The invitation was enticing. We were going to the Red island — the rather primitive, yet quaint Nosy Be island, situated on the northern-most tip of Madagascar, where extensive soil erosion makes it clear why it is referred to by its colour. To celebrate 35 years of its Hilux range, Toyota held the launch of its special-edition Hilux Legend35 on the island.
It used to be that if you weren’t a member of the Automobile Association (AA), roadside assistance consisted of your mate, the one with the battered bakkie, coming to tow you out of trouble. These days, however, there is plenty of help at hand for the mechanically challenged.
It’s probably fair to say that reviewers of cars don’t do as much as we could in the way of crash-testing. Asking questions about a new model’s crumple zones by, say, slamming the car into a concrete wall at 88kph, is generally held to be exceeding one’s brief as a motoring reporter. The new SLK oozes playboy bravado. But how was it in an (accidental) crash?
"Know what can make or break a deal? The salesman. There’s nothing to gladden a girl’s heart more than a salesman who’s informative without being patronising, and attentive without fawning all over you." Sharon Gill recently underwent the trauma of buying a new(ish) car. Things aren’t always as simple as they should be.
Building the vehicle is the easy part — planning and co-ordinating the launch is enough to make anyone sweat blood. Take a look at the lengths Toyota South Africa went to for the Hilux Legend35 launch in Madagascar last month …
Launched three years ago as part of Southern Cross School’s fund-raising campaign, the Laborie African Bush Banquet is clearly more than just some local potjie cook-out. <i>Earthyear</i> joins a unique bush bash that provides funds for education and a marketing opportunity for ecotourism outfits.
High-tech and nature fuse into a big "Y’ello the future" as I enter MTN’s new headquarters, appropriately called the Innovation Centre, in 14th Avenue, Fairlands, Johannesburg. MTN’s new building complies with the targets for sustainable building set up by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Bettie Lambrecht pays a visit to find out what this means.
The school choir, neatly dressed in pale blue uniforms, is lined up just inside the school’s gates when we arrive at Kgaugelo Middle School in GaRankuwa. Learners mingle with guests, quietly abuzz with anticipation. A banner faces the gate, welcoming “Byron from the De Wildt Cheetah & Wildlife Trust”. Byron, in all his spotted glory, is a wildlife ambassador.
Busisiwe Nhlapo’s house burnt down last year, just three days before Christmas, one of 200 razed as fire swept through Joe Slovo squatter camp in Johannesburg. The City of Johannesburg has compiled a booklet called <i>A Better House</i>, to “offer practical advice to communities on how to improve existing rudimentary dwellings”, Masondo said. <i>Earthyear<i> takes a closer look.