Latest news with #Bodenstein
The Citizen
01-08-2025
- General
- The Citizen
Joburg Water leaves Randburg dry and confused
Ward 99 Councillor Hendrik Bodenstein said Joburg Water's poor communication is deepening the water crisis in Randburg, with residents in suburbs like Blairgowrie, Darrenwood, Linden, and Robins constantly blindsided by outages. 'Advance notice of water outages remains the exception, not the rule,' said Bodenstein. 'The majority of bursts and infrastructure failures are only reported after the fact, if at all.' The north-western suburbs of Johannesburg are battling ageing water infrastructure and regular pipe bursts. According to Bodenstein, the situation is worsened by the city's failure to provide consistent updates or direct communication with ward councillors. 'There's no reliable system for early warnings, outage maps, or estimated repair times,' he said. 'Residents are left relying on Facebook groups and word-of-mouth to find out what's going on.' Also read: Water continues to spray out of the pipe on Nerina Street He said that although Joburg Water has increased social media posts in recent months, many updates are delayed or incomplete. 'I work well with some officials, but it's frustrating when there's no information on the dozens of daily bursts.' Bodenstein said the lack of information undermines public trust. 'It severely hampers my ability to serve the ward. I can't tell people what's happening or when water will return. I also can't advise where to find relief measures like tankers.' As a possible solution, the Democratic Alliance in Johannesburg is testing an automated outage reporting and escalation system in Ward 72. Bodenstein hopes it will be available in all wards by the end of the year. He believes Joburg Water needs to overhaul its communication approach for Randburg residents. 'We need real-time alerts via SMS or WhatsApp, interactive outage maps, and clear timelines for repairs. Water is a basic right residents deserve honest, timely updates.' Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration!
IOL News
15-07-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Jaguars fight back to beat Flames and boost Telkom Netball League semi-final hopes
Flames wing attack Tlotlang Mokomela (left) tries to pick out a player while the Jaguars players shut down the passing lanes in Tuesday's crunch TNL Power Week 3 match at the Durban ICC. Picture: NSA Image: Netball South Africa LAST year's losing finalists, the Gauteng Jaguars, secured a crucial 63-51 victory over the North West Flames in Power Week 3 of the Telkom Netball League at the Durban ICC on Tuesday afternoon, as the battle for the semi-final places heated up. The record six-times winners, who are coached by Rozanne Mathysse, came into the final week of SA's premier netball competition in fourth place, with the Flames one position above them. The win cemented their push for a play-off place but dented the chances of Elsunet du Plessis' charges, who face a battle for the final play-off spot with the Southern Stings. The Flames had the hotter start in a cagey first quarter where star Jaguars goal attack Kamogelo Maseko struggled to get going. Her usually telepathic link with goal shooter Ine-Mari Venter just wasn't there as the Flames closed out the quarter with a 14-12 lead. The Jaguars were a different team at the beginning of the second stanza as they finally found their rhythm. They scored seven unanswered points as they sped up play noticeably, while goalkeeper Bodenstein was increasingly influential on the defensive end. Jaguars wing defence Caroline Paul is ready to launch another attack against the Flames in Monday's match at the Durban ICC that the Jaguars won 63-51. Image: Netball South Africa Ominously for the Flames, Maseko found her range, and the partnership with Venter burst to life. They also shared the goalscoring burden. Bodenstein was enjoying the better of her battle against Flames goal shooter Zandre Smit, who had a dominant first half in the attacking circle. The Flames, however, refused to go away and trailed the Jaguars 30-27 at halftime. There was another scoring burst by the Jaguars that resulted in a six-point lead (39-33). Defensively, it was the Jamie van Wyk show. The Jaguars skipper seemed to have telescopic arms and springs in her heels, popping up everywhere at wing defence to intercept the Flames' passes and disrupt their general play. She was named Player of the Match. Even after Jaguars player Caroline Paul was sin-binned in the final quarter, they refused to let go of their grip on the match. Their accuracy in front of goal also proved a major difference. Coach Mathysse praised her players' character in recovering from a sluggish start to take the win, but pointed out areas for improvement. 🔥 On fire until the final whistle! Jaguars claw their way to a 12-goal win after a powerful second-half display. 😬 Q1 🔥14-12🐾 Q2 🔥27-30🐾 Q3 🔥39-48🐾 Q4 🔥51-63🐾#TNLFlamesJaguars #TelkomNL #TNL2025 #TelkomStandTall @TelkomZA — Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) July 15, 2025 'I think that first quarter we have to start a lot better and we have to play for 15 minutes. I felt we were brilliant in two five-minute spells but we let it go, to then pick up again. So that's something I would want to work on,' she said in her post-match interview. Next up for the Jaguars is a repeat of last year's final against defending champions the Crinums, who are currently in second place. The unbeaten Fireballs top the log. Flames coach Du Plessis urged her players to refocus after the blow to their semi-final chances. 'I think we really played a good first half, and everything kind of worked for us although I felt like in the midcourt we were a little flat but defensively we really did well,' she said. 'But you need to play consistently for 60 minutes to win games, and to also make sure you score. In these types of game you can't miss goals.' She admitted that they were in for a tough battle against the Stings, who drew level with the Flames on 11 points after a 76-44 win over the Baobabs.
Irish Times
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Farewell to the store that, with assists from Pelé and Messi, sustained soccer lovers in the US
In a couple of weeks, it will be half a century since Pelé made his debut for the New York Cosmos against the Dallas Tornado at Downing Stadium on Randall's Island. The pitch was so embarrassingly threadbare that the club deployed a small army of volunteers to daub dirt patches with green house paint diluted with water. Alan Bodenstein was a ball boy pressed into service with a brush to try to make the place look more respectable for television cameras and the watching world. When the Brazilian eventually walked on to the field, the PELE above the number 10 on his shirt had been meticulously hand-sewn there by Bodenstein's mother, Fay. A family affair. By chance, soccer had wandered into their home in Massapequa a couple of years earlier. Alan returned from school one day all abuzz about wanting to play on a new youth team being started by his friend's father. Soon the beautiful game took over all their lives. At a time when the sport was just starting to infiltrate the suburbs of Long Island, boots and balls were still difficult to source. Luckily, Gene Bodenstein, a civil engineer who grew up playing stickball on the streets of Brooklyn, was working in New York City and found he could buy what he needed for his son's new obsession at Doss Soccer Supply Store at 90th Street and First Avenue. That outlet was a long way from Massapequa so, eventually, Fay told him he should lug some extra gear back on the train with him each night because the soccer craze sweeping town had given her an idea. After they set up shop in the garage of their house on Richard Place, local kids needing shin guards or shorts or cleats (American for boots) came traipsing happily to their driveway. With her adding a mark-up of 50 cents or a dollar to whatever her husband had paid for the item in Manhattan, all was going well until a neighbour reported this thriving concern to the authorities. Befitting somebody who had survived the Holocaust because Belgian nuns hid her in a filing cabinet when Nazis searched their convent, Fay Bodentstein was undeterred by this setback. Taking the business up a level and gambling that soccer was here to stay, the family rented a space near Massapequa train station. Hoping their hunch was right, they opened a mom-and-pop shop that turned into something of an institution. READ MORE 'It became more than a soccer store, a place where players, coaches, parents, referees and administrators could talk and revel in the beautiful game,' wrote Michael Lewis, reporting the announcement of the impending closure of Massapequa Soccer Shop on 'After June 30th, that community centre and house of worship for soccer won't be available to help anyone in a pinch or to talk about the sport. The Bodenstein family has decided to retire and close the iconic store.' Although soccer had always prospered in immigrant enclaves in America's major cities, the Bodensteins took a chance in the early 1970s when nobody in this country was quite sure whether the spike in interest among suburban kids and parents was more than just a passing fad. Like the hula hoop or the yo-yo. This was decades before European soccer shirts became fashionable daily wear in high-school classrooms. A different time when somebody predicting that NBC would one day broadcast every Premier League game live each week might have been laughed out of the room. Nowadays, the whole world comes here to make bank out of the game's burgeoning popularity. A motley selection of outfits from all across the planet gather at NFL stadiums across America this month for a bloated cash-in tournament called the Fifa World Club Cup, featuring various continental champions and Inter Messi, sorry, Miami. In July, Bournemouth, Everton, West Ham United and Manchester United play out the so-called 'Premier League Series' at MetLife Stadium, Soldier Field in Chicago, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Aston Villa have games lined up in St Louis and Louisville. Meanwhile, Roy Keane played the curmudgeon on CBS's coverage of the Europa League debacle the other week, earning a vast sum for tolerating Micah Richards's laughing hyena shtick. Nobody could have envisaged the sport becoming such a lucrative money-spinner back when Massapequa Soccer Shop opened its doors. After the USA qualified for the 1990 World Cup, they put a Soccer Week magazine cover story in the window just so passersby might notice something significant had happened. Eight years later, Fay and Gene were brought to the tournament in France by Diadora. Recognition of services rendered. After both parents passed away, their daughter Helen and other son Mark took over the reins of a place they had grown up in. Now, after 52 years as part of the furniture of people's retail lives, the children have decided to shutter for good. Just about every sporting family on Long Island made pilgrimage to Massapequa Soccer Shop. For years, it was a Christmas ritual in our house where I would leave work early one December afternoon and drive the hour west alone to see what Santa Claus might discover in the overstocked racks there. A green Ireland Umbro tracksuit top was found among the treasures one time and handed down like an heirloom from brother to brother. It hangs in the wardrobe still. Too small to wear. Too precious to give away. Relic from another era. From a special shop.
