New Head of SADC Secretariat Public Relations Unit (PRU):

Ms Barbara Lopi has been appointed Senior Officer – Public Relations for the Southern African Development Community (SADC), effective February 2017. 

Previously, Ms. Lopi worked as Communications and Awareness Expert for Water in the Directorate on Infrastructure and Services within the SADC Secretariat from October 2012.

Ms Lopi has worked in the Awareness, Communications, Media and Public Relations fields as a Journalist, Researcher/writer, Editor and Project Manager for several organisations including the United Nations Office for Projects Support, German Development Cooperation, Southern African Research and Documentations Centre, Care International-Zambia, Zambia Association for Research and Development and the Inter Africa Network for Human Rights.

Her contact details are:

Barbara Lopi | Senior Officer Public Relations | Southern African Development Community (SADC)| Gaborone, BOTSWANA Private Bag 0095, Room DGP31| Direct +267  3641790 | +267 395 18 63 (Ext 1790) Email: blopi@sadc.int

Two Big Barriers to Your Success

By Craig Ballantyne  If you’ve ever watched me speak on stage or listened to one of my radio shows, then you’ve heard me speak about one of the most influential men in my life... Matt Smith. Jokingly referred to as The Most Mysterious Man in The World, Matt is a serial entrepreneur and business leader with a history many entrepreneurs and executives dream of. Don't miss these tools keeping you…  HEALTHY Female Fat Loss Troublespots Over 40  WEALTHY How to Get a Big Raise in 2017  WISE George Foreman's Golden Advice

He’s lived “off the grid” in Argentina, run a $250 million business, and developed a deep understanding of ancient philosophy, all while being a well read, highly respected, and devoted family man, … He’s constantly setting new and interesting goals, and achieving them. What’s his secret? How does Matt overcome the struggles that we all face when pursuing a goal? It took me years to learn this, but it comes down to a simple analysis framework. When Matt is pursuing a goal and failing to see success, he asks himself a simple question: “Is this a skill issue, or a commitment issue?” With people like Matt, you, and me, it’s rarely a commitment issue. Sure, sometimes we realize that the goal we picked is no longer aligned with our life. But that’s rare. When we get stuck, it’s normally a skill issue. Recognizing the correct answer to this question is half the battle in becoming the most successful version of yourself. You know that you deserve to have success - now you just need to figure out what skills you need to solve the problem. And that’s what successful people do differently. They constantly seek out and acquire new skills, tools, and systems that enable them to reach their goals. Why You Should Never Stop Learning New Skills As an Early To Rise reader, it’s clear that you’re ambitious and want more from your life. I think that’s fantastic. What you may not realize, though, is that attitude or mindset isn’t the thing holding you back. It’s that you don’t know what to do - or when to do it - to achieve your goals. Luckily, you don’t have to figure this out for yourself. Every problem we face today has been solved by someone else before us. I found this out while studying the top 1% of high performers. They don’t focus on coming up with new and creative methods for achieving their goals. Instead they focus on leveraging what other successful people have proven to work. The more you learn the skills and systems of successful people, the more leverage you have in pursuing your own goals — and the less likely you are to run into a barrier that stops you from achieving them. How To Use Skill Vs Commitment Let’s jump back to Matt Smith. Over the last 20 years he has run a dozen companies, traveled the world, and been involved in growing industry defining organizations. He’s done this all without limiting his role as a father to his two kids. Again, he’s been so successful at achieving his goals because he identifies the skills he is lacking, and then goes and gets them. (This is why his personal office has literally hundreds of books in it.) And now you can follow in his steps and use his system, too.

RABASOTHO COMMUNITY CENTRE NOT SCHEDULED FOR PAYMENT

The Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini has noted the claims by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on beneficiaries who allegedly did not get their social grants at the Rabasotho Community Centre in Tembisa.

The Minister would like to state that the Rabasotho Community Centre was not scheduled for payment today. It is scheduled for payment from April 4 - 7 2017 and beneficiaries were given slips last month that clearly state dates and venues. The DA should have simply asked people for these slips or contacted the call centre for assistance as was widely communicated. 

"Members of Parliament, especially if they are members of the portfolio committee on Social Development, have a duty to give information and educate South Africans. If the members of the DA had the best interest of South Africans at heart, they should have at least tried to find the correct information for the supposed stranded beneficiaries. It looks like the DA cannot believe that indeed social grants were paid, they even abandoned the values of ubuntu - caring, compassion, respect, dignity," said Minister Dlamini.

It is clear that the DA is operating in desperation and we appeal to social grant recipients to go to their respective dates and venues as they appear on their slips given last month. Social grants are paid over 15 days beginning on the first day of each month and payment will continue until April 17 in the Gauteng Province.  Social grants are paid through various channels including merchants, banks, points of sale, ATMs and SASSA cash paypoints. 

We take the opportunity to remind beneficiaries who have any challenges with the grants to call the SASSA call centre on 0800 60 10 11  toll-free to get assistance.

By the end of April 1, SASSA had disbursed over R3,3 billion. On deductions: The Minister is committed to following the ConCourt order to the latter.

The Embassy of Belgium and Freedom Park Launch World War 1 Exhibition “The Great War in Broad Outlines”

Media is hereby invited to attend a media briefing on the World War 1 (WW1) Exhibition,  entitled ‘The Great War in Broad Outlines”, to be held at Freedom Park on Thursday 6th April 2017 at 09h00.  The media briefing precedes the official launch taking place in the evening at Freedom Park. The briefing will also unpack elements of the forthcoming Seminar to be held on 7 April 2017.

Attending the press briefing will be amongst others, H.E. Hubert Cooreman, Ambassador of Belgium, Griet Brosens, historian and designer of the exhibition, Institute of War Veterans, Dominique Dendooven, historian, Flanders Field Museum, Jane Mufamadi, Freedom Park CEO as well as Curators and Researchers.

The exhibition “The Great War in Broad outlines” is a travelling exhibition that is being shown around the world in the framework of the centenary of the First World War.

 

Members of Media are invited as follows:

Date: 06 April 2016

Venue: Freedom Park, Pretoria

Time: 09h00

 

Enquiries:

Naomi Madima

Freedom Park

012 336 4006/ 060 961 3851