Author: Editor

As we go into lockdown in South Africa (and Ireland where I am) I thought to post some thoughts.

These are trying times for us all. Many of us will go through similar cycles of fear for our own well-being, and for our family; concerns for our jobs or income, and worry about how the financial markets will affect economies and ultimately impact us.

As we should all know by now being in lockdown and adhering to it is vital to “flatten the curve”, to reduce and delay the peak of the epidemic and protect healthcare capacity. The majority of us, if we catch this virus, will get through it with slight to moderate symptoms. However, we all need to play our part by staying home to ensure that the more vulnerable in our society – the elderly, those with certain pre-existing health conditions, our healthcare workers, and the poverty-stricken – are shielded from this virus.

The City of Cape Town has decided to close down beaches as people continue to visit them despite calls for social distancing.

Beaches will close starting tomorrow morning, Tuesday, March 24, to limit public contact as the country battles the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19). Swimming, surfing, kite-surfing, kayaking, recreational fishing, and any other beach or water-based activity will be prohibited.  Law enforcement will patrols the beaches while lifeguards will remain stationed on the beaches to assist the officers.

The Shark Spotting Programme will also be stopping all shifts and no Shark Spotters will be on duty at any beaches.

Community service announcements from

#StrongerTogether 

At the end of 2018 I sold my house in Cape Town as I was moving to Ireland. Although I have been in Cape Town real estate for over 35 years, I was still shocked at what banks wanted to charge me for transferring my money overseas.

If an international exchange of funds is involved in your property transaction you should pay close attention to the exchange rates you will be charged, as well as how long the transfer is likely to take and whether there are tax implications or clearances required.

With immediate effect, this Website will subscribe to the #PositiveFacebookPage criteria of no longer covering any negative reporting on issues.

We have unprecedented challenges ahead of us. This is NOT ABOUT SUGAR COATING community news but about playing a positive role in an unprecedented time of national crisis. This is now the calm before the storm and its time NOW to adjust our mids to what attitudes will help us all prevail till this has passed.

Let’s all embrace the need to share things responsibly and positively. Be a #PositiveFacebookPage and share humour share positive ideas and be a source for encouragement and inspiration.  We will.

Within a week everything so much changed! Like every business, real estate companies are scrambling to understand and make changes that are sure to be required due to the Coronavirus measures being implemented.

Here are seven common-sense measures all agents and sellers and buyers should follow for showhouses:

1. Buyers should view the property online first and shortlist those for viewing as opposed to randomly popping in to see properties they have no idea will or will not be suitable.
2. Buyers should consider not bringing children or additional members of the family on multi viewings. Of course, if a home is selected or shortlisted for a second viewing then a full family visit can be arranged where children are closely monitored.
3. On entry to the property, a warm welcome should not involve any handshake.
4. If there is a good attendance people should be asked and prepared to wait until there are fewer people inside the house doing a viewing – the fewer the better.
5. On entry to the property, a hand sanitiser should be used and if there is no alternative an appropriate spray wash and paper towel dry.
6. Buyers should be reminded to avoid touching anything – and doors to rooms should be left open for viewing and not closed. Door handles should be wiped with an appropriate product before and after the showhouse.
7. The agent should discuss related issues to the opening and the closing of the showhouse with the seller.

   Let’s talk and be sensible about solutions!

   Want to share an idea? Email: andre@capetownshowhouses.co.za

A new website www.CapeTownShowhouses.co.za has all the showhouses in all of Cape Town every Sunday with a focus on those in Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs and False Bay.  It also has a Showhouse Blog that will provide additional useful showhouse related information.

STBB Claremont has a useful guide to who pays for what in the transfer process that property buyers and sellers will find useful.  It is intended that the site will be expanded in the next few weeks to provide the most comprehensive showhouse resource available.

This week’s featured showhouse is in Glencairn Heights for R2 900 000.  The featured showhouses module has been exclusively secured by Chas Everitt International’s Cape Town South franchise for six months.

PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH FRIENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Contrary to our earlier observations and statement we now have strong evidence to suggest that the potentially fatal Canine Parvo Virus (CPV) initially confined to the De Waal Park area of Cape Town CBD and limited to a tragic isolated incident has regrettably spread to a number of other neighbourhoods in the Southern Suburbs.

The virus is so potent that it is able to be carried and transmitted by unwitting 3rd party vectors on the soles of their shoes or clothing and it is a myth that it is confined to any specific sector of the community. All dogs and puppies are at risk regardless of demographics.

We subsequently urge all pet owners to vaccinate their pets and to be extra vigilant.

There are several affordable and practical bio-security precautionary measures that pet owners can take including dunking the soles of their shoes into a strong bleach solution to disinfect their shoes before entering their property and avoiding walking in areas frequented by potentially infected dogs (especially those areas where dog walkers tend not to pick-up their dogs faeces) until the situation normalises.

Worrying signs to look out for include diarrhoea (gastro type symptoms), listlessness, loss of appetite and lethargy.

Any dog or puppy displaying any of the above negative symptoms or that appears to be “off colour” should be seen by a veterinarian without delay.

An affordable snap-test will quickly confirm whether or not the pet has Parvo Virus.

Pet owners should also be aware that the virus can survive for many months on an infected property and are strongly discouraged from acquiring another dog or puppy for at least 6 months.

In one case brought to our attention yesterday, the distraught owner claims that her dog was fully vaccinated and never left their premises yet it contracted the virus. The dog is currently in Intensive Care fighting for its life at a Pinelands Vet. It is very likely that this unfortunate dog was unwittingly infected by one of the occupants of or visitors to the premises who must have walked in a contaminated area or come into contact with another infected dog.

Last year CPV claimed hundreds of dogs and puppies lives in the Garden Route, Khayelitsha and areas of the Cape Flats and required a Herculean effort to stop it from spreading and claiming more lives. To halt the spread of the virus in the Philippi Horticultural Area the Animal Welfare Society of SA in partnership with Carecube.org vaccinated over 500 vulnerable dogs and puppies owned by Philippi farm labourers and rolled out an educational campaign to educate owners about the necessity to vaccinate their pets. The legacy of this campaign is a massive reduction in the number of preventable dread diseases within the beneficiary community.

We see between 10 and 20 CPV cases every day. This is nothing exceptional. It is the tragic norm.

In almost all of these cases, the owners neglected to vaccinate their pets, had them vaccinated by a dubious person or bought them unvaccinated at a reduced price from unscrupulous breeders.

Heartbreakingly almost all of these pets have to be humanely euthanized to end their pain and suffering.

Anyone thinking of skimping on their pets primary veterinary care and animal husbandry is courting disaster.

– Animal Welfare Society of South Africa

#animalwelfare #parvovirus