Eden poverty levels a tragic state of affairs

The Garden Route is sometimes called ‘the Riviera of Africa’ for its beauty and attraction to the fabulously wealthy, but in truth many of the Western Cape’s poorest people are struggling to eke out a living in the region during these tough economic times

FIFTEEN of the entire province’s 17 most disadvantaged wards fall under Eden District Council, which administers the Garden Route, and unemployment levels of close to 30% are prevalent in all the towns from Mossel Bay to Plett.
The region also presents possibly the worst example in South Africa of the massive disparity between the rich - or even the middle class - and the desperately poor, tens of thousands of whom are still struggling under apartheid legacy inequalities and the ravages of HIV/Aids.
Job opportunities on the Route have been further killed off by the prolonged drought, and natural resource sectors such as forestry and fishing have seen a decline.


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End of the track for our Choo-Tjoe?

TRANSNET announced last month that the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe train service between George and Mossel Bay would be terminated, saying that it had identified the service as one of its non-core assets in 2007. Following extensive studies and stakeholder consultation, the company decided to follow an open tender process to find a new operator for the service.
According to the statement, "this process could not identify a new operator and as a result, Transnet was left with no option other than to terminate the service subject to the required approval by the Minister of Public Enterprises - this has since been finalised". 
The Choo-Tjoe railway line between Knysna and George was built in 1922 and handed over to Transnet's Heritage Preservation unit in 1993. It carried an annual average of 115 000, mostly foreign, tourists until 2006, when severe storms damaged the line.
The Choo-Tjoe then operated between George and Mossel Bay, and continued to generate inte...

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Plett catering company nearly falls prey to con artist

FLORENCE Koli is one of five owners of Sesikhona Catering, based in Kwanokuthula Phase 3. She says that on Tuesday August 10, she received a call from a man who identified himself as ‘Themba’ from Cape Town.
He proceeded to place an order with Sesikhona, to cater for a launch event while in Plett - allegedly as part of an outing sponsored by the Art & Culture Department. The meal requirement was for 100 people at a cost of R45 per person, i.e. a total of R4 500.
“We agreed that we would be paid before the event date, which was supposed to be on Saturday August 14. Sesikhona banks with Nedbank, but Themba said that their funders could not work with this and advised me to use my personal account at First National Bank, which he said was also used by the Department of Art & Culture,” says Florence.
She was asked to wait for three days for the amount to be cleared before transferring it to the business account. She gave Themba her bank de...

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Author: Yedwa Mayila

Stand up for your right to know

A joint statement by editors of Caxton Community Newspapers reads: The ANC tirade against our press is focusing the spotlight on the speck in the newspapers' eyes and avoiding the log in their own.
Relentlessly evidence keeps piling up of greed in high place, corruption, destructive factionalism, incompetence and poor delivery. And relentlessly - as they should - newspapers report on this.
Oh, that an increasing number of stirring successes at getting the basics right - such as improving education and creating jobs - could be what the press had to feed on rather than the current fare. 
But with so much rotten meat to chew on newspapers, in their universally accepted role of watchdog, are indeed making a meal of it and therein lies the root cause of the bad blood between Government and the press.
Newspapers are by no means perfect. Sloppy, ill-informed, sensational, unfair and inaccurate reporting does happen and there's no doubt that such journalism does ...

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More good people geared to look after our littlies

AS part of Child Welfare SA’s Asibavikele ‘Let's Protect Them’ project, 19 dedicated folk from various Bitou communities were awarded with certificates on August 30, after undergoing a five-day training course to learn to effectively communicate with parents and children.
This newfound skill will enable them to assess the situation in households throughout Bitou and help the children to lead happier lives, while empowering their families with the knowledge to create harmony in their homes.
National executive director of Child Welfare SA, Ashley Theron, briefly explained the important role the volunteers would fulfil before handing over their hard-earned certificates. "I'm happy to welcome you as our volunteers - the community will benefit greatly from your work,” he said.
He also expressed his satisfaction that there were two men among the volunteers, saying that having them on board would “encourage other men in the community to t...

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Author: Bongani Tom

Bitou Education Indaba postponed

WHEN the folk at Plett’s Bitou 10 Foundation learned that deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe would visit the town on August 21 to launch important projects relating to the national War on Poverty, they decided to postpone their Indaba on after-school activities (visit www.cxpress.co.za and refer to ‘Strike ONE for Bitou schools!’ on the News & Views page of issue #294).
Says the Foundation’s Siphiwe Dladla: “We have therefore rescheduled the Indaba for Saturday September 18. Only the date has changed - the venue and times remain the same as previously advertised. Registration starts at Piesang Valley Community Hall from 8:30am and the day’s proceedings kick off at 9:30am.”
Please continue to book your Indaba seats by contacting Siphiwe Dladla on 044 533 6466 during office hours. You can also email sjdladla@telkomsa.net or fax your booking to 044 ...

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Notice Board

Celebrate Spring at The Red Shed’s fun family day on September 19. Bring along (or pre-order) your picnic baskets and spend the day on the banks of the beautiful Karatara River. Not only will there be a treasure hunt and pony rides, but kids can bring along their bikes and boats or enjoy the farm’s swimming pool and obstacle course, or play volley ball, croquet, table tennis and more. The fun starts at 12 noon and costs R100 per family of two adults and two kids, and R20 per person thereafter. Contact Jacqui on 073 405 9121 or doddco@cyberperk.co.za to book.

In a joint effort with the SA Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre (Samrec) in Port Elizabeth, four more penguins rehabilitated at Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre in The Crags joined their friends in the wild when released off the PE coastline this week. Another six are currently undergoing rehabilitation at Tenikwa, and readers are asked to be on the lookou...

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