Ken Borland

It was late May and the Moreleta Kloof Nature Reserve looked dry and worn-out as the harsh Highveld winter began to take its toll on this area of great peace and tranquility nestled in the suburbs of eastern Pretoria, below the Bronberg ridge.

The Rademeyerspruit, a tributary of the Moreleta River, runs through the reserve and one of the highlights of this suburban oasis is the Flufftail Hide, which overlooks a secluded little vlei area at the bottom of the hill on which the main entrance is situated.

But there was just a trickle of water to be seen and the only avian activity was some die-hard but non-breeding Southern Masked Weavers hanging around, flying between the tops of the reeds. What leaves were on the trees were dry and the veld was all dry, yellowing grass.

But close to the hide, next to the path leading from it, stood a tall, densely-branched Bluebush (Diospyros lycioides) with barely a leaf remaining from its autumnal shedding.

Suddenly there was a flash of bright yellow, like a torchlight in the gloom of all the dull winter colours, as a pair of Blackthroated Canary arrived at the top of the Bluebush. The yellow comes from their rumps, by far the most vivid colour on an otherwise rather drab grey, brown and black bird.

The ‘black throat’ is really just a smudge of black and is more obvious in the males. The Blackthroated Canary generally prefers drier conditions than its fellow Crithagra species, the Yellowfronted Canary, but is nevertheless often near water.

After a little while the pair flew off, making their charming, cheerful, high-pitched twittering & chirping calls.

Before leaving the general vicinity of the hide, I caught a glimpse of a Bushbuck, just before it dashed away into the riverine vegetation.

Heading back up the hill into the grasslands, a group of Redfaced Mousebird were flying between the bushy patches as I made my way towards the path that connects to the Duiker Route. A very large Leopard Tortoise was parked just off the path right at the junction.

The Duiker Route heads around to the east and then up the hill into some denser vegetation: a thicket of woody species but with a variety of grasses in the understorey.

A Browncrowned Tchagra sat briefly on a low, horizontal branch and then dived into the long grass and tangled thicket below the Blue Guarris, Searsias and Wild Olives. These tough, hardy evergreen trees are characteristic of the Highveld grasslands.

A Barthroated Apalis briefly appeared, casting a curious pale eye our way, before it skulked back into the thicket; only to reappear moments later at the tops of the trees, where it went flitting about the canopy.

A Karoo Thrush was also lurking about, before it slinked off into the undergrowth.

As a great time just being in nature in one of the most popular walking spots in Pretoria drew to a conclusion, the close interactions continued as a Common Ostrich wandered about near the path, next to the parking lot. It had been a fun 75 minutes with much to see and enjoy in this healthy eco-system, never mind the abundance of fresh air in a safe location!

Supporting these green areas in the heart of suburbia is so important, and this 100 hectare reserve is certainly an exquisite little treasure.

Where is Moreleta Kloof Nature Reserve?

Sightings list

Laughing Dove

Blackeyed Bulbul

Southern Masked Weaver

Blackthroated Canary

Bushbuck

Redfaced Mousebird

Leopard Tortoise

Browncrowned Tchagra

Barthroated Apalis

Cape White-Eye

Plains Zebra

Karoo Thrush

Common Ostrich

South African rugby teams have put the SuperRugby epoch behind them and, now that they have tasted the Champions Cup tournament, are ready to fully embrace European competition, even when it takes a team like the Sharks from the subtropical summer heat of Durban one week into the icy winter of the hilly Bordeaux region the next.

The Sharks, having marked their Champions Cup debut with an impressive 39-31 win over Harlequins at Kings Park, now take on Bordeaux Begles at the Chaban Delmas Stadium on Friday night.

“It definitely met expectations and all the hype playing against Harlequins and we made a good start, even though there was a lot for us to improve on,” hooker Bongi Mbonambi said on Tuesday from France.

“And now we take on top French players at home in front of their own crowd. The big difference is we just came from 31° in Durban to 2° at the moment and it might be zero on Friday night.

“It’s a totally different kind of cold, but we are here to make memories and make sure we are totally prepared. We’re looking forward to the challenge.

“The massive learning from the Quins game was that we can never relax, these are very good teams in this competition. They’ve been playing European Cup for longer than us, and we still have a lot to learn.

“We have to embrace it, you can’t always have home advantage. But even in tough conditions and with a hostile crowd, some of us enjoy it, it’s like what we face in international rugby. Hopefully we can teach the other players to embrace it too,” Mbonambi said.

Bordeaux lost their opening Champions Cup match away to Gloucester 22-17 in a photo finish, but the fact they were 17-5 up in the final quarter will have them extra motivated to inflict some real damage on the Sharks this weekend at home.

Bordeaux have a powerful pack and a punchy backline, and the fact that their halfbacks, scrummie Maxime Lucu and pivot Matthieu Jalibert, both played off the bench against the Springboks last month, steering France to victory, is a graphic illustration of the sort of quality the Sharks are up against.

“The French teams always hurt after losing in the Champions Cup and Bordeaux have a really good squad,” Mbonambi acknowledged. “They slipped up last weekend, so this Friday will be really tough.

“They have great loose forwards and their halfbacks played in the Test, they are really good at running the whole place, they control things.

“Their pack will definitely put our attacking breakdown under pressure and we can’t let their big forwards run at us,” Mbonambi said.

GQEBERHA, Eastern Cape – Vodacom’s 17-year title sponsorship of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series makes them one of the Sunshine Tour’s most loyal partners, giving South African professionals playing opportunities through the winter, but the telecommunications company has always also been focused on the higher calling of helping develop people in general and supporting charitable initiatives in the communities they visit.

This week the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series is in Gqeberha for the two-day Pro-Am and then the professional tournament at Humewood Golf Club, and Tshego Malinga, the executive head of department for the Customer Business Unit Eastern Region, is focused on making sure the event touches many peoples’ lives.

“We have the ability to make sure profit meets purpose and I am a firm believer that the two are never mutually exclusive. At the centre of everything we do at Vodacom is the desire to enable our customers to live out their purpose. We do that by connecting them in an environment in which they can express their passions and aspirations.

“But it’s also important for Vodacom to be part of the development of South Africa as a whole, and sport plays a very important part in the development of the nation. We want to help people explore their talent and hopefully some of them can go on to become international icons. We also want to be helpful to the community and the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series has really assisted in the funding of many charities,” Malinga says.

This week’s Vodacom Origins of Golf Series Pro-Am at Humewood will be raising funds for the Maro Foundation, which was started in 2014 by Pamela Mabini.

A social and gender activist from Kwazakhele, Mabini used her corporate connections to distribute food, blankets, clothes, shoes and hygiene products to the homeless. Since then she has opened two facilities in Johannesburg for the rehoming of mentally handicapped, disabled or HIV-positive children who have been abandoned by their families,

“We have the ability to really help this NGO that is also helping in the fight against gender-based violence, so that’s our big focus for this tournament. We want to help those who have less access to things we might take for granted. We need a consciousness of the environment we operate in, we can’t just be focused on our share price.

“It is super special for us to be able to host this event and help the Maro Foundation in these times of Covid and all the hesitation around that. It’s a tricky balance making sure people are safe but also bringing them together. We really want the show to go on, so we can keep helping people. It’s an honour for Vodacom to be able to do that,” Malinga says.

Although not a golfer herself, Malinga is also acutely aware of the history of Humewood Golf Club, one of South Africa’s top courses and the host of many major tournaments.

“Vodacom, Humewood and the Eastern Cape are all very iconic brands, so this event is the amalgamation of very strong South African brands. We all have a responsibility to society and Humewood has a strong heritage in both Eastern Cape and Port Elizabeth society. It has credibility because of its heritage and this collection of brands people love makes it easier to galvanise them around their shared history and love for the province and city,” Malinga says.

The Pro-Am Dinner on the eve of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series has already raised R25 000 for the Maro Foundation, with the fundraising efforts continuing all week.

Former Springbok Lionel Mapoe has swapped the aquamarine seas around Nice for the dry winter of the Highveld and will make his return to the Bulls side on Sunday for their Currie Cup match against one of his former teams, the Lions, at Loftus Versfeld.

Born in Port Elizabeth but schooled at Fichardtpark in Bloemfontein, Mapoe made his senior rugby debut for Free State before joining the Lions in 2011. He had a stint with the Bulls from 2013-2015, before returning to Ellis Park, from where he made the Springbok side for the first time. While earning 14 Test caps, Mapoe also spent three years playing for Kubota Spears in Japan.

He moved overseas permanently in 2019 to play for Stade Francais, but when Covid-19 forced the Top 14 franchise to cut their roster, Mapoe joined third-tier club Stade Nicois, who are based in the French Riveira city of Nice.

But Bulls coach Jake White has now snapped him up and is delighted to be able to add him to the other gems he has in the midfield – Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Stedman Gans and Marco Janse van Vuren.

“Lionel is very talented. As I’ve said before, I’m big on combinations and a team spending time together, and our win over SA A reaffirmed that. Harold and Lionel would have spent many hours playing and training together at the Lions and it will be nice to see that combination back together again. Cornal has played a lot of rugby on the wing, we know he can play in several positions.

“Cornal can now come into play in different places, we can use him in different ways and he’s a dangerous guy to have to defend against. Lionel and Johan Goosen are quick too so we have a team with real pace and hopefully we can move the ball around and use it. Lionel can play on the wing as well of course, but he and Harold could make a great centre combination if we lose Cornal to the Springboks,” White said on Friday.

The Bulls’ forward selection is resonant with the need to break down the Lions, which White said is always a tough task even though their neighbours are coming off a defeat to Griquas.

“The Lions are the one side we haven’t really played well against, we just haven’t been able to click against them, we never really get the ascendancy. I think it’s because a lot of them know this environment and our style of play, they tend to stay in the game for a long time and they can score quickly. They have played consistently well against us.

“Simphiwe Matanzima did very well scrumming against Vincent Koch in the SA A game and he’s incredible on his feet and with ball in hand. Jacques van Rooyen held his own at tighthead and Johan Grobbelaar played really well too. A guy like Elrigh Louw wants to play eighthman like Duane Vermeulen and I would like to see him there too, Muller Uys can also double up there,” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Richard Kriel, Johan Goosen, Zak Burger, Elrigh Louw, Muller Uys, Marcell Coetzee (Capt), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Johan Grobbelaar, Simphiwe Matanzima. Bench – Schalk Erasmus, Gerhard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Janko Swanepoel, Nizaam Carr, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Sibongile Novuka.