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www.thevillagenews.co.za
14 October 2020
LET'S TALK The Village NEWS firmly believes in freedom of the press as well as the right of individuals to freely express themselves, as long as they don’t infringe upon the rights of others. The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors therefore do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of The Village NEWS. Letters may be shortened and/or edited for clarity and style. Enjoy our paper. Send your letters to dewaal@thevillagenews.co.za.
Hermanus Siyakha is alive and well The Coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating effect on small businesses in our region, as is evidenced by the empty shops and the number of folk who are now out of work and dependent on social welfare grants. Hermanus Siyakha, the organisation that provides small, interest-free loans and supportive mentoring to small businesses has not escaped the impact of the last six months. While not able to process new loans, and with most businesses in lockdown, we were nevertheless able to provide some humanitarian assistance by way of grant offers to needy business owners. Of the 26 businesses who were recipients of interest-free loans before the lockdown announced in March, most have been unable to operate over the past few months. Throughout this time our mentors remained
in contact with business owners, offering encouragement and moral support during this very difficult period. In addition, all borrowers were granted an extended moratorium on loan repayments, although a number were able to continue monthly capital repayments, largely because of alternative income sources. The good news is that with the phased lifting of lockdown restrictions, 14 businesses have been able to recommence operations, some of them with the assistance of additional start-up finance from Hermanus Siyakha. A further seven enterprises are dormant and are waiting for market conditions to improve. These businesses are largely in clothing and non-essential goods. The remaining five businesses appear unlikely to recover, although
we continue to offer what support and encouragement we can. At the moment Hermanus Siyakha has in excess of R85 000 that has been loaned to existing borrowers, excluding loans that have already been fully repaid. We are very thankful that, due to the continued support of our funders even in these very difficult economic times, our financial position remains healthy. Given the lessons learned over the last year and particularly during the pandemic, Hermanus Siyakha is in the process of rethinking our business model. We are excited about the possibilities of extending our focus to include more established micro and small enterprises which function well and are in need of both cash injections and mentoring support. These businesses could be
Paul’s solution to pesky pigeons Pesky pigeons are becoming increasingly irritating to Hermanus residents in Fernkloof. Observant and innovative engineer, Paul Buley, noticed whilst visiting Hilton in KwaZulu-Natal that when a yellow-billed kite was soaring above there was a great flurry of pigeons and they moved somewhere safer. Checking with resourceful Google he discovered that the Greater London Authority now employs Hawkforce to control the pigeons in places like Trafalgar Square. It is no longer acceptable to feed the birds as recommended by Julie Andrews but instead fines are issued. Lemmy, a falcon and his owner handler, also a Paul, work between the Houses of Parliament and Charing Cross. Lemmy is fed a diet of chicken scraps but once a day he enjoys getting a bird’s eye view of London and the pigeons have retreated. So it is a humane and environmentally friendly method of control. During lockdown Paul of Fernkloof made a yellow-billed kite out of an old baking tray. It is
attached to a fence pole and yebo, no more pigeons on our patio. I wonder if the yellow-billed kite ever sings the old refrain: Accept the fact that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue. Kathie Buley
located throughout our Overstrand community, not necessarily limited to areas of disadvantage. In this regard we are hoping to be able to augment our present crowd-funding model by partnering with like-minded organisations to provide funds for this extended vision. We are also adapting our mentoring model to make provision for the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic presents and to ensure that the expertise of mentors is optimally utilised.
ness sector through the availability of interest-free loans and mentoring once the situation allows. We are excited to be entering a new phase in our mission to transform communities by building relationships and growing businesses. Nigel Thatcher Director, Hermanus Siyakha
Unfortunately, because of the restrictions currently in place we have not been in a position to process and issue new loans or engage new mentors. However, we are using this time to position Hermanus Siyakha to be able to make an even more significant impact on the small busi-
Save the new Baboon Hotline The Overstrand Municipality Baboon Management Programme has set up a new hotline for baboon reporting. The Human Wildlife Solutions (HWS) hotline number will be available for the operational projects in the Eastern Section which includes Voëlklip, Hermanus Heights and Fernkloof, and in the Western Section in Pringle Bay. In these areas, residents can phone the hotline to report sightings and request assistance from HWS. The new number to report baboon issues is 072 028 0008. Please save this number on your phone and delete the previous number as it is used for reporting the Cape Town baboons. When contacting the hotline, always mention the number of baboons seen and the specific address where the baboon(s) were last seen. If you can no longer see the baboon(s), indicate the time frame (how long ago you saw it/them. Whenever possible, please try to report baboons in the urban area immediately.
If you can, also provide the following information: What the baboon was doing (e.g. foraging on the side of the road/ raiding a bin/ entering a house); • Whether the baboon is in the house/ garden or in the road; • Take note if you see any ear tags or collars on the baboon, and what colour the ear tag is. In those areas where projects are not in operation as yet, such as the Eastern Section in Onrus and the Western Section in Kleinmond and Betty’s Bay, people can phone the hotline number to report sightings but reaction from HWS will not be possible until the projects in these areas start in November 2020. When people in these areas do phone in with reports on sightings, however, it will assist HWS with the capturing of information on the movement patterns of the troops so that their activities in the area can be better understood.
