Dump or Drop-Off Zone urgently needed!

There have certainly been a number of visible improvements in St Francis since the DA took over council from the ANC. Obviously not everyone is happy for some expect more but council is doing what they can with limited financial resources. One of the most noticeable and certainly extremely important improvements is that of the honey suckers for they seem to have been working tirelessly and without the string of complaints of last holiday season.

We must empathise with Kouga Executive Mayor Elza van Lingen and her team for, inheriting a budget voted in by their predecessors, does leave them rather hamstrung, certainly until July when the new budget will be set, this time with a DA majority in place.

A priority on that budget must be a solution to the closure of the tip. Suitable land must be found and allocated for a drop off zone. This seems to have been the subject of so many meetings over the past 18 months but action is now a priority. The inherent laziness in people will cause them to find easy solutions to rid themselves of garden refuse and other garbage and so follows illegal dumping. In addition to a drop off zone, skips should also be budgeted for and these should be placed at strategic spots throughout Sea Vista to arrest the amount of garbage that is being dumped on open spaces by residents. One must consider the plight of many of the Sea Vista residents; most do not have vehicles to transport waste and hence will seek out the closest and most convenient disposal point.

A post on Facebook by Greg Christie over the weekend clearly identifies this litter problem and one would think the ANC ward councillor responsible for Sea Vista, now that Sea Vista no longer forms part of Ward 12 where Councillor Ben Rheeder is active, would take heed of his voters plight. But it appears little has changed in the ANC’s attitude towards service delivery in spite of their defeat at the polls and no doubt the only help they, Sea Vista, will get, will be motivated by the DA and not the ANC. Lemmings off a cliff.

Certainly the lack of rain has been largely responsible for the lack of potholes reappearing after being so diligently repaired by council prior to the influx of holiday makers. But we are faced with a Catch 22 for we desperately need rain so when the rains come, hopefully sooner rather than later, no doubt so will the potholes again start breaking surface. Repairing potholes really is like pouring money into a black hole, or rather a muddy hole, for filling them is really no better than putting a band aid on a severed artery.

Exciting times ahead for 2017, even if at times, somewhat challenging. Even with a new budget in July we cannot expect council to deliver miracles for only a very small, probably infinitesimal, portion of the budget will be afforded to St Francis. First come the many townships in Kouga, then municipal operating and capital  expenses and then only the towns themselves, Humansdorp, Jeffreys Bay, St Francis, Hankey, Patensie, in no particular order.