QUOTE

MEDIA RELEASE

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULING ON OVERSEAS VOTING

The Constitutional Court this morning delivered judgements in various cases concerning voting by citizens finding themselves outside the country on Election Day.

As we understand, the outcome can be summarised as follows:

1. All South Africans, registered on the voters’ roll, who will be outside the country on Election Day and therefore unable to vote at the voting stations where they are registered, will be able to vote by special vote. They will be able to vote by special vote on 15 April 2009 at any South African Embassy, High Commission or Consulate outside South Africa.

2. These voters must notify the Chief Electoral Officer on or before 27 March 2009 of their intention to do so and at the same time indicate at which Embassy, High Commission or Consulate they want to vote on 15 April 2009.

3. South Africans who will be outside the country on 22 April, but want to vote at their voting station on 20 or 21 April 2009 must notify the Chief Electoral Officer on or before 27 March 2009 of their intention to do so. They will vote at the office of the Presiding Officer which will be located at or near their voting station.

The Electoral Commission is satisfied that it will be able to manage the extended special voting process successfully. The fact that only registered voters will be able to utilise the 15-day period of application for special votes as decided by the Court is within the IEC’s operational ability. We appeal to all South Africans affected by this ruling to immediately utilise this opportunity to notify the Chief Electoral Officer of their intention to vote.

For more information including the downloading of the necessary forms (VEC10), please visit the IEC website on www.elections.org.za. The completed VEC10 forms should be e-mailed to vec10@elections.org.za by 27 March 2009 or faxed to +27 12 428-5566 / +27 12 428-5279 or mailed to Attention: Chief Electoral Officer, Electoral Commission, P O Box 7943, Pretoria, 0001 or hand delivered to Attention: Chief Electoral Officer, Election House, 260 Walker Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria.

ISSUED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Pretoria
12 March 2009

For media enquiries please contact Kate Bapela on +27 82 600 6386

END QUOTE

Please take note of the following information regarding the the upco
ming election and special voting abroad:

Contact information of the IEC:
E-mail : iec@elections.org.za
Website : www.elections.org.za

Further information will be distributed in due course.

I would like to recommend her to a family looking to employ an ayi.

ShuiQin is hard working, reliable, honest, loyal, respectful, experienced and caring. She takes care of all the household chores like cleaning, cooking, laundry, ironing and shopping efficiently. ShuiQin can cook both Western and Chinese dishes, and she also bakes well. She has supervised repair people, shopped frugally, and effected two apartment moves on her own.

ShuiQin has taken excellent care of my old dog, Jessica, who has never complained about being left with her when I have been away on vacation. She even took Jessica to the vet on her own when an emergency arose over the Christmas vacation.

ShuiQin also has experience of taking care of children. One previous employer had a four month old infant, and another employer had a five year old son.

ShuiQin speaks, reads and writes reasonably good English. Just remember to speak slowly. She’s very adept at using a bilingual dictionary.

ShuiQin would like to work in the Pudong area.

ShuiQin is my friend, and the family for whom she works will be blessed to have her in their home. I cannot recommend her highly enough. She has been part of my family for the past year and a half, and I would like to find her a loving, caring family before I leave Shanghai. Please send an e-mail to rene.woodhouse@yahoo.com or phone me on +86-135-0189-3742 if you would like more information or would like to schedule an interview with ShuiQin.

2. Take the Metro Challenge
Visit each one of Shanghai’s 147 metro stations and transverse the far corners of the city on its 9 metro lines. Beat the current time of 10 hours 14 minutes and 42 seconds to set a new record

3. Visit the Ice Festival in Haerbin
Ever wanted to experience life in a freezer for a few days, visit Haerbin for some of the world’s best ice sculptures and a taste of Russian influence in China

4. Highest cocktail bar in the world
Skip the snaking sight-seeing queues up the WFC – the planet’s 3rd highest building and opt for the luxury of the 91st floor cocktail bar instead

5. A Naked Weekend in Moganshan
Experience boutique villas in a hidden bamboo-fronded valley far from Shanghai’s madden crowds. With its South African connection, Naked Retreats is more than a home away from home.

6. Countryside Mountain Biking
There is never a better way to get out of the city than on a Bodhi mountain bike. For well organised biking and hiking excursions and a chance to breathe some fresh country air, you can’t go wrong

7. Skiing in Shanghai
In case there is no repeat of last year’s Spring Festival Snow Storm, visit Shanghai’s indoor 380m ski slope to brush up on your snowboarding and skiing skills.

8. Go Fly a Kite
Buy your eagle-look alike kite in the Yu Gardens and head over to one of Shanghai’s two largest parks – Gonqing Forest Park in Puxi and Binjiang Forest Park in Pudong - for wide open grassy spaces and the perfect place to fly a kite

9. Climb a Bridge
So it is not quite the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but the LuPu bridge is a lot cheaper to climb and is the world’s longest steel arch bridge spanning 550 meters.

10. An Acrobatic Era
Be spell bound and have your heart stopped by Shanghai’s best acrobatic show. It’s great choreography and fantastic stunts make for an enjoyable night out

11. Run the Great Wall Marathon
What better way to experience the Great Wall than devoid of tour groups and trinket sellers than to run a marathon on it with another couple of thousand crazy runners.

• You would like to find out more about various social events
• You would like to join the committee
• You have comments, content and photos to submit to the website
• You are new to Shanghai or considering moving to Shanghai and looking for advice

You can use the comment function below to submit an inquiry to the team

Keep well,

Julian, Paul and Sue

About

SA Ladies is the community for South African women in Shanghai.

SA Ladies monthy luncheon…we eat, drink and “skinner” our way through lunch as we meet new and old SA friends in an effort to establish closer and stronger SA relationships here in Shanghai. All SA nationals welcome…or those who lived in SA for a time, or those married to South Africans (basically if you like South Africa you are invited to lunch!!) We meet alternatively in Pudong and Puxi…but hope that each “group” will happily make the “great trek” to the “other side”!

Please e-mail the Shanghai Shosholoza team if you are keen to arrange the next get together.

If you are interested to suggest a social event or would like to assist on the organisational side, please contact us with your ideas.

Shosholoza Monthly Mixer

Venue: The Spot Bar
Address: 331 Tongren Lu, Puxi near Beijing Xi Lu ( 铜仁路331号,近北京西路 )
Phone Number: 62473579
Date: Last Thursday of each month
Time: From 6:30 pm

PAST EVENTS

• South African Ball (3 November 2007)
• Christmas Party (25 December 2007)
• Comrades Braai (16 June 2007)

Ev

Here are some great information sources to familiarize yourself with some of the main aspects of living in Shanghai. If you have any other interesting website suggestions and categories to add, please submit us your input in the comment box at the bottom of the page.

‘Local is Lekker’ so make sure you support local South Africans in China (marked with *)

South African Food and Drink

• South African Wine: www.winelink.com.cn/en
• South African Wine: jimlai(at)netvigator(dot)com (Click here for specials)
• Bokomo Cereals: David Zhang (Click here for specials and contact details)
• Rooibos Tea: clara(dot)liu(at)gmail(dot)com

Food and Drink

• Shanghai Eats: www.shanghai-eats.com
• How to Order Chinese Food: www.howtoorderchinesefood.com
• Take Away Service: www.sherpa.com.cn

Chinese News

• Shanghai Daily: www.shanghaidaily.com
• China Daily: www.chinadaily.com.cn
• SINA English: www.english.sina.com

Expat Services

• That’s Shanghai www.shanghai.asiaxpat.com
• City Weekend: www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai
• Shanghai Expat: www.shanghaiexpat.com
• Craigs List Shanghai: www.shanghai.craigslist.com.cn

Life in Shanghai

• Smart Shanghai Events: www.smartshanghai.com
• Shanghai Cultural Information: www.culture.sh.cn/english
• Shanghai Weather: www.wunderground.com/global/stations/58362.html
• Shanghai Air Pollution Index: www.mep.gov.cn/quality/air.php3
• Shanghai Best of the Best: www.best-shanghai.com

Travel:

• *South African Travel Agent in Shanghai: Susan(dot)Mcilroy(at)cn(dot)fcm(dot)travel
• Bohdi Mountain Biking: www.bohdi.com.cn
• *Naked Retreats Moganshan: www.nakedretreats.cn
• Shanghai Bus Sightseeing Centre: www.lyw.sh.gov.cn/en/bus_center
• Ctrip Online Travel Bookings: www.english.ctrip.com

Gifts:

• *Jewellery: Michelle Andrychuk www.fifthavenuecollection.com/michelle
• Protea Flowers: Celina Zheng protea(at)china(dot)com

Blogs:

• Shanghaiist: www.shanghaiist.com
• *Danwei: www.danwei.org
• *Julian Hewitt: www.julianhewitt.com
• *Old World Wandering: www.oldworldwandering.com

Business Services:

• South Africa China Business Association: www.sacba.com.cn
• Asia Pacific South Africa Chamber of Commerce: www.apsacc.org
• The Beijing Axis: www.thebeijingaxis.com

Spiritual:

• Shanghai Community Fellowship Church (Puxi) www.scfenglish.com
• Abundant Grace Church (Pudong): www.agifpudong.org

Studying Mandarin

• Jiao Tong University: www.sie.sjtu.edu.cn/page/en-page
• Fudan University: www.fudan.edu.cn/englishnew/about
• Mandarin House: www.mandarinhouse.cn
• Chinese Pod: www.chinesepod.com

South African Consulate-General:

The Bund Centre

222 Yan An Road East

27th Floor

Room 2705/6

Shanghai 200002

China

Tel: + 86 21 5359 4977

Fax: + 86 21 6335 2810 (Political)

Fax: + 86 21 6335 2980 (Admin)

Fax: + 86 21 6335 0930 (Immigration)

Fax: + 86 21 6335 2820 (Trade)

Consul-General - Mr V M Khumalo

Consul (Economic) - W Williams (Ms)

SAS Spioenkop

8 Photos

Great Wall Marathon

12 Photos

South Africa Shanghai Week Apr 08

20 Photos

2007 Photo Gallery

Shanghai SA Ball 2007

6 Photos

SA Ladies

6 Photos

Shosholoza Shanghai Socials 2007

11 Photos

The overriding aim of Shosholoza Shanghai is to establish a strong sense of community in the city and in this light the events that we organise are aimed at both families and individuals.

While Shosholoza Shanghai is largely a South African-based network, we also extend an invitation for all our events to fellow Southern Africans living in the city.

Monthly Mixers 2010

• Shosholoza Shanghai Monthly Mixer, 28th January
• Shosholoza Shanghai Monthly Mixer, 25th February
• Shosholoza Shanghai Monthly Mixer, 25th March

Venue: The Spot Bar
Address: 331 Tongren Lu, Puxi near Beijing Xi Lu ( 铜仁路331号,近北京西路 )
Phone Number: 62473579
Time: From 6:30 pm

Shanghai Shosholoza Mission:

• To maintain a Southern African expatriate community watering hole in Shanghai!
• To bring Southern Africans and their families living in Shanghai together for social events and business networking.
• To assist new Southern Africans visiting/working in Shanghai with networking and meeting of friends and colleagues.
• To operate as a non-profit organization, with all profits from social events being donated to worthy, registered charities.
• To promote Southern Africa in China