Author: NBR Team

The HUAWEI MatePad T 10s 64GB: the ideal tablet for families

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Once considered a tool dedicated to the on-the-go businessperson, smart tablets have now evolved beyond specialist workplace equipment to become a mainstay within the family home. Designed as an affordable, high quality and durable tablet, the HUAWEI MatePad T 10s is ideally designed to meet the whole family’s entertainment and educational needs.

The HUAWEI MatePad T 10s runs on an octa-core Kirin 710A processor, allowing seamless switching between your social media, multimedia and other apps. And for the first time, the novel App Multiplier enables the user to split one app into two windows for easy viewing. Alongside this, supported by the latest version of Huawei’s Android-based operating system EMUI 10.1, the HUAWEI MatePad T 10s is a great way to access all your music and movies on its 10.1-inch Full HD 1920 x 1200 display. Alongside powerful dual loudspeakers, the HUAWEI Histen 6.1 surround sound feature, Harman Kardon tuning, and long-lasting 5100mAh high capacity battery, the whole family will relish the truly immersive audio-visual experience this Huawei tablet provides.

The students and learners in the family will be happy to know that they can say goodbye to harsh, glaring blue screens, as the HUAWEI MatePad T 10s uses an in-built Low Blue Light eye protection feature, swapping the discomfort of harmful blue light for warmer, softer tones designed for reading. While working on the HUAWEI MatePad T 10s, whether brushing up on your vocabulary using a study app, writing up homework, or reading an eBook, limiting harsh blue light exposure can help ensure a better night’s sleep and establish a steadier sleep cycle.

The HUAWEI MatePad T 10s is built to be used on the go, with a Micro SD slot allowing external storage of up to 512GB. Teenagers and young children in particular can enjoy  enormous download and storage potential to bring multimedia entertainment with them wherever they go. What’s more, with a premium metal body and shock-resistant glass, this tablet can handle every kind of challenge that family life throws at it.

For the youngsters in the family, Kids Corner is an exciting feature that turns your HUAWEI MatePad T 10s into a creative, educational and entertainment companion, keeping children engaged and stimulating their creativity with four simple pre-installed features – the camera, voice recorder, multimedia player and painting tools. Kids Corner issues 6 kinds of protective pop-up alerts to ensure that children use it in the safest possible way, both in terms of their posture and their eye health, for example when a child is holding the device too close to their eyes. Parents also have full control over their children’s access to particular apps from AppGallery, as well as being able to limit times and intervals of use of the HUAWEI MatePad T10s.

This new tablet is also equipped with Huawei Share, which can transfer photos, videos and other files between Huawei devices at speeds of up to 150MBps, all without using a single bit of data. The HUAWEI MatePad T 10s promises an exciting array of inclusive multimedia and essential features for all the family and, thanks to its large storage and quality build, it can be enjoyed anywhere by anyone.

The HUAWEI MatePad T 10s’ combination of immersive entertainment, powerful productivity, long-lasting battery life, elegant industrial design, and an attractive price point, the HUAWEI MatePad T 10s is definitely a device to consider, which can satisfy all of the family’s digital needs.

Available in Deepsea Blue, the HUAWEI MatePad T 10s, with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, can now be purchased for just R4,499 from the Huawei Store (Online) or Incredible Connection. The HUAWEI MatePad T 10s is also available from MTN, Vodacom, Telkom and Cell C on a 24-month or 36-month contract. The tablet comes with a free flip cover valued at R699.

TIGER BRANDS CULINARY DIVISON PARTNERS WITH BACARDI HOLIDAY CLUB FESTIVAL AS THE OFFICIAL FOOD SPONSOR

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Johannesburg – This past weekend South Africa’s favourite Kitchen companions KOO, Crosse& Blackwell Mayonnaise and Mrs Balls hosted their first ever festival as the official food partner at the all-inclusive Bacardi Holiday Club Summer of Love edition, which took place the on the 4th – 6th of March 2022.

The #SummerOfLove edition of the festival treated music lovers to a range of exciting talent from Kwaito legends such as Trompies, Khuli Chana, DBN Gogo and many fan favourites who graced the stage with memorable performances that had the crowd chanting for more.

To add to the experience, the heritages brands KOO, Crosse & Blackwell Mayonnaise and Mrs Balls came together to provide festival goers with a unique food experience at the one-of-a-kind KOO KLUB, exclusively curated for festival. This was a perfect opportunity to showcase some delectable meals and versatility from the Tiger Brands South Africa  staples, that left festival goers spoilt for choice.


“As we head into festival season, need to ensure that we maintain the traditions by connecting with our innate love for music over good food and shared moments. It seems we are nearing to what we may deem as normal times again and with that transition, we at Tiger Brands want to be at the forefront of bringing back the love of compelling collaborations and unity with the Bacardi Holiday Club. The partnership with the Bacardi Holiday Club property presented a lovely opportunity for us to offer meals with some of our favourite Tiger Brands products, ensuring that our brands remain culturally relevant and top of mind in our to food enthusiasts, while recruiting new consumers.” Said Edna Maphita Tiger Brand Culinary Marketing Director

The festival would not have been complete without some of Mzansi’s most well-known digital content creators from actor and TV presenter, Tebogo “Caddy” Tsotetsi and Tik Tok sensation Mandisa Jakavula, to name but a few.

Prevent the silent onset of chronic kidney disease. Here’s how

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Kidney disease is an irreversible illness that affects 10% of people across the world, and up to 1 in 8 people in South Africa. This World Kidney Day – on 10 March – let’s really appreciate these vital organs and make sure we’re living in a way that promotes our kidney health. “By the time most people become aware that their kidneys are failing, they will already have lost 50% of their kidney function” The kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs found at the back of the body at about the level of the waist. Each kidney holds thousands of filtering units. As our blood moves through them, they filter waste products and extra water out and these are released in our urine. Paediatric nephrologist Professor Errol Gottlich says: “Kidney disease is silent, meaning it often develops without any noticeable symptoms. By the time most people become aware that their kidneys are failing, they will already have lost 50% of their kidney function. “Kidneys also balance our fluid levels ensuring we don’t become over-hydrated or dehydrated. They normalise electrolytes and blood pressure, assist in calcium metabolism and prevent anaemia.” “Our kidneys are essential for a normal, healthy lifestyle. The kidneys fulfil many roles, the most important of which is excreting toxins out of the body in the urine.” – Prof Gottlich also heads up Discovery Health Medical Scheme’s Kidney Care Programme, which is designed to ensure the best quality of care and life for medical scheme members on chronic dialysis. Paediatrician Dr Nokukhanya Ngubane-Mwandla adds, “The kidneys have multiple important functions in the body, including controlling acid-base homeostasis, water and electrolyte balance and blood pressure. They also produce certain hormones important for production of red blood cells and bone mineralization.” – Dr Ngubane-Mwandla is the recipient of a 2020 Discovery Foundation Sub-specialist Award and is using this support to work towards improving the lives of children with congenital and acquired renal pathology. Here’s how you can look after your kidneys Taking care of your kidneys is as simple as leading a healthy lifestyle. Professor Gottlich recommends that people do the following: • Ensure regular exercise. Exercise for 30 minutes, five days a week. Even brisk walk is an excellent form of exercise. • Eat a balanced, healthy diet of unprocessed, fresh foods with no more than a teaspoon of added salt per day. • Regularly check and control your blood sugar. • Regularly check and control your blood pressure. • Drink an appropriate amount of fluids. Your doctor will explain how to adjust your fluid intake if you have kidney, heart or liver disease. • Don’t smoke as smoking slows the flow of blood to the kidneys. • Don’t take over-the-counter pain or anti-inflammatory pills regularly. Long term, frequent use of medicine, like Ibuprofen, can harm your kidneys. • Get your kidney function checked regularly if you have any of the ‘high risk’ factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, a family history of kidney disease, and being overweight or obese. A silent disease: What damages kidneys and how? Discovery Health’s data show that around 75% of renal (kidney) failure is a result of diabetes or hypertension (high blood pressure). Data from the National Kidney Foundation mirrors this with up to 65% of kidney failure in South African adults being attributed to hypertension and up to 25% due to Type 2 Diabetes.” “Uncontrolled diabetes can damage the blood vessels in your kidneys and can gradually decrease the functionality of this vital organ. And untreated high blood pressure experience damage to their kidney tissue as a result of blood vessels being exposed to a higher than normal blood pressure,” adds Professor Gottlich. – Other causes of kidney disease include living with HIV and other infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and structural abnormalities. Dr Ngubane-Mwandla adds, “There is also a relatively high incidence of kidney problems among South African children. Some of these problems are congenital, which means that children are born with them, but several conditions are caused by malnourishment and gastric issues.” This passionate doctor adds, “It would be great to implement screening programs at schools or at primary health care facilities – in particular to ensure blood pressure and urine screening – to detect the early onset of kidney disease, especially those born prematurely, at a low birth weight or who have a family history of kidney disease.” The National Kidney Foundation notes that up to 80% of chronic kidney failure may be preventable, making it vital to keep up regular screening checks that will identify signs of chronic diseases like kidney disease and others, as early as possible, in adults and children alike. Catch the onset of kidney disease early on – simply screen! The good news is that, for most people, screening for kidney disease can be done as part of regular health check-ups. “It’s really as simple as going to your primary healthcare provider and doing a screening test for high blood pressure, blood glucose levels and kidney functionality,” says Professor Gottlich. “Essentially, your urine is an easily accessed window to your kidney health. A dipstick into the urine sample will show markers of possible kidney health issues.” Treating chronic kidney disease Once a person has chronic kidney disease, they will need to undergo chronic dialysis (an average of three sessions per week), explains Professor Gottlich. Patients may either undergo: – Peritoneal dialysis, which uses the lining of their abdomen to filter the blood inside their body. – Haemodialysis, which uses a dialysis machine and a special filter, called an artificial kidney or dialyser, to clean the patient’s blood. “In addition to dialysis treatment, it is critical that patients live a healthier lifestyle and take prescribed medicine to control blood pressure, improve anaemia and bone health,” adds Professor Gottlich. Chronic kidney disease is a complex illness that is expensive to treat. – In 2021, Discovery Health paid out R1.5 billion in kidney treatment related claims for about 3,000 members – of which 0.6% was for members under the age of 18, reflecting the way in which kidney disease affects children too. – Interestingly in 2020 Discovery Health paid out a slightly higher R1.6 billion in claims from about 3,500 medical scheme members for kidney treatment. The 14% drop in members claiming between 2020 and 2021, shows the decrease in screening and treatment for kidney disease and other chronic treatment over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is due to the fact that people have stayed away from healthcare facilities out of fear of exposure to COVID-19, due to stay-at-home measures imposed to curb the spread of infection, and also due to the redirection of resources in healthcare towards COVID-19 care, especially during peaks of infection. Organ donation a lifesaver for people who live with kidney disease “The most ideal therapy for chronic kidney disease is a kidney transplant,” says Professor Gottlich. “However, there’s been a significant decrease in organ donors over the past two years because of COVID-19 and very few kidney transplants have been done during this time.” Dr Ngubane-Mwandla adds, “There is a great need for organ donation and transplantation for kids too, particularly for those children treated in the state sector. Until transplanted, these children must stay on a chronic dialysis programme. Some, we transition to haemodialysis which is both costly and needs regular visits to the hospital so really affects and defines a child’s life. The sooner a child in need receives a kidney transplant, the better for the child and their family.” One organ donor can save seven other lives. Your heart, liver and pancreas can save three lives and your kidneys and lungs can help up to four people. And, one tissue donor can help up to 50 people by donating their corneas, skin, bones, tendons and heart valves. – Sign up to be an organ donor – Organ Donor Foundation of South Africa. References National Kidney Foundation of South Africa Paediatrician puts spotlight on kidney conditions in South African children Discovery Health Medical Scheme Kidney Care Programme Organ Donor Foundation

15-minute neighbourhood trend on the rise across SA

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The ’15-minute neighbourhood’ concept may not be new, but since COVID-19 hit our shores it is certainly a trend that has had new life breathed into it within South Africa’s property market. Add to that the current spike in fuel costs and you have the perfect conditions for this lifestyle trend to grow and flourish. Rainmaker Marketing’s Director, Stefan Botha, whose award-winning agency specialises in the property sector, shares his insights about why SA is experiencing this growing property trend.

There is no question that convenience is key and the work from home trend due to COVID-19 has caused most consumers to opt for lifestyle and comfort when choosing their home. This alone probably explains the increase we have seen first-hand over the past two years in developments across South Africa that offer consumers work, schools, entertainment and important shopping amenities on their doorstep.

The concept of living 15 minutes away from everything, or within walking distance, is thought to improve one’s quality of life which according to our National Residential Property Trends for 2021 has become a number one priority for consumers since the pandemic. This concept of “living locally” is something that has been spoken about for years but seeing it being unpacked and this vision being realised in a growing number of instances has brought new life to many areas in KwaZulu-Natal, Johannesburg as well as in Cape Town. All our existing research and observations from the market support the fact that, in general, people will trade size for security and location every day of the week – especially if they can enjoy greater recreational benefits within close proximity of where they sleep.

The concept of 15-minute neighbourhoods stems from the 1920’s where it was made more popular in 2019 in Paris. I believe other parts of the world like South Africa are now adopting this preferred living arrangement due to two major factors. The first being “hyperlocalisation” as a result of Covid-19  where people are understanding the importance of community and are wanting to avoid the hassle and escalating costs linked to transport, as well as climate change. The current increase in fuel costs as of March 2022 in South Africa, is only going to further cement this need to live, work and play within a smaller perimeter.

Take for example the newly launched WATT CLUB in Durban’s CBD where work, life and play are central to the offering for consumers who will save on transport costs and time choosing to live in this beautiful sanctuary situated in a prime location. Johannesburg has also recently seen HQ Sandton, a new residential development launched in the heart of Sandton, that is set to meet the demands of consumers wanting to live and work in Africa’s richest square mile but with an affordable price tag. Cape Town’s successful launch of Station House Sea Point that has over 15 lifestyle amenities built into this luxury development that achieved R310 million in sales in under 3 months, is also testament to the fact that “hyperlocalisation” is undoubtedly here to stay and is no longer exclusive to Europe.

Furthermore, in places like Durban Central and Umhlanga Ridge Town Centre – developers are seeing the need for people to live in well established, amenity rich areas; areas supported by a precinct management. This movement was reinforced in a recent property webinar that I facilitated where Sandton Central’s Precinct Manager, Elaine Jack drew reference to the fact that the pandemic highlighted the live-work-play concept and that Sandton’s vision has revolved around the notion of a 15-minute neighbourhood. According to Elaine, they have been actively trying to encourage the residential property market in Sandton so that people can now live near their places of work and have quick and easy access to the places they like to play.

This sentiment is most definitely echoed with a development such as HQ Sandton, where it offers facilities such as a rooftop garden and bar, a restaurant, a gym, and the actual development is situated in prime location – all walking distance from Sandton City Mall, The Gautrain and 5 minutes from the M1. Even with a development in Durban like Umhlanga Arch that has become a trendy tourist and local hub, you’ll find many business people from all over Umhlanga walking in. Its prime location, being close to some of Durban’s biggest corporates, allows the development to draw in many people to live, work and play.

With 15-minute neighbourhoods, homeowners and investors are weighing up the costs of this convenient arrangement with home price, travel costs, etc. dictating what in the long run will be deemed as most cost-effective. Based on our National Residential Property Trends survey for 2021, we can confidently say that location is a key driver for property growth. The closer people are to everything they need, the better.

Another rising trend is mixed-use developments, because they cater to the growing desire for convenient, appealing, and sustainable areas where people have everything they need “on their doorstep”. The idea that your area, your space, allows for everything you could need ticks the box of people getting their precious time back. From an investment perspective, buying into these developments within such neighbourhoods and central urban spaces is an attractive option because the demand for rental is so high.

The 15-minute neighbourhood vision is definitely making itself at home in South Africa and I believe we’ll also see more of an uptake of this trend in 2022 and beyond on the international property scene as well. Locally I think we’ll see more urban and inner-city renewal happening with developers like Homii leading the charge with the WATT CLUB being the first of many developments to be rolled out nationally that looks to reactivate underutilized spaces, and appeal to consumers’ desires to improve their quality of life while reducing traffic, mitigating their carbon footprint and minimising unnecessary time normally spent travelling. This aligns to a growing trend seen nationally around the conversion of retail and commercial opportunities within key business districts in order to satisfy the demand for those wanting to enjoy the benefits of live, work and play within safe, walking proximity. 

3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals enters into a sales and distribution agreement with Adcock Ingram’s OTC division

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March 2022 marks the official commencement of a collaboration between 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals and Adcock Ingram’s OTC division. As a result of this collaboration, Adcock Ingram OTC will take over the sales and distribution of 3Sixty Biopharmaceutical’s products. The products being contracted to Adcock Ingram OTC for sales and distribution are 3Sixty’s women’s reproductive health products under the brand name Salome® and TenagrilTM, which assists with the symptoms associated with migraine. This is a breakthrough collaboration between a black-owned innovative pharmaceutical company and a large locally listed phamaceutical company which has expansive distribution capabilities.

Adcock Ingram not only has a great footprint and reach in South Africa, but in other Sub-Saharan countries as well. With 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals being a new entrant that focuses on innovations and new product development, this partnership offers a great opportunity to grow the brands and reach customers who can readily benefit from the products. 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals is a business that embodies the spirit of Ubuntu, which drives the vision of being at the centre of healthcare solutions for unmet and underserved medical needs, such as women’s healthcare.

This type of agreement while being quite common in the healthcare industry does allow 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals to unlock and expand on having just a single dimension relationship with a perceived competitor and other players in the market. “We believe in coopetition, not just competition, as there will always be areas in which we compete with Adcock Ingram, and areas which we prefer to cooperate to ensure consumers receive the best service and to create greater value for our shareholders,” says Khandani Msibi, chairman of 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals and 3Sixty Global Solutions Group CEO.

The Salome® range of products offers a  comprehensive response to women’s reproductive health, offering six different products that are specific for a variety of women’s reproductive health challenges. This innovation in women’s reproductive health offers women precision solutions to their unique experiences. These products are specific to symptoms associated with menstrual pain and cramps, heavy menstrual flows, polycystic ovary syndrome, premenstrual syndrome, fertility and menopause. All these products are herbal extract based. TenagrilTM is the first of its kind as it offers prophylactic  management for migraines and is also derived from herbal extracts.

The first phase of the new five-year agreement between Adcock Ingram OTC and 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals will entail the sales and distribution of seven complementary products. The second phase of the agreement will be to add to the existing basket of products and the potential of entering into a manufacturing agreement with Adcock Ingram on a segment of this range.

“Our new Business Development team are actively seeking in-licencing, acquisition and distribution opportunities for healthcare products. The opportunity to work in collaboration with another local company in 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals makes sense and is aligned with our motto of adding value to life,” says Sudier Ramparsad, Adcock Ingram’s Managing Director of the OTC Division.

Adcock Ingram is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in South Africa. The organisation comes with significant industry experience and valuable customer relationships.

“Adcock Ingram aims to provide quality products that improve the health and lives of people in the markets we serve. Through this partnership we will continue to deliver, high-quality, innovative, and cost-effective therapies to consumers including the innovative range from 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals,” ends Sudier Ramparsad.

LOAD SHEDDING: 9 WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY

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South Africans to take necessary precautions in protecting their property

South Africa, 08 March 2022: South Africa’s power utility Eskom has announced Stage 2 shedding until 05:00 on Wednesday, 9 March. This is due to various units that have tripped in Matla, Kendal, Matimba, Kusile and Grootvlei, while a unit each at Arnot, and Hendrina power stations was forced to shut down.

This, in addition to other units that had tripped during the weekend, reduced available generation capacity, forcing Eskom to rely heavily on emergency generation reserves to keep the lights on.

Marius Steyn, Personal Lines Underwriting Manager, says South Africans need to mitigate the damages caused by load shedding by being prepared before the power goes off.

“The reality is, load shedding has an immense impact on consumers and businesses alike – who must cope with the damage to appliances brought on by power surges or risk loss through theft, burglary as a result of faulty security systems,” said Steyn.

Steyn cautions consumers and provides things to consider mitigating risks that may be caused by power cuts:

  1. Ensure that your alarm system is in working condition and the backup battery is fully functional to provide power to the system in the event of load shedding.
  2. Spare torch or headlamp: Keep a torch in your car, if you arrive home at night during a power outage. Most smartphones also have built-in torch or torch apps which come in handy during unexpected power outages.
  3. Emergency contact information: Save emergency contact information on your phone but also keep a paper copy safe and accessible. This should include the emergency services such as the fire department, police, and medical services. Also include contact information of friends and family along with insurance information.  
  4. Charge your cell phone, laptop, and tablet: Ensure your cellphone, laptop, and tablet devices are fully charged ahead of scheduled blackouts. Be sure to charge them again as soon as possible after the power returns. It’s also a good idea to have an emergency phone charger (like a power bank) close by, this comes in handy during extended power outages. Staying connected internet is a great way to keep in touch with what’s happening as well as for regular updates, remember to use devices sparingly during outages so that you don’t drain the battery completely before the power returns.
  5. Gas for cooking and lighting: Get a small LP gas bottle and lamp. It gives good quality lighting for a large area and can also be used for cooking and boiling water. It’s a good idea to keep hot water in a thermal flask so that you can make hot drinks, also consider preparing meals beforehand if you know when there’s going to be a scheduled blackout.
  6. Keep bottled water: Keeping emergency water stored is easy when frozen. This frozen bottled water will help keep food cold during a power outage and will also not spoil.
  7. Unplug your cables: Consider any electrical connection as live during a power outage as power can return at any time. Unplug any electronic devices or equipment or switch it off at the wall, including telephone cables. This is due to the surges in power that may occur when electricity is restored.
  8. Make use of surge protection: Electric surges are one of the biggest causes of damage to equipment during a power outage. Installing a surge protection device can help minimise some damage in unforeseen situations. Have a surge protection device fitted to your electrical distribution board or at the power outlet to the electronic device.
  9. Back up your data: It is always important to back up data, make it a priority to save your data offsite, in case of a hard drive crash or unforeseen electrical fault. Online “cloud-based” backups are very convenient and are mostly automated, which means that you have one less thing to worry about.

“Santam remains ready to assist policyholders with any claims resulting from power cuts. The household policy provides limited cover for power surges that could be associated with power cuts with the option to increase the cover for power surges at an additional premium. For example, if the insured amount for power surge is increased the policyholder could have peace of mind that unforeseen power surge damage to appliances, due to the restoration of power after a power cut, would be covered,” says Steyn.

Santam provides cover to:

·         Protect electrical fixed machinery from power surges by increasing the limited cover provided. By taking out additional power surge cover under your building insurance, this will provide more peace of mind that electrical fixed machinery, used for domestic purposes, such as swimming pools, Jacuzzis, boreholes, sprinkler irrigation systems, and electric gates, will be covered in the event of power surge damage.

·         Cover the contents of fridges and freezers if there is accidental spoilage due to a change in temperature if the power cut exceeds 24 hours.

“To prevent unforeseen damage and losses, we urge households to revisit their insurance cover and obtain advice from their brokers to take into account different circumstances and risk situations which may arise as a result of power cuts,” Steyn concludes.

FAMILY AND NEW FRIENDS GATHER TO HARVEST NERO

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The only vineyard of its kind on African soil

Harvest! It’s happening at a vineyard near you!!

Forget sipping cocktails on the strip in Camps Bay, forget turning up under the Jozi skyline, picking grapes in a vineyard in the Winelands and then watching them get crushed in a press and aged in a barrel to make beautiful red wine – that’s where it’s at this season!!

A bunch of special friends and extended family did just that last week when they gathered at the Bosman farm in Wellington to pick Nero, a one-of-a-kind grape grown exclusively by them in South Africa, with partner actor/producer Thapelo Mokoena of Bakoena Brands (Pty) Ltd.

Jumping onto ‘bakkies’ armed with secateurs and a basket, then zooming up into the vineyard under a bright summer sun, the group started the harvest under an oak tree (as one does!) with a sabraged glass of Loose Cannon, the Bosman Cap Classique.

Thapelo Mokoena and his wife Lesego Mokoena

Then it was all hands-on deck as the group scavenged for the heavy bunches of dark red grapes, learning all about optimum ripeness and vineyard management from winemaker Natasha Williams. Then back down the mountain to the cool cellar to see the grapes being sorted, destemmed and crushed, and a quick trip past fermenting tanks, before gathering in the 270- year-old barrel cellar where Natasha explained what winemaking was all about: “People like to debate whether winemaking is an art or a craft, but it’s actually a story. Each barrel tells a different story, and my job is to blend these individual stories together to give a holistic picture of the terroir. And terroir is not just the soil, the microclimate and the slope, it’s also about all the people along the way who have helped form the wine’s ultimate story. A winemaker has to listen carefully and respect the contribution of each component.”

Every year the Nero grapes have been harvested by Petrus Bosman and his family, but since joined by partner Thapelo and his wife Lesego Mokoena, over the past few years, this year a few special people joined in too.

It was a special occasion, because these are special grapes and here’s why: At the dawn of the 21st century, climate change started rearing its frightening head, and farmers started worrying about the sustainability of their crops as the world threatened to become hotter and drier. Always one for a challenge, Petrus Bosman visited the island of Sicily where grapes thrive in the hot, dry climate and are planted in volcanic soils, very similar to the conditions on their farm in Wellington. There he found the Nero d’Avola grape which seemed un-phased by heat and desiccation, producing the luscious fruity wines for which Sicily is famous.

So he brought a few cuttings back to the farm, only 2 survived, but eventually they were able to propagate enough to plant a vineyard after which began the laborious process of certification and in 2014 the first vintage of the first South African Nero d’Avola was produced. Since then, Natasha has been involved in every vintage, working diligently to refine the Nero wine into something that honours its Sicilian history, but also tells the story of African resilience and passion: “Making wine is a journey, it’s a marathon not a sprint, because the wine speaks, and you have to listen to it and then help it express itself. It’s a sensitive, humbling process.”

The guests got to taste the 2021 vintage directly from the barrel, and then enjoy more of the previous vintages, and other Bosman wines, over a loud and lovely lunch served in the cellar that stretched long into the late afternoon. Amongst them were so of Thapelo’s industry friends: Master Chef’s new judge Chef Zola Nene; Jamie-Lee Domburg of the Expresso Morning Show; actress Nicole Madell; presenter Katlego Maboe; actress Tarryn Wyngaard; winemaking student Kari Masoleng; actor and funny guy Sobantu Nqayi with his lovely lady Amron Siebritz; and model Imaan C Mac Quena, to name but a few.

“What a memorable experience for all! It changed each harvester’s view of wine, from a simple liquid in the bottle, to a rich and intricate story of people and nature working together for the best possible outcome,” said Mokoena. “The day also reminded us of the value of sharing with friends and family and celebrating our connection to each other and to the land we love so dearly.”

Petrus and Thapelo have their sights set on introducing this special varietal to every corner of Africa and beyond. “We’re conquering the world one bottle of Nero at a time.”

What is data and Why is it important?

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Data are units of information, often numeric, that are collected through observation. In a more technical sense, data are a set of values of qualitative or quantitative variables about one or more persons or objects, while a datum is a single value of a single variable, wikipedia.

a picture taken from pobonline.com

In simpler terms data is basically collected information on a particular person or certain focus such as a company or study. Having a diary in which you plan your day and also write information about your day is regarded as data, “data entry” to be more specific.

A series of information or facts to understand a particular question one would have to document their results and those results are known as data.

In order to have progress in anything valid in life a regiment of data is needed to asses where we are lacking in improvement and where we can update and develop. Information as a whole gives an understanding of what we have and what we lack. This gives us the opportunity to find solutions to certain things we have not solved yet. It gives us a clear indication of how we can basically look at a problem and an understanding of how we can approach this problem. Preventions to this specific problem are then tackled through data depending on how good the data collected is.

Memory

Our levels of thinking are escalated through remembrance, repetition and experience this is then regarded as memory. Memory comes from our brains recording/storing information, that we process to our best understanding, such as the first time you are hurt, your memory helps you become cautious about how to not get hurt again in that similar process. This type of situation is regarded as experience, wikipedia states “Experience is the process through which conscious organisms perceive the world around them.”. Immanuel Kant argued that “we can only have knowledge of things we can experience.” Wikipedia also states that “Memory is the faculty of the brain by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action”.

So in a nutshell data allows us to be able to progress our understanding on anything such as systems, concepts, laws and specifics. So the next time you think of creating or starting a business/project remember that in order to know how long it will take for that idea to grow, it will depend on the level of research you put in and the level of data that specific project has. This will help you gage the amount of time and efforts it will require for you to do it right, because information is there to help you reach your goals and also prevent yourself from making unnecessary mistakes that could be prevented by just doing the research the right way and documenting your every step in order to understand what and how you approach each step. It allows you to keep track of your progress and also the accurate information of what not to do in future.

Doing things without the right information is quite challenging, because it is easily described as trying to walk in the dark with no light. Or for a simpler analogy it is like you trying to drive a car with no wheels. You will waste your time placing your efforts and energy on things that don’t improve your progress, and in order to improve the first step is always understanding what it takes to make progress and that understanding is what we call data.

Artificial Intelligence, Friend or Foe ?

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Numerous people seem to fear the idea of A.I (Artificial Intelligence), reasons vary from the fear of job cuts as machines take on more work doing it at a faster rate than any human can, this results in people losing their jobs. Others fear AI for the mere reason that they are actually going to out smart us and take control of the world. They truly believe that technology is at the brink of taking over the world and killing every human.

Picture this every science fiction movie you’ve seen that portrays the end of the world such as the Terminator and iRobot. Where, it is fundamentally clear that the end of the human race will be due to the rise of the machines, and that the war between the world and machines will begin. For those that watch series such as, “Black Mirror”, “West World” and “Love death and robots”. Which keep giving us future glimpses of what already exists as to how these certain technologies from social media to robots that could start to develop their own minds. Leading to what we may fear one day, the fear of losing control of the planet to machines. The movie Ex machina and series Devs, also portray the very bizarre statement of technology being the thing which will allow us to transfer our conciousness into different entities and also allow us to be able to see our past inhibitors on earth. Portraying theories such as “imagine if you could go to the exact moment dinosaurs existed, and the time when these same dinosaurs died seeing the evolution of life take place to its current state”.

We’ve seen experts such as Elon Musk who’ve warned us about the possibility of AI taking over, through a concept known as machine learning. “Machine learning is the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience and by the use of data. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence” wikipedia. What this fundamentally means is that machine learning is hardly controllable, this is the concept of machines learning on their own and having no human control, this is what has had most computer scientist worried about giving so much control to a machine.   

But to play devils advocate for a minute we have to appreciate the advance technology that has taken place since machine learning has taking over certain jobs. The great part about machine learning is the benefits of easily identifying trends and patterns that take place at a faster rate than any human can. Throughout this process no human intervention is needed as it is fully automated. Automation leads to what we know as continuous improvement as the algorithm continuously solves problems 24/7. This is handled through something known as multi-dimensional and multi-variety data. A wide range of applications to access and determine all the data accumulated in real time.

In a nutshell only time will tell what happens in the future, with the progress of technology, will it be a friend or foe?.

5 hindrances to self mastery

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When we start a new journey, in which we set up certain goals there are certain obstacles of that journey that will be new experiences. Those new experiences will challenge us in ways we may not be familiar with, but to truly get to the end of the journey we will have to go through those obstacles. Which will have plenty for us to learn, the trick is to understand that these hurdles will evoke certain emotions and will lead to us feeling confused and lost at times. Which is all part of the game/journey those mistakes and failures we make become our true lessons, This is the part of a concept known as “failing forward”.

Therefore with every lesson learnt we become a step closer to our true goal, there might be circumstances that will distract us from our journey. Those are understood in certain stages but for this piece we focus on 5 hindrances to self mastery.

Sensual Desire

The way I like to see sensual desire is through timing because, the process of timing things makes it easier to know when it is the right time for certain pleasures and when it is the right time for focus and determination. In an essence we should not divert from our mental practices for too long, as this leads to us going down the rabbit hole and losing track of our focus. The desire to be stimulated to forget certain problems or just escape our environment for a second because, facing those problems is too much to handle. The idea of diverting from our goals for a long period of time will affect our progress and eventually our pleasures will become our main priority. A form of addiction taking too much time from our actual work. We start to spend time on things that don’t bring us value. From our work ethic and using that time to sooth our desires. Just like any other addiction. Goals eventually seem impossible, diluting passion into something of a task, so we spend time on our pleasures instead. Some may say the key is to allocate very little time to our pleasures until, after completing all our tasks for the day/week/month/year, by using our pleasures as a reward system to our passions instead.

Ill will/Aversion

The process of moving forward in life without healing better understood as a process of bottling up our emotions, it may seem like a good idea until one day when we’ve reached our limit and we unleash all those emotions on the wrong person, resulting in situations where we find ourselves hurting someone else or ourselves. The idea of avoiding your problems is that it is nothing but a temporary fix and does not particularly resolve the issue. Only way to resolve an issue like that is to address it head on as; anger, fear and insecurities are part of the game of life and need to be dealt with compassion and understanding, in order to heal.

Dullness/Heaviness

This part is largely common and experienced by most. The feeling one gets of self doubt and just really being unable to see any positive outcome happening in our life. We usually experience a deep state of negative thought, when we’ve hit our level of self awareness of not feeling well mentally. Leading to an attempt of interpreting and processing our depression. We create our own suffering and it truly is difficult to get out this state in life and takes a lot out of us, to be able to overcome this state. Usually the trick is to truly treat this situation just like “quick sand”. The more we try fight the situation the faster we sink, so the best option is usually to approach this situation calmly and allow ourselves to feel what we are feeling and start processing ways to overcome this. Understanding what we are feeling and why we are feeling this way, where it stems from, leads to the key of how and what is the best way to move past that state. Mainly who can be around us to help.

Restlessness

We all hate the process of working for something, but love the finish product. We envision ourselves being successful but hate the fact that we not there yet and feel like we are not really going to make it so we quit or start to find ways to distract ourselves from completing the tasks at hand. Challenges will always be part of the journey. The idea that a person is impatient stems from comparing ourselves from other peoples accomplishments, feeling like time is no longer on our side. The desire to want to be great but not feel any suffering. Comparing dilutes a clear vision to what we must do to succeed. Finding ways to boost our inspiration from surrounding ourselves with like minded people and also finding things to do to help keep, us inspired and focused.

Sceptical Doubt

This part of any journey is quite interesting, this is the point where we feel like we are not ready to be in a certain position, so we use all our fears to delay the process of growth. The fear of failure, sacrifices we might need to make in order to reach a certain position becomes too big of an ask, for various reasons we tell ourselves it is not worth it, usually because it takes us out of our comfort zone.

The idea is to build a certain sense of resilience, where we trust our intuition in order to get us through a level of uncertainty we might be feeling / experiencing. This is usually when the vision to the end of our goal seems very unclear and we feel like its too overwhelming for us to even attempt to go on.