Saffa – Page 2

WATCH: SA doctor singing to young patients in Ireland goes viral

A South African doctor has become bit of an online sensation in the United Kingdom since a video of him singing to a sick boy went viral. According to UTV in Northern Ireland, Dr Ryan Coetzee, who works in the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, can regularly be heard using the hospital's children's ward as his "stage". Coetzee reportedly became an online hit when he was filmed singing to a young patient. In the video, Coetzee sings in a loud, baritone voice: "Homegrown alligator, see you later, gotta hit the road, gotta hit the road..." https://youtu.be/RU8eRyj7los The song "Shotgun", originally by English singer-songwriter George Ezra, reportedly woke a young boy, Oscar McLaughlin, much to his joy. "In my head I was hearing someone singing George Ezra, then when I woke up it was actually Ryan," the 8-year-old Oscar told UTV. Oscar was admitted on Saturday and was reportedly quite ill, but felt better after he was woken by the singing doctor. On Wednesday, after checking u…

Home affairs insists an unabridged birth certificate is not needed for parents travelling with children, but apparently nobody told customs officials

The department of home affairs has reiterated that the requirement for an unabridged birth certificate for children travelling with their parents no longer applies, but the parents must still carry it anyway – in case customs officials ask to see it at ports of entry. This follows a huge outcry among travellers who claimed they were stopped at ports of entry by customs staff who demanded the unabridged certificate for their children, despite the announcement by the department it was no longer a requirement. The department of tourism recently said tourism supports about 1.5 million jobs directly and indirectly in SA. StatsSA figures for 2016 show the sector directly contributed 2.9% – or R125.1 billion – to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). When the initial requirements were first issued, Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom took issue with the home affairs decision, saying the move would kill tourism in SA and impede economic growth. Home affairs was forced to back off. …

Details of Irishman’s harrowing South African ordeal begin to emerge – Taking Lots of Cash to South Africa is a Bad Idea!

Stanley Currie, the 66-year-old Irishman who was reported missing in South Africa, has been found, disorientated and destitute, on the streets of Johannesburg. The search for Currie lasted ten days. Spearheaded on South African soil by the local Community Crime Watch organisation, and assisted by concerned family members back in Ireland, the extensive social media campaign aimed at locating Currie proved fruitful on 7 January. Looking for love on the wrong continent... Currie left Dublin on 28 December, bound for South Africa in search of a woman he’d been communicating with online for over two years. It’s this romance which proved to be Currie’s undoing. While it is not yet clear whether Currie made contact with the mystery woman, the Irishman’s brother Richard suspected that the meet up was all part of an elaborate scam, when first raising the alarm on Stanley’s disappearance. Richard explained: “On the 28th December Stanley boarded a flight to Johannesburg on a ‘one way’ …

Moving to the UK: The Unmarried Partner Visa – all you need to know

Many people assume that there is a separate type of visa application for the unmarried partner. However, this is not the case. If one fulfils the criteria to be an ‘unmarried partner,’ one would apply in the same way as the spouse or dependent of the main UK visa applicant. One can thus be the unmarried partner of an Ancestral visa applicant, a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa applicant, the unmarried partner of a British citizen, Tier 4 Student visa applicant, etc. The conditions and requirements of the visa of the unmarried partner would thus basically be determined by the immigration status or type of visa the main applicant is applying for. The unmarried partner thus has the same status as the spouse or civil partner of the main visa applicant. How to qualify as an unmarried partner To qualify as an unmarried partner, an applicant will need to prove that he/she has been living together with the partner, in a relationship akin to marriage for two years or more. You will also ne…

New visa rules good news for South Africans looking for work in the UK

The UK Home Office has announced that it will henceforth no longer include doctors and nurses in the cap on the Tier 2 Visa cap. This is according to immigration consultants Breytenbachs, which notes that every month, since December 2017, the monthly quota for the Tier 2 Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) was reached. “Many UK businesses that applied for Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) to employ non-EU workers were not able to obtain the CoS they require,” it said. “When a CoS is not issued, the employing company subsequently has to wait for the next monthly round of allocations of the Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship. Furthermore, it is not only a waiting game, but they have to lodge a new CoS application for consideration each month to be considered,” it said. “The implication was a growing shortage of staff at the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, as well as a negative impact on other sectors in the UK economy. Note, however, that cert…

SA wen 36ste keer goud op die Chelsea-blommeskou in Londen

Suid-Afrika het Dinsdag vir die 36ste keer goud op die Chelsea-blommeskou in Londen, Engeland, gewen. Die Kirstenbosch-nasionale botaniese tuin se bekroonde uitstalling op die Royal Horticultural Society se Chelsea-blommeskou is deur Leon Kluge ontwerp, sê die Suid-Afrikaanse Instituut vir Biodiversiteit (Sanbi) in ’n verklaring. Kluge sê dit was ’n ervaring soos min om Suid-Afrika daar te kon verteenwoordig. “Om ’n toekenning te ontvang, is ’n bonus. Ek en my span hoop ons het Suid-Afrika trots gemaak en dat ons baie mense hier in Europa oortuig het om ons pragtige land te besoek,” sê Kluge in die verklaring. Leon Kluge, tuinontwerper, by die Suid-Afrikaanse uitstalling met die tema “ikoniese landskappe” by die Chelsea-blommeskou in Londen, Engeland. Die Suid-Afrikaanse uitstalling het ’n goue medalje verower. Foto: Facebook Kluge het die leisels vanjaar by die ontwerpers David Davidson en Raymond Hudson oorgeneem wat die Suid-Afrikaanse uitstalling op die skou die afgelo…

SA plans to ease visa admin for holders of valid US, UK or Canadian visas

When it comes to making it easier for key markets to visit South Africa as well as concluding key travel business deals, the "proof is in the doing", says Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom. Speaking to Traveller24 over the weekend after Indaba 2018 took place in Durban, Hanekom says he remains positive about tourism's potential. “Indaba was really excellent, having spent four days there and meeting with eight African ministers and one deputy, it was packed with a good turnout.” In total 22 African countries were exhibited, with a total of 1 120 exhibitors representing “thousands of African products, along with 135 small businesses or hidden gems – who were incredibly enthusiastic to be on the same floor as the bigger businesses, says Hanekom. There were also an estimated 1 740 buyers at the event. “Between my many meetings, I covered most of the hidden gems and those in attendance were excited about being there, the networking opportunities as well as the marketing exposure…

South African thespian, Pieter-Dirk Uys performs in London this May and June

Since 1985 satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys has performed in London (mainly at the Tricycle Theatre, sometimes at the old Donmar Warehouse and now at the Soho Theatre) around twenty times with his one-man shows; sometimes with his plays. It’s a city that knows him well and he returns to London in June, this time without his usual armour of false eyelashes, extreme characters and their sketches which helped to deflect the poison arrows of government censorship and political correctness throughout the years of apartheid and even now in the present kleptocracy of the Rainbow Nation. Now in his 72nd year, he no longer glances back at the successes and failures that have strengthened his belief in a constant improvement of his work, but at those small signposts that throughout his life subconsciously have pointed him in a right and original direction – growing up in a white South Africa with his Afrikaner father and his German-Jewish mother, confronting diverse influences on him from gran…

SA rugbyspeler vir hoë Engelse toekening benoem

ʼn Speler wat vir Suid-Afrika se naasbestes uitgedraf het, voor hy sy rugbyheil in Engeland gaan soek het, is vir ʼn hoë Engelse toekenning benoem. Ruan Ackermann (22), die seun van die Springbok Johann Ackermann, is een van vyf spelers op die lys waaruit die toekenning vir die Premierliga se vonds van die jaar gedoen sal word. Hy speel vir die klub Gloucester, wat deur sy pa afgerig word. Ackermann jr., wat deur sommige as ʼn toekomstige Engelse toetsspeler beskou word, is glo een van die gunstelinge om die toekenning te wen. Hy het reeds vier wedstryde vir die Barbarians gespeel – onder meer teen die Springbokke (2016) en die All Blacks (2017) – en het verlede jaar twee wedstryde vir Suid-Afrika A gespeel.

South Africans and the National Insurance Number

South Africans who are relocating to the United Kingdom sometimes get strangled in the paperwork and red-tape involved with their relocation. One of the topics on which the consultants at Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants often get questions is the National Insurance Number. We have compiled a short article for South Africans relocating to the UK, on the issue of the National Insurance number. The National Insurance Number The National Insurance (NI) number is unique for every person. You will keep your NI number for life, and the number will only be used for one person. It consists of numbers and letters and is allocated by the Department for Works and Pensions. The NI number is used by the HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Works and Pensions to identify persons. The number also ensures that NI and tax contributions are recorded against the record of the correct person and that the correct amount of tax and NI are paid by every person. The National Insur…