My Cape Town

CTIFJ adds 8 more world class acts to their sensational 2018 line-up

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Eight sensational, world class acts have been added to the 19th annual Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) line-up. CTIJF organiser espAfrika’s passion for jazz is rooted in Africa, but this year’s line-up lights up the globe with musicians embracing everything from swing-bop to neo-soul, hip hop, Afro soul and Zulu blues. The CTIJF is acclaimed as one of the top jazz festivals in the world, and the 2018 line-up highlights just what makes jazz fusion such a compelling, ever-evolving art form.

CTIJF Festival Director Billy Domingo is enthusiastic about the upcoming programme, saying: “Great thought has been given to the nuances of the greater jazz form in this year’s line-up. This is reflected in the variety of the acts that will entertain this year’s festinos. I am delighted that our steadfast festival goers, as well as those attending for the first time, have such a wealth of talent from which to create their personal musical experiences and we look forward to sharing these moments with our audience.”

CTIJF 2018 Second Artist Announcement

Incognito’s (UK) undying love for funky jazz turned their acid jazz repertoire into epic anthems. Frontman Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick leads this cool ensemble, which has embarked on numerous fresh directions over time, producing winning material and unforgettable live shows. Expect a slick set chock-a-bloc with party spinners and smooth fusion.

Simphiwe Dana’s (SA) eye-catching imagery may project a fragility and beauty specific to this global chart-topper, but it’s her unique signature sound that confirms her status as a phenomenal artist. Her profound amalgam of jazzy Afro soul with traditional music is utterly distinctive – truly the hallmark of a remarkable musician.

The range of Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s work is vast, having contributed to over 500 recordings and scores with notable musicians such as Ray Charles, Flying Lotus, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Bilal, Seu Jorge, and Thundercat, and 1000’s of live concerts. He effortlessly bridges genres and generations of cultural elements into cohesive, magical presentations. He has performed, toured and recorded with ensembles ranging from electronic to avant-garde, jazz, classical, hip hop and pop. Atwood-Ferguson bridges orchestral textures with elements of soul, jazz, hip hop and improv. Hear him in Miguel Atwood-Ferguson: Suite for Ma Dukes (USA) – his tribute to hip hop MC/producer J Dilla.

Radiating South African heritage sounds and universal jazz influences, Sibusiso “Mash” Mashiloane (SA), explores the repertoires of Bheki Mseleku, Andile Yenana and Moses Molelekwa along with his Zulu-styled blues and neo-soul, swing-bop and hip hop inflections and will reinforce the tones of Africa at the CTIJF.

There’s an intensity to Manny Walters (SA) that’s rooted in the legacy of rhythm ’n blues, and enhanced by modern-day soul rock nuances. This local singer-songwriter and semi-acoustic guitarist delivers a focused set of works that draws on the seminal sounds of Richie Havens, Nina Simone, Tracy Chapman and Curtis Mayfield. Manny’s standout gritty voice steers his electric rhythm & blues/alt soul playlist with socially conscious lyricism and a gravitas that reels in the listener.

The Surge (SA/Russia/Slovakia/Morocco/USA/ Kyrgyzstan) is a product of OneBeat, an incubator for social entrepreneurship where innovative musicians launch collaborations designed to make a positive impact. An array of rare instruments also makes this Surge gig definitely one to head to. Trumpeter Mandla Mlangeni lends his weight to the outfit, while Abbay Misganaw, aka Haile Supreme, is a Washington D.C.-based rapper and member of Congo Sanchez – a hip hop group that synthesizes reggae, dub and Latin funk. Mehdi Nassouli is a guembri player with a passion for preserving Moroccan music who’s devoted to studying deqqa, a traditional form of art from Taroudant. Jan Kruzliak is a Bratislava-based violinist. His group La3noCubano performed free concerts in refugee camps. Sergey Balashov is a drummer from Moscow specializing in improvisation. Aisaana Omorova has studied the instruments of Kyrgyzstan (komuz, jaw harp and choor), apprenticing with Zainidin Imanaliev. Jeremy Thal, Co-Founder & Artistic Director of Found Sound Nation, is a horn player and educator. All in all, a unified excursion into the unknown.

Enigmatically soulful international recording and performing artist N8N (Belgium), counts himself amongst the lucky few who gets to do what he loves most: entertain. N8N has dedicated his life to honing his craft; a process which has afforded him the opportunity to travel the world. But, it was his love for the Mother City, which he considers his second home, that inspired him to write and release a tribute fittingly entitled Cape Town at the end of 2017. The track was born of a collaboration with Grammy award-winning producer Andre Harris and a-list song-writer Carmen Reece and features on his upcoming EP [Second 2 None}, which is due to be released in spring 2018.

The Liberation Project (SA) is part of a broader Liberation Project driven from South Africa, which features musicians who’ve joined forces to celebrate their liberation struggles from different corners of the world. This line-up has been specially commissioned by the CTIJF and their festival set is dedicated to Ray Phiri. This interesting pool of musicians combines Sipho Hotstix Mabuse (vox, sax, piano, flute), Tony Cedras (accordion, trumpet), Neill Solomon (vox, piano, acoustic guitar), Dan Chiorboli (perc), Tebogo Sedumedi (vox, bass), DRC kwassa kwassa star Bienvenue N’Seka (vox, guitar), Keeran Eshwarlall (Sufi vox, harmonium, santoor, harmonica) with special guest Roger Lucey on vox and acoustic guitar.

The 19th Cape Town International Jazz Festival will take place 23 and 24 March 2018 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Day passes are still available at www.computicket.com at R750 per person per day.

Corporate hospitality packages are available for the upcoming festival. To book your package or for more information, contact Samantha on 021 6710506 or email hospitality@espafrika.com

Rosies tickets will go on sale on Monday 12 February 2018 from Computicket. Please note, tickets for Rosies cost an additional R30 per performance. For the Rosies performance schedule, please go to www.capetownjazzfest.com or keep an eye on our social media for more details.

Official Sponsors of the 19th annual Cape Town International Jazz Festival are The Department of Arts and Culture, Independent Media and host city, City of Cape Town. Other sponsors include South African Tourism, Amstel, Johnny Walker and Peninsula Beverages.



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Shit Just Got Real Cape Town – residents limited to 50 litres of water

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Cape Town residents will from February be limited to using 50 litres of water per person per day for the next 150 days, as “Day Zero” draws closer.

“We have reached a point of no return. Despite our urging for months, 60% of Capetonians are callously using more than 87 litres per day. It is quite unbelievable that a majority of people do not seem to care and are sending all of us headlong towards Day Zero,” said City of Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille.

Day Zero is the day when taps will be closed and residents will be required to get water from various designated water collection points.

Due to the lack of cooperation by residents, the city had to implement level 6B restrictions that cuts the water usage of residents to 50 litres. The new restrictions will come into effect on 1 February 2018.

“The new daily collective consumption target is now 450 million litres per day. This will be in place for 150 days after which the city will reassess the situation. Level 6B restrictions will also limit irrigation using boreholes and well points,” said Mayor De Lille.

The Mayor said the city has had to assume that high water users will not change their behaviour and therefore implement stringent measures to delay the chance of reaching Day Zero on 21 April 2018.

The city’s seven augmentation projects which are set to produce around 200 million litres per day are not enough to avert Day Zero.

“While our water augmentation programme will make Cape Town more water resilient in the future, it was never going to be enough to stop Day Zero,” said the Mayor.

Advanced Day Zero preparation

Planning for Day Zero is at an advanced stage with approximately 200 sites having been assessed. The city will be announcing everyone’s local collection points from next week so that communities can begin preparing for that eventuality.

“We will also be making detailed Day Zero contingency plans available soon to answer all questions that residents and businesses might have,” said the Mayor.

To reduce demand through advanced pressure management, the city has been hard at work to install water management devices at high consumption households.

“Our teams are also significantly intensifying the leak detection and repair programme, and we are rolling out education and awareness campaigns and extending our use of the treated effluent system which offsets the use of the drinking water for non-potable purposes,” said the Mayor.

Teams are working around the clock to deliver the emergency plan for desalination, groundwater and water reuse.

A punitive tariff

She said Council will on Friday be voting on implementing a punitive tariff that will charge residents exponentially higher rates for water usage above 6 000 litres per month.

The table below outlines the difference between the current and the proposed punitive tariffs:

Consumption per month | Current Tariffs – total household water bill | New Tariff – total household water bill:

  • 6 000 litres | R28.44 | R145.98
  • 10 500 litres | R109.50 | R390.82
  • 20 000 litres | R361.06 | R1 536.28
  • 35 000 litres | R1 050.04 | R6 939.57
  • 50 000 litres | R2 888.81 | R20 619.57

“I will personally fight to ensure that the proposed punitive tariff exempts those who are using less than 6 000 litres per month,” said the Mayor.

Provision will be made for households larger than four people to ensure that they are not unfairly penalised. Residents can contact the city beforehand on water@capetown.gov.za or enquire at their nearest walk-in centre.

The proposed drought charge is likely to be dropped. This after a massive outcry from Capetonians who felt that it was unfair.

“I understand that response and it has personally been a tough lesson for the city. I just want you to know that the city proposed the charge because we wanted to keep delivering important and essential services during this crisis.

“I wanted to continue making Cape Town a city that delivers opportunities for all. We are now going to have to make deep cuts to important projects,” said the Mayor. – SAnews.gov.za



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Cape Town aquifers could deliver 150 Million litres of water per day

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In a bid to stave off Day Zero, the City of Cape Town is drilling its aquifers to abstract groundwater, which are expected to offer much needed water relief for the drought stricken city.

“I [recently] announced that the recent groundwater survey had confirmed that aquifers around Cape Town could deliver at least 150 million litres of water per day. At present the City is consuming over 500 Million litres of water per day.

“The Cape Flats aquifer will deliver 80 million litres per day, the Table Mountain Group aquifer will deliver 40 million litres per day, and the Atlantis aquifer will deliver 30 million litres per day,” said City of Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille.

Prime locations have been identified to abstract more water from these three aquifers.

The groundwater abstraction projects form part of the city’s programme to supply additional water from desalination, water recycling and groundwater abstraction.

Abstracting groundwater in bigger volumes means that the city can deliver more water to residents at a lower cost. A company contracted by the city started to drill for water at the Mitchells Plain water works last week.

“This site was chosen based on the hydrogeological information and the likelihood of it delivering a safe yield of water from the aquifer,” said Mayor De Lille.

The Mitchells Plain site is an exploration and monitoring borehole that will provide data about the conditions in the area. All exploration boreholes are designed to potentially become production boreholes in the future.

The city will drill in Strandfontein, Philippi, Wesbank, Bishop Lavis and Kayelitsha to look for the best abstraction points to get water from the Cape Flats aquifer.

According to the city, the programme is based on an environmentally sensitive approach that will ensure sustainable water abstraction, ensuring generations of Capetonians will benefit from this groundwater.

“This is the first time such an extensive mapping has been done and will ensure responsible use of groundwater through, for instance, the water recharge of these aquifers,” said the City.

De Lille urged residents to continue to save water, despite the city’s work to secure new water sources.

“The City of Cape Town is working around the clock to bring new water supplies online but we need buy in from all residents.

“I cannot stress it enough: all residents must save water and use less than 87 litres per day. If we continue to use more than 500 million litres of water per day, we will reach Day Zero on 22 April 2018. We must avoid Day Zero and saving water is the only way we can do this,” said De Lille.

Day Zero is the day when taps will be closed and residents will be required to get water from various designated water collection points. – SAnews.gov.za



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