Author: AdminBallitoPro

Wouldn’t it be rad if the oceans emitted Wi-Fi? Unfortunately it only releases oxygen; should we care? Over half of our oxygen comes from the ocean and if the ocean goes, we do too. Frighteningly, pieces of micro plastics in the oceans (pieces smaller than 5mm) now outnumber the estimated 250 billion stars in our galaxy and at the present rate there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.

Working hard to not only keep plastic out of the ocean but also educate people about recycling and creating jobs, the Litter4Tokens campaign builds pride and respect for the environment through recycling in several of our communities including KwaDukuza, Port Elizabeth, East London, Richards Bay, Mpumalanga and Estcourt, resulting in less plastic litter making its way into our rivers and oceans.

The concept is quite simple: people collect as many bags of litter as they can in exchange for tokens with which they “buy” food, clothes and other non-perishable essentials at the token shop. No money exchanges hands. One full bag equals one token and the bags are supplied free of charge by PETCO – Plastic Recycling South Africa. The plastic waste is sent to Dolphin Coast Waste Management for recycling and the rebate paid to Litter4Tokens is used to buy goods for the token shop. US Dollar based donations received from international partner, Seahugger makes a big dent in the running cost of the campaign yet, the rate of return is five to one and founder Clare Swithenbank- Bowman and her team of volunteers are calling on retailers to come onboard and donate dry food, clothes and stationery. “Umhlali Preparatory School and Ashton International College have been amazing in collecting food donations and recyclables, with the money generated paid to Litter4Tokens to help fund the Shaka’s Head token shop,” says Clare, who also welcomes private donations.

As funding increases Litter4Tokens will introduce the Icon LifeSaver portable water purification system to the campaign to also stock the token shops with clean, drinkable water – a scarce commodity in some rural areas. This genius device turns dirty water from rivers, lakes and puddles into clean drinking water, which is literally a lifesaver in areas where people collect water from the river in buckets. This part of the Litter4Tokens campaign is still in its infancy and Swithenbank-Bowman is looking for sponsorships to supply the various token shops with larger scale Icon Lifesaver water purification systems that are big enough to supply small communities with water that is safe to drink.

Introducing Mermaid Tears

On October 24, 2017 Durban’s eyes were opened to the global threat nurdles pose to our oceans when a freak storm resulted in two billion nurdles* spilling into the Durban harbour and quickly spread along the entire KZN coastline. In association with the World Nurdle Association, Litter4Tokens has developed and will introduce the Mermaid Tear Catcher at the Ballito Pro, presented by O’Neill. This innovative round Frisbee-like disk is designed to sift through sand and collect nurdles (also called mermaid tears) and doubles as a frisbee, making it both educational and fun. Litter4 Tokens ambassadors Jordy Smith (Championship Tour contender) Grant “Twiggy” Baker (three time Big Wave world champion) Gabi Lailvaux (influential South African junior surfer).

*Nurdle: a very small pellet of plastic that serves as raw material in the manufacturing of plastic goods.

The inaugural Ballito O’Neill SMTH Shapes Pro Junior kicked off the surfing action in this year’s Ballito Pro Festival on Friday with the Men’s and Women’s World Surf League (WSL) Africa Qualifying Series (QS) 1,000 rated events.

Big, unruly conditions with 1.5 – 2 metre waves and onshore winds provided challenging conditions, resulting in low-scoring heats.

In the Men’s JQS 1000, Tide-Lee Ireland (Durban) didn’t allow Mother Nature to steal his thunder, bagging the highest heat score of the day with 15.25 out of 20. Ireland scored an excellent 8.50 and secured the win with a second ride that earned 6.75 from the judges.

Advancing alongside the Durbanite was Frenchman Justin Becret, who showed his small wave prowess with a strong performance in his opening heat of the event.

Ireland will face a confident Eli Beukes (Kommetjie) in the Quarterfinals, with Beukes having won two JQS events in South Africa this year.

Germany’s Lenni Jensen continued his successful campaign in South African waters by winning his heat ahead of Daniel Emslie (East London), sending Aya Gericke (Wilderness) and Brad Scott (Kommetjie) home.

The current WSL Africa Junior rankings leader, Luke Slijpen (Llandudno) will be up in the first Quarterfinal heat on Saturday and will hope to keep his number 1 spot in the rankings, with Beukes and Luke Thompson (Durban) hot on his heels.

The competitors in the Women’s JQS 1,000 had a tough day at the office, with the highest heat total going to East London goofy-footer, Zoë Steyn. Steyn, the defending event champion, will take the provisional lead on the WSL Africa Junior Women’s rankings after Ceara Knight (Kommetjie) suffered an early loss at the hands of Australia’s Pacha Luque-Light and Rachel Presti (GER).

The inaugural Ballito O’Neill SMTH Shapes Pro Junior Men’s and Women’s winners will be crowned tomorrow, Saturday 29 June and the results will determine the 2019 WSL Africa Junior Series champions and the four men and two women who will represent the region at the WSL World Junior Championships in Taiwan later this year

Alongside the surfing, visitors will be spoiled for choice with non-stop activities providing even more entertainment throughout the Ballito festival site. South Africa’s hottest musical acts appealing to all tastes – rock, pop, hip hop, kwaito, electro and dance – will be performing live on Salt Rock Beach over the last weekend. Beach and extreme sports, culinary contests as well as quality retail and food stalls will captivate visitors to this coastal holiday highlight. 

With unity and transformation at the heart of the Ballito Pro presented by O’Neill former pro surfer Pierre Tostee connected with Sal Masekela, to share and unlock his vision and purpose for life, through his African Surf Adventure.

What is your mission and your ‘message’ in life?

My mission is to squeeze as much joy out of this life as is humanly possible. I don’t necessarily have a codified ‘message’ but I’d say that I try to stay rooted in being open to learning about and accepting the incredible differences in the various cultures that make us human beings. It’d be such a boring existence if we were all the same.

As an ambassador for the Ballito Pro presented by O’Neill you will be connecting with the world’s best surfers and then immersing yourself into the local culture and heritage in the heart of KwaDukuza and Zululand. You will also be inspiring young surfers from the iLembe surfing Association, Ubuntu Surf Club and Surfers not Street Children. What would you want to take away from this rich and diverse experience and what would you want to leave behind?

I’m just excited to get to spend an extended amount of time surfing with African children. Growing up, I could and can still count on one hand the experiences I’ve had surfing with people that look like me. When I first surfed in Durban in 1991, I saw no African surfers and was given a very difficult time by the police for even surfing. To see now, all these kids ripping in Durban and across the country and doing so with distinct African flair…I really look forward to being in that energy.

What are you most passionate about now, at this time of your life, and why?

I’m most passionate about my family and upholding my father’s legacy as well as continuing to have opportunities to tell important stories that hopefully connect us together as human beings.

What is currently fueling your passion and purpose in life?

The loss of my father has sharpened the lens of what I want the rest of my life to be and not take any of it for granted.

Your career to date is well documented. What does the season ahead hold for Sal Masekela with regards to your dreams and desires?

Besides, hopefully surfing some great waves in South Africa, Fiji and Indonesia this season, I’m looking forward to getting back in the studio and completing a third ALEKESAM album.

What is it that you love about South Africa and why?

I love South Africa’s incredible cultural diversity, the melding of traditional and modern music, it’s dance, it’s broad landscape; but most of all I love the relentless passion, spirit and resilience of its people despite the enormous social and economic challenges they are still faced with to this day.

While the world’s best surfers will be in action at the Ballito Pro presented by O’Neill (June 27 – July 7), development, unity and transformation remain at the heart of the world’s longest running professional surfing event in KwaDukuza. The Ballito Pro will once again show its support for community-based surf development programmes when Sea Harvest together with Surfing South Africa and the KwaDukuza Municipality will be hosting a Development Surf Day on Sunday, 7 July, to celebrate the journey of transformation in this sport.

Young surfers from KZN’s iLembe Surf Riders, Ubuntu Learn to Surf and Swim Club, Sisonke Surf Club and Surfers Not Street Children (SNSC) will take to the waves in a fun tag team event.

The young surfers will have the privilege of surfing with event ambassador and surfer, Sal Masekela, an internationally acclaimed action sports presenter. The son of South African jazz legend, Hugh Masekela, Sal is the founder of Stoked Mentoring, a non-profit organisation which uses action sports to empower children from underprivileged communities in the USA.

“Transformation and development of the sport of surfing  has always been the cornerstone for the KwaDukuza Municipality as the License Holders and hosts of the Ballito Pro Presented by O’Neill International Surf and Lifestyle event,” said Event Coordinator, Collette Bundy. “We are steadfast in our efforts to continue with our task to create social and economic opportunities for our people through the Ballito Pro event which is a unique nation building platform and a catalyst for introducing this sport to our rural communities,” she added.

This year, Surfers Not Street Children founder Tom Hewitt MBE and his team will be sharing their mentoring experiences of the past 21 years with the other clubs as part of the evolution of the Ballito Pro’s heart for surfing development. “We are really excited about the development surfing contest and competing with the other clubs. We are huge fans of Sal Masekela and looking forward to an incredible week,” said Tom Hewitt.

As part of the KwaDukuza Municipality’s commitment to uplift local communities, during the Ballito Pro Programme, there will be an opening of the community swimming pool at Shaka’s Head on Sunday, 30 June by Sal Masekela, the Mayor and Council of KwaDukuza Municipality.

As a celebration of the beautiful KwaDukuza region, the Ballito Pro presented by O’Neill constantly seeks ways to ensure the sustainability of the natural resources that make this such a popular festival location. For the 2019 edition, taking place from 27 June to 7 July, the Ballito Pro is bringing in the Save the Waves campaign – Litter4Tokens project – and welcomes the rescue team from Snakes in the City.

“The Ballito Pro, KwaDukuza and O’Neill brands are very much aligned in their vision for a completely sustainable festival that not only reduces its footprint but also educates the public about ways to protect our valuable and vulnerable resources,” explained Collette Bundy, festival event organiser. “This year we will be focusing on reducing litter, improving ocean health and the protection of wildlife species through our education and awareness campaigns.”

Save the Waves – Litter4Tokens

This active recycling campaign, started in 2015 in KwaDukuza by Clare Swithenbank-Bowman, rewards bags of recycling brought in by community members with tokens. These can be exchanged for a variety of dry goods at token shops within the partnered schools and communities across KwaDukuza.

“Litter4Tokens aims to create jobs, feed the nation, and instil pride by cleaning up the environment and raising awareness about the devastation of plastics,” explained Swithenbank-Bowman. “Working with the surfing world plays a huge part in our mission as the ocean is ultimately where all the plastic ends up.”

In addition to the environmental considerations, the campaign has assisted a number of community members. One example is 59-year-old Victoria, a grandmother from Shakas Head in KwaDukuza who supports five children. Through the Litter4Tokens campaign, she is able to collect 20 to 25 bags of recycling a week which assists her in buying food and clothing.

At this year’s Ballito Pro, Litter4Tokens – which has partnered with O’Neill – will launch the first-ever ‘Mermaid Tear Catcher’ with prizes for those who collect the most mermaid tears – or plastic nurdles as they’re known. These are small plastic pellets which are having a devastating effect on the delicate marine ecosystem. Each Mermaid Tear Catcher has a unique code which is collected and this valuable data shared with the World Global Nurdle Foundation. Litter4Tokens will also be on site, engaging with holidaymakers and sharing information about their work.

Litter4Tokens relies on business funding to sustain and grow this campaign nationally as the communities are picking up the retailers’ recycling and closing the circle #circulareconomy #savethewaves. Any retailer interested in partnering to Save the Waves and feed the nation can get involved by contacting Clare at clare@litter4tokens.co.za.

Snake City Stars on Site

As part of their South African Tour this winter, Simon Keys and Siouxsie Gillett – stars of Snake City as seen on Nat Geo WILD – will be hosting a meet-and-greet at this year’s Ballito Pro festival, giving the public a chance to view two incredible pythons.

On Thursday, 4 and Friday, 5 July, Simon and Siouxsie will be at the pop-up activation stand at the Retail Area, signing autographs and having pictures taken with fans. Visitors will get to meet the dynamic stars of this reality-driven snake-catching series filmed in KwaZulu-Natal for a global audience on Nat Geo WILD. Snake City season 6 is currently in production and will be shown in 177 countries later this year.

Passionate about the welfare of snakes, Simon and Siouxsie travel vast distances to assist in their safe removals. Commenting on their importance, Siouxsie explained: “’Without snakes, we will see an increase in rodent population, which will mean an increase in rodent diseases passed to humans. This means more damage to food crops and escalating food prices to cover losses. Snakes are vital to the planet!”

Some interesting facts about the importance of snakes:

· Without snakes the rodent population will increase. A pair of rats can have a million offspring in just a year and a half.
· Rats and mice spread more than 50 diseases to humans.
· Rodents carry infectious parasites such as tick-borne Lyme disease.
· Rodents can infect pets and livestock.
· A single rattlesnake eats approximately 2 500 to 4 500 ticks a year by eating rodents.
· Rodents are one of the major causes of crop destruction and electrical system damage worldwide.
· Toxins found in snake venom have shown promise in treating chronic pain, heart disease, cancer, bloody clots, type 2 diabetes and more.

Other exciting festival events include:
· Sal Masekela African Surf Adventure Driven by SMG Rocks and Hosted by Coco de Mer
· The Ballito Pro Music Concerts presented by 5FM
· After Dark Parties – hosted by Crush Ballito
· Ballito Pro Food presented by Ballito Junction Regional Mall
· Extreme Sports – adrenaline-fuelled Monster activations
· Daily Beach Action
· Retail Area
· Kids’ Corner
· South African surfboard shapers

If you’re looking for an experience that #feelslikefreedom, get to the Ballito Pro presented by O’Neill!

• Marine conservation presentation by SA Endurance Swimmer, Sarah Ferguson at 4pm daily.
• Young Entrepreneurs Market to showcase products and market businesses, all stands free of charge!
• Green Living Market selling eco-friendly products and creating public awareness about sustainability.
• Eco Brick Making teaching children to recycle with bricks donated to North Coast Agricultural College.
• Recycling Craft Area with fun and exciting crafts made from recyclable materials.
• Games Area with giant garden games for the family.
• Face painting for all ages!
• Music by the KwaZulu Marimba Band.
• Entertainment in the form of fire dancers, flash mobs, carnival events and ‘Off the Runway’ with Miss Ballito.
• SMG Mini Rocks Adventure Zone
• Pop Up Restaurants for all tastes.
• Bars selling wine and craft drinks.

• Sal Masekela African Surf Adventure Driven by SMG Rocks and Hosted by Coco de Mer
• The Ballito Pro Music Concerts presented by 5FM
• After Dark Parties – hosted by Crush Ballito
• Extreme Sports – adrenaline-fuelled Monster activations
• Daily Beach Action, Retail Area and Kids’ Corner
• Save the Waves – Litter4Tokens recycling programme
• South African surfboard shapers

More than a dozen of the world’s best surfers are heading to the Ballito Pro pres. by O’Neill at Willard Beach from 1-7 July. No less than 16 of the elite World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) surfers have thrown their names into the bag for the first Qualifying Series (QS) 10,000 rated event of the year, including world No. 2, Kolohe Andino (USA).