Autumn peeked her head around the door a week or so ago, then seemed to have changed her mind, but the good news is that the Easter break was apparently trouble-free.
After all the hassle of the holiday seasons in 2019, we owe a round of thanks to the police, security firms, municipality and business community who banded together to show a strong security presence on the beaches this year.
The booze ban over the weekend may have helped, but that wouldn’t have put off determined party animals.
So, thank you to everybody who played a role in ensuring an enjoyable weekend for our visitors.
We headed to the Berg for a very pleasant break with our family.
We walked a lot, played golf and entertained the children with putt-putt and pizza.
The Easter Bunny came to visit and left far too many chocolate eggs dotted around the garden, so first thing Sunday morning was an excited egg hunt by the little ones, followed by a day of sugar-fuelled bouncing off the walls! And that was the adults!
It’s really important when running a family business to get away from the shop and simply enjoy one another’s company.
The relentless pressure to do the Onwards Upwards thing, particularly after the hideous past year, can be so wearying.
My holiday read was A Sin of Omission, an astonishingly good book by South African author Marguerite Poland.
I lie, it wasn’t just a holiday read – I’ve been making my way through it steadily for much longer.
It’s the kind of book that makes you want to concentrate on picking up every nuance to get the best out of the story.
And what a story it is! Set in the Eastern Cape around 1870, it is based on a true story of a gentle, devout young black man who trains to become a priest, then follows his life as he faces the most incredible hardships.
After a happy start and being sent to Canterbury for training, he returns to Grahamstown to be posted to a remote, poor mission out in the sticks.
Not only does he face patronising treatment by his own people, to whom he is known as the Ngesi, the Englishman, he must deal with the prejudices of a colonial society as well as discrimination within the church.
I felt his frustration and was sometimes nearly reduced to tears with rage on his behalf. I haven’t stopped thinking of some of the scenes Poland describes so vividly.
If you’re looking for a good read for your book club, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
It is without a doubt the best book I’ve read in recent years, since Anthony Doerr’s enchanting All the Light We Cannot See.
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The recent exchange of letters by Ian Coates and Osborne Gwamanda over the background and future of Siza Water has ruffled a few feathers.
The plain truth is that having Siza Water as the water supplier has saved the bacon of everybody living in the former Dolphin Coast administration area, which was before amalgamation with KwaDukuza.
There are some who would prefer that the subject was not aired, but our concern as a newspaper is to keep people informed.
Some at iLembe District Municipality, which is the water provider for the rest of the municipal region, have been embarrassed because the conversation has highlighted the frequent failures in water delivery in the iLembe region.
It is spurious to blame apartheid, 26 years on, for the ageing infrastructure that causes pipe bursts etc.
Remember that Siza inherited and improved the same infrastructure.
There is an unfortunate culture developing in local government circles that inconvenient truths should not be made public.
In other words, ‘Don’t tell the children!’ One of the most significant changes since 1994 was the ability to discuss matters openly that previously had been taboo.
It would be our loss if that were to change.
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Inus van Schalkwyk of Cyberview Lettting put up some beach cameras a while back, now expanded to 5 cameras on beaches from Salmon Bay to Thompson’s.
They have attracted just short of 3.5 million views over the past 3 years. That’s amazing.
Inus proudly tells me the cameras are now equipped with night vision. I’m not sure why, maybe to see the ghost crabs, but he’s pleased all the same. Well done. Inus!
