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Scene&HeardPage 8THE INDEPENDENT

on Saturday13 April 2013

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KZN braai makersmiss out on fameSIHLE MTHEMBU

DURBAN’S laid-backsurfer image meansour braai mastershave lost out on the

chance to gain worldwide tele-vision fame.

None of the teams fromKwaZulu-Natal has made itthrough to the final round ofseason 2 of the popular cookingreality show – mainly becausethey were too lazy to turn upfor the audition.

More than 4 000 entries werereceived for this year’s Ulti-

mate Braai Master competitionand the top 15 teams that willbe competing in the series havealready been announced.

The Western Cape boastsmost of the finalists and thereare a few from Gauteng.

But there were no teams

from KZN that made the cut. Speaking about the TV

show, spokeswoman GeorgieCladow said that despite thehundreds of entries and morethan 50 KZN teams being short-listed, only 20 of them showedup for the two-day cook-off.

“We are as disappointed thatno KZN teams made it into thisyear’s Top 15 competing teams– especially with three teamsfrom Durban having competedsuccessfully in season one,”said Cladow. “After shortlistingand inviting 50 KZN entrants tocompete at the 2013 Durban au-dition event, only 20 teamsturned up on the day. Therewere two Durban teams thatcame extremely close to mak-ing it to the show, but after theauditions in Johannesburg,they were knocked out of thecompetition.”

Audiences in Asia, Europeand throughout Africa will betreated to the upcoming seasonof the Ultimate Braai Master

series. This comes after theDStv’s Travel Channel pickedup rights to broadcast theshow’s second season world-wide. Among the prizes thisyear are R500 000 cash and a Re-nault Koleos 4x4.

The judges for this season’scompetition will includeaward-winning chefs Marthi-nus Ferreira and Bertus Bas-son as well as Justin Bonello,who will return as the show’shost.

Bonello said there would bemore challenges in this seasonand that the adventure elementof the show would be more sig-nificant. “What we discoveredin season one was that a lot ofpeople don’t really explore

their country, so we want togive participants that opportu-nity as we will travel morearound southern Africa andexperiment more with thecooking and its limits,” saidBonello.

He also highlighted thatthere was an effort this year tohave a mixture of people whodid not come from a profes-sional culinary background.

“We have been over-whelmed by the fact that thestandard is so high and a lot ofthe trained chefs did not makeit through because of that, andwe are looking forward to put-ting contestants through theirpaces and finding some gems ofrecipes,” said Bonello.

Season two of Ultimate

Braai Master starts on Septem-ber 18 on SABC 3 and TravelChannel.

Too laid-back to audition for TV show

GRILL KINGS: Marthinus Ferreira, Ultimate Braai Master host Justin Bonello and Bertus Basson will be putting contestantsthrough their paces for the second season of the outdoor reality cooking show, which starts in September.

Charities waiting for Beckham fundsAT THE end of January,David Beckham and his newclub, Paris Saint-German,made a public promise. All hiswages – rumoured to bearound €200 000 (someR2.33 million) a week – wouldgo to a children’s charity inthe Paris area.

Ten weeks later, the chari-ties, and the children, of Parisare still waiting.

“No decision has yet beenmade. We are considering var-ious options,” Yann Guerin,the spokesman for ParisSaint-Germain (PSG), said.

Should we expect a deci-sion soon? Guerin could notsay. A spokesman for DavidBeckham says a decision islikely in the next two or threeweeks.

An investigation by TheIndependent this week haspicked up no trace of any at-tempt by PSG to invite, orstudy, candidatures by chil-dren’s charities in the Parisarea. Groups which have writ-ten to the club have receivedonly a brief, pro-forma letterin response. No follow-up ap-proaches have been made.

PSG is reported to havebeen “inundated” with re-quests from associationsworking with children, notjust from the French capitalbut from all over the world.Sources close to the club, andto Beckham, say that PSG isalready acquainted with thework of excellent children’scharities in the Paris area. Ithas no need to ask for specificprojects or information.

Six weeks remain to theend of the French footballseason and David Beckham’scontract with PSG expires atthe end of June. The clubwould like him to sign againfor the 2013-14 season, butBeckham has yet to commithimself.

At his introductory pressconference at the Parc des

Princes on January 31, Beck-ham said: “I thought what agreat idea it would be, that thesalary would go to a children’scharity in Paris… It’s some-thing I’m not sure has beendone before, and it’s some-thing I’m very passionateabout, children and the char-ity side of things, and so arethe club.”

More than two monthslater, very little seems to havehappened.

“We wrote to them straightaway because we have alreadyworked for several years withthe PSG foundation,” said Ma-lika Tabti, secretary-generalof Secours Populaire, one ofthe largest charities inFrance. “We run several proj-ects for children in the Parisareas, including one whichcreates sporting opportuni-ties and holidays for deprivedyoungsters. We could help farmore children than we do, butwe are always short of funds.”

Tabti received a short let-

ter from PSG saying that theywould be back in touch.

“This was obviously some-thing decided in a great hurryand it will take time to putinto effect,” Tabti said. “Afterthey made so much of theidea publicly, I am sure it willhappen eventually.”

Other children’s groupsThe Independent spoke towere somewhat less charita-ble. Martine Brousse is dele-gate general of La Voix d’En-fant, a nationwide charityumbrella-association, with 12projects in the Paris area.

“I can’t say I’m disap-pointed because it is what Iexpected,” she said. “I as-sumed that this was a public-ity announcement, ratherthan anything concrete. Ithought all along that if PSGdid anything, they would setup their own charity so thatthey could control everythingthemselves.”

Sandrine Moutel is spokes-woman for a small charitycalled Pas d’enfance sans va-

cances – no childhood withoutholidays. The group gives upto 300 children from the moredeprived, racially mixed sub-urbs of Paris seaside tripsand Christmas presents. Itsannual budget of €50 000 ayear could be increased four-fold with a single week ofBeckham’s wages.

“Tell PSG and David Beck-ham we know lots of childrenwho would be delighted tohear from them,” Moutel said.

A spokesman for Beckhamsaid they have had “hundredsof requests from Paris and farbeyond. It takes time to gothrough all the possibilitiesand make sure that a seven-figure sum is spent in the bestpossible way.

“I think we will be in a po-sition to identify projects inParis and maybe more widelyin France by the end of thismonth.” – The Independent

PROMISES: DavidBeckham of Paris Saint-Germain promised to helpchildren’s charities in thearea, but to date, nomoney has been given.

PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES

Durban beaches are the pits, say trash trekkersDUNCAN GUY

WHATEVER qualifies twoCapetonians to pitch up in Dur-ban and claim that litter on itsbeaches is worse than at anyother South African coastalcity?

Maybe it’s because MichaelBaretta and Camilla Howardhave just walked about 2 000kmalong the coast, from theNamibian border and expect tofinish their expedition, dubbedCAN DO! Trekking for Trash,at the Mozambique border injust more than a fortnight’stime.

“Cape Town was the clean-est,” they say proudly. “PortElizabeth was impressive withpeople’s willingness to cleanup although we did collect900kg of rubbish in one kilome-tre on King’s Beach,” saysBaretta.

They do, however, creditDurban people for joining themin a clean-up. “There are a lotmore people in KwaZulu-Na-tal,” adds Howard. “We justwant to challenge them to dosomething about it.”

If there’s one up-side to Dur-ban’s latest status, it’s the jobopportunity they discovered itgives Sibusiso Ntoli whom theymet on Treasure Beach, siftingthrough rubbish for plastic bot-tles.

“He works for a boss whopays him a set rate to collect aspecific type of waste. Then hesells it on,” says Howard.

While the two give litter-awareness talks at schools andfactories along the way, they

have also learnt offbeat things,such as municipalities squab-bling over which is responsiblefor keeping a check on riversthat form their boundaries.

“A naked man told us this,”says Howard, referring to astretch of coast beyond Umh-langa known to be popular withnudists who, she notes, alsotake care of it.

Baretta is 31 and Howard 30.Their adventure marks signifi-cant milestones in their lives.

For Baretta, it’s the water-

shed from a corporate market-ing career in Joburg to onewhere he hopes to promotenon-profit organisations andtheir causes in conjunctionwith corporates.

For Howard, it’s yet anotherexperience after realising whatan adventurer she really is.

“I was a city girl. I nevergrew up camping,” she recalls.

“However, the bug had bit-ten firmly by the beginning oflast year when we conqueredMount Kilimanjaro barefoot to

raise money for charity.“Through that experience I

realised I was a lot tougherthan I thought. I also realisedyou can get exposure and makea tangible difference.

“I had always thought it wassomething wishy-washy peopledo,” says the co-owner of acatering business that will takeher to a contract in the south ofFrance after the adventure.

Baretta says a talk at his of-fice in Joburg by extreme ath-lete David Grier changed his

life direction.“In Johannesburg you

measure self-worth by theamount of money you earn. Igot tired of all that. I knew Ihad to make a change and it(the talk) came at the righttime.”

That was in May, 2011.Baretta then worked towardsfinding sponsors, organisingthe expedition properly and fig-uring out how to “check out oflife for seven months”.

“It’s a long time to take asabbatical.”

He had kept a journal of hisbeach walk.

“In the front of it I list theplaces I would like to revisit. Inthe back I write down life’s les-sons I have learned along theway.

“I would like to help makethe world a better place.”

Could these modern-day“strandlopers” make a com-plete change and become beachbums?

No way, they both say.“I always live life in bal-

ance,” says Baretta.“I couldn’t live life without

direction, so I could never be abum. I travel for a purpose, def-initely.”

Camilla adds: “No, I get tooitchy.”

That said, she acknowledgesthat when she walks, her mindfocuses and she finds peace.

“What’s happening now iswhat matters. Nothing in thepast. Nothing in the future.”

One can follow their adven-ture on www.facebook.com/TrekkingForTrash

ECO FRIENDS: Beachwalker and anti-litter activist Michael Baretta meets garbagerecycler Sibusiso Ntoli on Treasure Beach. PICTURE: SUPPLIED

Sky’s the limit for high-climbing AdeleSHE has enjoyed a memorable12 months and now Adeleheads a list of rich musiciansfor the second year running.

The accolade comes afterthe 24-year-old won an Oscarfor her theme song for theJames Bond hit Skyfall andhad her first baby, a son Angelo,last October.

Her fortune is £30 million(R411.5m), up from £20m the

previous year, revealed theSunday Times Young MusicRich List 2013.

One Direction stormed intothe table for performers aged 30and under for the first time.The boy band’s success world-wide has made personal for-tunes of £5m each for its fivemembers, whose top age is 21.

Their four rivals in JLS,whose oldest member is 28, are

estimated to be worth £6meach. Only two individual malesingers made it into the richlist: James Morrison, 28, andnew entrant Ed Sheeran, 22.Songstress Emeli Sande, 26, isranked for the first time.

Women dominate the roll-call of wealthy young musi-cians, with Cheryl Cole secondwhile Leona Lewis, KatieMelua, Jessie J and Charlotte

Church also feature. The overall rich list also de-

tails the fortunes of older mu-sicians, with Paul McCartney,70, leading the way with £680m.

Second was Andrew Lloyd-Webber, whose wealth is up to£620m, while a combined worthof £520m put rock band U2 inthird.

Elton John is fourth at£240m.– Daily Mail

Kate a fan ofKardashiansBRITAIN’S DuchessCatherine is obsessedwith Keeping Up With the

Kardashians.The 31-year-old royal

has begun tuning into theshow after she learnt KimKardashian, who, like theduchess, is expecting herfirst child in July, is a bigfan of hers.

A source said: “SinceKim started mentioningKate a lot, she has startedwatching (the show)religiously. She thinksthe family are hilarious.People forget Kate is justa normal girl whomarried into royalty andenjoys the same trashyTV shows most peopledo.” – Bang Showbiz

ADELE

Read The Independent on Saturday online at www.iol.co.za/ios