News of yesteryear
These were some of the local stories making headlines in years gone by.
This week we look back at the Herald of October 31, 2008:
• Couple produces a gigantic cake
Creating a gigantic confectionery masterpiece was nothing but a piece of cake for Brakpan couple Mark and Mornay Muller.
The couple recently spent more than 90 hours in the kitchen creating an enormous fruitcake for Kellogg’s, in celebration of the cereal company’s 60th birthday.
The five-tier fruitcake weighed in at an impressive 133kg.
Mark and Mornay, who have been baking for more than 20 years and who run their own baking business on a part-time basis, have never before baked anything on such a large scale.
Baking tins for the base of the cake and the second largest tier had to be especially made.
Also read: Order your Lions Christmas Cake
The cake’s base was made in a 55.8cm tin and took about 10 hours to bake.
A conventional oven could not be used because of size constraints, and the couple were offered the use of an industrial oven by a local supermarket.
In addition to the large birthday cake, the couple also made 305 smaller fruitcakes, for each guest at the birthday function.
• Leaking sewage rots building walls
Liquid waste seeping through the walls of his business premises is driving a local entrepreneur to despair.
Stan Kuncl has been battling for three years without success to resolve this unusual and disgusting problem, which sees sewage oozing through the walls of his business, situated along Prince George Avenue.
Not only is the smell unbearable, but the constant contact with the contaminated water has caused the bricks to rot and other steel features to rot.
“The municipality is just not interested in fixing this problem,” said Kuncl, who is also a certified engineer.
According to him, the problem stems from the way the buildings have been built.
“Between each building there should be a 1m servitude; a gap between the structures,” he said.
“This is not the case with mine and, instead of a gap between my business and the one next door, we have a wall.”
Comment received from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality stated that the complaint was investigated by an official, who found the water and dampness causing the problem came from the premises next door.
This was caused by a broken gully and waste water channel.
• Financial hassles set to hobble sports complex
The development and rehabilitation of a social sports complex at the Brenthurst Tennis Courts has run into a number of obstacles.
A meeting was recently held at Hoërskool Die Anker which was attended by both ward councillor Dean Stone and the head of sport for the region, Ryan Maditsi.
The proposal was put forward by the Christian Youth Group of Brakpan, led by Timothy Zitha, whose vision it was to rehabilitate the area into a sports complex, which would keep youth off the streets and encourage sport rather than anti-social behaviour.
“We hope to restore the tennis courts, create an indoor soccer court, BMX track and have pool tables inside the clubhouse, as well as restoring the change rooms,” he said.
Also read: United Cricket Club relocates to Benoni
The initial part of the process has been the task of fencing the area in order to prevent vandalism.
However, according to Zitha, he has been told the money allocated to fencing the area has been used somewhere else and is now unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, the area continues to be not only an eye-sore, but also a danger.
Three children were recently robbed of bicycles and cellphones in broad daylight, as the uncut grass and dilapidated building on the unfenced grounds provides a perfect hide-out for would-be burglars.
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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Thelma Koorts (editor) brakpanherald@caxton.co.za
or Stacy Slatter (news editor) stacys@caxton.co.za
or Miné Fourie (journalist) minev@caxton.co.za
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