This Week & Beyond
There is always lots of sizzling action in Cape Town
It is easy to forget that this time last week Table Mountain was on fire. Fortunately, the Newlands Ravine fire was contained after a few days of burning without any loss of lives or homes, thanks to Cape Town’s incredible firefighters.
Fire is a naturally occurring and important aspect of nature’s life cycle, but the fires on Table Mountain are generally the result of carelessness or vandalism. Just a small shard of glass on the ground can be enough to start a fire in Cape Town’s intense sunlight, and people sometimes neglect to properly extinguish fires used for cooking or spiritual ceremonies.
Why someone would intentionally light a fire and cause so much damage and distress to plants, animals and people is hard to compute. There are many theories, however. One popular theory at the moment ascribes it to political shenanigans. Apparently setting fire to the mountain is seen as a good way to discredit the Democratic Alliance, which runs the City of Cape Town so well as other cities and towns fall into terrible disrepair. I am not making this up. People are idiots; they are also cruel.
And then there are the amazing ones …
“The Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS) has been on the front line, combating dangerous and sometimes deadly runaway wildfires since its inception during the devastating fires that ravaged Cape Town in 1999/2000. With a force of more than 350 volunteers, with women making up 34% of our volunteers, operating from four stations, Newlands, South Peninsula, Stellenbosch, and Helderberg. VWS is the largest volunteer firefighting organisation in South Africa. VWS stands tall as a powerful non-profit organisation, driven by a team of fiercely passionate volunteers, and led by our fearless CEO, Claire Lötter.”
Learn more and support them here: Volunteer Wildfire Services. You can also choose VWS as your selected beneficiary for the Woolworths MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet card.
The Cape of Good Hope SPCA launched this call for help: The fire that tore through Table Mountain overnight may soon be contained, but for the animals caught in its path, the crisis is far from over. If you find an injured animal and it is safe to do so gently place it in a ventilated cardboard box lined with a towel/if the animal is burned, a sheet. Keep the animal calm by covering the box and keeping it away from pets and people. Call us immediately on 021 700 4158/9. We will come to you!
Read more: Wild News
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While on the subject of sizzling hot, we saw Faustus in Africa at the Baxter on the weekend. We highly recommend it, and not just for the pleasure of seeing the awe-inspiring work of so many South African geniuses (William Kentridge, Handspring Puppet Company, Jennifer Steyn, Atandwa Kani, Wessel Pretorius and end and). Read our review: The Faustian bargain, a tale for all times
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Something we are expecting to be a different kind of sizzling is Cape Ballet Africa’s Breathwords at Artscape later this month.
We would have gone just to see an extended version of South African Choreographer Kirsten Isenberg's Reverie, which is set to the full score of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The addition of whispers from within by Dutch choreographer Wubkje Kuindersma and Remanso by Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato sounds like a lot more than a little icing on the top. Tickets
If you fancy being a tourist in your own town, Cameron Peter’s Walking Tours come so highly recommended. Have a look at March’s schedule on Cape Town Heritage Tours’ Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/capetownheritagetours/. Even if you don’t have time to join a tour, quite a few of which are free, have a look through the photos, notes and reviews and you will see why Cameron is a bit of a Mother City legend. Read more: A peak under the Mother City’s petticoat
… and just a little something I wanted to share was this review that read like a piece of art itself. The book sounds amazing too. The Book Lounge does not currently have the book, they told me, but would happily order it (retails at R335).