Afternoons with Relebogile Mabotja

In today's car feature Nicol Louw (CAR Magazine Techincal Editor) spoke to Azania and listeners about vehicle warranties and items that are excluded. In general terms, the motor vehicle and all accessories (conditional) fitted at the time of sale are covered by the warranty. If a defect occurs during the warranty period, the dealer is obliged to fix the defect at no cost to the customer so that the vehicle is in reasonable condition for its age. The time it takes to make repairs is added on to your warranty period. 

Spark plugs are one of the most misunderstood components of an engine. Numerous questions have surfaced over the years, leaving many people confused. Nicol Louw, Technical Editor at CAR Magazine said The spark plug has two primary functions:to ignite the air/fuel mixture and to remove heat from the combustion chamber. He also added that the temperature of the spark plug’s firing end must be kept low enough to prevent pre-ignition, but high enough to prevent fouling. This is called “Thermal Performance”, and is determined by the heat range selected.

Skin disorders vary greatly in symptoms and severity. They can be temporary or permanent, and may be painless or painful. Some have situational causes, while others may be genetic. Some skin conditions are minor, and others can be life-threatening. This afternoon we look at some of the more common adult skin disorders

Jordan Metcalf is a designer, illustrator and artist was today's Master Teacher, giving us insight into lettering and typography.  Coming out of the grunge, graffiti and David Carson era through the ’90s, there has been a major resurgence of interest in typography. We have seen a number of designers and artists make their careers out of designing type or custom lettering, and it has become common to list typography among our skills and disciplines.

Lettering can be simply defined as “the art of drawing letters”. A lot goes into making lettering look right, and that’s an entirely different topic, but the concept is very simple: a specific combination of letterforms crafted for a single use and purpose as opposed to using previously designed letters as components, as with typography. Often lettering is hand-drawn, with pens, graphite or brushes, although some people start their work directly in Adobe Illustrator. Engraving and similar arts are related to lettering.

Somizi Mhlongo is a respected choreographer, musician, actor and Idols Judge who has worked with the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and R. Kelly. He sat down with Azania in this week’s Friday Profile chatting about his new radio gig, his role as a parent, his parents and life.

Henri Matisse proved that creativity takes courage. He shook the art scene to its core and developed an entire new art movement which opened the door for all the modern painters who followed after him. The first major showcase in Africa of his art takes place at The Standard Bank Gallery from July 13 to September 17 in an exhibition titled Henri Matisse | Rhythm and Meaning. Henri Matisse | Rhythm and Meaning is presented by Standard Bank in partnership with the Embassy of France in South Africa, the French Institute of South Africa, and with the support of the Musée départemental Matisse du Cateau-Cambrésis, Air France, Total and Air Liquide.

In a diverse society like South Africa, relationships between people can take numerous forms. People can enter into civil marriages, same-sex marriages, customary marriages, religious marriages or domestic partnerships (cohabitation/living together)… but how many of us are aware of the different legal implications of our romantic relationships and the different ways in which these may affect things like spousal support in the event of a break-up, ownership of property (e.g. home you shared) in the event of the death of your partner as well as health benefits?

When we think of weight loss, we often think about what we eat. The questions we ask ourselves tend to revolve around how much fat, protein and carbs to eat, or whether beets help take off the pounds. Diets touted in the media as optimal for weight loss abound, yet we remain a nation with an obesity problem. What we tend to ignore, when we think of weight loss, is how we are approaching and managing the process of change. As important as it is to focus on what you eat to lose weight and keep it off, it is equally crucial to consider physical activity and maintaining lifestyle changes over time.

John Parker is South Africa’s Tree Guru, an Australian qualified and South African experienced Arborist specialising as a consultant in the scientific care and management of trees and shrubs – sometimes called woody plants. John joined us as today’s master class guest teaching us all we need to know about the baobab tree. There are eight species of Baobab, the African variety, six in Madagascar and one in Australia. The African variety, Adonsonia Digitata, is the largest and is found in 20 sub Saharan countries. It thrives in dry climes which have low to moderate seasonal rainfall.

Experts usually draw the line between a merely messy lifestyle and hoarding “when it comes to the person’s ability to function,” Tolin says. “Lots of people may acquire things they don’t need, but if it’s not the sort of thing that causes an inability to function adequately, we don’t call it hoarding. If they’re no longer able to cook meals in their own home, if they can’t live safely in their own home, if they’re a threat to others, that’s where we’d say it crosses the line.”