Potjie Pap
"Look Steve, it isn't possible to impart a skill like this over the phone. If you are serious, you will have to attend a demonstration and lecture. I will be cooking pap with our chicken pot on Sunday."
While I was building, I learned a few things about reinforced concrete. Eventually, depending on proximity to the sea and thickness of concrete cover, the steel will begin to corrode. As it does so, it expands and cracks the surrounding concrete, allowing more moisture to penetrate and speed up the process.
To slow the corrosion and extend the life of the structure, the rusting steel should be hacked free of surrounding concrete, wire brushed and painted or sprayed with a rust retardant. After closing up with cement and sand plaster, the outer surface of the building should be sealed with a waterproof paint or membrane. In this way the life of a structure can be extended for several years before it becomes unsafe and has to be demolished.
As has been widely demonstrated in South Africa, neglecting to maintain infrastructure leads to the inability to provide basic services to communities.
To view my longer work as an author, you can find me on Smashwords here.
This is my writer's blog and it's a pleasure to have your company. You’ll see that the site is designed to showcase my writing.
View ProfileXplorio is your local connection allowing you to find anything and everything about a town.
Read More"Look Steve, it isn't possible to impart a skill like this over the phone. If you are serious, you will have to attend a demonstration and lecture. I will be cooking pap with our chicken pot on Sunday."
I began my writing career at the age of 50. I was aware that the majority of famous writers hit their stride in their thirties and forties, and that I was making a late start. Undeterred, I told myself that my muse had been in no hurry, preferring to...
"Christmas comes but once a year, and when it's gone, I jump and cheer."
On the last of our ten days in Joburg, Guy drove us to Lanseria Airport to catch a 12:05 flight on a Safair Boeing 737 back to Cape Town.
In the past 40 years I have witnessed several fires burning through the bush on the northern side of Broadway Street in Pearly Beach.
In my late twenties, disillusioned with city life, I began to dream of building a simple seaside cottage well away from civilisation. At that time Pearly Beach seemed as good a place as any, so, on returning from a year on Gough Island with a few tho...