Public works progress on light rail access

Not much to report on the general appearance of the building from the outside. Most of it is still covered in scaffolding, although you can see more of the external 'skin' has been completed. One day the covers will come off for a dramatic impact. No doubt there's a lot of progress inside, with the mid-year completion expected.

More significant is the new lift well installed on the western side of the building which will link the ground level of HM with the light rail platform. It has three levels, including a mid-level stop where the shop/cafe will be. At this stage, it's not as pretty as in the original drawings, which suggested it might be glass with louvres, rather than concrete. Those with apartments facing west will hope it is covered in attractive cladding.

Of course, this will also be the way to the fish markets, the foreshore and the Bays Precinct.

You can also see where the pavers will be laid along the rock wall to lead from the lift to the train platform, and I guess there will be a fence with the school on the other side.

The cliff has also been cut where the steps up to HM will go, and the rest of the paving to the rail platform. The steps will not be as high as expected from the original drawings. The rock cliff looks attractive, hopefully it will be retained in its natural form.

Anyway, good to see the public works underway as they have involved a lot of negotiation with council and rail authorities over who was responsible for what.

Day 29: Leaving South Africa

Quick post before I catch the plane back to Sydney.

Watched Holland beat Uruguay in the semi final last night, 3-2. It was a warm evening and a perfect setting for Cape Town's last match. A game with five good goals to see me off was highly entertaining. But it's never as exciting as when I have an emotional interest in the outcome, and I didn't really care who won. Many people have asked why I have spent so much time at the World Cup but I am not staying for the Final. I probably would if either Australia or England were playing, but even an exciting prospect like Holland v Germany or Spain does not raise the temperature like following your own team.

So I've had a great trip, I have insights into Africa which I knew little about previously, and seen some wonderful players and football. With one or two hitches, plans have gone well, and South Africa has done a good job. Or maybe that should be FIFA and its agencies, because even President Jacob Zuma admitted he will be back in charge of his country after the weekend following a month of taking instructions from Sepp Blatter. I've done what I came to do, and I'm missing my cuddle-bunny. Regardless of how many people you meet in a conference or at presentations, you're alone when you close the room door.

I will do a final posting after the Final to wrap up South Africa 2010.

Day 28: Zuma and Zille Visit Investec

The Investec Conference continued today, and they really showed their political connections. Helen Zille is the Premier of the Western Cape and Leader of the Opposition, the Democratic Alliance. She spoke of the desire to open opportunties for all, and the need to eliminate the cronyism and 'cadres' that continue in Africa. When officials give out Government work based on personal reward, society cannot function. Ironically, it is often the former liberationists in countries like Kenya who then mistreat their own people who they were supposed to save. She also said that the role of Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa from 1999-2008, has been greatly underestimated in the wake of Mandela, and it was he who brought much of the economic progress to the country. And while she disagreed with many of his policies, she described the current President as warm and charismatic, and they often worked together for the best outcome.

She forecast that South Africa will have an inevitable 'hangover' after the World Cup, as a national characteristic is a 'bipolar' switch between happiness and depression. She was aware of threats of violence as soon as the event was over, but she was optimistic for the longer term.

Over lunch, security was very tight for the arrival of the current President, Jacob Zuma. In the following photo, he shares a joke with Hendrik du Toit, who was a founding member of Investec Asset Management in 1991, and is the current CEO and was Euromoney Asset Management CEO of the Year in 2008.

Jacob Zuma addresses delegates over lunch, clearly loving the attention the World Cup has brought to Africa, and intensely proud of how well it has gone.

Zuma was also in Robben Island prison for 10 years for his opposition to the apartheid regime, and is in his first term as President. He called the World Cup an economic success, and promised the advances in security and lowering of crime will be permanent. And he said the overall social benefits would be priceless, as he had seen patriotism and pride in Africa like never before. "We are all blowing our vuvuzelas," he said.
He is actively involved in the G20 and the United Nations to create equality and eliminate poverty. After his speech, a delegate from Zambia gave a very emotional speech on what has been achieved for the whole of Africa, and he thanked his 'sister'. His said this tournament was the Africa Cup where his nation had been the stage, and that after the soccer, he wanted the people to have a 'national party' to celebrate their success.

He then sat down for lunch, and stayed a couple of hours. A big man with a wide smile, he was relaxed and laughed easily. And outside on the street, the roads were closed, and police armed with machine guns covered the street corners, protecting a convey of large black four wheel drive vehicles waiting to take him to the next game. A reminder that even the most popular have their enemies.

Day 27: Investec Conference

Early start as we are picked up at the hotel and taken to the Investec offices in Cape Town for a solid 10 hours of conference presentations. The material includes talks on portfolio management by Investec staff and clients from around the world, including Ng Kok Song who runs the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, who is also highly active in Australia.
Africa has over 900 million people, not quite as many as India or China, but an emerging market which one day may be considered in the same way as the current BRIC economies. Much of the conference is different to a similar Australian discussion on investments, as the African story includes countries like Botswana, Namibia and Zambia that few Australians could locate on a map, never mind invest in. But they are functioning democracies with large mineral reserves, often with Australian mining companies active there. Even a country like Ethiopia which most Australians would consider a basket case has strong growth rates and a growing foreign presence, while Nigeria has 150 million people.
There is much discussion on emerging markets and changing demographics, and how the biggest market for products from companies like Louis Vuitton and BMW is now China.

We also hear from an expert on evolution and palaeontology that all the significant elements of human progress first happened in Africa, such as standing upright, use of shelter and tools, discovery of fire, herding of animals, living together in communities, development of the human brain. Parts of this talk were surprisingly similar to sections of the speech I made at Jenna's wedding in February: how we are all descended from the same African tribe, and therefore were all related at some point in our history before we went out and populated the world.

The lunch talk is given by Francois Pienaar, Captain of the Springboks in the winning World Cup team of 1995. He explained Matt Damon's reluctance to play him in Invictus due to their difference in size, and he also summarised his view on the strengths and shortcomings of the movie. He didn't like the way the team was portrayed as having little hope of winning prior to the World Cup, when in fact they had a highly competitive team - but he accepted this is typical Hollywood. But the way Mandela tried to use the game as a symbolic way to unite the nation was accurate.

In the evening, the dinner speaker is FW de Klerk, former President and the person who negotiated the end of apartheid with Mandela, and shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. This reconciliation was an extremely brave act on his part at the time, and went against most of what his party and supporters wanted. And even de Klerk admitted that it could have gone wrong and led to civil war. While he was quite humble about his role, he was obviously proud that 20 years later, the country could work together to build the airports, roads, security and stadiums to manage a World Cup. But he was not blind to the negatives, including 40% unemployment among blacks, 15 million on welfare, poor education opportunities for many and high crime rates. His most significant warning was that these problems must not lead to gains by the far right or far left who will exploit the shortcomings for political gain.

An interesting day with fresh perspectives for me on Africa. South Africans are extremely introspective and self critical, and worry that the world still looks at them in a highly critical way. There is a major chip on the South African shoulder that you don't see in Australia, that comes not from its colonial origins, but more likely from the vestiges of the apartheid era. They believe the world has not forgiven them for their treatment of blacks, and they are hung up on the external view and lack of recognition of progress in tough circumstances.

Which is why the Football World Cup is so important to them. It not only gives South Africans a chance to be proud of their nation and for all members of the Rainbow Nation to share that pride. More important, it allows them to hold their heads high to the external world, to show the world that South Africans can move on together despite whatever happened in the past. And this new-found self-confidence is likely to be the most lasting legacy of 2010.

Day 26 cont: Amazing Mzoli's

For lunch, we're taken to an amazing 'butchery' in Gugulethu called Mzoli's. It's before midday and there's already a long queue, and I soon understand why. The system is you choose vast quantities of meat, and there is absolutley nothing else available. You then hand over the meat in a big steel bowl for your entire table, and they cook it over wood-fired barbeques where the smoke fumes are overwhelming, without an extractor fan in sight. It produces great flavour, but people would not be allowed to work in such conditions in Australia.

The meat for a table of eight is enough to feed a family of lions for a year. There's not a piece of broccoli or leaf of lettuce ever seen in the place, and we do the only thing possible: we eat until we are fit to burst, and it's tender and tasty. The lamb has been marinaded in something sweet and hot, and it goes all over fingers and hands. It almost feels barbaric consuming so much meat: it must be what the Roman Empire was like when they gorged to excess, until physically unable to eat more. Knowing I have assaulted my body, I eat a small pasta for dinner.

Our guide packs the left over meat into plastic bags, and on our way back to Cape Town, hands it out to poor kids by the side of the road.

But the loo is terrible, with a massive hole in the ground just near where you stand. It's filled with some fetid-looking dark liquid, and I come within a few inches of falling in before I see it. Heaven knows what disease a little white guy would come out with.

Day 26: Heritage Tour

It's Sunday 4 July, and I join a tour for some unique African cultural experiences.
It wouldn't be right to visit Africa and not see a witch doctor. His little den in a sea container was an incredible mess, full of bits of animals. Most prominent on his desk was a pad of lotto forms. When I pointed it out, he said he had twice won R7,000 (about $1,000). So whatever skill he has in potions, it obviously does not extend to reading the future. He may have been speaking in Zulu, because I could only catch every tenth word, one of which was pregnancy. That sounded dangerous, so with much frantic nodding and smiling, we parted happily.


Langa is the first township outside Cape Town where blacks were forcibly removed to during apartheid, and while it is still a poor area, residents often own their own homes, and in some parts, there are restaurants and boarding houses. Groups gather on street corners for church services, smartly dressed in their black suits.



Couldn't resist photographing this young guy playing with a box of cigarettes. Not quite the Malboro Man.



The most common form of shop is sea containers, converted into all types of entrepreneurialism. Our tour host explains that while most of the economic power remains with the whites, such as ownership of land and businesses, the political power rests with the blacks and coloureds, because they are 90% of the population. It is therefore essential that they work together. He says the Rugby World Cup did not capture the 90% in the same way the Football World Cup has because rugby was not their game. However, the recent final of the Super 14 rugby series held in Soweto amazed most of the population: a rugby game in Soweto attended by whites was unprecedented. Now everyone is loving the World Cup together, it has opened most African eyes to the possibility of a brighter future.

Days 24 and 25: Ghana Ends African Dream

Quarter Final in Cape Town, Argentina versus Germany, surprisingly, much larger Argentinian presence in the stadium than German.



After the game, the stadium empties quickly, but the German fans just don't want to leave. They savour the moment of one of the great German performances, scarcely able to believe that a young German team plays in such a relaxed, free and expansive way - so unGerman. What happened to the days when Germany went up 1-0 then defended for 60 minutes? They have now scored four goals against Australia, England and Argentina.

Four great games over the last couple of days.

Holland beats Brazil and sends a nation into crisis, putting even more pressure on the host country in 2014. I said in my first blog that I don't know much about Brazil and I'm still wondering what all the fuss was about.

I watch Ghana play Uruguay in a Cape Town restaurant, and all South Africans are supporting Ghana as the African representative. The tension builds during the game as first Ghana score, then Uruguay equalises, extra time, and a last minute penalty to Ghana raises all hopes. And then everyone is devasted as Ghana misses, and goes on to lose the penalty shoot out. Yet if you'd told a South African a year earlier that they would want a rival like Ghana to win, they would not have believed you. This World Cup may not only help to unite blacks and whites in SA, but Africa as well.

Today, I go to Green Point Stadium to see my tip as winners, Argentina, playing Germany. I sit at a table with a Dutch guy who does not want to play Germany in the final, because Holland has a mental problem when they play the Germans (join the queue). And a German guy who spends the second half wondering how he'll arrange transport and tickets to Durban for the semi final.

During the game, I focus closely on the best player in the world, Lionel Messi, and try to work out what makes him special. I bought a Messi shirt last year so I would play better, and other people would think I am a good player because I wear a Messi shirt. At least, that was the theory.

But Germany is fantastic, fast and clinical on the break, and they win 4-0. Messi is surrounded each time he receives the ball, and as I watch him and ignore the game, he doesn't do much to fix things. He does not chase back or put in much effort (a bit like Steve Gerrard), but stays in a 25 yard area between half way and the penalty box, and his shooting is way off target. Criticising Messi is like suggesting the Mona Lisa is a poor painting or the Guggenheim Bilbao is not much of a building, but other than a couple of magic flicks, he is nowhere. I should have known, because the Messi shirt has the same effect on me.

So he joins the list of Ronaldo, Rooney and Torres (so far) as probably the four best players in the world in the previous six months doing little to enhance their reputations here. All among the favourites for Golden Boot, and one goal between the lot.

Spain squeeze past Paraguay 1-0, with David Villa suddenly the greatest player on earth. A week ago, South American teams were top of every group they were in, and experts were lamenting the demise of European football. Now, three of the semi finalist are from Europe.

On top of all this, what bamboozles me in that players who are footnotes in the English Premier League, trying to hold their positions at Wigan, Sunderland, Portsmouth and Newcastle, all clubs desperately struggling, are among the stars of the World Cup. And Manchester United rejects like Veron, Forlan, Pique, Heinze and (to some extent) Tevez have had better World Cups than current United players like Rooney and Evra. Last time I was at Old Trafford, Gerard Pique could not make the first team even when players were injured, now he's holding the Spanish defense together. I just can't work it out.

Days 20-23: If You're Tired of London, You're Tired of Life

Serena Waves to me after another powerful display.



You gotta love those red knickers.

London rejuvenates me.
If the British economy is struggling, someone forgot to tell London. And if it’s this busy at a normal time, then what will it be like during the 2012 Olympics? It is lively, smiling, energetic, warm and sunny.
I have a busy calling programme (honestly, I have the call reports to prove it), and garner sympathy for my heavy travel schedule by coughing at each meeting. Doesn’t get me far, the English are past caring. I manage to make a couple of presentations without my voice giving way. And I sneak in a few hours at Centre Court Wimbledon.
What a great experience! It’s all so wonderfully civilised. The gentle applause is such a contrast to the incessant vuvuzelas. It’s white hats and white suits, patient queuing, Pim’s and lemonade, quiet please, no entry between games, smiling policemen in rolled up sleeves, flowers in full bloom. It oozes history, one of the hallowed places that are as big as the game itself. It’s a place where you feel you should pay respect to past players, etched forever into honour boards and pictures around the grounds.
If there is one tennis player in the world I want to see, it’s Serena Williams. And after an entertaining game on Centre Court where ‘Our Kimmie’ (Clujsters) loses, on prowls Serena. Thanks for that. Now, I don't want to be accused of being either fattist or sexist or whatever, but as I suspected, she’s a lot more attractive in person than on the screen. The television seems to reduce her height and increase her width, making her look a bit frumpy. She’s actually a very well-proportioned woman, wearing a particularly fetching white dress, but there’s no disguising the power and intimidation she projects.
Her opponent, a slip of a girl named Na Li, starts quite well, holding the match to 4-4. Then it’s as if she looks over the net, sees this large black woman whose left leg is bigger that poor Na’s entire body, and she loses her nerve, hardly winning another point. And Na is no pushover, this is the second week of Wimbledon.
Equally enthralling is the bright red pair of knickers that Serena is wearing, which of course come into full bloom each time she serves. To mix metaphors, it’s like a red flag jumping out from under her dress. Although there’s probably enough material for the roof of a small marquee, it all works well. In the bright sunshine, her body seems to glow, and … well, since Debbie will probably read this, I’d better stop there.
But Debbie, you’ll be glad to know I did not buy you a set of Serena Williams Limited Edition Red Bloomers Wimbledon 2010 from the shop. They didn’t have your small size.
Then to top it off, the most sublime strawberries I have ever tasted in my life. So naturally sweet, neither soft not firm, warmed in the sun, picked at the precise moment of their perfection. Australian strawberries are apples in comparison.
On my last night, I go for a long, late walk along the Thames. It does not go dark until after 9pm, it's balmy, and the streets are still busy towards midnight.
I photograph Big Ben at 10:10. Advertisements for watches always put their watches at 10:10 because it looks as if the watch is smiling. You’d never sell a watch showing 8:20. Or is Ben set at this time because he is for sale, as the UK Government seeks to balance the books?