LET me share with your readers a true story.
It is 11.30am on Tuesday, 30 January.
In our office we have no electricity, the whole neighbourhood is off, we have no switchboard, reported over a week ago and still waiting for Telkom and worst of all, our admin lady has no computer, it was stolen during a break-in late yesterday afternoon and is the main cause of my anguish.
I love this country – my family and I will stay here. There is no talk of leaving.
We believe the current dire situation for businesses in Pinetown has nothing to do with race.
We recognise and understand the pains of our transition.
Our staff of every hue, religion and colour have all suffered in the hands of criminals and failing State enterprises, so my despair is not just the cry of another old whinger but a cry for sanity.
Consider this, in the industrial commercial patch we inhabit near our friends at SAPS Pinetown, nearly every business has been hit by criminals from a gang of thugs that operate out of the Palmiet River Valley.
The cost of the damage and thieving perpetrated by this evil bunch goes way beyond what they steal, copper wires and pipes stripped out for a few Rands worth of scrap have resulted in millions of Rands worth of damage-restoring plumbing, replacing DB boards, making good to flooded offices, the cost of employees not being able to work during rectification, the cost of higher fences, alarms, security guards, cameras, the destruction of beautiful indigenous trees to eliminate hiding places etc etc etc.
Literally thousands of peoples livelihood is at risk as businesses battle to cope with the stress and expense.
It is a state of madness that should evoke an urgent response from the authorities.
A concerted sweep of the area with police dogs, plain clothes and uniformed officers and volunteers would go a long way to relieving the situation.
All that is needed to achieve this is one good person in authority to recognise the problem and act decisively to restore sanity.
It is very achievable but…?
Old Pinetonian
