CHOOSING A NEW SECURITY COMPANY?

“Choosing a new security company? Do your research before signing on the dotted line”

January is a time when a lot of people make decisions about current and potentially new service providers. If you are thinking of choosing a new security company protect your home or your business, it is important to do your research and ask the right questions.

“It is important to interrogate any new service provider so that you have absolute confidence that you are appointing the best possible company. You don’t want to leave it to an emergency situation to discover that this new company was not properly prepared or equipped,” says Charnel Hattingh, National Marketing and Communications Manager at Fidelity ADT.

The first question to ask, she says, is about the company’s registration credentials.

“The South African private security industry is very well regulated and all providers need to be registered with the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), among other bodies. By selecting a properly registered provider, you get extra peace of mind knowing that you are dealing with an ethical company that meets the high standards set for this industry,” says Hattingh.

Training and equipment is the next area you should focus on, especially if you start looking at the different fees charged by companies.

“Home and business security should never become a decision you make purely based on price. Have you asked for details about the kind of on-going on the job training that your company provides, and have they explained the tools of the trade (such as armour plated vehicles and Kevlar vests) that they supply to their officers,” says Hattingh.

In the same vein, she recommends also asking what kind of physical presence a company has in your area. Do they, for example, have dedicated vehicles and officers patrolling your suburb?

“Personal and business security has become a high-tech business. It means that you have to ask questions about technological value-adds too,” says Hattingh. This includes the use and deployment of measures such as License Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras, home security automation options, and auto-dispatch systems to alert officers to any emergencies.

Hattingh lastly adds that no decision should be rushed, and that you should only put pen to paper once you have carefully studied the terms and conditions and you are satisfied with the answers you have been given.

“If you ask the right questions and do your homework properly, you should be able to sleep assured tonight knowing that you have appointed the best company to come to your aid when an emergency happens,” concludes Hattingh.


TRADITION OF LEAP YEAR


Valentine’s Day is upon us again, and this year’s Leap Year breaks with convention and permits women to propose to their loved one on 29th February!

But what can neuroscience tell us about such people who break
with tradition? By Dr Samantha J. Brooks Ph.D.


Bachelor’s Day – February 29th – is an Irish tradition on what is called Leap Day, which, back in the day, gave women the opportunity to make the first move and initiate a dance with a man, and even propose to him! If the man refused to marry he was obliged to buy the woman a silk gown, a fur coat or a new pair of swanky gloves (so it’s worth a punt ladies!). With all the humour of this day aside, however, we must consider the courage it must have taken for women in those days to be so brazen about their desires for a man in their community. Especially when in those days people – particularly women - were expected to abide strictly to societal rules. And even though societal rules are not so strict today, there are still – rightly or wrongly - covert social expectancies for men and women. With all this in mind then, what sort of brain does it take for a person – man or woman – to take the brave step and break with tradition and choose not to conform?

According to psychology research, there are three types of conformity – compliance, identification,
and internalisation. Compliance is essentially non-conformity, and means that a person pretends to adhere to the group norms while privately maintaining personal beliefs. Identification is where a person – when in the presence of the group – genuinely agrees with the group but returns to their own beliefs when alone. Finally, internalisation is when a person both publically and privately adheres to the norms of the group – and in the worst extreme is a form of brain-washing or groupthink.


Compliance is quite rare, as research shows that in most cases people tend to bow to the pressure of gravitating towards the group norm – like sheep! For example, Mustafar Sherif showed that people who observed the autokinetic effect (when a dot appears to move on a screen, but is in fact not moving) would conform to the ‘groupthink’ that the dot had actually moved. Or Solomon Asch’s study showing that people would agree with an incorrect answer if it conformed to the group norm. Similarly, Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment of the 1970s showed that even participants who started out equal would change their beliefs as they internalised the group norms they were exposed to – in this case prisoners versus prison guards. Due to the aggressive behaviour of the participants who were assigned to be guards, and the unhealthy submissive behaviour of the participants assigned to be prisoners, Zimbardo had to discontinue the study. And this confomity phenomenon also occurs in children – as Sherif demonstrated in his Robber’s Cave study – where initially equal, friendly young boys at a summer camp slipped into conflictual behaviour between two arbitrary social groups. Sherif highlighted the fact that conformity is most likely to occur if there is competition for limited resources – one always wants to be a member of the winning team!

Modern-day neuroscientists can use high-tech brain imaging techniques to safely study the internal workings of the brain of those who tend not to conform. Studies have found that people who don’t conform tend to show activation in the amygdala, anterior cingulate and insular cortex – brain regions related to feelings of fear, bodily sensations and conflicting beliefs – feelings that are typically uncomfortable. This suggests that most people will tend to search for options to feel more comfortable such as being more agreeable, which often leads to conformity (even against their better judgement). But this still begs the question, what drives people to resist social conformity and live with the discomfort? Do they feel any discomfort at all, or do non-conformists actually enjoy the feeling of turning against social traditions? Perhaps most likely is that for some people it is more comforting not to conform when cognitive evaluations have proven the group norm to be unhealthy or detrimental in some way. We can remember the great many South African people who refused to conform to the immoral Apartheid regime by supporting the referendum in the early 1990s.

Neurocognitive studies can help us to understand what is going on with nonconformist types of people, and one clue is in the function of the prefrontal cortex – in a brain process called working memory. It seems that people with a larger working memory capacity (e.g. gained through innate brain development or deliberately with cognitive training) are able to hold in mind alternative strategies, instead of simply agreeing to abide by the prevailing view. By using one’s working memory it is possible to use one’s imagination to think of different ways of doing things. This is a great thing to do because otherwise nothing will change. And sometimes things have to change for the world to become a better place. It took Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk to use their cognitive abilities to create an alternative plan to change the Apartheid government. And it may take women to challenge the traditional roles of men on Leap Day and to remind new generations of women that there is equality between the sexes!

So this Leap Year, use your working memory to consider whether conformity is useful or not (sometimes it is!) – and most of all, enjoy the romance of Valentine’s Month this February Harfielders!

Dr Samantha Brooks is a UK neuroscientist in Harfield Village,
specialising in the neural correlates of impulse control from eating
disorders to addiction. For more information you can contact

Samantha at: www.drsamanthabrooks.com







Click to read all previous articles by Dr Samantha J. Brooks Ph.D.

POWER AND PITFALLS FOR THE BANK

Power and pitfalls for the Bank of Mum & Dad 

Affordability remains the biggest problem for first-time homebuyers, with many having to delay a purchase until they are well into their 30s due to rocketing living costs and high debt levels – unless they are lucky enough to receive help from their parents or other family members.

“And this is not a phenomenon unique to South Africa,” says Carl Coetzee, CEO of SA’s foremost home loan originator BetterBond. “The so-called Bank of Mum & Dad (BMD) has also been pouring money into the housing market in many other countries for the past few years.

“Recent research shows that in the US, for example, one-fifth of all 18 to 37-year-old buyers are now purchasing with family financial assistance, and that in the UK, the BMD gave young buyers more than R120bn worth of assistance last year. In Australia, the BMD has officially been recognised among the top 10 lenders in the country and is currently providing 20% of first-time home buyers with around R700 000 worth of assistance each.”

Over the past few years, he says, first-time buyer aspirations in SA have been helped by the banks’ increased willingness to lend to home buyers and to advance a greater percentage of no-deposit loans to low-income buyers.

“However, although there is no definitive research about BMD activity in SA, we believe it could be a strong factor behind the sustained housing demand among first-time buyers, when the economic decline would usually have indicated a falling percentage of such buyers.” 

According to BetterBond’s statistics*, first-time buyers continue to account for more than half of all home loan applications (52%) and a rising percentage of the home loans granted (38,3% in the 12 months to end-September, compared to 32,6% in the previous 12 months).

However, Coetzee says, there are several factors for parents, grandparents or other BMD lenders to consider before they agree to help their adult children buy a property – usually by gifting or loaning them money to boost their deposit. “Such assistance can make all the difference to whether their children qualify for a home loan, or to the affordability of the monthly repayments. 

“But those who are doing the lending must make sure they are not putting their own financial future at risk. People generally are living longer now, and often need much more money in retirement than they originally thought. It may thus not be the best idea for them to pull equity out of their own homes without some plan to get it back.

“Something else to consider is that just giving your children a large sum of money to cover a deposit could actually complicate the home loan application process, because banks will probably take a harder look at them to ensure that they have a good credit record and can actually afford to repay the home loan themselves. You will also have to document the fact that the money is a gift that you don’t expect to be repaid.”

On the other hand, he says, if you can only afford to lend your children the money and need it to be paid back within a certain time, it is quite possible that the banks would consider that a debt which, added to other debts, might disqualify your child from obtaining a home loan in any case.

“In short, BMD lenders who are keen to offer monetary assistance to first-time buyers should really seek professional advice on the best way to structure this, and perhaps explore alternatives such as creating a special account where they match whatever their children save themselves towards a deposit on a home.”

Anne-Marie Bamber is Norgarb Properties dedicated Home Loans Consultant. She has over 15 years’ experience in assisting clients with their Home Loan needs and has placed many happy families in their dream homes.

Contact her today for no cost stress-free home-buying.
Anne-Marie Bamber
Home Loans consultant
Tel: +27 (0)21 851 3568 | Fax: +27 (0)21 441 1494 | Cell: +27 (0)82 071 1665
E-mail: anne-marie.bamber@betterlife.co.za









FEBRUARY IN THE GARDEN

While it's been a cooler Summer than in previous years, if you're growing veg, make sure to water them sparingly and only in the evening or early morning so you don't burn their leaves. Use lots of mulch to aid water retention - there should be no soil exposed to the sun, and a thick layer of mulch makes all the difference. 

If you are tending to veggies, you should be using water already used once – from the shower, sink or washing machine (if you use biodegradable products). It's amazing how much water you can recycle if you get the right sized basins! 

While water shortages aren't as dire as they have been in previous years, as resilient Cape Tonians, we need to maintain water-wise behaviours. It's remarkable how our relationship with water has irreversibly changed, and may we continue to find creative ways to be more resource-efficient beyond water, and to see waste itself as a resource. There's no better place to learn that lesson than in the garden.

On that fertile note, here's the plant list for February:
Bush and climber beans, Beetroot, Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Cabbage, Calendula, Carrot, Chard/Spinach, Celery, Chinese cabbage, Chives, Chilli's, Kale, Kohlrabi, Globe artichokes, Leeks, Leaf mustard, Lettuce, Onion, Parsnip, Parsley, Potato, Radish, Rhubarb, Tomato

Happy growing!

Patchwork Group
Gabriella Garnett
076 2199 849 | gabriella.garnett@gmail.com

SLOW DOWN OR THE YEAR WILL BE OVER BEFORE YOU KNOW IT!


Life seems to speed up as we get older. I am constantly asking myself, ‘Where did the year go?’ Why does it feel that the months just fly by and it’s December before we even know it. But this is just a perception – we know that time is moving just as slowly or fast as it has always. So how can we go back to those good old childhood days where time seemed to take forever to pass?

From a scientific perspective, when we are learning or experiencing new things time is perceived as going more slowly, but when we do familiar things time is perceived as moving along faster. It makes sense then that when we get older and our lives move into a predictable pattern that time seems to speed up. We are not doing anything new and so it feels like everything is happening quickly.  

Since the speed of time is just a perception, it allows us to manipulate it to go at the speed we want it to – to a point of course! 

Let’s look at some ideas of how we can incorporate this into our daily lives.

1. Incorporate new experiences into your days
Since routine and not experiencing new things is what makes time seem to speed up, it makes sense to slow down time by regularly bringing new experiences into your life.  When you do something new, it feels like they take longer compared to when you do a task you have done for a long time. We need to find a way to do this within our normal lives – changing up our daily ‘to dos’ – as going away on holiday isn’t possible for everyone!  Some simple ideas of how to incorporate new experiences into our lives includes:
·  Change up your exercise routine or even just the location
·  Meet up with friends for a walk or a game of putt-putt
·  Cook a new recipe once or twice a week
·  Learn something new such as a language, a skill or a hobby
Step outside your norm and see how much more time there is to enjoy your life.

2. Get excited
Being ‘emotionally aroused’ (when your emotions are extremely engaged) can also enable you to experience time as moving slower.  So if you want to experience more time, expose yourself to triggers that will lead to arousal.  Arousal happens through our senses.  For example, seeing a desirable picture, hearing music, or tasting a wonderful food.  It is not only positive experiences that will increase arousal, negative ones do also work. 

3. Make meaningful progress on your goals
Time is also perceived as going faster when you don’t get things done that you have been wanting to do.  Making progress on your projects and goals will help you to feel like you achieved more and thereby make a year more memorable and perceived as longer.  A goal that many people have is to get in shape, whether that means that you want to exercise more or improve your eating habits to lose some weight and be at your healthiest.  But how often have you started and not followed through because it felt too difficult.  Once you start making real progress (and don’t go backwards), you will have many memorable achievements along the way that will make your year feel longer. 

4. Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present.  To be aware of where you are and what you are doing.  Whenever you bring awareness – via your senses – to what you are currently doing, thinking or feeling, you are being mindful.  Paying more attention is one way to be more mindful.  Although that does not sound difficult, do you know the last time you were completely absorbed in just one activity.  These days multitasking has become the norm that we struggle to be completely mindful.  However, it can help to slow down time.  Start with eating your meals mindfully.  Not only will you enjoy them more and thereby eat less, but you will feel calmer and more grounded, and ready to take on more than you were before.  In essence, if you pay more attention you will notice more, which will help to slow down time.

5. Reflect on your life
Another way to slow down time is to take time to reflect on your day.  It stops you from just going through the motions of life and thereby help you to create memories to look back on.  There are a number of ways to reflect:
·  Keeping a journal
·  Talking to someone (friend or psychologist/counsellor)
·  Looking through photographs
· Thinking about past events or how you feel about something

If you want to feel like you have more time, get into the habit of experiencing new things and being more mindful of what’s going on. Train your brain to become more conscious of what’s happening around you and you’ll probably have more life experiences and memories to look back on, and the bonus is that you’ll feel like you had more time.

Kim Hofmann RD(SA)
Phone: 021 674 4666
Cell: 084 206 2715

IT"S MY LIFE RIGHT?


Retirement Villages are trending on the property front and potential Life Right Holders are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing where to settle down for their retirement.

The property can be registered as a housing scheme for retired persons in terms of The Housing Development Schemes for Retired Persons Act 65 of 1988 (“HDSRP Act”),  as a Sectional Title scheme in terms of the Section Title Act, Act 95 of 1986 or as a share block in terms of the Share Blocks Control Act 59 of 1980.  If you are buying a Life Right in a Retirement Village, the development scheme would have been registered as such and the Life Right Agreement will be, inter alia, subject to the HDSRP Act.

Despite its brief appearance, the HDSRP Act confers several powers and duties pertaining to the alienation of Housing Interests to the elderly. This article serves to assist you in your journey as a retired person, 50 years of age or older, wishing to acquire a Life Right in a Housing Development Scheme, as defined in the HDSRP Act.

Buying a housing interest “off-plan”?

Section 6(1)(a) of the HDSRP Act restricts a developer to receive any consideration unless an architect or quantity surveyor has issued a certificate confirming that the housing development scheme has been erected substantially in accordance with any applicable officially approved building plans.

The Act does not prohibit or restrict the alienation of housing interests in housing development schemes which have not yet been completed. In principle, therefore, housing interests can be sold “off-plan”.

Section 4C of the HDSRP Act prohibits the alienation of a right of occupation in relation to a housing interest unless the title deed of the land concerned to which the right relates, has been endorsed by a Registrar of Deeds, to the effect that such land is subject to a housing development scheme.
  • A “proposed” housing interest can be described as an interest in a housing development which has not yet been erected substantially in accordance with an approved building plan or which is not sufficiently completed for purposes of utilization of the housing interest concerned and therefore it is not an alienation of a right of occupation. 
However, a developer must, in the contract of sale entered into with a retired person, specify the latest date on which he will furnish the retired person with:

a. A certificate issued by an architect or quantity surveyor stating that the building has been erected in accordance with the approved building plans and has been sufficiently completed for purposes of utilization of the housing interest;
b. A certificate issued by a Practitioner confirming that the title deed of the land to which the right of occupation relates has been endorsed as contemplated in Section 4C of the HDSRP Act.

This date may not be later than two years from the date of conclusion of the contract.

The full article can be viewed here.

Contact us on info@stbb.co.za should you require more information.

STBB Claremont



www.harfield-village.co.za
www.facebook.com/harfield.village.community

NEW ATTITUDE TO PET CARE







Welcome in a new decade with a new attitude to pet care! 





We hope that you and your pet had a fabulous time over the festive season without too many dramas or emergencies. January is typically a tight month financially where we bear the brunt of Christmas spending and have to fork out on back to school essentials. So why not starts the year with a new look at how you handle your pets expenses and general well being.

Be prepared! Budget,Budget,Budget!


With the increasing cost of drugs and services adding your pet’s expenses into your general budget is a no brainer! There are several easy ways you can do this.


1) Start a Pet fund – whether you throw your R5 coins into an old tin or jar or open a pet savings  account, a few Rands a  month stashed away will soon add up and can pay for those booster vaccines, flea treatments or could be a down payment on an unexpected surgery.
2) Pet Insurance – Is the way to go! More and more pet owners are investing in pet insurance. Our pets are living much longer and often need chronic medication in their later years. There are numerous reliable companies each with different options from emergencies only to comprehensive cover ,you are sure to find something to suit your wallet. Be sure to read the fine print to get the best deal and don’t forget to check your home insurance as this sometimes will have accident cover for your pet.
3) Lose weight – how many of us make this New Year’s resolution! Well don’t forget your pet!

Obesity is bad!  Not only can it lead to illnesses such as diabetes but it puts unnecessary strain on joints and organs  resulting in your pet needing expensive chronic medications. Speak to your vet about changing your pets’ diet and improve its longevity!

4) Walkies! A happy pet is a tired pet! diet and exercise go hand in hand to ensure a healthy dog! Getting rid of pent up energy will help to  improve your dog’s mental state and behaviour.

No more excuses- your dog needs to walk every day, even if it is 15 minutes around the block! Don’t forget it will do you good too!


We have talked previously about what to do if you lose your pet but why risk it? If your pet is micro chipped it can get home quickly and safely. So don’t waste anymore time get your pet micro chipped!

GET A GENERAL HEALTH CHECK UP 

Our pets also need a proper examination now and again, particularly as they begin to age. There are certain problems that may not be obvious to you such as gum disease,  kidney disease and arthritis among others. When your pet is vaccinated the vet usually does a full check over to make sure your pet is in good health, but if you haven’t seen your vet for a while and your pet is beginning to age please consider getting a check up.