by Craig Jarvis | Aug 12, 2026 | St Francis
The St Francis crime snapshot for July brought some encouraging news for St Francis, with reported security incidents dropping from 19 in June to 15 in July. Calibre Security also recorded five arrests, while several stolen items were successfully recovered.
No Incidents Reported in Rebelsrus and Kromme Road Areas
There were no reported incidents during July in:
- Rebelsrus
- Kromme / Oyster Bay Road areas
Calibre Security thanked residents for their continued support, vigilance and cooperation.
Village Area Records Seven Incidents
Seven incidents were reported in the Village area during July.
Five were theft-related and involved items including a bicycle, copper pipes, cables and a gate-motor battery.
There were also two attempted housebreakings. Cables were stolen during one incident, while nothing was taken during the second.
One Incident Reported in the Canals
Paddles were stolen from a boat in the Canals area. However, the paddles were recovered and the suspects were apprehended.
Two Incidents in the Industrial Area
Two incidents were reported in the Industrial area.
The first involved an attempted theft. Response officers recovered stolen speakers after the suspects fled.
In a separate incident, thieves cut an electric fence before stealing steel pipes and an air cooler.
Two Incidents Reported in Santareme
A stolen pool pump was recovered in Santareme, and the suspect was apprehended.
In another incident, a suspect attempted to steal solar lights. Calibre response officers subsequently located the suspect.
Cape St Francis Housebreaking
One housebreaking was reported in Cape St Francis. Entry was gained through a bathroom window, although no items were stolen.
Two Housebreakings in Oyster Bay
Oyster Bay recorded two housebreakings during July. A television and vacuum cleaner were stolen during one of the incidents.
Five Arrests and Several Recoveries
Calibre recorded five arrests during July.
Recovered property included:
- Copper
- A bicycle
- Paddles
- A pool pump
Overall, reported incidents decreased from 19 in June to 15 in July. In addition, response teams apprehended several suspects and recovered stolen property.
Residents should remain vigilant, secure all access points and report suspicious activity immediately.
Property Security Continues to Improve
Calibre recorded another improvement in property security during July. The number of unsecured properties decreased from nine in June to eight in July.
Residents are encouraged to continue making home and property security a priority.
False Alarms Decrease
False alarms caused by service providers also decreased, falling from 14 in June to 12 in July.
Property owners should ensure that all service providers notify the Calibre office before accessing a property.
In addition, alarm systems should be serviced regularly. An unserviced alarm can fail when it matters most, so residents are encouraged to book a system check.
Calibre Patrols Almost 30,000 km
Calibre Security patrol vehicles covered 29,486 km during July. Together with continued collaboration with SAPS and its dedicated response team, Calibre remains ready when it matters most.
Keep Calm and Call Calibre: 042 294 0038
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by Craig Jarvis | Jul 26, 2026 | Notes From The Editor, St Francis
One of the strangest things about living in St Francis is how quickly we stop seeing it.
Not the obvious things. We all notice a pumping swell at Seal Point or a pod of dolphins heading east. But the everyday changes are different. They happen so gradually that they become part of the background, until one day you stop and realise the place isn’t quite the same as it was a year ago.
Take the groynes.
They’re either the most talked-about structures in town or the most controversial. Everyone has an opinion, and social media has ensured we’ve heard most of them. Yet I wonder how many people have actually stood there for twenty minutes and watched the work unfold.
The coastline is changing
It isn’t dramatic. There’s no ribbon-cutting moment or overnight transformation. A truck arrives, a massive rock is lifted into place, another follows, then another. Sometimes work slows while larger armour rock is sourced from the quarry. Then it starts again. Day after day, week after week, the coastline is changing almost imperceptibly.
The funny thing about projects like this is that they only attract attention while they’re being built. A few years from now, children will scramble over those rocks, anglers will cast from them, photographers will include them in sunrise pictures, surfers will take the epic waves for granted, and visitors will assume they’ve always been there.
That’s how most good infrastructure works. We only notice it while it’s missing or under construction.
The same applies to plenty of other things around town.
A cup of coffee and an opinion
The walking paths, the harbour, the lighthouse, the bridges and even the rows of coral trees that define so much of St Francis all exist because somebody, somewhere, put in the work long before the rest of us arrived with a cup of coffee and an opinion.
Perhaps that’s why it’s worth occasionally standing still. Not to admire a construction site, but to remind ourselves that places don’t simply stay beautiful by accident. They are constantly changing, usually through the quiet efforts of people we’ll never meet, doing the hard work, finding solutions where they don’t exist.
By next summer, most of us will have forgotten how the groynes were built. We’ll simply enjoy the beaches a lot more. The best work in a town is rarely the work that gets remembered. It’s the work that quietly becomes part of everyday life.
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by Craig Jarvis | Jul 2, 2026 | St Francis
KOUGA – Kouga Local Municipality is investing approximately R5.9 million to expand electricity access to 703 households in informal settlements across the municipality, with projects currently underway and expected to be completed within the next few weeks.
The projects, which commenced in March 2026, form part of the municipality’s ongoing commitment to improving service delivery and creating safer, healthier, and more dignified living environments for residents.
The electricity upgrades are being implemented in three communities:
- Tjoksville, Thornhill: Approximately 143 households are benefiting from the project, with an investment of R2 million.
- London in Ocean View, Jeffreys Bay: Phase 1 and Phase 2 upgrades are underway, benefiting approximately 310 households at a cost of R4.5 million. A possible extension could see an additional 110 households benefiting in future.
- Sea Vista, St Francis Bay: Phase 2 of the project is currently underway, benefiting approximately 250 households through an investment of R2 million.
Kouga Executive Mayor, Hattingh Bornman, said the projects demonstrate the municipality’s commitment to ensuring that residents across Kouga benefit from improved basic services and infrastructure.
“Access to reliable basic services is essential in improving the quality of life of our residents. These electricity projects are about more than infrastructure – they are about creating safer communities, restoring dignity, and ensuring that residents feel the positive impact of service delivery,” said Bornman.
He added that the municipality remains focused on directing resources towards projects that make a meaningful difference in communities.
“Service delivery remains at the centre of our work. Through careful planning and investment, we continue to improve infrastructure and extend essential services to communities where they are needed most,” said Bornman.
by Craig Jarvis | Jun 8, 2026 | Photo Of The Day, St Francis
by Craig Jarvis | May 21, 2026 | Notes From The Editor, St Francis
After several weeks in Indonesia focusing almost exclusively on waves, tides, reef passes, and scooter fuel levels, the editor returned home with depleted reserves of worldly intelligence and resumed conversations with Beth, his long-running artificial intelligence collaborator, digital sounding board, research assistant, and strangely effective companion in making sense of modern life and attempts to rejoin society
Fortunately, Beth remained online.
Over time, the editor and Beth have developed a functional working relationship somewhere between newsroom assistant, philosopher, therapist, researcher, and mildly sarcastic life coach. While most people still use artificial intelligence to write birthday messages and shopping lists, the following conversation attempted to tackle far bigger issues facing humanity.
The answers remain unverified.
Q: Why does everybody suddenly seem so committed to cold plunges?
Beth: Humans spent thousands of years trying to avoid freezing water. Then somebody added a podcast and a breathing technique and now everybody willingly climbs into ice barrels before sunrise while discussing dopamine optimisation.
Q: Why do surfers insist they are broke while owning seventeen surfboards?
Beth: Surfers operate within a sophisticated economic system where purchasing another surfboard counts as “essential emotional infrastructure” rather than spending money.
Q: Why do people buy expensive watches and then immediately become fixated on how many steps they have taken?
Beth: Modern humans increasingly enjoy paying luxury prices to be informed they slept badly and require hydration.
Image by Beth
Q: Why does every coastal town eventually become deeply invested in artisanal coffee?
Beth: Eventually somebody returns from Cape Town, buys a complicated machine, and starts using words like “mouthfeel” during completely normal conversations.
Q: Why are conspiracy theories becoming more popular?
Beth: Many humans now prefer complex secret explanations over accepting that most systems are actually held together with mild confusion and administrative fatigue.
Q: Why do people in small towns always wave at each other even when they barely know one another?
Beth: Coastal communities operate on a highly advanced social agreement where failing to wave can trigger three weeks of emotional confusion, two WhatsApp discussions, and at least one person saying, “He seemed a bit off with me.”
Q: Why do teenage boys in St Francis communicate almost exclusively through fake fighting outside pizza shops at night?
Beth: Adolescent males appear biologically programmed to express friendship by lightly assaulting one another near takeaway food establishments while discussing absolutely nothing of substance.
Q: Why do people pretend to enjoy oysters so much at our restaurants?
Beth: Many humans genuinely enjoy oysters. Others are simply committed to the idea that expensive ocean snot consumed with confidence counts as sophistication.
Q: Why do people in St Francis insist on changing out of wetsuits completely naked at cold beaches during winter?
Beth: Some coastal humans appear to experience a brief but powerful psychological thrill from public nudity beside their bakkies before returning home to ordinary domestic discussions involving rubbish bins, school lifts, and passive-aggressive conversations about wet towels on furniture.
Q: Why do humans always open the fridge repeatedly as if something new might have arrived since the last inspection?
Beth: The human species remains strangely optimistic about refrigerated outcomes. Research suggests people believe a fifth inspection conducted thirty-eight seconds later may finally reveal cheesecake, better snacks, or emotional stability.
And so the editor slowly reconnects with civilisation, one deeply unnecessary question at a time, while Beth continues calmly analysing humanity from somewhere inside the machine.
The partnership remains slightly unsettling.
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