LOCKDOWN LEVEL:
LEV
COVID-19 DASHBOARD OVERSTRAND
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www.thevillagenews.co.za
3 March 2021
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TOTAL CASES AS OF 1 MAR 2021:
OVERSTRAND (27 FEB): TOTAL (ACTIVE)
WORLD: 114 756 819 SOUTH AFRICA: 1 513 393 WESTERN CAPE: 275 366 (18.19% of cases in SA) OVERBERG: 13 258
• FISHERHAVEN: 44 (0) • GANSBAAI: 185 (5) • HAWSTON: 449 (13) • HERMANUS: 719 (6) • KLEINMOND: 677 (9)
• MT PLEASANT: 357 (2) • ONRUS: 205 (4) • SANDBAAI: 218 (2) • STANFORD: 380 (4) • VERMONT: 93 (2) • ZWELIHLE: 1 088 (13)
LAST WEEK'S TOTAL CASES:
TOTAL: 5 015 (65)
(22 FEB)
WORLD: 112 072 399 SOUTH AFRICA: 1 503 796 (16th in the world) WESTERN CAPE: 274 046 OVERBERG: 13 236 (468 deaths) OVERSTRAND: 5 000 (142 deaths)
LET'S TALK
Fernkloof deserves better protection The editorial in The Village NEWS of 24 February 2021 (Fernkloof gets what it deserves) refers. As a proclaimed nature reserve protected under the Protected Areas Management Act (NEM:PAA), Fernkloof Nature Reserve (FNR) must be managed for the purpose for which the reserve was proclaimed, in accordance with an approved management plan, known as a Protected Areas Management Plan (PAMP). This must be a tactical five-year plan, containing performance measures, that concisely sets out what the management authority (the OM is the management authority for FNR) undertakes to do to fulfil its responsibility to manage the reserve for the purpose for which it was proclaimed – nothing more, nothing less. It must contain a budget and progress in the implementation of the plan must be reported upon annually to the provincial MEC for Local Government and Environment. The submission of the FNR PAMP to Council for its approval is certainly not good news for FNR. And what FNR deserves is for the Overstrand Municipality (OM) simply to manage FNR in accordance with the purpose for which it was proclaimed – which is the conservation of its natural ecosystems. This the PAMP cannot facilitate, despite OM’s spin to the contrary, focused as it is on the contradictory strategy of making FNR “pay its way”. In this area there are plenty of places well placed to cater for the public’s need for entertainment and amusement. Tourism development belongs there. In 2017 the PAMP developed by the OM caused widespread public outrage, as it would have opened most
of FNR to infrastructure development. Although the latest 2019 version does restrict the area open for this, it uses a zoning sleight-of-hand that would enable the OM to decide what infrastructure is allowable by allowing wide consent use discretions for development. Given the OM’s record in this regard this loophole should not be allowed. The record includes not only the 2017 PAMP but also the OM’s applications since 2008 for a bypass road to be routed through FNR. The long development time of the latest PAMP has been characterised by a refusal by the OM to take any of the many concerns raised by the various civil society organisations on board and to adjust this cumbersome, voluminous and user non-friendly document accordingly to make it fit for purpose. The approval process has been a cynical tick-box exercise aimed at satisfying the various bureaucratic requirements. The required approval by the Fernkloof Advisory Board (FAB) was not unanimous. Not one of the Overstrand civil society organisations supports the adoption of the present PAMP. At a meeting called, at the insistence of concerned Overstrand civil society organisations, by the chair of the Infrastructure and Planning Portfolio Committee to discuss stakeholders’ concerns on 5 August 2020, numerous issues were listed. These required full discussion for which there was not time at that meeting. All requests for a promised follow-up workshop involving the full Infrastructure and Planning Portfolio Committee to resolve these were not responded to, until the week of 8 February, when two “feedback” meetings were offered, giving one
and three days’ notice respectively. In place of stakeholders’ input, a document had been drawn up by the Infrastructure and Planning Portfolio Committee and Director, commenting on the issues raised on 5 August. The consensus at the February 2021 Ward 3 committee meeting was that the FNR PAMP should not be presented to Council for approval as substantive issues remain that the OM has not addressed. Concerns over this abuse of process were raised with the Mayor and the Municipal Manager; the response was that should the FNR PAMP be approved by Council, civil society could raise their concerns with the relevant MEC. FNR is arguably the most ecologically biodiverse 1 900 hectares on planet Earth. It deserves nothing less than complete protection against development that is not essential for the conservation of that biodiversity. Civil society also deserves better – the protection in perpetuity for its exceptional biodiversity that was intended by the enlightened town administrators who created it. That would really be good news! In the meantime, we will continue to fight to give FNR what it really deserves. Given that there is not a single civil society organisation that supports the PAMP in its present form, that the Ward 3 committee was unanimous that the present PAMP should not be presented to Council for adoption, and that the technically flawed FAB meeting was not unanimous in its acceptance of the PAMP, how is it that Council has voted to adopt the PAMP? Rob Fryer & Pat Miller Whale Coast Conservation
R.I.P. Jimlongo sisters We are shocked and saddened by the recent loss of two very special friends – Angelina and Nellie Jimlongo. On 3 February Nellie phoned to say that her elder sister, Angelina, had died during the night. Two weeks later, on 17 February, Nellie herself passed away. The sisters were born and bred in Hermanus and went to school here. They grew up to become pillars of strength in the community and were loved and respected by everyone who knew them. When Mareta Nel and her husband, Dr Piet Nel, retired to Vermont some 30 years ago, she met the Jimlongo sisters and they became firm friends. The circle of friends widened and they decided on the name ‘Woman to Woman’, which included women from all denominations and communities in the Hermanus area. We tried to meet at least once a month, and various activities resulted. We laughed together, cried together and always prayed together – for each other, and our families and friends. As we all grew older and aches and pains set in, we often met at Angelina's beautiful home in Zwelihle. Her pride and joy was her huge collection of brass and copper memorabilia, which was always kept polished to perfection. Despite the pain of arthritis and
less mobility, Nellie was always cheerful and optimistic – we called her ‘Smiling Nellie’, which always made her laugh heartily. She was fondly called ‘Bunny’ by those who knew her well. For the past 15 years or so, our first meeting every year was at Volmoed, usually on Ash Wednesday. This was also true for 2020. None of us knew then that, due to Covid-19, this would be our last meeting with the Jimlongo sisters. We traditionally ended each year with a breakfast or lunch at a special venue. This was always a highlight. Gifts and good wishes for Christmas and New Year were exchanged. Sadly, in 2020 this was not possible. In 2021, Nellie passed away on Ash Wednesday, two weeks after Angelina. A huge loss to our Woman to Woman circle of sisters, the community and society as a whole. Another sad result of the pandemic was that we could not visit the family at their homes tomourn with them. The custom is for family, friends and neighbours to visit the home of the deceased and sit in respectful silence on mattresses on the floor with the bereaved family for an hour or two. Angelina and Nellie Jimlongo, our beloved sisters, may you rest in everlasting peace. Ellen Ellis, on behalf of all the members and supporters of the Woman to Woman circle of friends
