TP Stratten held their Annual Prestige Athletics meeting on Saturday, 1 February. Standerton Primary, Highveld Ridge Primary and Laerskool Secunda took part in this event.

Katrien Retief is gebore in Trichardt, Mpumalanga in 1993. Sy het haar skoolloopbaan in 2016 voltooi. Sy’s ‘n spastiese dipleeg. Sy wou van klein tyd al n boek geskryf het, maar het gesukkel om ‘n idee te kry… Haar ma het ‘n groente tuin en het baie kwaad geword vir die goggas in die tuin. Dit het vir Katrien die idee gegee om haar boekies “Goggastories” te noem. Boek 1 het in 2016 verskyn, boek 2 in November 2017 en boek 3 in 2019. Deur haar boeke sien ons ‘n saggeaarde Katrien met ‘n sin vir regverdigheid. Iemand wat ‘n kinderhart ken.
Katrien het respek en ‘n liefde vir die natuur. Die absolute pragtige illustrasies is deur Sulette de Bruin van Pretoria. Elke storie eindig met ‘n morele les vir die leser. Haar uitgangspunt is: maak nie saak wat in ons lewens gebeur nie, God is in beheer en deur Hom kan ons die alledaagse uitdagings te bowe kom. Ons hoop om binnekort nog Goggastories te sien!

• Engela Strydom

Sacrifist, the legendary hardcore death metal band that destroyed, plundered, screamed and headbanged their way into our souls and onto our stages! Guitar gods, vocal beast, and drumming demon, some of the most influential musicians on the scene, the founding members of Sacrifist; Sammy F Simegi, Paul Verster (mentioned in part 1), Michael Kiefer and André Liebenberg. These guys were one of the longest running South African metal bands to date, with arguably the highest merch and albums sold in SA, but where they truly blew minds was on stage. They’re political and anger fuelled lyrical content and punching messages turned heads all over.
Started in 1993, they were rocking out, playing gigs and recorded an album without a label titled “The Tides will Turn” releasing a few years later. In 1997 they joined Metamorphosis and Jaded Jane on the “Agony and Ecstasy” tour, sponsored by Jack Daniels and Old Kimberly. “In a blur of hotels and motels, highways and byways, aspirin and a truckload of bourbon”, through the country, growing rapidly, said Sammy, one of the founding members, guitar player and composer. “The goal would be to not search for gigs anymore, for them to contact us and that’s where the headlining starts and such.”The same year Sacrifist joined Agro on the “Death before disco” tour, leaving a streak of amazing memories and chaos wherever they went. In December of 1997, they headlined “The Summer Blast SA tour” backed by Nuclear Records.
In 1999 they released their second full album titled “Liquid Seasons” and Andre Liebenberg persisted to target the mainstream audience and in 2002 Sammy F. Simegi, Michael Kiefer and Paul Verster reincarnated its original sound and heaviness with Shaun Moseley joining on the bass.
2004 sadly saw Paul Verster leaving the band to attend to business. Byron Meyers took over on lead guitar and it was in 2004 that Sacrifist entered the studio once again to record their most brutal, mind bending, heart racing album yet: “The Well of Sacrifice”. After Dwayne Coetzee was brought in on vocals, creating a unique sound that the SA metal scene devoured and loved! Til this day you will see people wearing merch and talking about the legendary Sacrifist. 
2005 saw Sacrifist gigging from Pretoria to Durban to Nelspruit. Their powerful angry chaotic yet melodic metal had a massive reaction causing them to regain their original fan base and gathering an increasing number of new fans, not only locally but across the globe. The live shows had an ever-increasing amount of energy and are an experience on its own to watch. The songs online have had over thousands of downloads: “and Sacrifist is finally taking back the original metal glory.”
In 2005 Sacrifist signed a distribution deal with Alter Ego Records.

“The DestrucTour” was planned for early 2006 seeing Sacrifist and Mind Assault with many other companions rip across the country. 
“2008 saw the release of “Surrealist Plague” and became one of Subterania Music’s best South African sellers ever. The band again toured, notably with Mind Assault.”
Today Sacrifist is seen as one of the biggest and most successful metal bands in SA history and is fortunate enough to be part of the headline bands at all major metal festivals across the country, clearly, definitely worthy of being called one of the blazing myths and legends of South African metal.
The one message that Sammy would want everyone to at least read once: “Support the local scene, treat musicians and bands like the business they are, gear is expensive and every cent the bands make, goes straight back into the band and people need to understand this. It’s expensive, even to the average metal fan, yet we still pulled through. We went through to watch metal shows whenever we could afford it.”
I asked him for some words of wisdom to rising bands: “Every band should go overseas, seeing it on videos is nothing compared to experiencing it, it is absolutely astounding, that’s how you make it. The average lifespan of bands in SA is about 2 years and it’s sad really.” 
So, come on people! Bands, fans and everyone in between! Support the local scene! Give credit where credit is due. Let’s fuel the fire that is SA metal. – Henco

Smoking is extremely harmful to you and the health risks of second-hand smoke are well-known by most.
Recently at the police station in Secunda a woman was asked by one of the officers to not smoke in the car where her young children were sitting and waiting with her. The woman was shocked when the officer told her that it is illegal to smoke with children in the car.
Children are extremely vulnerable to second-hand smoke as they have higher metabolic and respiratory rates than adults according to the UK Action on Smoking and Health organisation. According to CANSA, everyone has the right to a smoke-free environment. If someone breaks the law, here’s what you can do:

• Know your rights and speak to the owner, manager or supervisor.
• If they refuse to help or allow it to continue, you are within your rights to report this to the authorities.
• Take a photograph (make sure the venue is clearly identifiable) and send it to the local authority’s environmental health officer.
• The environmental health officer has the responsibility and authority to act under the Criminal Offences Act, and enforce penalties against the individual.
  Cigarette Laws
• If you are under 18, you are banned from buying cigarettes. This includes buying flavoured tobacco products used for hookah smoking. You are also not allowed to enter smoking areas if you are under 18.
• Smoking is banned in places like restaurants, offices and malls where there is no isolated, sealed off smoking room.
• No smoking in a car (even if it’s your own car) when one of the passengers is under 12 years. This is because children are negatively affected by tobacco smoking because their lungs are either still developing or too weak to handle that kind of environmental pollution.
• Smoking in partly closed public areas such as balconies, pavements and parking areas is not allowed.
• Smoking in locations used for commercial childcare activities, for schools or teaching/tutoring such as crèches is banned.
• Tobacco companies aren’t allowed to advertise, hold parties or use marketing to target the youth.
• Those sugar cigarettes in cute packaging which some of us have been exposed to have now been banned. Children learn by example and if they buy sweets and toys that look similar to cigarettes they are more likely to start smoking because of curiosity.
• No smoking is allowed in cinemas, on domestic flights in the country and all public transport.
• Some hotels have also banned smoking inside the building.
• Only up to 25% of a public place, such as a building or public transport can be allocated a smoking area. This area needs to be physically isolated from the rest of the interior. In other words, this smoking area needs to be enclosed and can only be used as a smoking area where the smoke can escape to the outside.
• Cigarettes are not be sold individually or ‘loose’.
• Some restaurants allow families with young children to sit in the smoking area of a restaurant because there might be adults in the family who want to smoke. By law, the manager of the restaurant must make sure that no one under 18 is present in that smoking section.
  Punishment for disobeying these laws
• If the owner of a restaurant/pub/workplace has broken the cigarette laws, where smokers are smoking in a non-smoking area or there are under 18s present in the smoking area, then they will be fined up to R50 000. This is because they have put those non-smokers/second-hand smokers in harm through indoor pollution. Second-hand smokers are at risk for the same health problems that smokers are at risk for.
• This fine also applies to people selling cigarettes to people under 18.
• Any smoker found smoking in a non-smoking zone/area will be fined R500.
• If someone is caught selling a ‘loose’ cigarette they can be fined up to R100 000 – Ané Prinsloo