*MONDAY sees the first of the SADF’s ‘Dad’s Army’ or ‘buttermilk’ call-ups in the Toti area, and according to Mayor Vic Prisley of the South Coast Commando, a large turnout of around 170 men is expected. The six-day camp, which is to be held at the ATKV Centre in Illovo Beach, is aimed principally at local men who have missed formal military training, generally those in their mid-30s and early 40s. The men will be instructed on subjects such as basic soldiering and musketry as well as the organisational aspect of the Defence Force, and specifically on the role played by the Commando.
*THE BIGGEST and most prestigious athletics event in history of Amanzimtoti will take place at Hutchison Park this Saturday. Taking part in the South African Junior Cross-Country Championships will be 550 of the country’s top junior athletes. That’s not all because there are to be women and men’s prestige races, featuring South Africa’s finest cross-country athletes.
*POLICE seized a massive haul of 386kg of dagga following a dramatic, high-speed car chase along the N2 between Scottsburgh and Winklespruit on Monday afternoon. The chase took place around 3pm, when W/O Nevin Heyns, together with constables Marina Jurgens and Innocent Shange, spotted a black Ford Ranchero V8 van travelling at high speed. They gave the chase in a Ford Sierra V6 along the N2 freeway, during which both vehicles reached speeds of over 200km/h.
*MANY areas in Amanzimtoti and Athlone Park are being caught in the grip of a tenacious weed, pereskia aculata, which is worse than Iantana and crommelena. Pereskia aculeate is an invader succulent plant from South and central America and the West Indies, and like something out of science fiction, is destroying our vegetation along the Natal coast and inland as far as Pietermaritzburg.
*A-STICK-A-PIC competition starts in next week’s issue of the South Coast Sun and the first prize is a Nissan Sentra motor car valued at R18,000. The car will be licensed and the GST will be paid, so the prize is actually worth R21,000.
