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SA Restaurants say they'll defy smoking law Comply or face the penalties and be jailed if you continue to transgress the law - this was the strong message sent out by the department of health on Sunday at the start of the ban on smoking in public places. But a Cape Times snap survey has found that some business owners intend to ignore the law while others say they will have to close as they cannot survive without their smoking customers. It also found that none of the establishments surveyed had the demarcated smoking section with signs, a solid partition, a door and separate ventilation required by the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act 12 of 1999. Debbie Mopeli, acting director of health promotion at the department of health, had harsh words for business owners who transgressed the law. "Unfortunately, the fine is only R200 even for those businesses that haven't made structural changes and will allow people to smoke freely on their premises," she said. "But the minister of health will meet officials from the directorate of prosecutions to see how the fine can be increased. We will act harshly against those who transgress the law." Restaurant owner Peter Wells, of Obz Cafe in Observatory, came out in defiance of the law. He said he was aware of the dangers of smoking and sympathised with the health department, but would turn a blind eye to smokers, who made up most of his clientele, to avoid financial ruin. He could not afford to set up a proper smoking section. He estimated doing so would cost about R60 000 and said it would make the restaurant unattractive. "If I face jail, hopefully I can go with Tony Yengeni, otherwise I'd feel very much discriminated against," he said. "We are all going to be busted," he added, referring to owners of neighbouring businesses who were also reluctant to go smoke-free and were concerned that their smoking customers could be made to feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Jolene Williams, of Latino Pub in Sea Point, said she would allow people to smoke in the bar as the premises were small and would be "destroyed" if they were partitioned. "This whole thing is stupid," she said. "How do you expect someone not to have a cigarette after a drink? Pubs will be forced to close or ignore the law to survive. I'm going to let people smoke here. "The government has serious priorities it needs to look at rather than trying to enforce stupid laws. It must take the money it is going to waste and use it to accommodate street children." Some restaurants decided to go non-smoking to avoid the costs of partitioning their establishments and installing expensive ventilation. Gerhard Jacobs, manager of Blues Restaurant in Camps Bay, said: "Ventilation and the partition would cost us a lot and spoil the beauty of the restaurant. That's why we have decided to go non-smoking. We have told our customers we are a non-smoking place. We hope they will get used to this law and that it will not affect our business." Some restaurant patrons welcomed the new law. Maon Moss, a patron of non-smoking Melissa's Food Shop in Kloof Street, said he had lost "too many friends" to lung cancer caused by smoking. Moss said he did not believe the anti-smoking laws were tough enough and called for a ban on the sale of cigarettes. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Kytie Koekblik ColumnKytie Koekblik Washington D.C. - "You should get in touch with reality," het die besondere siniese blasé joernalis vir my gese hierdie week. Ha-ha. Ek dink dit is 'n kompliment. Natuurlik is dit 'n soort unreality/movie-like adventure om jouself skielik op 23 in die gange van die President van die magtigste land in die wereld se offisiele gastehuis te bevind. Toe ek seker was Secret Service kyk nie vir my nie, toe gaps ek 'n potlood of twee waarop staan: "Blair House. The President's Guest House." Die siniese joernalis het natuurlik ook potlode gegaps. "It's for my children," het hy gese. Ja, ja, whatever. Dis 'n sad gevoel as jy die dag jou excitement moet wegsteek, of as jy gewoond raak en dinge for granted vat. Natuurlik kan 'n mens seker nie ban Clinton/Bush of die Ambassadeur van Suid-Afrika verwag om te opgewonde te raak oor hulle miljoenste besoek aan die Wit Huis nie. Maar vir wat moet jy ander mense se excitement probeer ondermyn? Dinsdag was die groot dag. President Thabo Mbeki en President George W. Bush het mekaar in die Oval Office gaan ontmoet, en hulle het 'n kort statement gemaak voor ons klomp joernaliste. Ek was nog nooit eers 'n toeris in die Wit Huis nie. Ek het vir my Suid-Afrikaanse vriende gese, Don't worry, my time will come. Toe kom my tyd die week met die besoek van President Mbeki. Dit was so half onwerklik. Daar sit 'n groot groep blasé, siniese middeljariges gereed met vrae wat hulle vooraf bepaal het. Hulle stories is reeds geskryf in hulle koppe, al wat hulle nodig het is 'n sterk quote om by hulle agenda in te pas. Dit is eintlik soos 'n joke. Die twee presidente gesels vir 'n token half uurtjie as figure heads van hulle lande en daarna hoop hulle maar vir die beste; hulle hoop maar die joernaliste gaan hulle nie kruisig in die koerante nie. En met joernaliste weet 'n mens mos nooit nie. Nie een van die joernaliste het regtig omgegee wat nou eintlik presies in daardie ontmoeting gebeur het nie. Dit is mos die golden opportunity om jou vrae te vra wat jy nog altyd wou weet. Natuurlik die mees sensasionele vrae.. "You questioned the link between HIV and AIDS.." en "why aren't you at the UN AIDS conference President Mbeki" en al wat die joernaliste eintlik by Bush wil weet, is of hy enigiets weet van Suid-Afrika en die AIDS pandemie. En Bush se, "The AIDS pandemic in Africa is terrible". Ek kon nie help om te giggel nie. Ek staan in die kantoor waar bepalende dinge in ons wereld gebeur en alwat die magtigste president in die wereld te se het is dat daar 'n terrible probleem is in "Afrika" - daardie kontinent wat nie uit lande of presidente bestaan nie maar uit 'n klomp siek mense. Where you're from? South Africa Which Country? That IS A COUNTRY. Ek kon nie help om te dink, ons speel hierse moviese game voor die penne en kameras en dis net ligte aksie en press statements en die press gaan in elk geval skryf wat hulle op hulle eie agendas het en quotes gaan uit verband gehaal word soos ek gedoen het met "The AIDS pandemic in Africa is terrible." Die konteks waarbinne Bush dit gese het, liewe leser, is die volgende: Bush se ons moet Suid-Afrika en Afrika support en Bush se die United States is die leier in die stryd om AIDS omdat hulle die grootste finansiele bydrae maak. Dit was My Interpretasie. Ek het bitterlik jammer gevoel vir President Mbeki. Ons het almal kontroversiele opinies en ons is nie almal presidente nie. Maar dit is asof almal uit is op 'n mission om arme Mbeki te kill. Hy is ook besig om 'n lang uitgerekte political suicide te pleeg. Toe hy gevra word oor the link between HIV and AIDS toe se hy iets in die lyn van, I don't know, my personal opinion is not relevant, that's what the scientists say, and we need to responds to the body in a comprehensive way. Natuurlik is dit toe weereens headlines. Jammer daaroor. Want wat ons president eintlik probeer se is POVERTY is 'n MAAR MOEVIESE PROBLEEM. Geen probleem - nie die crime of die ekonomie of die Infectious diseases of die totale collapse van die labourforce binne die volgende paar jaar - gaan opgelos word as ons nie IETS WAARAGTIGS doen omtrent die lifestyle conditions van ons mense nie. Water en kos, jy kan nie van AIDS medisyne alleen leef nie.. Hoe't Mbeki gese, sommige diseases are caused by poverty and they also cause poverty, so iets van die aard. Een jaar in die media en ek begin te dink, dis scary games. En wat 'n game is politiek nie in hierdie stars en stripes country nie. Dis net woorde en foonoproepe. Talk, talk. Bush oppie TV, Mbeki in die headlines en as ons joernaliste dalk moet eerlik wees, wonder ons watse werk wie nou eintlik doen, including ons. Ek kry 'n joint statement of luister na 'n kort media statement en dan skryf ek vir die wereld wat ek dink gebeur het in die ontmoeting tussen Mbeki en Bush. In elk geval, ek het besluit ek wil niks meer weet van negatiewe berigte of anecdotes oor Lewe In Suid-Afrika nie, nie van Mbeki of die Ambassade of George W. Bush of my liewe ekspat vriende of my Baas of mede-joernaliste of my ryk oom of my middelklas familie in SA of my werklose vriende wat hulle dae deurbring voor die TV nie. Ek gaan net vir die karguard luister wat op Mandela straat werk in die mooiste Kaap. Die karguard dra 'n helder orangje jakkie, want die munisipaliteit het hom aangestel. Hy glimlag groot en vertel vir my dat hy in sy vroee twintigs is. Hy bly in die township en commute elke dag met 'n taxi. "There is no work," se die karguard. So hy maak seker dat wiele en wieldoppe nie afgesteel word nie en dat jou vensters heel is en dat vandale nie lelike woord op jou bonnet krap nie. Hy verdien 'n salaris so klein dat ek nie weet hoe op die liewe aarde hy oorleef nie. Ons het 'n WARE POLITIKUS gehad in Mandela, en hy't geweet wat dit beteken om vir die people te werk.Hy't empatie en passion gehad. Dit was NOOIT VIR HOM "N GAME NIE, DIT WAS NOOIT VIR HOM NET PRAATJIES NIE, DIT WAS EN IS SY LEWE. En ek gaan vasklou aan my red-suid-afrika-idealisme, ten spyte van al die doemprofete. Ons kan en moet 'n verskil maak. So ek wil g'n niks klagtes hoor nie, en ek wil niks weet van joernaliste wat aan my vertel "you should get in touch with reality" nie. Kytie K. Kytie Koekblik would like you to respond to her tongue-in-cheek running commentary on suburban life in America in this editorial. Fresh off the boat, she is ready to explore and experiment with American bath plugs and to drive on the other side of the road. You can contact her here. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] Land grabs will not be tolerated, says Didiza Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza has condemned a non-governmental organisation's support for Zimbabwe-style land invasions. "It is an irresponsible thing to say that you can expedite restitution through land invasions. All of us are concerned about the poor and would like to accelerate the process and we have done so," said Didiza on Wednesday. The minister criticised the National Land Committee (NLC) for coming out in public support of land invasions as an "inevitable and a justifiable" means of speeding up restitution for those dispossessed by apartheid. The NLC stance followed the arrest of 19 people on Saturday, since released, for occupying part of a farm on Friday in the Kuruman area, about 600km southwest of Pretoria. The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs has also expressed its dismay. "No one ever pretended that the process would be easy or free of delays. The statements disturb us as they encourage people to indulge in acts of lawlessness," the statement said. The government has stated that it will not tolerate any land invasions. The government's Land Claims Commission will host a meeting in Pretoria on Thursday to examine ways of expediting the slow and much criticised land restitution process. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] Coaches have Boks in disarray - Mains Dunedin - Laurie Mains, the former All Black coach speaking after the weekend's international rugby mathces, has said little could be read into the Springbok performance against Italy and he believes there is "some disarray and confusion" in the South African ranks. "The coach, the assistant coach and the three Australian assistant coaches have probably all got different ideas about how they're meant to be playing," Mains added. "Against Italy, the players clearly didn't know what they were meant to be doing." Mains said the Springboks would lift themselves for the test against the All Blacks in Cape Town on July 21. "But I certainly think New Zealand will be much happier with its preparation than South Africa," he said. Mains believes the All Blacks must be favoured to win the Tri-Nations rugby series and added that talk of Australia's demise was premature. The Otago and former All Black coach was reviewing the weekend's international rugby in which the Tri-Nations teams had mixed fortunes. The All Blacks beat France 37-12 in Wellington, the Wallabies lost 13-29 to the British Lions in Brisbane and South Africa vanquished Italy 60-14 in Port Elizabeth. Mains said on Monday he had been "pretty impressed" with what he had seen of the 2001 All Blacks. "They stepped up again against France and I think they're very much on track," he said. However, Mains agreed the All Blacks had much work to do on their scrum. "I don't think New Zealand has a problem at loosehead. Carl Hoeft is a very good international prop," he said. "It's more the total scrum technique. It takes eight players to contribute to the crucial scrums, not just the front row. It's a unit thing. "I feel the scrum as a whole doesn't quite have the attitude to scrummaging that it needs. "Scrummaging is a technique and attitude thing but we also have to acknowledge the French have always been strong at scrum time. "In the last two tests (France and Argentina) the All Blacks have opposed two of the best scrums in world rugby." Mains said he did not have too many concerns about the All Blacks lineout. "I don't think the lineout's that bad - you can have a bit of indecision and lose a couple of throws," he said. Mains believes Australia will be much tougher in the second test against the Lions in Melbourne on Saturday, and in the Tri-Nations. "They'll have learnt a lot from the first test loss and they'll certainly come back. It (the second test) will be a much tougher game," he said. "While Brian O'Driscoll and Rob Henderson are very good players, I don't think they'll find the same holes in the Wallaby backline this week. "I don't think anyone should under-estimate the Lions. They're a very good team - well-organised and they're playing very good rugby. "But, believe me, Australia will come again. You wouldn't write Australia off on the strength of one game although there were a few warning signs when New Zealand Maori played them. "They are struggling a little bit and they've got a bit of a front row problem." Mains doubted there would be wholesale changes to the Wallabies for the second test. "I don't think they've got that many options. I don't think they can make many changes," he said. "There's not quite the depth in Australian rugby that some other countries have." Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Nels' KitchenRagel Nel Ragel Nel Washington D.C. - A few years ago a friend gave me a t-shirt containing a slogan that accurately sums up the state of my life: "God placed us on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I'm so far behind, I will never die." I don't have the t-shirt anymore, but I still haven't caught up on the "things" (whatever it may be) that I need to accomplish. Legend has it that I was born two weeks early, thus robbing my parents of precious personal time (despite the presence of my three older sisters, but according to them, they were fiercely independent from the second they gasped their first breaths). In retrospect, I'm sure that is where things started going awry. I'm adamant that those fourteen days extra of resting cozily in the womb would have been crucial to my development. The result of my premature arrival was the delivery of a very lethargic child who, right off the bat, decided to compensate for lost snooze time by postponing all activities that would be remotely strenuous - which pretty much includes everything that involves being awake. It turned me into a masterful procrastinator. In fact, I even have the ability to procrastinate procrastination itself! If I get around to it, I will tell you how I manage to do that. See you next week! Just kidding… Seriously though, how do I get anything done, ever? Last minute. In the nick of time. And the completion of a task is always nothing short of miraculous. Had it not been for a weekly deadline, I think this column would have seen the light only every other month. (Then again, perhaps by now you feel that being spared from my weekly laments would not necessarily be such a bad thing, right? Please direct all your requests and complaints to the webmaster…) Procrastinators thrive on deadline. Which is our main excuse for putting things off. We love the adrenaline rush that comes with the territory. And just because it's a tad safer than bungee jumping or skydiving doesn't mean that we are lesser adrenaline junkies than those who literally put their lives on a line. We also love that panic-stricken look - which almost borders on raw madness - in the eyes of a desperate editor, mere minutes before a due deadline. And then there is the admiration of colleagues and the astonishment and relief of the same editor moments later when the completed copy is delivered. According to an unidentified source, procrastination has quite a lengthy history of which a large part remains unrecorded. Well, that's a shocker! Of COURSE it remained unrecorded! The fact that someone back in the 17th Century never got around to sitting down to wax lyrical about procrastination is enough proof that it existed. Anyway, it's been around long enough for Samuel Johnson to write an entire essay about it. Ironically enough, the inspiration came to him along with a messenger boy who had arrived to pick up a piece of writing due for publication. Rumour has it that our good Mr. Johnson, who had nothing to give the boy, shut himself in his study where he momentarily came up with his famous procrastination essay. Whenever I read it, I love to imagine ink flying from the inkwell as he frantically dipped his quill into it. I'd hate to think that he eased through it without even breaking a sweat. I have also read somewhere that perfectionists tend to procrastinate because they can't bear doing something half-heartedly, therefore they'd rather not do it at all. That is by far my favourite (and perfectly valid) excuse. But trust Americans to not merely let us procrastinators be. Here they have support groups (complete with a twelve-step program and bad coffee.) to help you break the off-putting habit of putting things off. I think it's rather ambitious of them, because I can't imagine anyone showing up on time for the meetings! In my ideal world, I would have a PRO-Castinator (as opposed to ANTI-) support group where the motto will be: "Why do those things today that you can put off until tomorrow?" Besides, as South Africans we also have the unique excuse of still operating on "African Time", that mysterious but fabulous time zone where tomorrow is always another day. When our only aspiration has to be to live up to the following wisdom from Don Marquis: "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." © RSA-Overseas [ Top ] Yengeni: 'deals on wheels' probe hots up The Star has revealed, for the first time, the full list of discounted cars that VIPs such as Tony Yengeni received from a company that will benefit from the multi-billion rand arms procurement programme. Documents in The Star's possession reveal that all 33 cars were bought from Daimler-Chrysler by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). The first car purchase, that of South African National Defence Force chief Siphiwe Nyanda, was made on October 8, 1998. Twenty-three days later, Yengeni's Mercedes ML 320 was purchased. Nyanda received a 17 percent discount on the retail price of a Mercedes-Benz E320 and a 15 percent discount on an S320. The documents show that Yengeni paid a little over half the retail price for the Mercedes-Benz 4x4 he got at a whopping 48 percent discount through EADS. The Star can also reveal that Michael Woerfel, managing director of EADS, and some of his staff have been grilled by the Scorpions about the purchases. The Sunday Times reported that Yengeni was grilled for four hours by the Scorpions about the purchase of his vehicles. The Star's documents show four purchases in which the name of Woerfel is listed as the client. It was not clear why Woerfel needed four Mercedes-Benz cars - an E320 AMG, an ML 320, a C180 and an S320. There were suspicions among those close to the arms deal that he might have made the purchases for other people. Government sources told The Star that while the discount on some of the cars did not seem outrageous, the fact that they were bought by EADS raised a number of questions. In two of these transactions made under Woerfel's name, EADS lost money because the cars were sold on to unknown people for less than EADS paid. Woerfel has refused to say why EADS had sold cars to people like Nyanda and Yengeni at massive discounts and, in the case of Yengeni and others, for far less than EADS itself had paid. Speaking to The Star from Europe, Woerfel confirmed that he and his staff had been grilled by the Scorpions. "I have been interviewed, we have submitted all documentation and files, I gave statements and so did employees of EADS. But we have an agreement with the investigators that we will not comment until the final results are published." EADS has admitted assisting VIPs in the sectors of civil aviation, defence, electronic and related industries, and diplomatic and political officials. Assistance rendered included speeding up delivery ahead of the waiting list and discounts on the retail price. However, the EADS statement, released on April 7 this year, that "notwithstanding these discounts, EADS has profited from the sales of the vehicles", is incorrect. In Yengeni's case alone, the company made a loss on the sale of the ML320. Purchasing the car for R307 458 and selling it to Yengeni for R182 563 meant a loss of R124 895, and Yengeni got a discount of R167 387 off the retail price of R349 950. On Sunday night, Yengeni declined to answer questions from The Star. "I don't talk about my car to the press. I only talk to investigators, not to the press, I cannot confirm or deny anything." Yengeni was chairperson of parliament's joint standing committee on defence when he got the car in October 1998. According to The Star's documents, EADS ordered cars from DaimlerChrysler only to sell them later to VIPs at less than the discounted price EADS had paid. In one instance, the list of cars reflects that VIP client "Kunene" was given an ML320 for R255 000. EADS had bought if for R303 000, thus client "Kunene" received a discount of R48 000. This is despite the fact that EADS already received a massive discount on the retail and dealer prices of the vehicles. While DaimlerChrysler South Africa has said the cars were ordered by EADS as staff cars and received the normal staff discount, it appears that in some instances, such as Nyanda's E320 AMG, that EADS paid less than the staff price. EADS is an amalgamation of several defence and aeronautics companies, including DaimlerChrysler's wholly owned subsidiary DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. The company has a stake in the arms deal through its stake in Reutech, which won a contract for radar systems. DaimlerChrysler SA spokesperson Lulama Chakela said: "The price differential (between the normal staff discount and the discount EADS and VIPs paid) means nothing - it is no indication of complicity (on the part of DCSA). "The purchasing would be done by EADS, and the fact that names appear there is because this information (was recorded) at data capture level. "There's no way that (the head of DCSA) would know that the car was being sold to Yengeni. (The names are there) because when a sale is concluded, the guys who handled the sale between EADS and DCSA would need to know where the final delivery is, and that is at sales level. "They do not have to report that higher up, as long as they know the sale has been made and where it (the car) is going. In each instance, EADS would pay us. "There would be no reason for us to dig to find out what EADS was doing." Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] |
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