#southafrica
Peter Magubane
RIP Peter Magubane ✞ January 1st, 2024.
#PeterMagubane #black #joy #SouthAfrica #photo #art
Amphibians Chorus
Album: Sounds of a South African Homestead (In the Land of the Zulus), 1956
Sounds of aSouth African Homestead (In the Land of the Zulus)
#AmphibiansChorus #worlmusic #africa #southafrica #music #frogmas
Toads and Frogs
Admyt parking app is working well for me in Cape Town, even where free parking is applicable
I’ve been testing this app out for the last 3 weeks (some lessons learnt) but one of the key reasons why I was initially hesitant to install it, was I get free 90 minutes of parking at Canal Walk shopping centre when doing my weekly grocery shopping at Pick n Pay. The Admyt app recognises your car’s numberplate (any of two cars you have registered) and will open the boom a few seconds after you stop in front of it. This would not help me if the free parking for Pick ‘n Pay would only work with the paper parking ticket, as you do not receive any paper parking ticket when the Admyt app gives you access.
So, how this is supposed to work is that you enter as normal with the Admyt app but when you are finished with your shopping, you must use the Admyt app to scan the QR code that is situated inside Pick ‘n Pay (in Canal Walk’s case, on the cigarette counter). Once scanned, you’ll see a screen like the featured image in this post. Then you exit as normal, with the Admyt app opening the boom at the exit for you. Last week, no-one knew about this QR code at Pick ‘n Pay, so the Admyt app debited me for the parking — which Admyt credited back to me after I queried it.
LESSON 1: Know where the in store QR code is located if you should qualify for free paring, and do so before you need to rush out.
This is the same procedure usually for any shop or mall that offers some conditional free parking. But you need to get access to that QR code in the store (the QR code on the Pick ‘n Pay receipt won’t work for this).
The other glitch I had was on Black Friday (of all days). I entered fine and exited Canal Walk. There was R10 credit on my Admyt app, but there is a R1 service charge, and it seems for whatever reason after the R10 plus R1 was debited, my linked credit did not pay that R1. So when I returned later to Canal Walk, the boom did not open for me. It turns out if your account has fallen below R0 (in order words the credit card did not top up) then it disables opening the boom for the next entry, and you receive a paper ticket as normal, to pay at the vending machines (OMG the queues were super long on the way out!). Hopefully now whatever issue there was with my linked card, is sorted out, but I topped it up to be in credit for now.
LESSON 2: If boom does not open, check that your account is not in arrears. Maybe good to check the app after you have exited to ensure it is R0 or higher. If below R0 you need to sort that out before your next trip.
Generally though, the app is an absolute pleasure to use, and probably well worth the R1 service fee for each visit (no R1 service is charged for free parking)/ It is a hands-free experience so nothing to do on entry, nor on exiting. During a visit you are notified with a notification that a parking session is on the go, and inside the app you can see the time passed as well as current cost.
In summary, once you have registered one or two vehicles with their number plates on the app, and inked a debit/credit card (or topped the app up with credit), as you approach and stop before a boom at any Admyt supported shopping centre, the boom will just open, and the app will notify you that a parking session is in progress. There are cameras at every entrance and exit, so when you exit, the boom also just opens, and the app will notify you of the cost debited for the session.
Admyt covers various shopping centres around South Africa, and Cape Town this includes Canal Walk, 80 Strand Str, Blue Route Mall, V&A Waterfront, Table Bay Mall, Rockwell, Constantia Uitsig, Roggebaai Place, The District, Lifestyle on Kloof, Cape Gate, Montclare Place, Longkloof, Cape Quarter, as well as two places in Stellenbosch and one in Somerset West.
Note though that some other malls make use of different parking apps, so for the new Riverlands Mall in Observatory in Cape Town, you’d need to use the Parket app. It does seem it is the one or the other app (no duplicates), so you should never find any mall suddenly debiting you for two different apps for one visit.
If you want to try out the Admyt app, you can use my code DAN6403 to get R20 free parking, this link platform.admyt.com/signup/DAN6…. You should not have to link any credit card as it will use the credit first. Under the Wallet tab you’ll see a Got Promo Code button, where you can enter it.
I don’t see any promo code for the Parket app, but it does offer quite a few tweaks in its settings to disable things, and it also caters for monthly parking as well as “reservations” for bays.
#Blog, #admyt, #capetown, #parking, #southafrica, #technology
#Ireland to join #ICJ lawsuit against #Israel in December, Foreign Ministry says
"Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin today secured government approval for Ireland to intervene in #SouthAfrica's International Court of Justice case against Israel under the #Genocide Convention. Filing of the intervention will take place at the Court in The Hague later this month," the Irish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Ireland will ask the court to broaden "its interpretation of what constitutes the commission of genocide by a state," Martin was quoted as saying in a statement.
"We are concerned that a very narrow interpretation of what constitutes genocide leads to a culture of impunity in which the protection of civilians is minimized," he added.
🇿🇦 In December 2023, South Africa filed an application with the ICJ, asking the World Court to issue interim measures against Israel for its war on Gaza. South Africa said that Israel's actions against Palestinians in the enclave were in "violation of obligations under the Genocide Convention".
In January, the ICJ ordered Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza, punish incitement to genocide against Palestinians and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid. It stopped short of ordering Israel to halt the offensive, as South Africa had sought in the case.
RIP Safely Home Reporter — Western Cape Government has discontinued the service
I encounter quite a few reckless drivers on the road, of which more than half are red traffic light jumpers. Some of these end up being close encounters with other drivers. I used to nearly blow a gasket when I saw these things happening. Then I bought a dashcam (well, actually replaced it twice with upgrades), and could give voice commands to save the video clip. Those clips I uploaded every few months, when the SD card was full, to the WCG Safely Home Reporter website. The website would capture details such as the location, time, what the offence was, the registration number, etc. It could also show which vehicles had multiple offences reported.
Safely Home Reporter site showing already logged offenses
The reports were not used per se for actual prosecutions, but I was told that the taxi offences were passed on to the Taxi Unit to look at.
The point is, though, instead of my pressure cooker popping, I’d smile and say “Garmin save video” and carry on driving. So, for many, this was a way of neutralising any road rage they may have experienced. As I say, though, it is doubtful it had any actual outcomes other than that. These were offences recorded in public, showing what happened. Some were for red light offences, others were stop streets ignored, and even inconsiderate parking. These are usually all drivers who got away with whatever their anti-social behaviour was.
Today, I was ready to upload my next batch of dashcam videos, including a truck going through a red light, and a couple of cars happily ignoring red lights as well, when I could not find the website. After logging an issue, I was told it was discontinued. It seems to have discontinued quietly, as I never saw any announcement anywhere. This is pretty sad as the site has been in operation for many years now. I made a post about it at gadgeteer.co.za/dont-get-mad-i… back in 2019. Back in 2017 I made this post about it at gadgeteer.co.za/uploaded-more-…, and I also included a link to many of the videos I’d uploaded to the site.
Hopefully though this is not the end of such a service as I see on the City of Cape Town’s Innovation Ideas website, someone has also proposed a similar type of concept at flui.city/capetown/posts/71086…. If you live in Cape Town, you can support or comment on that idea. It goes to show though that many law-abiding drivers do get quite infuriated about other drivers who have no regard at all for the law, or their fellow drivers. It is quite an interesting idea about making some money off the fines of those transgressors. Gamifying the system could also very well have a positive knock-on effect, and make our roads a bit safer at the same time.
So RIP Safely Home Reporter service! You made my driving more bearable over quite a few years. The link below takes you to the web archive version of the site. It looks like it was still active up to around July 2024. It was an initiative of the Provincial Department of Transport, of the Western Cape Government. I do recall, too, that their long serving HOD of the Department did leave earlier this year, so maybe this was just part of a clean sweep of the broom.
See web.archive.org/web/2024070705…
#Blog, #safelyhomereporter, #southafrica, #technology, #WCG, #weterncape
What effect do #sanctions have? The West has been sanctioning North #Korea for 60 years and the country still exists.
Even worse, it has been able to develop nuclear weapons despite sanctions. But the #world has become much more diverse since the end of the Cold #War. With its misguided foreign #policy, the West has failed to bring emerging states such as #India, #Brazil and #SouthAfrica on board. These states are currently doing business with #Russia and #China is doing the rest to keep Russia going.
#economy #politics #Problem #diplomacy #finance #fail #globalization #usa #nato #west
The Samsung SmartTag 2 is down to $15 for Black Friday — But In South Africa still at Full Price!
Yes, it is pretty sad to watch some other countries get some really great tech bargains. I did go to Samsung though in Cape Town and managed to negotiate R100 off a 4-pack (that’s a US$5 discount).
I couldn’t wait any longer to ditch my AirTags seeing I moved back to Android over a year ago.
At least on the furniture front, I made up for this with a lucky draw, which got me an additional discount over the Black Friday discount at Four Walls. It was my biggest purchase today, so pretty happy about that.
Too many stores were also just giving 10% discounts, which is not really in the spirit of Black Friday.
But back to tech, I do love the Samsung SmartTag 2’s as they do have separation alerts, which the Google Find My Device still does not have.
See androidpolice.com/galaxy-smart…
#Blog, #samsung, #southafrica, #technology
Metr: Electricity Tracker is a new Android app to track Pre-Paid Electricity in South Africa
Metr helps you simplify your prepaid electricity budget. All you need to do is create an entry each time you purchase electricity and Metr will automatically calculate your cost per unit, daily expenses and daily consumption. These statistics can help you be more aware of your electricity usage, providing a metric for you to improve and save!
Under useful stats, it also has Time Until Next Refill. This can help you budget and plan, knowing when you will need to purchase electricity again. It will also allow you to know how long your balance is going to last.
This is by a brand-new developer as their first attempt at writing an Android app, so it may have some rough edges, but it could be really useful to many in South Africa.
It is free with adverts so although the dev does not collect or share your data, the Google ad system may well do so. If the app does well enough, maybe the dev will consider doing a paid ad-free version too.
See play.google.com/store/apps/det…
#Blog, #electricity, #southafrica, #technology
Why electric car charging stations are expensive in South Africa
Well, no surprise as SA government already applies and over and above tax on all EV imports. SA liquid fuels are also very heavily taxed.
And with fast charging stations, there are already a few middle-people adding their mark-ups. I don’t think, even yet, SA government has added any road levy taxes to these charging stations.
I know there are discussions on the go about reducing import levies, as well as road taxes, but right now in SA owning an EV is purely a rich person’s pursuit.
Technically, EVs could be very cost-effective to operate, even given the standard residential electricity tariffs. But right now is just not the time. Other countries in Africa are already offering better incentives, and even manufacturing and exporting their own EV buses.
As far as EVs go, South Africa has somewhat missed the bus.
See mybroadband.co.za/news/motorin…
#Blog, #environment, #EV, #southafrica, #technology
Successful South African electric vehicle maker that few people know about
South African firm MellowVans is seeing massive demand for its groundbreaking three-wheeled electric vehicle (EV), which aims to combine the best features of motorcycles with light vans for last-mile cargo transport and courier deliveries.
After its tremendous success in South Africa over the past decade, the MellowVan is poised to make big waves overseas.
The EV is the first vehicle from a South African automotive original equipment manufacturer to achieve European and British homologation, a long and costly process that makes a vehicle road legal in a particular jurisdiction.
According to the company’s website, a MellowVan delivery with a driver is around R16.94, compared with the R32.36 it would cost to deliver the same amount of goods via two petrol-powered motorcycles.
Yes, it’s true that many of us just assume when we see these vehicles, they are Chinese imports. But this is far from the case, and it is impressive to see what thought has gone into the design, right down to the transporting of perishable goods and medical supplies.
“Total practicality” seems to permeate through the design and operation of these vehicles. It charges anywhere, the driver is protected from the elements, it can carry more cargo than a normal scooter or motorcycle, it is environmentally friendly, and it costs less to operate than a conventional motorcycle.
It has won international awards already, and has already started to export its first vans to Europe (I’m assuming Europe does not charge an extra import duty on EV imports like South Africa does).\
See mybroadband.co.za/news/motorin…
#Blog, #environment, #EV, #southafrica, #technology
Online shopping syndicate warning in South Africa
Hot on the heels of today’s report about some incredibly weak passwords that South Africans are using online, and then re-using across other websites, comes this warning now about very realistic looking fake online shopping sites that closely resemble the real brand.
We have Black Friday coming up, as well as the festive season, so everyone is looking out for bargains. We should never be clicking on links we receive over instant messengers or e-mails, but now you want to be doubly sure you are actually on Takealot, or whatever site you expect to be on.
I’d suggest you check the URL carefully before making purchases, and rather use your saved bookmarks to access sites you regularly use. Your password manager refusing to show a login, is also a sign you may be on a fake site.
See mybroadband.co.za/news/securit…
#Blog, #scams, #southafrica, #technology
Miriam Makeba
Album: Miriam Makeba, 1960
1001 Songs: Part II of X
#MiriamMakeba #worldmusic #africa #SouthAfrica #music
Qonqonthwane (The Click Song)
#SouthAfrica on Monday (October 28) filed a detailed submission to the International Court of Justice ( #ICJ) outlining evidence of #Israel’s alleged violation of the #1948 #Genocide Convention in its ongoing war on #Gaza.
According to the South African presidency, the submission, also called a memorial, includes 750 pages of evidence of acts of genocide and genocidal intent.
"The evidence will show that undergirding Israel’s genocidal acts is the special intent to commit genocide, a failure by Israel to prevent incitement to genocide, to prevent genocide itself and its failure to punish those inciting and committing acts of genocide," a statement by the presidency said.
It added that the evidence is presented in more than 750 pages of text, in addition to over 4,000 pages of annexes.
"South Africa’s Memorial is a reminder to the global community to remember the people of #Palestine, to stand in solidarity with them and to stop the catastrophe. The devastation and suffering has been possible only because despite the ICJ and numerous #UN bodies’ actions and interventions, Israel has failed to comply with its international obligations,” it said.
The submission may not be made public, in accordance with the rules of the court, said the presidency.
Israel will have a deadline of 28 July 2025 to file a response, known as counter-memorial.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions ( #BDS) Movement : We welcome the news that the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World) has removed a bid to host its next world conference in apartheid #TelAviv and suspended the membership of complicit Israeli organization Aguda.
The Board of ILGA, a federation of 1,900 #LGBTQIA+ organizations in 160 countries and territories, voted unanimously to remove the bid by Aguda from the vote at its 2024 World Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, November 11-15.
The announcement of Aguda’s bid to host the ILGA World Conference in Tel Aviv as Israel commits genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, escalates its violent apartheid rule over all Palestinians and conducts massacres in Lebanon, provoked widescale condemnation among ILGA member organizations and board members.
Former ILGA Secretary General Phumi Mtetwa withdrew as a keynote speaker from this year’s conference over the bid, saying, “Apartheid is Apartheid, and there's no room for negotiation or tolerance, especially not from within the LGBTQI+ movement.” ILGA board members have been vocal in their opposition, condemning the proposal as “trying to blatantly #pinkwash war crimes which does not represent our movement that stands in strong solidarity against any oppression.”
ILGA further voted to suspend Aguda as it reviews its compliance with the ILGA constitution. ILGA’s review process can come to no other conclusion than to expel Aguda and all organizations complicit in Israel’s crimes.
Aguda has a history of pinkwashing Israel’s crimes, even defining the Israeli #military as “one of the more progressive organizations in Israel” in terms of LGBTQIA+ acceptance during Israel’s genocide, and promotes activities in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian #WestBank.
ILGA apologized for the anger and harm done to its communities, recognizing “the historical experience with #apartheid and #colonialism in #SouthAfrica: even the possibility of voting on such a bid in their home country would have been at odds with the unequivocal solidarity for the Palestinian people.”
We thank the many South African organizations and all #ILGA members who immediately recognized the Aguda bid for what it was, an attempt to pinkwash Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and pushed ILGA to do better.
#Israel #Palestine #Occupation #SanctionIsrael #StopGenicide #SavePalestine