Talk 13 January 2022

6 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 13 January 2022 TALK OF THE TOW N
EDITORIAL
OPINION
Years of
fulfilment
On January 1 I marked 15 years at
Talk of the Town. It’s the longest I
have worked anywhere. When I
started as a reporter at TotT 15 years ago, I
didn’t imagine I’d still be here in 2022.
Over the years I’ve often been asked why I
don’t go work for a big city newspaper and
apply my skills and experience there – and
get more money!
I have thought about it, but I’m content
here. Port Alfred is a good place to live and I
have become part of this community. Like
everyone who has chosen to live here, we
take the bad with the good and try to make
the best of our calling in life.
Though I am still a newcomer by the
standards of people who have lived here
their whole lives, I have seen a lot change in
my time in Port Alfred.
One of the biggies was the building of
Rosehill Mall, which provided more choice
for consumers, and the feeling you had
travelled out of town to do your shopping.
With Rosehill, Port Alfred also got a cinema
again, but that’s unfortunately been on and
off ever since it opened.
Port Alfred got its own community radio
station thanks largely to former resident
Robbie Blake, and during its “golden years”
it was truly a station for the whole
community, with something for everyone.
At one time, TotT even had a shared
platform arrangement with the erstwhile
Kowie FM, and we used to go on air the day
our paper came out.
That passed, but our Tittle Tattle live on
Facebook has attracted its own faithful
f o l l ow i n g .
I have seen businesses move and some
sadly close down, especially during the
hard lockdown in 2020. I miss popping into
CNA in Heritage Mall to get my graphic
n ove l s .
Talk of the Town has also been through
changes in the past 15 years, coming under
the ownership of different companies, our
masthead changing twice in the time I’ve
been here, and many staff members have
come and gone.
But even though some things change, it
is good to have constants in your life too,
like friends who are friends forever.
And the familiar faces you see around
town and say hello to.
What made this 15-year anniversary
even more special was that a month earlier,
I won two awards in the Forum of
Community Journalists excellence awards
for articles submitted from 2020 – one for
investigative reporting and the other for
editorial comment.
It was good to read these words from the
judges: “A good example of holding
officials to account through persistency and
consistency. Truly journalism in service of
its community.”
Jon Houzet
Em e rge n cy N u m b e rs
TideGuide courtesy of the South African Navy
Da t e High Lo w Da t e High Lo w
Port Alfred hospital........... (046) 604-4000
Police station..................... (046) 604-2001/2
13 0056 1305 0650 1935
17 0336 1542 0933 2155 Multi-Security ................... (046) 624-2508
14 0153 1353 074 4 2016
18 0406 1614 1005 2225 Chubb Security ................. (046) 624-4810
15 0233 1433 0824 2051
19 0436 1646 1037 2255 Sky Alarms ........................ (046) 624-2806
16 0306 1509 0859 2124
20 0507 1718 1110 2326 NSRI ................................... 082 - 990 - 5971
WHAT A CATCH: Top angler
Eugene Botha, right, and
second-placed JJ Botha of
Zeeman, which was also
named the top boat in the
Species Spectacular held at
the Port Alfred River and Skiboat
Club in December. Botha
also caught the largest
Dageraad
HAVE YOUR SAY Letters to PO Box 2871, Port Alfred — or e-mail to h o u ze t j @ ta l kof t h e tow n .co. za
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Umpires vs
re f e re e s
Cricket, arguably the silliest game which has been
inflicted on the colonies, has, as far as I can see, only
one redeeming, sensible aspect.
It employs two umpires. Two people, actually on the
field, actively overseeing the “action”. There is also an
effective and proven technology to assist the umpiring.
This is unlike rugby.
Rugby has only one poor on-field muppet with a
whistle. He is supposedly assisted by two ineffective
wombles whose main job is to run up and down waving
flags. Then they are employed to further confuse chaotic
situations which are confusing the ref.
All three “officials” are about as effective as knitted
condoms for preventing pregnancies. It is an impossible
job trying to police 30 violent men by applying an
encyclopaedia of rules beyond the comprehension of
normal mortals. Rules way beyond the simple mental
structure of the average front row forward.
These refs are also at the mercy of a myopic cyclops
of technology. This technology’s primary function seems
to be to add to the confusion by getting things wrong.
The brain-dead reffing decisions and the woeful
technology also encourage twerps like Rassie to joyfully
play, with the accuracy oif hindsight, trampolines on all
decisions made by the muppet, the wombles and the
cy c l o p s .
We can send men and women to the moon, we can
plumb the depths of the deepest oceans, we can
organise genocide on an industrial scale and we can
blast marine life into oblivion, but we cannot develop a
system to control 30 people in pursuit of an egg-shaped
b l a d d e r.
Just saying.
QUENTIN HOGGE
South African public health system
simply doesn’t work
There was an article in the Daily Dispatch about the
broke Eastern Cape health department about to lose
91 doctors. This is proof that public health doesn’t
work in SA.
Most government departments are dysfunctional
and bankrupt due to mismanagement and corruption.
The ANC then has the solution "national health
i n s u ra n c e " .
Can the ANC leave alone things that work before
we all sit with no medical.
Here are 91 highly skilled people that are
unemployed, needed by the country, probably
finding themselves in the UIF queue.
PROUD SOUTH AFRICAN
Don’t use disabled parking slots
A good editorial last week and hopefully
one that will penetrate a few thoughtless
minds!
I am not disabled but I have several
friends who are, and I see the additional
stress this problem causes in their often
already difficult lives.
Last Wednesday at Rosehill Mall all four
disabled parking slots were occupied, three
by cars with no valid sticker and at least two
by perfectly able bodied people. I no longer
ask them politely to move, since I am tired of
the rude/abusive response I usually get! And
the pathetic excuses – my arm is sore, I’m
going to Clicks for a prescription or – best of
all – it’s not nine o’clock yet!
Incidentally this is also a problem at
Heritage Mall, although the guards do their
best. I am thinking of a particular local
business owner who quite happily parks her
branded vehicle in the disabled parking slot
for lengthy periods of time.
If we are fortunate enough to have the
use of our limbs let’s be grateful for that and
show a little respect and understanding for
those who do not!
GB, Port Alfred
Sunshine Holiday a real treat
Please convey my
congratulations to all
the folk involved in
producing the free
Sunshine Holiday
2021 which became
available at the
beginning of the
season last year, it
was magnificent!
And such a boon
for all those who
needed to know what
was going on in our
part of the world!
I read through it
and discovered
places I was unaware
of, despite having
lived in Port Alfred for
14 years now. OK,
some of them were
new but I am glad I
was able to read all
about them.
Wishing you all a
safe and happier
2022.
MERYL HOWES
Electricity .......................... (046) 624-1111 (a / h )
Gardmed ............................ 0 8 2 -759 - 2 13 4
EMS (Emergency
Medical Services) ........... 10 17 7
Holistic EMS ...................... 063-460-0042
Fire Department................ (046) 624-1111