Weekend Argus Saturday Saturday, October 3, 2020

METRO From mansion to Philippi Camps Bay occupiers set for housing camp CHELSEA GEACH chelsea.geach@inl.co.za THREE of the seven activists occupying a Camps Bay mansion may soon call a temporary housing camp in Philippi home. The three, who were left homeless during lockdown, along with their fellow We See You Collective activists, have been ordered to vacate the seaside property or face eviction next week. Western Cape High Court Judge Mokgoatji Dolamo yesterday ordered the group to leave peacefully by noon on October 8 or face eviction and an order to pay the costs of the legal battle. The group moved into the Camps Bay property two weeks ago under the guise of an online booking for three nights which was fully paid for. Once the three nights were up,…

COVID-19 Crew ‘stuck’ on fishing boat for months NORMAN CLOETE TWENTY-five crew members stuck on a deep-sea fishing vessel in Cape Town Harbour claim they are being prevented from going home to see their families. One crew member, who wanted to remain anonymous, said some of the men have been at sea on the Desert Diamond, owned by the Oceana Group, for six months and longer. He said between 110 and 115 crew members were initially on the vessel but some have returned home while others had to stay behind. “We usually go out for a month or two at a time. We offload our catch then go home.” The crew claim that while they have been stuck, their Russian colleagues were evacuated and flown home. “About a third of…

TOURISM Bo-Kaap empowers local guides Historic neighbourhood looks forward to reaping benefits from job creation plan GAMEEMA SALIE gameema.salie@inl.co.za ARMAND HOUGH African News Agency (ANA) BO-KAAP is officially open to tourists, after being closed for more than six months. Bo-Kaap was closed off to tourists more than a week before the national lockdown. In a statement, the Bo-Kaap Civic and Ratepayers Association said the historic neighbourhood would now be open with a few key changes. Chairperson of the association, Osman Shaboodien, said: “All tours must be accompanied by a local tourist guide.” “He said Bo-Kaap would be giving business back to its residents in an attempt to give all tour groups over to local tour guides. “We trained a number of cultural guides from the Bo-Kaap area to learn about…

HOSPITALITY All aboard! The Blue Train is finally back on track KARISHMA DIPA SUPPLIED THE Blue Train, which has transported passengers around South Africa in luxury for almost a century, was literally stopped in its tracks for nearly six months during the Covid-19 pandemic. The national landmark, which once carried former president Nelson Mandela, supermodel Naomi Campbell, US record producer Quincy Jones and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was one of the many tourism facilities forced to cease their operations as the coronavirus ripped through the globe. Travellers could no longer escape the mundane routines of their daily lives in favour of splendour, elegance and a transcendent journey through the rainbow nation. While its staff spent much of the lockdown completing luxury-specific and service refresher courses and none were retrenched, they were…

TRAVEL ‘Too early to allow visitors from high-risk countries’ TRANSPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula has stuck to his guns that tourists from high-risk countries would not be allowed to enter the country. This is despite the country opening up the borders and allowing international travel in a bid to jack up the economy. Yesterday, Mbalula said tourists from more than 70 countries including the US, the UK, the Netherlands, France, India and Russia would not be allowed to come to South Africa. However, the government would allow business people, those doing research and professional sportsmen and women to come to the country even if they come from high-risk countries. Mbalula said during the hard lockdown there were only 198000 people who landed into the country, but they were mainly for essential…

WELLNESS Living with bipolar disorder Misinformation and associated stigma prevent people from disclosing their diagnosis VIWE NDONGENI-NTLEBI viwe.ndongeni@inl.co.za WHEN Sisanda Mazibuko first saw her mother’s behaviour change inexplicably, she had no idea it would lead to her mother being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “My mom is quite a person, and she enjoys her own company. “But we became alarmed when she started speaking to herself, laughing alone and having unexplainable anger episodes,” said Mazibuko. After a few consultations with family and friends, Mazibuko and her siblings took their mother to a psychiatric hospital, which she admits was tough to come to terms with. “My family had to deal with the stigma of having a ‘crazy’ person and deal with the shame of having a mentally ill family member while trying…