Talk 20 October 2022

8 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 20 October 2022 TALK OF THE TOW N
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A l f re d BUSINESS FORUM Keeping you up to date on the local business front
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Another win for Leafline sanitary wear products
FAITH QINGA
The PROBUS club of the Kowie
held their monthly meeting at the
R72 saloon on Tuesday, October
11 and members enjoyed an
enlightening talk by award-winning
Ndlambe resident Candy Androliakos.
Androliakos did a presentation on
Leafline Washable Sanitary Wear, for
which she has recently won an Eco
Logic Gold Award.
Androliakos took to the podium to
speak about Leafline affordable and
biogradable products made from
pineapple fibre. The business opened
in April 2021 in Bathurst.
Leafline products won the Gap
Green award in 2018 from the
Innovation Hub and in 2020 they
scooped first place in the SAB
Foundation Disability Empowerment
Awa r d s .
This year, the product has won the
Eco Logic Gold Award, an
environmental award sponsored by
Dischem and the business hopes they
will now be able to supply Dischem
stores with their products.
Androliakos told PROBUS
members how she started the business
when she discovered a need for a more
cost-effective way of dealing with adult
incontinence.
KICKER: Leafline founder Candy Androliakos holds up a chair protector
made from pineapple fibre. Picture: FAITH QINGA
“I was working in a retirement
home when an elderly resident asked
me to make a cost-effective alternative
to the disposable diaper. I managed to
find a pattern for the outer garment and
then discovered the fibre on a billboard
at the big pineapple. The farmer who
had made the billboard assisted me in
obtaining some fibre to use and figure
out how to put it into the product,” she
explained. Leafline produces sanitary
products, nappies and chair and bed
protectors made from pineapple fibre.
In her presentation, Androliakos
highlighted the environmental problem
around disposable items on the market
which end up on dumpsites and create
bacterial problems and landfill
concerns. “Disposable nappies take
between 500-800 years to decompose.
This is creating major landfill problems.
I would like to create an awareness
around how this is going to affect us in
time to come,” she said.
Leafline employs women from
Enkuthazweni Special Needs Centre in
Nemato, an NPO that provides
opportunities to children and young
adults with intellectual disabilities.
“I was looking at employment
options for adults with disabilities. The
beginning stage of our product is a
simple process, which I thought they
would be able to do. However, they are
now able to sew the entire product. The
work they do is amazing and the
quality they produce is unbelievable,”
she said.
To date, Lealife has donated around
1,000 sanitary pads to women in need
through their partnership with the local
SPAR and assistance from BVSA.
“We decided to join in the drive for
sanitary towels in schools. The SPAR at
Rosehill assisted with this. We have
also done various competitions in the
past to collect pads, also assisted by
various businesses in the community.
BVSA assisted with our first collection.
We continue to collect and donate to
various schools in the area,” she said.
Leafline products are available for
purchase at the local SPARs and they
are targeting nationwide distribution to
the SPAR franchise, and are also
planning to expand the business to
neighbouring African countries as
Botswana and Zimbabwe are interested
in the products. “We are hoping to get
into larger retail stores. This will enable
us to sustain ourselves and create more
e m p l oy m e n t ,” she said.
The PROBUS meeting followed the
club’s successful bring and braai at the
Marina last month, which was their first
outing since Covid.
The meeting started off with the
induction of four new members being
welcomed by club president Cyril
Gebhardt. The club currently has 66
members and will be inducting more
new members at the next meeting.
In his opening address, Gebhardt
noted how 10 PROBUS clubs had been
closed down in recent months due to
no succession plan and reassured the
members in attendance that would not
be the case for Kowie PROBUS Club as
they had succession plans in place.
“We have an exceptional
management committee and I take this
opportunity to thank my fellow manco
members for their input. Without your
management committee, there would
not be a PROBUS. Long live Kowie
P R O B U S ,” he said.
Charity golf day a huge success
FAITH QINGA
The Port Alfred Soup Kitchen
hosted a successful fundraising
golf day sponsored by Build It
Kowie and Spar on Saturday,
October 15.
It was a huge success, raising
a total of R50,000 in aid of the
Soup Kitchen and Loaves &
Fishes. In addition, six items
were auctioned at the
prizegiving, amounting to
R30,600. The items on auction
included a two-night stay at
Mansfield Game Reserve, a
Zodiac pool cleaner, a
wheelbarrow full of SPAR
goodies and a Jojo tank with a
pump.
Giving a word of
appreciation from the
beneficiary organisation, Debra
Harris thanked the sponsors and
their staff for their participation.
“This year we’ve teamed up
with Loaves & Fishes so part of
this also goes to their cause. We
are making sure that everybody
in Port Alfred is covered when it
comes to food now, so that is
absolutely incredible,” she said.
After revealing the amount
raised to a huge round of
applause, she said, “We are so
grateful. Thank you for believing
in us, trusting us and thank you
for the good money that you’ve
given to us. We really
appreciate it.”
GENEROUS SPONSORS: Debra Harris, centre, of Port Alfred
Soup Kitchen with Good Samaritans who kindly donated prizes
for the Charity Golf Day held at the Royal Port Alfred Golf Club
on Saturday. They are, from left, Philip Swanepoel and Andre
Swanepoel (Build It Kowie), and Craig Theunissen and Lesley
Theunissen from Spar Picture: Faith Qinga
What to know about preservation
funds and why you may need one
TOTT CONTRIBUTOR
Yo u ’ve just landed a new job
and handed in your resignation
and must now move your
retirement savings (in a pension
or provident fund) from the
employer you are leaving.
Obviously, you want to
protect and grow these hardearned
savings.
Preservation funds offer one
of the best solutions to do so.
Your existing retirement
savings need to be cared for
even while you continue to
work and build more retirement
savings with your new employer
or through your private
retirement annuity.
Remember to think carefully
before you “steal” these savings
from your future retirement by
cashing them in now.
Whenever you have the
option to withdraw from an
e m p l oye r ’s approved pension or
provident fund, you can transfer
your withdrawal benefit to a
pension preservation fund or a
provident preservation fund.
Jabulani Sibanyoni, Business
Development manager at
Glacier by Sanlam, explains
what you need to know:
What is a preservation fund and
how does it help you?
Preservation funds offer a
flexible way of retaining and
growing your retirement savings
when you leave an employer.
They were specifically
designed for this exact purpose,
namely to help you protect and
grow your retirement savings
when you change jobs.
In simple terms, a
preservation fund is a type of
retirement savings fund that
focuses on the growth and
protection of savings that may
no longer be held in an
occupational fund (pension or
provident fund).
Glacier Personal Portfolios
Preservation Funds offer the
following benefits:
● Continued growth: Your
retirement capital is preserved
and may continue to grow.
There are various investment
options on the Glacier platform
to help grow the capital.
At retirement, you can easily
transfer your retirement savings
to a retirement income product,
such as a living annuity or a
conventional life annuity.
● Protection: Your retirement
savings in the preservation fund
will be protected against
creditors.
● Tax efficiency: No tax is
payable on the growth of your
capital in this fund (interest,
dividends or capital gains).
● Access to your money: You
can choose when to retire from
this fund as long as your chosen
date is after age 55.
You can make one
withdrawal before retirement.
Though a withdrawal may
not be advisable, you may
withdraw all your money or part
thereof.
Confident investing for
re t i re m e n t
“The Glacier Personal Portfolios
Preservation Funds offer you
continuity, protection, tax
benefits and access to your
m o n e y,” says Jabulani.
“With a minimum lump sum
of R100,000, you can invest for
growth in a way that suits your
unique financial circumstances
and tolerance for risk.”
Be cautious, though, he says.
It’s not ideal to make any
investment decision without the
help of an appropriately
authorised financial adviser.
Your retirement savings are a
critical step to a confident future
and should last as long as you
live. Investing your hard-earned
savings must be done with the
help of a professional.
Contact Sticks Stiglingh at
Strata BlueStar on 046-624-
4948 or 071-612-7339 or
sticks@stratabluestar.co.za for
professional advice.
– Glacier Financial Solutions
(Pty) Ltd is a Licenced Financial
Services Provider.