Are schools able to return to playing sport? We talk to Bongani Zondi Deputy Director at the DBE

 

Bongani Zondi - Deputy Director: at Department of Basic Education in the Sport and Enrichment Directorate talks to coaches and administrators about the new government gazette that is going to come out in the near future. He talks about what schools can and cannot do, reporting structures that a school needs to follow before they are able to play again, PPE requirements and various other issues that schools face in returning to sport. Mr Zondi is responsible for coordination and management of sport and enrichment programmes in education. These include school sport, arts and culture programmes such as the choral programmes. Some of these programmes are performed in collaboration with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) as well as with a variety of partners such as the Motsepe Foundation and Transnet.

Cricket South Africa, SA Schools Rugby and Sporting talk about how schools can return to sport

 

Schools have been told that they can return to sport but what does that mean?

Can you return to sport? 

What does it mean that schools sport has returned?

Are there limits in the way that you can return to sport?

What happens if you break the rules in returning to sport?

We have asked Cricket South Africa, SA Schools Rugby Association and Sporting Lisbon in South Africa to answer these questions for us. There are some clearly defined rules of what schools and clubs can do and come that are not that clear. These rules are common amongst all sports. It will be interesting to see what the take is of governing bodies that deal with both contact and non contact sport.

Henno Kruger from Running Wolf Rant talks about how he sees the music scene changing after the Coronavirus

We interviewed photographer, influencer and blogger Henno Kruger owner of http://rwrant.co.za/ about the music scene. Henno is passionate about music and can often been seen at a music event taking photos for the musicians and for his blog. Henno is very much a behind the scenes guy that likes to highlight the brilliance of South African musicians.

Tell us about yourself and how did you get involved in the music industry and why you are so interested in music.

I've always been a fan of live music shows. I think the first show I went to was a Koos Kombuis show at a place called Navigator's Ladies Bar (that used to be across the road from the Reserve Bank in Pretoria). Since then I've always made an effort to watch bands / artists live at pubs / clubs. I watched James & Smashing Pumpkins live in 2000 (at Supersport Park in Centurion) - 43,000 people attended to show - After that I was hooked. I just had to get my fix on a regular basis. Sadly I missed all of the Cokefests (because I wasn't earning that much before 2010), but I did manage to catch live shows and make my way to Oppikoppi annually (I ended up going to 20 of them in total). 

From 2011 things changed significantly though (thanks to my blog and me re-disovering my love for photography). I started posting festival reviews and photos on a regular basis and starting mingling with artists and organizers at shows and festivals on a regular basis. Because people were reading my blog and checking out my photos and I became part of the SA Music family (which is actually smaller than people think it is, but it's a fun group of like-minded peeps).

Why did you start your blog?

Back in 2008 I was doing a lot of chatting online (as one used to do). I got very opinionated about a subject in a chat with a girl (who I haven't met till this day). She kept on telling me that I had a lot to tell the world and that I should explore options to do it. She suggested that I start a blog. I was not keen to do it, but I gave it a shot. 

I started using Blogger (*puke*) and tried Wordpress.com (which was not too bad, but still didn't give me the control that I wanted) and eventually settled on buying my domain and installing Wordpress to start Running Wolf's Rant. RunningWolf was my nickname on IRC and I liked to rant (I got that idea for the Rant & Rave section in Top 40 magazine). I degress, but I actually got one of my letters published in that section when I was still in high school (my psuedonym was "Kurt Grungehead").

In 2009 my site was featured on 5FM and I posted my first Oppikoppi review and it got a little traction, I realized that people liked to read my rants and reviews and I decided to post more regularly, that just increased from 2010 onwards (especially after I started tweeting - a lot). I've deleted some posts, but I currently have more than 2900 posts on the site :D

What were the trends that you saw before the lockdown?

The industry was pretty stable before lockdown (despite some ups and downs and a dwindling SA economy). Rock bounced back with RAMFest 2020 in Pretoria (which I luckily attended before the lockdown). Awesome shows were lined up for April & May. My girlfriend and I were actually planning to go to STRAB (in Mozambique). 2020 was going to be a great year for SA Music.

Just before lockdown I saw that a lot of live music venues were limiting capacity, live venues were closing (like Mercury in Cape Town), festivals and concerts were getting postponed and cancelled. I don't work in the music industry full time, but I'm actively involved with it at times. I know a lot of people that are part of it (bands, artists, photographers, organizers and venue owners, etc.). It was actually heart-breaking seeing all of this happening. I've seen many folks build up a band / brand / following / venue / festival from scratch and the prospect of them not being able to engage, work or build the industry is just unfair / sad / concerning / scary. Negativity doesn't belong in the SA Music Scene.

What are the trends that you see during the lockdown?

Performances in living rooms or lapas that are being streamed on different platforms (with musos asking for tips for themselves or venues), Zoom parties (with bands / artists / DJs asking for tips and people drinking home brews or the horrible whiskey they got for Christmas in 2014), Music Quiz Nights hosted by musicians, bloggers (like yours truly) promoting new music from artists & their online shows. There has definitely been a surge in people consuming video content online. Platforms like Netlfix and Showmax have broken streaming records. The same goes for music streaming platforms like Spotify.

How do you see the industry changing after the lockdown?

It's going to change big time. Some things will still be the same, but a little different. Pubs and venues will limit their capacity and enforce social distancing. Festivals will get a lot smaller. There will be sanitising stations all over. I don't think we're going to see festivals with more than 2000 people in the near future. Tickets will be more expensive (because of limited capacity - venues pay artists thanks to ticket sales - less tickets sold, less money in). Crowdfunding is going to become even more popular amongst artist - most of them were already struggling before lockdown and won't have money to pay for studio time and tours when the lockdown is over. People will also get very picky about the shows they want to go to.

But, I don't think that the changes will  all be negative. Concerts / performances / festivals will sell tickets to stream their shows. That's a revenue stream that hasn't really been tapped into properly yet in my opinion - even though some people are getting gatvol of it during lockdown. The shows you go to will be a more intimate affair that will allow you to connect with performers (thanks to crowd reductions). 

What have you got in the pipeline for your blog?

I''m currently working on a SA Music Directory (which will link to articles about the artists / festivals / venues that I've featured on there). I'm also working on trimming old content that's not relevant any more.

Kassey chats to us about the latest research stats on streaming

2020 was always going to be the year that streaming was going to grow exponentially due to the launch of new channels like Disney Plus but now with the Coronavirus streaming has exploded. Kassey discusses the latest stats and marketing opportunities.