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The Citizen
10 hours ago
- Health
- The Citizen
What will you give up? Sanca urges you to try a week without your go-to habit
What will you give up? Sanca urges you to try a week without your go-to habit Do you have what it takes to stop doing something you love for a week, or will your willpower crumble as quickly as stale bread? Find out from today to next Sunday, June 29, during the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence's (Sanca) Kick Your Habit campaign. Adél Grobbelaar, the head of the Sanca Wedge Gardens treatment centre in Johannesburg, says the campaign raises awareness about the challenges faced by people with substance use disorders. 'People often think someone should be able to stop using drugs or drinking too much just through willpower, without realising that addiction is a disease. It doesn't happen because you lack willpower or the strength to make good decisions – it's because you have a chronic brain disorder and your brain chemistry has changed,' says Grobbelaar, an expert in her field with over 40 years of experience. 'People with substance use disorders need support and intervention from society, not judgement. The Kick Your Habit campaign asks people to give up something they rely on in daily life. This helps them understand, even in a small way, what someone goes through during treatment.' It could be the chocolate bar you crave when things get tough, that fifth cup of coffee to stay alert, cigarettes, mindless scrolling on social media to escape your worries, a drink or two after work – or even biting your nails. Whatever your crutch, the Kick Your Habit campaign challenges you to give it up for one week. 'You know these habits aren't good for you, but you keep doing them because they bring comfort, relief or pleasure. Just like drugs, alcohol, codeine and other dangerous addictive substances, your habits trigger the brain's reward centre and make you feel good. 'Even 'harmless' substances like sugar or Coke, when misused, can lead to mild substance use disorders. Addiction is the most serious form of a substance use disorder,' Grobbelaar explains, 'and the more harmful the substance, the greater the negative impacts'. Many people don't realise that addictions aren't always linked to substances. Non-substance addictions can be just as damaging. These include bulimia, over-exercising to the point of harm, gambling, unsafe sex, overspending, excessive pornography use, or spending so much time online or gaming that your relationships and work suffer. Grobbelaar says the Kick Your Habit campaign helps people understand the tough choices involved in going to a rehabilitation treatment centre. 'If you take the challenge and give up something you depend on for a week, you'll get a real sense of how hard it is to stop a habit without help. 'And if you succeed, you'll feel a sense of achievement and greater control. You'll probably want to talk to someone about it for support and encouragement. Now, imagine how much more support people with substance use disorders need during treatment or after leaving rehab. 'This is what I want society to understand – the strength needed to recover, the tough journey through the detoxification process, the helping hands required to reintegrate into society and, most importantly, the root causes of substance use disorders that must be addressed for long-term recovery. 'Creating awareness about substance use disorders and the role society plays in tackling addiction is what makes campaigns like Kick Your Habit so important,' says Grobbelaar. So, what will you give up for a week? Whether you're young or old, a student, parent, office worker or retiree – Sanca challenges you to give up one habit you lean on. Share your journey with friends, family or on social media, and encourage others to join. You might be surprised by what you learn about yourself – and even more surprised by the empathy it builds for others. Are you ready to kick your habit? Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
TimesLIVE
10-06-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Strong Junior Bok squad named for U-20 world champs in Italy
Junior Springboks head coach Kevin Foote has included five players who will feature in their second World Rugby U-20 Championship in Italy, with lock Riley Norton retained as captain for the tournament from June 29 to July 19. Prop Phiwayinkosi Kubheka and flyhalf Ian van der Merwe have not played for the South Africa U-20s, while lock Jaco Grobbelaar, No 8 Stephanus Linde and outside back Jaco Williams are back in the squad after missing last month's U-20 Rugby Championship in Gqeberha. Kubheka played for the SA U-18s last year and Van der Merwe in 2023, while Linde toured with the Junior Boks in Georgia earlier this year before he picked up an injury that ruled him out of the Rugby Championship. Grobbelaar and Williams were involved with the United Rugby Championship squads for the Bulls and Sharks. Grobbelaar is one of the five players returning for a second World Rugby Championship stint, with utility forward Bathobele Hlekani, prop Herman Lubbe, loose forward Wandile Mlaba and scrumhalf Haashim Pead.
Daily Maverick
05-06-2025
- General
- Daily Maverick
Gauteng Social Development Department returns R102m to Treasury while NPOs await critical funding
Despite promises and paperwork, numerous Gauteng non-profit organisations are still waiting for vital funding from the provincial Department of Social Development, three months into the financial year. Homes for abused children, youth care centres, and disability support organisations say they're on the verge of collapse, with staff unpaid and children going without essentials. On a chilly winter morning in Gauteng, staff at a small community shelter unlock the doors with more uncertainty than hope. Food supplies are running low, electricity bills are piling up, and many caregivers haven't been paid in weeks. Still, they serve meals and provide critical care to the province's most vulnerable. But one question hangs over every effort: How much longer can they keep going? As of June, dozens of NGOs across Gauteng have gone three months without funding from the provincial Department of Social Development. This financial freeze threatens essential services that support thousands, including children, the elderly, abuse survivors, and people with disabilities. The Gauteng Care Crisis Committee said a closer look at just 11 affected NGOs revealed a grim reality: services for nearly 2,834 people were at risk. Among those hardest hit are Jacaranda Kinderhuis and Louis Botha Children's Home, two of Gauteng's largest child and youth care centres, together sheltering more than 250 children. Charlene Grobbelaar, the CEO of both facilities, said the consequences of the department's inaction were devastating. 'We have stopped all services except the basic needs. We cut down expenditure to the bone, using what little reserve funds we had. Those are now depleted. We have 122 staff and 300 children between the two centres. It's not just 122 individuals who are suffering, it's 122 families,' she said. Silence from the top Beyond the financial strain, organisations are also grappling with a frustrating lack of communication from the department. Despite submitting all required documentation on time, including compliance with new regulations like the J7 38 form (verifying staff are not listed on the sexual offenders register), the organisations have faced weeks of silence. 'Honestly, I hate to say it but this year, it's the truth: the system is failing our children. It's Child Protection Week, the irony of our government not protecting the most vulnerable… They're suffering the most. If you're not even paying the subsidy, how can you say you're protecting children? That's not fair,' she said. The emotional toll is evident. 'You can see it, people are stressed, on edge, running on fumes. Children pick up on everything. Everyone's trying their best, don't get me wrong, but I can see it in their faces. Our vision is to raise empowered enablers, but right now, no one feels empowered,' she said. Grobbelaar emphasised that their centres had met all obligations set out in their Service Level Agreement with the department. 'When you take a job, you and your employer sign a contract that sets expectations. That's what a Service Level Agreement is. We give 100%. We have a multidisciplinary team. We're professional, committed. Our service is good. I'm proud of it, we deliver real care,' she said. 'But here we are, not being paid. Tomorrow, the Auditor-General is coming and I have to ask: With what money were we supposed to care for these children over the past two months?' Delays undermine quality care for vulnerable children Sam Mokgopha from Kids Haven said delays had tangible impacts on service delivery. The organisation has capacity for 176 children across two campuses and employs 94 staff members. The children range in age from four to 18 years, though care can be extended to 21 for those who are still in school. 'Funding goes towards everything — food, transport for children, electricity, water, and salaries for staff including social workers. If there's no money, these basic needs go unmet. Operations get affected, and we can't deliver the quality care the children deserve,' he said. Mokgopha emphasised that many children's homes, especially those without financial reserves, were severely affected. 'Many NGOs are in crisis, and in places like Pretoria some still haven't received any payments at all,' he said. When asked about communication with the department, Mokgopha said there was always a mismatch between what the department communicated and what actually happened on the ground. 'Even when timelines are shared, payments are still delayed. The gap between policy and practice is wide,' he said. He was especially critical of the disconnect between public messaging and operational reality. 'It's ironic that the department speaks about working together to protect vulnerable children, yet delays in funding directly harm those very children. If we really believe in child protection, we must ensure the systems that support it are properly funded and functional,' he said. Mokgopha urged the full implementation of the Sector Funding Policy, a national framework that sets clear timelines for signing Service Level Agreements, disbursing funds, and reporting. He said that if the policy were properly followed, organisations would know exactly when to expect funding, removing the annual uncertainty and anxiety that peaked every April and May. Deliberate bureaucratic delays Lisa Vetten, the chairperson of the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee, criticised what she described as deliberate delays and chronic mismanagement by the department. 'This is the second year in a row they've returned unspent funds to the Treasury that were meant for NPOs. Last year, it was around R230-million. This year, it's R102-million. After all the protests and promises, especially the Premier's pledge to restore funding, this money still wasn't spent,' she said. Exacerbating the situation, Vetten said, was the fact that many organisations were still running on 2022/2023 budgets with no adjustments for inflation or cost of living. The department's insistence on compliance from NGOs stands in sharp contrast to its own conduct, with Vetten highlighting the department's failure to sign contracts, delayed payments, and the money that was returned to the Treasury. 'When provinces underspend, the Treasury allocates them less money the following year. So the Department of Social Development's failure to manage its funds properly could jeopardise future budgets, further threatening services to vulnerable groups,' she said. The delays are occurring during Child Protection Week, a time when the department has intensified messaging around safeguarding children. 'It's deeply concerning. Child and Youth Care Centres house children who have been removed from abusive situations by court order. They're wards of the state, the department has a legal responsibility to protect them. Yet delays in funding can result in inadequate food, reduced staff, and even relocation of children due to closure threats,' said Vetten. 'This constant movement, first from their families, then between Child and Youth Care Centres, undermines their ability to trust adults and form stable relationships. It's emotionally damaging. We need to start acknowledging administrative harm, harm that results from poor governance decisions like these,' she said. Calls for permanent leadership grow amid crisis Vetten traces some of the systemic breakdowns to leadership instability. The department still lacks a permanent head of department (HOD). 'This position has been acting for over a year. We need a qualified, experienced, service-oriented leader with management skills. Without that, dysfunction continues,' she said. Vetten also raised concerns about the lack of accountability for past controversies. 'There's been no public accounting for the infamous Service Level Agreement panels or the R70-million reportedly spent on an unused shelter. There are also reports about irregular payments to food banks and cooperatives. These issues have faded from public memory without proper investigation,' she said. Refiloe Nt'sekhe, a DA MPL in Gauteng, voiced concern over what she called a breakdown in the department's internal systems, describing a department caught off guard and scrambling, with restructuring and leadership gaps only worsening the delays. She highlighted the ongoing vacancy in the HOD role, calling it a major contributor to the department's dysfunction. 'Without permanent leadership, there's no accountability or coordination. If this was a well-oiled machine, timelines would've been met,' Nt'sekhe said. She added that experienced staff had been moved out of key positions without consultation, further destabilising operations. These shifts, she said, had had a direct impact on service delivery and budget execution. Of particular alarm to Nt'sekhe was the return of R102-million in unspent funds to the Treasury, money that should have gone to essential services like HIV/Aids programmes and dignity packs. 'The department says it's protecting children, but on the ground drop-in centres are underfunded, children are going hungry, and there are no real contingency plans. Three months of non-payment is too long. Vulnerable children are slipping through the cracks; it's heartbreaking,' she said. The department issued a media statement on 3 June stating that since the start of the financial year it had issued 1,640 Service Level Agreements, of which 1,424 had been signed and concluded. A remaining 216 were still outstanding, prompting the department to issue warning letters to the relevant NPOs, with a firm deadline set for the end of this week. The department has responded to media inquiries regarding unpaid NPOs, stating that while individual financial details cannot be shared publicly, affected organisations were urged to contact their respective regional offices or monitoring and evaluation officials for updates. DM
The Citizen
17-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Bulls hope to whitewash Dragons this weekend
The Bulls are aiming to keep last-placed Dragons off the scoreboard when the teams clash in their final URC league phase game. Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar says they wanted to keep Cardiff point-less last weekend and hope to do so to Dragons this weekend. Picture: Sydney Seshibedi/The Bulls are aiming for a whitewash victory against Dragons when the teams play in their last United Rugby Championship league phase match at Loftus on Saturday (kick-off 3pm). The Bulls also hoped to keep Cardiff off the scoreboard in their match last weekend. Though the Bulls won the game at Loftus with a bonus point, it wasn't the perfect win they hoped for when they fell asleep in defence at certain points and let the Welsh side score three tries (final score 45–21). But the Pretoria outfit will not go easy on bottom-placed Dragons, even though the Bulls only need a losing bonus point to guarantee a second-place finish on the URC log should Glasgow Warriors beat Leinster with a bonus point. Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar told media they will be striving for a perfect game and play without the fear of injury. Bulls have 'no room for errors' 'We wanted to give them (Cardiff) zero points on the board, same as this weekend [against Dragons],' Grobbelaar said. 'We were on track and then they got those three tries that didn't make any difference to the result or the log. But it is something we want to fix going into the playoffs. 'When we play those big matches, there won't be room for errors.' The Dragons have only won one match so far this season, beating Ospreys eight months ago in September. Still, Grobbelaar said there would be no complacency among Bulls players before and during the game. 'There's a lot of motivation. At this stage of the competition, you want to keep building. You want to be at your best. This week won't change much about the log, but it is good for building form and confidence. 'You don't want to wonder what is going on and what went wrong last weekend when you go into a quarter-final. We're going to have to be on top of our game against Dragons.' Touching on star flyhalf Johan Goosen picking up another knee injury last weekend, Grobbelaar said injuries were a reality but no one would be holding back for fear of picking one up.
IOL News
15-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Ticketing meltdown: Over 50,000 tickets sold for Nedbank Cup Final despite 49,000-seat limit
Moses Mabhida Stadium Image: Supplied Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ During the briefing, it was revealed that Moses Mabhida's capacity for the Nedbank Cup final will be 49,000. However, after hospitality and complimentary tickets were given out to the clubs and other stakeholders, 41,000 were available for general sale to the public. Stadium Management SA's Grobbelaar said Shoprite and Checkers retail outlets sold 4,956 tickets, Open Tickets sold 2,435, while 44,121 tickets were sold by Computicket, bringing the number of tickets sold to 51,512. As a result of tickets being oversold, all platforms ceased sales, and according to Grobbelaar, they then had to issue refunds. '10,510 tickets were paid for, but were over capacity, and those people had to be refunded.' He went on to add: 'There were no tickets issued than the capacity allows for.' PSL acting CEO Mato Madlala said they were immediately aware when the Open Tickets platform crashed, and immediately started looking for solutions. 'We then spoke to Computicket, and asked them to use their server so that people can purchase tickets,' said Madlala. However, due to Computicket and Open Tickets not communicating, they could not update the number of tickets sold, which led to more tickets than seats available being sold. Madlala concluded by saying she was happy that the ticketing issues had since been brought under control. IOL Sport
