3 NewsFRIDAY MARCH 17 2017

THE CAPE Argus SportShow will not only have family fun, but will include some dan-gerous, gravity-defying stunts.

From March 24-26, Sandringham Farm will host the three-day sporting event that will showcase sports celebrities, clinics, exhibitors and live performances such as Gravity Clash.

Nick de Wit, from the Extreme Sports Show, who will be presenting Gravity Clash, said this year’s SportShow will be exciting and will combine various action-sports disciplines.

“We have kept the freestyle motocross (FMX) and BMX element, but this year the BMX will be a series of dirt jumps. The FMX will be on a spectacular double-wide landing so that two riders can jump side by side in the air,” De Wit said.

“We have also incorporated the bounce trampoline show and we will be doing some amazing choreographed tricks with them.

“In a different area, we will be having Brian Capper on his trials bike, and Dylan Victor on his performing Man vs Machine Show. They will also go head-to-head with each other.”

De Wit revealed that Gravity Clash is creating something new at this year’s event

by mixing FMX, BMX and a new bounce trampoline show, a first in Africa.

“People should expect a high-adrenalin, high-action show that will keep people on the edge of their seats,” he said.

“Kids go different directions in their lives and some kids chase their dreams of mastering their skills on two wheels, and I think the ability and feeling of accomplish-ment when you learn and execute a trick is what drives us athletes.

“Performing in front of a crowd really contributes to that feeling too. Athletes

who will be performing in this show have put many hours of blood and sweat into learning these moves, and everyone who comes to watch will see and appreciate how the riders ride.”

Tickets are available at the SportShow’s website (www.sportshow.co.za) as well as Computicket. Gates are open from 9am-6pm throughout the weekend.

Entrance cost R150 for adults, R80 for children and R200 for a full weekend pass. Kids aged three and under can enter for free.

High-actionshow willkeep youon edge

WHILE tens of thousands of cyc-lists are still licking their wounds over the abandoned Cape Town Cycle Tour, a team of obviously disappointed Dutch cyclists have not forgotten the primary reason they undertook the 13 000km trip from Europe to the southern tip of Africa.

Spearheaded by passionate and determined mechanic and bicycle store owner Janke van der Veen, some of the more adventurous team members tackled much of the original tour route on Sunday despite the weather gods wreaking havoc.

But before their epic ride they achieved the original goal of their trip. On Friday, at an emotion-al welcoming ceremony in Cape Town, a promise made and a dream years in the making was fulfilled.

It all began back in 2004 when Van der Veen closed shop in Utrecht, Netherlands, to relocate to South Africa for a year to share her skills and make a difference in the lives of a local community.

Among the residents of that community was a 13-year-old boy who had never been on a bike. The youngster was encouraged to ride and immediately fell in love with cycling.

He was identified as having potential, joined a riding academy, started excelling and the rest, as they say, is history. His name was Songezo Jim.

Jim went on to become South Africa’s first black rider on the international professional circuit. He made further history by racing and completing the prestigious Vuelta a España 2015 and the Giro d’Italia 2016 Grand Tours. The European-based 26-year-old recently joined Team Kuwait-Car-tucho.

Last year he founded the Songezo Cycling Academy in Masi-phumelele, not only introducing kids to cycling but also providing an alternative future for youngsters in a troubled community.

Jim and Van der Veen have maintained a close relationship.

“When I left Masi I promised the community that I would one day be back,” explains Van der Veen.

“I love South Africa, I love Cape Town and I love Masi and its people. When Songezo mentioned his academy I knew I wanted to be part of the dream.”

Van der Veen mobilised support, and a 14-strong team landed in Cape Town last week. They were warmly welcomed at an emotional function in Masi on Friday, where 15 new bicycles were handed over to the kids from the academy.

Excitement was high as a young team from the academy was to join the Dutch team at the start line for their first Cape Town Cycle Tour. Sadly the wind had other ideas.

Dutch cyclist lends a hand

MINISTER of Public Enter-prises Lynne Brown has visited the widow of pol-itical activist and human rights lawyer Peter Wil-

liams, who died after a long illness.Consoling Anastasia Williams and her

family, Brown said: “The thing I can say most about Peter is that he represented exactly what we are supposed to be.

“He was a very caring person who want-ed to build a very caring society.

“We in the ANC are in many respects the other family, we are your other family. We can’t replace him, but you all should know that you can rely on us.

“We’ve had many fallen comrades before, and Peter joins a long list of those people we are very proud of,” Brown said.

Yesterday, tributes continued to pour in for Williams, 49, who died on Wednesday after a long battle with colon cancer.

Many remembered his days as a student activist while at Belgravia High School in the Struggle days of the 1980s.

After school, Williams studied law at the University of the Western Cape and started his legal career at the offices of Judge Essa Moosa.

Williams built up a reputation as a for-midable defender of human rights.

In 2014, he defended a cleaner from Claremont who was beaten and racially assaulted by three men and won the case.

“He was awesome,” said his wife Anas-tasia Williams. “He was amazing, hard working and a people’s person…

“Always there for others, always up for a challenge and he would fight to the bitter end, especially in legal matters, he would never give up. He was my hero,” she said.

She spoke about her husband’s battle with cancer and said the family was at

peace with his death.“While it (his death) has been hard for

the family, it has been coming for quite a while.

“Six months ago, he took a turn for the worse with severe pain and I tried to nurse him as far as possible because he was one who didn’t like hospitals much.

“By December 23, I got him to go to the hospital and told him that it was just for the drip. He said to me, ‘I am not having an operation’, and I said that I wouldn’t consent to one without his permission.

“They put him on a drip for the pain and they released him the next day, but they did a lot of tests.

“So we had an appointment with the oncologist on January 16, and that was the day that they admitted him.

“Roughly a month ago, the doctors told me that there was nothing that they can do for him, and when I came home, I spoke to the kids and told them.

“It was hard, but we got through it. We talk about it, and it’s been therapy for us.”

When asked how the children, Keenan, 18, Mikhail, 14, and Nicole, eight, were handling it, Anastasia said they were glad their father didn’t have to suffer any more.

“I think they are relieved that their dad doesn’t have to suffer the pain anymore.

“We love him very much, and we didn’t

want him to suffer as much as he did.”Anastasia said she wanted to honour

her husband by finishing a book that he had been working on, detailing his life as a youngster and activist.

“Half the people I meet nowadays are people I never met before, but it is all because of Peter, and I would like to take that further and finish his book for him,

because it was his dream and he would appreciate it.”

His memorial service will take place at the AFM Church in Athlone at 7pm tonight .

The funeral is scheduled to take place on Tuesday. The service will start at 9am in the Desire of All Nations Christian Church in Ottery.

‘Lawyer a people’s person’Minister pays respects to Peter Williams’s family

THE SA Navy, which is organising a festival this weekend, says it has to “make do with what we have” because of steep budget cuts.

Vice-Admiral Mosiwa Hlongwane, Chief of the Navy, said a cut of R5 billion in the navy’s budget has meant it had had to employ innovative thinking to continue doing its job.

Hlongwane said: “Despite challenges in the security-development-economy nexus, the navy is poised to work harder and smarter, doing more with less, and now more than ever we need to challenge trad-itional constructs, employing innovation to propel our navy into the future.”

As the South African economy wasn’t growing fast enough, the Navy was throw-ing its weight behind Operation Phakisa, a government plan to “grow the oceans’ economy”, part of which is a R100 million upgrade of small harbours.

“In line with its objectives (Operation Phakisa), the SA Navy is preparing to host the government garage concept for all state-owned vessels in Simon’s Town, including the maintenance and repair of

government-owned vessels, through the newly established SA Navy/Armscor/Denel partnership.

“The future business model for the management of the dockyard places the dockyard firmly under the sovereign con-trol of the SA Navy.

“I am confident this relationship can be leveraged to ensure the SA Navy is better able to fulfil its mandate, concomitant with unlocking the economic potential as conceived by Operation Phakisa,” said Hlongwane.

Rear Admiral Bubele Mhlana, Flag Officer of Fleet, said that with no additional funding, the navy was suffering, but the repairs done on vessels was ensuring the

“effective deployment” of an ageing fleet, which included the SAS Amatola, which had successfully completed operations in icy conditions in northern Europe.

The SA Navy was relying less on con-tractors and relying more on its own main-tenance crews for servicing the fleet, said Mhlana.

Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Asiel Kubu, said the SA Navy had 9 400 active posts, but only about 7 000 posts were filled.

He did not foresee an improvement in staffing levels, but indicated that the navy had managed to retain staff through skills training initiatives and had been able to hold off losing staff to “poachers”.

Ever mindful of the current socio-eco-nomic climate and the need to account to South Africans, Hlongwane said he encouraged the public to visit Navy Festival 2017, when the SA Navy opens “our doors and hearts” so the public was able “to see and experience their navy first hand”.

Showcasing the navy to the public

THE BOSS: Vice-Admiral Mosiwa Hlongwane has encouraged the public to visit Navy Day Festival 2017. Picture: AyAndA ndAmAne

Theolin Tembo

Bronwyn Davids

Desiré Goliath

Theolin Tembo

WHO NEEDS ROADS?: The Cape Argus SportShow will feature some gravity-defying stunts along with entertainment, sport clinics, celebrities and a range of exhibits. It takes place at Sandringham Farm from March 24-26. Picture: dAvid ritchie

‘NOW MORE THAN EVER WE NEED TO EMPLOY INNOVATION TO PROPEL THE NAVY INTO THE FUTURE’

CONDOLENCES: Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown, right, and ANC Western Cape provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs, left, comfort Anastasia Williams, the widow of Cape Town activist and Struggle stalwart Peter Williams yesterday. Picture: henk kruger

THE THING I CAN SAY MOST ABOUT PETER IS HE REPRESENTED EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE. HE WANTED TO BUILD A CARING SOCIETY

“