DA AGM

A rather small turnout at the DA AGM held at St Francis Bay Golf Club gives one an impression that now that Kouga is in the control of the DA all is well. But more concerning than the relatively small gathering was the age group of the assembled patrons. Certainly there were a few sub-60’s but not many. The youth are our future and they have to be encouraged and motivated to play a part in the DA’s and Kouga’s future.

Addressing the loyal supporters present, Exec Mayor Elza van Lingen again stressed the need for the council to “romance the townships” for without their support the DA would lose control of council at the next election. And to achieve what is needed they, the DA. Needs to retain Kouga at the next election.

There is little doubt that the DA has improved many aspects of governance but one aspect that still appears lacking is that of collecting outstanding debts. The greater St Francis area owes Kouga Municipality some R17 million in rates, electricity and other debts and the Mayor made it quite clear that this situation would no longer be tolerated.  So if you owe the municipality money and you don’t pay, maybe invest in a generator. And those owners of plots that haven’t paid rates in years prepare to lose your piece of St Francis.

More on the details of the meeting and the new office bearers on Monday.

Although no mention was made of the pending SRA proposal at the meeting it seems appropriate to bring up the crusade against implementing an SRA continues on social media.

It seems, well certainly in the view of one crusader, many of those who own property on the canals or village simply have no idea of what they are getting themselves into. One wonders why so many of these astute and successful businessmen are so supportive of the proposed SRA with some actually serving on the NPC committee. What are they not seeing that this one lone voice of dissent is seeing?

Surely these successful St Francis Property Owners have considered the negatives and the benefits of committing tens of thousands of Rands over the next ten years before putting a cross in the YES block. Considering the reputation of some of these business leaders it is unlikely that they have “more money than brains”.

Only time will tell but one would think the hundreds of property owners collectively have more intelligence than lemmings on a clifftop and have analysed the pros and cons and decided the cons win.