'Just casually readin' over here (OK, fine; not that casually since I don't normally read in a blazer with makeup on)... But I thought it appropriate to get dollied up to announce the launch of my book - coming out next month!In Freelance Like a Boss, I help stunted in-house employees and frustrated freelancers create successful, sustainable businesses that will give them greater flexibility and earning potential.
Dive in to honest insights, info, tips and ideas on how to:
Identify marketable skills
Let go of excuses
Set up a business structure
Negotiate contracts and other legalities
Pay the correct tax
Set boundaries
Manage your time
Set pricing
And much, much more
To show your local love for this author, you can buy, review, or share Freelance Like a Boss on 19 June. Shea has created a page to tell you about all the things that would be helpful: https://sheakarssing.com/2023/05/14/help-me-launch-freelance-like-a-boss/
To pre-order the book visit Loot where it's currently R70 off: https://www.loot.co.za/product/freelance-like-a-boss/dfnb-7971-g920
Photo credit: Ashleigh Wegener
We're in the middle of a catastrophic rabies outbreak and the best protection and prevention against this infectious diseases for your pet and your family is vaccination!
David Oosthuizen, a Hilton local, will exhibit his work at Harcourts Hilton ART in the Country next week in Hilton KZN. Spend time at this prestigious event at Harrington House, from 25-28 May, in 2023.
'I live in Hilton and have a textile design and product development background. I have painted all my life and have have been blessed with a successful career. In 1764, my forbear Thomas Wheildon, had Spode and Wedgwood as his apprentices in Stafford UK. My middle name Wheildon has looked after me very well all my life.' shared David.
South Africans, like our houses, are not built for winter. Between waking up in the dark, and constantly avoiding coworkers coughing in the office, many locals will be looking to escape to sunnier shores, without breaking the bank. As the world’s go-to option for working abroad, Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) presents an opportunity to follow summer around the world, while earning an income. 
Africa’s Travel Indaba (ATI) ended on a high note and was a resounding success for KwaZulu-Natal and Durban which can expect an economic boost of well over the expected R130 million. Initial figures indicate that the Indaba significantly beat expectations, 2022’s figures and marginally topped its 2019 pre-Covid high.
Statistics released by ATI Bid Partners show that as many as 8,629 delegates attended compared to 8000 in 2019, 22 African countries participated with 1023 exhibitors, 1000 international buyers attended and had 21,000 meaningful meetings with exhibitors and the Durban ICC prepared 6000 meals a day.
As the first Indaba without any restrictions since COVID-19, this year’s event had seen a stronger gathering of African countries, but there was work to be done to make Africa’s travel Indaba a truly Pan-African event.
“There are 54 countries in Africa and is important for Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) to make Africa’s Travel Indaba a truly Pan-African event in collaboration with SA Tourism and other partners,” said Mr. Nhlanhla Khumalo Acting Chief Executive Officer TKZN.
Khumalo also pointed to the post ATI tours which took place this weekend. “A strong element of Indaba is the hosting of buyers and media on tours to various destinations so they can experience what our province offers for themselves and package KwaZulu-Natal for their clients.
As an example, he indicated that a group of some 50 buyers from SADC - Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Namibia - visited the Drakensberg and Midlands. Among their activities they went quad biking, did the Karkloof Canopy tour, visited the Nelson Mandela Capture Site and the Midlands Meander. Another group went to the South Coast and a third tour went to the North Coast.
“We say KZN has it all! Believe it! But people need to experience the culture, the adventure, the mountains, the tranquility, the history for themselves so they transfer their experience to their clients in their travel packages,” said Khumalo.
Similarly, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, which manages KZN’s parks and game reserves hosted a post Indaba tour for a group of UK travel buyers and the Richards Bay Destination Marketing Company to Isimangaliso Wetland Park where they visited the Crocodile Centre, went to the Game Capture Museum showing how game used to be caught, Centenary craft centre run by local women and then to the Hlulhluwe area where they enjoyed umleqwa chicken.
“We are very pleased that as many as 400 travel buyers participated in our seven wonders of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg World Heritage Park virtual reality experience,” said Mr. Sihle Mkhize Acting Chief Executive Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
“By making our travel experiences tangible we are able to sell our story to international markets, which has played a part in our exponential increase in visitors to our protected areas”, he said.
Year on year to April 2023 the number of visitors increased by 65% from 39 958 to 66 091, which also beats their pre-Covid 2019 figures of 56 385.
“While domestic visitors make up the lions-share of the visitors to the parks at 88,4%, international visitors made up 11,6% of the total. Translated into number this is 7499 visitors which is 150% higher than 2022, which is a wonderful recovery and our post Indaba tours are aimed at maintain these numbers while attracting more visitors,” he said.
The most visited game park was Hluhluwe-iMfolozi with 26% of the total visitors, followed by Midmar 20% and Royal Natal National Park 9%. Each of the remaining parks received less than 5% each of the total visitors.
The 15 KwaZulu-Natal Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) hosted on the TKZN exhibition went all out to sell their products and services to international travel buyers. And early indications are that they all achieved good results..
These SMMEs were all first timers to Indaba, and it is really encouraging that they made the most of the opportunity. From what I saw most of them were busy on all three days with pre-arranged meetings in addition to walk-ins, and taking part in the speed marketing opportunities,” said Khumalo.
Msizeni Mngadi founder and director of Indlondlo Cultural Village in the Valley of 1000 Hills said: ”Africa’s Travel Indaba is a game changer for us. This is a very exciting platform and I want to thank to the Mkambathini Municipality for their support enabling us to attend this event.”
Mngadi was certain that their meetings with US, UK, German and African travel buyers would result in at least six sales with more to come. “It has put us in a space where the world can recognise us under the flag of South African Tourism, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal and government.”
Tour operators Amabanda Tourism, which arranges tours for locals and international visitors across KwaZulu-Natal said they had secured a large tour from Kenya that would take place later this month.
Pictured here: The UK destination marketing company was given a truly authentic African experience in the Hluhluwe area a chicken feast or umleqwa. Left to right: Karin Mawani (UK-DMC) Sphelele Luthuli and Eric Hadebe from Ezemvelo Marketing leave with take-aways from their feast.
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An amazing young man has paid for a table of 8 ladies to be raffled.
For R100-00 a ticket you could win a table at this years Uniquely You High Tea for you and 7 friends.
To enter do an EFT into our account, details below, with the reference RAF: Your name and email your chance to win.
There are only 100 tickets, so enter today.
If you have an office job, sitting at your desk is the activity you will spend most of your life on – even more than sleeping. Yet sitting too much can affect your metabolism, posture and joint health and lead to pain in your neck, wrists, lower back and shoulders. Sit poorly, and these problems are intensified. That’s why it is so important to know how to adopt a good posture while sitting at work. Attain the ideal sitting posture by:
???? keeping your back straight;
???? keeping your shoulders relaxed and back;
???? placing your elbows so that they form an angle of 90-100 degrees;
???? keeping your knees at a height of your hips;
???? leaving your legs relaxed, bent at about 90-100 degrees; and
???? resting your feet on the ground without crossing your legs.
Maintaining a good posture at work will not only benefit your health, but also boost your energy levels and productivity. Speak to your pharmacist for advice. At The Local Choice Pharmacies, we’re here for you!
It is another newsy week in Hilton... find ways to support local. Hilton, uMngeni, KZN Midlands local. For more ideas, read the newsletter online.
This week we feature Hilton Health based Dr Randall Hammond and a couple of grand Mother's Day suggestions.
Our subscribers and browsers choose Hilton businesses, products and services over and over again. Join them by subscribing now.
When you #LoveLocalRealHard smiles appear on the faces that surround you, that makes days in Hilton better than you could have imagined!
SPAR Women’s 10/5km Challenge
Introducing Durban SPAR Women’s Challenge Ambassadors
Hollywoodbets Kings Park Outer Fields: Sunday 25 June
SPAR KZN is delighted to reveal four exceptional local KwaZulu-Natal women as the ambassadors for this year’s Durban SPAR Women’s Challenge that takes place around the beachfront in Durban on Sunday 25 June.
Returning as ambassadors for the second year at the KZN event are actress and comedian, Lisa Bobbert; former SPAR Protea Netball player, Baby Proteas Assistant Coach and educator at Danville Park Girls’ High School, Precious Mthembu and former Springbok, current KZN Rugby player and firefighting hero, Zinhle Ndawonde. Introducing award winning Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist Dr Marise Subrayan.
This year’s race theme is a celebration of women conquering and overcoming life’s every day challenges. Using the hashtag, #ItsPersonal, the 2023 SPAR Women’s Challenge wishes to encourage and motivate the women of KZN, showing that their sheer personal determination is key to attaining their goals. The race is just one way to show it’s a personal journey and that ‘challenges’ can be overcome, and goals attained.
A ray of sunshine, multi-award-winning actress and comedian Lisa Bobbert continues to dazzle daily in Durban. Having overcome many obstacles in both her personal and professional life, Bobbert and her husband, Aaron McIlroy, radiate optimism and positivity.
Bobbert shared, “It was an absolute honour being a SPAR Women’s Challenge Ambassador last year. I am not an athlete, just a mother trying to do the best I can for my family. Being a part of last year’s event, both as an ambassador and as a competitor, was so affirming. It was wonderful to be a part of something where we all come together and celebrated who we are and where we are going.”
Sharing Bobbert’s sentiments, uber strong, fitness fanatic, Zinhle Ndawonde hasn’t let anything or anyone crush her dreams, rising above stereotyping to becoming a highly decorated female rugby player hailing from a rural community, and a heroic firefighter. Her pure passion, determination, and following her heart has afforded her many life-changing opportunities along with a chance to see and experience the world.
“Sharing the roads with so many phenomenal women last year, was truly humbling and amazing. We are all somehow fighting our own personal battles, but for these wonderful occasions, we come together as one. We rose together and supported one another. I was running alongside total strangers, running past women I had never met and most probably will never see again but every step of the way, we lifted each other up. It was beautiful.”
Motivating and moulding the future, role model Precious Mthembu’s competitive days on the netball court might be slowing down but she certainly isn’t giving up. Her current role is inspiring youngsters in the Danville Park Girls’ High School’s classrooms where she teaches isiZulu and guides their future netball stars – a passion of hers. Away from the classroom, she coaches, igniting and uplifting young talents, be it youth players in the baby Protea’s teams or development players closer to home.
Her stand out moment from the 2022 race: “I loved running alongside my development netball team, the joy and seeing them having fun in a competitive way was mind blowing. The sense of freedom and happiness emanating from my girls and other competitors, was contagious. The opportunity to connect with the community was really enjoyable.”
Newcomer to the team, Dr Marise Subrayan is an Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist, based at St Augustine’s hospital in Durban. The ethos of her practice is to encourage education and female empowerment, assisting women in making individualised, informed decisions about their physical, mental and sexual health. She has interests in hormonal disorders, sexual-dysfunction and aesthetic gynaecology, and her practice is LGBTQ+ friendly. She has presented her research on female genital mutilation both locally and overseas. She has a keen interest in continuing further research in O&G and often collaborates with a multi-disciplinary team to provide care for the under-serviced community. She was recently recognised at the annual KZN Panache Women of Wonder awards.
“Mother Theresa once said, I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to cause many ripples. I am greatly appreciative to be recognised alongside these likeminded women who have been creating ripples in their own communities.”
Taking to the roads on race day, the four ambassadors will be encouraging all and sundry to join them. Follow their #ItsPersonal journey on social media as they train, get ready and take part in Durban’s most beautiful race where they hope to meet and greet and have loads of fun with the eager participants.
To enter, visit www.sparwomensrace.co.za/durban. Entries cost between R150 and R200 and include a race t-shirt, Goodie bag, and a race medal.
For all the relevant race information and to enter online go to www.sparwomensrace.co.za/durban.
For more information like the SPAR Women’s Race KZN Facebook page (SPARWomens10and5kmRace) or follow on Instagram (sparwomenskzn) or Twitter (sparladiesrace).
Photo by Val Adamson: SPAR KZN is delighted to reveal local KwaZulu-Natal women as the ambassadors for this year’s Durban SPAR Women’s Challenge that takes place around the beachfront in Durban on Sunday 25 June. Pictured here are three of the ambassadors: Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist Dr Marise Subrayan, former Springbok, current KZN Rugby player and firefighter, Zinhle Ndawonde, and former SPAR Protea Netball player, Baby Proteas Assistant Coach and educator at Danville Park Girls’ High School, Precious Mthembu.
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Andrew Line from Hilton is a keen bowler…. so he has had his bowls specially made in the primary colours and white, the colours he uses for all his painting.
So his favourite parts of his life are now linked.
A second time exhibitor at the Harcourts Hilton ART in the Country art exhibtion, coming up from 25 to 28 May 2023 at Harrington House on the Hilton College Road.
MiTH 24 May 2023
INFO: 082 331 7271
ENTRANCE: R50.00 - Cash or Zapper at the Door
VENUE: The Knoll Historic Guest Farm
7pm: Oscar Rorvik
A schooled keyboard player, Oscar from Deep Heat has evolved into a guitar-playing singer-songwriter on the KZN scene, graduating from pubs and clubs to White Mountain last year and more recently, Splashy Fen.
Having shared the stage with the likes of good friends Rowan Stuart, Steve Fataar, Paul Arthur and Brian Finch, amongst others, Oscar performs with his own authentic brand of humour and passion, singing warm inspiring songs of the heart, truth, and finding one`s way in life. He mixes his original compositions with classic popular hits from Bob Dylan to the Bee Gees, Van Morrison, and more.
With his unique finger-plucking style, and strong voice, it is always a pleasure to have him onstage, projecting his energy and "Deep Heat" to the audience, and adding his percussion and beats behind others.
8pm: Rhiannon Reid
Well-known to MiTH from performing with the Reid Family Band, Rhiannon Reid is a local musician, and now a published author. Previously a student of Kech Sanchez, and a singer in the Howick High School band, she has honed her skills on guitar and vocals over the years. For this event she will be accompanied by her dad, Vince, who has had an interest in music from a young age and is mainly self-taught. He plays keyboard, guitar, and recently, tin whistle.
9pm: TChristian
Pietermaritzburg-born TChristian, formally known as Thanduxolo Christian, had a goal to reach the highest level of education. During his years of education, TChristian focused on music and vocal training. He majored in drumming, getting the opportunity to play for various artists around the world, like Simphiwe Dana, Joyous Celebration, Themba Mkwena, Hlengiwe Mhlaba, and Ayanda Ntanzi to name a few.
In 2014, TChristian made the transition to performing at various eateries; an environment where he feels music is best appreciated. He is also the proud owner of his own brand, which supplies entertainment for family events, weddings, parties, or any event that might be enhanced by live music to help the soul recharge.
TChristian believes that the skill of being a one-man-band is the most appealing musical enterprise known to man. He brings that alive and creates amazing musical performances, drawing influences from jazz, soul, Afro-beat, fusion music, RnB, and many more. With one album released, and four singles, he has manufactured a sound that delights the ears – the true experience of a live sound with audio technicality.
ABOUT MiTH: Arguably the KZN Midlands’ best-loved music venue, Music in The Hills (MiTH) is an opportunity for beginners, professionals, and passionate music fans to share the joy of music at The Knoll Historic Guest Farm. Visit www.mith.co.za for more details and directions. Musicians can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for slots.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: MiTH takes place every second Wednesday at The Knoll Historic Guest Farm, Knoll Drive, Hilton. Doors open at 6pm and the music will kick off at 7pm. Entrance is R50 at the door. Food and soft drinks are available for sale. A cash bar is available.
DIRECTIONS TO MiTH: Take the N3 to Hilton, take the Hilton turnoff and go South into the Village (away from Hilton College). Travel 5,2km along Hilton Avenue (past two sets of traffic lights and Crossways Pub) and keep going straight as Hilton Avenue turns into Dennis Shepstone Drive. At the 5,2km mark, Knoll Drive will be on your right – the entrance to MiTH is the *second* entrance on your left into The Knoll Historic Guest Farm.
Greetings Hiltonians,
Looking for a great cup of coffee in Hilton? Look no further than iGolf KZN!
Whether you're taking on the virtual course or just stopping by for a visit, our coffee shop has you covered. And for a limited time, if you spend R200 or more at The Book Store or the Hospice Shop in Hilton Village, your cup of coffee is on us!
Don't miss out on this opportunity to enjoy a delicious cup of coffee and support local businesses at the same time.
We can't wait to see you at iGolf KZN!
For more information call 031 003 8093, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit 39 Hilton Avenue, Hilton.
It has been a busy week to say the least, but one thing I am grateful for is the fact that we decided to add Food Socks to our Love Boxes.
Our beloved, Dr Rene Stewart (Pictured Top), has decided...everyone can breathe a sigh of relief, she isn't retiring... that she wants to take things a bit easier, so she will now be working from 1pm until 5pm on weekdays (excluding Wednesdays as she takes the day off) and Saturday mornings as per normal.
