17 JUNE 2020
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The Onrus lagoon was the first to breach this year after more than 50 mm of rain fell last week. In some parts of the Overberg more than 70 mm of rain was recorded and in Greyton the mountains were covered with a light dusting of snow. It's best to keep your winter woollies handy with more rain and cold forecast for this weekend. PHOTO: MVD Photography
Tourism needs to open soon Writer De Waal Steyn
B
oth the Western Cape Government and the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) are intensifying efforts to persuade the government to permit tourism for leisure purposes. Local tourism operators and thousands of residents dependent on visitors to our shores are facing a dismal future if tourism-related activities are not allowed soon. Western Cape Minister of Finance & Economic Opportunities, David Maynier, has written to both the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and the Minister of
Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, requesting that under Level 3 lockdown restrictions intra-provincial travel and tourism for leisure be allowed, subject to strict safety protocols. “With severe restrictions on international and local travel during the Covid-19 pandemic, there is no doubt that the tourism sector has been hard-hit during this crisis and will require a great deal of support to ensure its survival,” Maynier said. According to him, they are specifically requesting that accommodation establishments be allowed to accept guests who are travelling for leisure purposes, that intra-provincial movement of people should be permitted for leisure purposes, and that certain
visitor attractions, where risk is low, should be allowed to re-open. Cape Whale Coast Tourism Manager, Frieda Lloyd, has said that despite the Level 3 restrictions it is clear from the increased number of people and vehicles that there are visitors from other parts of the province travelling to the Overstrand, especially over weekends. “It has been noted that people are either visiting their holiday homes or driving through for the day, most probably hoping to spot some whales now that the season has officially started,” she said. While travelling for leisure purposes is not allowed under Level 3 restrictions, the recent cold snap drew hundreds of visitors to Ceres and
Franschhoek to see the snow on the mountains. At one stage the road to Ceres had to be closed by traffic officials due to the volume of cars trying to enter the area. Currently accommodation establishments are only permitted to receive guests if they are remaining tourists confined to such facilities, those travelling for work purposes, and persons in quarantine or isolation. Other businesses in tourism regions are also permitted to open – yet given that they rely on a flow of people to drive business it is unclear how they will be supported during Level 3 without travel for leisure being permitted. According to Maynier the tourism industry has already done a great deal of work to develop health and safety
guidelines and protocols aimed at ‘de-risking’ the sector. “Our suggestion is that these establishments should not yet be permitted to open communal areas such as swimming pools, lounges and seated eating areas, but be allowed to receive guests for leisure purposes from within their province. This would allow for short-break trips which would help to stimulate the tourism economy and help to prevent job losses. “In the Western Cape it is estimated that the impact of the pandemic could cost the province 248 872 direct and indirect jobs, with up to 50% of all tourism businesses closing in the Western Cape,” Maynier said. Continues on P3
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17 June 2020
Reopening tourism will ‘save jobs, livelihoods and the economy’ From P1 According to Western Cape Minister of Finance & Economic Opportunities, David Maynier,businesses in the tourism sector, many of whom are small, medium, and micro enterprises, do not have cash reserves to sustain their operations for such a lengthy closure. “Now more than ever, businesses need to be able to continue to trade safely and responsibly to ensure that we save jobs, livelihoods and the economy during the Covid-19 crisis. Since the start of the pandemic in the Western Cape, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism and I have been engaging actively
with the tourism industry to understand the impact of Covid-19 and to work with them to prepare the industry to be able to safely re-open in time. In total we have had 11 engagements with industry, consulting with a number of businesses and industry representatives,” Maynier said. The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) last week presented its Tourism Recovery Strategy to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Tourism. According to TBCSA CEO, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, the data-driven Tourism Recovery Strategy advocates for an earlier phased reopening of international tourism to South Africa
as soon as September 2020. “While one of the comments raised by the Tourism Portfolio Committee was that the proposed September timing may be impacted by the predicted peak in COVID-19 infections experts estimate could happen around September, the TBCSA highlighted that the reopening would be dependent on the development and roll-out of stringent and practical health-focused protocols by the travel and tourism value-chain to safeguard staff, travellers and guests,” he said. “We acknowledge the good work being done by government to get tourism back on track. Tourism is a
vital sector to South Africa’s economy that accounts for 1.5 million jobs, and many of those employed are young people. By nature of tourism’s value chain, there are also significant benefits to other parts of the economy when tourism reopens. We are committed to doing this safely,” said Tshivhengwa. “As we see elsewhere in the world, the opening of domestic tourism is the first phase in ensuring that tourism starts to open slowly and leads the way. Business travel is the largest component in the formal travel industry and its reopening provides us with an opportunity to see how we can further open domestic leisure within the context of the protocols in
the very near future,” he said. The proposed phased strategy provides for an initial 6 to 8-week preparation phase, followed by a Phase 1 trial where safe source markets with similar risk profiles and stages of pandemic would be allowed to travel to South Africa. These travellers would be vetted, all stringent safety protocols would be in place and the focus would be on low-contact products and low-risk areas. In Phase 2, South Africa would further open key markets and expand the experiences on offer, until in Phase 3 air access is opened fully and the destination can restart its longer-term growth strategy.
Fernkloof plan still Infections at schools open for debate raise concerns The controversial management plan for the Fernkloof Nature Reserve is still to be approved after a decision was made by Council that the plan first needs to be considered by Ward and Portfolio Committees before it can serve before Council for ratification. According to the municipality, the final draft of the Fernkloof Nature Reserve Protected Area Management Plan (FNR PAMP), including recommendations to the Overstrand Council, were submitted by May 2020, in compliance with agreed deadlines. “Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic precluded the normal decision-making process, including the Ward Committee meeting consultations, from taking place. This item served before the Mayoral Committee at the Council Meeting on 27 May, where it was decided to request a workshop with councillors before the item would be considered. This workshop subsequently took place on 8 June 2020,” the municipality said in a statement.
According to them the FNR PAMP was presented and thoroughly discussed, and after due consideration it was agreed that the final draft, together with the recommendations, would be submitted to Council once it had been considered by means of a normal procedural cycle, which would afford Ward Committees and the Portfolio Committees an opportunity to discuss the document and its recommendations. In the meantime, this process will also provide an opportunity for all interested parties to peruse the final draft document before the item will serve before Council at a later stage, depending on when the Covid-19 regulations will have made it possible to convene the Ward Committees and the Portfolio Committees. The FNR PAMP is available on the municipal website, www.overstrand. gov.za. Click on Documents, Strategic documents, Environmental Management, Fernkloof.
A total of 185 staff members and 49 learners have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Western Cape since 18 May, and at least 20 schools had to be closed to be disinfected last week. This was confirmed on Monday by Bronagh Hammond of the Western Cape Education Department.
The department has stressed that cases had not spiked due to the reopening of schools and that most of these cases had been reported before the schools reopened. “The number of infected staff members also includes cases where those staff members have not yet returned to school,” said Hammond. “Therefore they were not infected on school premises. Most of these cases are a result of community transmission and not school transmission.” In line with confidentiality clauses, the department has declined to name schools that are affected, but confirms that all schools have been provided with strict guidelines on the safety protocols that have to be followed whenever an employee or learner tests positive or is exposed to someone who has tested positive. If there has been a confirmed case of Covid-19, the school is required to contact the district and also to inform the parents of the school and their employees. In a digital press conference hosted by Premier Alan Winde last week, he who was joined by Provincial
Minister of Education, Debbie Schäfer and Chairperson of the South African Paediatric Association, Professor Mignon McCulloch, amongst others, to provide the public with an update on the safe reopening of schools in the province. Prof McCulloch again emphasised that children are at lower risk of acquiring and transmitting Covid-19 and that the benefits (educational, mental and psychological health, food security and safety) of reopening schools exceed those of keeping children at home. “Provided the precautions of face masks, hand-sanitising, environmental cleaning and physical distancing are adhered to, we support the staggered approach of getting children back to school. Where cases of infection do arise, these should be managed on a case-by-case basis. However, we respect the autonomy of well-informed parents and caregivers to decide what is in the best interests of their children,” she said. According to data provided by the Western Cape Department of Health, as of 5 June, there had been a total of 1 787 cases of Covid-19 in people under the age of 20 in the province. This represents roughly 6% of all cases at the time. Of these, five children (0.3%) have died, mostly due to serious comorbidities. – Hedda Mittner
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Local NEWS, global reach Over the past three years, The Village NEWS has grown from being a newspaper that served the Overstrand community, to now also reaching readers in over 200 countries and territories with our E-editions and website. Our readers have one thing in common: They love the Overberg and The Village NEWS is their #1 source of information.
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Digital
Website
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T
he coastline of the present Overstrand Municipality includes some of the best beaches in the country. Quite possibly, there has been conflict about access and use down the centuries, but for us, the crucial confrontation about the use of beaches came in the second half of the 20th century.
The subject arose as a result of the apparently organised invasion of hundreds of Coloured people there on 2 January, when many lorry loads from Cape Town and even Malmesbury congregated there, to the great annoyance of the white residents of that locality, and particularly hotel visitors. Behaviour was said to be disgraceful, and the quantities of rubbish left behind by the picnickers created a nuisance.
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Following on last week’s article which presented a picture of how the Group Areas Act led to the segregation of residential areas and amenities in Hermanus during the apartheid era, DR ROBIN LEE of the Hermanus History Society shares his latest research into the high-profile issue of ‘beach apartheid’ during the 1960s.
It all started when certain events over the summer holidays of 1959/1960 captured the attention of the Hermanus Town Council. On 23 January 1960, this report appeared in the Hermanus News, in connection with incidents at the beach known to us as ‘Nanny’s Beach’ or ‘Kammabaai’:
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The history of ‘beach apartheid’ in the Overstrand
Hermanus’s local newspaper started publication in 1949, so there is no printed record of disputes between users, before 1948. Also, due to the bureaucratic oversight referred to in my previous article, no attempt was made to segregate the beaches along this coast until 1960.
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The Town Clerk (Mr L. Gordon) said the Administrator of the Cape Province could, under the recent (Reservation of Separate Amenities) Ordinance, on application by a Local Authority, set apart any land, etc., for the exclusive use of any race. It was not essential (as it was under the Group Areas Act), to provide an alternative amenity. The Council could also prohibit all bathing below the high-water mark, to all races, by declaring the area dangerous for swimming.
Residents and visitors have enjoyed the beaches of Greater Hermanus for over a century (the photo above was taken in the 1930s). It was only in 1960 that the issue of ‘beach apartheid’ reared its ugly head. PHOTO: Old Harbour Museum
• Onrust River would be entirely a European area. • Betty’s Bay, from Rooi Els up to Silver Sands would be entirely a European area. • Koeëlbaai (or Kogelbaai) would be set aside for non-Europeans. • Kleinmond would be entirely a European area. • Uilenkraalmond would provide non-European facilities only. • Hawston would be a non-European area. • Hermanus: all beaches would be designated as ‘white’, but an effort to be made to agree on a portion of this area for non-Europeans. Other proposals came from several sources, and it seems that all were funnelled to the Heunis Commission. In due course, the Commission revealed its recommendations, which resulted in an article in the Hermanus News of 17 February 1962. In the article, the paper gives an insight into the real motives of ‘separate amenities’, but does not comment:
The Council resolved to appeal to the Administrator to declare the area for whites only, on the understanding that the Municipal or Divisional Council would later find an alternative beach for the non-whites; also, that all bathing (at the beach) should be prohibited, as fatalities had occurred there.
The Divisional Council formerly proposed that the Grotto Beach be divided between whites and nonwhites, but the Commission found that the swimming space there was too limited. As whites had invested large capital sums in the adjoining property along that coast, no suitable space was available for non-whites. (My emphasis)
The Hermanus Town Council immediately entered a bureaucratic dispute. A large number of official bodies had been created to administer ‘beach apartheid’. The Hermanus Municipality had to deal with the following: the Caledon Divisional Council, the Native Areas Board, the Land Tenure Advisory Board, the Provincial Separate Amenities Board and a standing commission called the Provincial Commission on Separate Beach Facilities (also known as the Heunis Commission, after its Chairperson).
However, social pressure was building in favour of segregation, especially as regards ‘Riviera Beach’, now generally known as ‘Grotto Beach’. The Hermanus News reported:
Recommendations for segregated beaches seem to have come from each of these bodies, as each had a different view about the implementation of the primary legislation, which was the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, Act 49 of 1953, and the Regulations issued in 1955. However, the first specific recommendations had been delayed to 1960, when the Caledon District Council made the first proposals for the whole coastline:
The Town Council took what appears to be the only feasible solution. This would be to establish separate bathing and parking facilities at a spot on the eastern end of the Riviera Beach, with an access road to the area, and the erection of suitable bathing and sanitary conveniences for
non-whites there. To prevent whites from using this area to obtain access to the Klein River Lagoon mouth, a new road would be constructed for the exclusive use by whites, below the Scout Camp. There will be “buffer zones” in the dunes between the white and non-white bathing areas, and beacons would be erected to maintain the separation. The Council are agreed on the recommendation embodied in the Heunis Commission’s plan that Bantu should get separate bathing facilities at Skulphoek, near the new Bantu Location, beyond the New Harbour. The issues dragged on in meeting after meeting. The Hermanus Town Council repeated its discussions 18 months later, on 28 September 1963 and again on 26 June 1965, when it considered a particular proposal from the Onrus River Village Management Board (VMB). The representatives of the VMB asked for all the beaches in their area to be declared white. One of the members of the VMB amplified this proposal at a joint meeting of the Council and the VMB: “The (population) groups do not mingle too freely. For years we have had complaints of Coloured people mingling with Whites on the beaches and until we have a means of controlling them, proclaiming the coastline White seems the course to take.” These events must have created more awareness of the complexities of beach apartheid, and there are many reports of efforts to find a solution between 1965 and 1970. Municipal officials claimed that finding alternative beaches for Coloureds “met with immediate objections from neighbouring property owners” (Hermanus News, February 1960). The newspaper commented in an editorial that “the whole problem facing the authorities is fraught with many difficulties and racial prejudices”. By the end of the 1960s, all Hermanus beaches had been allocated to different ‘population groups’, and the matter seemed to lose urgency. There are no media reports of confrontations on the beaches, though in 1963 there was a story of whites using Hawston beach. Newspaper coverage is recorded less often in the 1970s and 1980s, presumably, because people in Hermanus (and in the rest of the country) realised that these laws were most unlikely to be changed without a complete change of government. As we know, this did not occur until 1994.
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Zoom to the rescue of locked-down events Writer Elaine Davie
W
hen the dreaded virus made its sudden appearance, followed by a particularly harsh lockdown, it turned everybody’s lives upside down, including those, mainly older residents, who lived from one meeting of a particular interest group to the next – organisations like U3A, the Botanical Society, the Bird Club, Whale Coast Conservation (WCC), the History Society, Overstrand Arts/Kunste (OAK) and the Association of Retired Persons, to name a few. Not only did their membership of these organisations stimulate the mind, but it also offered them the opportunity to socialise with other like-minded individuals. The right to leave their homes to buy food or medication, even later to walk or run, simply did not cut it. They needed to exercise the mind and feed the soul. Apart from anything else they longed for the reassurance that there was still a world beyond Coronavirus where the environment, music, ideas, beauty, continued to flourish. And then there was the FynArts Festival, scheduled to start on 5 June, a calendar highlight for this region’s people, as well as the many visitors who boost the town’s economy. It soon became clear that any events likely to attract a sizeable audience would be thrown out of the window. Might it then be possible to adapt the format, to create a virtual festival, whilst still retaining its unique spirit? Cometh the hour, cometh the zoom. A couple of weeks ago, at more or
less the same time, three Hermanus special interest groupings decided to give it a go. They were U3A, WCC and OAK. By the time FynArts Select was due to get underway, it was able to benefit from their engagement with this digital platform and to adopt it for its own purposes. In the meantime, the audience/participants were learning not only a new vocabulary – zoom talk, zoom meeting, webinar – but also a new technological skill to take even the oldies into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. And what a revelation it has been: everyone involved is over the moon at the success of the experiment. As Gert Claassen of U3A comments, “With a little bit of coaching in the run up to the first couple of sessions, everyone (even the oldest member) was on board and thoroughly enjoying the format; so much so, that we have gone from one session a week in May, to two a week from the beginning of June, covering a wide range of topics, from Beethoven to geology.” If you’d like to become a member of U3A and receive their newsletters, send an email to gc2441@gmail.com. Michael Raimondo, the WCC webinar host has a similar story to tell. “Before lockdown, we held one presentation a month at the Green House, which would be attended by 80 people at the most; since we’ve started the zoom talks, we’ve gone from about 30 in the first session to 88 in the most recent – and that’s once a week. What’s really brilliant, too, is that after the real-time presentation, we share it on Facebook and/or YouTube and we’re picking up another 6 000 or so viewers there. So far there have been
absolutely no hitches or security issues. ” Anina Lee from the same organisation agrees that it has been a huge success and says they will certainly consider continuing with this format even after lockdown. “I am reasonably confident that it won’t be too long before we can start our popular outdoor excursions again, maybe after the winter. (In any case, I’m determined to get out to see the fireflies in October.) One of the advantages of the webinar format, though, is that our older members don’t have to drive out to the Green House and leave after dark for home.” For OAK the experience has been slightly different. They have formed a trial alliance with a group called Concerts Connect, who have arranged a series of three concerts by top musicians performed in real time for members of several music societies around the Western Cape. “So far, it’s worked really well,” says René du Plooy of OAK. “Each concert takes the form of a kind of soirée in a beautiful setting – the first one in Lourensford Manor House and the second at Casa Labia in Muizenberg. “Sadly, our numbers had been dropping at our pre-lockdown concerts, so this may be the way to go in the future. We’ll re-think the situation after this series is over.” All three organisations agree, though, that one of the huge advantages of these zoom presentations is that performers or speakers can be located anywhere in the world; they don’t need to be local. For example, Michael is currently trying to set up a talk with an environmentalist on the Island of St Helena.
ESSENTIAL SERVICES – WE ARE OPEN
Pianist Nina Schumann warming up before playing her first virtual concert.
The intervention of Covid-19 was, of course, devastating to Mary Faure and her FynArts team, just as they were finalising arrangements for the 2020 Festival, but being the trooper she is, she was determined not to cancel it altogether. She spoke to those who had been booked to perform and asked if they would be prepared to participate in FynArts Select, as it was renamed, in a virtual context. All of them, she stresses, were totally supportive and prepared to adapt where possible. So, once again, zoom has come to the party during this past week. “Of course, this isn’t the end of it, though,” she stresses. “We’ll continue with presentations throughout the year – perhaps a couple of times a week (except, as a courtesy, during the National Festival of the Arts), and then later in the year, depending on how the lockdown regulations change, we would like to organise Select weekends, including workshops. These new experiences will definitely help to shape future festivals. Whatever works well will be retained. Richard Cock’s musical quiz on Facebook attracted several thousand viewers, for example. That’s fantastic international exposure and a wonderful way of growing young
audiences. In a way, this is almost like our first small festival; we’re feeling our way, but still trying to make sure that everyone has a good time.” Mary also emphasises that the Pioneer Freight Sculpture on the Cliffs will definitely still take place this year. During the earlier phases of lockdown, the foundries were not functioning and now they have a huge backlog to work through. The exhibition will just have to wait until all the logistics fall into place. She suggests that those who would like to keep up with the programme for the rest of the year, should ask to be put on the FynArts newsletter mailing list by sending an email to fynarts@hermanus.co.za. There is no charge for attending any of the FynArts zoom presentations, or those organised by WCC (although this may change). The next WCC Zoom presentation by ecologist and filmmaker Dr Otto Whitehead will be on Thursday 18 June at 18:00 (not the usual 12:00). For more details email anina.wcc@gmail.com. For the last in the current series of OAK concerts which will take place on 5 July booking can be done on Quicket at R100 a ticket.
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FROM THE EDITOR
No easy solution to tourism issue The next edition of The Village NEWS will be available on 24 June 2020. The NEWS can be found at over 300 distribution points in the Overberg.
028 312 2234
6 Royal Street, Hermanus
De Waal Steyn
PUBLISHING EDITOR dewaal@thevillagenews.co.za
The reopening of the tourism sector is being discussed at various governmental levels and it is proving to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, a region such as ours which is largely dependent on tourism needs to see visitors returning to our shores. Local tourism businesses are suffering greatly. Even though Level 3 regulations allow for delivery and takeaway meals from restaurants, many restauranteurs say they are doing less than 10% of their normal turnover.
hedda@thevillagenews.co.za
ONLINE EDITOR
raphael@thevillagenews.co.za
Elaine Davie SUB-EDITOR & JOURNALIST elaine@thevillagenews.co.za
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Charé van der Walt MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE chare@thevillagenews.co.za
Nickey Jackson
DTP DESIGNER nickey@thevillagenews.co.za
reached increase the risk of more infections? Yes, it most definitely does. Can our tourism industry survive returning to Level 4 or 5 lockdown? No, it cannot. Can our tourism sector survive with the current Level 3 lockdown restrictions? Again, no, it cannot.
Western Cape are already travelling to other destinations, including the Cape Whale Coast. This trend contrasts with other parts of the world where hard lockdown regulations were kept in place until after the peak in infections. The lockdown in South Africa was put in place to flatten the curve and delay the peak. It is now estimated that the Western Cape will reach its peak in the coming weeks, followed by the rest of the country up until August and September. Does travel before the peak is
A lot of work has been put in place to ensure that travel can be allowed under strict health and safety protocols. Will this be enough to entice tourists? Yes, it seems it will. And it will assist in bringing some economic relief to our towns. This is the good NEWS – Ed
Duck Seduction and the Philosopher’s Stone
CONTENT EDITOR
Raphael da Silva
On the other hand, the Western Cape is the epicentre of the pandemic in South Africa and the sharp rise in numbers is not expected to decrease soon. The question has been asked if we want to allow visitors from especially the Cape Metropole, which has the highest concentration of Coronavirus cases in the country, into our area? It seems that regardless of what the regulations say, residents of the
In addition, it is a misnomer that
Hedda Mittner
tour operators are allowed to trade. Without any tourists, how are they supposed to keep their doors open?
By Murray Stewart murray.stewart49@gmail.com
feed call, a mating call and a comeback call.
T
To the uninitiated ear, these are just noisy variations of startled squawks, but they are carefully monitored and scored by a panel of five judges who can obviously detect subtle differences between a mating call and hail call, which to me is the same thing.
here is a rash of ‘Amazing Facts / Believe-it-or-not’ type programs popping up on TV, which cover the unusual, outlandish and utterly absurd. And, like this column, they deal purely in scientific facts, so it would be churlish not to share some of these pearls of wisdom with those folks without DStv. Duck Calls The World Championship Duck Calling Contest takes place every Thanksgiving weekend in Stuttgart, a small town in Arkansas. Contestants can be of any age, and since 1936 intrepid duck-callers from across the USA and Canada schlep into Stuttgart to claim the prestigious title of World Champion. Apparently, this achievement is highly regarded and often catapults winners into ‘a career in the outdoor industry’ – whatever that means. Poacher, maybe? Competitors must perform a 90-second quack routine behind a screen in the packed town hall. The repertoire must include a hail call, a
No electronic devices are allowed, and as a result the actual ‘vocal chords’ of real ducks are sometimes used – for authenticity. One can only hope the ducks are already dead before the chords are removed and carefully incorporated into the competitors’ hand-crafted devices which they blow/suck through. A bit like playing a cross between the mondfluitjie and a vuvuzela. Apparently one lout half-swallowed his duck’s ‘chords’ by mistake and it got stuck in his throat for a while. It wasn’t serious though, because it didn’t obstruct his windpipe. But later that afternoon he was disqualified because whenever he spoke or breathed heavily, he quacked like a duck in distress, which the judges found distracting.
He, too, was distressed and disappointed, but after the competition, his feathers still slightly ruffled, he had it surgically removed and he’s already practising for the next World Championship. Buckets of Gold For centuries alchemists, physicists and chemistry boffins have been grappling with the lure of unearthing the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ and the concept of turning something that isn’t gold into gold. One such enthusiastic scientist was a bloke called Dr Henning Brand from Hamburg, Germany. It was 1669, and our Hennie thought he’d discovered a way to create gold for very little cost. According to his theory, we all inhale minute particles of gold (together with other air-born material) every day, which work their way through the body and are excreted through our urine. That’s why it’s yellow, he claimed. Those were gold particles in the pee, and all he had to do was extract them. I’m not making this up. Hennie was certain he’d hit the jackpot by evaporating/distilling the pee into ‘a black sludge’, which was then re-heated with sand and some other goodies, and condensed into a solid,
using cold water. Before it had set, he decided to forge ahead anyway, but realised his pee alone wouldn’t crack it. Now, where do you go to find excessive amounts of piddle ‘on tap’? The pubs, of course. So he immediately bought and distributed 50 dustbins to the local beer halls, and went back to his lab to check how his trial experiment was maturing. Somewhat disappointed, he found his black sludge had so far only turned white as expected, but not yet gold. So he switched off the lights to lock up for the night, and in the darkness saw his sludge was glowing. “Bliksem!” he said in his best German and wondered how this stuff could be shining in the pitch darkness of his lab? Well, sadly for him, he soon realised it wasn’t gold, but what he didn’t realise, and died years later never knowing, was that he had inadvertently discovered phosphorus – used extensively today in fluorescent lighting, fertiliser, matches etc. I do wonder how he dealt with the 5 000 litres of gold-free pee, though.
WEEKLY WEATHER & DE BOS DAM LEVELS
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17 June 2020
LET'S TALK
Be part of the baboon solution Hermanus Baboon Action Group (HBAG), in co-operation with the Human Wildlife Solutions (HWS) baboon management team are calling on all residents in baboon affected areas to:
• • •
• • •
Pack away their bird feeders and sugar water bottles for now, particularly Hermanus Heights Fernkloof and Voëlklip areas. Protect your vegetable gardens with a simple wooden frame with mesh firmly stretched over. Secure refuse bins (now a requirement for all residents in baboon affected areas in terms of the local bylaws) and never dump refuse bags on pavements or on your property, ever. Put dog and kitty bowls inside or in the garage for now. Keep fruit bowls away from windows, or out of sight. Harvest ripe fruit from your fruiting trees as regularly as possible. (Figs are a particular favourite and common in Hermanus suburbia.)
These all attract baboons to the suburbs. Until we all participate in the solution, the baboons will continue to find routes to return to those same properties providing temptations. Recently, the Voëlklip troop concentrated on the Hermanus Heights area for several reasons: Seasonal fruit, availability of bird seed, hanging suet and seed balls, and sugar water bottles (like a baboon party!). Birds are adaptable and will find food easily. They are attracted to indigenous plants such as the Cape Honeysuckle, Wild Dagga and numerous other prolific indigenous flowering plants, producing nectar
opportunities almost year round. Sunbirds, mousebirds, sugarbirds and white-eyes feed and nest in Honeysuckle. Providing a simple bird bath with shallow water will attract birds to your garden anyway, as will the appropriate plants. No need to feed!
The Vogelgat troop is less habituated to suburbia than the Voëlklip troop and tends to be more skittish if they do enter Voëlklip occasionally. This troop is not covered by the contract with HWS to manage baboons for the moment.
Hermanus Heights happens to be a familiar access area between the Fernkloof Reserve and Golf Estate. Numerous pine tree plantations exist on the course and baboons enjoy the feast of pine nuts as cones drop, in addition to the daily scatters of corn and birdseed several residents provide to attract the Guinea Fowls and Francolins and other birds to their properties. Please stop this for now.
Again, the same issues tend to occur which attract this wilder troop towards suburbia. Residents in these areas are asked to remain alert to their own property issues to try and minimize the attraction of their gardens and backyards for baboons.
HWS and HBAG would like to draw attention to the problem of attracting wildlife to feeding spots in suburbia. It encourages baboons to abandon their roles as essential seed dispersal agents in the Fernkloof Nature Reserve. By foraging naturally, they help distribute seeds and bulbs of endemic and indigenous plants, so essential to the reserve’s ecosystem. By feeding baboons and other wildlife, the natural balance is disturbed and dependency on ‘easy foods’ replaces the natural activities the wildlife should be carrying out daily in the reserve. The attraction of baboons to suburbia remains a constant frustration and diminishes the massive efforts undertaken by our monitors to keep driving the baboon troop back towards the safety and freedom of the reservation areas where they can exist in harmony with nature.
Please remember to call the Baboon Hotline immediately if you see baboons in your area on 071 588 6540. Residents in affected areas continue to support and welcome the introduction of the monitors and are encouraged by their positive approach and excellent responses so far. The monitors are on duty 7 days a week, irrespective of weather conditions. The consistent daily approach to the management programme ensures that a routine barrier is enforced all the time. The re-habituation of the baboons is challenging and will take some time but already progress has been made and soon the reserve will become their preferred natural safe habitat once more. Visit www.hermanusbaboons.co.za or follow Facebook @hermanusbaboons or email info@hermanusbaboons.co.za for further information and tips. Pat Redford Hermanus Baboon Action Group
Healthy and robust debate are crucial for democracy. 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.
Bears on a Mission
Another batch of teddies is about to be dispatched from the caring arms of, from left, Carole Carr, Margaret Cunningham and Sue Doble. “Look for the ‘bear’ necessities, the simple ‘bear’ necessities, forget about your trouble and your strife….” Those are the words to Baloo’s song in The Jungle Book – but they could easily apply for hundreds of youngsters who will receive a lovingly knitted teddy bear to soothe their stress. The bears are being knitted by local volunteers during lockdown and added to the comfort bags which are donated to abused children every month. The young victims, mostly girls but also some boys, ranging from babies to 16 years, are often found traumatised and confused when taken to the Child Protection Units. “The children who receive our packs are very often alone and surrounded by total strangers. They are also usually afraid and hungry,” says Margaret Cunningham, who co-ordinates the Hermanus volunteers. “Our project
aims to soothe their distress and provide some basic items to assist them. We call it ‘Bears on a Mission’ and it was started almost 20 years ago by Flo Borchers and her daughter Kerrin Marcon.” The bears are distributed throughout the Western Cape in the comfort bags, which contain a range of age-appropriate items including food, drinks, hygiene and sanitary products. With the growing problem of child abuse, the task of financing items such as wool and stuffing, plus the need for volunteers to knit the teddies is increasing. There is also a demand for funds to buy the general supplies. The sad truth is that almost 2 000 teddy bears are currently needed. If you feel that you can help, please contact Margaret on 082 437 2976.
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www.thevillagenews.co.za
17 June 2020
MY WELLNESS
Lockdown 3: balancing the risks of everyday activities Writer Hedda Mittner
A
fter so many weeks in a hard lockdown, many of us are still struggling to cope with our new “freedom”, maybe even more so than in most other countries, where the lockdown regulations were only relaxed after the peak in infection rates had passed. Here, on the other hand, many of us are now allowed to go to work, our children are going back to school, we may go to church and use public transport, even though the expected peak is still several weeks off. The trick now is to find a balance between safety and liberty as we resume our normal activities and routines. So just how big are the risks we face every day – and what can we do to stay as safe as possible while minimising the risks of infection and transmission? The question of virus load Epidemiologists and other health experts around the world are still learning about COVID-19 and although many aspects of the disease remain baffling, there are some facts that have emerged. For example, we have been hearing a lot about ‘viral load’ lately. This refers to the critical mass of active virions (infectious virus particles) that have to invade your tissues and begin to reproduce there in order for you to become sick. Research has shown that the risk of COVID-19 infection (in fact, all viral infections) is dependent on the amount of active virus you are exposed to and for how long. There are two ways in which you could be infected by a critical mass (i.e. enough active virions to make you sick) – either by spending a long time (more than an hour) in an environment with a low concentration of active virus (such as in a workplace or a grocery store) or a short time in an environment with
a high concentration of active virus (such as being in the same room with an infected person). Outdoors is safer than indoors The risks increase if you spend that time indoors in an enclosed and poorly ventilated space as opposed to outside in fresh air. The more crowded the environment and the closer you are to the people you are interacting with, especially without wearing masks, the greater the chances that you could get infected. Research studies have found that talking alone can launch thousands of droplets into the air, and that they can remain suspended for eight to 14 minutes. While social distancing (staying more than 1.5m apart) is important, it also becomes a less effective measure the longer you remain indoors with a group of people in a high-risk environment, especially if there is a lot of talking, laughing, heavy breathing or singing involved. Such environments would include public transport, restaurants, movie theatres, gyms, choir practices or singing in church. The reason why these environments are considered high-risk is simply because the particles that are emitted from people’s mouths and noses are the primary vector of infection, and the more time you spend in a room that is permeated by a cloud of virus from other people’s vapours, the more viral particles you will be breathing in. It’s basically the same reason why we get ill more often with colds and flu in winter – it has more to do with the greater amount of time we spend indoors in enclosed spaces than with the colder weather. That is why adhering to safety protocols in the workplace, spacing tables apart in restaurants, staggering seats in theatres, buses and aeroplanes, and limiting the number of people allowed to congregate for funerals
or church services, would lower the risk of infection and transmission. The safest place to be, though, is still outside, where the virus decays much faster than in a windowless, air-conditioned space. Spending time outdoors while practicing social distancing is considered a low-risk activity, which is why it was so illogical to restrict outdoor exercise to a 3-hour time slot during lockdown Level 4. (And why it still seems unreasonable that walkers, swimmers and surfers are not allowed to set foot on a deserted beach or in the ocean!) And while the colder weather may incline you towards keeping windows and doors closed and the heaters switched on, remember to ventilate your house regularly to allow fresh air in. Why wearing a mask is vital As much as people have been complaining about joggers and cyclists not wearing masks, it has to be said that it’s not the easiest thing to do when you need all the oxygen you can get. And surely there are enough wide open spaces in the Overstrand for joggers and cyclists to get their exercise away from more crowded areas such as the cliff path? Just a suggestion, as I see no reason to let your mask slip when there’s no one else around. Wearing a mask when you’re out and about among members of the public, and especially when indoors, however, is vital – for everyone. Not only does this prevent droplets from your nose and mouth from escaping into the air and onto surfaces, but it also slows down the build-up of the virus in a room. This helps to decrease the viral load that is breathed in by others and also limits your own exposure by decreasing the amount of virions being inhaled by you. Is it safe to socialise? While it appears that most people
ESSENTIAL SERVICES – WE ARE OPEN
have started socialising more with neighbours, relatives, friends and colleagues during lockdown Level 3 (contrary to the regulations), it makes sense to restrict your social interactions to as small a number of people as possible outside of your own household. The reason why social gatherings are not permitted is because they usually involve eating and drinking, which is not possible while wearing a mask. So if you are going to socialise, remember that it is safer to do so outside than inside. It is also easier to practise social distancing in the garden than around a dining table inside. It is important to ensure that those you are mingling with can be relied upon to follow the same safety protocols in their everyday lives. If you are in regular contact and one of you becomes infected, everyone in that group will be vulnerable. However, if everyone follows the same rules it would allow the infected person(s) to inform the others as soon as possible so that they can self-isolate, thereby minimising the risk of transmission within your circle and also preventing it from spreading beyond that limited group. Can I become infected from a contaminated surface? Fears of catching the Coronavirus from contaminated surfaces have prompted many of us to wipe down groceries, leave our shoes outside, wash our clothes on the highest temperature setting, and stress about touching things such as elevator buttons, trolley handles, door knobs, ATMs and card machines. So exactly how high is the risk of contamination through fomite transmission? (That, by the way, is the scientific term for indirect transmission through contact with a contaminated surface.) It is referred to as indirect transmission as a whole chain of events need to occur in order for you to become
infected. It would have to start with someone who is infectious (though, as we all know by now, not necessarily symptomatic) transmitting a large enough amount of virions by coughing or sneezing on their hand (if not directly onto a surface) and then touching an object or surface such as a glass, a tin of baked beans, a door handle or a bathroom tap. Next thing, the virus would have to survive long enough until you come along and touch the contaminated surface and pick up enough viable virus on your hands, and then you touch your eyes, nose or mouth. Now, although studies have shown that the virus can last up to three days on hard surfaces such as steel and plastic and about 24 hours on cardboard and fibres, it starts to disintegrate within hours of landing on a surface, making it less viable (remember the “critical mass” needed to make you sick). All of which makes this scenario rather unlikely, especially if you are in the habit of washing your hands regularly. You cannot become infected through your skin, so this simple action, which should be second nature to us by now, will break the chain of events that could possibly lead to transmission. The bottom line is that, although there is some risk involved, fomite transmission is not the primary driver of COVID-19 infection. The disease is mainly spread from person to person through close physical contact, with the virus transmitted into the air by an infectious person and inhaled by another, straight into the upper respiratory tract. Because the virus decays beyond the point of being infectious when it hangs around outside a human body long enough, it’s people who pose the biggest risk – and not objects or surfaces. SOURCES: nytimes.com; immunopaedia.org.za; news-medical.net; discovermagazine.com; medium.com
www.thevillagenews.co.za
17 June 2020
11 9
Don’t postpone your Support the sula bag check-ups due to the project Coronavirus On any day of the week the Youth Café in Zwelihle is a hive of activity. Volunteers are helping to provide meals for the needy and a group of ladies is busily sewing ‘sula bags’. The name comes from the fact that the bags provide ‘inSULAtion’ of the contents, either hot or cold. The principle is the same as the ‘wonderbox’ of the 1970s.
T
he Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive effect on the lives of everybody on earth. It is often said that “we are all in the same boat”. That is not true. We are not all in the same boat, but we are all in the same storm! We have all heard about how “life will never be the same again”, how there will be a “new normal” and how we will have to change our ways. “We have allowed this virus to take control of our lives and having this massive information overload is creating a lot of fear in people’s minds,” says Dr Paul de Flamingh. “It is almost as if we believe that Covid-19 is the only threat to our wellbeing and health. It is all everyone is talking about.”
Dr de Flamingh and the other medical specialists at the Hermanus Medical Centre in Ravenscroft Street (part of the Hermanus Mediclinic building) are concerned that patients are neglecting their health and forgetting to have their follow-up examinations for serious medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, breast examinations, mammograms, prostate examinations, Pap smears, colonoscopies and post-cancer check-ups, amongst others. The doctors would like to assure their patients and the rest of the public that special care is taken to keep you as safe as possible. Members of the public visiting the Medical Suites are screened in order to identify
possible cases of Covid-19 and are requested to adhere to the social distancing guidelines, as well as making sure that they are wearing a proper mask at all times while in the centre. Only the patient is allowed into the various waiting rooms, unless physical support is required. In this way the number of people in the building is managed. The following specialists practice in the Hermanus Medical Centre: Radiology, PathCare, Dr Carl de Clercq (physician), Dr Deirdre Grobbelaar (diagnostic ultrasound), Drs Marius Coetzee and Rudi van Rensburg (general surgeons), Dr Jacques Basson (urologist), Dr John du Plessis (ENT specialist) and Dr Paul de Flamingh (gynaecologist).
If used for cooking, the pot is brought to the boil and then placed in the sula bag where it works like a slow cooker and stays hot long enough to completely cook the food in the pot. It is especially suitable for stews, soups, samp, rice, curry and offal. Not only can the food not burn or start a fire, but the greatest advantage is in cost saving. Using the sula bag saves around three hours of cooking fuel, whether it be electricity, paraffin or gas – all of which also contribute to climate change. The sula bags are filled with shredded polystyrene, which provides excellent insulation, keeping the contents either hot or cold. So it’s not only a slow cooker, but a cool bag as well. Polystyrene does not get recycled because the weight to volume ratio is too low to make transport to a recycling plant economically feasible. All those little polystyrene packaging trays and take-away containers go straight to landfill. Sula bags can take polystyrene out of the waste stream. That is why Whale Coast Conservation has awarded a small grant to the Phambili Sewing Project to get this initiative off the ground and support the industrious sewers who are making
Sheraine van Wyk of WCC with Fiki Gxamesi of the Zwelihle Youth Café holding one of the nifty sula bags. PHOTO: Archie Klaas these nifty sula bags and selling them at the Youth Café to gain a small income. Everyone needs at least two bags – one for medium pots and another for large pots. Please consider donating a bag to those who cannot afford it but desperately need it. The cost of a medium sula bags is R350 and for a large bag R450. You can order your bags by contacting Fiki on 0837230492 or email gxamesif9@gmail.com. Bags are sold at the RDP centre in Zwelihle and at Big Apple Hair Design, 5 Long Street (behind PnP). This project also needs your waste (but clean) polystyrene, which can be dropped off at Pick n Pay Hermanus, Fresh Produce at the Mall or the RDP Centre in Zwelihle. Help us save energy, be good to the earth and help people! – Anina Lee
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17 June 2020
MY HOME
Sharing is caring – spread the word By Stuart Cohen CabinCare Property Management & Project Specialists
W
hile most of us are in a recovery stage from the initial shock of the lockdown’s impact on the tourism industry, now is the time to get creative and be an ambassador for our region by whatever means possible. Each and every person involved in the tourism sector needs to make a concerted effort to attract South Africans to the Overberg when regulations allow local leisure travel to recommence. Whilst the jury is out as to whether this will extend to international tourists before 2021, there is a captive audience of SA travellers who need to hear about what we have to offer. Whether you have a 2-sleeper or 10-sleeper Airbnb, traditional guesthouse, boutique hotel, B&B or self-catering facility, you need to spread the word and start creating an awareness of the Overberg, the likes of which has never been seen before. Social media is now the prime tool through which we can reach tens of thousands of people by simply making clever and creative use of platforms like Facebook. As mentioned in
a previous article, the mantra “When the going gets tough, the tough go marketing’ has never been more applicable than it is now. Each and every tourism facility should have its own Facebook page or website. If you don’t and are wondering how you are going to rebuild your guest bookings, it is critical that you create a presence to capitalise on the wave that will come. It is a very simple process to leverage posts from other companies/media/tourism agencies/art galleries and the like that are posting good news stories about the region. These are the posts which you should be sharing with your network of contacts in order to broaden the reach. There is a wonderful term in advertising and marketing called ‘Spaced Repetition’, which simply means that the more you see information over a period of time, the more likely you are to remember it. This is what we want potential tourists to experience, so the more they read and hear about the Overberg, the more likely they are to remember it as an option. The key tips to spreading the word are the following: • From your Facebook page, ‘Like’ the pages or join the Groups of other companies/media/ tourism agencies whose posts you want to see. Examples of these are Hermanus
•
•
•
Tourism Bureau, Hermanus Online Travel Magazine, Hermanus Western Cape, Village Explorer, My Hermanus, all of the Wineries’ FB pages, all of the Festival FB pages… the list is endless but should be focused on those aspects that will be of interest to tourists. When you see those posts, pick the relevant ones to share to your network and add a narrative to the post share that personalises it for the reader. The relevant posts are those that will attract the reader to consider making the Overberg their destination of choice whilst overseas travel is restricted. Those of us who are proactive on Facebook will know that every week we get a link to that week’s edition of The Village News. By simply sharing that link to your contacts, you are increasing the reach to such a degree that you are bound to touch people who may never have considered coming to the Overberg for a holiday. Once you have the hang of it, this process will not take much of your time on a daily basis and the more you are posting from your page, the more you will increase your visibility when sharing posts of interest to tourists.
The point is that in this Covid-19 world we are now living in, it is no longer enough to simply rely on listings on the holiday rental portals,
ESSENTIAL SERVICES – WE ARE OPEN
even if your facilities are listed on many of them. In the upcoming months there are going to be even more properties listed for holiday rentals, which will yet again have a downward impact on nightly rates because of the oversupply. We are already seeing traditional holiday rental properties being put onto the long-term rental market and in time, potential long-term tenants will be spoilt for choice. Even some of the well-known B&Bs are considering this as an option, particularly if their historical guest bookings have been from overseas guests. Whether the rentals will be realistic or not remains to be seen, as traditionally this market has pegged long-term rentals at rates above what is realistic for the majority of accommodation seekers. This is one of the most exciting times to realign, readjust and reassess your priorities. By climbing on the ‘spread-the-word’ bandwagon and shouting from the treetops just how great our region is, our communal effort can only but bring the desired results. After all, considering how much misinformation and fake news was fed to us all via social media since the start of the pandemic, imagine the impact of truth being fed to all our combined contacts, consistently and repeatedly.
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www.thevillagenews.co.za
17 June 2020
MY COMMUNITY
Help us to help you T
he Village NEWS’s production manager and photographer, Taylum Meyer has launched a community project in her spare time called 'Support Local - Love where you live', to assist local businesses to get back on their feet after the prolonged COVID-19 lockdown. By utilising her photography skills and making use of social media, Taylum is offering her photography services free of charge to help market and promote the unique offerings of local businesses that are the lifeblood of Hermanus. “I have only been living in Hermanus for about eight years but I feel like this is my community. By working for the newspaper I have met some
incredible people and learnt so much about our town. I love living here,” she says. “Having gotten to know several local business owners, I knew that many of them would struggle to survive the lockdown and I wanted to somehow offer my help. I did a post to my Facebook page (Titanium Photography) and challenged other photographers in the area to get involved as well. I very quickly had a response from like-minded people who offered either their photography or marketing services – all free of charge. It is just amazing that so many people are prepared to help their community despite going through their own troubles during this time.” The 'Support Local - Love where you live' project is driven by Taylum through Facebook and Instagram. She is happy to report that she now has an excellent photography team on board to assist businesses in other areas such as Caledon (Melinda Maidment Photography), Stanford (Photo:Sight), Sandbaai (Third Eye Productions) and Onrus (Dan Photography). Hermanus Experiences, Aktileda Marketing and The Village NEWS are all involved in the marketing side of the project.
“Now, more than ever, our locally-owned businesses need as much of our support as possible. The future is uncertain for almost everyone as we wonder what will happen in the next few weeks and months. Only by being there for each other can we somehow make it through to the other side of this pandemic.” Taylum, who last year won an FCJ (Forum for Community Journalism) award for her photography, says any locally-owned business is welcome to contact her to make an appointment for a free, once-off photo shoot. The areas she covers include Eastcliff, Westcliff, Hermanus Industria, Gateway and the Hermanus CBD. For businesses further afield, one of the other volunteer photographers taking part in the project will be ready to jump in. “We will come and meet you to have a chat about your business and take photographs that will be posted to the 'Support Local - Love where you live' page. The post will include all the relevant information about your business and will also be shared widely across several other social media platforms, including those of The Village NEWS. Aktileda Marketing will help with a month’s free marketing and
ESSENTIAL SERVICES – WE ARE OPEN
Taylum Meyer has launched a project to assist locally-owned businesses, in collaboration with a group of volunteer photographers and marketing teams. Here she is with one of her photos at the Hermanus Photographic Society display during the FynArts Festival last year.
Hermanus Experiences is offering a free business listing on their website.” In addition, the photographs taken will be given to the business owners for their own marketing purposes. “The professionals who have volunteered their skills and time to support this project will not be getting anything out of it and are doing it purely to assist their community. Business owners just need to understand that we are all doing this in our spare time and our main jobs must always come first. “People often think there’s no such
thing as a free lunch, but there’s no catch!” laughs Taylum. “It has been truly rewarding for me to help our local businesses, knowing that maybe we may be able to make some small difference.” To find out more about this project, visit ‘Support Local – Love where you live’ on Facebook and look for the pinned post. To make a booking for a photo shoot, simply find the email address on the pinned post for the photographer in your area, or contact Taylum at titanium.photog@gmail.com. - Hedda Mittner
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www.thevillagenews.co.za
17 June 2020
MY ENVIRONMENT
When is a shrew not a shrew (or an elephant)? By Anina Lee
little creature! To prevent further conflict, I gently captured the mousey critter and offered it a home for the night to recover from its ordeal. So now the question was what to feed it while boarding with me.
M
y weekly article in The Village NEWS is a pleasure to write. To start with, I generally know very little about most topics – just enough to think it may be interesting. To quote my favourite physicist, Richard Feynman, “it’s the pleasure of finding things out”. So I start casting around tor anything that catches my attention. But this time, I did not need to look for inspiration – it came looking for me. Anyone who has had toddlers knows that if things are too quiet, it usually means trouble. Something similar holds true for cats. If they stare fixedly, apparently at nothing, you can be sure it’s something. This was exactly what caught my eye. On inspection, the cats had cornered a tiny little mouse-like animal with a very long nose. I recognised it as a Sengi, more commonly known as an elephant shrew. It was facing off the cats by standing up on its rather long hind legs, mouth open, nose pulled back, showing its sharp little teeth. And it was emitting extremely high-pitched squeaks – so high pitched that my aged ears could not hear them at first. What a feisty
I had previously read that elephant shrews were insectivorous. But where to find insects when you need them?So I consulted with Dr Google on what kind of Sengi it was and what else it might eat. Dr Google informed me that the only elephant shrew found in the Western Cape is the Cape Rock Elephant Shrew (Elephantulus edwardii) and that it might also eat worms. Great, I have a whole bin full of red wiggler earthworms. Supper sorted, I had a closer look at the little creature and could compare it with photographs, courtesy of Google, of the Cape Rock Elephant Shrew. To my surprise my critter did not look much like the photographs.
tified the little girl (yes, I looked) as a Karoo Round‐eared Elephant Shrew (Macroscelides proboscideus) from the desert and semi-desert regions of south-western South Africa.
PHOTO: Chester Zoo
Further reading informed me that the adults of this species weigh in at only 40 – 50 grams and that they are omnivores, eating both insects and vegetation. The females have six mammae (I didn’t look) and that despite this, the litters are small. Despite the name, Elephant Shrews are neither elephants nor shrews. Although they look a lot like longnosed mice, they are not even closely related to rodents. Their closest relatives are actually golden moles and aardvarks and yes, even elephants – like dassies. So what was a Round-eared Elephant Shrew doing in my garden on the fringe of Fernkloof Nature Reserve? It’s hardly an arid habitat – yet. But it must have come from the nature reserve.
It was dark grey with a paler belly, not light grey with ruddy tinge around the ears; it had rather small round ears, compared to the more prominent ears in the photographs; the eyes were small and beady, rather than large with a white ring around the eyes.
By chance a neighbour mentioned that a little shrew-like animal just like that had given birth to a litter in his garage some months ago. The family had been safely relocated into the reserve. And that’s exactly what I did with my little visitor.
So definitely not a Cape Rock Elephant Shrew. But what? If in doubt, you can always ask Dr Vic Hamilton-Attwell. If he doesn’t know offhand, he will know where to find the information. And so it was. He iden-
In the next couple of days, another two Sengis had to be relocated. So there is probably an unrecorded population of Round-eared Elephant Shrews living in Fernkloof. How exciting is that!
The Karoo Roundeared Elephant Shrew (Macroscelides proboscideus) is neither an elephant nor a shrew. Although they look a lot like long-nosed mice, they are not even closely related to rodents.
The Cape Rock Elephant Shrew (Elephantulus edwardii) is a lighter grey, has more prominent ears and larger, white-ringed eyes. PHOTO: Reddit
PHOTO: BioLib
The Karoo Roundeared Elephant Shrew is found in the desert and semi-desert regions of southwestern South Africa. It would appear that an unrecorded population is also living in Fernkloof Nature Reserve.
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17 June 2020
When is normal not normal? By Dr Ingrid de Wet
C
ats vomit up hairballs, dogs cover the lawn in messy poo and pet owners wonder when to start panicking about their pets’ health. Vomiting and diarrhoea are common in pets but are not diseases in themselves; they’re symptoms of underlying diseases or ailments which can be serious. Causes of acute vomiting and diarrhoea The number one cause of acute vomiting and diarrhoea in dogs is ‘garbage disease’ or acute gastroenteritis as a result of eating something rotten or too rich for their systems. This usually causes a short bout of vomiting and/or diarrhoea and in many cases will blow over within a day or so. But sometimes dogs can become very dehydrated and may need veterinary care. There are several viruses that can cause acute vomiting and diarrhoea, the most serious of these being parvovirus or distemper. Foreign bodies (e.g. bones, stones, toys, ropes) in the digestive system are another common cause of vomiting in dogs
and cats. Breeds like Bassets, Beagles and Bull Terriers, are more prone to this problem, as are puppies. Cats are less likely to present with foreign bodies in the digestive system unless they have other behavioural issues like wool sucking. Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), hepatitis (inflammation of the liver), bladder or kidney infections, a blocked bladder, high fever, stomach ulcers and poisoning are all potential
causes of vomiting and diarrhoea.
cats) Liver disease Chronic pancreatitis Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) Cancer in the stomach or intestines 6. Stomach ulcers 7. Parasites, e.g. Giardia and Coccidia
Constipation can also cause vomiting, while parasites, including worms, can cause diarrhoea.
2. 3. 4. 5.
Causes of chronic vomiting and diarrhoea Chronic, or long-term, vomiting can be caused by many different diseases and it is a symptom that should not be ignored. Common causes include: 1. Kidney disease (particularly in
If your pet has a short bout of diarrhoea or vomiting, over-the-counter medication such as Diomec may be purchased at an EberVet Vetshop.
However, It is essential to see a vet if your pet shows the following symptoms: 1. Vomiting or diarrhoea in a puppy, kitten, or toy breed (e.g. Yorkie, Toy Pom) for longer than 6-12 hours. The smaller the animal the more prone they are to dehydration and other complications. 2. If vomiting has persisted for longer than 24 hours or if the animal is vomiting a lot (more than four times in 12 hours) 3. If the pet has diarrhoea and is not eating for 24 hours 4. If the pet is eating but the diarrhoea lasts more than two days 5. If there is blood in the vomit or diarrhoea. 6. If the stool is dark or black in colour or if the vomit looks like coffee grounds 7. If the pet is very lethargic and has dry gums 8. If the pet has had chronic vomiting or diarrhoea, in other words vomiting or diarrhoea that has gone on for more than a week, even if it just happens intermittently *Dr Ingrid de Wet is the senior veterinarian at EberVet Country Animal Clinic in Somerset West, www.ebervet. com
