Cape St Francis Civics chairman with all that is happening in Cape St Francis

First and foremost, we are in a water crisis, and surrounding areas like Hankey and Patensie are facing an imminent Day Zero situation. We are on 50 litres per day rations and we need to be constantly aware of not wasting water in everything we do.

For those of you that are considering bore holes or well points, please make sure that you speak to experts, and do all your homework. There are many existing laws in place with regards borehole water, and there are also certain locations that are not ideal for water extraction due to the possibility of contamination as a result of proximity to the ocean. Please be aware.

The season was a busy one, and we hope that everyone had a good and fruitful summer. We had plenty of enthusiastic visitors, and with less beach at St Francis Bay we felt more of an influx at Cape St Francis.

  • We employed Beauty and Bennie to help with beach cleaning and safety during season, and they were in the thick of it throughout. They both did a sterling job, and we will be employing them going forward on a contractual basis.
  • We are pleased to announce that the Woodridge lifeguards are back in attendance and will be on duty at Cape St Francis beach on Sundays until the end of April.

Woodridge lifesavers man Cape St Francis Beach

  • We had a very successful meeting with FOSTER to discuss projects that we can do together going forward, and we have been working on clean verges with pesticides and removal to keep verges clean and tidy. More of this will be discussed in further communications.
  • We had a successful meeting with the Boardriders Club to discuss similar synergistic opportunities including the surfers’ car park toilet issue, and there is a plan going forward to resolve all issues. Thanks again to Stuart Minehan for the constant upkeep of the shower base and walkway down to the beach.

Airpark

This year, through a mutual agreement, we have included the Airpark Property Owners into our Cape St Francis Civics/Ratepayers Association. Our membership has grown from 156 members to 273 members. There are still a number of property owners who have not paid up, as well as many property owners who have not joined up for the association as of yet. We are still on a membership drive, and would like all help in getting as many people as possible to join up.

The subs link here – http://www.capestfranciscivicassociation.org.za/membership–lidmaatskap.html

CCTV installation.

We have so far received R63800 in donations for the CCTV security camera setup. So far it seems to be working great and we haven’t had too much in the way of crime since we had phase 1 installed. We are busy proceeding with phase 2 and phase 3. Thanks very much to all who have made donations. Those who haven’t yet made a donation are encouraged to make a donation of any size, as every bit counts.

Phase 1 cost us R40179, and phase 2 and 3 are both going to cost R25604 each, totaling R91387. Donations can be made here:

Banking details: STANDARD BANK, Albert Saunders Attorneys Trust Fund, Account no: 281 401 551, Branch Code: 050015 (Humansdorp), Use Reference:  Your name/C123

Nick Schoeman from the Police Forum reported back to us at end of January.

“At our meeting with w/o Van Heerden last Thursday it was reported that we had a quiet period over December as far as crime is concerned. Everyone reports favourably on the cameras you installed and that, as well as recent arrests of suspects by the police, resulted in a decline in criminal activity since the wave of break-ins we had late last year. Everybody must stay alert at all times and the small security whatsapp groups are strongly recommended.”

If you have any comments that you would to be directed to the Ward Committee Meeting, please send them before the 20th of February – the meeting is on the 21st of February.

A big thank you to the Cape St Francis Resort for housing the municipal lifeguards over the season until the end of February.

The LINK App

The LINK app has proven to be a great success over the holiday season, with any and all complaints being lodged with the app.

This free LINK app is available for Android and iOS devices and can be downloaded at download.linkapp.co.za/#dl, from the Google Play or App Store. Upon registration the app will request permission to access your location – this is important, be sure to accept.
To Link to your Ward, (Ward 12) click on “+ and Add Channels”. Select the blue Municipal Ward icon, allow the app to geo-locate you and Link to your Ward as displayed. It’s totally intuitive and many people are utilizing it to great affect.

Beach Parking.

We will be looking at increasing current beach parking to its maximum to accommodate season visitors. More to follow.

We will be publishing a questionnaire with FOSTER in the next newsletter. Any and all input is welcome, if you would like to reach out to the community for feedback.

Plot clearing.

Municipality has sent out letters to owners for plot clearing. Please report over grown plots on the LINK app for follow up.

Municipal Erven adjacent to the tennis courts. There is a FOSTER / Civics collaboration to get public works project, Working for Water, to eradicate aliens free of charge.

Please feel free to reach out to any of the committee members at any time if you have input, ideas or queries.

Best Regards

Dane Shaw
Chairperson: Cape St Francis Civics/Ratepayers Association

Article & photographs submitted by Craig Jarvis

Verified by MonsterInsights