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www.thevillagenews.co.za
23 October 2019
Healthy and robust debate is 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. Send your letters to letters@thevillagenews.co.za
LET’S TALK
SRAs are ‘far from a jolly good idea’ Recent coverage of the Onrus/Vermont SRA initiative in The Village NEWS has been generous and yet conspicuously uncritical. At the public meeting of property owners held a couple of weeks ago there appeared to be a good deal of criticism from the floor, but none of this was reported, or even alluded to, in your recent coverage – no mention of the fact that SRAs set up in some other municipal areas have conspicuously failed, for example. The concept of an SRA seems to have originated in Canada where their purpose was to raise additional funds from ratepayers to help with the revival of areas that had gone to seed. Transplanted into South Africa, their purpose seems to be the mirror image of that: SRAs are typically set up in areas that, like Onrus/Vermont,
are relatively privileged, well run and affluent to start with. Indeed the perception study undertaken in Onrus/Vermont by the SRA promoters indicated that the majority of ratepayers were generally satisfied with the municipal services currently being provided. So, rather than a desire to gild the lily, the real reason behind this initiative seems rooted in a gloomy expectation that standards will decline – you’re not seedy yet, but you will be if you don’t cough up more cash. Much is made of the fact that the additional funds raised by the SRA will be “ring-fenced” to be spent only in the SRA area. All well and good, but the normal rate payments aren’t. The temptation for a cash-strapped municipality to say “You’ve got your own money – you fix your own potholes”
will surely be overwhelming. The money property owners pay anyway – rates, which have increased 100% in the few years I’ve lived here – will be allocated to other areas. Far from being a jolly good idea, SRAs seem to be yet another manifestation of a South African disease whose principal symptom is throwing money at a problem and hoping it goes away, or at least doesn’t come any closer. Rather put effort into ensuring that those entities receiving public money for public services are held strictly to account. If you feel the need to raise money, do it for the genuinely deserving, rather than feeding it into a bureaucratic machine. D C Muirhead Vermont
The Malgas ferry must be saved. It is unique in South Africa, set between magnificent wheat fields, providing a scenic link with the coast. Its manual operation offers no obstruction to commercial enterprises but makes itself a memorable tourist money-spinner.
Examination of the Malgas surroundings shows progressive reduction in rainfall – how much longer will it take global warming to destroy this once glorious haul across a broad river? We can witness the antique spectacle for only a short time longer – let's keep it. Estelle Durham Voëlklip
I am a disabled person who would like to thank some people for going that extra mile for their customers, which does not often happen anymore. I am talking about the Cuckoo Tree Restaurant in the CBD, where I have been a customer for a number of years. When I lost my leg I had to adjust to many things and one of them was going out to places, anywhere really, that would accommodate me. On entering the restaurant for the first time in quite a while I was extremely touched by the kindness of the owner, Lynne Powers, her son Jonathan and daughter Michelle. JP offered to park my car on arrival and help me into the restaurant. I just had to phone ahead, hoot and he would come out – who does that? They offered to move one of their cars so I could park closer. I was unsteady on my new prosthetic and they fussed around me, making sure
I was comfortable and taking time in their busy restaurant to come and sit down and talk to me. As they do with everyone, they made me feel special and I must commend them on their friendliness and compassion. As a disabled person I can tell you that not many people care, but sometimes some people stand out above the rest. I have been a chef for 25 years and one of the reasons I go there is not only the friendly staff but the consistently good food – and having cooked around the world, I should know. As a chef I usually do not critique restaurants and I stay out of the review scene but sometimes a place needs a special mention – and the Cuckoo Tree is one. A big thank you. Garry Hermansen, Voëlklip
Please mind the inserts in The NEWS
Let’s save the Malgas ferry
There are faster routes from the N2 to the coast for busy people to choose, therefore no need to discard the hands-on operation.
Cuckoo Tree goes the extra mile
The Overstrand Hospice 600 Club Draw was done on Tuesday, 15 October by Meindert Jongepoerink, owner of Fynbos Gardens. He supports OH in many ways; with monthly maintenance of our shop garden, prizes for quiz evenings and golf days, and more recently the revamp of our admin office frontage – all out of the goodness of his heart. Also present at the draw were Lyn Sillifant from Don Adams Auditors and Board member Sharon Small-Smillie. Winners: 1st Debra Johnson, 2nd Mr & Mrs G Frew, 3rd Chloe & Co. For only R50 a month you can join the 600 Club and support OH in the work that they do in the community. There are monthly cash prizes up for grabs every month. Please contact Norma Scott-Tomlin on 028 312 4679 or 600admin@overstrandhospice.org.za for more information or visit the OH offices at 10 Hope Street, Hermanus.
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Now live in areas: Berg-en-See | Hemel-en-Aarde Estate | Hermanus Heights
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My husband and I relocated from Sandton Johannesburg to beautiful Hermanus in March this year. I must congratulate you on your most beautiful newspaper that comes out on Wednesdays – it is far superior to the local papers (e.g. the Sandon Chronicle, Randburg Sun etc.) in the quality paper you use, the content, the layout, local information and articles of interest. However, we were so very disappointed to see that both this week and last week you included advertising inserts in your paper. In Johannesburg people complained about having to remove a huge wad of adverts before they could even get to the paper. Please put a stop to this before your beautiful paper is spoilt. Angela Young Thank you for the compliment. Since inception, The Village NEWS has dedicated
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itself to delivering a product that offers only the best quality news and information. To enable us to do this, however, we need adequate advertising income as this is our only revenue stream. In a time when the economy is under pressure, The Village NEWS, like many other businesses, is looking to ensure its survival by allowing for additional income streams. As national companies seldom, if ever, advertise in independent and privately-owned publications, we value the inserts in our publication. Independent research has shown that readers do indeed make use of the inserts, especially in tough economic times. Having said that, we are working on new ways of delivering the good news with less dependency on advertising only. As they say: Watch this space! We would welcome the views of our readers. Please send your letters to dewaal@thevillagenews.co.za. - Ed
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