes for winners of the best showcase and/or stunt man/woman in a variety of categories:

 

Motorcycle club with most attendees – R10 000

Best show-and-shine motorbike – R2 500

Best motorbike anthem – R2 500

Best wheelie – 1st place: R5 000; 2nd place: R3 000; 3rd place: R2 000

Best donut – 1st place: R5 000; 2nd place: R3 000; 3rd place: R2 000

 

To enter the best wheelie or best donut, participants must upload a video by 15 April 2016 of their stunt onto our Facebook page; Light The Fire SA with their biker name and name of motorcycle club. Semi-finalists will then be shortlisted to perform the donut or wheelie at the main event.

 

Tickets for Light the Fire at Dezzi Raceway are available at Computicket – R80 for general, R50 for pensioners and children under 12 years and R350 for VIP tickets. Limited VIP weekend passes, which include the Rooftop Pool pre-party at Hillbillion Estate on 29 April 2016, are only available frominfo@thesociallink.net

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Statement regarding the transfer of marine and coastal responsibility from Ezemvelo to Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)

Statement regarding the transfer of marine and coastal responsibility from Ezemvelo to Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)

Coastwatch KZN actively promotes best practice in Integrated Coastal Management and is deeply concerned by the stated intention of Government to transfer responsibilities for marine and coastal issues from Ezemvelo KZN-Wildlife to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries with effect from end June 2016.

Coastwatch’s particular concerns are for Monitoring and Compliance issues and in particular the roll-out of Marine Protected Areas.
We believe that the Monitoring and Compliance function exercised by Ezemvelo should be strengthened rather than transferred. Ezemvelo currently also has responsibility for monitoring vehicles on the beach. which includes all Boat Launch sites in KwaZulu-Natal. As part of their function they administer the collection and distribution of data from the Catch Registers completed by each fishing boat which launches. Coastwatch is concerned at the potential loss of the knowledge base and experience of Honorary Officers, who have been acting in a voluntary capacity for decades on behalf of Ezemvelo. Their local knowledge, passion and years of experience they bring to their voluntary positions could be wasted, unless a plan is urgently put in place to ensure a smooth transition from Ezemvelo to Fisheries.

Coastwatch would like assurances that that an approved protocol for the breaching of estuaries, which currently is administered by Ezemvelo, will be adhered to and enforced.

As part of Operation Phakisa, South Africa proposes to implement an overarching, integrated ocean governance framework aimed at balancing the economic opportunities of the ocean space while maintaining its environmental integrity. Key outcomes include an enhanced and coordinated enforcement programme, a National ocean and coastal information system and national ocean and coastal water quality monitoring programme as well as the creation of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) representative network with accompanying research and monitoring programme.

To date Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife have played, and must continue to play, a crucial role in the roll-out of the MPA network as well as the development of the National Framework for Marine Spatial Planning in terms of their National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 2003 (Act 57 of 2003 conservation mandate.

The removal of the ‘marine compliance mandate’ from this long standing, scientifically rigorous, KZN based state agency will therefore be in direct conflict with the intent of the supposed ‘integrated’ ocean governance system – which includes a coordinated enforcement programme.
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> Issued by Coastwatch
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> ENDS/

> For more information please contact:

> Roderick Bulman

> Coastwatch KZN 135-408 NPO

> Chairperson

> 8 Pepworth Road, Pietermaritzburg, 3201

> T: 033 386 4465

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Assassination of aMadiba Crisis Committee Chairperson Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Rhadebe

Assassination of aMadiba Crisis Committee Chairperson Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Rhadebe

 

Coastwatch KwaZulu-Natal is a NPO committed to promoting best practice in coastal management.  We wish to express our horror at the shooting of Mr. Rhadebe, another anti-mining activist to lose his life.  We would like to convey our sadness and condolences to his family, community and colleagues.  He will be sorely missed.

 

We have participated in the public participation processes that were required as part of the EIA application to mine the Xolobeni mineral sands.

 

We have consistently advocated that the paramount concern should be the sustainability of the project in the interests of the people of the area. The hollow arguments advanced by the proponents of the mining project and their local beneficiaries, about the supposed social benefits, have not impressed us. We have consistently supported the right of the local people to form their own opinion and to have that opinion not only heard but respected.

 

The lure of personal riches for a few has trumped the community’s expressed preference for sustainable development. The violence that has been intensifying in the area since 2013 is an inevitable outcome, evidenced by a rash of unprosecuted attacks on local communities such as the Mdatya, Mtolani and Sigidi villagers and their chosen spokespeople over the past few years. The assassination of aMadiba Crisis Committee Chairperson Sikhosiphi Rhadebe is just the latest incident in this escalating war on the people and their livelihoods.

 

Coastwatch firmly believes that it is now time for the South African Government to provide the leadership that has been lacking in the matter by denying environmental authorisation and vigorously pursuing and prosecuting Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Rhadebe’s murderers.

 

It is not too late to make a decision that places the choices of South African citizens ahead of those of predatory foreign business whose short term profits are being prioritised ahead of the sustainability of the communities.

 

ENDS/

 

For more information please contact:

 

Roderick Bulman

Coastwatch KZN 135-408 NPO

Chairperson

8 Pepworth Road, Pietermaritzburg, 3201

T: 033 386 4465 | C: 082 900 8589

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Jackson Man Of The MOment At Off The Lip MOvember Surf Jam

Jackson Man Of The MOment At Off The Lip MOvember Surf Jam

 

Westbrook, Durban – Sunday 22nd of November saw the third annual Off The Lip Movember Surf Jam take place at Tongaat’s Beach Bums Restaurant. Surfers gathered at the infamous beachside bar in support of the Movember Foundation. Competitors were dressed up in ’70’s style surf gear, surfed original retro surfboards and donned hairy upper lips, all for a good cause, to raise funds and create awareness for the Movember Foundation.

 

A total of 55 surfers took part with tradional six-man heats and beach starts in play. Old school retro surfing was the order of the day with style and flow being the key ingredient, making the event different to any other surf event. Brandon Jackson from Durban North turned up the heat in the men’s final with some stylish and radical surfing on his original Safari Spider twin fin, he finished narrowly ahead of style-master Luke Patterson (Westbrook) with Lee Bisset (Berea), Scott Venter (Bluff), Chris Leppan (Umhlanga Rocks) and Shane Sykes (Salt Rock) taking third, fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively. Jackson was very excited about winning one of his favourite events on the calendar, “This event is always a blast, everyone has a good time and it’s for a good cause, thanks to Quiksilver and Movember for all the effort”, said Jackson after the event.

 

In the over 50 Legends division it was the popular JJ from North Beach who took out the win in the testing side-shore conditions, JJ was closely followed by Grant Gilmore (Durban North), Paul Izzard (Glenashley), Murray Niven (Genashley), Spider Murphy (Durban North) and Warren Weiring (Durban North).

 

Kirsty Delport (Berea) was a clear winner in the ladies Mo Sista’s divison, Delport managed to string a few clean lines together in the high tide bowl to claim first place. Kat Steffen (Durban) ended in second place with Olivia Izzard (Glenashley), Sophie Bell (Salt Rock), Gabi Lailvaux (Westbrook), Christy Gilmour (Durban North) and Kayla Nogueira (Berea) filling the remaining podium spots.

 

Special awards went to Luke Patterson for best Toes On The Nose, Jono Venter for Spin To Win, Jamie Irvine for Wave Waster/Worst Wipe Out, Lee Bisset for Float The Boat. Scott Venter won the Larry Layback award and the Most Stylish Surfer of the contest.

 

A whopping R10 000 was raised through the surfers’ entry fees and raffles conducted on the day; this money will be donated to the Movember Foundation, which in turn is used to fund various men’s health programs and promote healthy living for men. Sponsors of the event included Skullcandy, Gunslinger, Red Bull, Island Style, Wicked Finz and Ocean Azul Guesthouse.

Movember Surf Jam - Photo by Nick Ferreira
Movember Surf Jam – Photo by Nick Ferreira

 

For more information about Movember please visit www.movember.com. For photos and more information about the Off The Lip Movember Surf Jam please visit www.quiksilver.co.za.

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