More than 20 firefighters on Thursday responded to a fire at the popular Dolphin Beach Hotel in Blouberg.

Cape Town fire services received an emergency call shortly after 9am on Thursday about a fire in the Blou Fish Restaurant in the hotel.

Emergency personnel evacuated the premises and are attending to the blaze.

Cape Town Fire Service’s Winston Davids said the entire restaurant area has been affected by the smoke and flames.

original article

This photograph of a stunning sunset, taken from Big Bay Lifesaving Club, Blouberg, was captured by our Cape Town. Live it. Love it. group member Diane Stokell aka di-izzy, as she enjoyed sundowners at the club.

Diane says: “It had been a perfect afternoon for windsurfers. Their sails tend to look like butterfly wings silhouetted on the water at this time of day.

“The shot was taken at 20h00, just as the sun appears to be melting into the horizon.”

the above from Cape Town Blog

“From the aerial assessment conducted it has been noted that the oil slick is disintegrating and therefore poses no environmental threat,” Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, spokesman for the Disaster Risk Management Centre said.

“Yesterday [Friday] the oil slick reflected a spectrum of colours, and today it appears to be a sheen reflection.

“The disaster response teams remains on standby and on high-alert.”

The oil slick is positioned four nautical miles north-north-west from the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station.

It is moving at five knots per hour in a south-westerly direction away from the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station.

The dimension is 400 metres in length and 10 metres in width, he said.

“Koeberg Nuclear Power Station has been advised to keep the booms lowered in the event the tide changes which could have a counter current affect where the oil slick can enter the in-take basin of the plant.”

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Concerns about Big Bay Beach first arose last year when a foul-smelling layer of green sludge coating the surface of the beach and a continual dampness of the beach sand were reported. These observations were made in the area directly opposite the Big Bay Surf Lifesaving Clubhouse and in front of the Big Bay development. The influx of such reports to City offices intensified following Big Bay’s award of Blue Flag status in October 2009. The City discussed the matter with the managing agency for Blue Flag in South Africa: the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA). Following a routine inspection by WESSA, the Blue Flag status was temporarily suspended, and WESSA committed to providing direction and assistance. This suspension was valid pending the City’s own investigations and the implementation of a plan of action.

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(photo: Green Beach: Environmentalist Louis Raubenheimer points to the green algae formed on Big Bay beach because of fresh water flows from stormwater pipes. photo credit)

This means a commuter catching a bus on the Cape Flats would have to pay up to R19 to get to the the city centre, or nearly R18 from Somerset West or Blouberg.

Golden Arrow initially wanted a 10,4 percent increase, which the provincial transport department refused to approve.

‘They’re bullying us with these prices, it’s not fair’
Golden Arrow spokesman Vuyisile Mdoda said: “Considering fairness to taxpayers and commuters, we decided to settle on 9 percent.”

But commuters, many cash-strapped after the holidays, said the hike was way too high.

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Zille and the DA also share their aims…

Cape Town pushes for increased use of public transport

The Democratic Alliance hopes to increase the number of commuters using public transport into Cape Town to 40 percent over the next four years, Transport MEC Robin Carlisle said on Thursday.

The target is part of a strategic plan unveiled by the DA to make transport in the province cheaper and safer, and more accessible to poor and far-flung communities.

Carlisle said increased use of private cars had caused untenable congestion on roads and cost the provincial economy millions of rands in potential income.

“We will influence parties to achieve a 13 percent modal shift from private to public transport by 2014 [meaning a 60:40 private: public split into the city of Cape Town CBD],” Carlisle told a media briefing.

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Table Mountain, as seen on postcards and advertising material is the typical view of the mountain from the Blouberg area.

Blouberg includes a couple of smaller seaside and inland towns of which Bloubergstrand, Milnerton and Melkbosstrand are the best known.

Bloubergstrand is a favorite holiday town with lots of accommodation options, restaurants, shops and long stretches of white beach for swimming and sun bathing during the summer months. Throughout the year the beach is a popular spot for walking and late in the afternoon, families, older couples and dog walkers frequent the beach area. Apart from walking, all kinds of other water sport are quite popular here due the strong winds in this area. The wind can sometimes make the beach truly uncomfortable but the surfers love it. Self-catering and beach house rentals are the favorite accommodation venues in Blouberg as families tend to prefer the area.

On the Rocks is one of the internationally acclaimed restaurants in the Blouberg area. It is basically on the rocks at Bloubergstrand and some of the favorite dishes are seafood platters and lamb shank. They cater for weddings and corporate functions and have special menus for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Ons Huisie (our small house) is the other favorite restaurant is the Blouberg area and the building dates back to 1800s. The restaurant owners did a good job of restoring the dwelling to create a true fisherman’s cottage atmosphere. The menu honors the West Coast style with a variety of fish dishes and spit and fish braais (barbeque). They also have a separate Christmas menu and are open seven days a week.

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Cricket legend Jonty Rhodes’s 15-year marriage with his wife Kate is on the rocks. He will be moving to Cape Town to be with his new girlfriend – report

Rhodes, who has been living in Durban, has two children with his wife – Daniella (9) and Ross (4).

Sport24 reports that he and the woman, whose identity he refused to reveal, have apparently moved into a house in Bloubergstrand together.

He said his new girlfriend is “part of the reason” for his move from Durban to Cape Town.

The other reason was that “my brother and I have business interests together,” he said. They supply road construction equipment and also do property development.

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The year before last they hatched two chicks of which one survived.
Last year dogs and people trampled over their nest and they lost their eggs.
They remained on the beach for a long time afterwards but they never attempted to breed again.  I do not think they got the opportunity.

I fear that it will be the same this year.
The strip where they can hatch their chick is becoming very narrow.

visit the full Oyster Catcher’s blog here

Residents in Milnerton and Sunset beach will have to live with the buzzing of remote-controlled aircraft for at least another five years, says the City of Cape Town’s legal services department.

Residents living in suburbs adjacent to the Rietvlei Nature Reserve, in which the Cape Radio Flyers Club is situated, have lodged numerous noise complaints with the city, resulting in a review of the club’s lease agreement which has been renewed on a five-yearly basis since 1964.

But legal opinion submitted to the Blaauwberg Subcouncil, which holds its monthly meeting tomorrow (19/08/2009), holds that the club’s lease is valid until 2014 and, without the club breaking the terms of the lease agreement – which makes no mention of noise levels – the city could not terminate the contract.

In her report to the subcouncil, City legal advisor Susan Mosdell states that the lease was granted to the Cape Radio Flyers Club -the oldest of its kind in the country – before the area from which they operate was declared a nature reserve.

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blah blah blah. Why don’t we just stop everything and remain dead in our little homes and not observe any form of enjoyment. Get involved in more things and stop complaining!

Blaauwberg Animal Trust was founded in 2002 to provide an urgently needed Animal Rescue Shelter in our area. (The nearest existing shelter, the AACL, is too far away in Epping). We are staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers.

To realise our goal, we need land here in the Table View area, visible and accessible, but not too close to residential areas to avoid the nuisance of our barking dogs. So far our appeal to the municipality has been unsuccessful. Any ideas? Can you help?

Harry found a +/- six-month old mixed breed pup on 7-08-2009 in  Sandown Road, West Beach.

He is a lively, friendly intelligent little thing. Very lovable, but he is the kind of dog that will appreciate a bit of a yard and a walk now and then.

He is looking for his owner or someone to love.

He has the makings of a good watchdog.

If you want to adopt him, please get in touch with Harry on 021-5542757 or 0832731671 or contact the Blaauwberg Animal Trust shop located at 51 South Road (corner Keats Road)

visit their web site at http://batshop21.blogspot.com

Vehicles leaving Sunset Beach will not be able to turn right into Otto du Plessis/R27 at the Ocean Way traffic intersection (near to the Engen garage) for two to three weeks, from Monday, 07 September.

The City of Cape Town did issue a traffic warning about this construction in last month, but due to bad weather and construction delays, this work will only commence on Monday morning.

Construction of Cape Town’s Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) system will be taking place in the middle of the Ocean Way intersection, allowing no crossing between the north and south bound carriages.

Residents leaving Sunset Beach, headed towards Cape Town are advised to use a detour along Bay Beach Avenue and exit to the R27, at that Bay Beach Avenue intersection with the R27. Traffic Officers will be stationed at that intersection to assist traffic flow.

Vehicles travelling from the north (Table View/Blouberg) wanting to enter Sunset Beach, should also make use of the Bay Beach Avenue intersection.

Vehicles entering Sunset Beach from the South (City) side will not be affected and vehicles travelling from Sunset Beach north towards Table View will also not be affected by this construction.

Issued by:
Communication Department
City of Cape Town
Media enquiries:
Kylie Hatton
Manager: Media
City of Cape Town
Cell: 082 874 4605

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Businessman and avid cyclist Colin van Schalkwyk, who was killed when a shipping container truck crashed into the group with which he was cycling, had been training to take part in his 10th Pick n Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour.

His widow, Zarina, said her husband, the father of their six-year-old daughter, Sara, had been training with three team-mates when the accident happened near Woodbridge Island on Otto du Plessis Drive on Saturday morning.

Van Schalkwyk said her husband, aged 43, and his teammates had left their homes at about 5am to start training, intending to head back to spend Valentine’s Day with their families.

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This peaceful circle at the end of Blaauwberg road…..

(off the record, I’ve always wondered why they never build a nice fancy fountain feature in the middle of this circle, it would have looked so much more spectacular than the existing  weird features.. comments?)

..Could end up looking like this…

Photo apparently taken from somewhere in China

Yep, according to this latest Cape Times report, families living on a farm close to Du Noon are holding up a R4billion road project that will solve all Blaauwberg traffic problems.

A R4-billion residential and commercial development which would create thousands of jobs, could be jeopardised because 27 families living on the site near Du Noon are reneging on an agreement to leave the land, the project’s developer says.

The land owner, Ronald Shell, said the families were tenants on Annandale Farm north of Bothasig and adjacent to the N7 highway, and had agreed to financial payouts to find other accommodation.

An agreement with the families signed in December stated that each household would receive either R55 000, or R25 000 and a Wendy House set up on a site of their choice.

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THE days are over when property owners on the Blaauwberg beachfront could put up a block of flats without going through a formal rezoning process that would have to include public participation.

With the lapse of Section 14 of the Land Use Planning Ordinance (LUPO) the scenario no longer exists where single residential erven could willy-nilly be consolidated for the purpose of building a hotel.

The problem is, several such consolidations and buildings have come into existence since the premier of the Western Cape allowed the so-called “Real Rights” to lapse in June 2007.

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Join Hansgrohe for a morning packed with exciting beach challenges and watch the top 24 selected athletes take on each other in the inaugural 2009 Hansgrohe Masters of Water Lifesaving Series.

Big Bay Bloubergstrand will host the first leg of this three part series in order to find the Hansgrohe Master of the Water, on the 13th of December.

view  the full article here

WITH proper maintenance, the substantially upgraded Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works in Milnerton will have more than enough capacity for the next five years.After 2013, however, with growth in the Blaauwberg area continuing at the current rate, the Potsdam facility will have to be extended again, says Kevin Samson, the City of Cape Town’s manager of wastewater treatment works.

Potsdam is in the final stages of upgrading from 32 megalitres per day to 47 megalitres per day. Now only months from completion, progress on this project is visible and impressive.

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A portion of Koeberg Road will be included in the City of Cape Town’s proposed bus-and-bicycle corridor between the CBD and Table View, according to a draft report released on Tuesday.The public is invited to comment on the proposal to upgrade the stretch of Koeberg Road between Boundary Road and Blaauwberg Road, which would have a two-way bus-only road between the two carriageways, as well as a three-metre-wide roadside track for cyclists and pedestrians.

The city had already announced similar plans for roads between Cape Town Station and Boundary Road, including Old Marine Drive, the Paarden Eiland Rail Spur and the R27, as well as the R27 between Boundary Road and Blaauwberg Road.

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Related: Cape Town set for rapid bus system

Two key tenders for the construction of the bus rapid transport route from the city centre towards the West Coast have already been decided and, by 2010, will provide an all-year-round, seven-day service.

By early next year the public will be invited to help choose the architectural design for a number of bus stations which will be dotted along three key routes.

Eddie Chinnappen, executive director for transport, said the decision was an important one because the bus stations would impact architecturally on the city, given that there would be more than 100 of them once the R10-billion network was complete in about four years.

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His remarks on Monday followed a meeting of the Blaauwberg sub-council when DA councillor Elizabeth Berry described the beach as “an embarrassment” to the city.

On Monday Krige called for a complete facelift for the beach.

He said it was strewn with litter and the toilet facilities were used by drug addicts, vagrants and prostitutes.

view the full article here

The National Sea Rescue Institute recovered the body of a man who drowned at Bloubergstrand in Cape Town, the SABC said on Saturday.

NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon told the SABC the man, believed to be aged 30, was swept out to sea on Saturday afternoon

He said attempts to resuscitate the man were made but it was too late.

Police-rescue helicopters and boats helped with the search.

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With this weekend’s Africa Aerospace Expo expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors, the City of Cape Town’s traffic service has warned of heavy traffic, particularly on the M5, N1 and Koeberg Road.

Principal traffic inspector Merle Lourens said motorists not attending the airshow at the South African Air Force’s Ysterplaat base on Saturday and Sunday should avoid Koeberg Road.

She also warned that the Black River Parkway (M5) from the Southern Suburbs would be “heavily congested”.

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Celebrated SA athlete overcame rough seas, spirited male competition and a record field to take victory in the gruelling 7.5km Cadiz Vista Nova Freedom Swim from Robben Island to Blouberg on Sunday.

Du Toit, 24, who swam a winning time of 1hr55min5sec, has now won the women’s division of this extreme event in seven successive attempts.

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Construction is under way on Aquarius, a 14-storey residential and commercial building that will form part of the vision of an architectural portal to the Table View/Blouberg beachfront.The building at the junction of Blaauwberg Road and the shoreline road, Otto du Plessis Drive, rises from a 2 000 square metre site next to Horizon Bay, the first of several new buildings planned for this commercial-zoned sector of the coast.

Chris Bam whose practice, Bam Architects, is responsible for the design of both buildings, said the notional gateway to the beachfront formed by several planned multi-storey buildings adhered to the metropolitan structure plan for the area.

Aquarius, which is about two-thirds the height of the 21-storey Swish Property Group development Horizon Bay, creates a visual transition between the largely low rise residential flatlands of Table View and the highest point of construction on the beachfront. Both buildings, in accordance with the commercial zoning, have ground floor and upper floor accommodation for retail outlets, restaurants and offices.

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A Big Bay, Bloubergstrand resident has come under fire in his home early on Friday when he confronted armed intruders who had managed to break through electric fencing to gain access to a security complex.

The burglars broke into the house in Sandown Estate in a smash-and-grab style raid at about 3am.A neighbour said the robbers did not seem concerned about noise when they broke through a patio door window and ransacked the house.

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Sadly enough, this comes at no surprise. The more inserts I make to this blog, the more it reminds me what a corrupt and down-the-drain force we have behind battling crime. I recently found this documentary on YouTube done by Ross Kemp from SkyOne who travels the world visiting prisons.

The sick factor is that this is suppose to be a home for criminals, criminals are supposed to be punished and tortured for the bad that they have done. Here we find criminals getting better treatment than our own governmental old-age homes and hospitals. Take note of how this prison is only built for 3000 criminals but has over 7000.

As far as I knew, the change in government was for the better of the people? Now we find kids walking the streets happily trading drugs and breaking into houses, as if it’s a norm.

” Welcome to the worlds most violet places, to meet one of the worlds most violent gangs” – Man… now THATS something to be ‘Proudly South African’ about!

Listed in order.. Part 1 till Part 5 – grab some popcorn, sit back and Enjoy.. sadly.

He allegedly robbed a woman of her cellphone, made her withdraw R1 000 from an ATM and forced oral sex on her in Table View on December 1.

Yep.. you read right. He now awaits bail.

view full article here

“The shark then began swimming away. Glen (Brown) said he continued to monitor the shark as it moved away until it was out of sight and lost beneath the sea surface,” said Lambinon.The honeymoon couple, Johan and Candice Fouche from Tableview in Cape Town who also happen to be professional photographers, took pictures of the shark to show the surfers how close the great white had been to them.

Lambinon appealed to bathers, surfers, paddlers and boaters to be cautious along the coast of Plettenberg Bay as there had been an increase in shark activity in the area. – Sapa

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Related: Chopper swoops to warn surfers of shark

Mother’s Day for some
A young organisation, not all the members of SAWISE will be on the receiving end of Mother’s Day, obviously. Some of them are new to motherhood.

Diane Wilcox, a UCT mathematician and prominent SAWISE member, will be celebrating her first Mother’s Day. Her son Aidan is seven months old. Diane was in the news a few months ago when she swam for nearly three hours from Robben Island to Blouberg in honour of her father Robert, sent to the island as a terrorist when Diane was still in nappies, and her mother, for keeping them all together.

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Last month the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) made a surprise bid to buy out CBS Property, the highly rated Cape-based property fund. The PIC, which basically represents the Government Employees Pension Fund, already holds 13% of CBS.If the deal is successful it will follow hard on the heels of a host of similar deals, most notably Spearhead (acquired by Redefine), Prima Property (now part of Apex-Hi), Good Cape (acquired by Calulo) and Paramount (now controlled by Growthpoint).

And don’t forget that unlisted landmark properties like Canal Walk (now owned by Hyprop) and the V&A Waterfront have also been snapped up by well heeled outsiders.

The last significant Cape property contender Atlas (which owns the Bayside Mall in Tableview and Somerset Mall) also looks set for corporate action with Acucap building a meaningful stake in the group. Atlas was trading under cautionary when CBN went to press.

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Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 10 May, 2007 : – - Big Bay at Bloubergstrand will be the venue for South Africa’s most prestigious junior surfing series when the third stop on the five-event, R220 000 Billabong Junior Series is staged there next week. While the spectacular backdrop of Table Mountain and the fun beach break waves remain constant, from Thursday to Sunday, 17-20 May, the vastly revamped beach infrastructure will host hundreds of the country’s top surfers aged 20 and under.

After two events in KZN, Capetonians head the ratings in the premier Pro Junior (U20) boys and girl’s divisions. Brandon Roberts (Sun Valley) and Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie) will be determined to extend or at least maintain their respective leads at the top of the standings and move closer to claiming the coveted invitations to the Billabong ASP World Junior Champs in Australia in January.

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AN internet technology student from Blouberg has caused a stir in academic circles by achieving his Master’s degree cum laude only a year after receiving his BTech degree cum laude, which followed the year after completing the National Diploma in IT cum laude.

This hat trick could be the first of its kind at the Cape Technikon. There is more. His thesis for the MTech degree was completed with?in seven months – also apparently never done before.

Most impressive, however, is the remarkable fact that Eugene Visser (29) had to overcome the enormous obstacle of being dyslexic, which made studying and doing his re?search just that much harder than for other students.

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Medium-term planning for improving infrastructure between the Cape Town International Airport and the central business district did not include a proposed over-rail link running on the N2 at present, Western Cape Transport MEC Marius Fransman said.

But the MEC said government was not saying that this was “a no-no”.

Fransman, speaking at the Cape Town Press Club, said the plan was to close the four-kilometre gap between an existing rail line – near the airport – which ran into town.

Discussions were taking place with Metrorail but he also planned to meet national Transport Minister Jeff Radebe on the matter shortly.

Fransman said the provincial government focus was on expanding the bus service and extending the dedicated public service lane on the N2 – which runs past the airport.

He said an over-rail – which is suggested be raised up above the N2 – however, was not off the drawing board. “We are calling for proposals (from the private sector),” he said.

It was part of the longer term planning to consider two other over-rail projects, including on the N1 – which runs through a densely populated part of Cape Town on the way to Belville – and a route to the west coast area of Cape Town at Blaauwberg.

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