McClatchie conquers at Glendower

EKURHULENI, 12 January 2017 – South Africa’s first Olympian golfer Kyle McClatchie beat the nerves with an impressive show of composure to lead the nine-strong amateur delegation on day one of the BMW SA Open hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni.

Kyle McClatchie leads the nine-strong amateur contingent on day one of the BMW SA Open hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni at Glendower Golf Club; credit Ernest Blignault

The 19-year-old from Ekurhuleni crafted a magnificent one-under-par 71 at the championship layout at Glendower Golf Club on Thursday to grab a share of 43rd.

It came as no surprise to the golf pundits who follow the local amateur game in South Africa to see the Golf RSA National Squad member finish alongside the likes of 2010 Ryder Cup player Eduardo Molinari, 14-time Sunshine Tour champion Jaco van Zyl and former Freddie Tait Trophy winner Dylan Frittelli.

Not only was McClatchie – who represented the country in golf’s debut at the Youth Olympics in 2014 – the most-improved male amateur in South Africa in 2016, but in addition to four victories on the amateur circuit, he claimed a runner-up finish on the Big Easy Tour and victory on the IGT Tour.

Errant tee shots at the 10th and 11th may have seen a lesser man crumble, but McClatchie reversed the bogey-bogey start with birdies at 12 and 13 to get his campaign back on track.

“I was quite surprised that I was nervous at the start, but nothing quite prepares you for that moment on the first tee, especially not with such a big crowd watching,” he stated.

“Two bad tee shots led to two bogeys, but I settled down nicely after the birdies and from there it was just another day on the golf course. You automatically adjust to the atmosphere and the crowds as you go along and I’ll be a lot more at ease in the second round.”

McClatchie boxed a 15-footer for birdie to huge grandstand applause at the 18th and added further gains at the second and eighth to go to three under.

“Unfortunately all the good work came undone at the ninth, my last hole,” he said. “I hit three-wood off the tee, but it wasn’t the right club. The tee shot veered left and finished in the trees and I had to chip out sideways. My approach went too long and I ended up three-putting for a double bogey.”

McClatchie described his debut in the second oldest national championship as ‘everything I thought it would be and more.’

“When I holed the birdie putt at 18 and the crowd exploded, it really brought the magnitude of this championship home for me. It was so incredible to have my dad (Ryan) on the bag to share the experience with me.

“We’ll go through the highs and lows tonight and we’ll come back ready to fight on Friday. I’ve made a good start to build on and the goal now is to make the weekend and then put myself in a position to challenge for the Freddie Tait Trophy on Sunday.”

Tournament host Ernie Els’ nephew Jovan Rebula opened with a one-over-par 73, with South Africa’s number one ranked Marco Steyn and qualifier Theunis Bezuidenhout a further shot back.

Darin de Smidt and Philip Geerts posted a pair of 75’s, Dylan Naidoo returned a 77, reigning Sanlam SA Amateur champion Craig Ross from Scotland registered a 79 and Juran Dreyer, who won the pre-qualifier at Irene Country Club, signed for an 81.

McClatchie conquers at Glendower

cafe Roux Noordhoek and cafe Roux Cape Town Jan shows

café Roux, one of SA`s much-loved premier live music is now situated in both Noordhoek and in city centre Cape Town

The Music: 

café Roux has always had a strong music culture with its café Roux Sessions four or five nights a week, attracting an exciting and diverse line up, of SA’s most popular and talented up and coming artists. In 2013, one of café Roux`s owners, Lindi Green, began to experiment with staging weekly Wednesday Sessions, in partnership with Wolftrap wine. The first month saw Nik Rabinowitz, Arno Carstens, Watershed & Zebra & Giraffe on the line-up. This weekly night time offering quickly grew into four or five nights a week and the café Roux Sessions were born, attracting an exciting & diverse line up, of SA’s most popular and talented up and coming artists.

Here are the upcoming January shows for café Roux Noordhoek and café Roux Cape Town:

Book at http://ift.tt/1KBsSt5

CAFÉ ROUX NOORDHOEK:

Café Roux Noordhoek, The Farm Village, Noordhoek, 270 Chapman`s Peak Drive. 

Saturday 14 January: Blacksmith – R120

Thursday 19 January: Jono Johansen – R80

Friday 20 January:  Nicky Schrire with Jono Tait – R100

Saturday 21 January: Crimson House – R80

Wed 25 January: Dan Patlansky – R160

Thursday 26 January: Cindy Alter – R120

Friday 27 January: Jeremy Olivier – R120

Sat 28 January: Jono Simons – R120 

All shows at both venues: Dinner from 18h30/19h00. Show from 20h30.

Bookings: go to http://ift.tt/1KBsSt5 or book at www.webtickets.co.za

Contact for enquiries: michelle@caferoux.co.za / 021 789 2538

Proudly sponsored by: The Wolf Trap Wine. 

CAFÉ ROUX CAPE TOWN:

Café Roux Cape Town: 74 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town.

Saturday 14 January: Jesse Clegg – R150

Tuesday 17 January: Jackal and the Wind – R90

Wednesday 18 January: The Plastics –  R140

Thursday 19 January: Paige Mac – R100

Friday 20 January: Manouche – R120

Saturday 21 January: Sterling EQ – R130

Tuesday 24 January: James Tuft – R110

Wednesday 25 January: Barry Hilton – R160

Thursday 26 January: Trenton and Free Radical – R120  

Friday 27 January: Sannie Fox – R100

Saturday 28 January: Dan Patlansky – R160

All shows at both venues: Dinner from 18h30/19h00. Show from 20h30.

Bookings: go to http://ift.tt/1KBsSt5 or book at www.webtickets.co.za

Contact for enquiries: michelle@caferoux.co.za / 021 789 2538

Proudly sponsored by: The Wolf Trap Wine.

cafe Roux Noordhoek and cafe Roux Cape Town Jan shows

Riaad Moosa in Life Begins | Golden Arrow Studio, Cape Town

They say “life begins at 40”…

Riaad Moosa invites the audience along to his brand new one-man show, Life Begins, to join in figuring out whether life really does begin at 40.  The tour kicks off at the Golden Arrow Studio at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town from the 27^th of January to the 25th of February.

“Even though I am turning 40 this year, in many ways, I feel like I’m still crawling and I’m looking back at my journey from being an aspirational doctor, coming from a relatively conservative Muslim background, where both my parents were doctors, and how I actually journeyed to becoming a stand-up comedian,” says Riaad.

As an award-winning comedian, actor, writer and presenter, Riaad Moosa is one of South Africa’s most popular and acclaimed funny men and he happens to be a qualified medical doctor too.  Known as the “Comedy Doctor”, he certainly seems to have the remedy for the nation’s ills – a healthy dose of laughter, straight up – and hold the aspirin!

Life Begins is a snapshot into the life of Riaad Moosa – being a father of three kids, a husband, comedian, actor and with all the current cultural and political issues thrown in. 

“The show is very philosophical and existential.  It involves the normal issues of getting older while at the same time experiencing, at a maturity where I’m supposed to be wise, a world that is completely turned on its head – with Trump, with Brexit; In South Africa, the ‘State Capture’, ‘Fees Must Fall’, ‘DOOM’.  And it’s about how I negotiate all these things happening around me while trying to maintain a positive attitude.  Through my comedic lens, I hope to put a different spin on that and hopefully I can enter my next 40 years with renewed vigour and excitement,” Moosa adds.

Get your prescription of laughter with Riaad Moosa’s side-splittingly funny one-man show, Life Begins.

The show is rated PG for Language.  Tickets cost R150 and are now open at Computicket online and various outlet stores.  The show starts at 20h15 (16h00 on Sundays) and with an extra show on Saturdays at 17h00.  The Golden Arrow Studio is located at the Baxter Theatre Centre, Main Road, Rondebosch.

Another great production brought to you by Blu Blood.

Follow Riaad Moosa on Twitter (@RiaadMoosa) and Facebook (Riaad Moosa).

Riaad Moosa in Life Begins | Golden Arrow Studio, Cape Town

Visitors galore at Robben Island Museum this past festive season

A record number of tourists visited the iconic Robben Island World Heritage Site during their stay in Cape Town this past December holiday.

Robben Island Museum (RIM) saw a whopping 49 738 visitors to the Island this past festive season, this is 4% more than the last year (2015).

“We are thrilled that the numbers of guests are steadily increasing to this World Heritage Site each year,” says Mava Dada, CEO for Robben Island Museum. “This can be attributable to the improved operational governance structures that we’ve implemented to ensure the safe commute to and from the Island. A big success factor lies with the agreements that we have in place with ferry operators. The improved infrastructure has allowed us to increase the daily number of tours and visitors to the Island,” adds Dada.

During the peak season there are seven tours each day. “The weather and environmental factors do play a key role in our operation, so there are naturally days that we can’t have tours; the safety of our guests are of key importance to us,” says Dada.

“Generally during this time of the year we see many international guests, this past season, we’ve seen a marked increase in domestic tourists, particularly from Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.

“This year we are celebrating Robben Island Museum’s 20 year anniversary, we have many exciting initiatives planned throughout the year. Visitor experience is crucial; we are looking forward to introducing exciting visitor engagement scenarios throughout the year. We encourage visitors to look out for more information on our website,” concludes Dada.

For more information about Robben Island Museum, please visit: http://ift.tt/16vebjH or contact: infow@robben-island.org.za / +27 (0)21 413 4200

More information about Robben Island Museum

Robben Island Museum (RIM) is a public entity responsible for managing, maintaining, presenting, developing and marketing Robben Island as a national estate and World Heritage Site. It was established by the Department of Arts and Culture in 1997.

RIM implements a wide range of conservation, educational, tourist development, research, archiving and general heritage programmes that are designed to achieve its mandate; conserve the Island’s natural and cultural resources and heritage; and promote it as a platform for critical debate and life-long learning.

RIM is also responsible for managing and maintaining the assets of the Island. These include the Maximum and Medium Security Prison Complexes, Robert Sobukwe’s House, the Curio and Village Shops, the Village Precinct and associated recreational facilities, the Helipad and runway on the Island, World War 2 memorials, power generation and water processing plants, Jetty 1 and the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V & A Waterfront, the Mayibuye Archives, the three (3) ferries that transport people to the Island and the fleet of buses used by tourists on the Island.

Visitors galore at Robben Island Museum this past festive season

Cartoon – Head-On Collision

Cartoon – Head-On Collision

The success of the Cape Wine Auction lies in more than just a party

The allure of the Cape Wine Auction might seem to be mingling with international and local wealthy and successful people casting their eye on rare, exclusive wines, unique experiences and travel up for auction.

But the guests parting generously with their wealth are universal in their giving – to make a profound impact on education and the lives of children in the Cape Winelands.

Established in 2014 the next Cape Wine Auction will be held on 10 and 11 February 2017, and Auction Director Darielle Robertson believes that the success in raising R33 million in the short space of three auctions is certainly in part due to the model that they have created for giving back.

“The proceeds, without offset or deduction, go to the 22 beneficiaries actively involved in the Winelands offering education, meals, after care, counseling services, career placements and training.  Our model is such that all our beneficiaries are collaborating, sharing expertise and working together and not in isolation as one often finds with some charitable organisations. We track progress, instill accountability, streamline services to reduce overlapping and manage spending the money raised wisely.

“And we believe that our guests come back ever year not only for the auction experience but because they know that they are supporting an initiative that is making a real difference in breaking the cycle of poverty and empowering children with education and the chance towards a bright future.”  

Guests pay for the privilege to attend and tickets cost R 1 850 per person for access to the Friday evening Barrel Auction, and R5 000 per person for both the Friday and Saturday events. Sponsored by American Express the Barrel Auction lures wine collectors to bid on and taste directly from the barrels and in the company of the winemakers – once off, specially curated and limited release wines.

The Nedbank Private Wealth Auction on the Saturday is a grandiose luncheon with flamboyant local and international personalities bidding to take ownership of one of the 35 bespoke lots up for auction.

“The lots in themselves bring a lot of excitement to the day. We source diverse experiences and rare opportunities to ensure that the novelty of the collections brings guests back each year, and offers something worthwhile for guests to contribute to the bidding which reaches in excess of R1 million per lot.”

One lot includes an all-inclusive seven-night stay on the Azur Benguerra Island, just off Mozambique, for four people to explore the undiscovered stretches of beach whilst being doted on by Mozambican Butler-hosts and indulge in seafood fresh from the ocean. The stay includes helicopter transfers as well as 15 cases of wine from Château Pas de Loup situated in France’s Loire Valley.

Then there is the opportunity for six guests to spend a two night, all-inclusive stay in the company of businessman Christo Wiese at his exclusive and private game lodge in the Kalahari. Included in the lot is a private tasting at his Lourensford Wine Estate and 24 bottles of wine.

Rare wines are also incorporated in some of the lots with the first and only Melchior (an 18 litre bottle) Morgenster Reserve 2010 included in a four day stay at Morgenster, inclusive of airfares and transfers; dinner with owner Giulio Bertrand in the Manor House; tutored olive and olive oil tastings as well as private cellar tours.

“What people are willing to pay for an experience or exclusive wine largely depends on the day, but last year a record was broken when the first bottle of Touch Warwick Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 together with a luxury golf tour with TBo ‘Touch” Molefe and Mike Ratcliffe of Warwick Estate, was sold for R1.3 million.”

The beneficiary partners of the Cape Wine Auction are The Pebbles Project, MAD Leadership Foundation, The Click Foundation, Community Keepers, Maranatha Trust, Pinotage Youth Development, Wine Training SA, The Kusasa Project, Hope through Action, Aitsa After Care Centre, Eduvate, Hemel & Aarde Community Project, Cape Winemakers Guild, International Wine Education Centre, Love2Give Skills Academy, The Lunch Box Fund, Sparks School International and the Anna Foundation.

The auction will take place on Friday, 10 February at La Motte Wine Estate, with the Anthonij Rupert Wyne estate will play host to the Saturday, 11 February event. For more information and to purchase tickets visit http://ift.tt/2jnYCpZ.

The success of the Cape Wine Auction lies in more than just a party

New club coach for Madibaz cricket

Former provincial player Deon Smith is determined to make an impact in his new role as NMMU-Madibaz club coach, beginning with the Varsity Cricket tournament at the end of the month.

Former provincial player Deon Smith has taken over as coach of the NMMU-Madibaz Cricket Club. Photo: Supplied

The 48-year-old Smith, who played cricket for Boland and South Western Districts in the early 1990s, took up his position as club coach in Port Elizabeth this week and is looking forward to working with his new charges.

A man with a passion for cricket who has been involved in the game for most of his life, Smith wants to continue the development of Madibaz players.

“I believe if you have the knowledge you must pass it on to those who do not,” said Smith, who takes a holistic view of his role. “I want to create an environment that encourages players to learn and develop both on and off the playing field.”

The new mentor left no doubt that ensuring the NMMU teams were successful would be a priority in his planning.

“We want to be successful in the league and qualify for the club champs in April,” he said.

“The club structure is vibrant and inclusive, and I can see they are a close family. There is a good mix of youth and senior players with no fear of failure.

“I also think the guys are keen to rewrite history as the last time they won a major tournament was in 2012. I have had a handful of sessions with the players and I can already see the hunger for success is there.”

While the premier league resumes this month, Smith will be looking ahead to the Varsity Cricket tournament in Potchefstroom starting on January 30.

The Madibaz will be among eight teams competing for the title in the Twenty20 format, with the final scheduled for February 4.

Born in Stellenbosch, Smith went to Cloetesville Primary and Cloetesville Senior Secondary in the town. After playing cricket at a junior provincial level, he went on to represent Boland and SWD, playing 11 first-class matches as a fast bowler from 1990 to 1994. 

He turned to coaching after his playing career and was involved with the HHeatherbank Cricket Club in PE when he was approached by Madibaz cricket manager Sipho Sibande about the NMMU job.

“Mr Sibande saw me at Heatherbank having one-on-one sessions with two club players,” said Smith. “He knew me from my SWD days when my senior provincial team played two warm-up games against the Madibaz in preparation for the 2015 Africa T20 Cup.

“We had two meetings before I decided to accept the offer and started on Monday.”

Smith thanked Heatherbank for allowing him the opportunity to further is coaching career.

“I still want to coach at provincial level and I think NMMU is the perfect situation to develop my coaching career,” he said.

New club coach for Madibaz cricket

Toyota Prius voted Britain’s best all-rounder in Car of the Year awards

The Toyota Prius has been named the Best Family Car in the UK Car of the Year Awards 2017, proof positive that the world’s most successful hybrid has evolved into a car that ranks as Britain’s best all-rounder: smart, practical, spacious, reliable and genuinely fun to drive.

Brian Joss – The independent award judges, numbering some of Britain’s most experienced and best-respected motoring journalists, had wide-ranging praise for the multi-award-winning fourth- generation Prius, which was launched last year.

Their opinions confirm Toyota’s success in transforming Prius’ dynamic performance and its driver appeal, true to its mission to create “ever-better cars”.

Toyota Prius: “practical and fun to drive”. Picture: Motorpress

John Challen, managing director of the UK Car of the Year Awards, declared:

“The Prius story continues – and it’s one that gets better with every release. The shift from ‘hybrid’ car to mainstream is complete.”

His fellow judges hailed Prius as ‘a car you’d want to own rather than just benefit from its low emissions’ and acclaimed it for offering ‘everything you need in a family car – spacious, enormous boot, plenty of standard equipment and those all-important fuel economy figures’.

Many of the qualities that make Prius a stand-out choice as a family car can be attributed to the Toyota New Global Architecture-based platform on which it is built. TNGA gives the car a lower centre of gravity, which directly contributes to better handling response and stability. The driver sits lower in the car, which makes for a more rewarding and engaging experience at the wheel.

TNGA is not just about dynamic quality however. It allows designers the freedom to craft a car with richer visual appeal, with lower lines overall and a more athletic profile. Interior packaging is more rational too, with the best possible use made of the space available. Family-friendly boot proportions have been secured thanks to a more compact (yet energy-rich) hybrid battery and a double wishbone suspension system – features which don’t intrude into the load-space.

All these developments have not compromised Prius’ fundamental low emissions and high fuel efficiency. In fact, the gains made in performance with the new model are greater than any previous improvement between Prius generations. Official test figures show combined cycle fuel economy of 3 litres per 100 kilometres and CO2 output of 70 g/km.

Safety is a prime concern for family motorists, and an area where Prius has excelled, winning the award for the best-performing large family car in EuroNCAP’s 2016 test programme.

Toyota is particularly proud of this recognition, as it strives to develop ‘always safer cars’ with a particular focus on active safety, through the spread of the ‘Toyota Safety Sense’ package. This package was an important contributor to Prius’ strong performance in the EuroNCAP tests.

Each year, EuroNCAP publishes a list of the cars that have performed best in their respective categories. This is the second time a Toyota received such a title, with the Verso being ‘Best in Class’ in the small MPV segment back in 2010.

Toyota Prius voted Britain’s best all-rounder in Car of the Year awards

47 South African customers get iconic Golf GTI Clubsport S

The exclusive Golf GTI Clubsport S has arrived in South Africa. The limited edition Golf GTI Clubsport S with 228kW of power is only available as a two-door body variant and with two-seats.

Brian Joss – The most powerful Golf GTI ever holds the lap record for a front wheel drive production cars on the Nürburgring Nordschleife race track with the time of 07:49:21.

Only 400 units have been built and 47 of them were allocated to South Africa. South Africa is one of the biggest markets of the Golf GTI in the world. All of the 47 units were pre sold by the Volkswagen dealer organisation turning the Golf GTI Clubsport S into an instant icon and collectors’ item.

The Golf GTI Clubsport S: icon and instant collector’s item.  Picture: Motorpress

The South African units are only offered in Pure White with the roof painted in black.

Nürburgring setting.  The Golf GTI Clubsport S comes with a setting for the Nürburgring Nordschleife race track which can be set using the standard Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) driving profile selector.

To keep the weight down, the Golf GTI Clubsport S is only available in a manual transmission. Additional components that were removed to reduce weight include rear seats, insulating material, the variable luggage compartment floor, the rear parcel shelf and bonnet damping. A smaller battery is fitted to reduce the weight further down. An aluminium subframe on the front axle and aluminium brake covers resulted in further weight savings.

The most exclusive Golf GTI has the following exterior details: semi-slicks (Michelin Sport Cup 2) mounted on 19-inch black painted “Pretoria” alloy wheels, tinted rear windows (65 per cent light-absorbing), “Clubsport S”

type plates, the black painted roof as well as Xenon headlights with cornering lights and LED daytime running lights. The 17-inch brake system has been modified to enhance stability on racing circuits, to withstand the high temperatures of the brake components. An important factor for the car’s dynamic handling is that the unsprung mass of each wheel is a whole kilogram lower thanks to the aluminium brake covers. To further improve the hot braking performance, the Golf GTI Clubsport S is factory-fitted with special brake pads on the front and rear axles.

Each of the 400 Golf GTI Clubsport S units have its production number

(001/400 to 400/400) on the ashtray cover beneath the front centre console.

The driver and the front seat passenger sit in racing bucket seats that provide the necessary lateral support. Also on board are the GTI insignia featured in the standard Golf GTI Clubsport, including the iconic golf ball gear knob with Velour trim, a red line in the safety belts, “Honeycomb 40”

decorative inserts for the dashboard (passenger side) and door trim panels as well as elegant inserts in “Piano Black” for the dashboard (driver side) and centre console. The grippy Velour-trimmed sport steering wheel with a chrome GTI emblem, red stitching and 12-o’clock mark has been ergonomically designed for optimal performance on the racetrack.

The aerodynamics and the associated downforce values of Golf GTI Clubsport S are similar to the Golf GTI Clubsport with 195kW power output. Both derivatives – are characterised by completely new front bumpers. The new design offers improvements in air supply to the engine, aerodynamics and downforce at the front. At the rear, the roof-edge spoiler that was aerodynamically perfected in the wind tunnel for optimised aerodynamics.

There is a narrow air gap between the roof area, that is completely black, and the wing-like spoiler placed above it. The two-part roof edge spoiler extends upward above the roof line. At the sides, the spoiler merges into the black flaps on the boot lid. Multi-part spoilers of this type are complex components that perfectly fulfil the aerodynamic tasks assigned to

them: to significantly increase downforce on the rear axle. A black rear diffuser is also included in this design and aerodynamics concept. To fine-tune the Clubsport versions to give them extra stability, the aerodynamics measures generate more downforce on the rear axle than on the front axle. This boost in driving stability, especially on the rear axle, is used to fine-tune the chassis to make for a smoother ride. In the case of the Golf GTI Clubsport S this means that the understeer so typical of front-wheel-drive cars is practically eliminated.

The new Golf GTI Clubsport S has a special sport chassis. The chassis engineers also reconfigured both of the axles of the Golf GTI Clubsport S.

For example in the rear axle, the modular performance axle has been given extra potential for directional control to achieve higher lateral accelerations. But without altering the McPherson front axle this would result in greater understeer. As Karsten Schebsdat, the chassis expert,

explains: “To neutralise the understeer and at the same time boost grip levels, we counteracted understeer on the front axle and specially designed the hub carriers”, resulting in higher camber angles. The negative camber increases the potential for directional control, thus optimising the grip on the front axle. The Clubsport S is characterised by similarly good balance to the standard Clubsport, even at higher levels of lateral acceleration, allowing even higher cornering speeds. Braking performance was also perfected, in particular to prevent the rear-end from breaking away, especially when braking into very fast corners. Combined with the aerodynamics measures, this allows the driver to brake into bends with the Golf GTI Clubsport S in a controlled way, without losing driving stability.

47 South African customers get iconic Golf GTI Clubsport S

Madibaz aim for strong showing in Varsity Cup

Even though they face the demanding challenge of playing all their matches away this year, coach David Maidza’s FNB NMMU-Madibaz team are focused purely on producing a strong showing in the FNB Varsity Cup.

Kevin Kaba will captain the FNB Madibaz team in the Varsity Cup tournament this year. Photo: Saspa

The Madibaz kick off their campaign against UCT in Cape Town on January 30 and an upgrade to the Madibaz stadium venue, which has not yet been completed, means they will not have the benefit of home support in the tournament.

Maidza acknowledged that it would be a test for the squad, but said they would not let that concern them in their planning for the upcoming competition.

“Whatever the situation, we all know we are privileged to be representing NMMU in the Varsity Cup and we are only focusing on putting in good performances,” he said.

“We have a good team to look after the needs, physically and mentally, of these talented young men.”

After experiencing a testing season last year, Maidza said their aim would be to inject an improvement into their performances.

“If we can do that we can better our log position from the last two years,” he said.

“This is a fresh start for everyone in the squad and with that we need to build a good team ethos, which will in turn give us good performances on the field.”

The Madibaz scored their only victory last season against UCT to avoid the relegation match and they will meet the same opponents in their opening game this month.

“It is always important to have a good start,” said Maidza. “That good start can be a win or a solid performance and that is our simple aim.”

The Madibaz mentor said he was happy with the squad’s preparations.

“We started last year at the beginning of November, followed by a two-week break before resuming on January 3.

“The boys have worked hard during this period and the preparations have been sound.”

Maidza said they had continued with their process of looking within the Madibaz ranks for the best talent.

“With this in mind, I am happy to say that the majority of the squad will be made up of student-athletes who have been involved previously with Madibaz.

“The rest of the squad is made up of the juniors who we believe can make the step up into the Varsity Cup competition.”

The team will be captained by Kevin Kaba and Maidza said there would be co-vice captains in Andile Jho and Wynand Grassman.

He added the squad were approaching the season with plenty of enthusiasm.

“There is, of course, a lot of eagerness among the group to test themselves against the opposition.”

Madibaz aim for strong showing in Varsity Cup