Saffers

[handyman]

Slight sidenote, it seems SARS are sending out sms's to confirm that they've auto-assessed you. For those claiming back, I think tax season is open now. Worthwhile to have a look.

Both my wife and I have received our refunds already.

Good stuff. I submitted last night, should have my refund early next week.

[Chilli]

Slight sidenote, it seems SARS are sending out sms's to confirm that they've auto-assessed you. For those claiming back, I think tax season is open now. Worthwhile to have a look.

Both my wife and I have received our refunds already.

Good stuff. I submitted last night, should have my refund early next week.

I have a tax practitioner who does it for me.

[handyman]

Both my wife and I have received our refunds already.

Good stuff. I submitted last night, should have my refund early next week.

I have a tax practitioner who does it for me.

A good one at that if he does tax returns this soon into the season.

[Fangle]

Chilli, you should change your name to The Itinerant Chef. Every time I realize where you are, it is somewhere new. Where are you now?

[Chilli]

Chilli, you should change your name to The Itinerant Chef. Every time I realize where you are, it is somewhere new. Where are you now?

In Port Elizabeth for my sins.

Actually PE is a lekker place to live.

[sorCrer]

Chilli, you should change your name to The Itinerant Chef. Every time I realize where you are, it is somewhere new. Where are you now?

In Port Elizabeth for my sins.

Actually PE is a lekker place to live.

It's ok ish

[Sards]

Was at the farm this afternoon. Heard that there are a lot of animals going up for adoption. Because of people leaving. Mainly horses which have really been neglected and pets. My son adopted a Bearded dragon a few weeks ago. It was in shocking condition. Its enclosure was a disgrace. With the lamps hanging into the enclosure. Poor thing went against the lamp for warmth. Got badly burnt. Since my son adopted it it has halfed the size of the burn as new skin has grown. I just have to say that if you thought cats were lazy..Get a dragon. But don't be fooled. When you put them outside for some exercise they can really run and jump when they want to.

When they get another lizard my youngest will take it. He has been looking after his brothers ghekko to show us he can be responsible and mom has fallen in love with the lizard so will watch over the youngest when he gets one to ensure its not just a fad.

Just sad to see animals neglected. If you know of people emigrating with pets please help them. Its shocking how these get neglected and you have to understand that they depend entirely on us

[assfly]

Was at the farm this afternoon. Heard that there are a lot of animals going up for adoption. Because of people leaving. Mainly horses which have really been neglected and pets. My son adopted a Bearded dragon a few weeks ago. It was in shocking condition. Its enclosure was a disgrace. With the lamps hanging into the enclosure. Poor thing went against the lamp for warmth. Got badly burnt. Since my son adopted it it has halfed the size of the burn as new skin has grown. I just have to say that if you thought cats were lazy..Get a dragon. But don't be fooled. When you put them outside for some exercise they can really run and jump when they want to.

When they get another lizard my youngest will take it. He has been looking after his brothers ghekko to show us he can be responsible and mom has fallen in love with the lizard so will watch over the youngest when he gets one to ensure its not just a fad.

Just sad to see animals neglected. If you know of people emigrating with pets please help them. Its shocking how these get neglected and you have to understand that they depend entirely on us

A mate of mine in Joburg has delayed his move to Australia to find homes for his dogs. Not a lot of takers at the moment but he says he won't leave until it's sorted.

It's a tragic situation.

[handyman]

Would really love a dog, as I love animals and for the added security, but will have to put that on hold until the kids are a bit older. At the moment the dog will be neglected and that's unfair.

[OomStruisbaai]

Would really love a dog, as I love animals and for the added security, but will have to put that on hold until the kids are a bit older. At the moment the dog will be neglected and that's unfair.

Kids must grow up with pets.

Visited family on the weekend. They have like 5 rifrue and a very old pitbull. At first I hate the dog kak smell in the house but two days later I love that dogs like my own. Would love a rifrug but when we go away you always struggle with them.

[Amethyst]

Would really love a dog, as I love animals and for the added security, but will have to put that on hold until the kids are a bit older. At the moment the dog will be neglected and that's unfair.

Kids must grow up with pets.

Visited family on the weekend. They have like 5 rifrue and a very old pitbull. At first I hate the dog kak smell in the house but two days later I love that dogs like my own. Would love a rifrug but when we go away you always struggle with them.

'n Rifrug is 'n fantastiese rotvanger. My broer het sy rifrug een vakansie by ons gelos. Ons het 'n probleem met rotte by ons buitekamer gehad, kon hoor hoe hardloop die goed op die dak. Nou, daar is 'n hoe prieel wat tot op die dak uitloop, die rotte het ook in die nag daar op en af gehardloop. Ons maak toe die rifrug een aand vas aan die prieel. Volgende oggend le daar omtrent 30 dooie rotte op die grasperk. Rifrug het die hele kolonie in een aand uitgeroei.

[assfly]

Would really love a dog, as I love animals and for the added security, but will have to put that on hold until the kids are a bit older. At the moment the dog will be neglected and that's unfair.

Kids must grow up with pets.

Visited family on the weekend. They have like 5 rifrue and a very old pitbull. At first I hate the dog kak smell in the house but two days later I love that dogs like my own. Would love a rifrug but when we go away you always struggle with them.

I agree. They make great companions for kids growing up. We have two dogs, two cats, two chickens and a tortoise and the kids are still pestering me for more.

[OomStruisbaai]

Would really love a dog, as I love animals and for the added security, but will have to put that on hold until the kids are a bit older. At the moment the dog will be neglected and that's unfair.

Kids must grow up with pets.

Visited family on the weekend. They have like 5 rifrue and a very old pitbull. At first I hate the dog kak smell in the house but two days later I love that dogs like my own. Would love a rifrug but when we go away you always struggle with them.

I agree. They make great companions for kids growing up. We have two dogs, two cats, two chickens and a tortoise and the kids are still pestering me for more.

We are fortunate to have space in SA. When we visited Korea a few years back I asked one of the kids which animal he would love to see live. Ostrich, that make me realise how fortunate our kids are. Ostriches are all over the place. We take wild life for granted.

[Sards]

have a pet for the right reasons. Our place is like a zoo at times. Dogs, cats, cockatield , parrots , fish , lizard, geckos.
One kid handles the dogs and geckos
Other one the birds and lizard.
Mom thr cats
I handle the fish.

[Fangle]

When my lad was a year old we got a lab pup for him. He hasn’t been without a dog since.

[assfly]

We are fortunate to have space in SA. When we visited Korea a few years back I asked one of the kids which animal he would love to see live. Ostrich, that make me realise how fortunate our kids are. Ostriches are all over the place. We take wild life for granted.

I'm reading a book at the moment that looks at some of the big game hunters of the 19th century that explored southern Africa. It's fascinating but also terribly sad when you read about the amount of wildlife that used to exist all over South Africa. Elephants were all over the Cape, right up to the beaches on the West Coast. Lions were everywhere to the point that they were a nuisance. Huge numbers of buffalo, eland, rhino, etc.

In the years 1840-1860 they were almost completely wiped out in the Cape. Entire herds of hundreds of elephants wiped out in a few days, for ivory, food and sport. They drove them up north after which point they started to realise the damage they did in such a short time. The only exception is Addo, where female elephants have recently evolved to lose their tusks which they believe is a response to poaching.

[Chilli]

We are fortunate to have space in SA. When we visited Korea a few years back I asked one of the kids which animal he would love to see live. Ostrich, that make me realise how fortunate our kids are. Ostriches are all over the place. We take wild life for granted.

I'm reading a book at the moment that looks at some of the big game hunters of the 19th century that explored southern Africa. It's fascinating but also terribly sad when you read about the amount of wildlife that used to exist all over South Africa. Elephants were all over the Cape, right up to the beaches on the West Coast. Lions were everywhere to the point that they were a nuisance. Huge numbers of buffalo, eland, rhino, etc.

In the years 1840-1860 they were almost completely wiped out in the Cape. Entire herds of hundreds of elephants wiped out in a few days, for ivory, food and sport. They drove them up north after which point they started to realise the damage they did in such a short time. The only exception is Addo, where female elephants have recently evolved to lose their tusks which they believe is a response to poaching.

Yeah, you read about stories of herds of Impala or Springbok that are so large that they take hours and hours to pass a point.

We humans are such destructive creatures.

[handyman]

Once in while you read a story about a poachers remains in the wild after a lion or something got hold of him/her. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

[assfly]

Once in while you read a story about a poachers remains in the wild after a lion or something got hold of him/her. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

I absolutely love those stories.

[Chilli]

Once in while you read a story about a poachers remains in the wild after a lion or something got hold of him/her. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

I absolutely love those stories.

Having worked in game reserves for a few years, we would hear about remains being found in the bush...............I think that it happens more often than what we hear about.

[Sards]

Adopt if you can. We tamed animals Qw are responsible

[assfly]

Damn this place is slow.

I've had to ask my kids to present they are WP fans, just so I have someone to argue with.

[Sards]

Damn this place is slow.

I've had to ask my kids to present they are WP fans, just so I have someone to argue with.

Vokken slow. No rugby that's why...and I am pretty much run off my feet currently. We are certainly blessed

[OomStruisbaai]

Look positive this week
IOL

. Western Cape has passed its Covid-19 peak - Winde
By Shakirah Thebus Time of article published 6h ago


Cape Town - The province had passed its Covid-19 peak with sufficient platform capacity and would be considering whether temporary field hospitals should remain open, said Premier Alan Winde in his daily Covid-19 provincial update on Tuesday.

The MSF field hospital in Khayelitsha was already in the processes of closing, he said.

The province reported 7 416 active cases of Covid-19, 98868 confirmed cases and 87 998 recoveries as of 1pm on Tuesday.

To date, 3454 people have succumbed to the virus and around 440564 Covid-19 tests have been conducted.

At present, 1 196 people have been hospitalised with 247 patients in ICU or high care.

Winde welcomed the confirmation that alert levels could be determined at a provincial, metro and district level, as stated by the Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize in the Government Gazette published on Friday last week.

The ministerial advisory committee must advise the National Health minister regarding which alert level should be declared nationally, provincially, in a metropolitan area or a district.

“The Western Cape cabinet on Friday took the position that businesses which can open safely should be allowed to do so, and that the alcohol ban should be lifted, in conjunction with the implementation of smart measures aimed at reducing alcohol harms,” said Winde. “We have written to both minister Mkhize and Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to request a meeting where we will put forward these positions.

“It is imperative that we take decisive and immediate action to prevent an unemployment pandemic and further economic calamity.”

He said statistical data previously supplied by StatsSA showed the drastic impact the lockdown had had on the food and beverage industry, and that the closure of borders and initial ban on local travel had also had a significant impact on the tourism industry.

“In the Western Cape, we have seen a steady and sustained decline in the number of hospitalisations, with current numbers sitting below 1200, the lowest we have seen since June.

“Coupled with this, we have seen a greater percentage of tests come back negative, declining infections among health-care workers and a decline in the number of daily deaths,” he said.

[Amethyst]

Number of tests being done seems to have declined remarkably recently. Whilst WC is stabilising, to early to tell about the rest of the country.

[Blake]

Number of tests being done seems to have declined remarkably recently. Whilst WC is stabilising, to early to tell about the rest of the country.

It is concerning. We should be testing at max capacity for as long as possible if we have the resources.

I suspect the reason for reduced testing is rationing. Community spread is now so prevalent that containment is impossible.

The focus has shifted to managing outcomes. Now that the Covid is better understood, testing is being limited to high risk populations only with the hope that early treatment protocols will reduce deaths.

It’s risky, but it’s pretty much all we can do at this stage.

[troglodyte]

Rumours that alcohol and cigarette ban to be lifted on Friday, and going to level 2.


And I just bought a carton despite having had enough to have lasted me to Friday.

[Blake]

Rumours that alcohol and cigarette ban to be lifted on Friday, and going to level 2.


And I just bought a carton despite having had enough to have lasted me to Friday.

I’ll believe it when I see it; but I really hope you are correct.
We need to open up industries again and try to salvage what is left.

[troglodyte]

Rumours that alcohol and cigarette ban to be lifted on Friday, and going to level 2.


And I just bought a carton despite having had enough to have lasted me to Friday.

I’ll believe it when I see it; but I really hope you are correct.
We need to open up industries again and try to salvage what is left.

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafri ... s-20200812


I agree, the economic damages are now far worse than the pandemic.

Last year 10,000 people died from influenza. We just passed the 10k Covid-19 mark. And I don't think the measures taken really helped much to keep the C19 figures low.

And even if some lives are saved, a lot more have probably been lost due to suicides from people losing everything. In 2014, a relatively normal year, 1 suicide was recorded per hour on average in SA. A further 20 unsuccessful attempts per hour. That figure most definitely increased significantly during this pandemic due to people losing their jobs, businesses etc., and the lockdown itself played havoc with people's mental health, even those of us who managed to hang tough during this time. Even if that figure doubled which I think is a very conservative estimate, that would mean almost as many lives were lost from suicide than to the pandemic.

Add up all the $$$ lost during this time, foreign investments lost etc., and I come to the conclusion we should've had a 4-6 week lockdown at maximum. Thereafter stick to masks and sanitisers only.

[OomStruisbaai]

Number of tests being done seems to have declined remarkably recently. Whilst WC is stabilising, to early to tell about the rest of the country.

It is concerning. We should be testing at max capacity for as long as possible if we have the resources.

I suspect the reason for reduced testing is rationing. Community spread is now so prevalent that containment is impossible.

The focus has shifted to managing outcomes. Now that the Covid is better understood, testing is being limited to high risk populations only with the hope that early treatment protocols will reduce deaths.

It’s risky, but it’s pretty much all we can do at this stage.

I wonder how much money has been invested in testing?

Figured out that deaths and active cases are the most important figures.

[Big Nipper]

Rumours that alcohol and cigarette ban to be lifted on Friday, and going to level 2.


And I just bought a carton despite having had enough to have lasted me to Friday.

I’ll believe it when I see it; but I really hope you are correct.
We need to open up industries again and try to salvage what is left.

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafri ... s-20200812


I agree, the economic damages are now far worse than the pandemic.

Last year 10,000 people died from influenza. We just passed the 10k Covid-19 mark. And I don't think the measures taken really helped much to keep the C19 figures low.

And even if some lives are saved, a lot more have probably been lost due to suicides from people losing everything. In 2014, a relatively normal year, 1 suicide was recorded per hour on average in SA. A further 20 unsuccessful attempts per hour. That figure most definitely increased significantly during this pandemic due to people losing their jobs, businesses etc., and the lockdown itself played havoc with people's mental health, even those of us who managed to hang tough during this time. Even if that figure doubled which I think is a very conservative estimate, that would mean almost as many lives were lost from suicide than to the pandemic.

Add up all the $$$ lost during this time, foreign investments lost etc., and I come to the conclusion we should've had a 4-6 week lockdown at maximum. Thereafter stick to masks and sanitisers only.

Natural deaths for July was 14000 higher than last year, and those deaths have been mostly not been ascribed to any illness. So if you do some simple maths you might realise that the Covid deaths in SA is massively under reported. Masks and social distancing has almost completely negated any signs of flu this year too.

Short summation - stop comparing this virus, with no vaccine or treatment, to the flu you absolute cunthead

[assfly]

Community spread is now so prevalent that containment is impossible.

Yes this is pretty much it. In a strange way I'm almost glad we've reached this stage, so we can stop panicking and making rash decisions and learn how to live with it.

[Amethyst]

The death rate for Corona is low. The whole situation has been over-hyped.

1. The only lockdown necessary was the first one to get the medical facilities ready for Covid patients. About a month should have sufficed.
2. The wearing of masks and social distancing of 2 metres should have been compulsory from starters.
3. ONLY people who have presented THEMSELVES with possible Covid symptoms should have been tested for the virus and if positive isolated/treated from that point on. Millions have been squandered on unnecessary mass random testing, importing communist buddies from Cuba, self-enrihcment, etc.
4. No sectors should have been locked out but specific measures should have been applied for safe(r) operation.

The corrupt, inapt ANC has finally driven the country into its final shithole.

[OomStruisbaai]

Speach to nite?

[sorCrer]

Speach to nite?

Fokol announced so probably no?

[Blake]

The death rate for Corona is low. The whole situation has been over-hyped.

The death rate is only low if active cases can be maintained to be lower than the hospital carrying capacity.
If contained, death rate is <1%, but the reality is that 8-10% of people will need medical attention if infected. If the hospitals are full that 8-10% becomes your death rate until you can stem new infections with a hard lockdown and a 10-14 day wait: see Italy, New York, Iran.

1. The only lockdown necessary was the first one to get the medical facilities ready for Covid patients. About a month should have sufficed.

In theory yes, but in March there were so many unknowns that it made sense. Also, we had a very small chance of containment at the time. It was a 5 week investment that unfortunately failed spectacularly.
It was a moonshot, but the swing was worth it.

2. The wearing of masks and social distancing of 2 metres should have been compulsory from starters.

Hindsight is 20/20; but the fact that we still have pockets of resistance regarding this, should be proof enough that it would have been problematic to implement in April.
What I agree on is that the SABC should have been used more effectively to pump out information during lockdown...but unfortunately it has been run into the ground.
Vietnam was very successful in their PR campaign to educate the citizens and were even innovative enough to use social media personalities etc.
Our education campaign, if you can even call it that, was very inadequate.
Similarly, the SABC should have been used to provide school lessons to children of all ages, like they used to do with The Learning Channel in the afternoons in the late 90's early 2000's.

3. ONLY people who have presented THEMSELVES with possible Covid symptoms should have been tested for the virus and if positive isolated/treated from that point on. Millions have been squandered on unnecessary mass random testing, importing communist buddies from Cuba, self-enrihcment, etc.

It depends on if the focus is containment or risk mitigation.
Early in the pandemic, when there were not yet effective treatments, risk mitigation was not a realistic option.
Now that the disease is better understood, and treatments are more effective, and the fact that tests (consumables and chemicals) are in short supply, it makes more sense to shift to risk mitigation strategy.
But it wasn''t really a feasible option as recently as 2 months ago.

4. No sectors should have been locked out but specific measures should have been applied for safe(r) operation.

I agree with you here. I think all sectors should have been allowed to re-open after the initial lockdown, BUT on the condition that the population received much better information and education during the lockdown itself, and businesses in breach would be held liable.
If you leave people to make their own uninformed choices and you don't regulate the business owners, you get situations like the Spring Break, Summer vacations and the Sturgis Motorcycle superspreader events in the USA.

[Blake]

Community spread is now so prevalent that containment is impossible.

Yes this is pretty much it. In a strange way I'm almost glad we've reached this stage, so we can stop panicking and making rash decisions and learn how to live with it.

I agree. And the risk is also significantly reduced now that the cause of death is better understood and some effective treatment protocols have been discovered.
The risk of cluster outbreaks and local medical infrastructure getting overrun is still very real though; so people should still mask up, socially distance and wash hands until either:

• A safe, effective vaccine is available

• More studies are conducted to better understand what causes asymptomatic cases and how big that pool of people is

[assfly]

Another good note is that as we come out of winter we should see the numbers start to drop further. But not so much good news if you're in the NH heading back into winter.

[Fangle]

I’ll believe it when I see it; but I really hope you are correct.
We need to open up industries again and try to salvage what is left.

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafri ... s-20200812


I agree, the economic damages are now far worse than the pandemic.

Last year 10,000 people died from influenza. We just passed the 10k Covid-19 mark. And I don't think the measures taken really helped much to keep the C19 figures low.

And even if some lives are saved, a lot more have probably been lost due to suicides from people losing everything. In 2014, a relatively normal year, 1 suicide was recorded per hour on average in SA. A further 20 unsuccessful attempts per hour. That figure most definitely increased significantly during this pandemic due to people losing their jobs, businesses etc., and the lockdown itself played havoc with people's mental health, even those of us who managed to hang tough during this time. Even if that figure doubled which I think is a very conservative estimate, that would mean almost as many lives were lost from suicide than to the pandemic.

Add up all the $$$ lost during this time, foreign investments lost etc., and I come to the conclusion we should've had a 4-6 week lockdown at maximum. Thereafter stick to masks and sanitisers only.

Natural deaths for July was 14000 higher than last year, and those deaths have been mostly not been ascribed to any illness. So if you do some simple maths you might realise that the Covid deaths in SA is massively under reported. Masks and social distancing has almost completely negated any signs of flu this year too.

Short summation - stop comparing this virus, with no vaccine or treatment, to the flu you absolute cunthead

That insult is completely unnecessary. Can’t you disagree politely?

[Big Nipper]

No I do not

People who say this "is just the flu" are part of the problem. They are the ones having big parties during lockdown, silently spreading the disease. They are the okes going into shops and refusing to wear masks and causing a massive fuss. No sympathy for their willful ignorance