karoo

It could even be a net exporter of both.

But that would depend on three things: that the estimates of shale gas reserves in the Karoo are accurate ; that government gives the go-ahead for exploration to at least find out if there are reserves; and, if the first two requirements are satisfied, that companies are allowed to drill for the gas .

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that the Karoo could be home to 485 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of shale gas reserves. That would make SA’s resources the fifth-largest in the world.

Most industry players think this number is probably inflated . Shell SA’s general manager for upstream operations, Jan Willem Eggink, says: “We agree there is probably shale under the Karoo, but we don’t know how much.”

But even if a tenth of the IEA estimate is proven (and economically viable ) it would be a significant find. To put it into perspective, Sasol’s gas-to-liquid plant in Qatar, which produces 32000 barrels of liquid fuel a day, will use 3,5tcf over its 30-year lifetime, according to Investec Securities analyst Campbell Parry.

Parry says with 50tcf, SA would be able to invest in additional gas-to-liquids plants, power generation, and possibly the development of a residential piped gas market in the Western Cape (which currently doesn’t have one).

The cost of electricity would drop as the supply of gas would be greater than demand . Nuclear power would probably be off the table. The days of worrying about load-shedding would be over.

But there’s a chance SA may not even be able to find out whether the reserves are there . The extraction of shale gas through what is known as fracking — injecting water and chemicals into the ground to fracture the rock and release the gas — is a highly contested topic.

The debate is between the economics and the environmental concerns around fracking. A burst of shale exploration and production has changed the US into an energy exporter, given it security of supply and brought gas prices down. US gas prices have more than halved in the past 10 years, says Eggink. But many believe these benefits are not worth the damage done in the process of getting the gas.

Environmental arguments focus on water risks, both of contamination and of availability of water, especially pertinent in a water-scarce country; risks to health; and social disruption from the arrival of the extractive industry.

Energy companies, on the other hand, promise they can extract the gas in an environmentally safe way. Eggink says Shell recently raised operating standards in the US; that the surface footprint of the development is small; and that water issues can be dealt with (through the possible use of brackish water found deep under the Karoo).

He also lists economic spinoffs, including a GDP boost and job creation. On top of this, Shell is risking its own capital, R1,5bn for the first phase , and more if exploration proves fruitful.

There is little way of knowing who is right. It’s easy to find case studies proving either argument . There are cases for regional economic growth, low gas prices and job creation; but there are also cases of ruined water resources.

Saliem Fakir, head of WWF SA’s Living Planet Unit , says the debate “has largely become parochialised as an energy vs environment issue” and suggests the focus should turn to a broader economic debate.

He says the argument should be about energy planning and whether fracking for gas would be the most economically viable energy option for SA.

The range of unknowns includes how much gas there is, the cost of extraction, the cost of getting it to market and where water would be sourced, says Paul Eardley-Taylor, Standard Bank’s head of energy, utilities infrastructure. The cost of infrastructure (which Eardley-Taylor says would be for government) is another major question mark.

“The economics of shale in SA cannot be compared to the US,” Fakir says. A large local resource works for an economy when the right policies are in place. SA lacks a policy for the exploitation of shale gas.

The effect of shale on the SA economy, says Fakir, depends on factors like gas prices (which he says would be higher in SA than in the US), incentives given to industry and environmental regulation.

Sasol, after a technical study in the Karoo, said at the end of 2010 it would not pursue exploration. It says while fracking is widely practised and regulated in the US it is new to SA, and a clear and well-regulated environment would have to be a precondition for an environmentally responsible industry. Others have postulated that Sasol’s decision is based on cost calculations, and that shale gas production in the US would be more economically viable than in SA.

It is in this context that the moratorium on exploration in SA is largely viewed as welcome.

Parry says many of the questions around the economics of shale can be answered only once the actual reserves are known.

Government will decide on the moratorium in March, after it has completed its study into fracking in SA.

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Peninsula Energy’s (ASX:PEN) executive chairman Gus Simpson tells Proactive Investors what is in store for the company in 2012. 

He also provides an insight into the uranium market, post Fukushima.

The company could be in production late 2012, early 2013.

 

If you want to email this page to more than one person, just put a semicolon “;” between the email addresses.

2012-02-06 10:40

Leighton Koopman, Die Burger

Cape Town – Another boiling hot day has been forecast for large parts of the Western Cape on Monday.

Temperatures of above 40ºC are expected in the Boland, West Coast and Little Karoo. Residents of the Cape Town metropole can expect a maximum temperature of at least 34ºC.

The South African Weather Service on Sunday issued a heatwave warning, forecasting that these conditions will last until Tuesday.

According to weather forecaster Henning Grobler, there is a slight chance of rain on Tuesday afternoon.

“If it does rain, it will not be a lot. It will, however, be overcast,â€? he said.

Temperatures of about 20ºC are forecast for the whole province on Wednesday.

Western Cape residents sweltered on Sunday. The mercury in the Mother City rose to 37ºC, while people in the Boland towns of Worcester, Paarl, Wellington and Ceres had to endure temperatures of over 40ºC.

On the West Coast there was also no sign of cooler weather. Residents of Clanwilliam, Redelinghuys and Vredendal were sweating it out on Sunday. Temperatures here will be as high on Monday.

Those on the south coast at George and Mossel Bay can expect temperatures of 32ºC and 34ºC.

– Are you feeling the heat? How are you coping? Send us your stories and photos.

www.ska.ac.za

The KAT-7 precursor dished in the Karoo offer a glimpse of what a small portion of the site will look like if the SKA telescope bid is won by SA. If South Africa wins SKA, hundreds of dishes will be arranged in this location by 2024.

Staff Writer

THE SKA, the world’s largest radio telescope, will be able to answer probing questions that have plagued scientists for centuries, and SA is in a tight battle with Australia to become the site for the telescope.

Today, a technical evaluation of both sites is to be released to the SKA Siting Group, which reports to the SKA Founding Board. The Siting Group will weigh the process of the technical evaluation, making sure protocol was followed, and submit its assessment to the founding board.

Bernie Fanaroff, project director for SA’s SKA bid, and the SA SKA team will receive the report on February 15 at the earliest.

Regardless of where the site is located, its work will be revolutionary.

For scientists, the nature of dark energy will be among the main questions that SKA might be able to answer.

“One of the possible Nobel Prizes awarded from this telescope would be for discovering the nature of dark energy,” said Fanaroff. Other potential breakthroughs include the existence of extraterrestrial life and a challenge to Einstein’s theory of gravity.

This mega-telescope is a hot commodity, with South Africa and Australia fiercely assured of the legitimacy of their bids. The criteria that could determine the decision include:

l Radio Frequency Interference Levels: The site needs to be free from radio interference. A big draw for Australia is the remoteness of the site in the western Outback. The region, Murchison, has a large area of about 50 000km2 and a population of fewer than 150 people.

South Africa’s site in the Karoo is closer to human activity but backed by legislation that bars radio activity from the area.

According to a SKA South Africa fact sheet, Justin Jonas, associate director of Science and Engineering for SKA SA said: “A radio quiet environment does not necessarily imply a very remote location that is expensive to provide infrastructure to, and difficult to access and operate.”

l Physical Characteristics and Climate: South Africa’s physical site is located at an altitude of 1 000m, which Fanaroff said is ideal for observing the universe at high frequencies. “There is more water vapour closer to sea level, which makes viewing more difficult,” he said.

“Our site is also dry, with little cloud cover.”

While Australia has a stable climate, their team has repeatedly cited their larger baseline as an advantageous physical characteristic. The baseline is defined as the geographic distance across which a telescope’s connected antennae are distributed.

With New Zealand on board, Australia can situate antenna stations 5 500km away from its core site, a feature that may enable sharper images of the universe, according to an online article in the science magazine Cosmos. Sergei Gulyaev, astronomer at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, said: “For South Africa to reach the minimum SKA baseline requirements, they will have to go all the way to the Congo and many other countries have to be involved. Here you have just one country, plus New Zealand, ideally placed.”

l Cost and Infrastructure:

Simon Ratcliffe, a leading astronomer working on the SA SKA bid, told Cosmos: “Our proximity to Europe and similar time zones, coupled with value-for-money labour and good existing infrastructure, can greatly reduce the major costs of the SKA.”

The SA site is closer to existing roads and infrastructure than the isolated Australian site.

The Karoo site has connections to the national electricity grid, optical fibre backbone and road network.

“Our site has struck an ideal compromise between remoteness and proximity to infrastructure to keep costs low,” said Fanaroff.

The technical report may produce a coherent statement on which site comes out on top.

Afrikaans festivals have become the lifeblood of Afrikaans theatre. If you don’t catch productions there, you’re not going to have much joy, especially in Gauteng. The Cape seems to fare better on this score and hopefully more of the better productions will start travelling across the country and changing these dynamics.

This year’s Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK, from March 31 to April 7 in Oudtshoorn) has a particularly strong theatrical component, starting with Nicola Hanekom completing her trilogy, (which began with Bethesda and Lot) with Babbel.

She has gathered a band of brothers, including musician/composer Braam du Toit and a cast starring Tinarie van Wyk, Brendon Daniels, Stian Bam, Neels van Jaarsveld and more, who have all worked with the exciting director before (see the story alongside).

Those who like strong and challenging theatre will rate their dramatic festival fare by the number of Marthinus Basson productions. This year he returns with the errant Malan Steyn, a playwright who absconded for a few years and is back with Bos, which tells the story of 10 teenagers under the guidance of a paramilitary instructor at a survival camp. How do they cope with peer pressure and pests, ghosts and hormones, and everything that could go wrong? Bam is the leader of the pack and with Basson blasting through this type of scenario, it should be explosive.

Die Vrou Vantevore is one of Basson’s translations of a sharply selected international play. In this instance he picked the German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig, who explains that the play was written when thinking fearfully about what would happen if someone from your past turned up and recalled some unfortunate tale. A young woman knocks on a door and reminds the man of a promise of fidelity he made 24 years earlier.

This is vintage Basson territory with a cast boasting Brümilda van Rensburg, Stian Bam (obviously a Basson favourite), Erica Wessels, Wilhelm van der Walt and Greta Pietersen.

On a gentler note, Rachelle Greef, who wrote the solo-driven Die Naaimasjien starring Sandra Prinsloo, follows with Buitepos, directed by Fred Abrahams. She shifts the focus from an ageing woman to that of a man walking through a dry riverbed, with only his thoughts and the stones around him as company.

Playwright Chris Voster (of 7de Laan fame) also has a few fingers in KKNK pies. For the second year in a row, he assists comedian Marion Holm with her new show titled Holmakiesie. It is turning into what could grow into a great partnership.

Vorster also stages Buurtwag, which premiered at Aardklop, and while the name (Neighbourhood Watch) doesn’t point to hilarity, that’s what ensues. It’s light festival fare.

Playwright Charles J Fourie is another one who has found his way back to Afrikaans festivals with last year’s successful Agterplaas.

Based loosely on Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant, he offers Die Soet Trane van Petrus Pansegrouw, a tongue-in-cheek comedy about the middle-aged Petrus, who is puzzled by the whole ageing-and-affairs thing – until he finds himself involved with an attractive young actress.

It’s fantastic to welcome Janice Honeyman back with some serious theatre. She’s directing a translated Sam Shepard play (the Pulitzer prize-winning Buried Child), Doodsnikke, starring Anna-Mart van der Merwe, Gys de Villiers, Oscar Petersen, Travis Snyders and Ivan Abrahams. It’s balanced on a knife edge between humour and horror and deals with family dysfunction.

On a lighter note, Hennie van Greunen has picked well with his latest translation, that of Educating Rita, cunningly titled Griet kry Geleerdheid, starring Lulu Botha and Chris van Niekerk, who aim to bring this warm and witty story to life. Like his Shirley Valentine transformation, this should be another one that grabs both heads and hearts.

There’s a return of Lizz Meiring and André Stoltz in Kopstukke but it’s almost a decade after they first performed this macabre Jean Goosen piece, which has you giggling at the horror of a couple who are confined to their beds because of a car accident.

The Pink Couch, who won many hearts last year with the wondrous Miskien, return with a physical theatre approach to Herman Charles Bosman’s Mafeking Road, directed by Tara Louise Notcutt, who has a remarkable ability to pick them and to create theatre that both informs and entertains. She and her team are a great acquisition for local festivals.

Playwright Saartjie Botha pays tribute to Afrikaans storyteller Abraham H de Vries with Smelt, directed by the promising Wolfie Britz, starring Gerben Kamper, and producer/ director Albert Maritz brings the much-lauded Mooi Maria, with award-winning performances from Anthea Thompson and Isadora Verwey, as well as PG du Plessis’s comedy classic ’n Seder Val in Waterkloof with another star cast.

Other winning productions that have played at Aardklop, for example, include Jaco Bouwer’s Rooiland. This searing piece about prison gangs, written by Tertius Kapp, showcases brilliant performances by Brendon Daniels, Charlton George, Leon Kruger and Wilhelm van der Walt.

There’s also a reworking of Op-en-top, which previously played in Grahamstown, directed by Andrew Buckland and created and performed by Richard Antrobus and Tristan Jacobs in typical Buckland style.

Lizz Meiring features with pianist Rocco de Villiers in Speel, taking a step back in time as Hermoine who works in a sanatorium in London, with World War I fresh in everyone’s minds. Ou Blare, starring Elsabé Daneel, Susanne Beyers (Erfdeel) and Joannie Combrink, is about friends reuniting with a great deal of laughter but also their share sadness and anger.

This year’s festival artists are the magnificent Handspring Puppet Company, who have captured world headlines with War Horse. This, and some of their other spectacular work, will be on a show and, like everything on this year’s stages, grab the imagination.

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Megan Power

Motorist who escaped a fiery death expected Nissan to
investigate

When it comes to cars, many of us fit the stereotype. We’re largely
interested in how the car looks on the outside and how comfortable it is on the
inside.

But we care little for what’s under the hood. Until things go wrong. Then
consumers become very interested in detail.

Reader Wessel Oosthuizen, who admits to knowing nothing about cars,
certainly did.

It’s little wonder. The retired sports photographer narrowly escaped death
in December when his 2008 1.6 Nissan Qashqai lost power and caught alight while
driving in the Karoo. Within minutes the car was ablaze and less than 15
minutes later it was completely gutted.

Why did the car go up in smoke? Nobody knows. And nobody, besides the owner,
seems to care much either.

Despite Oosthuizen’s efforts, he has no idea why his car, which had recently
had its three-year/100000km warranty service at Nissan, is now a hunk of
charred metal.

His insurer, which didn’t hesitate to cover his loss, blamed an electrical
short circuit but could not determine what triggered it. Because the car was so
badly burnt and no foul play was suspected, it didn’t probe further.

To Oosthuizen’s dismay, neither did Nissan.

“I didn’t ask Nissan for money; I just thought it should look into
it,” the 68-year-old Parys resident said. “But it wasn’t interested.
I called customer care but got no response.

“I then went to Nissan in person and was eventually told it would not
get involved but I could appoint an independent assessor. It said insurance
wouldn’t have paid out if there had been a product fault,” he said.

Oosthuizen asked for this response in writing but didn’t hear from Nissan
again.

When I approached Nissan, senior manager for customer care Jacques Labotsky
said the company’s position had been incorrectly relayed to Oosthuizen. I
didn’t find his clarified version much better.

Labotsky said Nissan would “gladly” conduct an investigation and
appoint an independent fire investigator at a cost of R50000 but – and here’s
the rub – if no product liability was found, Oosthuizen would have to foot the
bill.

So the customer, whose car burst into flames for no reason, should shoulder
the financial burden if no defect is found. Why? “Because the car was
fitted with a tracking device,” said Labotsky. “If the car was standard,
we’d pay.”

According to Labotsky, cars fitted with after-market devices and accessories
such as trackers, alarm systems, radios and tow bars have contributed to fires.

That’s news to me. And to Netstar and Tracker, which with 2.5 million
installations between them, know of no such incidents. Even Oosthuizen’s
insurer Santam has no knowledge of this.

And what about the Nissan service just six weeks earlier? Could there be a
connection? No, said Labotsky, and there was no history of “thermal
incidents” either.

Where an insurance probe determined possible product liability, he said, the
case was referred to the manufacturer for further investigation.

“Unfortunately the insurer opted not to conduct such an investigation
and settled the relevant claim with the client directly … “

Head of Santam corporate affairs Donald Kau said an independent
investigation would not have resulted in a different outcome, based on how
badly the vehicle was burnt.

“As we did not investigate the possibility of a defect being the cause
of the fire, we cannot comment on the liability of the agents towards their
customers,” Kau said.

Would Sanlam cover the costs of a further probe at Oosthuizen’s request?
Unfortunately not, Kau said.

“In this instance, the option is open for the client but it would be
for his own cost. We have paid out in line with the client’s policy after our
own investigation. The car is available for such a probe should the client or
manufacturer wish to assess it further.”

Oosthuizen, who “meticulously” serviced his car with Nissan, is
not amused. “I’m lucky my doors were unlocked because the car’s power died
when the fire started and the smash-and-grab protection on my windows would
have prevented me breaking the glass,” he said.

Indeed, it could have been far worse. Nobody can forget the 2009 death of
satirist Justin Nurse’s two-year-old daughter who died when the family’s Honda
Jazz caught fire in the driveway of their Noordhoek home.

The cause was indeterminable but an investigation showed that water intrusion
into the power window switch housing could cause a short circuit. As a
precautionary measure, Honda recalled all 2002-2008 year model Jazz units in SA
to inspect and modify the switches.

It’s the kind of response consumers expect when things go so terribly wrong.

Although upset at Nissan’s failure to inspect his car, Oosthuizen remains
surprisingly loyal to the brand; he’s already replaced his Qashqai with a
second.

In the interest of consumer safety, I believe Nissan had a duty to rule out
a defect in Oosthuizen’s car, at its own expense. It chose not to.

And Oosthuizen understandably isn’t able to take a R50000 gamble.

So we’re all none the wiser. Heaven help Nissan if another car burns.

Sunday Smile

At Pick n Pay, Carnival Mall, for delivering a R49.99 replacement bottle of
Preen prewash to shopper Sheila Paterson’s door after a faulty cap led to
spillage in her shopping bag. Considering her home is 35km from the store, it
was a most welcome gesture.

Sunday Snarl

At Patrick Holford’s Mood Food which,
according to the Advertising Standards Authority, made an unsubstantiated claim
to the effect that it was able to “support mood and mental vitality”.
Isn’t it time for the marketing and promotion of complementary medicines to be
more strictly regulated?

Weather

WARNINGS: 1. A heat wave with persistently high temperatures is still persisting in the West Coast District, Cape Winelands,and Little Karoo it will persist till Tuesday over the Breede River Valley and Little Karoo.
2. Extremely uncomfortable humid conditions are expected in the West coast district,Cape Winelands, Cape Metropole,in places over the Eden district and the eastern parts of Kwazulu Natal
3. A high veldfire danger rating is expected in places in the West coast district, Cape Winelands, Cape Metropole and the Namakwa district.
4. Extremely hot conditions are expected in places in the West coast district, Cape Winelands, Little Karoo and Breede River Valley.

05 February 2012
| Sapa

WATCHES:

1. A high veldfire danger rating expected in the West Coast district on Tuesday.

2.A high veldfire danger expected over the West Coast district and the Cape Winelands

GAUTENG

Partly cloudy and warm with scattered showers and thundershowers.

Expected UVB Index: Very Dangerous.

MPUMALANGA

Cloudy in places at first with morning drizzle and fog patches on the high ground,otherwise partly cloudy and warm but cool in places on the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm but cool in places in the eastern highveld and escarpment.Scattered showers and thundershowers are expected but isolated in the Lowveld.

LIMPOPO

Cloudy in places at first with morning drizzle and fog patches on the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the south west.

NORTHWEST

Partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the east.

FREE STATE

Partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated thundershowers over the central parts but scattered in the northeast.

NORTHERN CAPE

Fine and hot to very hot but partly cloudy in the east with isolated thundershowers In the north and north east.Morning andN evening fog patches expected along the coast where it will be cool. The wind along the coast will be light northwesterly.

WESTERN CAPE

Fine and hot to very hot, but extremely hot in places over the West Coast District and Cape Winelands.Evening fog expected along the west coast. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate north westerly. Expected UVB Index: Very Dangerous.

EASTERN CAPE

Sunny and warm north of the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy with isolated showers and thundershowers in the extreme north east. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh easterly becoming north-easterly towards evening.

KWAZULU-NATAL

Morning fog patches over the interior, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated afternoon and evening showers and thundershowers in the west. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly to south easterly.

Expected UVB index: High.

NAMIBIA

Partly cloudy and hot to very hot but warm along the coast with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the east. The wind along the coast will moderate south-westerly.

BOTSWANA

Partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers and thundershowers.

LESOTHO

Partly cloudy at times and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.

SWAZILAND

Cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.

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Matus is a veteran campaigner, who was going intermediate at the time Lipsky purchased the gelding. However, the eventer started at novice level with Matus.

“It’s taken a while to get to know each other,” said Lipsky.

The Vermont-based rider’s trainer is Surefire Eventing’s Jan Byyny.

“All of the work has really paid off,” said Lipsky. “I was very pleased with his dressage test. He’s quite a fancy little mover. He’s a really fun horse. I couldn’t be more happy (with his cross country) It was a great outing today.”

Lipsky will take her other horse Karoo, a Thoroughbred cross, and go training level at Sporting Days Farm on Saturday. Lipsky and Karoo placed first at training level at the Full Gallop Farm Horse Trials on March 12, 2010. Karoo’s barn name is Peter, and he’s affectionately known as Peter Rabbit.

“He’s coming back from injuries, so this will be his first outing (of the winter) as well,” said Lipsky. “He’ll (Karoo) be going training as well. Hopefully, we’ll be able to bring both horses up (the levels) this season. I’ve had that horse (Karoo) for four years, and he was hurt all of last year. It took a long time getting him back. He’s a great horse.”

2012-01-31 18:13

Cape Town – Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu and her director general Thibedi Ramontja will file an answering affidavit  in response to a court application to get details on a fracking report.

“We are serving to the other party’s attorneys, not the media,” department spokesperson Zingaphi Jakuja said.

“As far as I know, media are not applicants in the matter so we are under no obligation to furnish our affidavit to media.”

In January, the High Court in Pretoria ordered Shabangu and Ramontja to respond by January 31 to an application by the Treasure Karoo Action Group (TKAG).

The TKAG wants details on an inter-departmental task team studying the impact and viability of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, in the Karoo to extract natural gas.

TKAG chair Jonathan Deal said: “There is a whole lot of secrecy… we want to know who is involved, what are their qualifications, what is their brief, what scientific evidence are they using.”

It was especially important to look at what evidence the team was looking at as fracking “had creeped (sic) into South Africa on the back of industry-based reports”.

Fracking involves injecting, under high pressure, a mixture of chemicals and water into the earth, to free natural gas.

The exploration programme, proposed by oil company Shell, has been criticised by environmental groups who claim it will harm the sensitive Karoo environment and poison underground water.

Major celebrations took place on the 8th of January.(SABC)

The African National Congress (ANC) centenary torch has arrived at Beaufort West in the Karoo where it will be handed over by the party’s Secretary-General, Gwede Mantashe, to the provincial leadership. ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe kick-started the celebrations with a rally at Oudtshoorn in the Karoo.

The torch arrived just after midnight in a motorcade from Mangaung in the Free State where major celebrations took place on the 8th of January. Mantashe is also expected to address party veterans during a breakfast meeting before visiting the homes of struggle veterans in the area.

 

A host of activities have been planned for the next two days.

The main rally in the region to celebrate the party’s 100th birthday takes place this afternoon at the Rustdene Stadium. A host of activities have been planned for the next two days.

Mantashe will visit the homes of struggle veterans in the area. The event will be attended by provincial leadership, church leaders, as well as members of civil society

WITH the month of February approaching the hundredth anniversary celebrations of the ANC’s commemoration year move to the Western Cape Province, after a successful kickoff in Mangaung where the ANC was founded in the Wesleyan Church of Waaihoek.

The official African National Congress Centenary Celebrations in the Western Cape starts this week, when the National Centenary Torch will be handed over to the people of the Western Cape on Wednesday February 1, in Beaufort West.

The ANC National leadership and the National Centenary Task Team, together with the Free State leadership of the ANC will hand over the Centenary Flame to the ANC Western Cape leadership.

The ANC invites the people of the Western Cape and the media to come and join us in our celebrations of 100 years, an achievement that no other political movement on the continent has managed to achieve.

The ANC views its Centenary not only as a celebration for ANC members, but as a celebration for all South Africans and it has also been embraced by freedom loving people all over the world.

Once the Centenary Flame has been handed over to the Western Cape, it will travel to all the corners of the province, from the smallest little hamlets and farms, towns to the big cities.

We try our best to make it possible for each and every citizen of the Western Cape to witness our Centenary Flame of struggle and hope.

Once the torch has been handed over to the ANC Western Cape Province, represented by Marius Fransman (provincial chairperson) it will then be handed over to Mr. Ronnie Klink, ANC Central Karoo Region chairperson.

The Centenary Flame will then change hands from one region to the other, who will each have a turn to present it to a wide range of people and communities in their regions.

The Central Karoo Region will hand the flame over to the South Cape / Klein Karoo Region, who in turn will hand it over to the Parliament for the opening of Parliament’s State of the Nation address.

From parliament, the flam will be passed on to the Boland Region, who in turn will pass it on to the Overberg Region.

The Overberg Region will pass it on to the West Coast Region, who will then pass it on to the Dullah Omar Region, from who will be the last region to host the Flame.

The Western Cape Province will also celebrate the life of the second president of the ANC, president Sefako Mapogo Makgatho.

President Makgatho was the president of the ANC from 1917 – 1924, and placed a big emphasis on education, land and religion in his life, as ANC president and in his personal capacity.

On 23 February as part of our centenary celebrations, the ANC will host a Sefako Mapogo Makgatho Memorial Lecture at the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town, to honour the of president Makgatho. President Jacob Zuma will deliver the keynote address and some of the family of president Makgatho will also be in attendance.

President Jacob Zuma will also visit the Rocklands Civic Centre in Mitchells Plain to honour the place where the UDF was launched.

The UDF played an important role in the liberation struggle of South Africa, and the visit by president Zuma is to show our appreciation to that organisation and its millions of members all over South Africa who contributed to bringing about the present democratic dispensation.

On 11 February, former president Nelson Mandela celebrates 22 years of freedom, and this celebration will be commemorated as part of our Centenary Celebrations.

The ANC will be sending a strong delegation to the Drakenstein Prison (formerly Victor Verster) to celebrate this important occasion.

On 24 to 26 February the Commission for Religious and Traditional Affairs will be hosting a summit on Race, Culture and Identity to get a debate going on important issues in South Africa.

Before the handover of the Centenary Flame to Mpumalanga Province, the ANC Western Cape will do its duty and take the flame to Robben Island, a place of incarceration of so many of the freedom fighters of South Africa.

A Candle Light Vigil will be held on Robben Island on 28 February, which will end with a cultural evening and dance for all who will be in attendance.

The next day, 29 February the Centenary Flame will be escorted out of the province to Mpumalanga, where the ANC Western Cape Chairperson, Marius Fransman will hand back the flame to Mr Gwede Mantashe, the secretary general of the national ANC.

Fransman says South Africa is privileged to witness the first centenary of this glorious movement, and therefore, the ANC is doing everything in its power to make it a memorable occasion for all South Africans.

Statement issued by Songezo Mjongile, ANC Western Cape Provincial Secretary, January 31 2012

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YUMMY: Fresh mangoes, plums, nectarines and peaches are just some of the delicious fruits to savour. Pic: Debbie Yazbek

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• Five meatless suppers – recipes

Made in China. We are so used to this label attached to merchandise that it’s good to know that the summer fruit abundant right now is grown in Boland and Little Karoo orchards or in the subtropical Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces.

However, peaches and nectarines had their origins in China some 2 000 years ago, and found their way to the west, via Persia and the European spice trade. Plums seem to have originated in Japan and Europe while mangoes were first cultivated in India some 4 000 years ago.

While most of these fruits are destined to be eaten raw and whole or sliced into salads, this is the time to make more of them.

Many of the ideas below take little time and do not require large amounts of energy, either from the cook or from Eskom.

FRESH MANGO WITH CHILLI AND VANILLA SYRUP

Exotic, tongue-tingling, this is a great finale for a lunch or supper. Choose firm mangoes ahead of time so they will have ripened when used. If you prefer, make a lemon sorbet in place of the lime sorbet, as limes are very pricey.

The recipe can be found in Marie Claire Spicy, by Michele Cranston, published by Murdoch Books.

220g (1 full cup) white sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 fresh large red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

Juice of 1 lime

3 mangoes, peeled and flesh cut into thick strips

Lime sorbet

250g white sugar

4 to 5 limes

Put the sugar, vanilla bean and chilli into a small saucepan, with 500ml water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool, then stir in the lime juice.

For the sorbet, dissolve the sugar in 1 litre (four cups) of water, bring to the boil and cook two to three minutes, then remove from heat. Cool. Grate the zest of the limes and squeeze the juice. Add the juice to the syrup, along with the zest of one lime. Taste, and add more zest if desired. Cool, then transfer to freezer. When half-frozen, whizz mixture with a hand blender to break up crystals, and freeze until firm.

To serve, divide the mango between four chilled bowls, and top with scoops of lime sorbet. Drizzle the chilli syrup over the mango and sorbet and serve immediately.

Serves four.

RUSTIC PLUM SHEET CAKE

A pleasing recipe that calls only for a bowl and a wooden spoon, authors Callie Maritz and Mari-Louis Guy suggest we bake it to take on picnics, and serve from the pan, along with their homemade crème fraiche.

Find the recipe in their delicious compilation Cakebread, Pudding and Pie published by Struik Lifestyle.

½ cup milk

Quarter cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1½ cups cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

10 large plums, halved and pitted

Quarter cup castor sugar

Crème Fraiche

1 cup thick cream

2T buttermilk

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a large 25x35cm rectangular baking pan. In a mixing bowl, combine milk, oil and eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into this. Stir until a batter forms. Spread the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Arrange the plums, cut side up, on top of the batter. Do not press them in. Sprinkle the castor sugar over the plums. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean and the plums are soft.

For the crème fraiche, sterilise a jam jar. Combine the cream and buttermilk in the jar, screw on the lid and shake for one minute. Set aside but do not refrigerate, for 12 to 24 hours until thick.

Serves six to eight.

BAKED PEACHES WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM AND CARAMEL SAUCE

It’s a self-explanatory title of a straightforward dessert that will be lapped up by all ages. This is one for cool nights, when the family is ready for a warm finale with its contrast of ice cream on the side.

The recipe comes from Sydney Food by Bill Granger, published by Murdoch Books. You could also use nectarines.

4 peaches, halved and stoned

2T brown sugar

Caramel sauce

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup cream

1tsp lemon juice

Vanilla icecream

Preheat oven to 220°C. Place peaches, cut side up, in a small baking dish and sprinkle with the brown sugar. Bake for 15 minutes, until they are soft and juices bubbling. Remove and cool slightly.

For the sauce: fill the sink with cold water. Place the sugar and quarter cup (60ml ) of water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar has melted, brushing down sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water if any crystals appear. Bring to the boil and cook, without stirring, until the caramel turns golden brown, swirling the pan to keep the colour even. Remove from heat as soon as this occurs and plunge base of saucepan into the sink of cold water to stop it cooking. Let the caramel cool slightly, then carefully pour in the cream, it will foam up. When foaming stops, add the lemon juice and stir until sauce is smooth. Sauce can be reheated.

To serve, place peaches in serving dish, top with ice-cream and pour over sauce. Serves four. – Cape Argus

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Letters

The authorities have lobbied every Tom, Dick and Harry to give their opinion about how good it will be for South Africa to allow firms like Shell to poison the delicate fauna and flora of the Karoo.

29 January 2012
| RALPH KRALL by e-mail

The propaganda over the search for gas in the Cape is not to be believed, writes  RALPH KRALL by e-mail.

The authorities have lobbied every Tom, Dick and Harry to give their opinion about how good it will be for South Africa to allow firms like Shell to poison the delicate fauna and flora of the Karoo.

 What is it that people don’t understand?

 Just Google “fracking” and that will be enough to put the fear of God into every South African.
 
You don’t have to be a scientist like Prof Maarten De Wit to understand that this will be the point of no return.
 
I always wonder how much people are being paid to even suggest that fracking for gas is good for the people of the country when it means that the earth will be  poisoned by toxins that will seep into the water table for hundreds of kilometres in all directions.
 
 Companies like Shell say say fracking for gas is  done better these days and more carefully. 

What a load of balony. Poison is poison no matter how carefully they try disguise it  or how much money they dangle in front of ignorant government officials.

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They might employ vastly different mediums and explore equally divergent themes, but artists ­Viviane Sassen and Nandipha Mntambo share a common preoccupation with perception.

With typical curatorial savvy, the Stevenson gallery is showing their new work in concurrent exhibitions, thereby provoking a dynamic conversation about representation and abstraction, narrative and evocation. Sassen’s new exhibition brings together photographs from two recent series, Parasomnia and Flamboya, taken in West and East Africa as well as in Europe.

These works may employ a documentary approach, but Sassen’s emotive visual language engages the formalist concerns of painting, sculpture and photography. Mntambo’s new exhibition, The Unspoken, shares Sassen’s interest in abstraction, but she uses visceral media such as cowhide and oil paint to construct visual abstractions that function in an almost documentary sense.

Stevenson, 160 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock. Tel: 021 462 1500. Until February 25. Website: ­stevenson.info.

? The arid Karoo haunted the British colonial imagination. Poet Thomas Hardy described its “dusty loam” lit by “strange stars amid the gloam”, whereas Rudyard Kipling’s Bridge-guard in the Karoo notes its “ramparts of slaughter and peril/ Blazing, amazing, aglow”.

British conceptual and land artist Richard Long engages but ultimately upsets these exotic, outsider perceptions in Karoo Highveld.

Comprising works made during the artist’s two visits to South Africa, it highlights his conception of land art as rooted in the act of walking. Shunning object-based practice, he produces ­fragmented photographic pieces and text and sculptural installations that document the traces his presence leaves in a space.

Iziko South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Cape Town. Until January 31. Tel: 021 467 4660. Website: iziko.org.za.

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Weather

WARNINGS: A high veldfire danger rating is expected over the West Coast District, Cape Metropole, Cape Winelands and southern Namaqua District. Extremely uncomfortable, humid conditions will be experienced over the West Coast District and Cape Winelands. Extremely hot conditions are expected over the West Coast District until Sunday.
A heat wave with persistently high temperatures is expected in the West Coast District and Cape Winelands until Sunday.

27 January 2012
| Sapa

WATCHES:
Extremely uncomfortable, humid conditions will be experienced over The Cape Winelands, West Coast District and Karoo areas on Sunday.

GAUTENG

Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.
Expected UVB Index: Dangerous.
 
MPUMALANGA

Hot in places in the lowveld, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers on the highveld and escarpment.
 
LIMPOPO

Hot in places in the lowveld and western bushveld, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers in the southwest.
 
NORTHWEST

Partly cloudy and hot with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers.
 
FREE STATE

Partly cloudy and hot with isolated showers and thundershowers in the east.
 
NORTHERN CAPE

Fine and hot, but very hot in Gordonia. It will be cloudy along the coast at first, otherwise partly cloudy and warm.

The wind along the coast will be moderate southerly.
 
WESTERN CAPE

Fine and warm to hot, but extremely hot in the west. It will be partly cloudy along the south coast at first.

The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong south-easterly.
Expected UVB Index: Very Dangerous.
 
EASTERN CAPE

Partly cloudy and warm.

The wind along the coast will be light to moderate easterly to north-easterly.
 
KWAZULU-NATAL

Morning fog over the interior, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated afternoon and evening showers and thundershowers in the west.
The wind along the coast will be moderate southerly to south-easterly.
Expected UVB index: High.
 
NAMIBIA
Partly cloudy with isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers in the northeast, otherwise fine and warm to hot, but very hot in the south.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly to outh-westerly.
 
BOTSWANA

Partly cloudy and warm, but hot to very hot in the southwest.
 
LESOTHO

Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.
 
SWAZILAND

Morning fog patches, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers in the west.

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Every Friday morning, SAfm’s AMLive’s radio anchor Xolani Gwala speaks to Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly. Reported here is this Friday’s At the Coalface transcript:

Gwala: South Africa is set to benefit from its strong position in vanadium, which is being developed to store electricity. Tell us about that.

Creamer: South Africa at one stage was the biggest miners of vanadium. We do that out at Highveld Steel and Vanadium. The good news now coming out of China is that China wants to develop vanadium flow batteries. It wants to do that to store electricity.

Now, we notoriously waste electricity, we don’t do much storing of electricity that is why at night we have been trying to have the Drakensberg Water Scheme so that when no one is using electricity, we use it to pump the water up the mountain and then when the demand comes, we let it go down the mountain and generate the electricity. So, batteries have been looked at for a long time, but those hydro-schemes are few and far between and they are expensive.

At the moment, I think our storage in the world is about 1 000 MW or something like that. China is looking and this is a phenomenal number. Initially China gave the impression that they would look to store renewable energy, in other words, when the wind didn’t blow, they’d have energy, because they would have stored it while the wind was blowing.

When the sun was shining, they would have stored it so that they can have it when its not shining. People were working on a storage type of business that would have been related to renewal, but the Chinese have shaken their heads with this new test facility they just put in in December.

They are testing three types of storage facilities and saying that they are looking at storing 10% of all the electricity that China generates. The total picture which people are now saying if this happens in the next seven years as the Chinese are planning it gives birth to a trillion dollar plus industry.

People are having to move fast now to try and see how they can add to this. We know that the Americas are also looking at a lot of storage of electricity. Even last year this time Barrack Obama, when he was introduced to this vanadium flow battery, said that it is one of the coolest things his every looked at.

So, everybody is starting to consider the storage of energy and South Africa is very well placed. We have already got the platinum as we have been discussing here that can work on fuel-cells. This is also a type of fuel-cell, vanadium also a type of catalyst.

Perhaps this park that the government wants to establish, they are looking at some sort of Silicon Valley of platinum. Perhaps they could include other metals and minerals like vanadium, because after all Silicon Valley doesn’t really apply to silicon, it’s all high-tech stuff.

Gwala: Staying with matters surrounding energy, the US government is now offering South Africa’s free insights into the money-making shale-gas business.

Creamer: This is the second part of the dialogue with the US. It began in Washington last year, when the energy bodies of South Africa and US had a dialogue and now its continued this month in South Africa. The Americans are saying are saying that they have gone through the whole know-how process of shale-gas, they are a developed economy and they know the sort of environmental safeguards that are needed, the health standard etc.

We have got shale gas in the Karoo and they understand that the environmentalists are upset and they are stopping the process at the moment. The US Department of Energy, they have got a whole lot of know-how and recommendations how to overcome these environmental issues and they are prepared to share those with us.

This is something that South Africa should take up, because a developed world country like America has gone from zero to hero in shale gas in 12 years. At the turn of the century there was hardly any shale gas, because there wasn’t the technology to do it.

With the technological breakthrough, the fracking, of course, America has now 30% of its natural gas coming from shale gas. We can see a tremendous potential. We are sitting in the Karoo here they are talking about one of the biggest deposits of shale gas possibly 485-trillion cubic feet.

That has to be firmed up. Now we have got this helping hand saying let us give you a start on this, because we have gone through the process already and we know how valuable this. It is a miracle story, could make a lot of money for South Africa, and, of course, we also have to satisfy the environmental imperatives and hopefully with the help of the Department of Energy of the United States we can do so painlessly.

Gwala: Now, for a bit of a sad story really, after less then two years, South Africa’s one and only orbiting satellite has been declared dead and the space mission is now being wound up.

Creamer: It was a short-lived SumbandilaSat. It was smacked by a burst of solar radiation in mid-year last year. Of course, they have been trying to make contact with it, but fruitlessly. Now they have decided that they must just give up on that space mission.

So that space mission is being wound up. People are starting to ask how much did it cost? Initially we were told that the satellite was very cheap, R11-million.

It came out of the private sector. We have had SunSat, which was a private sector satellite that went up in the 90s and that was developed by Stellenbosch University. When it came to this new SunSat business being set-up they also developed and designed this satellite very cheaply.

Initially the figure of R11-million was raised then R26-million, but they have now calculated everything and they are saying that it cost about R100-million. When they look to the next satellite, which they will launch in a few years time, the budget is going to be much higher. They are now talking about R400-million for the next one. So, we can see a big step up on this. They claim that they had 1 000 or so images from the previous one that where usable.

They gave the images of the floods in Namibia and the tsunami in Japan. There was this earth observation imaging that we benefitted from. It is not all a loss situation, but still the transparency around how much these things cost will need to be far greater in future.

Gwala: Thanks very much. Martin Creamer is publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly, he’ll be back with us at the same time next week.

Babbel, which deals with the aftermath of revolution, is on the Absa KKNK bill.

Arts writer

PUNTERS at this year’s Absa KKNK (Klein Karoo National Arts Festival) can expect quality productions in a variety of genres from March 31 to April 7 in Oudtshoorn in the Klein-Karoo. Although the Absa KKNK remains the première SA festival for theatre and music in Afrikaans, the 2012 event aims to offer as much theatre, music, dance and visual arts as possible to a wider audience.

“The Absa KKNK boasts major flagship productions and more than 40 debut productions. The brand new venue, Deurbraak, will also be a highlight, where festival-goers can expect fresh, upcoming voices.

“Nicola Hanekom’s award-winning trilogy of open air productions culminates with Babbel, which deals with the aftermath of a revolution, another must-see production this year,” says the programme manager, Theo Kemp.

Music lovers can make plans to get to the annual Kaktus op die Vlaktes open-air rock festival. Other musical highlights will include opera by Janelle Visagie, Stefan Louw, Liesl Stoltz and others, as well as a programme filled with artists performing on the Huisgenoot Musiekplaas platform.

Visual arts offerings will include Living Things: Handspring Puppets Now, which includes the magical War Horse by the Handspring Puppet Company, as well as a retrospective exhibition by the late painter, Kevin Atkinson.

Brett Pyper, CEO of the Absa KKNK, says that this year the festival promises to build on the success of the greater part of the past two decades.

“The festival in Oudtshoorn presents, as always, a range of arts, entertainment and festivities in abundance. In a year where there was more than enough drama on the world economic stage, the festival management has worked with various partners to ensure that the festival remains affordable.

“For example, the ticket prices of the popular Rivierbuurt stay the same as last year, with the age for free entry raised from 12 years to age to 15.

“As part of the free festival offering, the popular and colourful Klein Karoo Festival parade, as well as various other projects from the Festival of Opportunities, will guarantee further entertainment,” says Pyper.

l Tickets will be available at Computicket at 0861 915 8000, or Shoprite/Checkers from Friday. See programme information at www.absakknk.co.za where accommodation bookings can also be made.