SANDF ANNOUNCES MEMORIAL SERVICE OF LATE ARMY CHIEF MOKHOSI
The memorial service for late Chief of the South African Army, Lieutenant General Thabiso Mokhosi, will be held on 17 December, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has announced.
“Following the untimely passing of the newly-appointed Chief of the South African Army, Lieutenant General Thabiso Collin Mokhosi on Tuesday, 10 December 2019, the South African National Defence Force hereby announces the scheduled memorial service…on Tuesday, 17 December 2019 at the Thaba Tshwane City Hall with the service commencing at 08:30 for 09:00,” the SANDF said.
Lieutenant General Mokhosi will be laid to rest at the Heroes Acres, Zwide Cemetery on Saturday, 21 December after a funeral service that will be held at Nangoza Jebe Hall in New Brighton, Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape Province.
At the time of his passing, Mokhosi held the position of Chief of the South African Army with effect from 1 November 2019. Prior to his recent appointment as the Chief of the SA Army, he served as the General Officer Commanding at Joint Operations Headquarters.
The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Thabang Makwetla, the Secretary for Defence, Dr Sam Gulube and the Chief of the SANDF, General Solly Shoke have expressed their heartfelt condolences to Lieutenant General Mokhosi`s family, friends and relatives.
President of the Republic of South Africa and Commander-in-Chief of the South African National Defence Force His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa has offered his condolences to the family and friends of Lieutenant General Thabiso Mokhosi, Chief of the South African Army, who passed away today, 10 December 2019, in a Pretoria hospital.
The President has said the passing of Lieutenant General Mokhosi is a heart wrenching loss to the South African National Defence Force as it comes at a time when his dedicated and exemplary service was needed most. The President has also extended his condolences to the South African Army and the Defence family as a whole.
STELLENBOSCH CHRISTMAS MARKET NAMED AS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD
A Stellenbosch Market has been added to a list of the 50 best Christmas markets in the world, voted in by over 1.5 million people.
South Africa actually has a Christmas Market that competes with the best in the world! The Stellenbosch Slow Market hosts an annual festive market and it has landed fifth on a list of the 50 best Christmas markets around the world.
Big 7 Travel has released its official list of the top 50 finalists recently. With the festive season approaching, travellers across the world are finalising plans for winter breaks.
This year’s top Christmas markets were ranked on a number of factors, including but not limited to vendor variety, entertainment, local traditions, readers suggestions from 1.5 million social audience and previous awards.
“This fantastic local market celebrates artisan crafts and food all year round, but their annual Christmas fest is a must-visit. There are all sorts of goodies to browse, such as gingerbread houses, artisan home décor, 100% raw organic chocolate, biltong and German Christmas biscuits.
"As well as plenty of gift inspiration, you can chow down on all the trimmings, with Christmas cakes and puddings, toffee apples for the kids, Christmas trifle and mulled wine for the adults."
Not only was the Stellenbosch Slow Market added but the Franschoek Village Christmas Market was also chosen. It appears 39th of the list.
Source: www.goodthingsguy.co.za
MANDELA REMEMBERANCE WALK AND RUN
This year South Africa will be remembering the 6th year since Madiba passed away. It has since become a South African tradition that thousands of South Africans including athletes and families come together to commemorate this historic day with a half marathon and a fun family walk. The Mandela Remembrance Walk & Run will take to the streets of Pretoria on the 8th of December in a big way. Last year’s event saw 20,000 runners and walkers cross the start line in honour of Nelson Mandela, and with this year’s event once again offering a 21km, it’s going to be bigger than ever!
This year many of South Africa’s top runners, personalities and athletes – among them musician Kabelo Mabalane, Bafana stars Aaron Mokoena and Shaun Bartlett, television star Andile Gaelisiwe and top runners Gerda Steyn and Collen Mulaudzi – will join in the event to ensure that Madiba’s memory is kept alive.
Taking place at the Union Buildings, the event will honour Madiba and his commitment to South Africa.
Details of event:
Date: 8 December 2019
Time: 07h00 - 14h00
Venue: Union Buildings, Pretoria
145E MEDAILLE D’OR POUR CHAD LE CLOS
Le champion sud-africain Chad Le Clos a décroché une seconde médaille d’or lors de la Coupe du Monde de Natation de la FINA, à Doha, Qatar, le vendredi 8 novembre. Alors que tout le monde célébrait sa 144e médaille d’or obtenue la veille au 100 mètres papillon, Chad Le Clos remportait le 200 mètres papillon, portant à 145 le nombre des médailles d’or inscrites à son palmarès.
Chad Le Clos a conquis le monde de la natation en devenant champion Olympique, champion du Monde et champion du Commonwealth et en obtenant le titre de Nageur de l’Année de la FINA. Il fut aussi le Sud-Africain le plus décoré des Jeux Olympiques de Rio en 2016. Il s’entraîne désormais pour les Jeux de Tokyo en 2020.
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
25 November 2019
Dear Fellow South African,
Last week, I met with the leadership of the Black Business Council where, among other things, we discussed issues of transformation. I took the opportunity to inform them about government’s commitment to transformation and non-racialism. Of all the achievements since the advent of democracy in1994, perhaps our most important is our sustained and unwavering commitment to transformation and non-racialism.
When we embarked upon this journey, we aimed, in the words of our Constitution, ‘to heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights’. We knew that we had to build a truly united nation, not merely to replace domination by one with domination by another.
Non-racialism is not the product of a negotiated compromise, but is a fundamental pillar of the new society we are building. It is only through advancing non-racialism that we will be able to reconstruct the fabric of our society and narrow social and economic divisions and build a new democratic society from the ashes of the old that had destroyed the potential of our country. It is a principle we will not abandon.
We know too well what happened when race was used to exclude the majority of South Africans, and we must actively guard against the return of attitudes that presume the colour of one’s skin should confer either privilege or disadvantage.
This is not to say that race can and should be ignored. Our Constitution affirms that we are a nation of diverse cultures, faiths and languages – and protects the right to self-expression and self-identification.
At the same time we also recognise the ‘unfinished business’ of nation-building: which is overcoming the deep divisions that apartheid created in our society. That is why redress continues to be a crucial pillar of government policy, whether it is in land reform, employment equity or in economic transformation. Although we have come a long way since 1994, the occasional expressions of racial and ethnic chauvinism shows that many in our society have yet to overcome what Joe Slovo once termed the ‘psychological barrier’ towards true non-racialism.
Whether it is reflected in the internal dynamics of political parties, in the workplace, or outwardly expressed on the letter pages of newspapers, one finds a reluctance on the part of some to accept that Africans, whites, Indians and coloureds all have an equal right to a seat at the table of our society. As a country, we should not allow ourselves to be led down this dark path. We have witnessed elsewhere in the world the consequences of narrow forms of nationalism based on race or ethnicity. It is not the society we want for ourselves or our children.
Since 1994, we have actively sought to drive transformation through affirmative action and our broad-based black economic empowerment policies, through preferential procurement and initiatives like the Black Industrialists programme.
Within government itself, transformation of the public service to reflect this country’s demography has been critical. As we strive to rebuild the public service – including at our state-owned entities – it is our mission to appoint people who are capable, qualified, ethical and who embody the values of public service, whether they are black or white, men or women.
The significant progress that has been made in the public sector has not been matched by the private sector. The report released by the Commission for Employment Equity in August points, at best, to poor adherence to employment equity legislation, and, at worst, outright disregard for the law.
The upper echelons of management in private companies are still dominated by white men, although they make up just 5% of the economically active population. Africans only make up 15% of top management, despite accounting for 79% of the economically active population. Business needs to urgently do some serious introspection. Our transformative agenda cannot succeed unless we work together to broaden the participation of all South Africans in our economy, and it begins in the workplace.
Poor labour relations is in part fuelled by perceptions – backed up by the Employment Equity report – that black employees are relegated to the factory floor while white employees occupy management roles. This inequity naturally has ugly consequences when it comes to the discrepancy in incomes, where black workers will always earn a fraction of what white workers and managers earn.
Advancing black and female employees must be a cornerstone of any company’s operations. This must move beyond merely ensuring compliance, and towards succession planning, mentoring, training and skills transfer, and towards giving employees a meaningful stake in the companies they work for. Black economic empowerment and affirmative action are important tools to further non-racial transformation.
As we intensify the work we must do to address the injustices of the past – especially in correcting the skewed race and gender composition of our public companies – we must ensure that all South Africans, regardless of colour, have an opportunity to contribute to building a better, fairer and more prosperous nation.
I call upon South Africans to embrace each other as equals, and look beyond their preconceptions of someone merely by looking at their skin colour. Let us move beyond the psychological barrier in the interests of rebuilding this country together.
In the words of Martin Luther King Jnr: “We must learn to live together as brothers (and sisters) or perish together as fools.”
All the best,