Good News

BULLETIN 14 June

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# Table Mountain has claimed fame as South Africa’s busiest and most popular hiking venue and a global hotspot for Instagrammers. A survey by Explore Worldwide revealed its popularity, with one-thousand-189 Instagram posts per kilometre of trail, ranking seventh worldwide. In comparison, Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia was ranked the world’s most crowded hike with more than 22-thousand Instagram posts per kilometre. Second place went to the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru, with six-thousand-723 posts.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Cableway Charity Challenge in Cape Town was a huge success, raising over one-million-rand for various charities. Participants completed 716 summits of Platteklip Gorge on Table Mountain, as the challenge saw impressive achievements in both fundraising and the number of laps completed. This year’s beneficiaries include Wilderness Search and Rescue, Volunteer Wildfire Services, Ndihluthi, Abalimi Bezekhaya, and Funda Kunye, each receiving ten-percent of the event proceeds. This marks the second consecutive year the challenge has surpassed the one-million-rand mark.

# University of the Free State’s former Master’s student in Architecture, Arran Wood, has been honoured with the Corobrik National Student Architecture Award. This is for his project titled Spectral Flesh – Remembrance, which explores South Africa’s forgotten nuclear history. Eight finalists were chosen by major universities in the country, each selecting its best Master’s architectural student to participate in the awards. Wood says he is grateful for the lasting recognition the award brings to his career.

# Scottburgh Beach has welcomed its new wall of sea art by local graffiti artist Giffy Duminy. Commissioned by The Ocean Festival, he created a vibrant mural showcasing Turner Sun Corals, Candy-striped Anemones, and Tiger Anemones. Known for his realism and vibrancy, he used photos from his scuba dives in the Aliwal Shoal marine protected area. Duminy’s mural highlights the fascinating marine life in local waters.

# And finally, Olympics: University of the Witwatersrand Engineering student, Harry Saner, has qualified for the Paris Games, becoming the first South African fencer to compete in nearly two decades. His journey to become a world-class fencer started early in 2010 as a nine-year-old. Saner is the second fencer to qualify for the Olympics since 2008. Juliana Barrett qualified for the 2016 Rio Games, but was denied a chance to take part due to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee’s selection criteria.

Stay tuned for more news………….