Dear Premier.... a letter from a N.C. Resident

Dear Premier,

Thank you for talking to the people of the Northern Cape on Thursday, 2 March, in your state of the province address delivered in Calvinia, a town nestled between the Hantam Mountains and the Oorlogskloof River

C. Louis Leipoldt (1880-1947), a medical doctor, reporter, dramatist and food expert, wrote lovely poems on this area.

Since you also spokeAfrikaans onThursday, as you usually do, it is fitting to share one of his well-known stanzas:

“ ’n Handvol gruis uit die Hantam / My liewe, lekker Hantam-wyk! / ’n Handvol gruis en gedroogde blare, / Waboom-blare, ghnarrabos-blare! /Arm was ek gister, en nou is ek ryk.”

Thanks to the rich sonance of the “g”, one can actually feel and hear the “handvol gruis”. Lovely!

Before getting to the purpose of the letter, please allow me to remark that it is adorable that you always have special local guests at such ocassions, whom you welcome by the name; and that you smile and shake hands with as many guests as possible.

Premier, synonymous with you and your goals as leader of the Northern Cape is the phrase “modern, growing and successful province”.To achieve that, one basic principle seriously needs attention: It seems that many MECs and senior departmental staff do not know how to read a watch in order to be on time.

Many moons ago, the South African Defence Force used the expression, “hurry up and wait”.

Unfortunately, it is true that one has to hurry up quite often for government events, just to wait for more than an hour, even.

With this, keep the saying, “time is money” (in mind).

If the principle of being on time can be followed, it will have a positive ripple effect: learners will be on time for school, scheduled tasks will be completed in time . . . the list goes on.

In not doing that, one can actually miss the bus – in more than one sense of the word.

Sincerely yours,

ANorthern Cape residentNoordkaap Bulletin