The second development phase at Somerset Lakes, a 42-hectare residential estate in Somerset West, will be released to the market in mid September. The first phase sold out rapidly, with 114 sales being recorded within just six weeks of the launch. Construction of the first phase is well under way and occupation is expected to take place in mid 2015.

The new phase, Waterford Green, comprises 48 freestanding double-storey houses, selling from R1,3 million including VAT, no transfer duty. These two and three bedroom homes offer spacious, contemporary, open-plan living areas and private gardens. All homes include at least two bathrooms, one being en suite, and the three-bedroom design offers a garage and an optional guest toilet.

According to Dave Harris, Sales and Marketing Manager of Somerset Lakes, the new product has been specifically designed to help meet the growing demand for affordable, quality housing in the popular Somerset West area.

“We’ve been inundated with requests from buyers looking for houses,” Harris said. “People want freestanding homes with gardens, views and security, in close proximity to the centre of Somerset West, and that’s exactly what our latest product at Somerset Lakes has to offer.”

Designed by Schabort Associates Architects, the new development phase is located alongside the six-hectare lake that gives the estate its name.

“This unique feature is a huge attraction,” Harris commented. “It’s ideal for swimming, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing and fishing, and home to a rich variety of water birds. A magnificent community clubhouse on the shores of the lake, The Summer Club, will enhance the appeal of this fantastic recreational asset, providing residents with play areas, boat sheds, a sandy white beach, and a swimming pool and deck area with stunning views of False Bay and the Hottentots Holland mountains.”

The developers, Omwieco (Pty) Ltd, a consortium of highly experienced development professionals backed by financial giant Investec, have devoted no less than 40% of the estate’s total area to green, open space for the recreation of residents. This includes the lakes and other water features, a mature forest of stone pine trees, landscaped parks and gardens, and kilometres of walking trails and mountain biking tracks.

An indigenous fynbos nursery has been established on the estate, which was recently awarded the prized 2014 SALI Gold Award for landscape design by the South African Landscapers Institute.“No expense has been spared to implement the most technically advanced security system at Somerset Lakes,” said Harris. "These measures include electrified perimeter fencing with 70 high-definition surveillance cameras, which are monitored around the clock from the hi-tech guardhouse, 24-hour guarding and patrols, and an on-site rapid response team. Other advanced features include biometric fingerprint access control."

All homes in the estate will be hardwired with fibre-optic cabling for superfast internet access, DStv and VOIP telephone connectivity, which will allow free telephone calls within the estate.

A Curro Castle School is being constructed on the estate and is due to open its doors in 2015.

Convenient access to the Somerset West village has been provided by the developers through the R16 million construction of Reunion Drive, which links the main entrance of Somerset Lakes to Sir Lowry’s Pass Village Road under a specially constructed railway bridge. Just a few hundred metres from this entrance, an upmarket new shopping centre is now under construction, where Checkers, Woolworths Foods and Clicks will be the anchor tenants.The Vergelegen Mediclinic and the Somerset West CBD are less than two kilometres away, while popular Somerset Mall shopping centre is just 3,5 kilometres from the estate.

“When you consider the amazing lifestyle advantages Somerset Lakes offers, the security, the convenience of the surrounding amenities, and the incredible natural beauty of the estate, I have no doubt our second phase will sell as fast as the first one,” said Harris.“I strongly advise anyone interested to register online for an invitation to a pre-launch sales opportunity, ahead of our public launch in mid September, to avoid disappointment.”

For further information visit www.somersetlakes.co.za or phone 021 202 2200.

Hungry Lion’s Lucky Bucket Campaign Delivers Double Digit Sales Growth For The Brand

Hungry Lion’s new ‘Lucky Bucket’ campaign, has driven hundreds of thousands of feet into its newly refurbished fast food chicken outlets countrywide resulting in an impressive 37% increase in overall brand engagement and double digit sales growth in just four weeks. 

The new Hungry Lion integrated campaign, comprising a new TV and radio commercial, digital, PR and on the ground activations, which promise to ‘give Mzansi more’, have seen the Hungry Lion brand quickly winning with SA and Africa consumers and becoming a fast food favourite.

“We achieved the 37% increase in engagement in the first three weeks of our campaign and the level of redemption on vouchers via digital channels has been way above industry benchmarks,” says Tashalene Reid, Marketing Manager at Hungry Lion, a Shoprite Holdings company. 

She also attributes the increase in sales to Hungry Lion’s new brand image, refurbished outlets, its proudly South African heritage and a great product in the form of bigger portions of great tasting chicken served up in the brand’s visually appealing branded buckets. “Our Pride Bucket has been iconic to our stores for more than 12 years, so it remains at the centre of our new brand campaign,” she adds. 

The campaign is a follow-on from our first engaging TV commercial, which saw the Pride Buckets being flown in by helicopter into the metropolis and promising Mzansi More. 

“We then built on this story by bringing the buckets to life by using an on-the-ground mechanic in the form of 50 Lucky Bucket mascots who have been promoting the R7-million ‘spot a lucky bucket’ competition throughout South Africa in a fun and engaging way. To date, they have been seen climbing Table Mountain, riding on trains, touring the city, surfing and visiting iconic areas all over South Africa.” 

Reid explains that this particular campaign is a first for South Africa in terms of utilising these various touchpoints and in terms of integration, we have seen over 700,000 digital WiCodes already being issued within the first four weeks. 

“It has included pushing social media limits and digital interaction via mobile devices to include WeChat, VoucherCloud and Mxit as a mechanic for our market, providing a perfect platform for live interaction for all of South Africa and enabling both feature and smartphone users the opportunity to participate,” she adds.

According to SocialBaker’s latest social media report, the Hungry Lion brand has seen a 155% increase in engagement on their social channels alone, overtaking Nike Sportswear.

Hungry Lion, which launched in 1997, by the Shoprite Holdings Ltd Group, has seen a rapid growth trajectory by extending its footprint and now has a network of more than 160 stores in Africa and South Africa with operations in eight African countries.

Over the past two years, the brand has undergone major changes to its management, brand, stores and menu in order to achieve its goal of being a first-world Quick Service Restaurant (QSR). “We have had to restrategise, reformulate and rebrand our stores to make this a reality,” says Reid.

“Our goal is to provide all communities in Africa with tasty chicken in a first-world environment at competitive prices, whilst staying true to our 100% homegrown SA offering,” she adds. “The stores now boast a world-class design with ample seating and an inescapable focus on providing great chicken products in order to bring to life our brand vision in very diverse areas in South Africa.” 

Hungry Lion, which serves over a million customers per month across SA and Africa, prides itself on offering ‘MORE’ for every man, woman and child across Mzansi (South Africa and Africa) with the stores and menu being crafted for people who want more and for lovers of king-sized chicken. 

Reid explains; “Our product has undergone a major overhaul resulting in larger portions for bigger value, while remaining true to our brand promise of ‘giving Mzansi more’ and offering consumers more value for money in a fast and friendly environment.”

“Our integrated campaign for the launch of the ‘new’ brand aims to make South Africans aware of our brand promise in a fun, engaging and aspirational way. We needed to reach and impact on a larger scale than ever before,” she adds. “To do this we needed to push the boundaries in order to get more people to experience the new Hungry Lion at multiple touchpoints.”

“It has taken us two years of planning, new brand implementation and roll-out for us to be ready to market the brand and the success over the last month is testiment that South Africans are responding well to the new brand,” she concludes.

Join the conversation on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hungrylion or on Twitter: @HungryLionSA #luckybucket

Funama Wedding Exhibition heading for Polokwane. 

The 2nd Annual Funama Wedding Exhibition will take place on Saturday, 26th July 2014 at the Jack Botes Hall in Polokwane Limpopo.  The prestigious exhibition is a show of fresh wedding ideas all under one roof saving visitors hours of time spent travelling and searching for wedding suppliers. The exhibitors promise a display of the best wedding products and services available.

“The expo includes wedding gowns, groom suits, cakes, cosmetics, accessories, catering, beauticians, florists, photographers and many other wedding related services.  Future brides, grooms and families looking for wedding service providers are in for a fun filled day with loads of ideas that will help turn any fairy tale dream wedding into a reality. Legend Lodges, Hotels & Resorts, our main prize sponsor is giving couples a chance to win a wedding venue of their choice in Limpopo valued at R20 000.  Other exhibitors are offering happy memorable prizes that include wedding gowns, groom suits, cakes, cosmetics and many more. The expo is a great platform for small business owners to market and promote their services” says Masetha Serakoana, CEO of Funama Productions.

To end the day off visitors will be treated to an evening event with renowned motivational speakers giving inspired advice on relationships and marriage, a wine tasting experience and entertainment by Nia Pearl.   Funama Productions is a media and communications company that specialises in exhibition production services focusing on projects that promote and empower small businesses.   Entrance to the Funama Wedding Exhibition for visitors is R50.00 per person, doors open at 9am.

For further information, please contact:
Masetha Serakoana
E-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone 086 111 1471
www.funama.co.za 

Ferocat (Pty) Ltd

Tel: 021 - 443 7900
www.ferocat.com

PRESS RELEASE
24 June 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ferocat catalogue launched in Cape Town

On Friday, the 20th of June, Ferocat (Pty) Ltd was proud to launch its first catalogue of ‘feelgood’ luxury items, creating lots of excitement in the direct marketing industry. Prospective sales agents (known as Ferocat Business Owners) and Ferocat staff members enjoyed an evening of drinks and entertainment at the company’s Cape Town head office, which culminated in a presentation of the new catalogue by managing director, Laughton Appollis.

According to the presentation Ferocat Business Owners can expect to earn a substantial set commission per sale as well as performance bonuses. The extensive product range covers diverse categories such as lingerie, fashion jewellery, handbags and much more. The company’s quality products, excellent support network and transparent earning structure should place it at the top of the list of part-time or secondary income opportunities.

Since the Cape Town launch there has already been a huge surge in applications from people wanting to become Ferocat Business Owners, with rapid growth foreseen in the near future. Growth that will be further boosted by Ferocat’s expansion into the rest of Africa planned for August 2014. Aspiring and existing Ferocat Business Owners can look forward to the Johannesburg launch on the 2nd of July 2014.

To find out more, visit www.ferocat.com or call 0861 77 78 79 to become a Ferocat Business Owner.

Esquire Technologies, an international award winning company and one of the leading distributors in southern Africa of IT, mobility, digital and consumer lifestyle products from international vendors,  has announced it has reached a milestone of 30 000 online orders place on its website to date.

This was confirmed by Mahomed Cassim, CEO of Esquire Technologies, who said the company commenced  online sales four years ago. “In the first two years of starting this online drive we notched up only 5000 sales –but this figure has now jumped to 30 000, which is a 600% growth in two years. We are expecting this figure to rise significantly in the next few years. because many of our clients are now seeing the value of placing orders 24 x 7,” he said

Esquire is currently one of only a few distributors in South Africa which offers an online ordering facility for all the products they distribute.

“We are extremely bullish with our six-fold increase in online sales. All the hard work and sleepless nights THAT IT took to populate the website with content and information relevant for each product is starting to bear fruit with the growing amount of orders being placed online.

”Esquire has also developed and  pioneered the world’s first Virtual Reseller Network (VRN), with its own subsidiary, ImproWeb, an e-commerce solutions company.
Currently over 500 resellers are plugged into the Esquire backend, which allows them to trade with their own e-commerce web-sites, using Esquire’s Infrastructure. Earlier this year the company’s VRN won an international award – the EMEA Channel Academy Multichannel Initiative of the Year Award for 2014. The EMEA Channel Academy 2014 Awards took place in Monaco in February- in conjunction with the regional event, DISTREE EMEA. Distributors, retailers and vendors operating in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region submitted application packs to enter the Multichannel Initiative award.

A VIP Jury of international channel experts met in Monaco to assess the submitted entries. The VIP Jury selected Esquire’s world first Virtual Reseller Network (VRN) as the winner of the 2014 Multichannel Initiative Award. “We are definitely seeing that people and companies are feeling much more comfortable – and eager – to buy online. Revenue from online sales is already sitting at 10% of our total revenue, with this expected to rise to 20% by 2016.”  Commenting further,  Cassim said that by joining the Esquire VRN resellers were provided with immediate access to the company’s entire stock holding without having to invest in stock.
“This is a totally different way of conducting business in the  distribution channel.  Our VRN resellers don’t have to  HOLD any stock. They have immediate access to our stock – which is updated every few minutes. As we update our stock our resellers are given immediate access to this new stock as well. “This is going to make a significant impact on the e-commerce space in South Africa,” he said.

[May 2014, Cape Town] Adversity is something none of us likes to think of, but in a moment one situation can change our entire lives. While insurance companies maximise the reality of this eventuality, most people are still completely blind-sided when adversity hits them. As a result, the obvious by-products of experiencing misfortune can be depression, a complete lack of self-esteem and even financial loss.  

Whilst all of the above are very evident across South Africa in the unemployed sector of the population today, there is the occasional diamond in the rough that shines out of a seemingly dark and hopeless situation to just encourage and give back that glimmer of hope that gives budding entrepreneurs an example to glean from.  

It is for this reason that the Teen Entrepreneur Foundation of South Africa has created the Awaken the Giant in you breakfast series. The breakfast series aims to showcase the stories of successful South African’s and allow them to share their experiences and life lessons with learners, their parents and organisations wishing to support the development of entrepreneurs.  

The next event in the series will take place on Thursday, 22 May 2014 at the Townhouse Hotel, Cape Town at 08h30. Martin Brown CEO of Radical Holdings and professional business speaker will share his journey of overcoming obstacles after being injured in a diving accident. He used creative thinking and his collective experience to change his own life and the lives of others, which kick-started him into a flourishing business.

“Every entrepreneur, young or old will face and have to overcome adversity at some stage of their business journey,” says Lydia Zingoni Founder and Director of the SA Teen Entrepreneur Foundation. “We want to inspire our youth, from a young age that it is possible to overcome and flourish,” she continued.  

Teen Entrepreneur Foundation which was started in 2010 exists for the sole aim of instilling a culture of entrepreneurship in teenagers in South Africa.    

Come and be inspired by Martin’s entrepreneurial journey and connect with like-minded individuals from government and business entities to fast track your dreams and ambitions.    

The event is open to youth, their parents, teachers, community leaders, government departments, particularly those who are tasked with child development and the business community.   Tickets cost R150.00 and bookings for the breakfast can be made on-line at www.teenentrepreneur.co.za or at www.webtickets.co.za/event.aspx?itemid=828842321  

For more information about the breakfast contact Nadia Snyders on 021 447 6183 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

RELEASED BY Stacy De Villiers

Gecko Connect

061 448 6433/ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   ON BEHALF OF SA Teen Entrepreneur Foundation    

More about SA Teen Entrepreneur Foundation  

SA Teen Entrepreneur Foundation is a registered NPO Trust.  The vision of the Foundation is to cultivate and promote the entrepreneurial spirit in all our teenagers through seminars, workshops, conferences and exhibitions. Teen Entrepreneur main target audience is schools, Universities, Churches and Youth Centers.   

The organisation is based in Cape Town facilitates engagements across the country    

About Martin Brown

Martin was born in Cape Town on February 1971, South Africa. During school Martin was an absolute sport fanatic. His interests after high school led him into the mechanical engineering field and thereafter, into nursing and the emergency medical field.  In his second year of medical studies, Martin was injured in a diving accident, leaving him paralysed from the neck down, which forced him to explore other avenues within his abilities.

He is the CEO and Founder of Radical Holdings (PTY) Ltd t/a Radical Mobility, the top designers and manufacturers of power wheelchairs in South Africa. In the past 9 years the company has grown tremendously and supplies international markets. 

Martin has won numerous awards such as:

Finalist for the Industrial Category in the 2013 Africa SMME Awards Competition

Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® 2012 Finalist

SEDA Most Promising Entrepreneur with a Disability – 2011

SEDA Most Promising Job Creating Entrepreneur – 2011

INSETA National Disabled business leader | 2011

Sanlam and Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year 2010

SME Award | 2010

Provincial Colours for Athletics | Amateur Athletics Association of South Africa | 1990

National Colours in Acrobatics | Acrobatic Federation of  South Africa | 1992 – 1997  

This month, South African industry heavyweights are making their way to the heart of the Zambian mining region to be part of the Copperbelt Mining Trade Expo and Conference (CBM-TEC) - Zambia's premier networking event for international and regional companies that operate within the country's highly-lucrative Copperbelt region, being hosted in Kitwe on 28 and 29 April 2014.

Joining over 80 exhibitors at the conference this year is IWC - South African leaders in cooling towers and cooling solutions in Africa offering fully integrated solutions, from cooling towers to glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) manufacturing and plate heat exchangers (PHE) supplied by SONDEX. The company’s range of products are packaged cooling towers, large field erected cooling towers and natural draught cooling towers. The company also provides refurbishment services thereof.

IWC’s keen interest to explore the possibilities of Zambia’s mining industry is not without good reason. The dynamic industrial growth and recent accessibility of the Zambian Copperbelt region means new opportunities for business.

Company MD Roger Rusch says, “Zambia is of strategic importance to the Southern African mining sector. With the steady flow of investments, the copper mining industry is growing at a rapid rate and we are keen to be a part of this emerging market.”

Zambia has a mining history spanning over ninety years. In the late 1960s, the country was ranked as the world’s third largest copper producer, after the United States and the former Soviet Union. Currently, Zambia is the largest copper producer in Africa and the seventh largest copper producer in the world.

After a successive slump in output over the past few years, the Zambian copper mining industry had a marked rebound in 2013. The country managed a strong growth rate of 6.5 % in 2013, supported by a 20% rise in copper output in 2012. This trend is set to continue and copper output is projected to reach 1.5 million tonnes by 2015, largely due to investment in new mines and the expansion of capacity at existing plants. Robust international copper prices will provide additional stimulus to mining.

The combination of a stable regulatory environment, responsible corporations, and the right technical skills has been the main attraction for investors from across the globe. Zambia now ranks No. 83 out of 189 countries on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, benchmarked to June 2013.

When asked what IWC can offer to the Zambian mining industry, company MD Roger Rusch explains that IWC specialises in the design and manufacture of cooling towers and fibreglass products e.g. tanks, piping and process vessels that are used extensively in the mining and metals processing industry in Zambia. “We are well prepared to meet Zambia’s mining-industry specific demands,” says Rusch.

IWC has recently launched a fibreglass production facility. This facility is capable of constructing large diameter tanks, pressure vessels, piping and ducting of all vital components in the mining process and has recently supplied large capacity fibreglass filter vessels to FQML (Kansanshi) as well as large diameter dampers to Mopani Copper Mines Plc for the Converter and Acid Plant project.

The dampers that were supplied are in addition to the two large mechanical draft cooling towers IWC provided, one for the gas plant and another for the acid plant. IWC has a proud association with the Zambian copper industry having previously undertaken work for KCM, Mopani and FQML.

IWC also offers a range of heat exchanger solutions covering the easiest to the most challenging applications. Additionally the company operates a state of the art service centre for the servicing and cleaning of plate heat exchangers. IWC are able to provide a comprehensive range of replacement gaskets and plates for most brands and models of plate heat exchanger.

Participating in CBM-TEC 2014 gives IWC the opportunity to make contact with new clients and potential future partners. “We look forward to delivering solutions to ensure optimal efficiency and quality in the mining operations in Zambia,” says Rusch.

{pp}MillionRandHomePage.com - South Africa’s first million rand homepage was launched 1 May 2009 and is expected to be one of the largest, single page advertising portals in South Africa.