6
www.thevillagenews.co.za
27 May 2020
FROM THE EDITOR
The next edition of The Village NEWS will be available on 3 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
Hedda Mittner
CONTENT EDITOR hedda@thevillagenews.co.za
Responsibility is key to flattening the curve It is good news that the whole country will be moving down to Level 3 lockdown restrictions on 1 June. But the question is how will the Overberg’s hotspot status impact on the region? From the figures, it is clear that the numbers of infections in the district are rising, which is to be expected. However, with a very fragile economy largely dependent on tourism, which is unlikely to revive before December, we find ourselves in a very precarious position.
hungover, Marco picked himself up and staggered off through the early morning mist in search of the docks. Unfortunately, the thick, grey fog that enveloped the harbour was not unlike the thick fog enveloping Marco’s own grey matter, which would explain things…
ONLINE EDITOR
raphael@thevillagenews.co.za
Stumbling blindly through the murk, he somehow ended up on a different ship to Pa’s which was taking the more scenic route via Constantinople and the Silk Road. Realising his mistake too late, Marco was nevertheless undeterred. Although they were going the long way round, he knew he would eventually meet Pa again in that Pleasure Dome with the strange name in the Far East.
Elaine Davie SUB-EDITOR & JOURNALIST elaine@thevillagenews.co.za
PHOTOGRAPHER & PRODUCTION MANAGER taylum@thevillagenews.co.za
Alta Pretorius MARKETING MANAGER alta@thevillagenews.co.za
Charé van der Walt MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE chare@thevillagenews.co.za
Tania Hamman
ADMIN & FINANCE admin@thevillagenews.co.za
As a community we need to work together to help curb the spread of the virus. While the multitude of frustrations we all experience can be understood, we need to ensure that we do not undo the effect the
lockdown has had on flattening the curve. All of us have a responsibility towards ourselves and our community to help keep the spread of the virus in check. The saying, ‘Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities is not freedom, it is adolescence’ seems very apt at the moment. These responsibilities not only include the health aspects of the pandemic but also those associated with
our local businesses. Although the phrase ‘Local is Lekker’ has become a constant refrain, the call to all residents to support local businesses cannot be overemphasized. Now that most of them will be allowed to trade, we need to make sure that the money we spend stays local. Many are struggling to compete with their corporate counterparts. Let us be united in spending our hard-earned money where it counts most – locally. This is the good NEWS - Ed
Marco Polo’s South African leg
Raphael da Silva
Taylum Meyer
While it is time for many of us to return to work and resume those aspects of our lives that have been on hold since the lockdown began, the risk of a massive increase in infections is now greater than it has been since the start of the outbreak in our country.
By Murray Stewart murray.stewart49@gmail.com
W
hen Marco Polo rounded the Cape on his way to the Far East, he was both delighted and disappointed at what he discovered. But before we get into that, just a quick recap of the circumstances…
Pa had told him tales of sallow -skinned people with high cheekbones and narrow eyes who spoke in a strange tongue. They cultivated tea, grew chopstick orchards and made cloth out of silkworm poo. He couldn’t wait.
Together with his Pa and Oom Maffeo, Marco had got totally plastered in Venice the night before they were to set sail to the East, and all ended up passed out in a soggy heap on the pavement outside the pub.
When his ship eventually docked in Table Bay for supplies, he climbed the main mast to the crow’s nest, and was convinced he’d spotted the Pleasure Dome in Kathmandu. Or was it Xanadu or Gugulethu – he wasn’t 100% sure of the name. He also found sallow-skinned folks with a strange language who drank tea,
At dawn, still severely drunk and
although they didn’t have silkworms or grow chopsticks. After a two-day trek, what he thought was the fabled Pleasure Dome turned out to be nothing more than Paarl glinting in the sunlight. So, trudging back, a somewhat crestfallen Marco boarded the ship again and set forth on his eastward journey. Rounding the Cape of Storms proved to be more frightening than expected. Apart from sailing into the teeth of a screaming South-easter, they were constantly harassed by a ghostly three-masted ship that would suddenly appear out of the mist, then eerily vanish minutes later. More disturbing was catching glimpses of its captain flapping his arms frantically and shouting at them in Dutch. Fortunately for Marco and the crew, Alphonso van Tonder, the ship’s cook from Genoa, had been taught Afrikaans by his father and could roughly translate the hysterical yelling. “What’s he saying?” shouted Marco over the howling gale. “He’s... telling us... to... turn back,” from Alph. “Because of the storm?” “No. He says there’s a ‘special offer’ at McDonald’s in Hout Bay. Big Mac and chips plus a Coke for only 6 lira! But hurry – while stocks last!”
Fortunately they didn’t turn back, because the stocks didn’t last and they would have been too late. Marco shuddered to think how disappointed the crew would have been. So, ignoring the advice of the phantom Dutchman, they navigated their way through the storm, and rounding the Southern tip of Africa, headed towards the twin heads of a lagoon called Nice Nè, which to Alph’s Afrikaans ear sounded more like a question than a place. In these sheltered waters the captain mustered the crew together to fell and load hundreds of valuable stinkwood logs into the hold for trade in the East. Over there they apparently only grew chopsticks and bamboo, so timber beams were extremely valuable in the construction industry. This gave Marco the opportunity to venture inland in search, perhaps, of more sallow-skinned tea drinkers. What he found instead were communities of long-haired forest-dwellers who kept saying “Hey Shoe”. They made candles, leather bags and wooden carvings. Instead of drinking tea, they smoked it, and to his amazement, they actually had elephants as pets. But that’s another story for next time.
WEEKLY WEATHER & DE BOS DAM LEVELS Wed | 27 May Thu | 28 May
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11°/14° Partly Cloudy
14°/16° Rain
De Bos Dam 36.61%
Weekly Rainfall Not Available
Last week 36.71%
Last week 1mm
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