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Month-long trip hectic, but victory is sweat
Young karateka excel overseas
“IT WAS a great challenge for us, especially the youngsters, but in the end, it was well worth it.”
These are the words of Kaicho Hoosain Narker, the Cape Town-based world leader of Ashihara Karate. Narker recently accompanied four young karateka from Cape Town on a 28-day tour of India and Ethiopia. The trip took place during December and January.
According to Narker the tour included training camps and visits to 21 cities across India. Sadiya and Rabia Narker, Taygan Brown and Zachary Hendricks are the four young students who undertook the tour with Narker.
The highlight of the trip was the Ashihara India National Championships held in Mumbai on 12 January 2025.
Taygan won a gold medal for kata and kumite in the under-14 division and Zachary won a special prize for his exceptional demonstration skills in the under-16 division. The star of the show without doubt was 14-year-old Sadiya who won gold for fighting and kata. She was also awarded the top prize for the best female competitor of the tournament.
The 18-year-old Rabia could not compete as she was appointed tournament director, her first such experience at international level.
Kaicho Narker concludes: “I am really very proud of what we have achieved on this trip. I hope it serves as an inspiration to our youth here at home to reach for their dreams.”
All you need to know about martial arts
Top Karate chief launches book
HOOSAIN Narker, the International Director for Ashihara Karate, together with Erik Petermann, will be launching a new 200-page technique book on Sunday, 25 February 2025.
The book, entitled Sabaki: The Essential Guide to Mastering the Art, is a world class martial arts publication.
“This comprehensive and lucid guide provides an in-depth explanation of techniques, complemented by exceptional illustrations that facilitate comprehension,” says Kaicho Narker.
This book covers in depth the fundamental principles of martial arts, kata, pad work, techniques and self-defence. It serves as a cornerstone for contemporary karate practitioners, embodying the essence of the discipline.
Narker opened his first karate school in Retreat, Cape Town in 1980, and it has since grown internationally with branches in over 30 countries around the world. Petermann is a teacher of traditional arts and self-defence.
The launch will take place at South Peninsula High School in Diep Rivier, Cape Town at 2.30pm. For more information on the launch or to order your copy of the book call or WhatsApp +27 82 369 6904.
Great ideas to make sure you have extra every month
Start saving now
WELL, you may not have even noticed it, but we are already into the second week of the second month of 2025. Can you believe it. Christmas and the coming of the New Year feels like a distant past. But hey, before we know it, the Festive times will be upon us again. Yes, I know it’s not even Easter-season yet, but time surely flies at lightning-fast speed.
So be prepared for that inevitable extra spending come year-end. It may seem far away, but now is the time to start saving for the silly season or that year-end holiday. You may just rue it if you don’t.
Here are a few tips to start saving now.
Budgeting and Planning
Create a Budget: Track your income and expenses to identify where your money is going.
Set Savings Goals: Define specific goals for short and long-term savings to stay motivated. You don’t have to start with a lot, but make that start, even if it’s R5 a day. And remember, save first before you start spending, not the other way around.
Spending wisely
Shop with a List: Avoid impulse buying by making a shopping list and sticking to it. Try to do your bulk shopping once a month and in between stay away from the shops as far as possible. Only go there for essentials.
Use coupons and discounts
Take advantage of coupons, discounts and sales to save on purchases. Check out every shop’s saving pamphlets, there are lots of them around.
Cook at Home
Eating out can be expensive, so try to prepare meals at home more often. You can even make enough for the next day, which will mean another saving on your electricity bill.
Energy Efficiency
Use energy-efficient appliances and turn off lights and electronics when not in use.
Smart Financial Habits
Pay Off Debt: Prioritize paying off high-interest debt to save on interest payments.
Automate Savings: Set up automatic transfers to your savings account to ensure consistent saving. And always save your money in an interest-bearing account at a reputable bank.
Other Tips
DIY Projects: Learn to do basic repairs and maintenance tasks yourself instead of hiring professionals.
Buy Generic: Generic or store-brand products can be just as good as name brands and often cost less.
Yes to sale and lease of 36 properties
City to add millions to coffers
THE City of Cape Town’s coffers is set to swell by more than R26-million with the sale of some of its properties.
This City Council recently approved the sale and lease of 36 City-owned properties with a sale value of just over R24,6 million and a lease value of an estimated R1,7 million per annum.
James Vos, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, said the best economic and social value will be derived from the release of these properties for a range of uses, from industrial to community and private sector led residential development.
“In this way, the City is supporting our economic development as smart real estate transactions create jobs through construction, support the socio-economic needs of our growing city, and generate revenue for municipal service delivery,” said Vos.
According to the City all of the properties have been thoroughly assessed and are not required for municipal purposes.
Among the transactions is a 130586-hectare site in Atlantis Industrial for the intended construction of a state-of-the-art cement grinding facility, entailing an investment of approximately R1,1 billion.
“The business will support job opportunities in the area as it will have a workforce of more than 200 employees,” said Vos.
“Atlantis will benefit further with the relocation of an inner city-based going concern to Atlantis Industria, where a site will be developed for specialised storage, collection, recycling and refinery of liquid waste (mineral oil and wastewater).
“The recycling processes contribute to the green, circular economy as the liquid waste is largely collected from the Cape Town Harbour and is then treated and resold to other industries such as textile, laundry and fishing,” said Vos.
Other properties include sites used for social care and community purposes and as such, the sale price has been significantly discounted.
The lease agreements approved by Council also include the extension of a lease for the Maitland Crematorium. This extended lease will allow time for much-needed renovation work to be undertaken on the site and for the vital service of cremations to continue. (Source: City of Cape Town)
Nearly 800 caught in Cape for drugs
Huge successes for SAPS
THE severity of drug abuse in the Western Cape came under the spotlight recently with the arrest of 791 people in the province for possession of drugs.
According to the South African Police Services (SAPS) this number represents more than half the people (1412) who were arrested for drug possession countrywide.
Through its high-density operations known as Operation Shanela, SAPS said its members arrested a total of12 251 suspects during the period between 27 January and 02 February 2025.
“Through Operation Shanela, the SAPS continues to take a bold and decisive approach in dealing with crime in the country,” SAPS said in a statement on Monday, 3 February 2025.
Crime fighting activities include tracking operations, roadblocks, high visibility patrols, stop and searches and tracing of wanted suspects.
All Shanela operations are led by the Provincial Commissioner of each province.
The following arrests were made during the period:
- 2 095 suspects who were wanted for violent crimes such as murder, attempted murder, rape, business and house robberies, were arrested.
In addition:
- 135 suspects were arrested for murder, the majority in Gauteng (47), followed by Eastern Cape (36).
- 120 suspects were arrested for attempted murder.
- 218 suspects were arrested for rape, again KwaZulu-Natal arrested majority of these suspects with 80 arrests.
- 1 546 suspects were arrested for assault GBH.
- 170 drug dealers were arrested.
- 1 412 suspects were arrested for being in possession of drugs, majority of these suspects were arrested in the Western Cape (791)
- 86 suspects were arrested for being in position of illegal firearms, majority of these suspects were arrested in KZN (26) and Western Cape (26)
- 1 065 illegal foreign nationals were also arrested during this period
- 352 drivers were arrested for drunken driving in the past week, the majority of arrests coming in Western Cape (96)
A total of 112 firearms and 1 076 rounds of ammunition were confiscated during the operations, while 43 hijacked and stolen vehicles were recovered.
During this period SAPS seized more than 70 000 counterfeit items valued at over R90 million and arrested 37 suspects of various nationalities during multiple takedown operations, conducted in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal throughout January 2025. – SAnews.gov.za
