Hello Muizenberg Podcast

Muizenberg Beach is a world famous as a blue flag beach and beginner surfers paradise. It's a family beach and draws huge crowds on public holidays and surfers throughout the year. It's an alcohol free zone yet hundreds of people try to smuggle huge quantities of liquor past the law enforcement agencies on these holidays. This creates massive problems of drunkenness, drownings and various forms of alcohol related crime. This past festive season the community of Muizenberg decided enough was enough and joined all the various law enforcement agencies and neighbourhood watches to try put a stop to the problem. We had an amazingly successful season with more than 1000 units of alcohol being confiscated just on New Years day.Despite these successes alcohol was still being purchased after the confiscation from local liquor outlets and making its way on to the beach. Catherine Dillon of the Muizenberg/Lakeside Ratepayers Association was tasked with finding a solution. Joined with Dr John Cartwright on this podcast

What is gentrification and how is this global phenomenon affecting our local community in Muizenberg? In this episode we chat about our Muizenberg water task team and developments taking place specifically in identifying people at risk who would need water if Day Zero arrives. We also chat to Etienne who is from France, about the worldwide phenomenon of gentrification and its impact on Muizenberg. With the renewal and rejuvenation of a suburb property prices and rentals skyrocket forcing out residents who don't have the means to pay higher prices. This marginalisation pushes people to the fringes of a community. Unfortunately it's a fact of life but we look at ways to stop the break up of a community through prosperity and renewal.We also take a look at some of the political changes that have taken place over the last week and discuss how it affects us at a local level.

This week we have regular Whats Happening in the hood and water task team update with Fergus Turner and then we get an update from Kevin Rack about another potential plastics disaster. With the water crisis we are experiencing and the kindheartedness of people from around South Africa, we are having an influx of millions of plastic bottles. This is potentially another massive disaster as there is a great possibility that hundreds of thousands of these will reach our water canals and vleis. Kevin discusses this issue and tries to come up with solutions.We also chat with Kaylee Benkenstein a young architect who shares her experiences about moving from Gauteng to Muizenberg and how our local community impacted.Finally Wayne gives an update on public safety happenings in the hood.

In this episode we have a regular update as to what is happening in Muizenberg at the beginning of the show. Then we chat with an interesting lady who has just moved into an entrepreneirual space at the Hive. Her venture is called the Little Red Bike and she provides quality vegan food to the community. Perhaps not my style of cooking, but, she gives an interesting take on what veganism is all about.We also interview a trio of volunteers, two from Holland and one from Japan, about the Knowledge to Share Foundation. They're in South Africa to help train entrepreneurs in all aspects of business in order to make them successful small business owners.There is also an update on the water task team from our community talking about how we in Muizenberg are going to deal with the issues arising from the crisis e.g. how will the vulnerable get their water after day zero.

In this episode we meet Claire, Serge and Andile and hear their story that takes us from Muizenberg to Masiphumulele and from Hip Hop to graffiti. In 2014 they had the idea of creating a mobile studio out of a refrigeration container. Four years later, situated in the suburb of Masi, we find a creative space that is being used as a small business and a creative space for community collaboration. They also chat about Hip Hop and how it influences their creativity in both art and music. We end the podcast with a track of hip hop music created by Andile in his shipping container studio.

In this episode we chat to an intern from Boston, Massachusetts in the USA and he shares some of his journey to the village of Muizenberg. Many people don't realise that the diversity of Muizenberg includes many foreign volunteers and interns who serve the people in our community.We have an update on the water crisis and plans to get the community more involved in taking control of the water shortages.Then finally we chat to Darren who has just moved his coffee business to a space within the Hive. He share some interesting coffee facts.

Although the title of this episode may sound ominously dramatic it highlights the major problem we have in Muizenberg along our beautiful waterfronts at the beach and vlei.we chat with Kevin Rack and Calvin two plastic activists who highlight the problem of styrofoam and degraded plastics at the beach and vlei. Although the problem may seem huge and past the tipping point, there is always something we can do. So we encourage you to get involved at whatever level you are able to. Let's be a part of the solution and not the problem.

In this episode we chat with Abongile a member of the Vrygrond community, and originally from the Eastern Cape, who joined the Brazilian team on a weekend away of getting back to nature in the Cape Point Nature Reserve. We take for granted many things that people from different communities have never experienced. He dived into the icy ocean clothes and all. This was a first time experience for him. He was amazed by the "dogs" he saw swimming in the sea that didn't have regular feet, The first time he saw seals.We also chat about the water crisis and how communities need to collaborate to make it through the potential post "Day Zero" crisis.Fergus also updates us on some of the events happening in the community of Muizenberg.

In this episode we chat to a group of Brazilian girls who have come to experience the community of Muizenberg and learn how the projects and community building works. We chat with a few of the young ladies about their experiences here in Muizenberg and what they are taking back with them to Sao Paulo in Brazil. The facilitator of the group, is Roberta who spent a year here in Muizenberg back in 2015. She loved the experience so much she now is bringing teams to Muizenberg to learn and experience community building. One of the common experiences they've had is that people talk to each other.

In this episode we chat to Director for Policing and Law Enforcement for the City of Cape Town about how the city works for you and IF the city works for you. We ask some big questions and get some honest answers. Robbie Robberts is a former major general from the SA Police Services who took on this role 2 years ago. What impressed us with the interview is that he is so committed to working with communities that he has given his personal mobile number for people to contact him with concerns.We get a better understanding of the integrated approach to public safety and policing and who is responsible for what. This comes on the back of a successful festive season where community participated in ensuring their own safety in a combined effort with law enforcement.

In this edition we have two guests. Etienne, who comes from France and lives near to the French Alps and a return guest Ma Yoli. Etienne first heard about Muizenberg through listening to the Hello Muizenberg podcast in his hometown in France. This lead to him joining the team at the Hive as a intern for the next 6 months in order to learn how the Muizenberg community works. He graduated from university in Geography and Urban Planning. Ma Yoli reports back about the Urban Resilience Initiative of which she is a part as well another initiative called Masekane.Fergus gives an update about what is happening over the next week in our village.

Muizenberg is an exciting community to be a part of with diverse cultures, backgrounds and nationalities. One of the most interesting aspects of our community is volunteering. We have NGOs that specialise in it doing a great job. But, the most exciting part of this is the way in which members of the community volunteer through neighbour watches, ratepayers associations and Muizenberg Improvement District. Over this past festive season we've seen a rise in people getting involved from across the greater Muizenberg area. So looking into the future we only see good things happening. If you're interested in getting involved speak to Fergus, Wayne or contact a local organisation and offer your help.In this podcast Wayne and Fergus discuss the subject and include a special guest, Johan, who volunteers with local organisations.

In this episode we chat to father and daughter team, Tegan and Stuart Phillips, who cycled from Cape Town through Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Namibia with their family. They share their experiences of life on the road with only bicycles on an adventure tour. The nine month adventure tour is an epic story of family fun and constant challenges.

In today's episode we chat with Kevin Rack an environmental activist who is helping our community make a significant impact in the war on plastic. We are in an plastic environmental crisis. Kevin shares one of his recent victories in the Zandvlei area. We also chat with roleplayers from across our community who are making an impact in the spheres of influence.In our Buzz in the Berg update we chat about events and initiatives taking place now and coming up in the near future.Don't forget to check out the art exhibition at the Hive for some amazing exhibits.

In this episode we are live at the Hive again in Palmer Road catching up with whats happening in the hood. Fergus Turner introduces us to two Dutch interns who are passionate about Muizenberg. They've been here for 5 months serving our community and doing an internship for their Communications degrees. We also hear about an amazing exhibition headed by top South African cartoonist Andy Mason called Beach and Berg featuring 25 artists. We catch up on events happening in Muizenberg as well.

In episode two we chat with two legends from the world of theatre in the south, Celia Musikanth and Colleen van Staden about acting now and acting then. Way back in the day when the Masque Theatre was young these two ladies were among the pioneers of amateur drama in the south. They talk about some of the great memories from the past together with some of the exciting plans for the future. We also chat with one their team from Actor for a Day, Wayne, who is part of the up and coming generation of actors.

This is the very first edition of the Hello Muizenberg Podcast where we chat with role players in the greater Muizenberg area about issues affecting the people of our community. In this edition we talk to Fergus Turner one of the driving forces behind the Hive and the Muizenberg Festival. We also chat to Ma Yoli a lady who is building bridges between communities through the Urban Resilience Initiative.