Residents urged to maximise on festive peace

Alexandrians looking forward to a fruitful festive season and prosperous New Year have been urged to maximise on the peace expected to prevail in the township when there will be less overcrowding as most residents will travel to their rural homes or countries.

The township’s usual daily life is all hustle and bustle with incessant noise from humans and vehicles, blaring hooters from taxis calling for commuters, music and entertainment spots and the occasional whistling of pedestrians to each other. The searing heat, overcrowding and sheer madness leaves one totally exhausted by the end of the day.

Victor Rambo Mkhize, chairperson of Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association, Zone 13, urged residents to take advantage of the likely peace to renew old acquaintances they lose touch with due to the confusion throughout the year.

“We should endeavour to meet friends and neighbours, reminisce on the good old times and enjoy the moment for the few weeks of the break as it will be over early January,” he urged

Mkhize said it was a pity that people with long-standing relationships and living in the same township cannot meet more regularly during the rest of the year due to overcrowding caused by the lack of bylaw enforcement on housing construction, among others factors. “We get lost in this confusion and sometimes only find out about the loss of friends months after they have been buried,” he said.

This, he said, saddened him when he recalled the past when neighbours met each other daily and would be readily available to help each other and were each other’s keepers.

“This spirit can be restored if government develops bylaws to stop indiscriminate and illegal constructions which divide long-standing bonds of neighbours, and… [allows] new people with no long-standing interest in the development of the area to settle within it,” Mkhize said.