5 August 2020

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5 August 2020

Published every Wednesday by CXpress 2006 (Pty) Ltd - PO Box 1449, Plettenberg Bay 6600 - 6 Park Lane, Plettenberg Bay - Tel: 044 533 1004 - Fax: 044 533 0852 Email: editor@cxpress.co.za / advertising@cxpress.co.za Web page: www.cxpress.co.za Printed by Group Editors

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Criminals beware... Armed response officer Luvuyo Bossie flushed a suspected robber from vegetation adjacent to a burgled Robberg Road home last month see the report on page 3, where you can also read what leaders and commentators have to say about SA’s recently-released crime statistics

Vote for Plett’s beaches! - p2

Thoughts to brighten your day - p4

Illegal cigarettes abound - p5

10 000 FREE COPIES OF CXPRESS DISTRIBUTED ALONG THE GARDEN ROUTE EVERY WEDNESDAY

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CXPRESS

NEWS & VIEWS

5 August 2020

FAMSA teams gear up for two fabulous golf days Karin du Plessis - director: FAMSA Knysna/Plettenberg Bay

S an NGO during these uncertain times, FAMSA (Families SA) still has to continue fundraising despite existing personal financial challenges. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we had to postpone our annual Simola Golf Day fundraiser to August - which is now upon us. We gave 2019 participants the first opportunity to sign up, but have recently opened entries to the general golfing public. Due to new rules for golfers, limiting the number of players allowed

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on the course, we have secured two dates: August 14 and 21. If you are a golfer, your support would be appreciated on one or both of these Fridays. If you have golfing friends, please share this news with them. All Covid-19 protocol regulations will be firmly in place. Book for one day at R1,720 per four-ball (R430 per player) or both dates at R3,000 per four-ball (R750 per player). Should you be part of our Donor Programme, FAMSA offers a 50% discount to show our gratitude for your continuous support. The price includes your green

fees and carts but there will be no prize-giving. Rules will be emailed or WhatsApped please email knysna@famsa. org.za for a registration form and to indicate your preferred communication method. In the light of Covid-19 resulting in many businesses struggling and some having to close their doors for good, FAMSA will not be approaching anyone for donations or prizes. This year’s golf day is for the love of the game and supporting an essential charity. We will be issuing Section 18A certificates to those who are in a position to kindly con-

sider a donation. Payment can be made via EFT or SnapScan, as we will not be having a registration table due to Covid-19 safety regulations. The closing date for entries is August 7 latest to secure your four-ball. Let’s celebrate the game of golf and LIFE! • Karin is in charge of a special team of counsellors who help CX Country families and individuals to overcome an array of challenges. Contact them in Knysna on 044 382 5129 and on 044 533 0515 in Plett, and email knysna@famsa.org.za today to enter this golf fundraiser by Friday latest.

#TeeOff4Tourism: awareness drive and fundraiser all in one OUTH Africa’s tourism sector is currently in a dire situation and Cape Summer Villas has jumped on board to assist the unemployed within Plett’s hospitality industry. Cape Summer Villas Boutique Collection group general manager Paul Duverge says the group is hosting a fun golf day, #TeeOff4Tourism Challenge, on Saturday August 8 at Goose Valley Country Club in Plettenberg Bay. “We’re hoping this golf day initiative will gain momentum and catch on fast. We hereby challenge all other companies,

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towns and provinces to start similar initiatives,” he said. The prime goal of #TeeOff4 Tourism is to raise funds for the procurement of food for Plett hospitality workers, many of whom are sole breadwinners. With so much uncertainty surrounding TERS (Temporary Employee Relief Scheme), many families within the sector are without an income. Right now there is little to no work due to hospitality businesses being unable to open, while those trying to operate have little to zero income due to restrictions on leisure travel and

the prohibition of alcohol sales. “We are seeking local businesses who are in a position to sponsor prizes and we’re asking the greater business community to support us by sponsoring one of the 18 holes,” said Duverge. At a mere R350 per player, the field of four-balls is fast filling up and money raised from each ticket sale will be utilised as follows: R150 to Goose Valley green fees, R50 towards thankyou packs (cap, lanyard, etc.), and R150 towards the food parcel fund. Hole sponsorship prices are:

one to eight and 10 to 17 at R2,500 per hole, and holes nine and 18 at R3,500 per hole. In addition to the hole sponsorship fee, sponsors are also requested to contribute in any way possible to gift packs for each golfer; Cape Summer Villas will contribute a cap, lanyard, and bottle-opener key ring but the more items that can be added, the better. If you are able to assist please email Marianne du Toit at events@skyvilla.co.za or call her on 087 550 2967, and see the advert on page 6 for additional information.

Will this be Plett’s Lucky #11? Only if you vote for our beaches! OR the 11th consecutive year, Plettenberg Bay has received a World Travel Awards nomination as Africa’s Leading Beach Destination - a very prestigious honour for this Garden Route town. This year’s awards is the 27th annual celebration of global travel and tourism. “We are extremely excited about the nomination, and in particular the fact that Plett has now been nominated for the 11th year in a row,” says Plett Tourism CEO Marius Venter. “It’s important for fans of

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Plettenberg Bay to vote ASAP - both travel professionals and consumers are eligible, and destinations with the most votes in each category are declared winners,” says Plett Tourism spokesman Patty Butterworth. She adds that this process ensures only the most-deserving businesses walk away with one of these prestigious accolades. Cast your vote at www. worldtravelawards.com/vote before August 22. The World Travel Awards was established in 1993 to acknowl-

edge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the industry. Today, the brand is recognised globally as the ultimate hallmark of quality, with winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. Each year, World Travel Awards covers the globe with a series of regional gala ceremonies staged to celebrate the achievements and strengths of the travel industry, within each key geographical region. It is no surprise that Plett has been nominated for 11 years

running. With the assistance of Bitou Municipality and dedication of the Plett Tourism team, the area has won several awards for its Blue Flag beaches and other coastal treasures. Readers are invivted to spread this important news and boast online when they have voted to inspire all other Plett beach fans. Use the official hashtag #plettitsafeeling on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Plett Tourism), twitter.com/Plett_ Tourism and www.instagram. com/pletttourism/.

NEWS & VIEWS

5 August 2020

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CXPRESS

Calls for better capacitation of police force amid C-19 chaos OLICE minister Bheki Cele announced the 2019/20 National Annual Crime Statistics on July 31, eliciting a variety of responses from opposition parties and political commentators alike. DA shadow Police minister Andrew Whitfield said stats indicated that the SAPS was still losing the battle against most major crimes. Most notably, the murder rate is once again the highest it has been in a decade, with an average of 58.4 South Africans being murdered per day. Sexual offences increased by 1.7%, with sexual assault increasing by 4.2%. On average, 115.8 people are raped in SA daily. Contact crimes - murder, attempted murder and sexual offences, as well as common assault and robbery - also increased by 0.7%. National Commissioner general Khehla Sitole confirmed that incidents on farms in-

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creased from 41 to 46, and murders from 47 to 49. Inclusion of farm attacks in the crime stats was welcomed in general, yet in most cases police was urged to accelerate the full implementation of the rural safety strategy. In the 17 categories of community-reported crimes, carjackings have seen the biggest increase year-on-year. The next largest being robberies at nonresidential premises. The biggest reduction in crimes were seen in bank robberies, cash-in-transit heists, and arson. DA Western Cape Community Safety spokesperson Reagen Allen said they remained deeply concerned that the Crime as Result of Police Action category still showed no overall significant increase. “The 2019/20 crime statistics show that three of the subcategories under Crime as a Result of Police Action have

Plett suspect arrested thanks to officer’s rapid response N August 3, security giants ADT announced that quick action by one of its Plett response officers delivered a suspected thief into the hands of local SAPS members. Just before 7pm on July 16, the Fidelity ADT Security Monitoring Centre received an alarm activation from a Plettenberg Bay home and immediately dispatched armed response officer (ARO) Luvuyo Bossie, who arrived at the Robberg Road property within minutes. “All our AROs are equipped with in-vehicle tablet devices which enable them to receive auto dispatch signals as soon as a customer’s alarm is activated, enhancing response times,� explained ADT Garden Route manager Pieter Meiring. “In line with regulations to control and prevent the spread of the coronavirus we have pro-

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increased, and the category as a whole, comprising activities undertaken by the SAPS to fight crime, decreased by 14.5%. “These statistics effectively mean we cannot attribute the decrease in crime to better or intensive policing. In the Western Cape, none of these sub-categories have increased; instead, a decrease of close to 20% was recorded.� Allen added that a special adjustment budget of Community Safety in the Western Cape was being debated along with various interventions undertaken by the Provincial Safety department to supplement the work of the SAPS, including significant involvement in the fight against Covid-19 despite diminishing public funds. “On numerous occasions we called on the Police minister to better capacitate our force in the province. Unfortunately, these statistic have offered a sad reminder that he has ignored our pleas, at the cost of the safety of residents,� Allen concluded. --SAPS Southern Cape spokesperson captain Malcolm Pojie says all the latest information is available on the national website (visit www.saps.

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neighbourhoods in the hope of pulling off some petty or opportunistic crime. “Subsequently, theft from vehicles has been on the rise. It’s much easier to hit a car window than break into a house. But as lockdown regulations ease, we have been noting several known housebreakers back on the streets.� Olivier explained that information on house robberies may not yet be available, but that a rise in this category is most definitely on the cards as criminals become more brazen in a community that seems hungrier and more desperate by the week. “At the start of lockdown, it was much easier to spot suspicious persons but the rise in theft from cars is always a sure indication of lots more movement in our neighbourhoods. Residents should now be more vigilant than ever.� He concluded that a final factor in the prevalence of criminal activity was the fact that, as per the prisons, our courts did not prepare for dealing with the screening and processing of individual suspects, which contributed to the fact that they could not be charged and were thus sent home.

vided all our staff with the necessary PPE to ensure the safety of both employees and clients.� Upon arrival, officer Bossie conducted a thorough search of the property and noticed that the kitchen door was closed but not locked and had no security gate. On inspecting the flat on the property he noticed a window had been tampered with and both the glass and burglar bars had been removed. “Further investigation of the bushy area at the back of the garden revealed several stolen items including a flat-screen TV, two irons, a two-plate stove, toolbox and numerous goods in a plastic bag. Officer Bossie spotted the suspect in the bushes nearby and successfully apprehended him. The suspect was handed over for arrest to members of the local SAPS.

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gov.za and click on ‘crime stats’), where it is broken down into national, provincial, and per-station figures recorded over the past year. “At this stage, we will study the statistics in-house and, as required by protocol, only possibly comment on stats per station once the provincial picture has been revealed.� According to the SAPS, crime stats will in future be published on a quarterly basis to allow them ample time to plan and act on information revealed. --Plettenberg Bay Crime Prevention Association operations head Otto Olivier told CXPRESS on Tuesday that the most significant changes in local crime stats resulted from Covid-19 protocols (which does not impact on national figures, as these were recorded from April 1 last year to March 31, i.e. the start of lockdown Level 5). “Under Covid-19 regulations, many local criminals went free because of the fact that prisons did not have the capacity to ensure that staff and other inmates were protected against contracting the virus. “But these people didn’t exactly go home to self-isolate - rather, they are increasingly seen roaming our

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CXPRESS

INTERVAL

5 August 2020

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. - Margaret Mead

Random thoughts • I drink too much. The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it. - Rodney Dangerfield • I would imagine that if you could understand Morse code, a tap dancer would drive you crazy. Mitch Hedberg • People like abstract art because it makes them feel clever. - James Acaster • Adults are always asking kids what they want to be when they grow up because they are looking for ideas. - Paula Poundstone • We suddenly saw how people reacted in the event of massive social upheaval, and the way that the little problems in your life don’t go away. You don’t stop being frightened of spiders just because the world’s blown up. - Simon Pegg • The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you’re hungry again. - George Miller • You moon the wrong person at an office party and suddenly you’re not ‘professional’ any more. Jeff Foxworthy • Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said. - Mel Brooks • It’s no longer a question of staying healthy. It’s a question of finding a sickness you like. Jackie Mason • When turkeys mate they think of swans. 1

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Johnny Carson • Once we hit forty, women only have about four taste buds left: one for vodka, one for wine, one for cheese, and one for chocolate. - Gina Barreca • Nothing prepared me for being this awesome. It’s kind of a shock. It’s kind of a shock to wake up every morning and be bathed in this purple light. - Bill Murray • Why don’t they give us things we can actually use? I don’t need a thinner phone. You know what I need? I need a tortilla chip that can support the weight of guacamole. Ellen Degeneres • It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper. - Jerry Seinfeld • I don’t want to be a vampire. I’m a day person. - Jim Carrey • Thank you, horseradish, for being neither a radish nor a horse. What you are is a liar food. Jimmy Fallon • The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not. - Mark Twain • When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday - no matter what happened Tuesday. Stephen Colbert

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• A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I’m afraid of widths. Steven Wright • Alcohol is like Photoshop for real life. - Will Ferrell • Life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad television. Woody Allen • If I had nine of my fingers missing I wouldn’t type any slower. - Mitch Hedberg • Never miss a good

chance to shut up. - Will Rogers • Sane is boring. - RA Salvatore • My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying. - Rodney Dangerfield • This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before. - Maya Angelou • One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. - Bob Marley

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ON THE SOAPBOX

5 August 2020

Letters to the Editor

Email: editor@cxpress.co.za - Fax: 044 533 0852 - PO Box 1449, Plett 6600

To the mayor of Knysna: why are illegal cigarette sellers operating above the law? If is with shock and utter dismay that I see our beautiful country becoming the laughing stock of many because of complete contempt of law and order. In full view of all business people and shoppers, illegal selling of cigarettes is taking place in Knysna. I prefer doing most of our shopping in Knysna. Two weeks ago, I saw at least five young guys two of them surely under 18 - selling cigarettes illegally on the sidewalks and street corners at the western side of the Checkers

shopping complex, in broad daylight and seemingly without fear. I brought this to the attention of our ward councillor in Sedgefield, where we reside. To my amazement, the situation has worsened. When we went shopping in Knysna on Tuesday July 28, we saw even more (I counted eight young guys and at least two looked like minors) doing the same trade in the same area. Cigarette packets are held up in raised hands, and they even ran towards

my car to do some selling when I reduced speed to try and take a photo. I did not even go to the police - I have been told they would do nothing about this, because the smokers among them allegedly get their supply for free from these ‘cig pimps’. So sad if you cannot trust your own law enforcers... Mr Mayor, this is not a threat, but a promise: If something DRASTIC is not done about this illegal practice, I intend to expose the situation in the media with proof

of video footage and my telephoto lens. As an ex journalist, I have enough experience to exploit these possibilities and to get a process started. I intend bringing this to the attention of national authorities, too. Please do not send uniformed policemen, because law enforcers in plain clothes have a much better chance to make arrests within minutes and so put an end to this audacious disrespect for the law. Jasper Schellingerhout, Sedgefield SMOKE ON THE HIGH STREET: Even with law enforcers in close proximity and the knowledge that the sale of tabacco products are against the law, drivers in Plett’s High Street can hardly see the road for the crowd of informal cigarette vendors currently operating there; the onslaught is doubly annoying to those making their way on foot

Municipal journals require personal research, as customer-care inbox overfloweth… Last week I received my municipal rates account and was astounded to find a debit of R13,469.09 marked only as ‘journals 39179 39178’. There was no detail or explanation of what this was for. As I would like to know what I am paying for, I sent an email on July 26 to customercare@plett. gov.za - the address on the municipal account to send queries to. My message was as follows: “With reference to attached account, please advise what journals 39179 39178 is for. I have never in my life received an account except from municipalities that pass journals and add them to your account without some explanation.” I was still contemplating sending CXPRESS a copy of the email with a comment that I’ll bet my bottom dollar I won’t get a response, when I received a reply as follows:

“Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: The recipients mailbox is full and can’t accept messages.” I resent the email on Monday the 27th and again received the same response: mailbox full… I then phoned Bitou’s customer care line a number of times and eventually the phone was answered. I explained that I wanted to email a query on my account but that the mailbox was full. I was then advised that I should forward it to communications@plett.gov. za but, guess what? It also came back - undeliverable. Someone (not a municipal employee) then gave me names and addresses of three Bitou employees whom might be able to assist. I would rather not identify these individuals and will rather refer to them by their initials, being C, E, and T. I sent the following

email to each of them: “The email address for queries on municipal accounts is customercare@ plett.gov.za. However, mail sent to this address is returned as ‘undeliverable, mailbox full’. I have now addressed this query to you three in the hope that you can resolve the matter. I received an autoresponse from C as follows: “All enquiries must be registered at customer care at customercare@ plett.gov.za.” I have now without any reply or advice from the municipality worked out that the extra fees must relate to backdated revised rates, which they seem to have failed to assess after improvements were made to my property. It just annoys me that the municipality is not capable of doing their assessments timeously and then, some 15 months later, they have the audacity to just debit your account

by means of a journal without any explanation. I am sure I am not the only ‘customer’ being treated in this manner. PS: I am pleased to see that at least the person responsible for vehicle procurement is working flat-out: Bitou Municipality has just acquired three brand spanking new digger-loaders, and the latest fleet of mayoral vehicles will be delivered shortly. Len Meiring, Plett (Just before going to press, we learnt that Mr Meiring had received an email from Bitou, sent on Sunday evening August 2 at 9:50pm. Explained Revenue manager Shariefa Daniels: The journals are in respect of property rates. The category of the properties have changed to residential and the levies have been adjusted as per the occupation certificate. - Eds.)

Libraries’ reopening decided by provincial authorities Hail from my igloo! I have been trying to find out for weeks why the Plettenberg Bay CBD Public Library has not yet reopened as per the announcement by our Lockdown Loonies. Any idea? If not, please drop a question in your next edition. PS: Isn’t life perplexing? S Murray, Plett Upon enquiry, CXPRESS swiftly received the below

response from Bitou Library Services acting head Thandi Twani: I hope you are well and keeping safe during these troublesome times. I would like to thank you for your mail of which content is noted. The residents of Plettenberg Bay have been very supportive, patient and understanding during this global pandemic. Unfortunately at this point in time, I can-

not commit to a definite opening date for Bitou libraries as we ultimately need approval from provincial government. From our side, we have procured the necessary PPE for libraries and have sent our ‘Operational Plans and Risk Mitigation Protocols’ through to Provincial Library Services for review. Once they have reviewed our operational plans, they will advise if Bitou

libraries should open. As soon as we have a date, we will post it on the Bitou social media page as well as the municipal website. Please be cognisant of the fact that, should Bitou libraries open, we will start with a phasedin approach by only allowing a limited amount of patrons inside the facility, and library material will be quarantined for 72 hours.

CXPRESS

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Postal workers fail to deliver grants to beneficiaries Please pop down to Plettenberg Bay Post Office and speak to the people there to find out how and why this establishment is failing the very people it is supposed to serve. Weary beneficiaries of these R350 grants are told there’s no

money, the system is offline or, ultimately, someone forgot the password to get onto the system to effect pay-outs. This inefficiency is causing many - if not all - to go home empty-handed. Do not sleep on your post. ‘Unanomo’, Plett

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CXPRESS

CLASSIFIEDS

5 August 2020

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Paws

Plett Animal Welfare Service

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