News from 1995 in the South Coast Sun

Trees stripped for muti

INDIGENOUS trees in Toti and Kingsburgh are being stripped for ‘muti’.
According to Bruce Blake of the Wildlife Society, it is believed trees are being stripped by women in the early hours of the morning. He said he thinks the people responsible are not ‘inyangas’ as they would know how much to remove without killing the tree. Bark is taken to markets in Isipingo and Durban and sold as ‘muti’.

Death not caused by flu 

RUMOURS that a young Toti man died last week as a result of the flu virus have been dispelled.
The 19-year-old man, Gary Brookes, who worked at Mike’s Kitchen, was admitted to Kingsway Hospital with German measles. His condition deteriorated and he developed encephalitis and pneumonia. His physician said it was very unusual for people to die from German measles.

Cops get their men in daring car chase

TOTI’s Rod Slater got the ride of his life last Wednesday in a police van in pursuit of three hijackers in Jacobs.
Slater was with Cst Greg Lander-Ritchie and Cst Bonginkosi Sabela when they went to investigate a reckless driving charge laid the day before. The two policemen and Slater were returning to Toti at about 8.30am, having tracked down the reckless driver at an address in Chamberlain Road, when they saw two men waving at them from the side of the road.

Sharks dumped 

LOCAL fishermen are alarmed because copper sharks caught in the nets off Scottburgh were dumped at sea.
However, the mass capture of 43 of the sharks and the dumping of some of the carcasses is not unusual, said Mike Anderson-Read, assistant director of operations at the Natal Sharks Board. “We take some of the sharks caught for research and the remaining sharks are measured, dissected and dumped at sea,” he said.
Of the catch last week, 37 were taken to the Board’s Umhlanga base and six were dumped further out to sea. One tiger shark was tagged and released.

Tanker oil not expected to affect Toti beaches

THE oil spilled from a Liberian tanker off Reunion will not affect Toti beaches, says a spokesman from the marine division of the department of transport.
The ‘World Champion’ began leaking crude oil from a 7cm hole in one of its storage tanks at midnight on Saturday, 29 July. Divers managed to plug the hole, but not before about 500 litres of oil was spilled. The tanker began leaking oil again at about 5pm on Sunday, 30 July. It was ordered out to sea, where divers repaired the hole.