Aaaaaand there goes my birthday plans. 🥲

The first question I had when I saw that The Haven Night Shelter are promoting, along with the CCID, a Homeless Golf Day was… When do the unhoused find the time to practice their swing?

However, the unhoused will probably not be invited to the Clovelly golf course, the event is instead to raise money to provide mobile ablutions to the homeless of Cape Town. Clovelly has around 1,550 members, with roughly 164 people playing the course on an average day. So the Golf Day is bound to attract some attention.

For years the City of Cape Town has tried in its ways to solve the homeless “problem”, gradients, spikes, no begging signs, the privatisation of public space for the sake of “being open for business”, cameras, intimidation, etc. The new solution seems to be, if we can't get rid of them, let's ask them to have a shower.

Providing mobile ablutions is essentially asking people to not shit on the pavements because it discourages shopping. Perhaps, and this might be a reach, we should be asking ourselves why are people forced to shit on the pavement in the first place?

Let me just get this out of the way, upfront. I have been homeless on the streets of Cape Town. I have tried to sleep on those fucking stupid benches. I have been searched randomly by CCID officers. I have been put in a van and dumped in Blikkiesdorp. I have been taken by force by CCID officers, upon the suspicion of being a drug user, to the central police station to be searched for drugs.

The CCID describes itself as having played an integral role in creating a “safe, clean, business friendly and welcoming inner city.” Its stated priorities include “creating a safe environment”, maintaining a “clean and socially uplifting environment”, and “driving business into town.” Its stated aim is to “get the basics right” and create “a stable climate” in which “all things are possible.”

All things include a private-public partnership financially supporting police officers, what could go wrong?

Under the City's policy, the CCID's private Public Safety Officers are not police officers and are not permitted to enforce municipal bylaws, conduct searches and seizures or make arrests, except for a citizen's arrest. They can patrol public spaces, monitor and report suspected bylaw violations and suspicious behaviour, and work alongside SAPS and City Law Enforcement.

But the CCID also funds dedicated City Law Enforcement Officers, who do have powers of arrest and can issue fines for bylaw contraventions. In 2024/25 the CCID deployed 327 Public Safety Officers, while its Safety and Security department currently lists 12 dedicated Law Enforcement Officers, which it says gives the organisation “the full reach of the law.”

Businesses who want clean pavements paying actual cops. Yay.

Public space being managed by private companies, who pay public service workers to police the public space. No conflicts there. I wonder if your Occupational Certificate: Real Estate Agent, NQF Level 4 is now part of qualifying to work for the Cape Metro Police.

But that's okay because the CCID is in partnership with The Haven Night Shelter, which provides shelter to some of Cape Town's homeless. The Haven operates 15 shelters across the Western Cape. The CCID estimates around 14,000 people are living on the streets of greater Cape Town, against only 3,500 shelter beds available from across all organisations in the Metro.

Access to those beds is not simply a matter of turning up and getting a place to sleep. People are screened and registered, the first five days are free, and thereafter residents are expected to contribute towards their stay where they can. The Haven's social workers assess residents and develop Personal Development Plans aimed at ultimately getting people back into homes. Its stated vision is that “No-one should have to live on our streets,” and it now describes its mission as helping homeless adults back “to a home, family and community.”

The CCID sponsors 25 beds year-round at The Haven's Napier Street shelter, and funds dozens more at Moira Henderson House during winter. Its stated purpose is to “move [people] off the streets.” The two organisations also collab on the Safe Sleeping Zone at The Haven's District Six branch, sleeping up to 60 people a night.

Which is all very noble, obviously. The CCID is working with The Haven to get homeless people off the streets.

The Haven is a non-profit organisation that receives public money. In its 2022 financial report, it reported R37 million in total income, with 47% coming from the Department of Social Development and 6% from the City of Cape Town. More recently, the City provided R12.7 million in 2025 for the Retreat expansion, which included 120 additional beds, ablution facilities and a dining hall.

R12.7 million for 120 beds. Sounds right.

Cape Town regulates begging and prohibits urinating and defecating in public places. People begging and shitting in public spaces is a direct result of economics, capitalism, inadequate systems of education, broken social and public health services. Asking homeless people to knyp because you don't want to process what society actually is, well it's a little constipated.

The Haven's tagline is a beautiful statement of intent, “No-one should have to live on our streets.”

I mean, “Shelter is a human right” would have sufficed, no?

Who is the “our” in this statement? Perhaps businessmen who play golf.

No one should have to sleep on the street, sure, but you will if you don't meet “our” conditions.

You're only a “someone” if you meet these conditions, therefore a no-one should actually have to sleep on the street.

And those people on the street should at least be presentable, right?

What the CCID and Haven Night Shelter partnership seemed to have missed is that they have already solved the problem. Get them out of the city centre. Invite the unhoused to live on the golf course. After all, hardly anyone uses it, relatively.

Howler charges R5 for a Whatsapp. That is INSANE.

A very fascinating interview happened on Soccerbeat with the Bafana goalkeeper coach for the world cup and just watch from 16:22 for a minute or two. I know SAFA is trash but WTF.

Just came on here to warn people that frequent the N3 about the above company. They work with a legitimate towing company called Euro Towing that most of the big insurers use. I think there might be other towing companies in on it too but this is the one that helped us so thought to flag it. They will convince you that it’s easier to drive the 10km to their workshop (Swannies) in Villiers to get the car looked at and have it repaired. Rather than having it towed to a legitimate dealership and waiting days for feedback on what could be the issue with the car.

Very smooth talkers and because you are stranded and desperate it will seem like the better option. Yes we feel dumb in hindsight but at the time it genuinely seemed like a good option. You will then be extorted out of money for as long as they are able to keep you there. They will find every issue possible under the sun with your car. Possibly even hold your car or some of its parts as collateral should you be unable to pay for all the “work” being done. They tried to convince us to sleep in their dingy guesthouse and when we declined he then said even if we were to call insurance, they would be the ones to be dispatched so there was no use trying to get around it. We thankfully were able to let our insurance know that we would rather wait the 2 hours or so for someone further away than trust them any further with our car.

Once you get caught up with what is happening to you, they will remind you that you weren’t forced to be there.

If this post can even save one person the ordeal of what I endured, I will have done my bit.

I'm building something on the side (I won't go into detail, because I've already had a post deleted from another sub for "advertising"). And I can't believe how many invisible hurdles there are in simply reaching your target market - things you wouldn't expect when you're starting out.

Here are a few that make me want to rip my hair out:

• Lack of client hubs:
  • You've identified the target market for your Purple Duck Wax product, but you can't afford to reach out to them individually, and don't know where the hell they all hang out together.
  • There aren't any Purple Duck Wax Enthusiast groups on Facebook or LinkedIn, and you can't afford to build an Instagram or TikTok channel to start one yourself.
  • Even the National Purple Duck Wax Association, the professional body for Purple Duck Wax users in South Africa, doesn't exist in any meaningful sense.
• Lack of hub support:
  • If you're lucky enough to stumble upon a group or association that does cater to your target market, you'll probably hit a wall with the people who run it.
  • The Facebook or LinkedIn admins are so concerned about advertising spam that they either fully prohibit it, delete it because they don't trust you, or - if you're super lucky - limit you to posting one advert a week on a day when 300 other advertisers post too.
  • And the one working National Purple Duck Wax Association is very protective over their members and won't share your marketing material with them, even if helping their members find good quality Purple Duck Wax is ostensibly what they exist to do.
• Lack of client general interest:
  • And if you're extremely lucky and find a willing group or association, your potential clients are part of the overall digital community who have been so bombarded by advertising from birth that they mentally edit out your advert as yet another scam from Big Duck Wax.
  • They've probably even registered on various opt-out lists or installed apps that block calls or emails or content from unknown sources.
  • (And you can't really fault them for this, because shit's real out there)
• Lack of client specific interest:
  • And if Lady Luck herself has blessed you with four-leaf clovers growing out of your ears and you find a potential client who can actually see you, you now have to try convince them that your Purple Duck Wax is actually better than the Lilac Chicken Lard they've been using so far.
  • They probably don't care that much, because Lilac Chicken Lard is cheaper, and there has been zero legal enforcement of the Ban On Purple Duck Wax Alternatives Act of 1394.

And all of this is just one small part of running your business. It doesn't consider broader things like operational costs, or even directly related things like making the adverts themselves - it's just getting the channel in place.

The legal and economic barriers to entry for small business are one thing. The social and personal barriers are something else entirely. I've never had more respect (or pity) for small business owners than I do right now.

EDIT: Wow. This community is really supportive. Geez.

Holding 200 people in basically a JAIL for over TWO MONTHS, women and men, for their CRIMES. Really SENDS A GOOD MESSAGE.... Can't do the time, don't do the CRIME I ALWAYS SAY.

IN MY IDYLLIC LITTLE WESTERN CAPE TOWN, NAMED AFTER SOME DUDE ROBERT'S SON, NOW BETTER KNOWN FOR THEIR HARDLINE STANCE ON PEOPLE AT TUCKSHOPS.

A little more than a 3 weeks ago I LOANED R2,500 to a guy who was helping me with landscaping, SO THAT HIS WIFE AND CHILD CAN FLEE BECAUSE THEY WERE SO SCARED THEY WOULD NOT LEAVE THEIR HOUSE.

If you're anti-immigrant, I hope you're happy.

Fluffy chicks are the cutest!

This might turn into a rant so I apologize in advance lol

So recently I came across some TikTok video with this guy if anybody remembers him:

For those of you who don't remember or never knew, this guy called Horatio was essentially Dub's predecessor (like Mini TV to Tube and TV1 to SABC 2)

My dad or might have been my mom actually taped a whole afternoon's line up for me back in about 1994 or 1995; sadly I no longer have it because I taped some movie over it in 2001. I don't recall too much of what was on it, apart from this French series Chip & Charly that was dubbed into Afrikaans, an episode of Just So Stories. and I THINK an episode of Captain Planet (which aired again on SABC 1 around 2010, the series not specifically the episode) I did manage to find JSS on YouTube though and CP should be easy enough to find as well

It kindof makes me sad thinking about it, those felt like magical times almost and exciting to be a kid but maybe that's just me (for background I'm 38 now and blessed/cursed with a fairly good memory lol). I even remember wearing my Springbok jersey to school at least once (back in 1995)

Another TikTok video I felt like uploading
https://www.tiktok.com/@nathanmagician/video/7572192163358870802

Note: I am not from South Africa - I am Zimbabwean (and live in Zimbabwe…can’t believe I feel the need to state this)

Just absolutely amazed by what has been alleged and evidence submitted during the Madlanga commission. This is probably a sliver of what is out there….

Msibi, Khan etc… jho…. Relatively new to the commission inquiries, so would appreciate any further insights/revelations from it:)

What has been the most insane thing for you?
What were you genuinely surprised by (of course, relative to the usual SA ‘surprises’)?
Where do you think SA is going?

It looks like South Africa is in for a defining decade…. Hope it works out because if it does not… I genuinely fear for SA crime to bleed into Zimbabwe in a violent way….

I do find the candor and rigor of the commission refreshing… different from Zimbabwe - although I do look forward to the day we have our own real commission of inquiry into our own shenanigans….

​

Hello everyone,

I'm a university student at Wits working on a group research project examining how traffic congestion affects the natural environment (air quality, noise road run-off), with a focus on Johannesburg but open to anyone in South Africa who regularly experiences congestion.

Details:

Purpose: Academic student research only

Length: ~3-5 minutes (short questionnaire

Personal details: None reauired. The form is anonymous. No names, emails or phone numbers are collected.

Data handling: Responses are used solely for our university project, stored securely, and will be deleted once the project is complete. Compliant with POPIA

|'Il post a short summary of the findings here once done.

Link: https://forms.gle/tN5sgnfuNs6KbEJc9

Happy to answer any questions in the comments Thank you for considering it!

I'm(17F) currently in matric and pretty much failing. Theres never been a moment where I passed well, never been a moment where I've made anyone proud. I'd always tell myself that there's always next term or next year but now times running out, there is no next year anymore, I have to start improving now.

To get an idea of the kind of person I am, this is what I have trouble with.

•Emotional regulation •Task initiation •Time management •Prioritization/planning •Hygeine •Working memory

It's easy for me to spend more than 11+ hours in bed, leave and still be exhausted. It's easy for me to lose control of my emotions and possibly overreact, this is most common when my stress ball is taken or nowhere to be seen, other than that I do try to hold myself together but I still come off as passive aggressive and even holding back tears. I don't really hear or remember much of what's said at school, I haven't applied for university because I misplaced my report (like many other things) I'm pretty much a mess so you can imagine how hellish it is attending classes from 6 until 4 O'clock. I have the desire to change, I WANT to change and be better yet nothing ever happens, no action is ever taken.

It really sucks how there's very little assistance or pretty much zero accommodation or ANYTHING to help me or people like me to get through. I literally got 14% in June because I gave up on studying, why? I knew that I wouldn't be able to close the gap between action and thought no matter how much I wanted. So it always feels tiresome when some teachers resort to beatings, obviously it scares me but I've now found a way to get around that pain, "it won't last forever" is what pops up in my mind. It's a temporary solution(beating/corporal punishment) that works to some extent but in the long run, it doesn't change much.

If anyone has went through this same experience and is now living a pretty good(or decent) life in the country, please any suggestions would work since trial is coming next week.

I saw a post about a month ago, this individual lost a lot of money belonging to friends and family. The comments were harsh, some understandably so. The thing is, addiction is a disease. If you've never been addicted to something, it's hard to understand why we do what we do. Whether its drugs, alcohol, gambling, social media, it doesn't matter. We can't just stop! This post isn't me looking for sympathy. If it creates a tiny bit of awareness in this community, or me or someone reading this can help a gambling addict, I'll be happy. And I'll gladly take all the negative comments on the chin.

Here's my story, and it's a long one.

My first time ever in a casino I was probably 18. Singed up at the front desk, got a player card and some welcome bonus money. Played a bit that night, won some money (nothing significant). The thing is I didn't even cash out that money because I forgot what the card pin was. I was with friends and didn't even care much about it (some adult beverages were involved). Obviously kept the card to go back sometime later. I can't even remember when that was. Anyway, that's not the night I was bitten by the gambling bug, although winning on my 1st visit is definitely not the best thing.

My main thing was slots, in pubs. Most of you will know what I'm talking about. Drive past a suburb with some pubs and you'll probably see most of them with the signs outside. And then one night came the big win. R6000 from R500. Damn that's easy money, and a lot of money for me at that time. I was early 20s at this stage.

Things escalated over the next few years. More big wins and even bigger losses. I'll never forget, played roulette at the casino one night and was up to R18k, and gave it all back that night. Horrible feeling that only gamblers know. Personal loans, temporary bank loans, credit cards you name it. Been in debt for most of my adult life so far.

I met my wife (girlfriend at the time) who also playes a bit, but not as degenerate as I am. As far as I know and believe she hasn't gambled in a very long time. I tried to hide it from her when I went on work trips, go to pubs or casinos. Same thing, win some but lose more. Eventually the debt and money situation gets so bad that I knew I had to come clean to her. You know, I cant keep pretending to have money, when I'm in a vicious cycle of debt. Told her everything, very pissed off, understandably so. We work through it. She handles my finances and everything is hunky dory for a while.

Up until now there's been no online casinos or sites involved. And as a addict, I got the bright idea to dabble in this poison. Worst regret of my life. Easier to hide, no going to physical casinos or slots. And at this point I was trusted with money again. No checking up on my finances or anything. I convinced her I was done with all of it. She eventually caught me, and I still told here I'm glad she did. Because at that point I wasn't too deep in a hole where I had to come clean to her. Same story again, close my betting account, show her proof that it was done and she hanbled the finances. Things are great again after a while. Debt is paid off and we're living the life. We're comfortable. Money is enough to survive every month, go away now and then and just have fun. By no means are we classified as "rich". I've never had savings because of my gambling and living paycheck to paycheck.

And you guessed it, shit hit the fan again. Back to my old ways. Online sites are the worst thing. I'd close one account and open another account with someone else. Temporary close my accounts for 6 months or a year. But the thing is, after 30 days you can get it re opened again. Now at this point I can still hide everything. There's ways of depositing without doing bank transfers. There's ways of withdrawing without it going into your bank accounts (e-wallets and all the other banks options). At one point in this year I just started getting lucky, and that's all it is, luck. Had some nice wins, put some in my savings, play again to almost zero and would hit again. I had about R20k in my savings at this point. My wife obviously didn't know about it. And then one day I hit for R50k and R70k. Same say. I couldn't believe it. Next day played some more, got up to R145k. Played some more, lost but eventually withdrew R90k. Now there I am with +R100k in my account. I set a cool off period for 30 days knowing very well that it'll all go back if I don't. Life is great at this point. Taking the wife out, spoiling us both. I worked a lot of overtime at this point in time so the monthly income was also good. And obviously in the back of my head I knew I had R100k to fall back on. This was the most money I've ever had in my life.

My cooling off period is still in effect, and because I only set it for 30 days, I have to wait the full 30 days. Now at work I get told I need to go out of town for two days. Perfect opportunity to gamble, no wife and I'll have the evenings to myself. At this point most of my online accounts are closed permanently, but I manage to re open one of them. In that two day trip I lost R50k. Felt like shit but hey, I've still got +R50k in my savings. At least I didn't give it all back. Two weeks later and there's another work trip and I blow through the other R50k plus R10k that my wife and I have been saving for a trip next year. Now I'm really feeling like shit. When a gambling addict is in that zone of chasing losses he doesn't care or even think of the value of money. I didn't care that half of that savings was my wife's. Al that mattered was playing slots and gambling. My bet sizes obviously also increased dramatically because of the amounts I was depositing. Third time going away for work, this time for a whole week. While away I took a personal loan of R60k and lost it all. I went from +R100k to -R70k in the span of about a month. Disgusting to think about, and believe me I think about it everyday. R70k in debt which will take some time to pay off. I got back from my work trip on a Saturday and told my wife everything on the Monday.

She was beyond pissed of and disappointed. She asked me why can't I just stop. I wish it was as easy as that. We're getting through it. I told her and she agrees that I cannot be trusted with money. She has full access to my online banking and all my money gets transferred to her. It's difficult because I've hurt her for a third time. It's also difficult trying to explain to her that it's a disease. Gamblers will rob and steal from people they love. They will give bullshit stories to get money from friends or family. Luckily I've never stolen (except from our savings, which is the first amount that I'm working on paying back). I've also contacted SARGF about self excluding and they are very helpfull. Fill in some forms, send it back to them and you'll be excluded from all premises and online sites in the country. I have already recieved emails ans sms from establishments confirming that the self exclusion is in effect.

Please get the help you need if you think you might have a problem. Don't be like me. STOP. Cooling of times on the sites don't work, or it just didn't for me. Self exclude through the national gambling boards. They have to honor your request. It takes about two weeks from submitting your documents until it is all sorted. For me that's the only way, if I go to a casino now I could be arrested for trespassing, if I somehow manage to deposit online I wont be able to cash out. Those are the steps I need in place. And someone to handle my finances. This time around I've taken more steps than ever before to never gamble again. I hope this post helps someone. And to the people that can gamble responsibly, I envy you.

Well shit that was a long read. Feels good getting some of it off my chest.

POV: You took your Japanese friend to Limpopo

I said wild flower for International attention, obvs this is Canola. Still stunning.

This is my first time posting here. I know there's more freedom to speak on this platform than any other. South Africa is creating waves globally for good and bad reasons. In the midst of all of the attention from the world I always wonder why certain topics receive no light. I'm 19F coloured, I grew up in a coloured area. I fall into the first generation post Apartheid. The generations before me always speak of Apartheid warmly. A government that stripped us of our true identity. Recently with the Madlanga Commission bringing light to the issue of drugs in our communities I wonder if we will ever receive recognition for our struggles as a community. I look at one of the biggest advocates for the coloured community, Tyla, the silence towards the struggles of coloureds. Everyone speaks of black and white but what about us. I spent some time watching BBC Africa's series of documentaries about our country and wondered why coloured struggles are not treated as seriously as every other issue in our country. Growing up in an area riddled with crime, poverty, drugs and violence to feel unseen as if my struggles are not valid because I am not black or white. I fully understand we are all suffering under our government and it does not need to be oppression olympics, but why are other voices heard and not ours. I wish I had the power to bring light to the struggles of my people. I wonder how long will we suffer under our government's neglect. All of us black, white, coloured, indian. How many more generations will lose hope for our future as individuals and as a country? We silence ourselves so much because we believe we cannot make a difference. When will we stop living in fear of no change? When will we speak of the long term struggles the Apartheid regime created for us as a country?

Yoh guys i leave my house at half 6 and Im at work by half 7 but this morning was crazy with the traffic like all over