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www.themonth.co.zaJune 2010 1

the FRanSchhoeK VaLLeY

[email protected] 2010 If It’s NOt IN here, It’s NOt out there!

The Fourth Franschhoek Literary Festival, held on the weekend of the 14th to 16th May, brought together writers, editors, publish-ers, readers and assorted book fans for over 40 talks in a Franschhoek-based celebration of books and writers. The focus was on pro-moting South African writing and reading, was run largely by volunteers and well-sup-ported by the Franschhoek community. The proceeds of ticket sales and donations went towards the FLF Library Fund, which puts exciting new books into schools and crèches to encourage reading with the long-term goal of achieving an easily accessible com-munity library in the Valley.

This year, in addition to the host of South af-rican authors including aher arap Bol, antjie Krog, John van de Ruit, Jacob Dlamini, Deon meyer, ndumiso ngcobo and wessel eber-sohn, were, from Japan, the bestselling French author muriel Barbery, and from turkey the

South african writer adam Schwartzman, whose novel eddie Signwriter was recently published in the uSa.

But of particular relevance in this year of our world cup was, from Spain, John carlin, the author of Playing the enemy (the book about the 1995 Rugby world cup that clint east-wood turned into the movie invictus), and from the uK, tV personality tom watt, ar-senal Fc fanatic and author of The Beautiful Game, a book of soccer heroes. as was quoted in the programme “the biggest show on earth is about to roll into town. So what do we, as South africans, need to know about football?” chaired by chris Thurman, John and tom gave us some nifty advice on how we should enjoy the world cup.

They first talked about writing, with tom mak-ing the point that writing about football objec-tively is impossible because once you lose the ‘them and us’ mentality, you lose the point of football. “They want us to write from a pas-sionate angle but retain an objective stance. to write objectively you need to watch 22 players wheras i only want to watch 11.” in Spain, says John, it’s a bit like bull fighting – it’s not about killing the bull it’s about how you kill the bull. “it’s an art form.”

Yet the game has unbelievable power to unite, to create a sense of togetherness, noted John,

who says we have no idea how utterly central we shall be to the planet for the month of the cup. “whatever their education, everybody has an opinion about the players, the teams and their chances. it’s a great leveller since everybody knows the players.” or nearly everybody. a British news-paper recently ran an appeal to find someone who had not heard of the world cup – and after months of searching they finally found a shepherd in chad who had no idea what they were talk-ing about.

it’s more like a religion, says tom. “Your club is a part of your daily life. twice a week, every year your daily conversation will be about your club and once every four years for a month in the summer, the world cup.” and despite sug-gestions to the contrary, tom did not think england a world cup disappointment despite their poor showing since 1966. “england are one of the best 8 or 10 teams in the world so they should get to

the quarter finals.” once you get to the sharp end of the tournament, he says, anything can happen; a player can get sent off, bad weather can intervene, a linesman may be bribed, etc., - the idea is to reach the quarter final, then it’s all chance. “The sense of disappointment comes from the gap between expectation and what is reasonable. what is the point of expecting the reasonable from your team? hope springs eter-nal. hope is everything.” if you went to games without hope you’d never be disappointed but then what’s the point?

The panellists recall; the game between england and argentina in the 1986 world cup in mexico as one remembered for two goals by the same player; maradonna. one, the best ever seen in a world cup, the other a hand ball – the famous ‘hand of God’ goal. “to understand football is to understand that the argentines got every bit as much pleasure from the cheating as they did the greatest goal of all time” said tom.”They revere maradonna because he got away with it.” to expect justice and fairness to apply to football when it doesn’t to life is absurd. “we expect a level of fairness from football that we don’t expect from our politicians, our colleagues or even our friends!” The pleasure taken in hurting england reflected the national situation over the Falklands, said John, so, should the united States in some twist of fate end up playing north Korea - watch out!

Let the Games Begin!staff reporter

Delaire Delivers We Experience Graff’s New Offer - PAGE 11

“A British newspaper recently ran an appeal to find someone who had not heard of the World Cup – and after months of searching they finally found a shepherd in Chad”

On Your ‘Gard Chamber of Commerce Round Table - PAGE 21

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“By-line” to be changed to “” Not happy with the address details and it doesn’t include the new shop – any ideas? We can’t make it too busy so perhaps it should just sat “Franschhoek” and “Camps Bay” with the website and telephone number somewhere along the bottom?

FRANSCHHOEK CAMPS BAY

WWW.EBONYDESIGN.CO.ZA 021 876 4477

f u r n i t u r e i n t e r i o r s f i n e a r t

Ready for the world: the Mother City’s impressive new stadium

www.themonth.co.za June 2010

the month

2

from the editorFRom the eDitoRJune 2010

In thIs Issue:Pg.3 World Cup Fever Pitch

Pg.4 Big 5ive success

Pg.6 On a Lighter Note...

Pg.7 Restaurant Review

Pg.9 5 mins with Ryan smith

Pg.10 Question of the Month

Pg.12 Organic Wine Instalment

Pg.18 under the Microscope

Pg.20 Jim Waite

Pg.21 Developer Round table

Pg.25 5 mins with Robert Klitgaard

Pg.26 the Return of the Lick

Pg.31 Publisher’s Parting shot

Editor: Brett Garner

083 260 0453 [email protected]: David Foster

084 827 3986 [email protected]: Lightworks Photography

021 876 4832 [email protected] Design & Layout

by Gravity Media

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTORSMichele Lupini [email protected]

Dave Rundle [email protected] Alan Saffery [email protected]

Guy de WIT [email protected]

Sitting in one of the final events of the Fran-schhoek Literary Festival, the Soccer world cup penny finally dropped for me. as a soc-cer non-fan, i was in two minds about attend-ing the session but an invite by marc Kent of Porcupine Ridge wines, was impossible to turn down. From his bully pulpit, noted sports writer, John carlin, commented that his learned ability to report impartially on the

merits of each competing team when watching a sports game meant that he tended to sacrifice his passion for either team in the name of fair reporting. Fellow delegate, tom watt, who is a well-known arsenal supporter and who bat-tles to hide the fact, suggested that rather than representing only part of the truth, partisan re-porters present all of the truth, albeit that it’s from the perspective of only one of the teams. But it’s truth nonetheless. argue that point

with such a partisan reporter and he’ll probably throw his shoe at you. Rather spend your time reading both his and the opposition’s truth and you’ll be far wiser than had you read the impar-tial report. and so to the penny: i had intended to ‘observe’ cameroon play the netherlands in a Group e match at the cape town Stadium, but thanks to John and tom, i will don my Bafana Bafana livery, wave my cameroon flag

and shout the africans to victory. if we lose, i aim to be devastated. if we win, you’ll know all about it! Roll on the beautiful game.

and so to this month’s issue and another pen-ny... we’ve been hard-pressed to fit everything in this month – and that’s a great sign. Living in a ‘tourist town’ it’s common to see business-es open later and close earlier, or all together, in the winter; so to enjoy the continued support

of our advertisers and to have access to so many interesting events and features makes putting The month together an ever-rewarding activ-ity (i can’t really call it a job as work isn’t al-lowed to be this much fun!). while advertising doesn’t always lead to an immediate increase in sales, a study conducted in the u.S. by ‘ad-ol-ogy Research’ points out that “more than 48% of u.S. adults believe that a lack of advertising by a retail store, bank or auto dealership dur-ing a recession indicates the business must be struggling. Likewise, a vast majority perceives businesses that continue to advertise as being competitive or committed to doing business.”

as recent stats on probable Swc attendance suggests, Sa is unlikely to make any money from hosting the tournament. in fact the op-posite is true. and yes, some experts did warn us about that right from the start. But the long-term advertising value, and penny, lies in the fact that we’re setting ourselves up as the world’s most talked about destination for the next month or two, and that suggests that we’re competitive and committed to doing business for years to come. to mr mokoena and our many advertisers: thank you. Your efforts will bolster consumer confidence in the future of your business and when the recession ends, you’ll be the flavour of the month.

to everyone else, enjoy the read.

Brett

Although Reuben’s Franschhoek Pirates put seven past the Mighty Brothers of La Petite Ferme in the final round of league matches held on the weekend of the 17th/18th April, it was the latter that went through to the semi-finals at their expense. In other notable wins the Seeff Silver Stars topped Pam Gold-ing’s ‘Try Again’ in only their third win and although Plum Develop-ment’s Junior Celtics beat Tricky T’s Revolution by 6 goals to 2, both made it through to the semis with the Celtics the form team. The win-ners will lift the inaugural trophy at the Final, scheduled for Saturday June 5th six days before the start of the World Cup.

organiser Doug Gurr thanks every-one involved for their support: “This has been a great initiative which has given over 200 adults the opportu-nity to play in a structured league throughout the summer months and brought interest from the whole community. in many multi-cultural teams this has been positive in bring-ing societies closer together. The guys from Groendal have organised and refereed all the games and passed on the results to me for the relatively easy task of putting the league tables and results together. it is intended to hold this tournament every summer and i hope that something has started that will continue for many years to come.”

The Franschhoek SoccerChampionship Enters Final Stage

DeAr reADer...

In the semi-finals, played on May 22nd, tricky t evolution defeated the La Vie De Lucsea Lions 3-0. Above; the penalty save that allowed the La Petite Ferme Mighty Brothers

to beat Plum Developments Junior Celtics 1-0 and progress to the final.

www.themonth.co.za 3

the month June 2010

June 2010

Never needing an excuse to drop into one of Fran-schhoek’s favourite watering holes, The Month chatted to

Mark Holgate from the Ele-

phant and Bar-rel Pub and asked him how he was

gearing up for the World Cup

this month.

Mark holgate: we simply want to be the best venue in

Franschhoek to watch the world cup. we

want our customers to feel like they are actually

at the game, so their expe-rience of this ‘once in a lifetime’ event is as real as possible.

Bafana Bafana Shirts will be on sale here and we’ll decorate the pub to give it a great atmosphere.

the Month: how are you going to do this? are you paying people to blow vuvuzelas in the customers’ ears the whole time?

Mh: not exactly! But with our cosmopolitan clientele you’re just more likely here to get dif-ferent fans - from the joker to the more serious

follower. and we’ve put in a big screen down-stairs above the fireplace which allows everyone to view without interference from people walk-ing past the whole time. it is a 2.4m by 1.9m screen with fantastic picture quality. we used it for the Stormers/Bulls game and the response was overwhelming. with it being winter this will be a real cosy affair with a roaring fire and lots of humour. we will also be screening all major sporting events such as the Boks tour overseas from 5th June 2010, right through to December.

tM: we heard you may be covering the whole courtyard for the world cup?

Mh: i’m currently negotiating with the land-lord for this! if we get the negotiation right it could be like a Franschhoek Fanpark for resi-dents and visitors.

tM: careful mark, better call it something else. You know what FiFa are like!

Mh: well whatever you call it, it could be a great vibe at that chilly time of year. i’ll put in a large screen and heaters to accommodate eve-ryone, keep them warm and offer lots of bever-ages to choose from.

and on the food side, a big thanks has to go to our chef emille Joubert who joined us about seven months ago. he’s had a tremendous im-pact on the consistency of the food, the quality and the presentation - we want to be known for more than just a pub with some pub food. as the owner i make sure he gets the best qual-ity products from suppliers and want nothing

less for my patrons.

tM: anything happening upstairs? i see you have a fireplace up there as well.

Mh: well if we can’t do the fan park we’ll put in the second big screen upstairs where people can smoke. Frankly, since making the whole downstairs area smoke free, we’ve seen a tre-mendous difference. customers now bring their families to the pub on a winter’s evening to enjoy a great meal in a healthier environ-ment at a very reasonable price.

tM: tell me about the menu. anything special for the world cup?

Mh: we’re changing the menu offerings specif-ically around the world cup to include offer-ings like “Rooney Burgers” and “messi Pizzas”. i feel we need to embrace the game in all aspects and enjoy this as much as we can. i’m also lay-ing on live music on big match nights and of-

fering all patrons half-price draught beers prior to the opening game on the 11th June between 14h00 and 15h00. we are excited about the world cup and want to encourage everyone to get behind Bafana Bafana and this should set the mood for the 16h00 kick-off.

tM: Sounds like it’s going to be a great venue.

Mh: well we’ve just been voted ‘highly com-mended’ in The telegraph’s 2010 Best of Brit-ish awards. The votes were cast online by pa-trons from all over the world who had visited the elephant and Barrel so for candice and i, who have been here for two years, the hard work is finally paying off.

tM: Thanks mark and good luck for the world cup.

see the ad below for more information.

World Cup Fever Pitchstaff reporter


the month June 2010

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One of the most profound statements I heard about the Franschhoek Literary Fes-tival recently wasn’t made by a ‘literary’ per-son; not one of the authors, organizers, at-tendees or business owners who had a vested interest in the festival’s success. It came from a visitor to the IS Art gallery at Le Quartier Français who shared her epiphany with her partner and was overheard by at least one nosey journo. The epiphany went something like this: “The Franschhoek Literary Festi-val weekend isn’t just about books is it? It’s about culture. This is a Franschhoek Culture Weekend; with books, music and art. It’s wonderful isn’t it?” And she’s right – on both accounts.

my sense that the festival has the making of something far bigger than matters just literary (and don’t get me wrong, i use the word ‘just’ with no ill-intent) was confirmed through a

chance meeting with a fabulous artist whose work is on show at ebony on the main street. marc Stanes of ebony had invited me to attend the classic music programme featuring chris-topher Dugan followed by a glass of whiskey at his shop. The music programme ran over the Saturday and Sunday of the Literary Festival and was a masterful display of musical talent and ambush marketing. Duigan, as always, was sublime and the whiskey rather good, but what really impressed me was the artist Jinny heath. as South african artists go, Jinny and the heath family are relatively unknown; which is probably due to the fact that their works have seldom been for sale. an exhibition of her work, together with that of her father, Jack, and mother, Jane, in the tatham art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg raised eyebrows and an awareness of the artistic and financial value of their work.

marc shares the following quote attributed to Jinny in the foreword to a summary of the heath story, available at ebony: “i [paint] in order to solve the problems of painting, and to find and demonstrate in them the calm centre of repose for which i aim. Then i wish to live with them to test their validity (and to cover the cracks in the walls).” her two works that are on show at ebony are the first to appear with a price-tag in a commercial venue.

Jinny is a fabulously entertaining artist who is happy to share of herself in a self-deprecating yet confident manner that makes her both ap-proachable and venerable. having met her, i feel that her art makes more sense to me. it’s more accessible, in the sense that i feel i un-derstand and appreciate it better because i now know her a little more intimately, and yet that knowledge has exposed the many things i don’t know about her which makes her art even more intriguing.

and this brings me back to the Literary Fes-tival and the concept of a culture Festival. Franschhoek is home to many creative people; winemakers, chefs, entrepreneurs, designers, artisans, authors and artists. why not go one step further and invite those of creative ilk who don’t have the pleasure of living here to join us as part of an ‘artist in Residence’ programme? in exchange for some accommodation and lo-cal fare in this most creative of spaces, we could ask for the artist’s time and a work of art we could display in a public space that ultimately would belong to the village and its people.

now that would be worth writing about!

Worth Writing Aboutstaff reporter

This year’s Grande Provence Big 5 Char-ity Luncheon, held at Grande Provence in May, raised more than R120 000 towards supporting the Western Cape branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of SA. Originally the brain-child of local photographer, Shani Marais, wife of Grande Provence’s winemak-er, Jaco, and supported in no small way by Alex van Heeren, the owner, the event has grown steadily in its impact each year.

KFm DJ, Ryan o’connor held together a programme that included performances by Franschhoek resident James Stewart, locals The nice time Kids, super sexy singer/songwriter Beshara as well as Daryl walters and the mar-imba Vibrations. But the show-stoppers on the day were the six top chefs who wowed a select audience with courses paired with Grande Pro-vence’s award-winning wines.

a mozzarella and organic beetroot salad with basil emulsion by Bertus Basson of over-ture set the scene perfectly and was followed by a carpaccio of salmon and tuna served with pickled radish slices, parmesan shavings and wild daga pesto by The twelve apostles’ michael mcintyre. The daga pesto caused quite a stir with the couple sitting opposite

me and they soon asked for more “just to see what happens.” Their waitress floated in and reliably informed them that it didn’t have the same effect as the one they were thinking of. Their glasses were refilled instead. The Shang-hai braised duck with a foie gras and chicken terrine and pear and saffron chutney from chris erasmus (Ginja) was paired with Grande Provence cabernet Sauvignon 2007 and got my vote for the best dish but was closely fol-

lowed by Grande Provence’s Darren Roberts’ double braised pork belly, grilled scallop and apple and mint cottage pie with a hazelnut and apple reduction. Rudi Liebenberg pulled no punches with a chocolate inspiration perfectly paired with a 2007 Shiraz and Reuben Riffel’s toasted brioche, pear, goat’s cheese mousse and truffled honey was the perfect end to a truly ex-quisite and impressive meal. The non english-speaking foreign couple, who’d bought tickets without understanding that the Big 5 menu is presented only once a year, asked about the fol-lowing day’s menu and after much gesticulat-ing resolved to return again in 2011. no doubt they’ll see a number of familiar faces as the Big 5 continues to be a really big deal.

Big 5IVE Successstaff reporter

World CupMatch

Transport

R295

Call Winelands Experiencefor details on 021 876 4042,

or email us [email protected]

*per person return from Franschhoek

*

Artist Jinny Heath

Alex van heeren presents the Big 5 chefs and personalities to guests


the month June 2010

June 2010

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I spotted a couple of youngsters running around the Elephant and Barrel pub in Franschhoek village recently, trying to avoid a dodgy looking shop-owner who was shout-ing something about naughty kids and lit-tle monsters. Intrigued, I cornered Brad Newton in his shop, Just Franschhoek, and quizzed him about his latest venture.

the Month: why t-shirts?

Brad newton: everyone needs t-shirts and there seems to be a gap in the market for people, particularly for foreigners, who want to take back a memento of their stay in Sa or Franschhoek, for friends and family back home.

tM: You say “Sa or Franschhoek.” You make it sound like it’s not just about Franschhoek then.

Bn: no it’s bigger than Franschhoek. This is a great place to start and develop ideas. it’s a creative environment, so as a space in which to

conceptualise things this is as good as it gets. Then, of course, we have many visitors to the valley so there’s good exposure and the right market.

tM: But surely a t-shirt is a t-shirt is a t-shirt. and every shop sells t-shirts with africa and lions and upside down flags these days.

Bn: Ja, we sell hundreds of branded t-shirts from our suppliers that carry the african theme, but no, there are good t-shirts and there is rubbish. if i look at what’s popular, i know we can do better and naughty monster clothing is the result. not the Big 5, khaki South africa that everyone knows; naughty monster is bright, bold, vibrant – it represents the new South africa that everyone wants to take home with them.

tM: The motifs on your t-shirts are quite un-usual, who comes up with the ideas and art-work?

Bn: The ideas are generally my own. Being the amazing artist that i am, i do the initial art-work myself – and it looks terrible, so i have help from a professional team that turns my scrawls into the funky designs you eventually see. we’re constantly coming up with new de-signs and striking colours and it’s really work-ing.

tM: i’ll assume ‘working’ means it’s working for your customers and your bottom line.

Bn: Yes. we’ve sold hundreds of units in our small shop in Franschhoek since December and given that naughty monster is out-selling its biggest competing brand in our shop, i’m confident we can make it a household brand in the country.

tM: Thanks Brad and good luck. From the sounds of things, naughty monster t-shirts may soon have the market collared.

Naughty Monstersstaff reporter

naughty Monster Clothing is bright, bold and vibrant


the month June 2010

6

It IS Art!iS art at Le Quartier Français opened recently to rave reviews, notably for the quality of the work on show and also for the fabulous trans-formation of what used to be the shop touches and tastes into an inviting and upmarket gal-lery. hot on the heels of their first exhibition iS art will host works by a group of leading and emerging South african artists for the dura-tion of the Soccer world cup. The gallery will feature most of the visual art forms, including painting, the graphic arts, sculpture, ceramics as well as jewellery from leading South african designers. The theme of the exhibition is not dictated by the world cup, but rather a display of what is current in art in South africa today. Some of the artists represented on this exhi-bition are Theo Kleynhans, hannes meiring, Jacques Dhont, Judy Bumstead, Guy de toit, helen Vaughan and evette weyers amongst others. The exhibition will run from the 11th of June until the 15th of July.

Is Art, at 16 huguenot Road, Franschhoek is open daily from 10am to 5pm. For more information please contact Ilse at 021 876 8443 or email [email protected].

Even in La La Land…The Gallery at Grande Provence heritage wine estate, currently hosts the much-anticipated ‘La La Land’ exhibition that runs until the 23rd of June. La La Land features paintings, ‘anima-tion drawings’ and sculptures by South african

artist Francois Van Reenen. an interesting as-pect of his works is that he tends to invert the usual gender relationship, in which females are passive participants in a world determined and shaped by active males, by invariably depicting his female figures as larger and powerful char-acters whilst boys are diminutive and ‘inno-cent’. Dogs are a recurring feature of his work and represent our instinctual drives – whether creative, sexual or violent. it’s worth a look!

For further information [email protected]

Art Wrapstaff reporter

There was a lot of interest generated the last time we ran a story in The Month about plas-tic wine bottles so we tracked down Louis Moodie from Mondi to find out a little more about this and asked him how different are plastic and glass wine bot-tles?

Louis Moodie: Very different! Firstly they’re much lighter at about 50 grams vs glass at between 350 and 400 grams per bottle, so it’s generally cheaper to transport. it’s also smaller; more bottles on a palette (at 13000 bottles in a 20 ft container vs. 9500) equates to a 36% improvement. a 7 million bottle uK exporter who switches to Polyethylene terephthalate (Pet) would save R2.5m to R5m per year in freight costs alone. and when exporting, a smaller bottle means a smaller carbon footprint.

tM: i was going to ask you about that. intuitively, you’d assume plastic is less environmentally friendly than glass.

LM: well yes, except that it is lightweight and it’s easily recyclable. i was sceptical at first too, but the consumer needs to get into the habit of recycling. in europe they recycle and here it could become a whole new industry similar to glass – with bottle collection points at the retailer.

the Month (dropping a bottle): ...and shatterproof?

LM: Ja, and this opens up new markets. For outdoor sports events and at stadiums especial-ly. Retailers could sell wine as a picnic drink quite safely and it’s easier to carry, so it’s con-venient.

tM: what do the wineries say? They swallowed the screw cap pretty quickly.

LM: we’ve visited the local wineries and, un-derstandably, they have a reputable product they’ve spent decades developing. So they are not going to risk putting their product into a concept that’s not proven. we started fact find-

ing last year with the strategy to source a prov-en technology and have linked up with the big-gest supplier in europe to produce everything

locally with their technology through mondi, the paper group, here in Sa.

tM: are they biting?

LM: we have a number of enquir-ies from wineries who want to be the first to launch in a plastic bottle. But this product requires the consumer

to make a bit of a paradigm shift so the pitch must be just right. it wasn’t so long ago we drank coke from a glass bottle so we need to get over perceptions of quality and esteem – just pour two glasses and see if you can no-tice the difference. once they see value, the wineries will educate the buyer. That the lightweight glass bottle and screw caps are now normal, shows how quickly perceptions can change.

tM: what are the downsides, if any?

LM: Plastic is more permeable than glass; plastic is porous, but

it’s a relative term. oxygen gas mol-ecules can permeate through it over time. Yet although white wine can tolerate 6-7 parts per million (ppm) Pet plastic bottles only allow one ppm during the first two years. Besides, 80% of wine is consumed within two years from bottling and within 48 hrs from purchase - ‘Lay down’ wine is less than 10% of the mar-ket. also, the technology is dynamic; it now gives you two years shelf life, next year it’ll give you three years.

tM: and i’m assuming it’s cheaper to pro-duce?

LM: commercially, the objective is to be 10c to 20c cheaper than lightweight glass bottles. Last year Sa exported 400 million litres of wine, half of which was bottled. if we supply just 10% of that market the industry will save R3 to R6m, in addition to the other benefits.

tM: That all sounds good Louis, thank you for your time.

For more information contact Louis on [email protected]

Tel: (021) 874 1611 | Corner of R45 and Klapmuts Simondium Rd, PaarlTo join our wine club visit www.vnl.co.za or for online orders visit www.vnlshop.co.za

Come Experience our Proudly South African Wine Tastingduring the Soccer World Cup.Wine Plaza open Monday to Sunday, 10h00 - 17h00

On a Lighter Note...staff reporter


the month June 2010

June 2010

On a sunny, Cape winter’s day I stopped in at Noble Hill Wine Estate to visit the ‘cosecha’ restaurant for something from their current Farmer’s Lunch menu. According to their website cosecha serves “a mix of traditional Mexican dishes… and more contemporary interpretations of the latin palette,” and the Farmer’s Lunch menu reflects one interpre-tation in particular that caught my eye and fired my imagination; the ‘Chilli-Bunny’. Each item on the Farmer’s Lunch menu is available for that day only as the dishes are meant to showcase the extent of cosecha’s Mexican/Latin mix and rely heavily on fresh ingredients.

The restaurant has grown into an extremely attractive and earthy lunch-time venue in the last year or so. nestled amongst trees and lush plant growth, between the cellar and a small dam, the many outside tables and a number of spots on the veranda are spoilt with great views of the Simonsberg and Paarl mountains. i was helped promptly by a friendly waitress who was as efficient as she was unobtrusive. armed with a generous glass of 2009 chardonnay (R16) i drank in the beautiful day at a table under one of the many tress, relishing the relative tran-

quillity of the venue while some heavy foreign accents finished a wine tasting and a couple of local farmers (i kid you not) ordered chilli Bunnies, as i did.

Described as “homemade, slow-cooked, chilli con carne served in a crusty bread bowl and topped with sharp cheddar” the Bunny had me wired like Pavlov’s dog and i hurriedly tucked into the tortilla chips and the tomato and on-ion dip served as nibbles. The Bunny was sur-prisingly large, as a farmer’s lunch should be i guess, and well-seasoned. The serving of chilli on the side wasted no time in the bowl and to-gether with the tender beef and large Borracho

beans soon had me calling for more wine and rescheduling my afternoon appointment.

a serving of freshly sliced celery and carrots made for an interesting and rather refreshing salad. all-in-all it was a great meal and at R64 it’s good value too. i finished off with cosecha’s home made brownies and vanilla ice cream (R25), a glass of 1674 Signature Blend 2005 red wine (R25) and a promise to return.

see ad above for details.

On the 17th of May the Stellenbosch council, Vrede en Lust and Col’Cacchio Pizzeria hon-oured two of the Franschhoek Valley’s oldest inhabitants Jan Buitendacht (83) and Floris Fortuin (103) by allowing them to plant the first of 50 indigenous trees earmarked for

the Circus Grounds close to the Hugeunot Monument in Franschhoek. The trees, part of a total of 300, were donated by Vrede en Lust wine farm and the Col’Cacchio Pizze-ria group as part of Vrede en Lust’s Mopani Trees for Life Foundation which plants a tree for every ten cases of Mopani wines sold. Col’Cacchio features the Mopani range of wines as their house wine, in all 17 branches in South Africa.

Vrede en Lust plan to plant close to 4000 trees, such as Rhus Lancia, celtis afrikana and olea afrikana, in cape town and surrounds in 2010 and recently handed more than a 1000 trees to the city and will follow up the initial donation to Franschhoek with another 500.

The mopani Project is named after the african myth of the mopani tree which tells the story of the last remaining green butterfly, found cry-ing by the Great Spirit. when asked why it was unhappy, the butterfly replied: “The hornbill is going to eat me, and then there will be no more green butterflies on earth”. moved, the Great Spirit gave the mopani tree leaves that look just like green butterflies to confuse the hornbill.

There’s no confusion about Vrede en Lust and col’cacchio’s commitment to the environ-ment.

Visit www.vnl.co.za for more informa-tion or call 021 874 1611.

Trees For LifeThe Col’Cacchio Mopani Relationship Growsstaff reporter

Restaurant Reviewstaff reporter

cosecha

A Chilli-Bunny: able to satisfy even a hungry farmer

Janina Otto and Andries schoeman of Vrede en Lust with Floris Fortuin (103)


the month June 2010

8

Whilst chatting to Traumerei’s, Leo de Beer last month about the MarCafé coffee brand, I made a scathing comment about coffee ‘pods’ and pod machines. I had been ex-posed to coffee made using plastic, liquid-filled coffee pods at an expensive restaurant

where the stand-in waitress-cum-manager produced something so strong that I had to wrestle it to my mouth and so bitter that my teeth retracted into my gums. “This is hor-rible,” I said to her. “So are you,” she replied before bursting into tears. I left feeling guilty and sick, blaming the coffee for both afflic-tions. Laughing at my story, Leo said “Come back just now with your camera; I want to show you my frog.” I hoped to heck that it had something to do with coffee pods and promised to return.

tea-bag-like coffee pods, containing dry coffee rather than a liquid, have become more popu-lar than their plastic cousins thanks in part to the perception that the former is less harmful to the environment. They both produce more non-recyclable waste than simply grinding your own coffee but as far as convenience and predictability go, pods are here to stay. Leo’s frog is a Didiesse Frog that he says is aimed at the “hotel, corporate office or household environment.” it takes practically no time to

prepare the machine – simply pop any bottle of water into the storage area (the water stays in the bottle and isn’t poured into a tank as with other machines); switch the machine on; add a pod; wait a couple of minutes and start making coffee. i was surprised that the model he uses

is relatively small and has a transparent red plastic housing. i tend to associate quality coffee machines with harley-Davidson-like bling and substance. Leo tells me that the Frog reflects the popularity of mak-ing decent coffee at home. The Frog is as well-made as a har-ley, with the expected bells and whistles (i.e. milk heater/frother) but only costs about two-and-a-half grand. he challenges me to tell the difference be-tween a cappuccino made with a marcafé pod versus the tradi-tional approach using ground beans in the

old machine behind the bar. i know i’ll lose but lament the death of tradition and point out that having your coffee prepared by a ba-rista is romantic and rather special. he agrees. “But we all like to have good coffee at home or when we’re trying to impress clients in a busi-ness meeting. and when you’re not at home, you can always have a cup at traumerei.”

Brew Me a Podof Coffeestaff reporter

NOW OPEN FOR LUNCH, DINNER & WINE TASTINGS!

Come taste our hearty winter menu next to a cozy fireplace, and receive a complimentary glass of wine. Game time special for the gents includes potjies and ice cold beer. Special themed dinners on Thursdays and daily specialties.

For reservations phone (021) 867 [email protected] or visit www.freedomhill-live.co.za

winter SPECIAL – kick offwinter SPECIAL – kick off

winter SPECIAL – kick offwinter SPECIAL – kick off

This winter, acclaimed artist Catherine Christie will present a once-in-a-lifetime weekend Art Workshop at The Conservatory in Franschhoek, where she will share her

particular techniques, skills and experiences as well as some good advice on how to be-come a commercially successful artist with a small group of participants. The workshop will be held from the 11th to the 12th of Sep-

tember and the R20 000 price tag includes accommodation, meals, wine, door-to-door couriering of any completed art-work, can-vas supplies and paint products. One lucky

participant stands the chance of winning a Catherine Christie origi-nal worth R50 000.

The conservatory, located on the Franschhoek happy Valley road, is an ‘escape from the city’ events location set amongst vineyards, ancient oaks and herb gardens. two sides of this original structure are entirely clad in sliding glass panels to establish a sim-ple, stylish, inspiring, but functional and versatile destination. warm neu-tral wall colours, large twin feature fire places and all movables set on castors, present ‘a blank canvass at which one can easily create and package any oc-casion’.

catherine christie’s ‘alchemy on can-vas’ pieces have earned her an interna-tional reputation, and her distinctive paintings grace collections and exhibi-tions as far afield as the uK, australia and holland, as well as at home in cape town.

For more details see the advert on page 31 or contact course facilitator, Faline edwards on [email protected].

Paint to Lifestaff reporter

Marcafé Distributors

GautengJason neil (011) 496 2950

cape townMichelle scholtz (082) 492 0629

KZNsucro natal (031) 705 3058

freestateCharlotte Crots (082) 7841 176

franschhoekLeo de Beer (072) 2406 883

Workshop host Catherine Christie

the Didiesse Frog: for the perfect cup


the monthfood and wineFooD & wine June 2010

June 2010

MINUTES WITH . . .RYAN SMITH

Ryan Smith will soon open Ryan’s Kitchen on the premises of Frank and Ruth McCourt’s Rustof Country House in Franschhoek’s main road. Knowing how The Month feels about more restaurants in the valley, we put it to Ryan that he’d need a pretty original idea to make it fly. Turns out he has. We chat-ted to Ryan and his wife Lana, Franschhoek residents now for four years, and asked them – “What’s the angle?”

Ryan smith: we’re going to be a bit different by reworking traditional South african cook-ing in a more contemporary way; getting crea-tive with traditional dishes like beef malay cur-ry and Bobotie. we’ll innovate with local and regional ingredients - there’s huge scope with the different cultural elements in Sa providing an eclectic mixture of foods.

the Month: and the venue?

Rs: it’s a small and cosy venue at Rustof, which won’t take much to be full (there are only 40 seats inside) and Rustof is old tradition - that’ll be half the excitement. although the interior is quirky, we’ll keep the tea Room feel (Rustof will still do the breakfasts) and the kitchen is open, right there next to the tables. we want to create the feeling that you are going to your friend for dinner and he is cooking for you in his house - hence Ryan’s Kitchen. and in the summer we can expand outside onto the lawn and terrace.

tM: So it will be a contemporary feel in a tra-ditional setting?

Rs: exactly. we very much like the chef/pro-prietor model with Lana and i here as much as possible and we want to remember what our guests ordered last time. we’re serious about selling good quality food six nights a week but i expect it to become a ‘special occasions’ venue catering to the ‘once a month’ not ‘once a week’ market.

tM: Give us a little of your history, Ryan. how did you end up in Franschhoek?

Rs: From cape town i did my apprentiship in Scotland and stayed for four years. Then the London connaught followed by Le tente clair, a 3 michelin-star restaurant in France. i saw the world working on private yachts and cruise ships, went 1000 miles up the amazon, did a stint in arabia, and then Russia for four years: two in moscow and two in St. Peters-burg.

tM: and that’s where you met Lana?

Rs: Ja, in Petersburg. it was a frustrating en-vironment because the Russians don’t try too hard to speak english. Fortunately, Lana had spent three years in the uS so she became my translator! we decided to come back in 2006, me to mont Rochelle and Lana to study a wine course at the cape wine academy and a tour guide course with the tour Guide institute. i stayed at Rustof when i came for my interview, loved the quirkiness of the place and last year began to formulate our plans for the restau-rant.

tM: and a final word to the readers?

Rs: we’re adamant to be different –South afri-can food is perceived to be a bit ‘down market’ so we’re going to surprise. we’ll bring it to the modern dining table with pride. The Sa food culture is none too fancy so we’ll aim for a bal-ance: we’ll be creative but people want to eat! and i’ll always make food that keeps me chal-lenged and that i, personally, like eating.

tM: Good luck to you and Lana.

If all goes to plan, Ryan’s Kitchen will be open from mid June. For more informa-tion contact Ryan on [email protected] or 079 112 1955


the month

10

of the monthQueStionJune 2010

Adrian Buchanan, Freedom HillThe accolades and trophies won by wines are definetly a great sales tool in restaurants, but more than that, the general public use the Platter or the other ratings as guidelines. on a personal level i believe that the awards do take away from the smaller wineries. Sometimes too much is made of the awards and not enough stock is put in personal taste. Sometimes if you are willing to deviate from the guides you can find real gems.

i have spent the past week playing around on the index testing my favourites, those that i found. my initial feeling is that the index is limited. however i think that with time it will be more comprehensive. i have found that the index is accurate with my personal taste. it is simply a magnificent tool for consumers to work by. i would love to see every South afri-can wine on this list and the consumer rating their favourites. Judy Sendzul, SalmonBaraccolades and trophies are used as a guide to a good wine and are good marketing tools for wine lists in restaurants. They do tend to push the prices up, though.

Because it is a collation of results, i find the wine Rating index an excellent tool and it seems to be objective. we use it to check that we are listing the best on our wine lists and not missing out on some gems. it’s also a good tool to find good value wines. it’s a pity not more wines are listed and i’m not sure how to read the scoring of non-competition wines?

Ludwig Maske, La Cotte Inn Winesi don’t see that much value in accolades and trophies when deciding on my wine purchase. a safer bet is going with an established produc-er (in South africa that could be as young as 15 years) with a consistent track-record. These farms seldom enter wine taste-offs or com-petitions (e.g. hamilton Russell, Kanonkop, Thelema, Boekenhoutskloof etc). The newish producers or those out in the sticks who need

exposure will find the recognition gained from receiving awards a good form of marketing. uninformed consumers will find any guidance positive but these award-winning wines only remain in the mind of the consumer until the next competition comes along. and there are plenty of competitions. i’m not much of a mathematician so i wouldn’t like to judge its accuracy. one factor which concerns me, though, is that the more compe-titions producers enter the better their chance of being rated; whereas those that don’t enter competitions won’t get a mention.

Reuben Riffel, Reuben’sobviously there is value in receiving accolades and trophies, because it elevates you above the rest and the public, especially amateur wine consumers, will take note. now, more than ever with the number of different brands out there, to get gold medals and trophies sets you apart immediately.

in my opinion, it’s the most accurate out there, because it encompasses all other results from various wine shows and judgings. it serves as a guideline, the public will still decide whether they like it or not. it is definitely a useful tool in the over-saturated market in terms of direct-ing people to more worthy wines.

Rob Armstrong, Haut EspoirThey hold no value for me, as a producer and a consumer, because they don’t make the wine better. That said, i see the value and the rea-sons why some farms seek the christmas tree

effect on their bottles. The awards game can be dirty: different bottlings getting the same award sticker; scandals pertaining to the rules; regulations being ignored or broken; retailers using the same sighted guide rating for differ-ent wines and vintages, it is all a bit much re-ally and i think what starts out as a means to highlight the wine’s quality could potentially backfire. at the end of the day sticking feathers in your butt doesn’t make you a duck…

i have an issue with the accuracy of the Sa wine index as we don’t enter all of our wines into competitions or awards. i see the value for the farms that do, and understand why the Sa wine index adds value to the market-ing ability of the wines. i see more value in sites like Spit or Swallow which targets tasting rooms - the front line of attack in any farm’s arsenal. how you treat guests who are taking the time to come and sample your wines and visit your farm speaks more to me than all the shiny stickers and the rating you have on the Sa wine index.

Marc Kent, Boekenhoutskloofawards and accolades have limited value for me; i never base purchasing decisions on awards. awards are based on a certain profile that flatters a judge or panel at that moment. often, drinking or enjoying these wines has its challenges. we (Boekenhoutskloof ) believe that “the quality lies in the second half of the bottle.”

i haven’t given it enough time to offer an in-formed opinion, but isn’t this the same team who produced “The essential guide….” and who forgot to mention that all cellars reviewed PaiD to be there? no thanks!

In the May edition of the Month we featured a short write-up of the south African (superieur) Wine Rating Index created by Izak smit to help consumers make some sense of the ratings and accolades wines receive at various competitions and tastings. We asked a number of locals for

their views.

As fAr As wine is concerned, whAt vAlue do you see in AccolAdes And trophies?

do you think thAt the sA wine index is AccurAte?


the month June 2010

June 2010

If you’re at all put off by parking next to a Ferrari, don’t like overbearing statues of na-ked men or are in any way intimidated by signing in under names like Theron, Pitt or Clooney then Delaire Graff is probably not for you. But stick it out and prepare to be impressed; as you crest the hill and take in the spectacular view over the Banhoek val-ley you’re about find out whether Lawrence Graff has trumped his impressive winery and restaurant with his new Delaire Graff Lodges and Spa. You won’t be disappointed.

here’s a guy that knows what he’s doing. or rather he knows people that know what they’re doing. he’s got David collins to do the archi-tecture, Keith Kirsten to plant 3000 new in-digenous plants and reputable chef christiaan campbell in the kitchen of his new restaurant. add to that the extraordinary collection of art on the estate from the likes of Sydney Kumalo, Dylan Lewis, Fred Schimmel, Durant Sihlali, Deborah Bell and anton Smit and you’re fum-bling for your keys again. it’s easy to drown in the superlatives here so before we taste the “ultimate wine experience in unrivalled sur-roundings with perfect accommodation” let’s examine the facts that comprise the Lodges and Spa.

ten lodges are centred on a main lodge com-prising a private cinema, meeting facilities, a restaurant and world-class spa. each lodge enjoys a private heated ‘infinity’ swimming pool and double volume ceilings with exposed timber trusses, and the owner’s Lodge has a feature baronial fireplace. The polished plaster

walls and contrasting tones strongly echo the look and feel of the winery and are the per-fect mix of contemporary cape Dutch archi-tecture and aspirational features demanded by the modern traveller. The design concept was created with nature in mind and materi-als used have been locally sourced; walls cov-ered in grasscloth, ceilings of contrasting white washed traditional ‘latte’ cane. end grain oak floors, hand woven rugs with twists of colour and textured leathers have all been chosen for their sophisticated feel, so you really will expe-

rience the uniqueness of “sleeping amongst the vines at Delaire.”

The XahaR restaurant, headed by executive chef christiaan campbell, uses “modern Thai-influenced cuisine inspired by classically asian textures and flavours presented with contempo-rary flair and delicacy.” (XahaR means ‘food’ in Thai). here too you’re likely to experience a vibrant dining experience amid dark, rich blue hues, battered copper and limed oak. The full service spa, with breathtaking views and state-of-the-art facilities, offers an holistic approach to health and wellbeing with four elegant treat-ment suites, a hair spa, relaxation and fitness areas, an outdoor heated pool, state of the art gymnasium and Pilates studio.

But seeing is believing, so take a drive to the beautiful Banhoek valley and pay them a visit. The bar has been raised and is unlikely to be cleared for some time to come.

For more information go towww.delaire.co.za.

The old Burgundy’s restaurant in the main street has enjoyed a complete make-over and now trades under the name Dutch East. The Month went along to chat to partners, Pasch du Plooy and Sainkie du Toit to experience

the revamp first-hand and find out whether this chef from Pretoria cooking Eastern food was the inspiration for the name.

“well partly! we were playing around with concepts and ideas and discussing the Dutch east india company and product development and so forth and it just popped out” says Pasch. “i’ve always incorporated eastern ingredients into my cooking; pickling, searing, raw dishes - ingredients like soy mirin and sesame i use a lot in my recipes - so i sort of developed a cooking style that is a mix of local-Dutch and eastern cuisine - it describes nicely the offer-ing.”

The new interior, with lots of oregan and lo-cal artwork from Seidelberg, lifts the space and the new fireplace gives it a warmer vibe. “The wood is unique – it all came from the eaves and rafters of the old Pick n Pay build-

ing across the road” says Sainkie who explained that Pasch made the ta-ble tops and bar counter himself with the added help of the butcher’s blocks from his father. Red hot Glass provided most of the ornamental artwork.

The varied menu has lots of home-cured and smoked meats and fish, local breads, regional greens and a whole sec-

tion of offal meats including veal tongue, ox-tail, pork trotter and Pasch’s signature dish - the crispy lamb’s head tourchon with curried beans and sweet milk mustard.

“it’s easy to cook food that tastes nice by over-powering the dish with too many flavours but it is very difficult to simply cook the ingredient and combine it with complimentary flavours” says Pasch who always strives to use the freshest ingredients he can get. “Fresh is best!”

Dutch east are running a June special for locals at R150 for three courses. Call 021 876 3547 for bookings or email [email protected].

Simply World-Classstaff reporter

Fresh is Best!staff reporter

Telephone +27 (0)21 876 3016/8 | Pass Road, [email protected] | www.lapetiteferme.co.za

R E S T A U R A N T • W I N E R Y • G U E S T S U I T E S

Bistro Restaurant | Deli and Bakery | Fire PlaceCome see our winter menu | Live music on Sundays

Open Daily from 08h00 to 17h00 | Contact: 021 874 3991Vrede en Lust Wine Estate, Corner of R45 and Klapmuts Simondium Rd, Paarl

each lodge has its own infinity pool with spectacular views

Dutch east’s roasted, aged rib-eye with BBQ cream


the month June 2010

12

In this third Organic Wine instalment, The Month visited nature-lover and biodiversity warrior, Rob Armstrong of Haut Espoir in Franschhoek, to chat about wine, conserva-tion and Way of The Warrior.

once he had me suitably lubricated, Rob (who is fondly known as The Gentle Giant) explained that biodiversity simply refers to the genes, spe-cies, ecosystems and processes that allow life to persist over time. “Sounds like that’s straight off someone’s website,” i joked. “it is,” he said adjusting the way of The warrior photo on his desk which shows him towering above the other contestants as they nervously look for an escape route should the ‘Giant’ become less than gentle. tentatively i ask Rob about some-thing called the Biodiversity and wine initia-tive (Bwi) and its impact on wine consumers. in a nutshell the Bwi aims to protect existing

natural habitats from development; encourage environmentally responsible wine production and helps wine producers translate their ef-forts into money through the sale of suitably labelled wines to environmentally conscious

consumers. in practice it’s a delicate balance – conserving nature, creating a decent wine and keeping things in the black, but haut espoir seems to be ticking all the right boxes.

Rob regularly hosts fynbos walks in the tracts of reclaimed land on the farm above the exist-ing vineyards and is well-known for his knowl-edge of indigenous flora. along with clearing large tracts of alien vegetation from the farm, the haut espoir team have hand-planted in ex-cess of 7000 Proteas and over 1000 indigenous tree’s to date. of particular value is the farm’s successful otholibium decumbens propagation

programme. otholibium is grown between the vines as a cover crop where it also helps to fix nitrogen in the soil and prevent soil erosion. Farmers and gardeners are encouraged to make use of the indigenous groundcover and cuttings are available from the farm at no cost. Rob tends to favour organic concoctions and natu-ral predators when dealing with infections and repelling bugs. The farm has recently installed a waste water treatment plant that will siphon the farm’s effluent and grey water into a large septic tank and, after aeration, pass the water through a purpose-built wetland which will deliver near-potable water back into the envi-ronment. it’s a massive investment that speaks volumes of the farm’s commitment to the pres-ervation of the environment – big enough in fact to warrant a more detailed discussion in an upcoming edition of The month.

The farm has a number of award winning wines, which Rob admits would be just as good were their practices less friendly to the environment. Financially, membership of the Bwi is free but taking the environment seriously and invest-ing in organic farming methods and recycling strategies doesn’t come cheap. “it’s difficult to quantify it exactly,” Rob admits, but we con-clude that it’s closer to hundreds of thousands than it is to nothing. and yet the farm has seen a steady improvement in its bottom line and he believes their commitment to the environment is directly linked to this. Rob has an interesting approach to accreditation as an ‘organic’ wine producer and using the ‘organic’ label when selling wines: “People don’t respond to stickers on bottles, they respond to people who are pas-sionate about their wines.”

Back in the tasting room Rob re-fills my glass, this time with a Syrah that has me panting like JuJu over chivas. i tackle my last topic: way of The warrior. Rob was a contestant on the

tV show and quickly built up a huge local fol-lowing and an equally impressive reputation with the contestants on the show. everyone in Franschhoek had him tipped to win and the lo-cal car washers were taking bets on who would get the first crack at hosing down the Subaru outback he was likely to bring home as the victor. unfortunately a couple of cracked ribs meant that the show’s fight doctor was unwill-

ing to allow Rob to compete and he was elimi-nated before he could hammer his opponent into the ground. “how does a mild-mannered nature-lover end up competing in a muay Thai fighting competition?” i ask. he explains that as a martial art, muay Thai demands intense physicality and constant discipline. as a sport, it reflects an approach to life that has allowed him to make important changes in his lifestyle that he feels will positively impact his role as a businessman, husband and father. “i did find it difficult to move from hitting a punch bag to hitting another person,” he smiles and then adds “the truth is i don’t like fighting with peo-ple but i do have renewed energy to fight for the things i care about.” That’s good news for the environment, his friends and family and for Franschhoek.

Visit haut espoir at www.hautespoir.co.za or contact them on 021 876 4000

Fighting for the Environmentstaff reporter

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Advert.pdf 25.05.2010 19:08:14 Uhr

Rob Armstrong, a thorn amongst the roses

“In practice it’s a delicate balance – conserving nature, creating a decent wine and keeping things in the black, but haut espoir seems to be ticking all the right boxes.”

www.themonth.co.za 13June 2010

Property & Lifestyle Section

the FRanSchhoeK VaLLeY

month

We hadn’t visited Pearl Valley since the SA Open so The Month went out to this spe-cial part of the world to meet with General Manager, Troy Hart, who joined Pearl Valley in June 2009 after 15 years working in the real estate sectors of Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Dubai. We asked him how they’re coping with the recession and whether its impact has been seen in property sales on the estate over the last year or so.

troy hart: There’s no doubt that 2009 was a challenging year where we had to review our business practices and think outside the box. our management team early on set about de-

veloping and implementing initiatives, which where crucial in a depressed market in bringing the business together. we have been rewarded by exceeding our expectation in the 2010 first quarter with improvements of up to 30% year-on-year across the board of our various busi-ness units . That’s 30% up in sales, leasing, golf rounds and turnover.

The month: why is that, do you think?

th: well, up until last year Pearl Valley was a bit of a closed shop. That model was not sus-tainable so we opened up and spent much of last year telling people who we are, what we’re

doing and where we’re going. we’re now open for business, have consolidated our operations and developed several communications strate-gies which deliver value added products and services to our stakeholders. in the initial re-view of our sales and leasing programmes, we looked past the 5-star rated golf experience and built upon our “Golf Digest - best golf estate for 2009” tag and addressed a lifestyle audit of our development. From the various feedback and community demographic studies we initi-ate each year, we see that we’re equally support-ed by families and non-golfers who prefer the lifestyle and security that the development pro-vides. The investment decision by our home owners has also been rewarded by the increase and maintenance of their asset values in light of market perceptions.

a positive indicator that the estate is moving forward are the 25 homes that have started

construction from the last quarter of 2009 with another six moving through the approval process currently. The homes are by no means small with floor areas ranging from 450m2 to well over 1000m2.

tm: So rather than market as an exclusive Golf estate you’ve developed further branding in meeting the market as a Lifestyle estate?

th: Look, although the course is ranked in the top five in the country, it’s not necessarily always about golf. The master plan provides a course layout that creates an abundance of visual open space to attract the recreational enthusiast. in addition to the golfing programmes, the estate is driven by the complementary activities it of-fers and the infrastructure we have here is fan-tastic: the Bridge house extension crèche, the equestrian centre, the river frontage, the Boma

Meeting the Marketstaff reporter

BEST IN FAMILY LIVING

To arrange a viewing | T +27 21 867 8000 | E [email protected] | W pearlvalleygolfestates.com

SITUATED IN THE HEART OF THE CAPE WINELANDS, A SCENIC 50 MINUTE DRIVE FROM THE VIBRANT CITY OF CAPE TOWN , PEARL VALLEY GOLF ESTATES IS HARD NOT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH. ONCE YOU ARRIVE, THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF LIVING TO BE DONE – WITH A WORLD OF ADVENTURE AND ACTIVITY FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY , WAITING TO BE EXPLORED.

For sales and lease enquiries | T +27 21 867 8000 | F +27 21 867 8096 | E [email protected] | W pearlvalleygolfestates.com

4 BEDROOMS - ENTERTAINERS’ DELIGHT

This well designed family home offers fabulous entertaining areas and many extras, including a separate TV room upstairs and a Jacuzzi. The house has great views of the golf course and a pool that has been built with privacy in mind.

PERFECT WEEKEND ESCAPE

This three bedroom home, offers spaciousness and good flow. The tranquil setting over the water adds to the serenity of the home. A magnificent property offering the best in Pearl Valley Lifestyle. The perfect weekend escape.

TO RENT | FAMILY HOME ON A LAKE

This unfurnished 4 bedroom house has an open plan kitchen, two entertainment areas and a large enclosed garden with uninterrupted views. There are many extras including a fire place, air-conditioning throughout, underfloor heating, a pool and an outdoor braai area.

PROPERTIES

2010 - Compleat Golfer ‘5 Star Golf Experience’ | 2009 - Golf Digest ‘Best Golf Estate’ | 2009, 2008, 2007 - Host of the SA Open | 2009 - Golf Digest ‘2nd best conditioned course’

R24 000 per month

R6.3 million

R9.45 million VAT incl.

...continued over leaf


PRoPeRtY & LiFeStYLeJune 2010

14

www.seeff.com

VAL DE VIE WINE AND POLO ESTATE

Seeff, the exclusive onsite agent for Val de Vie Wine and Polo Estate, is proud to announce the first-time release of several prime Polo-facing plots. Located in the beautiful Paarl-Franschhoek Valley, Val de Vie offers the perfect escape from bustling city life without compromising on comfort, luxury and good quality living. The estate is a mere 40 minutes from Cape Town, yet maintains an air of rural tranquillity and charm.

Residents enjoy access to world-class facilities such as a Lifestyle Centre with tennis and squash courts, a 25m heated indoor pool and a fully equipped gym. Those who prefer outdoor pursuits can go trout fishing, horse riding and bird watching. Val de Vie also boasts state-of-the-art security and lies in close proximity to excellent schools. Contact Seeff to view a range of plots and fine homes on this exceptional development.

Sales: 021 863 6100 | [email protected]

and sports fields, tennis courts, the gym, food available from 6am ‘til late at night, horse and jogging trails, sustainability initiatives - there’s almost no need to leave. with the support of the community we have developed initia-tives that include a school holiday kids club, recycling and sustainability objectives and preferred programmes with our corporate af-filiates including the one & only and Game Reserves. The healthy, wealthy and wise brand is alive and well.

tm: So your whole sales and leasing strategy is based on getting people here to see the place – through holding events like Sa open and making golf more accessible?

th: Price for golf has definitely been a sen-sitive area and with the international visitor rounds reducing year-on-year, we have needed to widen our golfing markets and retain loyalty of the domestic players which has seen an in-crease in the number of rounds. The benefits flow down to our sales and leasing through the increase in foot traffic. You can do great marketing but you can’t beat seeing the estate and the valley on a beautiful day. we have an active and open real estate firm, Pearl Valley Properties, which interlinks with other parts of the brand. Sales are often initiated from peo-ple who have previously played golf (whether though our corporate days or with current members) so our strategy has been to get more people through the door. i would also like to add that our 4000m2 clubhouse facility aided by our accommodation facilities has the capac-ity to meet the growing demand in line with our development programs.

tm: and your leasing department. are they busy for the world cup?

th: we basically experience the same high

and low season that is evident in the cape with clients leasing their properties when they’re away so availability is seasonal. winter is the low point but the world cup ought to gener-ate more business than usual. although it was rumoured, there’s no team coming to stay at Pearl Valley and we’re not entirely unhappy about that. as well as being an expensive pre-paratory exercise, we didn’t want to lock down the estate for 80 people and drive the residents

nuts as we’ve done for the last three years at the Sa open. we didn’t think it was worth it and we may not have got the team we wanted; besides most want to train at altitude. Security is such a big thing - to lock down the owners would not necessary benefit our stakeholders.

tm: So if you’re not hosting a team what’s the strategy?

th: we had a lot of enquiries and we chased some large groups but none has materialised so, instead, we’ve tipped the marketing upside down looking not to the internationals but to

the locals. with five weeks of school holidays, and the chance that we’ll have families from Gauteng and natal here, we’ve made it more accessible for South africans wanting to get out of the cities and come stay in the wine dis-trict. So we’re offering ‘stay and play’ packages to families for medium length stays during the world cup.

tm: how ‘full’ is Pearl Valley Phase 1?

th: our capacity is for 500 houses in addi-tion to the 90 golf lodges, of which we have about 300 either built or under construction and 60 golf lodges, respectively. There is an-other 18 hole development on the cards but we’re still working through the concepts on that one. our focus has been on developing out Pearl Valley Phase 1 with a little over 100 plots and our signature series homes to com-plete the development. Gone are the days of ‘build it and they will come’. People are far more conscious of where they’re spending their money with security and estate infrastructure being the paramount criteria. our plots are

predominately positioned on the fairways with the master plan designed with no back load-ing of lots so owners have a maximum of two adjoining neighbours. That’s a key reason why 50% of Pearl Valley sellers continue to reinvest within the estate whether upgrading or down-grading due to changes in the household.

tm: So who’s your market?

th: 30% of our residents are second home owners from cape town, yet more and more we are seeing residents selling their primary resi-dences and moving here permanently. our first quarter sales were fantastic year-on-year. mi-gration from Joburg and Pretoria is evident in some of the larger house sales and understand-able given the Valley’s relaxed atmosphere and its position on the trail down from up north. we’ve also seen a 30% increase in internation-als renting here for four to six months which is all positive stuff in a challenging environment. as onsite agents, Pearl Valley Properties, which encompasses our onsite sales and leasing busi-ness, is always building up good relationships and good people make good business. we also see the elderly as a potential market; we could offer better care here in the valley and we are currently developing a model for that too.

tm: But, generally, you’re happy with the way things are going?

th: Very happy. we were provided with the necessary tools to adapt to the changing mar-ket, developed a collective business plan, got the right team on board have enjoyed success during a tough trading period.

tm: Thank you troy and good luck.

For more information contact Pearl Val-ley on 021 8678000 or go towww.pearlvalley.co.za

...continued from previous page

Pearl Valley: 50% of sellers buy again in the estate


June 2010

June 2010

PRoPeRtY & LiFeStYLe



16


June 2010

June 2010




18

Self-Ca-tering op-

tions, besides trading at roughly half the

price of comparably starred hotel and guesthouse rates,

also enjoy an array of further advantages. The Month went to

find out about this substantial sec-tion of the Valley market.

on the FwVta website there are over 50 self-catering listings in the valley so it’s a fairly big chunk of the offering. in season there is big demand from mainly overseas visitors looking

to stay anything from two nights to up to two months and out of season is essentially a pitch to cape town folk who look to spend their

weekend here. The peak season runs october through to the end of april and the nature of self-catering is that of a remotely-run hotel with a support structure but no breakfast. For people arriving at strange times of the day and night there is invariably a contact person in a managerial capacity, should anything go wrong or if the guest needs help.

Given the current set of economic circumstanc-es, the self-catering luxury stay in Franschhoek offers excellent value. a four-bedroom villa

compares favourably with an equivalent star-graded hotel or guesthouse price-wise but also offers a different type of experience. There’s more privacy, is probably bet-ter for children and is more likely to offer a personal feel having been built to live in not to visit nightly. Given the number of owners that have built beautiful houses but don’t live here the whole time, perhaps it’s a market-ing angle we’re missing?

on the other side, for own-ers there are benefits. everybody who owns a house has the opportunity cost of renting it out. That could be potentially high in a

sought-after area like this. although it doesn’t appear to be cost effective out of season because stays are relatively short, average stays of one to several weeks work well for guests and owners. it may be an imperfect market but it makes sense for owners to let their homes here.

typically, if people don’t stay here the whole time, houses may stand empty for much of the year which presents a security risk. From the owner’s point of view, their things get used so they can find problems and our friends in cape town and elsewhere can experience liv-ing, rather than staying in Franschhoek. own-ers can still visit whenever they wish anD get an income when they don’t.

So, if it all makes sense, and is good for the vil-lage, how do we, as owners, find out whether our properties are let-able? tom clode and tony neves from Fine and country in Fran-schhoek have made the marketing of proper-ties as income producing assets their special-ity and are also heavily involved in the 4 and 5-star Luxury holiday Rentals bracket.

“overseas owners who only get three or four weeks holiday a year or retiree swallows who are here for only six months of the year want to let their homes when they’re not around so we rent out on their behalf the rest of the time. we’ve had a high success rate for finding

tenants for when they’re away, both long and short-term lets. and often there’s also a strong link between sales and rentals with buyers staying to get a feel of the place and the area. There’s synergy across the whole property, sales and rentals market so we have built a fluid and adaptable model. if you’re an owner who wants to sell but can’t do so right now, rent it out un-til the market comes back” says tom.

it’s clearly a complex operation to match rent-ers with letters, short-term with long, but given the benefits, with proper infrastructure it can work well says tony. “we have this at Fine and country. we control 20 holiday homes, have a high street presence, three staff, four partners, fully computerised booking systems and are fully integrated such that all arriving clients get a holiday guestpack and have telephone access to us 24/7”

So the self-catering market in the valley is a growing, cost effective addition to the offering here and although still young, appears to make sense. Says tom “You’d be surprised at how palatable to the budget high quality places are. we rented out a villa during December, Janu-ary and February for R6000 a night. although that sounds expensive, there were four couples with a full-time maid and gardener so it works out much cheaper than an equivalent hotel. They liked it so much we arranged a private chef for dinner twice a week!”

For more information about letting your property or opportunities to stay in Franschhoek, go to www.fineandcoun-try.co.za/property/franschhoek

Is Self-Catering the future for the Valley?


June 2010

June 2010


With over 7.4 million South Africans now connected to the Internet, home buyers are making increasing use of the worldwide web to research the property market and initiate actual viewing of homes on site, says Dr An-drew Golding, CE of the Pam Golding Prop-erty (PGP) group.

“while the effective marketing of homes incor-porates a broad spectrum of media and meth-ods including print advertising, exhibitions and, of course, personal interaction through agents, the electronic media are rapidly in-

creasing in popularity among consumers. This is particularly evident as more and more people have access to the internet via computers and cell phones.

“as a result, through our offices in all regions around the country we are seeing a steadily in-creasing number of enquiries originating via our website, which currently sees over 200 000 visits every month. This reflects an in-crease of 25 percent in just over a year, while the number of unique visitors has increased by 60 percent over the same period (January 2009 to march 2010). approximately 40 percent of these are new visitors to the website each month and generally we see that visitors to the PGP website are spending an average of nine minutes viewing homes, comparing properties and researching areas of their choice – an in-dication of high levels of buyer interest,” says Dr Golding.

cheridan inglis, PGP’s group new media manager comments: “as we increase our advertising spend in various targeted online media segments globally the number of visits per month will increase substantially. Since we recently launched the first PGP mobile site (www.pamgoldingproperties.mobi which offers a new service whereby buyers can access details regarding all houses on show in an area via cell phone - sms 34440 followed by the area name), we’ve noticed a further upturn in internet enquiries in general. interestingly there’s always a spike in enquiries on our

website on mondays, probably due to the fact that potential buyers tend to browse the internet after the weekend, having seen press advertisements and visited show houses.”

according to leading global research company, alexa.com, the PGP website is ranked 222 in South africa, way ahead of its nearest com-petitor at 319. This ranking is based on average daily visits and page views over the last three months.

at any one time PGP showcases over 36 000 properties for sale on its website. These are also accessed via various search engines including Google, as well as now being featured on Prop-erty24, another of South africa’s leading prop-erty websites.

For further information contact the local Pam Golding Properties office on 021 876 2100 or email [email protected].

Last month, we began with a series of fea-tures on notable accommodation establish-ments in the Franschhoek Valley with a focus on La Fontaine and its excellent track record in the AA Awards programme. This month

we’re proud to report that another local guest house, Gable Manor, was declared the 2010 AA Awards category-winner for ‘Small Bed and Breakfast Guest House’.

Gable manor was established eight years ago by Don and marlyn carroll who stepped out of the ‘rat-race’ after discovering Franschhoek quite by chance. Their success as guest house

operators is, however, no fluke. i met with Don and marlyn at their charming 5-star establishment, where, armed with delicious home-made croissants and muffins, we cele-brated their success and i ogled Gable manor’s

tasteful décor while devouring their fab-ulous views.

From the start, Don and marlyn have worked tirelessly to ensure that Gable manor ticks all the 5-star boxes and of-fers a luxurious yet intimate stay. Their efforts have paid off, with more than 70 nationalities represented in their guest-list and a high percentage of repeat visitors. Gable man-or has been an aa award finalist since they first entered in 2007 and, accord-ing to tripadvisor, couples in particular

rate it ‘excellent’ as a venue to ‘get away from it all’ and nearly everyone raves about the break-fasts. with Don’s engineering background, marlyn’s experience in financial trading and their dedicated and attentive staff, it’s no won-der that Gable manor and the carrolls have been recognised as an important draw-card for the village.

Click to BuyMORE HOME BUYERS ARE USING THE INTERNET

To the Manor Bornstaff reporter



20

Walking past the new Franschhoek Hospice building recently, I noticed someone stand-ing in the open space next door that doubles as the venue for the village’s Bastille Day cel-ebrations. Assuming that he was lost, I ap-proached him to offer a friendly ‘hello’ and turn him in the direction of the nearby Info Centre. “Hi, can I help you,” I smiled. “No thanks. I’m just enjoying the view,” he re-plied, looking intently at the Hospice build-ing. I suggested that he try the other views, perhaps of Franschhoek’s famous pass or the one of Matoppie or even the Keerwedernek that hides Boekenhoutskloof and the lair of the Gentle Giant. “No thanks. I’m enjoy-ing the solar panels. I’m Ondrej Filip, and you are?” I lied that I was someone impor-tant from The Month, and quickly set about finding out if he was legit or one panel short of an electrical overload.

turns out ondrej Filip is an expert on solar technology and was responsible for installing the hospice’s solar water heater that he was so pleased with. i joked that it was a pretty shocking time of year to be looking at solar heaters, what with the western cape’s horrid winter weather and inevitable rainy days. he informed me that according to data gathered by naSa, the western cape receives an aver-age of 8 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of solar insola-tion per square metre each day in the summer months; which means that a solar collector covering 2m2 is able to provide almost 300l of hot water (at 55°c) on sunny days and about 115l on cloudy days or in winter. “That’s not hot enough for a decent cup though,” i point-ed out. he’s a clever guy, and before i knew it he had accepted my offer and we were seated at the Salmon Bar enjoying just that, and on my account.

our conversation shifted to the difference be-tween solar water heaters and solar panels that generate electricity. he didn’t laugh when i shared that i always thought that solar panels just used steam to drive a small turbine that made electricity. he suggested that solar pho-tovoltaic panels, which generate electricity that can be stored in batteries or supplied to the power grid, will be more en vogue once eskom has paid off the debt incurred by building yet another coal-fired power station. For the mo-ment, it seems, solar thermal technology (used mainly to heat water and heat or cool living spaces) is generally intended when reference is made to things ‘solar’.

“it’s expensive and ugly,” i say without think-ing. ondrej is unphased, declaring his love for all kinds of panels and configurations and goes on to suggest that while panels should face north, they do work in possibly more discrete positions. “why not be proud of your solar system and of what it stands for? By going so-lar, you’re making the statements: i believe in sustainable energy, i am aware of my carbon footprint and i care for my beautiful planet,” he declares.

“But it’s so expensive,” i defend. Given that av-erage energy prices will increase by 25% per an-num for the next three years and that a solar hot water system will save consumers at least 40%

of their electricity bill, ondrej suggests i’ve got it all wrong. he spells it out: “imagine your monthly energy bill is around R3,000. Pretty soon, you will be paying R3,750 each month (a 25% increase). Your annual energy bill will increase from R36,000 to R45,000. next year it will be R56,250 and in two years time you will end up with an annual bill of R70,000. if your solar hot water heating system saves about 40% of your energy bill, by year four when it is paid off, you will save about R28 000 annu-ally.” it’s a very good tip i concede, nodding thoughtfully. “actually, 15% is a good tip,” he says, “you should put a little more change in that plate. Good coffee is worth it.”

Contact Ondrej at [email protected] or see advert below.

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the month June 2010

June 2010

“Developers don’t assume that responsibility of a balanced tenant mix here because there’s no consensus. What you need is a blueprint that says this is where we want to be in five years time.”

Following the positive response to the Mal-colm Rutherford article in the May edi-tion of The Month (www.themonth.co.za/archive.html) entitled ‘Time for Change’ where Malcolm argued the need for a Val-ley representative body, a Chamber of Com-merce perhaps, to engage with developers for the good of all Valley stakeholders, came the rumour that we were to expect an Ocean Basket to open in the new development in the centre of town. Enough was enough and the first act of the yet-to-be-formed Chamber was a meeting called with mid-town devel-oper Robert Maingard, editor of The Month Brett Garner, local property expert Thys Geyser, Malcolm Rutherford and myself at Dieu Donné Restaurant in Franschhoek.

i put it to Robert that although we are at the whim of developers, Franschhoek has a clearly defined ‘aspirational’ brand that has, so far, served it well. Did he think that either too much retail or lower quality retail could dam-age the brand?

Robert Maingard: absolutely. i agree with you. we only invited clicks to become a ten-ant because i believe tourists have a need for what they offer. i also don’t want to see brands or Franchises here. we were offered KFc and i said no.

David Foster: So ocean Basket is not coming to Franschhoek?

RM: not as far as i am aware; i don’t even know who they are.

Malcolm Rutherford: my concern Robert, is less the quality, more the quantity. too many shops and restaurants mean more mouths feed-ing from the same trough. if i was a restaurant owner in town i’d be worried, not by the fact that a franchised operation would be coming, but by the fact that the pie is getting smaller because we are not necessarily bringing more people in to spend money. “Developers” by and large are positive contributors to a local economy. a positive development for me is one than brings more people in, but in a bal-anced way. Your Lavender Farm development is a good thing if it brings more people to stay and buy from the shops you’re putting up. But how can the other participants in the local economy get that message to you?

Brett Garner: it’s a sensible strategy but gen-erally people are averse to change and we need to debate with those who oppose development by informing them better. There’s currently no

positive engagement, only negative. The idea of this roundtable is to engage you. we under-stand that developers seek profit but surely not at the expense of the Franschhoek brand?

RM: Realistically, they can have nothing against me as a developer. i agree with you and personally don’t think the main road can be developed much more. i believe that all i’ve done is maintain and beautify the village - the old huguenot hotel was not a heritage piece. i’ve personally always tried to make things look nicer and prettier and hopefully we have done that. i don’t think people come to Franschhoek to look at old buildings; they come here be-cause it’s a pleasant environment; pleasant to walk, shop, have a drink and eat. we have to keep it that way.

MR: anyone who beautifies their estate hoping to attract visitors is a developer - L’ormarins is a developer. The Franschhoek motor museum is a fantastic development because it brings in visitors who go to the museum then eat at the restaurants and spend in the shops in the vil-lage. So we need to encourage development but need to close the gap between the various schools of thought in Franschhoek. You are a key individual because what you do is so much in the public eye, and you need to have a fo-rum where you can respond constructively to criticism.

thys Geyser: i agree, i’ve only been here for five years but came here because i thought this was the most beautiful place in the world. But for the first time recently i realised that my perception of doing business here is wrong – i cannot see what is actually produced and sold to people. Stellenbosch is a viable economic community, they export something to the world. So what exactly is Franschhoek - a mall without the mall walls? it’s a shopping destina-tion for the tourist. if you see it like that, then the landlord of the shopping centre would have some predetermined mix of retail, services and restaurants – it would be one guy’s call.

But we don’t have that. it’s the same concept but a different layout. Developers don’t assume that responsibility of a balanced tenant mix here because there’s no consensus. what you need is a blueprint that says this is where we want to be in five years time.

MR: if your thought leaders get together and speak with one voice you can do something. But to get there we need to engage the main guys now: the fruit packers, the farmers, the developers, the retailers, the restaurant own-ers.

RM: But there are two sets of people that come to Franschhoek; those that come here to live and those that visit. why do they visit? it’s a destination that satisfies boredom. They don’t come for shopping.

MR: They come here because Franschhoek is perceived to be quality. They come here to walk through the Dunhill shop of the wine-lands because it is perceived to be an expensive destination.

DF: But if a developer comes in and, for exam-ple, La Grange goes as a result, his actions sim-ply don’t fit the blueprint. it’s not his fault – it’s just that no-one is engaging him. if, however, a developer built an office block it might be better for Franschhoek. who’s engaging in that debate with him? how would you feel, Robert, if a developer put up a Disco and a mcDon-alds? it would undermine the good that you have done.

RM: Yes, but having bought, developers pub-lish what they want to do, so everybody knows. They’re investing big money. People do have the channels to object.

MR: i don’t want to go through the formal channels of going to the municipality with op-position – for me, that’s negative. if someone wants to develop we need to sit around a table and chat about whether it’s good or bad for the valley BeFoRe going through negative formal processes with the municipality. That’s what we advocate. That there’s a forum for thought leaders to get together to evaluate the blueprint for the greater good of the valley.

RM: i’m very open minded. The people here go on attack before they even think. i never object to anything. only once i registered an objec-tion and that was to the Protea hotel for want-ing to put up 80 rooms and that was because i felt that financially it wouldn’t work. Look, i’ve always tried to improve things, beautify them. But your intentions are honourable.

tG: Let’s take you, Robert, out of the situa-tion, for example. You have an interest in Fran-schhoek but let’s assume you decide to sell your entire portfolio to a Jo’burg Property Fund looking at yield, not beautification. Let’s say as the leases lapse, they decide to turn them all into franchises. They’re sitting in Jo’burg! it increases their portfolio yield but who’s going to stop that?

RM: Then all the property owners in Fran-schhoek should get together and form a foun-dation – everyone sells to the foundation rather than wasting money in court challeng-

ing development. You already have the tourism association, could that not work?

DF: Ja, but as we’ve discussed previously, the FwVta are, by design, short-term in their thinking and somewhat restricted in their area coverage and representation.

MR: i’m a farmer here. why would i be a mem-ber of a tourist association? They didn’t organ-ise the Franschhoek Literary Festival so they’re

not even involved in aLL tourism activities. in addition to the tourism association, there’s the conservation trust, the ratepayers, etc; they are all there. Let’s put a layer above this. Let’s get the guys who have a real investment here in the valley, that actually live here and to whom it re-ally matters, have a voice. Let’s marginalise the naysayers. The developers, fruit packers, the farmers – we need to get the thought leaders together speaking as one.

RM: take mr Sexwale, he’s a clear thinker and influential and i’m sure he would be happy to participate in a chamber. That’s the sort of guy you need. For me the big problem is that peo-ple just don’t stay long enough in town. we should be promoting the Valley as a place to stay for a few days, not just overnight.

MR: That’s where Val de Vie and Pearl Valley are fantastic because they encourage people to come stay for a month or more and play golf, ride, relax, etc.

tG: Franschhoek is branded as eat, Drink and Leave. not to stay for a week and spend.

BG: what does the organisation need to offer you to get involved, Robert?

RM: i agree with the concept you are propos-ing. i am keen and will come for a few extra days next time so we can sit and talk and keep thinking.

tG: communication is so skewed in town be-cause eVeRYone is talking about the ocean Basket and they’re all saying that You are bringing it.

RM: i have never eaten in one and probably never will eat in one. i don’t know where these rumours come from. The only national name is clicks. it’s going to be good. i’m very keen on what you guys are saying – i will plan to stay longer next time.

BG: well there goes our ocean Basket advert for this edition!

DF: Thanks gentlemen for giving us your time. i hope this goes some way to fixing the poor relationship between the developers and the people at the very least.

Being on Your ‘GardAn Ocean Basket Full of Red Herrings by David Foster

thys Geyser, right and Malcolm Rutherford, left at Dieu Donné Restaurant

Mid-town developer, Robert Maingard


the month June 2010

22

Although perhaps considered the hub for bookworms only one weekend each year, three Franschhoek businesses offer literary delights all year round. Whether you’re after an airport paperback, a modern biography or a historical first edition as a gift, or inter-ested in the history of Southern Africa, the region’s wine production or the Cape flora, the chances are that you’ll find what you want right here in the Valley.

and you’ll find no greater passion for Fran-schhoek or literature than at the appropriately-named ‘treasure house’ on Bordeaux Street. marion and Brian marsh fell in love with the town more than 45 years ago when they first visited from Johannesburg. many years later they returned, retired and opened Fran-schhoek’s first book store in may 1997. The treasure house now stocks more than 10,000 second-hand books; all carefully categorized into subject areas and authors, so as to make searching easy. They pride themselves on offer-ing something from all the best writers of the 19th and 20th centuries and also specialise in rare and out-of-print books on africa. as well as the incredible range of books, the store also stocks artwork and second-hand records.

the treasure house is open every day from 10am to 5pm. If you’re after a particular book, call Marion on 021 876 2167.

Franschhoek’s second second-hand bookshop, ‘Just Books’, can be found on the corner of huguenot Street and Kruger Street. opened in 2004, owned by Jan van den heever and

managed by the friendly and courteous, ch-antelle, the store offers a large range of novels, South african-focused fiction and non-fiction, wine and travel books. The low ceilings, small space and low level of lighting make it an ideal environment to sit a while, forget the world around you and delve through the pages of a good read.

Just Books is open every day from 10am to 4pm. Call Chantelle on 021 876 3920 for more information.

The most recent of the bookstores to open is ‘The Village’ Bookshop and Stationers at cen-

tre du Village, opposite the municipal Build-ing on huguenot Street. owned and managed by Brad newton, who came to Franschhoek after owning and managing the largest book-shop in harare, the store offers a wide range of new non-fiction books, children’s books, maps, South african guides and coffee table books, as well as souvenirs, jigsaws, art supplies, sta-tionery and greetings cards. if you’re stuck for

ideas of what to buy, take a look at Brad’s list of ‘200 books you must read before you die’; his own bibliography based on a compilation of more than 50 other lists and his own per-sonal reading. ”This is not just a list of literary masterpieces, but great reads,” says Brad, “and includes local authors andre P. Brink, Rian malan’s autobiography and J.m. coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning novel ‘Disgrace’.” Brad offers quick turnaround on book orders and discounts for book clubs.

the Village Bookshop & stationers is open every day from 9am to 5.30pm. Contact Brad on 021 876 4353.

For all three stores, the majority of book-buying visitors are tourists. so if you’re a local resident and haven’t been to the treasure house, Just Books or the Village Bookshop recently, why not go exploring this month and show Marion, Chantelle and Brad your support?

Considering the crazy promotions on at Franschhoek Build It in June, it’s clear they’ve caught SWC fever. While stocks last they’re giving away a 5l Crown White PVA with every cash-purchase of R300 or more and 20l of Crown White PVA with every cash-purchase of R500 or more. Their next promotion runs until the 6th of June and “Surprise Prizes” are on offer every Friday, where customers stand a chance to win one of 50 Build It branded watches. The promotion will end with a grand prize of a Soccer Table for one of the 50 surprised winners.

Book Now!Things to Do in the Valley

Build It, Win It!Discover theBeauty of autumn

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Expect a rich palette of textures, prints, colours and designs. Deep berry and jewel-jade tones sparkle alongside the chocolate-brown and dove-grey shades. Bold yet subtle design is celebrated through unusual prints, understated sequence, lush furs and batik.

- Este Schutte

See advert on page 12the winner of the recent national Build It promotion was local carpenter,

salwen Constable, who won one of 6 LG 72cm Flatron tVs. Congratulations salwen!


the month June 2010

June 2010

There’s no denying that Franschhoek is a festive place, and it’s equally true that we’re a festival place. A quick glance at the local Franschhoek Wine Valley and Tourism As-sociation website lists no fewer than 11 offi-cially endorsed “festivals and events” in 2010 and each is chosen and promoted for its value to the village and the inevitable ef-fect it will have on the bottom line. But what about festivals and activities that simply seek to benefit the organisers of the events and don’t have the endorsement of organizations like the FWVTA?

i was taken aback a month or so ago when, popping into the village for the paper and some milk, i passed by a large number of castle flags and a growing lager of stalls and cars that sig-naled some sort of organised chaos, close to

the huguenot m o n u m e n t . Don’t get me wrong, i enjoy beer as much as the next man and i’m happy to see people enjoying Fran-schhoek and its open pub-lic spaces, but when a festival

of this size organized by a cape town-based events company, with little reason to spend its money in the village or make use of local sup-pliers and produce, parasitically takes locals for

a ride without even the courtesy of telling us about it, it brings my blood to the boil.

There’s no reason that such an organiser should feed back into the community, and i don’t expect that from them, what i ex-pect is that local bod-ies that exist to repre-sent the interests of locals dam the flood or better yet, channel it, so that we’re not exploited like kids in a sweat-shop. it may sound inflammatory, but it’s not meant to be. i’m convinced that now, more than ever, Franschhoek needs to pull together to protect the fragile microcosm that it is. when a chamber of commerce-like or-ganisation materialis-es to flex the village’s collective muscle, my membership form will be the first in the box.

see page 21.

“Think glitz, glam and sophis-tication because, girl, you’ll be a woman soon” says tom hen-ning from Thomas-Johan hen-ning couture as matric Dance season beckons. “it’s time to put away those school uniforms and fluff out those tail feath-ers!” tom does figure and colour analysis, a front and back sketch of your dream gown, recom-mends fabric, provides acces-sories and shoes, offers profes-sional hair and make-up advice by a top stylist and gets you free entry into the Sunday times Gown of the Year competition. consultations are just R250 and tom will take orders until the end of June. he has a long list of happy customers from Paarl Gym, Laborie, Bridge house, La Rochelle, Groendal and Franschhoek high School matric Dances. So step out in your very own red carpet gown designed and created especially for you and to suit your budget. call tom on 083 343 3455 to avoid the last-minute rush and look like a million dollars on your big night.

Something Fishy?An Opinion Piece by the editor

Matric Treatspecial Gowns for special Girls

Dress modelled by Katie Bell, hair by Jenni traut


the month June 2010

24

This morning at the breakfast table, my husband alerted me to the caustic tone I had used with my teenage daughter as she pro-ceeded to enlighten me on my relationship with my 73-year-old mother. I hated myself in that moment of dawning. I hated him having to point this out to me! ‘Impeccable speech’ – my man-tra and that of my offspring… and where was I this morning? I apologized to my daughter and sat pensively for the remaining ten minutes of breakfast. What had happened?

our thoughts are so governed by our emotions, that there are times that we seem to be caught in the whirlwind of ‘stuff’ and we neglect the moment that exists between a stimulus and our response. in an instant, the damage is done and someone is hurt by the power of our tone and our choice of words.

if all of our thoughts could be banked in terms of negatives and positives, then a whole plethora of words, belonging to these thoughts, would be banked into these vaults. and if for every time we had a positive or a negative thought, we needed to go to the bank and open the vault in order to find the appropriate words to ver-balise the thought, we would SLow down the entire process of dialogue; and this would be brilliant!

By slowing down our verbal communication, so many other cues can be identified and considered before we deliver. i’m not suggest-ing that everyone should play ‘therapist’ and analyse all circumstances before commenting. what i mean is that attentive listening skills – without thinking of your comment or answer before the person is done speaking – allows for you to capture the full ‘presence’ of the person and for you to be fully present too.

By acknowledging the full presence of the per-son speaking, from their facial expression to their mood state, you will sense the appropri-ate tone to use or words to choose in order to engage beneficially - for both of you. and if you get it wrong, your teenager will point it out to you.

Be present in somebody else’s presence and actively listen, sense as many aspects of the person speaking as possible – that’s the exer-cise of ‘Impeccable speech’.

The Month asked Guy de WIT for his views on uncapped ADSL that seems to be all the rage at the moment.

well, before you jump on the proverbial band-width-wagon, you first need to identify your needs as an internet user. if you are the usual, semi-technophobic ‘i-only-check-my-mail-and-occasionally-do-a-Google-search’ kind of person, you shouldn’t use more than a gigabyte (Gb) or two’s worth of data on an entry-level telkom aDSL line per month. This should cost

a whole lot less than the cheapest uncapped of-fer available currently. in fact, the general rule of thumb says that if you don’t use more than a

few gigabytes per month on a 384 tel-kom line, an uncapped solution isn’t financially viable.

The other factor to take into considera-tion is the need for speed. if you are like me, and enjoy multiple downloads and share my lack of patience, you’ll need to do your homework and read the fine print before going uncapped. Due to infrastructure restraints, most service providers can’t afford a free-for-all frenzy without compromising some users; there’s only so much to go around. as a result, greedy peer-to-peer and streaming video applications are quite slow during business hours and in most cases video Skyping your friends and family or Bit-torrenting during the day can be compared to a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.

There is, however an LeD at the end of the tunnel as more big cables should

land on our shores by next month, promising better quality of service and further price re-ductions.

if you’re uncertain, get some sound advice from an objective source, like your local friendly it guy, whose ad is above.

Say What?Dr Chi

FunlimitedGuy de WIt


the month June 2010

June 2010

MINUTES WITH . . .ROBERT KLITGAARD

Formerly a professor at Harvard and Yale, Robert Klitgaard is a University Professor at Claremont Graduate University in Califor-nia, where he served as President from 2005-2009. He is spending the first six months of 2010 in Franschhoek on a sabbatical leave and his works on Haiti and Sudan are avail-able at www.cgu.edu/pages/6259.asp. We asked him what he’d been working on dur-ing his time here in Franschhoek.

Robert Klitgaard: Reading, thinking, and writing. Some products have been practical. “addressing corruption in haiti” is helping haitians and donors plan reconstruction and development activities. a paper on afghanistan was commissioned the week before President Barack obama’s surprise visit there in march and is being used in a project to strengthen governance. i redid a text-plus-pictures book on Southern Sudan, the most underdeveloped place i’ve encountered yet.

the Month: haiti, afghanistan, Sudan: those are worlds away from Franschhoek. why here? RK: The internet and Skype enable you to fol-low news, even in places like haiti, and to con-verse inexpensively. But the real reason we’re here is because Franschhoek is special. i tell americans it’s like aspen but with wineries. i love the views of mountains and clouds, always varying, often inspiring. my wife elaine and i and our two younger children Kai (16) and Kristen (12) have been enjoying this spectacu-lar town, this beautiful region, the wineries and restaurants. Kleinmond weekends and outings to a De Doorns grape farm with my wife’s fam-ily have been highlights. Friends have kindly hosted us on spectacular farms in Paardeberg and tulbagh. we’ve attended cricket and rug-by matches, watched the kids’ sports and plays at Bridge house, and enjoyed the Franschhoek health club. and you know one treat of being on sabbatical? i get to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my wife every day.

tM: You were in South africa at the time of the democratic transition, as a professor in Durban. You come here for vacation every couple of years. what is your take on South africa today?

RK: i haven’t been studying South africa nor engaging in the day-to-day travails of every man and woman. my exposure is osmotic, as it were. For what it’s worth, i’m impressed once more by what South africa has achieved and worried once more about the fragility of the achievements.

Sixteen years after the first multiracial elec-tions, you have peace, economic growth, free markets, and excellent economic infrastructure. many South african businesses have prospered internationally. The economist rates South africa as one of the most affordable places in the world for an executive family of four. what might go wrong with this nice picture? cor-ruption lurks, indeed barely lurks. crime per-sists. The Rand is overvalued, and i fear that the same can be said of property markets and gold. a negative scenario over the next couple of years would combine a significant worsening in the economic picture with a governance cri-sis, which together could kindle a long-feared confrontation between the majority’s desire for property and subsidy and the minority’s need for security and international competitiveness.

tM: Sounds grim.

RK: Let me not close on grimness. Rather, count your blessings, and value your herit-age. what an amazing country you have been and are becoming. South africa matters in the world. if Sa succeeds, it bodes well for multiracial democracies everywhere. You are a beacon. You have many international friends, who wish you nothing but the best. and now, here comes your world cup!

tM: Thanks Robert for your time.

robert is pictured here with his eldest daughter,tamryn.


the month June 2010

26

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If you thought that I had stowed my canons and closed my gun ports you’d be horribly mistaken - the cat is out of the bag once again, ready to do business.

one of the very first things i do when returning home is to take a slow drive through the village to see what is new and more importantly to seek out familiar things, things that reinforce the feeling that i am finally home. For some-one who has to leave home for long periods at a time these familiar things become very impor-tant. These familiar things manifest themselves in many guises – a still drunk waiter running on autopilot as he struts purposefully to work, Jonathan at the Build it, Stuart at the Pick n Pay, coffee at Kalfi’s, vendors on the pavements, buildings, cars you recognize and wonder how their owners are doing, Gerrit at the Pharmacy, even David at The month (although it grieves me to admit it) – all combining to say “hey – nice to have you back”…

You slowly exhale and relax because you are back where you belong. This time, however, things were different. as i drove through town i saw the pile of rubble that was once the old Pick n Pay. it looked like a scene reminiscent of Dresden after the saturation bombing dur-ing the Second world war - the only difference was that instead of broken German woman sift-ing through the debris, a multitude of workers were busily clearing the rubble to make room for yet another ridiculous, superfluous array of shops. (You can almost hear the gun ports opening can’t you?) This was not the home i was looking forward to. what possible need do we have for yet another shopping centre with

empty shops? how long is this nonsense go-ing to carry on for? is it too late for us? what recourse have we got? apart from insatiable greed and avarice, what drives these developers

to do the things they do?

never in a million years would i look at the village and say “this place needs more shops – let’s build another shopping centre and give it a pretentious French name like ‘Place du cadeau mauvais’-Yup that will work!” Developers are foisting their fantasies on us! They have com-pletely mutilated and disfigured the village! it looks like a woman that has had one too many facelifts, not all of them by skilled surgeons, the skin stretched across her skull so tight that she is incapable of any facial expression.

The needs of the community have never been addressed. never have the developers had the imagination or decency to ask us what we, as a community, really need. The only sensible thing that has been built in this village over the past few years has been the gym. if memory serves, they asked us at the time whether we needed one. would that not be an impressive change? we are now forced to live someone else’s dream. even more annoying is that some of these developers do not even live here and thus do not even have to endure this hideous disfigurement. whenever a new development is planned, we, as inhabitants of the village, are afforded a perfunctory opportunity to object to it. never are we invited to comment on what we need. we are simply asked if we have any objections, something these faceless devel-opers prepare themselves and arm themselves for. Thanks to the effete municipality, these hideous monuments of greed are still allowed to pop up all over the village. to the munici-pality in Stellenbosch, we are the spoilt chil-dren across the hill. They could not give a hoot about our problems. i have said it a thousand times before and i will say it again: we need to secede from the Stellenbosch municipality and steer and determine our own affairs. we have more than our fair share of shakers and movers in the village. what better collective of people to run the valley? Better service delivery, more control over this ridiculous development, self determination, our own identity.

in what way is this continuous development beneficial to us? The local infrastructure is being stretched to capacity. it does not simply stop at landmarks being destroyed and being replaced with hideous, unnecessary shops. There are a whole lot of side-effects to this. Just look at the traffic in the mornings. This is not traffic going out of the village, it is traffic coming in! all

these shops and restaurants pandering to the tourists have to be manned for the four months or so before they go out of business. The staff of these places cannot afford to live here, nor are there a lot of houses with affordable rentals in the area. So they live out of town and com-mute vast distances to work here.

There are occasions when i have to commute to cape town for work reasons. Leaving at five in the morning, i almost never saw an-other car until i got to the n1. it was dark, quiet – just the noise of the engine and the two beams of my Dawn of creation RR (Roast-ing Retina) spotlights piercing the dark like a viper’s tongue testing the air for prey. Sitting behind the helm of my trusty steed, a warm glow in the pit of my belly because i was being a good father and husband, rising and going to work while my bride and babes slept soundly under the roof and safety i, their provider was supplying. Strange as it may seem, it soon be-came a favorite part of my otherwise tedious day. it gave me time to think. The darkness, the trusty steed, the spotlights – it was a special time. nowadays that is not possible. The traffic flow at that time of the morning is now such that i cannot even engage the Dawn of crea-tion lights anymore. There is no point, for as soon as i switch them on, i have to dim down again - quite emasculating.

Soon our gallant developers will probably put up multi-storey apartment blocks on pristine agricultural land to house all these people. Surely they cannot pass up this opportunity to nurture the greedy animal inside them.

Then the other day it hit me as i was driving up the main road. i looked at the new empty shopping centre and it occurred to me that the buildings there looked very much like monop-oly houses, especially since they have reddish tinge at the moment (soon to be covered in a tasteful tusco-Greco-Provencal rustic hue i am sure). Such was the resemblance that i was looking around for the battleship or the top hat in the main road. could it be that these developers are playing a game of monopoly with themselves? is that what drives them to do what they do? could we not then create some platform for them to vent these urges without the associated development? i am aware that there are games in cyberspace where you can lead completely separate, fictitious lives.

You can own fake property, run a shoe store if you like. Your character can even be a different gender. maybe we can create something like that for developers. it would need to be pro-hibitively expensive to join the game. we could create a pristine valley with beautiful historical buildings in cyberspace. a place people would want to live in because it so beautiful. a place people would want to raise children in. Players could then buy and sell buildings from each other and the aim of the game is to deface the valley with hideous developments as quickly as possible and then sell and get out. he who creates the most eyesores and makes the most money wins. we could make the game as re-alistic as possible, complete with irate, shell-shocked residents, traffic and lack of parking. You may even run a propaganda campaign in the local newspaper to create the illusion that you are doing all this to benefit the cyber valley. The damage would be in cyberspace and not in our beautiful valley. Permasoft Destroyer 3D or compensate-o 3D anyone?

Developing an OpinionThe Lick ‘O the Cat returns with sharpened tongue


aDVeRtoRiaL June 2010

June 2010

Wine of the Month – June 2010Dieu Donné charDonnay 2007r60-00

This Chardonnay was fermented in 100% new French oak barrels for twelve months. The wine went through partial malolactic fermentation to retain the distinctive lemony fruitiness from the grapes. It’s made in a complex style with lemony, lime flavours, complemented by vanilla from the barrels. It won a silver medal at the Veritas Wine Show in 2009 and was awarded 3 stars in the Wine Magazine of November 2009.

Enjoy this wine with a plate of oysters, roast duck or turkey.

“For a traditional winter’s day treat try our delicious Cinnamon Sugar Pancake, join us inside, next to the warm glow of our tiny kitchen.” - Gerard van Staden, Crepe & Cider

“With its commanding view of the Simonsberg, the Dieu Donné Restaurant offers diners an out-of-this-world experience with food and wine to match the spectacular setting.” - Jo van Staden, Chef Patron, Dieu Donné Restaurant


the month June 2010

28

The Big Bang is ancient history – a cataclys-mic white flash they say, that created the cosmos and life as we know it today. But when you can pick an ‘everyday car’ from the showroom floor that explodes to 100km/h in 3.2 seconds, destroys the standing quar-ter-mile in eleven seconds at well beyond 200km/h and passes the kilometre mark in

just over 20 seconds at 255km/h; the Big Bang may just have happened again. OK, I may be exaggerating, but just a bit. Of all the cars I’ve tested over the past fifteen years, I’ve never experienced anything quite like this. The Porsche 911 Turbo is stunning. Simply stunning.

The G-force at pull-off is stupendous – it’s like being tail-ended by another car travelling at 50. Porsche manages this via it’s 368kw 650nm 3.8-litre turbo boxer-six to which it adds a combination of active traction man-agement, all-wheel drive, launch control, a limited-slip diff, a seven-speed Porsche PDK doppelkupelgetreibe (double-clutch gearbox) with millisecond shifting and an added 50nm overboost when needed.

But it’s the speed at which everything happens in the seconds after the blinding pull-off until well beyond the end of the standing kilometre that really stands out – especially when com-pared to the turbo’s refined and friendly man-ner down huguenot Street. take it up the pass and further along those stunning, long sweep-ing curves our roads offer around here and this 911 responds with extraordinarily crisp turn-in as it changes direction like a Le mans racer. Just as notable is the way in which Porsche has blended radical speed on one side with discreet

manners on the other. The old one was great but the new turbo moves onto another plane altogether. Pity is that you can hardly tell the difference between them. But that’s the Por-sche way, isn’t it…?

as an aside, Porsche reckons the 911 turbo manages 11 litres per 100 kilometres overall

when driven in ‘a somewhat reserved style of driving’. i managed 18. now if i could just fig-ure out why?

Michele Lupini

stat sheetPorsche 911 turboeNGiNe: 3800cc 6-cyl Qohc 24V

boxer 6 turbo

Gearbox: 7-sPeeD PDK Double-

clutch rWD

PoWer: 368KW

torQue: 650NM

testeD 0-100KM/h: 3.2sec (reef

3.2sec)

testeD 0-400M: 11.1 sec @ 205KM/h

KyalaMi hot laP: 1:54.8

claiMeD fuel use: 11.6/100KM

claiMeD eMissioNs: 268G/KM

WarraNty & MaiNteNaNce: 3

years/90,000KM

Price: r1,950,000

biG baNGRoad Test: Porsche 911 Turbo

Are you looking to diversify your property portfolio away from the traditional residen-tial and commercial property sector? Or per-haps you’re a first-time investor looking for a simple, fully-managed investment option?

Self or mini Storage is a property-linked serv-ice business aimed at generating strong cash flows from many small tenants.

Franschhoek businessman Jonathan Sendzul says “The key differential in Self Storage over traditional real estate investment lies in its structure: income is generated via business op-erations underpinned by rental income, as op-posed to a more traditional real estate vehicle where rental is received directly from tenants.”

Jonathan is the innovator of ‘That Storage Place’ – 441 self storage units on the fringe of the n1 highway opposite Paarl mall. The units range in size from 16m2 to 32m2. “Blocks of 66-70 units will be sold under sectional title in a unique opportunity for investors to access a bite-sized investment in the mini-storage in-dustry,” says Jonathan.

extremely safe and secure with on site security, access control and electrified perimeter fenc-ing, full monitoring and surveillance, “this in-vestment in self-storage is an outstanding op-tion given its prime location within easy reach

of the n1 and our rental guarantee to first time investors” he says. The storage units will be placed in a rental pool that will be profes-sionally managed by the managing agent, thus ensuring an alignment of interest between the developer and the investor.

on the easy-to-navigate website you can down-load an investor memorandum which covers everything you need to know about the oppor-tunity, its location, the rationale for investing and other information about mini-storage, the company, pricing, costs and potential returns.

Visit www.thatstorageplace.co.za, call Jonathan on 082 491 1508 or see ad be-low for details.

Invest in Spacestaff reporter


the month June 2010

June 2010

The New NormalThe Dave rundle financial Column

Many investors have been surprised and en-couraged by the dramatic rebound in risk assets since March. With economic and business conditions still weak, however, I believe that the rally in stock markets and bond prices will lose some momentum.

Looking beyond the current run-up, investors need a longer-term strategy for the challenging years to come. The financial markets are un-dergoing a major shift toward a new economic reality of slower growth in the developed econ-omies, less leverage and greater regulation.

investor risk appetites have returned in re-cent months as systematic risks have subsided. credit markets have benefited greatly from this shift. Previously sidelined money has poured into the credit markets, and securities marked down by indiscriminate selling in the fourth quarter of 2008 were bid up by liquidity-driv-en buying in the first half of 2009.

amid strong demand for higher yielding assets, spreads across most credit sectors now stand roughly where there were before the collapse. This remarkable recovery raises important questions: how much further can risk markets run, and can investors just continue to own the market ‘beta’ and expect the good times to continue?

Personally i think probably not.

with companies still cutting costs, unemploy-ment is likely to remain high, and any poten-tial recovery will lack momentum as long as consumers are not spending and demand is weak.

i think the investment climate will become extremely volatile as we continue on the long-term journey to a new economic and financial reality. Some advisors call this the ‘new nor-mal’.

This new normal includes a shift in economic growth to emerging countries such as china and away from the more developed economies such as the uS, continued leveraging by banks, corporations and consumers and greater regu-lation as well as continued government inter-vention aimed at resolving the financial crisis and global recession.

in the wake of the financial crisis more inves-tors are seeking ways to diversify the equity risk that has historically dominated their portfolios while also finding ways to guard against the effects of inflation that may pose a significant long-term risk.

The result is a renewed interest in real assets, which are distinguished by their returns being linked to inflation. The most liquid options are inflation-linked bonds, commodities, real es-tate investment trusts and commodity related equities. Less liquid options include private real estate, timber, oil and gas partnerships and infrastructure-backed equity and debt.

many investors realise that the recipe for in-vestment success in the ‘80s and ‘90s is un-likely to produce comparable return potential going forward. That simple approach will be further challenged when high inflation does in fact materialise.

That is why we believe investors should consid-er diversifying their portfolios away from the high equity risk only and position portfolios for heightened inflation risk over the longer term. in this environment real assets have become a focus as having a single, diversified strategy for managing those collective exposures.

make sure your financial advisor knows exactly how to diversify your portfolio and that each asset class that is selected is carefully selected.

Dave RundleRundle management Services 083 658 8055

This article is solely intended to provide you with objective information about financial products and services and is not intended to constitute a recommendation, guidance or proposal with re-gard to the suitability of any product in respect of any financial need you may have.

Cape Town has been voted top destination in Africa and 25th most popular destination worldwide according to TripAdvisor’s 2010 Traveller’s Choice survey. It is also Africa’s 2nd most popular Culture & Sightseeing destination, 4th most popular Outdoor & Adventure destination, and 6th most popu-lar Beach & Sun destination. The Western Cape took 2nd place as the world’s most popular Food & Wine destination.

however, despite the enthusiasm and support from global travellers, South africa has con-tinually battled negative foreign press in the run-up to the world cup over the security situation. on april 13th, for example, cnn listed cape town along with Detroit, new orleans, Baghdad, Beirut, Kinshasa, moscow, Karachi, Juarez (mexico) and caracas as one of the world’s most Dangerous cities.

The opening paragraph of an article in the uK’s tabloid Sun newspaper published on 1st march and entitled ‘welcome to cape Fear’ stated, “... some of the most violent gangs in history lurk in the shadows of the stadiums and the country has one of the world’s worst crime rates, with a murder every 25 minutes and a crystal meth epidemic”.

with such scaremongering, it’s not surprising that potential foreign visitors are expressing some alarm. in much of the european media, similar articles have appeared, attributing low ticket sales predominantly to the security situa-tion, although just as plausible arguments have been ignored.

Foreign governments have done little to help the situation. The uK’s Foreign & common-wealth office, the united States State Depart-ment and the australian Department of For-eign affairs each issued travel warnings drawing attention to the issue of crime in South africa.however, there is research to suggest that the picture for tourists visiting South africa is brighter than the media and foreign govern-ments have portrayed. Data from the uK’s

Foreign & commonwealth office showed that between april 2008 and march 2009, British tourists and residents were more likely to die in Spain, Germany, Thailand, Portugal, cy-prus, india and egypt than in South africa. They’re also more likely to be hospitalized in Spain, Thailand, Greece, Portugal, turkey, cy-prus, india and egypt than in South africa. it’s interesting that statistically, the most prevalent crime foreigners are subjected to is having their passports stolen.

Research by Grant Thornton shows that almost 0.5% of the country’s GDP this year will come from foreign tourists during the world cup period. Visitors are expected to visit approxi-mately five games each, up from the original projections of 3.4 games and the average 2.6 games that visitors to the world cup in Ger-many saw. Visitors are also expected to stay for 18 days (original prediction 14 days) and each spend R30,200 (original prediction R22,000).

Hold On to Your PassportAlan saffery, of Winelands experience


the month June 2010

30

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On the 11th of May Fran-schhoek Health Club host-ed a talk in collaboration with Paarl Medi-Clinic, about “Know your knees”. This talk was presented by Dr. Liebenberg, an Ortho-paedic Surgeon.

The purpose of the talk was to give back information to members and non-members on health-related issues that could affect them in their daily activities and also give them the opportunity to ask questions on the related topic.

“This was the first of a number of talks that we want to host at the gym,” says gym man-ager, Johan Viljoen. “topics will vary accord-ing to health related issues that mostly occur in our society today. our aim with these talks is to bring to our community the importance

of healthy living through exercise and making the right choices towards living a healthier life-style.” he says.

Contact Johan for more information regarding future talks to be hosted at Franschhoek health Club on 021 876 3310 or see their ad above.

Franschhoek’s Bumble Bee Play School held their annual Bonanza on Saturday 15th May. Face-painting, games, a jumping castle, deli-cious cupcakes and a chance to pet Domino, a miniature horse, and some very fluffy sheep all added to the fun-filled family day. While not the primary objective, a large amount of money was raised that will be used to buy play-equipment for the school’s three class-rooms and two playgrounds.

on the same day, as part of the Franschhoek Literary programme, Bumble Bee sponsored the cash prizes at the second Franschhoek Literary Festival Spelling Bee finale. The bee went a long way to creating a buzz amongst the learners at the participating local schools and reflects the vision of the Franschhoek Lit-

erary Festival to make an impact in the lives of young readers. Despite the apparently steadily decreasing in-terest in reading by youth in general, the bee attracted a large amount of interest from participants and specta-tors alike. 32 finalists were chosen, up from 14 in 2008, and the tension was soon palpable as the audience began to egg their favourites on and had to be reprimanded by adjudicator helen naudé.

with just four contestants to go, the mettle of the competitors was put to the test and after a number of truly difficult words to spell, two confident figures remained. and their confi-dence was well-founded – the adjudi-cator ran out words before they did! The winner, nina conde, was chosen on the strength of her overall per-formance and beat runner up, Justin wooding, by the narrowest of mar-gins. The two final words that placed nina in the top spot were Philanthro-pist and Xenophobia. as overall win-ner she walked away with a cash prize, a 3rd edition oxford english Diction-ary, a Pharos Bilingual Dictionary, an

‘akeelah and the Bee’ DVD and a trophy.

Feel the Kneedstaff reporter

A Bee Bonanzastaff reporter

Mont View Building,13 Fabriek Street, Franschhoek

SHOWROOM NEXT TO GYM

tel 021 876 3599Cell 076 300 3205 (Rita Lourens)

For all your lighting requirementsFREE QUOTATIONS &CONSULTATIONS ON SITE

Franschhoek

AGENTS FOR

DnA Events presents

A BALL of a Party

in the

Theatre @ Bridge House School Friday 11 June includes James Stewart Live – R120p/p donation

Saturday 12 June - R60p/p donation Wednesday 16 June - R60p/p donation

Friday 18 June - R60p/p donation Tuesday 22 June - R60p/p donation Friday 25 June - R60p/p donation

Friday 2 July includes James Stewart Live - R120p/p donation Saturday 3 July includes James Stewart Live - R120p/p donation

Saturday 10 July - R60p/p donation Sunday 11 July includes James Stewart Live - R120p/p donation

Delicious Pub Meals by Allora will be on sale

(phone Philip on 021 876 4375 to pre-book your meal) Cash Bar only

No picnics may be brought in Donations will go towards Bridge House Theatre improvements

DID YOU KNOW THAT BRIDGE HOUSE HAS A BRAND NEW BIG SCREEN

for BIG SCREEN VIEWING AT THESE EVENTS!

Book now to avoid disappointment. - Jenny Jones 021 874 8100 or

[email protected] (After 11 June, please phone Jenny on 083 581 7682 to book)

FLF spelling Bee: 2nd runner-up Jasmien Ruiters, winner nina Conde and

1st runner up Justin Wooding

spiderman sasha enjoying the Bonanza


the month June 2010

June 2010

We know the Lord moves in mysterious ways and he clearly has the ear of Golf Clubs the world over. Invariably, after a shocking round of golf full of shanked drives and duffed wedges, He grants you the perfect 5-iron into the eighteenth so you’re full of enthusiasm for the next round. You miss the putt, of course, but the job is done.

not for me, i’m way too clever to be fooled so easily. i know golf is a mug’s game and my passion for it is unlikely to ever extend beyond the four times a year i hit the fairways - or miss them, as the case may be. i’m a pragmatist – i know my limitations.

So when i was invited by James wade from SwingFit, the expert golf instruction and training academy at Pearl Valley, for some free coaching i threw the killer golf shoes (circa 1984) into the bakkie and headed out there like a kid with a new toy but knowing full-well you can’t teach this old dog new tricks. what i wasn’t prepared for was a religious calling.

That someone can just casually observe and nudge advice is almost divine: “try to feel straighter in the knees, allow your upper half to tilt forward from the hips bringing the weight more towards the balls of the feet” – that re-sults in straighter, longer drives. or coaxing the short game: “Set up a little narrower in the stance, with the ball position middle to back, weight slightly left sided” resulting in, whilst not perfect by any means, vastly improved ac-curacy around the green, i feel myself begin-ning to believe.

of course, it helps hugely to be pinging these now straighter drives amid the beautiful sur-rounds of Pearl Valley and to deal with pleasant, respectful guys with comfortable ‘airline pilot’

names like James and Simon who wouldn’t even contemplate poking fun at my old, cheap golf shoes. But hold on a minute! i’m not actu-ally thinking i could become a player, am i?

“You just need to play a bit more often and you’d be competitive” says James, “i can see you’re a ‘feel’ player.” Silence. he knows he has

me, he’s saying the right things and i’m buy-ing it hook, line and sinker. and as i leave i begin to rationalise. The pointlessness of golf is more than an unconquerable challenge; it’s a concession to the good life. Life is about work-ing hard, not playing golf all day. isn’t it? how do i explain this to my children?

in truth, the academy does a great job pro-viding individually tailored coaching pro-grams covering fitness, biomechanics, mind and swing, enhancing performance awareness and including, clearly, tempting middle-aged no-hopers like myself to believe. James has the ability to make you believe but it’s you that needs to take the step.

i’m grateful to SwingFit and promised James i’d return, which no doubt i will. But care-fully. i’m not scared of becoming hooked - i’m scared i may like it so much i’ll give in to the addiction!

Phew, that was close. i’d better get back to work…

Amongst the BelieversPublisher’s Parting shot

Franschhoek VillageFranschhoek ValleyClaremont tokaiValley events Constantia Rondebosch Claremont upper Hout Bay Camps Bay newlands tokai steenburg Shopping Centrestotal

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12000

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Art Workshop in Art Workshop in FranschhoekFranschhoek

PRESENTED BY:

Now, a few lucky artists get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn Catherine’s painting technique alongside the artist herself on a weekend workshop at The Conserva to ry in F ranschhoek Surrounded by inspiring views, Catherine will guide you on a magical journey of creative expression. The workshop will be limited to a select few.

www.hometolife.co.za

When: 11-12 September 2010 Where: The Conservatory, Franschhoek All painting materials supplied, Includes accommodation at Le Quartier Français

For more information email: [email protected]

in association with:

The Kusasa Project Golf Day was held on a stunning May day and attended by 104 participants from the Franschhoek area. The day was a fundraiser for Kusasa’s joint venture with another NGO, “Cool To Be Me”; a group that facilitates self-esteem workshops with every Grade 7 child in every school in the valley. A special thank you goes to all the prize donors, players and to the Elephant and Barrel who hosted the after party.


the social pageSociaLJune 2010

clocKWise froM aboVe:

the throngs of people that visited the Cheese Festival held at Bien Donné in May were wonderfully entertained during the three days by a number of talented local musicians.

Robbie Jansen wowed the crowds at the Bridge house theatre during his benefit concert last month.

One of ‘the nice time Kids’ performing for diners at the Big 5 charity event held in May at Grande Provence heritage Wine estate.

A particularly precious portrait picture of a pretty Pesto Princess providing passers-by with plentiful portions of pesto.

Freedom Day was celebrated at the Freedom hill restaurant and winery with wine, good music and great company.

50 Hugueno t S t ree t F r a nschhoek Te l : 021 876 4691 www.peacockb l ue . co . z a

ARE YOU COLD? We thought you might be . . . so we have PRINGLE, POLO, SCOTCH & SODA,

CASHMERE knitwear as well as winter jackets, scarves, socks, gloves and hats. (SMALLER KIDS SIZES TOO)

SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO THOSE WHO DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS WINTER HERE IN AFRICA!

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