Latest news with #MichaelSherman
IOL News
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- IOL News
Gayton McKenzie dodges what LIV Golf event will do for development of golf in SA
Following the announcement on Saturday that LIV Golf will be heading to South Africa in 2026, SA minister of Sport Gayton McKenzie could not give a definitive answer about what the hosting of the big-money event would do for the development of the game in the country. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL Image: Michael Sherman/IOL Following the announcement on Saturday that LIV Golf will be heading to South Africa in 2026, SA Minister of Sports Gayton McKenzie did not say what the event will do for the development of golf in the country. The Saudi-funded tournament will be held at the exclusive Steyn City, in Johannesburg, from March 20 to 22 next year. The event will have a strong home contingent representing the nation with Stingers GC featuring Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester, Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace. LIV Golf events, as its name is derived from the Roman numerals for 54, have three 18-hole rounds and currently do not carry world rankings points for the tournaments. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ McKenzie on Golf's Elitist Perception and LIV's Impact on SA Golf Development With tickets well over R500 (30 US dollars per person), although children under 12 will have free entry, it's difficult to see new fans attending the event. When asked by IOL what the event will do for SA golf development, McKenzie dodged the question: 'I think the uncomfortable truth about this great sport called golf is that it has not truly broken through to the poorest of the poor or the underprivileged in our country, and the masses of black people. 'Golf is still seen, unfortunately so, despite the hard work that the people that are involved, but they've not truly made it a sport for everyone. It is still seen as an elitist sport in a country of 60 million people. 'It's an expensive sport. LIV wants, when they leave, to leave an impact behind.' McKenzie though, said local artists would also feature in the entertainment at the events. 'We're also going to have headliners, which we've discussed, which is still a surprise, but this is one of the biggest headliners in the world that will play and perform. That headliner will perform with local artists, which will also give local artists exposure.' @Michael_Sherman IOL Sport
IOL News
18-07-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
When Ernie Els won South Africa's last major in 2012 and thanked Nelson Mandela
The Open Championship has always been the favourite major for IOL Sports writer Michael Sherman. Seen here: Ernie Els in his winner's press conference at the 2012 Open championship at Royal Lytham & St Anne's. Picture credit: Michael Sherman/IOL The last time a South African won a men's major, Nelson Mandela had just celebrated his penultimate birthday, and Ernie Els made sure to thank the elder statesman for his positive influence on the country. Els won the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Anne's, and though his victory came four days after Madiba celebrated his 94th birthday, the Big Easy made sure to thank the father of the nation. In fact, it was a rich sporting week for South Africa as Hashim Amla had scored the highest score in Test cricket by a Proteas player when he made 311 against England at The Oval in London on the same day. In his victory speech, Els paid tribute to Mandela.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Fife community feels 'abandoned' during Storm Eowyn
Park home residents in Fife have complained they were "abandoned" during Storm Eowyn after a contractual quirk meant an energy firm treated them like a business. Fordell Gardens in Dunfermline was among the many areas left without power after the storm hit on Friday, and it only regained electricity on Sunday night. However, people living at the park homes - the majority of whom are elderly - discovered they did not qualify for emergency aid from energy transmission firm SP Energy Networks (SPEN) because they are on a commercial contract. SPEN said it was the responsibility of the site's owner Tom Swarbrick to maintain the network, but he has told BBC News he found it impossible to contact the energy firm for guidance. More stories from Edinburgh, Fife & East More stories from Scotland Park homes are alternatives to traditional properties, offering prefabricated or lodge style accommodation within a residential park, and are popular with retirees. But after the storm, residents of Fordell Gardens found themselves having to spend money on alternative accommodation, source generators or in some cases sit in their cars to stay warm BBC Scotland News understands a number of park homes and care homes operate on similar lines, with the energy operator registering a central business owner rather than individual home owners for the properties. SPEN offered emergency aid to home owners affected by the storm, which saw over 100,000 customers lose power. However Fordell Gardens residents did not qualify for the aid, which included hotel stays at SPEN's expense and compensation for food lost during the outages. Among those affected was Michael Sherman, 80, who has lived at the site for around two decades. He said he spent Friday night staying in the bedroom trying to keep warm and that at one stage he "went and sat in the car to try and get a heat." Mr Sherman, who is also disabled, eventually booked a hotel on Sunday to stay in using his own money. He added: "I just thought, 'I can't go on with this' and got the hotel sorted. But I'm lucky enough to be able to afford that at short notice - there's people living there that couldn't do that, or didn't have family to stay with. They just had to get by when it was freezing." One of those who stayed was Heather McLean, who lives there with her husband Nick. She said: "Everyone was keeping an eye on the neighbours and trying to do our best, but we don't have generators lying around. "Getting them was nigh on impossible, and as they thought we were a commercial business there wasn't a fix out for us. "We had no contact with anyone – it was like 60 homes were abandoned." She estimated around 90% of people living at the site were over 70. Mr Swarbrick, who has owned the site for around 40 years, told BBC Scotland News that his main concern was the fact he was unable to reach SPEN despite spending several hours trying to contact them on Friday and Saturday. This meant he was unable to explain to the company that the site had around 60 homes on it in need of assistance. Fife councillor David Barratt visited the site on Sunday to check in on the people living there, some of whom require regular medical treatment. He said: "It's heavily a community of older people, and it seemed cold-hearted the way SPEN were looking at the situation - it was unacceptable, given the number of people that needed support. "The residents of Fordell Gardens were overlooked and forgotten, and there wasn't support in place to help them." Mr Barratt said that both local and national government needed to review how park homes factor into emergency resilience planning. A spokesperson for SPEN said the individual homes at the site were not the company's responsibility. They said: "The residents are not customers of SP Energy Networks. "We operate the electricity network up to the residential park home estate owner's meter, everything after that belongs to them and they are responsible for the maintenance and repairs to that part of the network and any customers they may have." Repairs across Scotland are continuing in the aftermath of the storm, which saw a teenager die after a tree crashed onto his car. SPEN said around 97% of its customers in the south of Scotland and across the central belt had their power restored by Monday. Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) which deals with supplies in the north of the country and some parts of the central belt, said it expected to complete restoring supplies by the end of Monday. 'We're devastated at losing Edinburgh's tallest tree' Storm Éowyn: Travel and power problems to continue
