Talk 30 December 2021

2 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 30 December 2021 TALK OF THE TOW N
YEAR IN REVIEW
JA N UA RY
● In our first edition of
the year, the lead story
was about Port Alfred
detectives recovering
more than R2m in
jewellery that had been
taken at knifepoint
from an elderly
resident just a few days
e a r l i e r.
The incident had
happened late the
previous year, but
information only came
to light during the
December holidays.
Informants helped the
police and two men
were arrested.
● Bathurst hit Day
Zero of its municipal
water supply on the
very last day of 2020
when Golden Ridge
Dam ran dry, and
residents voiced their
frustrations on social
media as well as
contacting Talk of the
Tow n .
Posting on TotT’s
Facebook group on
January 1, Gavin Came
wrote: “The quaint
hamlet of Bathurst
slipped quietly into
NO water yesterday.
“No municipal
boreholes, RO
machines or
emergency raintanks.
“Not even a
condolences message
from our municipality
and fellow
Ndlambians. Any
suggestions?”
● A couple in their 20s
were robbed by men
armed with a firearm
and knives while
fishing in Centenary
Park in Port Alfred.
The couple were
from Makhanda
(Grahamstown) and
did not know that
Centenary Park was a
dangerous area.
● The latest cell tower
controversy in Port
Alfred was over a
“telecommunications
t ow e r ” erected on
private property in
Tamarisk Road as early
as April last year
without any
consultation or
approval by council.
The owner applied
to the municipality to
formalise use of the
internet tower after the
fact.
F E B R UA RY
● Locals enjoyed their
regained freedom
¿
29 Miles St, Port Alfred
PO Box 2871, Port Alfred, 6170
046 624 4356 / Fax: 046 624 2293
Chiara Carter, chiarac@dispatch.co.za
Jon Houzet, houzetj@talkofthetown.co.za
Anneli Hanstein, hansteina@arena.africa
Chris van Heerden, vanheerdenc@arena.africa
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VIEW FROM THE TOP: Mamlambo
Construction is the contractor responsible for
building this 25m-high tower on top of which
would later be cast a 2.5ML concrete reservoir
to gravity-feed Thornhill and Nemato
residents with potable water. However,
concerns were raised over where the water
would come from
when the booze and
beach bans were lifted
by government,
enjoying a cold one at
the pub, or a walk
along the beach.
● But chaos soon
ensued. Port Alfred
police, who had been
zealous in enforcing
the beach ban, were
slammed by residents
for failing to enforce
the public drinking
laws once the beach
ban ended, resulting in
lawless revelry at West
Beach and Kelly’s Blue
Flag Beach.
Local WhatsApp
security and crime
reporting groups were
flooded with
comments by residents
reporting drunken
behaviour in the beach
parking lots, where
motorists had brought
their own booze and
were drinking in sight
of patrolling police
va n s .
● Emotions ran high
among striking health
care community
workers who vowed to
keep clinics in Port
Alfred and Bathurst
closed when they met
with labour relations
official Bongani Lose at
Titi Jonas Hall in
Th o r n h i l l .
● Despite a very
difficult year, with
terms shortened due to
ĂůŬŽĨŚĞŽŶ
ΛĂůŬŽŌŚĞŽŶĞĐ
ĂůŬŽĨŚĞŽŶŶĚůĂŵďĞ
Talk of the Town subscribes to the Code of Ethics and Conduct for South African Print
and Online Media that prescribes news that is truthful, accurate, fair and balanced.
If we don’t live up to the Code, within 20 days of the date of publication of the material,
please contact the Public Advocate at 011 484 3612, fax: 011 4843619. You can also
¿khanyim@ombudsman.org.za or lodge a complaint on our
website: www.presscouncil.org.za
Covid-19 lockdown
restrictions and pupils
having to depend on
online learning, several
local schools reported
excellent matric results
for 2020.
MARCH
● The appointed
contractor for Port
Alfred’s new reverse
osmosis plant could
have been forking out
as much as R12,800 a
day in penalties for
delays, but was let off
the hook by Ndlambe
M u n i c i p a l i t y.
The municipality
announced the
appointment of a
contractor, Quality
Filtration Systems
(QFS), in a statement
on November 25, and
said “work will
commence on the
installation of the plant
as soon as possible. It is
anticipated that the
plant will be in
production by end
January 2020.”
However, in the
final full council
meeting of 2020 on
December 10, the date
for completion of the
plant was pushed to
the end of February
2021, something
which escaped most
people’s notice.
● The new R33m
water tower being built
at Thornhill had no
water source to fill it.
Talk of the Town
looked into the issue
after receiving a tip-off
that the tower was
being built based on a
NO
C O N S E N T:
Concerns were
raised by
re s i d e n t s
about the
construction of
this cellphone/
internet tower
in Tamarisk
Road in May
last year, for
which an
application was
only received in
January, seven
months later
contract for a water
source that was
cancelled, pre-dating
the new seawater
reverse osmosis plant
(SWRO) presently
under construction,
and even pre-dating
the Amatola Water
Quick Wins projects.
● Concerned locals
gathered in Wharf
Street and at the Putt
Bridge one morning in
March to witness the
scene of a tragic
accident where a
bakkie, travelling
toward town, had run
off the road and into
the Kowie River, killing
the driver.
The body of a
second occupant was
only recovered days
l a t e r.
● Accused of stealing
a cellphone, 20-yearold
Ncumisa Mpalala
was allegedly beaten
by a Nemato police
officer, leaving her with
eye injuries and bruises
on her face.
Police said a case of
assault had been
opened against the
member, and was
being investigated by
the Independent Police
I nve s t i g a t ive
D i r e c t o ra t e .
The incident also
raised the ire of the
South African National
Civic Organisation
(Sanco), which led a
community protest to
Nemato Police Station.
APRIL
● Ndlambe
Municipality obtained
an interdict in the high
court in Makhanda
preventing Herotel
from continuing with
its internet fibre project
in Port Alfred.
The municipality
was granted the
temporary interdict
pending a review
application, claiming
that Herotel was given
“u n l aw f u l ” a p p r ova l
for a wayleave to lay
fibre and erect poles by
a deputy director who
had no authority to do
so.
● Neighbours were up
in arms about two
pitbull dogs allegedly
kept chained 24/7 on a
property in Halstead
Road and the nuisance
they cause by barking
all hours of the day and
night.
Linda Clur and
Marie Dickie came to
see Talk of the Town
about the problem after
they said their and
other neighbours’
attempts to converse
with the dogs’ ow n e r
had met with hostile
response and their
complaints to the SPCA
and Ndlambe
Municipality had
achieved nothing.
● A Port Alfred man
who was a director of a
charity set up to collect
money for food parcels
during lockdown
appeared in the
m a g i s t ra t e ’s court on
charges of fraud
amounting to
R300,000.
Christopher
Stylianou, 58, came
under suspicion from
fellow members of the
Ndlambe Lockdown
Support Group when
he could not account
for the majority of the
funds deposited in the
non-profit company’s
bank account.
● Port Alfred residents
who had been without
water for months
would have to wait
even longer, as the
emergency two
megalitre (ML)
seawater reverse
osmosis (SWRO) plant
was now anticipated to
only become
operational in June.
This was in spite of
Ndlambe Municipality
informing residents the
SWRO plant being
constructed by Quality
Filtration Systems
(QFS) would be ready
in April, after earlier
d e l ay s .
● There was more the
following week: Even
with delays, the 2ML
SWRO plant and 3ML
wa s t e wa t e r
reclamation plant
under construction to
address Port Alfred’s
water crisis
commenced without
e nv i r o n m e n t a l
authorisation or an
emergency waiver, Talk
of the Town learnt.
An EIA was
required for the site of
the SWRO and
wastewater plant after
a decision was made to
move the site from
Wharf Street – where a
previous temporary
desalination plant had
24 Hours: 0861 046 046
Office Hours: (046) 624 3708
WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY, SAFE
AND CRIME FREE FESTIVE SEASON!
TAKING NO
ACTION: A resident
photographed this
police van at West
Beach in early
February, in the midst
of people who were
drinking alcohol in
public in defiance of
the Eastern Cape
Liquor Act and local
bylaws. TotT also
witnessed a police
van driving past
people drinking in
public
TRAGIC: A
bakkie plunged
into the Kowie
River at Wharf
Street early one
morning in
March, killing the
driver. SAPS
divers were
called from East
London to
recover the body
while an accident
recovery team
managed to pull
the bakkie from
the river several
hours later
been placed – next to
the Port Alfred
sewerage plant in
Centenary Park.
M AY
● After months of
complaints by beach
users that the carparks
at East Beach and West
Beach have been
obstructed by
windswept sand,
Ndlambe Municipality
said it would finally
address the issue.
The ‘dunes’ carpark
at East Beach is worst
affected, as after
months of
encroachment by the
surrounding dunes,
and few parking bays
accessible, the parking
lot is now completely
covered and unusable.
Some dog walkers
have taken to parking
on the grass verge in
Dove Lane and along
Miles Bowker Drive.
● There was a
dramatic increase in
housebreaking and
theft in Port Alfred over
a few weeks, with
burglars targeting
private residences,
churches, the
municipality and even
a pre-school.
According to
reports received from
Multi Security, criminal
activity in the area had
become endemic.
Local security
companies were being
kept on their toes to
respond to suspicious
activity as well as
actual crime.
Residents were
warned to be
particularly vigilant
and make sure alarms
are set even when at
home.
● The latest water
analysis results across
all areas of Ndlambe
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