Extreme weather causes damage

Maryke Jooste
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Extreme weather causes damage

Press Release: Issued George Municipality, 29 June 2020

The George Municipality had its hands full this weekend as extreme wind caused damage throughout the municipal area.

Fire department on the scene at a tree that had fallen in Forest Road, Heatherlands.

George Municipal Manager Trevor Botha said the municipality responded to hundreds of incidents including damage to electricity lines and informal housing and fallen trees in addition to the municipality’s usual attendance at veld fires and traffic accidents, and water and sanitation complaints. “The George Municipality Disaster Management Winter Season Readiness Plan for 2020 was activated with all the necessary roleplayers assisting with the various types of incidents experienced,” said Mr Botha.

George experienced several electricity outages, many as a result of broken electricity lines or trees on lines, in Wilderness Heights, Hoekwil, Wilderness East, Saasveld, Hansmoeskraal, Geelhoutboom, parts of Thembalethu, Witfontein, Heatherlands, Heather Park, Denneoord, George South and Rosemore. Repairs to the overhead electricity line near 7th Avenue in Wilderness necessitated the closure of the N2 for an hour on Sunday.

A trip on a high voltage line at a major substation resulted in a 17-minute outage over a large part of the city on Saturday morning including George Airport ,Tamsui industrial, George South, Rosedale, Bos en Dal, Groeneweide, Herolds Bay, Gwaing and parts of Pacaltsdorp and Thembalethu.

A total of 167 electricity-related complaints were received over the weekend.

Fallen tree in Arbor Road, Camphersdrift.
    

Fire and Rescue services attended to 18 trees that had fallen in neighbourhoods in George and Wilderness, a formal house fire and an informal house fire and four grass fires.

The Department Human Settlements provided plastic sheeting to 37 houses in informal settlements in Thembalethu and Conville to assist with weather protection as well as sheeting for a house where the roof had blown off in Thembalethu. The department will also be assisting a family who had lost their house to a fire in Thembalethu at the weekend and who had temporarily moved in with family.

Soup kitchens and donation centre continues to sustain communities

Maryke Jooste
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Soup kitchens and donation centre continues to sustain communities
Press Release: Issued George Municipality, 29 June 2020The George Municipality continues to feed its communities during the Covid-19 crisis via 137 municipal soup kitchens across the municipal area, supported by the drive-through donation centre at the Civic Centre.
Emma Mehlo (in red) serves meals from her home in Lawaaikamp.
Rosina Gordon (right with pink ‘doek’ – person in yellow unknown) hosts one of the largest soup kitchens in town from her house in Pacaltsdorp. She currently serves 200 people twice a day and served 600 people twice a day at the height of Lockdown Level 5.
Rose Smith serves meals from her home in Conville.
      George Municipal Manager Trevor Botha said thousands of people remained dependent on the municipal feeding scheme, despite many having been able to return to work or school feeding programmes as Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were eased over the past few weeks. “At the height of Level 5 lockdown in April and May the municipality served 22 000 people at soup kitchens twice a day and we continue to serve nearly 9000 meals twice a day in vulnerable communities across the municipal area.“The ongoing success of the municipality feeding scheme is proof of the extraordinary people who work and live here – from dedicated staff who go on working long hours, seven days a week since Covid-19 measures started taking effect in March, to the ordinary people who selflessly host soup kitchens in their homes and hundreds of volunteers who serve there every day, no matter the circumstances. We could also not have done it without donations of food and goods from individuals, business and NGOs that have been generously and diligently delivered to the municipality’s drive-through centre at the Civic,” said Mr Botha.All 137 soup kitchens will continue operating for the foreseeable future and the donation centre remains open to receive and distribute donations of food, cleaning products and goods.Individuals, business and NGOs can continue to donate at the drive through centre on weekdays 10am-4.30pm and Saturdays 10am-2pm (closed Sundays and public holidays). People using online grocery delivery services wanting to donate, can make up an online basket and enter the delivery address as Drive-through centre Civic Centre, 71 York Street, George.What to donate: Cooking oil, salt, mielie meal, wheat flour, yeast, Wheatbix, milk, sugar, coffee, tea, OROS, samp, beans, soya mince, macaroni, soup powder, spices, stock and fresh or frozen or canned vegetables, meat and fish. For cleaning: dishwashing liquid, sponges, dishcloths, bleach, all-purpose cleaner, handwash laundry soap, hand soap and toothpaste.Donated items are sanitised and then stored in and distributed from the Banquet Hall, which is being managed to conform to strict health and hygiene protocol.Soup kitchen enquiries: 044 802 2000 Donation Centre enquiries: Johann Crouse 073 301 9595 Distributed by George Municipality Communication Department

Our Careers – Where do we start?

Maryke Jooste
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Our Careers – Where do we start?
Starting our careers isn’t always easy. And it already starts so early in life. As a Career Coach at Mastering It, I get to hear many stories of many different people’s career journeys and I can conclude that there is for sure no right or wrong way of doing it. Our careers are life-long, long term projects that we endeavor in. We choose how we want to write our stories but we never do it alone. We partner with mentors, friends and family or we reach out to professional services to invest in our careers. Perhaps if you just came out of school, your Career, which actually already started, is a whole new world to get to know. By that time it would’ve been necessary to make some big decisions that determine your Career path already – choosing your subjects in Grade 9, choosing a direction for after school (further studies, work or perhaps a gap year) and the part-time jobs that you did beforehand. Or perhaps you are already in a career but are at a point where you want to make a change or are wondering, “What is next?”. And in today’s society that is not an uncommon place to be at. Going into a new career direction is not the worse of things that you could choose to do. But do it in wisdom and with guidance from people that know you.The main thing we also need to realize is that everything about you – whether you studied in a certain direction before, stayed at a hostel during university years or started to work part-time early in life, all of these things adds to who you are for your career today. You learn skills, personality traits form and you build a network of people that can bring new opportunities. So then, by looking at your Career, there is for sure some starting points that you can consider:
  1. Know yourself
If someone was to ask you now, what are your skills, values, personality traits or strengths, will you be able to answer them? A simple exercise will be to take some time and reflect on this. How have people described you in the past? What are the skills you needed to use in the past for different things? What gets you excited and what are you passionate about? You don’t always need to have big things to identify here – the little things you regard as almost of no importance, are actually the things worth mentioning.Try an online personality test, for free, and get to know yourself a bit better – https://www.123test.com/career-test/ 2. Know your opportunitiesThere are so many different job opportunities out there, actually so many industries we also are quite unaware about. It will definitely help to get to know the type of industries out there a bit better – https://joboutlook.gov.au/Industry. And thereafter take a few moments and write down what industries attract you and the different jobs in that field that you can see yourself in. Consider what you know about yourself and evaluate what you will enjoy about the different jobs and what you will not. Knowing what you wouldn’t want to do and what you wouldn’t enjoy in a job, is also a step in the right direction – you can eliminate things.Other ways of grasping opportunities are perhaps to chat with mentors, volunteering somewhere to get exposure in a certain field or do a few weeks of job shadowing. This will help you to also get a better idea of what a certain job is all about as well as what opportunities are out there.  3. Keep on investing in your skill setThis is quite an important principle – practicing lifelong learning. This doesn’t come naturally for all of us. But online platforms make it so much easier these days for us to enroll in a course and then complete it at your own pace, within your own schedule. Have a check-in on the hobbies that you are interested in, or do a course on a skill you want to improve on. There is such a variety to consider out there and we can find a lot of great courses on platforms such as https://www.udemy.com/. From Mastering It’s side, should you be struggling with making these Career decisions, we can advice to start making use of professional services. You can consider options such as Career Coaching or Aptitude testing, as this will bring clarity on directions you can consider.Contact us at Mastering It for more information:Location: George, Garden Route Website: www.masteringit.co.za (Online services available) Contact details: Maryke Jooste – maryke@masteringit.co.za We are passionate about Careers and helping people to reach their full potential!

Simon Sinek speaking about life in today’s workplace and leadership

Herman Pienaar
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Simon Sinek speaking about life in today’s workplace and leadership
 
Thanks to Tom Bilyeu for providing amazing interviews! Check him out at https://www.youtube.com/TomBilyeu ===================================================== This video is made in collaboration with Tom Bilyeu. Check out his channel: https://www.youtube.com/tombilyeu

GS Airmed Pro

LoveGeorge Contributor
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GS Airmed Pro

Business Name

GS Airmed Pro

Business Description

Supplying wholesale Aerosol Sanitizers and Foggers for the Disinfecting of all office spaces. Can be used by B&B’s, Hotels , Conference facilities,Hospitals, inside buses ,taxis e.t.c.Fantastic Sanitizer with little to no labor complicationsProudly south African product at fantastic prices.

Owner name

Etienne Cronje

Your website / Facebook page

https://www.gsairmed.co.za

Street Address

23 Protea Rd

Street Address Line 2

City

Heather Park

Postal Code

6529

We deliver

YES

Telephone number

+27826513305

Email

etiennecronje.qwagga@gmail.com

Products

120 ml Aerosol Fogger and Spray 400 ml Aerosol Fogger and spray Stainless steel foot Dispenser
 

Protecting our community from Covid-19 and more

Maryke Jooste
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Protecting our community from Covid-19 and more
The George Municipality Protection Services Directorate continues to protect its community from not only Covid-19 related matters, but also performs ongoing essential services including fire and rescue services, traffic management and law enforcement.George Municipal Manager Trevor Botha said the municipality was today (25 June 2020) on Day 86 of running its own Covid-19 Joint Operations Centre (JOC), which was established on 1 April 2020 to manage municipal-related Covid-19 matters – in addition to the Garden Route District Corona Virus Command Centre, which the municipality continues to attend remotely. “While the pandemic has brought ongoing challenges over and above its usual operations, the George Municipality remains committed to deliver services while taking all necessary measures to protect staff and citizens.”Operated by George Municipality Disaster Management, the George Municipal JOC comprises representatives of all relevant departments of the municipality and meets twice a week to address ongoing issues that arise as a direct and indirect result of the Covid-19 pandemic.The Protection Services Directorate, and the Fire and Rescue and Disaster Management departments in particular, are doubly impacted as they remain at the centre of day-to-day Covid-19 operations as well as their usual responsibilities such as fire protection and prevention.
George Fire Chief Neels Barnard tests the new hazardous materials suit that have been obtained to serve the department during Covid-19 and beyond. As first responders to vehicle accidents and industrial fires, firefighters are regularly exposed to chemical fumes and materials for which this suit is designed. It has the added benefit of protecting firefighters in the unknown possible contaminate situations that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic may be associated with.
“As in the case of all our emergency staff we are conscious of our firefighters’ health and the need for their ongoing ability to give a specialised service linked to protecting lives and property of all citizens. They risk their lives doubly in the face of fire and rescue situations as well as Covid-19 tasks such as the disinfection of high-risk areas such as the GO GEORGE hub, taxi ranks as well as George municipal buildings and vehicles linked to staff that have tested positive or have been exposed to positive Covid-19 cases.“To protect our emergency staff as much as possible, the fire station and Law Enforcement offices remain closed to the general public. Firefighters have been provided with additional Personal Protective Equipment, a decontamination station has been set up for firefighters returning from possible exposure sites, and a specialised hazardous materials protective suit has been obtained to serve the department beyond Covid-19,” said Mr Botha.

     
In addition to firefighting duties, firefighters do Covid-19 frontline work including disinfecting high risk areas such as the GO GEORGE hub, taxi ranks and municipal buildings linked to staff that have tested positive or have been exposed to positive Covid-19 cases.

The directorate is also responsible, in association with the municipality’s Community Development section, for the drive-through donation centre which was established in April to facilitate food and groceries donations for soup kitchens and feeding schemes.

The Law Enforcement, Fleet Management, Public Transport and Anti-Land Invasion departments continue to support Covid-19 operations in addition to their usual tasks such as the implementation of municipal bylaws and other general responsibilities.Operations at the Traffic department continue to address vehicle and driving licensing backlogs within the restricted Covid-19 protocol environment.

A Little Bit Extra

Benjamin W Fourie
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A Little Bit Extra
What puts you apart from the competition? We are all in a race everyday. You are either in it, or cheering from the sideline.There are two rugby players. They went to the same school, played in the same team and went through the same development. Now at club level the one player earns R15k a match and the other earns R5k per match. What is the difference between these two players? Same team, same game, same coaching so how? The answer is a simple one, only a little bit extra. The player earning R5k is there to play the match and do his part, nothing more. This player goes to practice because he is obligated to do so by contract. He does not believe that going for a daily 10km run will do anything for his rugby game. He arrives on time for practice and leaves on time. He has bad habits, enjoys a drink and staying out late on game nights. He is full of confidence, always first to complain and last to perform. On match day he hangs back and looks busy.The player earning R15k is there to win not only the match but every achievement that the match has to offer. This player organises extra practice and coaches in his free time. He organises the daily 10km runs and motivates everyone to give their best. He is warmed up and running the field before training and leaves only once there is now way of getting any extra training down. He has good habits and always leaves the boys early on a night out. He remains sceptical of his own abilities and is open to suggestions. Once he hits the field it’s time for business. His performance reflects preparation.The player that earns R15k per match earns it through a performance bonus, coaching assistance and being team captain. The player earning R5k per match has the same opportunities but chooses to do less. The R5k player will also complain about life being unfair and favoritism amongst other complaints and excuses.The secret is a little bit extra. The player earning R5k per match participates in most activities that the R15k player does. The same opportunities are available to both players but a little extra effort is stopping the R5k player from achieving what could be a better income and in turn better life.For the players out there that think there’s only room for one star player in the team consider the following. Our R15k player has better offers to sign with different clubs due to his performance and on field presence. He is also on the shortlist for national team development…If the R5k player only did a little bit extra who is to say what opportunities he might have gotten. Only a little bit extra can go a long way.

Isuzu knap sy mu-X op

Johann van Tonder
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Isuzu knap sy mu-X op

Isuzu Motors Suid-Afrika (IMSA) het pas ‘n opgeknapte weergawe van sy mu-X aangekondig.

Die nuwe weergawe , wat weer in ‘n 4×2- en 4×4-weergawe beskikbaar is en met dieselfde turbo-diesel enjin van drie liter aangedryf word, spog nie net met nuwe stilerings-kenmerke nie, maar ook ‘n luukser binneruim.

Aan die voorkant het die nuwe mu-X ‘n herontwerpte voorstamper met kleur-gekodeerde afwerking bo en ‘n glansswart onderste gedeelte, nie net vir die stamper nie maar ook vir die rame van die misligte. Ligdiode-dagryligte en bi-LED-kopligte met outomatiese hoogte-verstelling is standaard toerusting. Die nuwe sier-rooster bevat twee groot chroomstroke. Die agterstamper is net soos die voorste een afgewerk en die agterligte bevsat ‘n kombinasie van chroom- en glansswart afwerking. Die dakspore is silwer en swart en daar is nuwe 18-duim diamantsnit-allooiwiele.

Dit is egter nie net die buitekant wat veranderinge ondergaan het nie. Die deur-handvatsels, paneelbord en die afwerking rondom die ratkieser is klavierswart. Die klimaat beheer het afsonderlike luguitlate en verstellings vir voorste en agterste insittendes , en al sewe sitplekke is met leer oorgetrek. Die bestuurdersitplek het sewe verstellings.

Die mu-X se inligting-en-vermaakstelsel bevat ‘n raakskerm van agt duim, asook Bluetooth-, Apple Car Play- en Android Auto-verbinding. Daar is egter ook ‘n negeduim-raakskerm met satelliet-navigasie opsioneel beskikbaar. Die verskillende funksies van die stelsel word deur knoppies op die stuurwiel beheer. Daar is USB-kragpunte voor en agter, asook bykomende HDMI- en iPad-kragpunte. Bykomende standaard kenmerke sluit sleutellose toegang met ‘n aansit-knoppie, asook ‘n trukamera.

Die belangrike nuwe veiligheids-kenmerk is ‘n nuwe nood-rem stelsel wat as Brake Override System bekendstaan. Dit word aan die bestaande ABS-stelsel gekoppel en beperk die inset van die versneller wanneer die rem terselfdetyd getrap word; sodoende word die voertuig se remafstand in ‘n noodsituasie verkort. Ander veiligheids-kenmerke wat steeds standaard toerusting is, is noodremhulp en elektroniese remkrag-verspreiding, elektroniese vastrap- en stabiliteits-beheer, wegtrek- en afdraandehulp, asook dubbele voorste-, kant- en vollengte-lugsakke.

Die nuwe mu-X het egter presies dieselfde enjin en ratkas as voorheen. Die turbo-diesel enjin van drie liter lewer 130 kW teen 3 600 opm en wringkrag van 380 Nm teen tussen 1 800 en 2 800 opm. Die 4×2 en 4×4-modelle het elkeen ‘n outomatiese ratkas met ses gange en ‘n handrat-funksie as standaard toerusting, terwyl die 4×4 ‘n laestrekfunksie byvoeg. Die mu-X se sleep-kapasiteit is drie ton, wat pas by ‘n voertuig wat vir ‘n avontuurlustige leefstyl bedoel is.

Daar is verskeie bykomstighede om van te kies, vir voornemende kopers wat hul voertuie wil verpersoonlik, onder meer ‘n meganiese ewenaarslot, parkeer sensors, ‘n skerm vir die enjinkap, ‘n bykomende bêreruimte onder die bagasiebak en ‘n voorste drukvin.

IMSA is daartoe verbind om vir hul klante gemoedsrus te gee, en daarom word die mu-X gerugsteun deur ‘n waarborg en padbystand van vyf jaar of 120 000 km, ‘n waarborg teen korrosie van vyf jaar ongeag die voertuig se kilometer lesing en ‘n diensplan van vyf jaar of 90 000 km. Voornemende kopers het ook die keuse om die diensplan te verleng, of ‘n volle onderhoudsplan te kies, alles teen ekstra koste.

Die pryse van die nuwe mu-X-reeks lyk soos volg:

Isuzu mu-X 3,0 6 AT 4×2: R 630 400

Isuzu mu-X 3,0 6 AT 4×4: R 698 200

Artikel: Gerrie Smit (Ultimate Drive uitgawe 64)

The New Normal

Benjamin W Fourie
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The New Normal
If a year ago you had told me what 2020 has in store for us I would have told you to stop watching apocalyptic movies. Yet here we are, masks and all. This is going to be the new normal for quite some time. I remember the odd person wearing a mask. What started off as a self help precaution for the concerned have now evolved into a governed requirement. I am not going to make any further mention of this “sensitive” subject, just know that it’s a given. This article will deal more with how the mask affects our interaction and communication. Most of our social interaction depends on seeing the human face. Unfortunately the covered part plays a major role in communication. In short the eyes deal with trust and feelings of openness, while the mouth area deals with ‘happy’ and ‘unhappy’ reactions. It’s already awkward trying to keep your distance from people and now you can’t even smile to hide your embarrassment. Not being able to see the face as a whole leads to a feeling of greater distance between people. Depending on your mood at any given time, you are likely to make the wrong assumption about another person’s intentions. This in turn adds more stress to the current situation. A few examples: We need to stand in rows before entering a shop. Things get pinned to us for regulating instore numbers. The door guards and people around us seem to be rude. Even with social distancing in place we still get into situations where a bunch of strangers huddle around us. Everyone seems to be a Covid 19 expert. The lockdown damaged our financial status. Crime seems to be on the increase. Indeed this seems to be the new normal. I still get a sense of disbelief only to remind myself, “hey buddy, you are living in it.”So what do I make of the ‘new normal’ imposed on us? Do I like it? “No.” Is it necessary? “Misguided, but yes it is.” I would like to believe that we are a strong community regardless of personal interest and beliefs. We always come together for the greater good. Please be as patient as you possibly can. We are all inconvenienced by something that is out of our control. I am not just saying this for the mere fact of stating the obvious. I, myself, am unlucky to be equipped with a short fuse and sharp witted mind… I know we are mostly in the game for ourselves but remember to play well with others.   

Suzuki GSX 250 SF

Johann van Tonder
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Suzuki GSX 250 SF

Suzuki has just released the brand new Gixxer 250 SF here in South Africa. This is not just a cosmetic update of the previous model, but a brand new motorcycle altogether. The previous model was known as the GSX 250 R and it was based on the twin-cylinder Inazuma 250. Even though it looked every bit like the iconic GSXR 1000, burdening it with the GSX badge and slapping an R at the end was a bit cheeky from Suzuki. It was a very tame and unintimidating bike that ran out of puff at the 140 km/h mark. Fortunately, for beginner riders the bike was perfect and the stunning looks were a definite plus.

As far as styling goes, the new bike looks like Suzuki has moved the whole fairing forward over the front wheel. With the larger headlight, the bike also looks more aggressive. According to Suzuki they have stiffened up the suspension and issued the bike with slightly wider tyres and a larger front disk. ABS is still standard on the Gixxer. The bike comes with an unsightly hugger over the rear wheel, but I am sure Suzuki will remove it for you at no extra cost. I am also not too fond of the chrome exhaust tips. I would have opted for a brushed aluminium look, but now I am just nit-picking.

In terms of performance, Suzuki has ditched the twin-cylinder, water-cooled engine in favour of an oil-cooled, single-cylinder engine. There is very little difference between the engines in terms of power output, but the new engine certainly feels more responsive, especially in the midrange. Even in top gear, at the speed limit, twisting the throttle actually translates into some accelerated forward motion. Because of the better response, riding in traffic is more reassuring. You still have to go with the flow of traffic, but it has adequate power now to get you out of a tight spot.

The top speed is up by about 10 km/h but the downside of running the single cylinder at these speeds is that it does get quite buzzy. I almost felt sorry for the bike. But, it is a Suzuki. It will probably outlast me.

Fortunately the new Gixxer has lost none of it charm when the roads get twisty. There is something about riding a small capacity bike fast. The bike is light and can induce a smile when you point it at a corner. It is simply not fast enough for you to get yourself into serious trouble and the slightly wider tyres make the corners even more enjoyable.

Where the previous model was a jazzed up commuter, this one tends to lean more to the sporty side while remaining a commuter. It would make the ideal beginners bike and if you have to start somewhere, at least you will have a good looking bike. Currently the price for the Gixxer is R 49 900, but with the deteriorating exchange rate, this price might change sooner than later. So best you get yourself down to your Suzuki dealer and secure yours.

Article & Photos: Brian Cheyne. This article originally appeared in Issue 64 of Ultimate Drive.

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