President Jacob Zuma recently gave a speech about rhino poaching at the Kruger National Park as part of government’s anti-poaching awareness campaign.

President Zuma, who donned a San Parks uniform for his speech, honoured rangers who have lost their lives working the country’s rhinos safe, and affirmed the importance of remaining steadfast the fight.

He calls the Kruger National Park “the epicentre of the poaching crisis” and commends “the brave men and women who stand between poachers and our rhino”.

SABC News has shared a video of the event:

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On the same occasion, Zuma officially opened the Joint Operations Centre at the Kruger National Park. The centre will be used the SAPS, the SANDF and San Parks officials to co-ordinate the fight against poaching:

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The Kruger National Park has released a statement on the event:

“We are pleased to announce that joint situational awareness through electronic means and live-streaming of information now informs in-time decision making, faster reaction and more often proactive operations,” said President Zuma. “This enables us to employ resources more intelligently and to be one step ahead of the poachers and their bosses.”

The President emphasised that battle against rhino poaching cannot be won without partnerships.

“The nature of this challenge requires our collective efforts as government working with the private sector, communities, civil society and the business sector to ensure the Integrated Strategic Management approach is successful, not only in South Africa, but also within Africa and in the rest of the world,” he said.

• Complete article: San Parks

Related stories:

• Vietnam and South Africa Join Forces to Crack Down on the Illicit Trade in Rhino Horn
• Sinister Twists in the Tale of the Rhino Wars: Margaret von Klemperer Reviews John Hanks’ Operation Lock and the War on Rhino Poaching
• Financial Times Poaching Documentary “Big Game, Big Money” Features Killing for Profit Author Julian Rademeyer

 
Book details

• Operation Lock and the War on Rhino Poaching by John Hanks
  EAN: 9781770227293
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• Killing for Profit: Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade by Julian Rademeyer
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  EAN: 9781770223349
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SAP HANA have shared a behind-the-scenes video from the 2015 Best Practices for Oil and Gas conference, in which champion surfer Chris Bertish discusses how he prepares, minimises risk, and proceeds with confidence, whether riding a 70-foot wave or managing a business.

Bertish says big waves reach about 50, 60, 70 feet – about the size of a six-storey building – “whatever mother ocean can throw at us”.

He says getting into big wave surfing is about pushing your boundaries, challenging your own beliefs, and shifting your comfort zone, adding “it’s amazing what you can achieve”.

Bertish’s autobiography Stoked! was released by Zebra Press in August.

Watch the video, in which he describes one of his most terrifying experiences: how he got caught in an underground cave.

“I was pretty young,” he says, “and I think I was unprepared for that kind of situation, because it happens to so few people on the planet, so your mind is trying to decipher what is happening to you. You have to calm your mind to make rational decisions.”

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• Stoked! by Chris Bertish
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Jana van der Merwe recently spoke to Samm Marshall on Morning Live about her book, Grave Murder: The Story Behind the Brutal Welkom Killing.

“We never saw these two suspects coming,” Marshall says in his introduction about Chané van Heerden en Maartens van der Merwe. Van der Merwe agrees: “I think what blind-sided everybody is that the two suspects who were finally convicted of the murder just did not fit the profile at all.”

Grave Murder is the seasoned journalist’s account of the brutal murder of Michael van Eck that took place in April 2011, in the sleepy goldmining town of Welkom.

“Both of them are very well-mannered, educated youngsters that had their whole future before them. I just didn’t understand why somebody would do something like that,” Van der Merwe says. “I think I wrote the book for myself to understand their psyche.”

“I went into the SMSes between the two of them and you could see that they created their own little world, their own universe, where everything they did and talked about was normal.”

Watch the video:

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Also read:

• “Die skryf van die boek was by tye ’n baie traumatiese ervaring” – Jana van der Merwe oor Grave Murder

• “Dit is donker waar hulle is” – Jana van der Merwe gesels oor Grave Murder (Plus: Uittreksel)

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• Grave Murder: The Story Behind the Brutal Welkom Killing by Jana van der Merwe
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  EAN: 9781770227767
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Jonathan Kaplan, celebrated former rugby referee and co-author of Call It Like It Is: The Jonathan Kaplan story, recently spoke to Ewan Strydom on Expresso about his new Rate the Ref app and the progress of the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup.

In the video, Kaplan speaks about his website, also called Rate the Ref, and why he thinks it is important for the public to have access to opinions and evaluations about refereeing. He says he aims “to try show the public the impact of good decisions and of poor decisions.” His purpose is not to criticise his colleagues, but he believes the public have the right to accurate information.

The app, Kaplan says, is a platform for fans’ banter and opinion, both in response to the game and in response to Kaplan’s opinion of the refereeing.

After speaking about the Rate the Ref, Strydom takes the opportunity to pick Kaplan’s brain about the Springboks’ current standing at the World Cup.

Watch the video:

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Book details

• Call It Like It Is: The Jonathan Kaplan story by Jonathan Kaplan and Mike Behr
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  EAN: 9781770225855
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Julian Rademeyer, author of Killing for Profit: Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade, was recently featured in a documentary called “Big Game, Big Money” produced by Financial Times.

The documentary tells the complex story of illegal wildlife trade, focusing on the rhino crisis in South Africa. Rademeyer says that “entrenched poverty” in Mozambican communities that have historically been excluded from National Parks. He says this is “very easy recruiting grounds; the money is ultimately the key”.

Watch the video:

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Financial Times also published a special report on the issue by Alec Russell. Russell refers to Rademeyer’s explanation of the efficacy of policing poaching in this country.

Read the article:

Rademeyer has concluded that policing “supply” is a stop-gap solution. Local law enforcement agencies “simply do not have the resources or the manpower”, he says. With its high murder rate, South Africa has greater policing priorities than rhino poaching. “Look at the challenges the government faces — building schools, ensuring low-income housing — these are the real challenges. Poaching is far removed from that.”

In this context, campaigners have turned their focus from “supply” to “demand”. It has taken them thousands of miles to the east, to Asia’s emerging markets and, in particular, Vietnam.

• Complete article: Financial Times

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• Killing for Profit: Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade by Julian Rademeyer
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Kabous Meiring het onlangs vir Dennis Cruywagen genooi om op Prontuit te gesels oor sy rubriek vir Netwerk24 oor die huidige taaldebat aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch.

In die artikel skryf die Brothers in War and Peace-outeur dat dit tyd is dat “bruin mense hul stem dik maak vir Afrikaans op Stellenbosch”.

Cruywagen vertel meer die geskiedenis van Afrikaans en die “geskiedkundige deurbrake” wat gemaak is in Genadendal, en verduidelik waarom Afrikaans nie uitsluitlik aan die onderdrukker behoort nie.

Lees die artikel:

’n Begrip van die geskiedenis van Afrikaans gee ook ’n begrip vir die bydrae van die eerste nasies. Hul nasate het rede om te vrees vir die toekoms van tersiêre opvoeding vir hul kinders. Weens die vrees vir viktimisasie en dat hulle as rassiste uitgekryt sal word, is min van hulle bereid om uit te praat oor hul reg tot onderrig in hul moedertaal.

Maar dit is nie nou die tyd om stil te bly nie, dis ’n tyd om die stem dik te maak. Luister het klippe in die bos gegooi, maar dit wys net ’n deel van die groter prentjie.

Dit sê niks oor die regering se segregasie van die swart gemeenskap in Afrikane en nie-Afrikane nie. Dit sê niks oor die toekoms van bruin mense wat hul onderrig wil voortsit in Afrikaans nie.

Hoeveel langer gaan hierdie onteiening voortduur?

• Volledige artikel: Netwerk24

In die video-onderhoud, wat uit twee dele bestaan, gesels Cruywagen oor sy kinderdae tydens apartheid en die dag toe sy gesin die Distrik Ses-uitsettingsbrief ontvang het (wat terloops ook dieselfde dag was toe hy besef het sy pa is ongeletterd).

Cruywagen vertel hoe die trek na Heideveld sy familie se lewe onherroeplik verander het en besin oor Meiring se vraag of hy kwaad is oor hierdie tydstip in sy lewe.

Kyk na die eerste deel van die onderhoud:

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In die tweede insetsel verduidelik Cruywagen waarom Afrikaans nie die taal van die onderdrukker is nie.

“Ek dink dis ‘n goeie ervaring vir enigeen om Stellenbosch toe te gaan,” sê hy. “Transformasie beteken nie jy dwing jou wil op ander mense af nie. Transformasie beteken ook jy bring jou deel in, en so verander die plek.”

Cruywagen vertel dat die eerste Afrikaanse koerant, Die Bode, in 1859 in Genadendal, sy ma se tuisdorp, uitgekom het. “As jy nie intiem vertroud is met die geskiedenis van daardie lieflike plek nie, dan weet jy dit nie.”

“Deel van transformasie is ook om die volle geskiedenis van Afrikaans te openbaar en te sê weet jy wat, die eerste vryheidsvegters in hierdie land het Afrikaans gepraat,” sê hy. “Transformasie beteken noodwendig in my boek dat die ouens wat sê Afrikaans is die taal van die onderdrukker, moet die geskiedenis van Afrikaans gaan leer.”

Kyk na die tweede deel van die onderhoud:

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Boekbesonderhede

• Brothers in War and Peace deur Dennis Cruywagen
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  EAN: 9781770226005
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For World Rhino Day, Julian Rademeyer has shared a video in which he talks about the current rhino crisis and his award-winning book, Killing for Profit: Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade.

“South Africa is home to over 70 percent of the world’s last remaining rhinos,” Rademeyer says. “Since 2008 we’ve lost well over 4 000 rhino. That is 14 times the number that we lost in the preceding 27 years. This is a gathering storm. And we haven’t seen the worst of it yet.”

In Killing for Profit, Rademeyer investigated ivory syndicates: “The book was the highlight of my career. I wanted to find out who the poachers were. Who were these kingpins in the shadows?”

He continues: “I’ve been in positions in the past when I’ve been threatened, been warned off.”

Another problem to consider, according to Rademeyer, is the positive difference made to people’s lives by poaching money. “It’s given communities who had nothing a new lifeblood. And that is a really difficult challenge to face,” he says.

Part of the solution, Rademeyer says, could be rhino farming, which could satiate the market. But we need a plan B.

“You have the perception if you talk to Mozambicans, if you talk to black South Africans, that an animal has more value to activists than a human life,” he says. “We need to reach a point where South Africans as a whole view conservation as part of their natural heritage, something they can be proud of, something that defines South Africa.”

Watch the video, which was created by the Black Rhino Project:

(Warning: Not for sensitive viewers)

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Related:

• This World Rhino Day, Meet Sudan – the Last Male Northern White Rhino in the World

Book details

• Killing for Profit: Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade by Julian Rademeyer
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  EAN: 9781770223349
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At the Mavericks Invitational in 2010, Chris Bertish was a little fish in a very, very big pond.

After nearly drowning in some of the biggest waves the big-wave surfing competition has ever seen, Bertish walked away a champion. Five years later, he is well established as a motivational speaker and sportsman, and has just had his book Stoked! published.

Ocean Driven is a documentary about the coming of age that taking part in Mavericks 2010 represented for Bertish.

Watch the documentary trailer:

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Related Links:

• It All Started with a Homemade Catamaran – Chris Bertish on His Journey to the Big Wave Championship

• Chris Bertish: Everything I do is About Being Part of the Ocean and Fighting for My Dreams (TEDxSeaPoint)

• Chris Bertish: I’ve Learned that the Ocean is One of the Most Humbling Places on the Planet (Video)

Book details

• Stoked! by Chris Bertish
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  EAN: 9781770227644
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Darrel Bristow-Bovey, author of One Midlife Crisis and a Speedo, was recently interviewed by Jonathan Ancer for AmaBookaBooka.

After introducing Bristow-Bovey, Ancer asks the author to read an extract from his latest book. Bristow-Bovey reads a section about the Tim Noakes diet and the celebrity status cauliflower has won because of it.

Bristow-Bovey then answers some questions about his writing and what he likes to read. He then does a “Sound Rorschach Test”, in which he shares a memory associated with the random sound effects Ancer plays.

Watch the video:

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Book details

• One Midlife Crisis and a Speedo by Darrel Bristow-Bovey
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  EAN: 9781770227460
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Warren Ingram, wealth manager and author of Become Your Own Financial Advisor : The Real Secrets to Becoming Financially Independent, recently shared some tips about asset allocation and diversification with Mashudu Masutha for 702.

In the video, Ingram gives advice about selecting the right investments for your personal needs. He speaks about the possible dangers of stock picking and market timing.

Ingram says three things are important in investment: “Patience is a real virtue when it comes to making long-term money decisions, doing your homework properly and sticking to a correct asset allocation over your lifetime”.

Watch the video:

• Watch the video on 702

Book details

• Become Your Own Financial Advisor : The Real Secrets to Becoming Financially Independent by Warren Ingram
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  EAN: 9781770226180
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