Inspiring beauty and brains COSMO CITY – Unemployment Need Transformation looks to empower Randburg.

 Shaun Unterslak, principal of Unemployed Need Transformation (UNT), a school accredited to teach beauty and Afro hairdressing, has planned a special programme for the unemployed in the area.

 Past pupil, Bonisiwe Kumalo, who now works at the beauty spa at the Westcliff Hotel

Shaun Unterslak, principal of Unemployed Need Transformation (UNT), a school accredited to teach beauty and Afro hairdressing, has planned a special programme for the unemployed in the area.

Starting early November, it is aimed at unemployed and low-income earners living in and around Randburg including Cosmo City. Unterslak added that many Cosmo City residents asked that the programme to come to the area after it was found to be a success in Olievenhoutbosch.

Graduates can either find employment in salons, rent a chair in existing salons or run their own mobile salons.

“I have trained thousands of unemployed, abused and disadvantaged individuals in townships around Johannesburg. I create an opportunity for them to work for themselves and earn a high income,” Unterslak added. He shared the story of a past student in Soweto, who began earning R4 500 a month only three months after her training and has now started her own salon.

Participants will undergo eight weeks of beauty training, which will include the following skills:

     Manicure and pedicure
     Applying acrylic nails
     Applying gel nails
     Applying artificial single eyelashes
     Apply braiding
     Applying hair extensions.

On completion of the training, all successful students will receive an accredited certificate.

“December is the peak period in the beauty and hair industry and the students will be able to apply artificial acrylic nails and artificial eyelashes on paying customers by then,” said Unterslak.

To enable the training to take place, a minimum of 25 students need to participate in the programme. Those interested can SMS or call Unterslak on 072 517 8937.

South Africans are not the world’s biggest alcohol consumers.A South African minister claims the country tops the international rankings for alcohol consumption. The most recent data shows he’s wrong.

South Africans outdrink all other nations, according to South Africa’s minister of trade and industry Rob Davies.

Davies claimed that “South Africa currently has the highest level of alcohol consumption in the world” at a press briefing where he released the National Liquor Amendment Bill for public comment.

The Bill proposes, among other things, raising the minimum drinking age in South Africa to 21 years.

Is the minister’s claim true?
Source of department’s statistic unknown

The press release published on the department’s website notes, “according to Minister Davies, South Africa currently has the highest level of alcohol consumption in the world at 10-12% as compared to the world average of 6%”.

We contacted the department’s spokesman for comment on how they arrived at these figures but he did not respond to emails and phone calls.

It’s unclear where these percentages come from or what they refer to. The department has previously cited World Health Organisation (WHO) data in their documents, which refers to adult per capita consumption of pure alcohol by the litre.

Residents watch the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in a liquor store in the Atteridgeville on June 11, 2010. Photo: John MacDougall/AFP

How much do South Africans drink?

WHO produces global alcohol and health status reports, which aim to provide a detailed picture of alcohol consumption across the world for people aged 15 years and older. These reports also describe efforts by the organisation and its member states to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, as well as highlight its health and social consequences.

Its 2014 report shows that total per capita alcohol consumption in South Africa was 11 litres in 2010 – 18.4 litres for males and 4.6 litres for females. When only looking at those that drink, per capita consumption for drinkers of both sexes rose to 27.1 litres of pure alcohol, contained in beer, wine, spirits and other alcoholic drinks.

A total of 59.4% of South Africans abstained from drinking alcohol over the period studied, according to the report. This was made up of 42% of South Africans who had never consumed alcohol and 17.3% who used to drink but had stopped.
SA 31st for total alcohol consumption

The latest WHO data shows that South Africa is not the highest ranked country in the world for alcohol consumption when it comes to total alcohol consumption or total alcohol consumption among drinkers.

The country was ranked 31st highest of 195 countries for total alcohol consumed per capita (11 litres per person) in 2010. Belarus took the top spot with a per capita consumption of 17.5 litres.

WHO data shows that global average alcohol consumption was 6.3 litres per person in 2010, which translates to 13.5 grammes of pure alcohol per day. In Africa, average alcohol consumption was 6 litres per person.

Drinkers’ consumption much higher

Richard Matzopoulous, a senior scientist at the South African Medical Research Council’s Burden of Disease Research Unit, whose research includes looking at the relationship between alcohol and violence, thought Davies may have been mistaken.

He pointed out that “what South Africa is renowned for is one of the highest per capita rates of drinking among the drinking population.”

When this is considered, South Africa climbs to 11th place. The data shows that South African drinkers drank on average 27.1 litres of alcohol in 2010.

South Africa was ranked 59th highest of 195 countries for heavy episodic drinking among those who drink. Drinking at least 60 grammes or more of pure alcohol on at least one occasion in the past 30 days will place a drinker in this category.

Standard drink measures vary from country to country, but in South Africa, a standard drink contains 12 grammes of pure alcohol. Consuming five-and-a-half glasses of wine (at a typical 12% alcohol volume) or five 340ml beers (at a typical 5% alcohol volume) on at least one occasion in the last month would be considered “heavy episodic drinking”.

Conclusion: The claim is incorrect according to the most recent WHO data

South Africa does not have the highest level of alcohol consumption in the world. Based on WHO per capita alcohol consumption data, South Africa was ranked 31st of 195 countries.

The country scores higher when it comes to average alcohol consumption among those who drink. It was ranked 11th highest, with drinkers consuming 27.1 litres each in 2010.

This is certainly very high and according to WHO data the risk profile of such drinking places South Africa at level 4, on a scale from 1 being the least risky to 5 being the most.

Cosmo City - Man shot in 'road rage' brawl undergoes surgery.A man is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot in the head during an alleged road rage incident.

 

It’s alleged that the man followed the driver of the car that had bumped into him to his home. When he arrived there, an argument ensued and he was shot in the head by the other driver.

Gauteng department of health spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed that the man was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital where he was due for surgery soon.

“He sustained a serious wound to the head and will be operated on on Friday,” Mabona said.

The victim was allegedly driving his Toyota Corolla in Cosmo City at about 8.30pm on Wednesday when a man in a Nissan bakkie bumped into him.

Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini of the Gauteng police said they received information that the man in the bakkie carried on driving to his house in Cosmo City after bumping into the other car.

“The other driver followed him to his house. They stopped on the street outside the man’s house and they started arguing. During the argument, the man was shot,” Dlamini said.

He said police quickly arrived at the scene and arrested the man who now faced a charge of attempted murder. He was to appear in court soon.

Less fortunate

While the man is lucky to be alive, motorcyclist Douglas Pearce was less fortunate in 2014 after Meekahaefele Masooa shot him in an alleged road rage incident in Malibongwe Drive in Randburg.

However, Masooa claimed that it was in self-defence and that Pearce had been attacking him when his own firearm discharged. The two had an altercation that later led to Pearce, who also had a firearm that day, being shot.

A few months later on 9 November, motorist Mandla* sustained serious injuries when another driver Nicholas Gale attacked him with an axe in a road rage incident, also on Malibongwe Drive.

Mandla claimed the man had started by swearing at him, yelling at him as he drove alongside him and showing him the middle finger.

He said when he changed lanes, Gale overtook him and swore at him. When they stopped at a traffic light, Gale allegedly got out his car with an axe and started attacking Mandla, breaking his window.

“I was ducking from the blows of the axe when he struck my arm,” Mandla said. “I tried to flee. I put my car into reverse gear and hit his car.

“Then he lost it and started bashing my car with his axe,” Mandla said.

He put the car into first gear and fled the scene. Gale was later arrested.

Not his real name.

New MMC’s 100-day plan for Joburg - Ngobeni is passionate about the area in which he lives - Cosmo City.

Joburg's new MMC for development planning Funzela Ngobeni says builders, investors and developers will no longer be treated with disdain. 

And the fact that the Department of Development Planning is running at only 54 percent capacity has also not helped investors or the staff, whose morale is at an all-time low.

Compounding matters is the fact that the computer systems crash at least three times a week.

Speaking to The Star, Ngobeni said he was “mind-boggled” at some of the stories he heard directly from builders, investors and developers about the treatment they received from officials when trying to get plans or township applications passed, which often take months, and sometimes years.

“These officials have failed to recognise what a valuable contribution these people are making to the economy of the city. This is one of the first problems I will be addressing,” he said.

“I have also engaged with staff whose morale is very low. One of the biggest problems in the department is the inefficiency of the systems which is leading to the delay of applications. It also badly affects staff morale and influences their attitude to clients.

“We need to change these attitudes to offer a professional civil service. We plan on upgrading the IT system to address this. This also talks to having the right skills in the right place. The staff is valued by all, but we need to lift their morale,” he said.

Ngobeni said he had held three meetings with builders, developers and communities and would continue to do so.

“We need to form partnerships with those wanting to invest in our city if we are to reach our goal of growing the Joburg’s economy by 5 percent. This will not only have the benefit of growing the city, but will help to creating jobs which is vital, as unemployment is skyrocketing.”

Ngobeni said he had visited the Metrolink building which dealt with building and town planning applications to assess the problems, and had visited the storeroom where the plans were stored.

“This is in the basement and is a disaster with many plans missing or misplaced. I intend to digitalise all the plans going forward,” he said.

The department had experienced problems filling posts, but Ngobeni said he would look for additional funding in the budget-review process.

Engaging with communities was vital not only to clear blockages in the systems, but also to address disagreements and hear all sides of the stories, he said. The Johannesburg Development Agency was doing “wonderful work” across the city and it needed more support from the city, which he would be offering.

Ngobeni is passionate about the area in which he lives - Cosmo City. “It was started as a great concept of mixed housing, but fast deteriorated because of overcrowding, crime, illegal taverns and crumbling RDP houses. All this should have been stopped by the previous council before it reached this point.

“We need to start engaging the community, legalise title deeds and push for a police station and public cleaning which do not exist here,” he said.

Ngobeni’s 100-day plan includes:

*the fast-tracking of the Linbro Park master plans;

the development of the Kaserne transport-orientated hub in the CBD;

the fast-tracking of the development of the Hillbrow Tower precinct;

more by-law enforcement especially around illegal buildings;

re-establishing the municipal courts which have collapsed;

*fast-tracking building approval times;

and verification and confirmation of street numbers and names.

Who is Funzela Ngobeni?

From timeshare salesman to member of the mayoral committee, Funzela Ngobeni has been a DA proportional representative councillor for the past two years.

He has been doing work in and around the community of Zandspruit and Cosmo City, where he lives with his wife and two children.

He was a political activist most of his youth and decided to join Cope in 2008.

“It was then I realised that politics in this country was not going well under the ANC. I was looking for a different political home. We were being fed incorrect information and propaganda about the DA, so I started investigating that party”s policies.

“I saw its leaders were doing good work in other areas and parts of the country.”

He said that initially his family had been shocked by his decision to join the DA.

“My father is a strong ANC supporter. However, after telling them why I had changed parties, they understood.”

Ngobeni grew up in Bloemfontein and came to Joburg in 1997 to study tourism management.

He started working as an agent selling timeshare.

He later joined Cathay Pacific Airways and Air Botswana working his way up the ranks.

He then studied housing development at the Wits School of Governance.

“I miss all the international travelling, but I'm hoping to make my mark in this city, which generations will be able to look back on with pride,” he said.

Cosmo City - Man arrested for shooting driver in head after car crash

A man was shot following a car crash on South Africa Drive in Cosmo City on 5 October 2016.

“Yes‚ I can confirm that the man was arrested on the scene. We are still getting further details on the case‚” said Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini of Wednesday night’s incident.

ER24’s Werner Vermaak said earlier that the 30-year-old victim “told paramedics that he was involved in a collision with another vehicle when the other driver apparently got out of the vehicle and shot him”.

The service’s paramedics arrived at the scene on South Africa Drive at around 8pm‚ and found him “sitting on a pavement near his vehicle”.

“He had a gunshot wound to the front of his head. He was immediately assessed by paramedics and treated for his injury‚” Vermaak added.

“It appears that the bullet entered the front of his skull. He was in a serious‚ but stable condition. He was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.”

Vermaak said Johannesburg metro police “attended the scene and questioned the driver of the other vehicle by the time paramedics left for hospital”.

“He was not injured in the incident. The exact circumstances surrounding the incident will be investigated.”

 

Man stabbed in Cosmo City

ER24 treated a man who was stabbed.

A man, believed to be in his 20s, was left critically injured on the evening of 1 October after he was stabbed in the back on Angola Drive in Cosmo City.
ER24 spokesperson Russel Meeting said that paramedics were called to the scene by local authorities for further backup.
“Upon arrival, paramedics found the man lying on the side of the road surrounded by numerous members of the Police.
On assessment, paramedics found that the man had sustained a serious stab wound to his back, leaving him in a critical condition.”
Meiring said the man was immediately treated for his injuries and provided with advanced life support interventions.
“Once treated, the patient was transported to Helen Joseph Hospital Hospital for further treatment.”

Resources an issue but Honeydew police try their best

HONEYDEW – Honeydew Police Station statistics reveal that it deals with a relatively high number of cases due to the size of the area it services.

Honeydew services a large area in Joburg.

Honeydew Police Station is among the five stations in Gauteng with the highest number of crimes reported because it serves such a large area. This is according to the station’s spokesperson, Captain Balan Muthan.

“The station services a large area with some places that have a dense population like Cosmo City and Zandspruit,” he said. Muthan said the station is trying to deploy more resources because of the population increase. “Resources are an issue, but we try our best,” he said.

Focusing on crimes committed in the province in the last year, Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Deliwe de Lange this week revealed that the murder rate has increased by 4.7 per cent with 3 842 cases reported. Sexual offences decreased by 4 per cent with 9 510 cases reported. The Johannesburg Central, Hillbrow, Sandton and Pretoria Central police stations join Honeydew Police Station as the top five stations with the highest number of crimes reported.

According to statistic released by the South African Police Service for April last year until March this year, 28 more murder cases were opened than the previous year’s 48 cases.

In total, there were 3 225 contact crimes reported at Honeydew Police Station, that saw an increase of 3.7 per cent of said crimes. Property-related crimes decreased by 13.6 per cent. Burglary at residential premises decreased by 15.7 per cent. No bank or cash-in-transit robberies were reported at the station this year. Sexual offence cases decreased this year, with 17 fewer reported than the previous year’s 170 cases.

Kate Lorimer, a member of the Provincial Legislature for Safety and Security, said she did not believe that the sexual offences statistics are a true reflection of what happens in reality and should be higher. “The main problem is, people feel harassed at police stations when reporting sexual offences,” she alleged.

Muthan said the goal is always to reduce crime, thus reducing the high number of crimes reported at the station. On 16 September, Cosmo City residents organised a peaceful march against crime in the area, causing heavy traffic delays.

Con-tree-buting to a healthy planet COSMO CITY

COSMO CITY – Trees and the life they bring was celebrated in schools in and around Cosmo City.

Pupils from schools in Cosmo City learn about trees and the impact they have on our environment.

Green Beings, based in Fourways, celebrated Arbour Week by promoting active citizenship through its Ethoma ka Wena (The buck stops with you) Campaign, which combines Arbour Week and National Clean-up Week.

The aim is to create awareness within Cosmo City’s schools and residents by promoting a clean, green, healthy community for everyone to enjoy. Special guests were invited to conduct awareness assemblies at each school.

Arbour Day is a day that pays special attention to the importance of trees. The day is celebrated on different dates around the world, depending on seasons. South Africans celebrate Arbour Week during the first week of September, to encourage people to plant trees so they are not lost to us and future generations.

Schools are encouraged to conduct action projects to promote effective environmental management within the school and the surrounding community. Each year, the tree-of-the-year is planted by pupils, while also carrying out a school clean-up.

Indigenous trees are part of our natural heritage; they serve many purposes in our lives and in other living organisms. They provide an important habitat for the survival of bird, animal and insect species. Our indigenous trees also play an important role in attracting tourists to South Africa.

The campaign impacted about 10 000 pupils and over 240 teaching staff. Each school planted fruit and indigenous trees on the school grounds.

MUST READ: Help Nkosi develop a society of avid readers

COSMO CITY – About 90 children from low-income households read books from Cosmo City Kids’

Nelson Modiba, Blessing Bengu, Wonderboy Madhlala and Muzi Nkosi spend time reading books.

COSMO CITY – Muzi Nkosi has received an overwhelming response from members of the public who want to help him reach his dream of building a community library in Cosmo City.

He said he has received more books since Randburg Sun published his story, Nkosi helps children read books, recently.

To date, one donor has already donated a Wendy house and he is currently using it to store books, chairs and tables.

About 90 children from low-income households flock to Cosmo City Kids’ Haven every weekday after school to read and borrow books. They are currently using a tent.

Nkosi is still waiting for a donor who will deliver containers from Soweto to Cosmo City. These containers were recently donated to him as he strives to achieve his goal to help children in the suburb develop a culture of reading.

“The donors are promising. One of them came to view the place and promised to move the containers,” he said.

The embassies of Vienna and Austria also came on board and promised to help him after he wrote to them.

“We also need a fencing to secure the property,” he said.

An unemployed Blessing Bengu endorsed Nkosi’s initiative and believes that it would help many children in Cosmo City. “I don’t have a full-time job, I am actually a labourer and when I am not doing anything I spend most of the time here, reading books,” he said.

Nelson Modiba added that it also helped children open up their minds. “Some of these children’s parents are not privileged and cannot afford to buy books,” he said.

Details: Muzi Nkosi 084 238 8410.