UCT is again coming under fire on social media after a lecturer took to Facebook to criticise women for the #MenAreTrash movement, and confessing to having thoughts about raping his two-year-old daughter. The post, published by chemical engineering lecturer Arthur Mabentsela, suggested that men should not be blamed if women couldn't "attract and retain a quality man". "It was not me who said open your legs to a f**k boy," the rant continued. The post, along with a reply to a comment on said post, was screenshot by a UCT student and reposted to Twitter on Monday afternoon. This is what a uct...
Recent rains has brought a much needed mid-winter refill to much of Cape Town's outlying dams. According to the City of Cape Town's latest dam report, its reservoirs are now 58.8% full collectively. This is an increase of 1.8% over the previous week, or 16-billion litres. The gains are largely thanks to two days of rainfall during the previous week. Last week, dams saw a collective increase of just 0.2%. The Theewaterskloof Dam's resurgence has slowed though July and into August. It's up by just 0.9%, topping out at 43.5%. It remains 6.3% short of the levels recorded in 2016, and more...
If you were in central Cape Town at around 9am on Tuesday morning, you may have missed something pretty spectacular. And indeed, pretty. Instagram is this morning awash with snaps of the recent rainfall, and more impressively, an expansive rainbow. Bowing almost entirely across the sky and featuring a slightly lighter companion just above it, the broad ribbon was visible across much of the southern suburbs, Cape Flats and the city's eastern district. Here's what Instagram users across Cape Town caught on their smartphones: I tried to capture this morning's rainbow 🌈 with a panorama feature on my phone and it turned out...
May has come, and July has gone. And just like that, winter is nearly over in Cape Town. In a few months' time, it'll be spring and we'll all be hearing that term we love so dearly: "Day Zero". Thankfully, according to data from the City of Cape Town, May and June were extremely wet months across Cape Town and may just be enough to ward off those two scary words. Looking at six weather stations in particular dotted around the metropol; namely Newlands, Steenbras, Table Mountain's Woodhead, Theewaterskloof, Voëlvlei and Wemmershoek; we visualised just how much rain the city has...
Update: The taxi strike affecting Cape Town and surrounds was suspended late on Monday. Cape Town's MyCiTi and Golden Arrow bus services may not operate in certain regions of the city tomorrow, as the provincial taxi strike is set to continue. On Monday, commuters were left stranded as trains and buses were late or suspended, and taxis refused to operate. Two buses were set alight in Khayelitsha, south east of Cape Town's city centre. Late Monday, MyCiTi failed to confirm that its service to the area -- namely its D01 and D02 service -- will be reinstated on Tuesday. "The City of Cape...
Today Capetonians woke to rain, gridlocked highways, late trains, buses on fire, and a taxi strike. Yes, yet another taxi strike began in the early hours of Monday morning across the Western Cape. According to a News24 report, the strike is the result of a leadership dispute within the South African National Taxi Council. As a side effect, commuters who use taxis to travel across the province were left stranded on Monday. Folks gonna be expected to take "alternative" transport to work. Alternative being a code word for teleportation. #TaxiStrike — Sarkastik Observer 🦈🔱 (@Sindelo_) August 6, 2018 Some commuters who braved the strike...
July may not have seen as much rain as June, but Cape Town's dam levels finish the month 8.5% higher than last. This comes after gains of just 0.4% were noted by the City of Cape Town in its latest dam levels report. At present, levels of the metropole's six major dams stand at 56.8% -- more than double the levels measured in 2017. Looking at individual dams, some have had a much better week than others. Notably, the Voëlvlei Dam continues to be the City's top performer. It gained 1.5% over the previous week, and is now just below the 60%...
Another hot, dry and precipitation-scarce week hasn't had much of an impact on Cape Town's dam levels, this according to the City's latest report. Surprisingly, even though not a drop of rain was recorded at any of the City's monitored stations, dam levels continued to rise. As of 23 July, the city's dam levels stand at 56.4% or 506-billion litres. That's an increase of 1.3% over the previous week, or 12-billion litres. Dam by dam breakdown: Theewaterskloof Dam | +1% to 41.7% Voëlvlei Dam | +2.3% to 56.9% Berg River Dam | +1.2% to 85.9% Wemmershoek Dam | -0.1% to 84.8% Steenbras...
After a few weeks of rapid increases, Cape Town's dam levels have seemingly plateaued. This week the City of Cape Town's latest report saw an increase of just 1.8% to the overall storage levels. They now stand at 55.1%. Going dam by dam, most notable is the Theewaterskloof Dam's current level. It's now at 40.7% full, up by 1.7% over the previous week. It's now doubly as full as it was in July 2017, and just 15% off its 2015 levels. Notably, less than three months ago, the Theewaterskloof Dam was just over 10% full. The Voëlvlei Dam is now 54.6% full, jumping...
If you've turned your head to the sky this past week, you may have noticed something: it hasn't rained. At all. Since 2 July 2018, the city's surrounds haven't seen a drop of the wet stuff, and that's pretty concerning. For one, some of the key catchment areas could miss their long-term rainfall average for July. But, with that said, dam levels have still increased steadily over the previous week. The latest figures by the City of Cape Town shows an increase of 5% since 2 July 2018. The dams are now holding 53.3% of their total storage. We're also just 0.1% shy...
We've done it, Cape Town. The city's dam storage levels have breached the 50% full mark after the weekend's cold front swept through the region. This comes after Monday's report stated that dams were 48.3% full. The latest numbers reflect the gains made within the last 24 hours, which makes these figures all the more remarkable. As of 3 July 2018, dam levels are officially at 50.3%. Both the Berg River Dam and Wemmershoek Dam are above 80% full, while the Steenbras Upper Dam is at 101.4%. The Voëlvlei Dam gained 2.6% in a single day. The Theewaterskloof (2.1%), and Steenbras Lower (2%)...
Update: As of 3 July, Cape Town's dam levels are now at 50.3%. Read the full story here. The storm clouds have cleared above Cape Town and the City's latest dam figures are in. As of 2 July 2018, the combined dam levels of the City's six major dams stand at 48.3% full. That's an increase of 5.6% over the previous week, or a physical volume increase of more than 50-billion litres. It's not yet clear if these numbers account for yesterday's and last night's deluge. Nevertheless, they are staggering. The Berg River Dam gained a massive 10.9% over the previous week and...
Airbnb is today rolling out its Experiences programme in Johannesburg and the rest of South Africa. The nationwide move comes after Experiences debuted globally, and in Cape Town, in 2016. "Experiences are activities or excursions that are led by passionate local hosts, highlighting their interests and perspective as well as unique places many visitors might not otherwise get to experience," the company explains in an update. "After the launch of Experiences in Cape Town in 2016 Johannesburg hosts are excited to finally get the chance to show off their city while becoming part of the local economy." At present, there are around...
You asked for rain, Cape Town. And you've finally received it in bucket loads. Just as June drew to a close, a strong cold front pushed its way across the Western Cape bringing with it stormy conditions to much of the province. Cape Town in particular saw torrential rain and flooding early Sunday, and bitterly cold temperatures into Monday morning. THE LATEST: After the storm, Cape Town’s dam levels are now at 48.3% Raining hard in Tamboerskloof Cape Town. Stay in doors because you will have to swim pic.twitter.com/3kPRpHmbyd — Elaine Corbett (@ElaineCorbett7) July 1, 2018 Cape Town now, it is pouring with rain,...
Cape Town's dam storage is up once again, but by a smaller margin. Last week, dam levels stood at 38.1%. This week, the City of Cape Town's measures read 42.7%, an increase of 4.6%. The major gainer this week is the Voëvlei Dam, up 7.3% to 37.6%. It's now less than 2% off its June 2015 levels. Its much larger cousin, the Theewaterskloof Dam, is 30.4% full, a gain of 3.2%. That's pretty notable considering that just 1.2mm of rain fell over the area this week. The Berg River Dam is up by 5.2% this week to 67.8%. It's now fuller than...
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