Tag Archives: Nelson Mandela Boulevard

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 21 – 23 February

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Koos Bekker, Naspers CEO and founder of M-Net/Multichoice, is to step down on 31 March, the company which also owns M-Web and has internet interests in China has announced.  He and his wife own the magnificent Babylonstoren outside Franschhoek.
*   Qantas has announced the cancellation of its codeshare agreement with SAA, which will be effective as of July.   The move appears to be due to pressure from the Australian government to not collaborate with competitors.
*   President Jacob Zuma has declared 7 May, the date of the General Election, as a public holiday.
*   Cape Town International has been announced as Best Airport in Africa for the fourth year. Western Cape Tourism Minister Alan Winde’s office has announced.   The other Top 5 African airports are Durban, Mauritius, Cairo, and OR Thambo.  Upington airport is top airport in the category of 2 million and fewer passengers.

 

*    The City of Cape Town clearly has too much money to waste, running a footbridge naming Continue reading →

Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour attracts fewer out-of-town cyclists this year!

For the first time in many years, it would appear that fewer out-of-town cyclists will be participating in the 35th Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour, if the accommodation bookings in Camps Bay are a benchmark.  Relative to past years, when the Cycle Tour weekend was fully booked weeks in advance, this coming weekend is well but not yet fully booked.  Fewer of the bookings already taken for the weekend are related to the Cycle Tour, compared to previous years.

The 35000 participant 110 km Cycle Tour next Sunday is the largest individually timed cycle race in the world. Fewer than 10 % of the cyclists are from overseas.  It is organised by the Pedal Power Association and the Rotary Club of Claremont, and monies raised from the entry fees are shared with community upliftment and cycling development projects, R3 million having been raised in 2011.   It is estimated that the Cycle Tour will contribute at least R500 million to the economy of the Western Cape, based on 2011 information.

Running alongside the Lifecycle Week, which consists of an Expo related to cycling and also is the Cycle Tour registration venue, are two further cycle events.  This weekend the 208 km Columbia Grape Escape is taking place over three days, from the Durbanville Racecourse to the Boland Agricultural High School on Friday, from the school to Diemersfontein in Wellington yesterday, and from Diemersfontein to Boschendal today.  It is the second time that the Grape Escape has been organised.  In addition, the 11th Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay MTB Challenge is being held at Boschendal.  Yesterday it challenged novice and casual mountain bike riders, and today it is more experienced riders who have chosen to ride 32, 52, or 65 km.  Some of the cyclists participating in one of these ancillary races are also riding the Cycle Tour next week, such as our Whale Cottage Franschhoek guest Anton Mellet.

Concern for the environment is a characteristic of the Cycle Tour, with clean-up crews at every refreshment station, and waste sorted thereafter.  Last year 98% of the waste was recycled, say the organisers.  Recycled products are used where possible, such as cardboard bins, bin liners, and cups.  Airspace above the Cycle Tour route is restricted to helicopters with permission, to reduce potential harm to any animals affected by the noise.  The MyCiTi shuttle bus service will be free of charge between the Thibault Square and Stadium stations, and will run from 6h00 to 18h00 on Sunday.  The Table View MyCiTi service will commence an hour earlier than normal, at 5h40, on Sunday.  Trains can also be used to get to the start, running to normal Sunday schedules.  Cyclists are encouraged by the organisers to use public transport on Sunday.

A number of major roads in the city and Cape Peninsula will be closed for most of the day, including Hertzog Boulevard, Heerengracht, De Waal Drive, Nelson Mandela Boulevard (eastward), M3 (southbound), M4 between Muizenberg along the coastal road, Chapman’s Peak, Victoria Road from Hout Bay to Bantry Bay, and Beach Road from Sea Point to the Stadium.

The Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour is the ultimate New Year’s resolution for many Capetonians and South Africans.  The cycle race is an excellent means of showing off our beautiful city, with its backdrop of Table Mountain, the Twelve Apostles, Chapman’s Peak, Table Bay, False Bay, and the Atlantic Seaboard.  We encourage motorists and cyclists to drive and ride safely in the week ahead.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Cape Town has a heart for street name changes!

The City of Cape Town has honoured one of Cape Town’s best brand ambassadors ever with a street named after him.  Professor Christiaan Barnard performed the first ever heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in December 1967, and the world’s media focused on the Beaufort West born heart surgeon, the hospital and Cape Town, at a time when South Africa was not politically acceptable.

Last week Mayor Patricia de Lille inaugurated Christiaan Barnard Street with his children Deirdre, Frederick, Christiaan, and Lara, the street having previously been known as Oswald Pirow Street on the Foreshore.  The Netcare Hospital on Loop Street has also been named after the heart surgeon.

The Cape Times has reported that a number of street name changes are still on the cards, currently named after previous National Party politicians, and these include Hendrik Verwoerd Drive, Jan Smuts Drive, DF Malan Street, and Nico Malan Street.  Other streets on the proposed name change list (with the proposed street name change in brackets) include Lansdowne Road (Imam Haron Road), Jip de Jager Street (Dulcie September Drive), Coen Steytler Avenue (Walter Sisulu Drive), Andries Pretorius Street (Orange Street), five Milner Roads, Vanguard Drive (Govan Mbeki Drive), NY1 (Steve Biko Drive), and Willie van Schoor Rylaan (Jeff Masemola Drive).

Interesting is that all five the City’s Milner Roads are to change their name, and here the naming steers away from the political, to honour poet and writer Uys Krige (Tamboerskloof), poet Ingrid Jonker (Sea Point), poet and writer PJ Philander (Scotville), poet SV Petersen (Observatory), and writer Jan Rabie (industrial area).

Earlier this year the Eastern Boulevard was renamed the Nelson Mandela Boulevard. Another definite street name change has been announced as being the Adderley to Burg Street section of Castle Street, which is to be named after Krotoa, a Khoisan leader.  The latest street name change proposal is subject to a public participation process.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

Happy birthday Mr Mandela: Chefs cook for Madiba!

Today is Nelson Mandela’s 93rd birthday, and the Western Cape is celebrating his special day with a meal prepared at his last home before his release from Victor Verster (now Drakenstein) Prison today, with 67 school children, 67 farmworkers, and 67 senior citizens being féted by four chefs to mark the 67 years that Mr Mandela sacrificed to ‘make the world a better place’.   Today has been declared International Nelson Mandela Day by the United Nations.

Chefs Jenny Morris, Reuben Riffel, Uncle Merv and Marco Radebe are preparing the birthday meal, making a difference to a cross-spectrum of South Africans on Mandela Day.  The event was organised by Cape Town Routes Unlimited, the Cape Winelands District Municipality, and the Department of Correctional Services.  The menu includes Mr Mandela’s meals at Victor Verster and Robben Island, and those prepared by his present cook, to represent Mr Mandela’s favourite food. The menu is as follows:

      Cream of Tomato soup with wholewheat bread

      Chicken liver on mash, or hake

      Roast chicken, brown rice, carrots and beans

      Salad

     Trifle, in rainbow colours

Journalists and writers invited to the media conference at Mandela House at Drakenstein Prison on Thursday were privileged to be shown around the house in which Mr Mandela lived for the 14 months leading up to his release.  If we did not know it before, we were reminded of the humility and statesmanship of our country’s greatest leader.  He was often taken out of the grounds on secret outings, to assimilate him into the world he had missed out on for 25 years, and this included the Taal Monument on Paarl Mountain.  He had a television set, and read the daily newspapers.  We were shown the lemon tree which Mr Mandela planted on the property.  I was impressed with the size of the prison grounds, which appears to be a working farm.  Mandela House is a national heritage site, we were told, and we sat at the table at which the historic draft constitution was signed by then-President FW de Klerk and Mr Mandela. 

Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, said that it was due to Mr Mandela that South Africa had an upsurge in tourist numbers, only surpassed by last year’s World Cup.  Given that Mr Mandela was released from Victor Verster, it was felt that the function to celebrate the birthday should reflect the Winelands’ reputation of being the Gourmet Capital.  Giggling Gourmet Jenny Morris became very emotional when she shared with us how special an honour it is for her to be preparing the meal with her chef colleagues.

Manfred Jacobs, Communication Officer of the Department of Correctional Services, was most informative when he showed us around Mandela House.  Mr Mandela was brought to the house at Victor Verster late at night, and the area over the prison grounds was declared a no-fly zone, to prevent a bomb from being dropped onto the house, we were told.  Mr Mandela spent the last 14 months of his incarceration there, and impressed the warders with his humility, and the interest he showed in them as persons, congratulating them on their birthdays, and assisting them with their studies, where he could.  Politics was never discussed.  We laughed when we were told that Mr Mandela thought he had two TV sets, referring to his microwave oven as one of them, something he had not seen in the 23 years of his time at Robben Island.  Mr Mandela was taught to swim in his swimming pool, but he sat on the edge of the pool most of the time, as he was frightened of the pool cleaner!  Mr Mandela’s policy was to change people’s hearts, and not to attempt to change their minds.  We laughed when we were told the story of the wood running out for the fireplace in his house, with no further wood being allocated.  Mr Mandela encouraged his doctor to address this shortage, and the doctor promptly wrote out a prescription for wood!  Mr Mandela loved looking onto the Simonsberg mountains from his house, a source of inspiration.  He had a replica of the house built in Qunu, where Mr Mandela is celebrating his birthday today, so that the inhabitants of his ancestral village could experience his prison house. A bar was stocked in the house, with lots of alcohol, in the hope that Mr Mandela would imbibe heavily and spill the beans, but this never happened.  Having been incarcerated in a small cell on Robben Island for 23 years, Mr Mandela felt uncomfortable in his massive bedroom, and asked to be moved to the study, and this was turned into his bedroom. Mr Mandela was given the nickname ‘Nelson’ after the Admiral, as his teacher could not remember all the Xhosa names of the children in her class. Mr Mandela said that ‘big doors hang on small hinges’, his way of saying that everyone can make it in life.

A statue of Mr Mandela was commissioned by businessman, politician and Franschhoek wine-farmer Tokyo Sexwale, and proudly stands at the entrance to the prison gates.  Mr Mandela agreed, on condition that the plinth not be too high, so that he does not appear elevated.  Marble for the base came from Robben Island.  Black and white stones represent the people of South Africa.

Congratulations Mr Mandela, ‘humble servant of the people’!

POSTSCRIPT 19/7: I attended the opening of a photographic exhibition of the Lalela (to listen) Project in the Goodman Gallery at the One&Only Cape Town last night, to coincide with the celebration of Mr Mandela’s birthday.  Pupils from Hout Bay High School, coming from the Coloured community of Hangberg and the Xhosa community of Imizamo Yethu, got to know each other and connected through taking portraits of each other, mentored by photographers Hasan and Husain Essop.  The Lalela Project was founded by Andrea Kerzner, daughter of the owner of the hotel.  Portraits can be seen outside the hotel, and in the city center too.

POSTSCRIPT 19/7:  The Eastern Boulevard, the highway which leads to the N2 in Cape Town, was renamed Nelson Mandela Boulevard last week.  Brand new silver signs have been placed at regular intervals to remind one of the new name.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage