Talk 12 May 2022

4 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 12 May 2022 TALK OF THE TOW N
Boats worth millions
lost in blaze at Nelson
Mandela Bay business
Bushmans River-based company Buttt Catt suffers huge losses
Ta l kIT
ABOUT
Compiled by TK MTIKI and FAITH QINGA
RIAAN MARAIS
Bushmans River company
Butt Cat was among the
boat builders affected as
their enterprises went up in
flames in South End, Gqeberha,
on Monday night.
Apart from the loss of their
workshops and equipment,
more than 20 boats, in various
stages of construction, were
destroyed, with the three
companies housed in the same
warehouse suffering damages
running into millions of rand.
As they wait for insurance
investigations to be concluded,
they are scrambling to find
temporary premises where they
can fill orders for international
clients and provide livelihoods
for dozens of employees.
Firefighters attended to the
scene at the bottom of
Brickmakers Kloof shortly
before 9pm on Monday as the
building, housing Butt Cat Sales
and Fitment, Yamaha Marine EC
and Nauti-Tech Suzuki, quickly
turned into a blazing inferno,
spitting a thick cloud of black
smoke high into the air.
The cause of the fire is yet to
be determined.
Michelle van Kempen,
VOLCANIK
TELEVISION
29 Biscay Road
TEL: (046) 624 3630
PORTABLE
RADIOS
IN STOCK
owner of Yamaha Marine EC,
said the feeling of shock on
arriving at the scene was
ove r wh e l m i n g .
“About a week ago, we had
a break-in at the warehouse, so
when Atlas Security phoned us
on Monday, at about 8.44pm,
we were unsure what to expect.
“But when they told us the
alarm was triggered in multiple
places throughout the
workshop, we knew something
was seriously wrong.”
She immediately went to the
scene with her husband Len,
who owns Butt Cat.
They met Warren Rachman,
owner of Nauti-Tech Suzuki, to
find most of the damage had
already been done.
“We scrambled to save what
we could, but by that time most
of Butt Cat had been engulfed,”
Van Kempen said.
“This has been our life’s
wo r k .
“This has been a family-run
business for decades and we’ve
been at this facility for more
than 11 years.
“Boating has been my
husband’s whole life.”
Butt Cat manufactures an
exclusive line of boats popular
among recreational sailors and
deep sea anglers. The boat
bodies are built at a Bushman’s
River facility and, once
completed, are brought to the
Gqeberha warehouse, where
the final outfitting of engines
and equipment is done through
the South End facility and
Yamaha Marine EC.
Nauti-Tech Suzuki’s
operations include boat
outfitting, repairs, maintenance
and the sale of a wide range of
marine equipment.
“It seems like the fire started
in the far corner of Butt Cat.
“But due to the chemicals,
resins and other highly
flammable materials used while
working on boats, the fire
spread extremely quickly,” Va n
Kempen said.
Though they were able to
save some of their equipment,
they lost a total of 11 boats
commissioned for international
clients.
One boat, built for a client in
Australia and valued at about
R2m, was already complete and
was scheduled for testing on
We d n e s d ay.
Another boat, destined for
Morocco in six weeks, was also
d e s t r oye d .
Van Kempen said their
priority was to find a secondary
facility where they could set up
a temporary workshop and
ensure their 27 employees did
not lose their income.
“Our people cannot lose
their jobs and our orders need to
be filled.
“Obviously setting up a
temporary facility will cost time
and money, so we hope to
finalise the insurance process as
quickly as possible to reclaim
the money we lost.”
Nauti-Tech Suzuki, which
operates separately from Butt
Cat and Yamaha Marine EC, lost
about 16 boats of varying sizes
and models in the blaze, as well
as 18 boat engines still in the
p a ck a g i n g .
However, it has already
started setting up a secondary
workshop for its 12 employees
to be back at work, right next to
the old workshop, within the
next few days.
Rachman said he dreaded
the phone calls he now had to
make to clients, telling them
that their boats had been
d e s t r oye d .
“We have to break the news
to our clients that their boats
were gutted in the fire,” he said.
- HeraldLIVE
Talk of the Town welcomes new editor
STAFF REPORTER
The Talk of the Town is pleased to
announce the appointment of Sue
Maclennan as its new editor.
Maclennan, who joined the ToTT
team on 1 May 2022, is originally from
the Eastern Cape and has worked as a
journalist and editor in this corner of the
province for the past decade.
Strongly rooted in local journalism,
she believes Talk of the Town has an
important role to serve the community
of Port Alfred and its surrounds.
“Local media and local journalism
are playing an increasingly important
role in community life and public
d i s c o u r s e ,” Maclennan said.
“The Ndlambe communities have a
wealth of important experience and
stories to share and I look forward to
CAPTAIN ON BOARD: The Talk of the Town’s editorial team,from left,
reporters TK Mtiki and Faith Qinga and the newspaper’s new editor, Sue
Maclennan. Picture: BRYAN SMITH
helping bring these into the light.”
Manager of Community Titles for
Arena Holdings in the Eastern Cape,
Chris van Heerden, said: “We wish to
welcome Sue as editor of Talk of the
Tow n .
“She brings with her a wealth of
experience and we are confident that
under her leadership the publication
❝
Sue brings with her a
wealth of experience and
we are confident that under
her leadership the
publication will grow with
quality content for our
diversified readership
will grow with quality content for our
diversified readership.”
Group General Manager for the
Eastern Cape Ryan Megaw said: “We
are very pleased to welcome Sue
Maclennan as the new editor of the Talk
of the Town.
“Sue is a seasoned journalist and has
previously filled several key roles
including editor of Grocott’s Mail,
working as a contributor for the Daily
Dispatch, teaching and mentoring at
Rhodes University, and working as a
senior sub editor of Independent
newspapers and at Caxton Magazines.
“We believe Sue’s extensive
experience will provide a steady hand at
the helm of Port Alfred’s favourite
community newspaper and that she
will bring a fair and balanced approach
to covering the news of Ndlambe.”
HEAVY HAND: Price of cooking oil is displayed at
a grocery store in Harare, Zimbabwe P i c t u re :
SUPPLIED
Facebook Question:
Thanks to global events you can pay almost R100 for
a litre of cooking oil at your local supermarket. How
does this massive price increase affect you?”
● Mark Bezuidenhout laughed out loud, saying “Buy
an air fryer”.
● Nick Louw said: “Nonsense!! The Supermarkets
are riding the wave, there is no need to destroy your
clientele for selfish greed!”
● Bonny Skipper asked: “Is lard still available, l
wo n d e r ? ’
● Ruth Bedford revealed that most of the
supermarkets in France had none.
● Nonky Nonks said she stopped using cooking oil
in 2021 and that was the best decision she ever made
for herself, so now the price increase doesn’t affect
h e r.
● Sandra Naude said it did not affect her badly.
● Dennis Green said she did not think that global
events played such a big role but the corruption
regime was a bigger factor.
● Mike Stephen said: “The cooking oil industry is
c o r r u p t .”
● Marcia Williams reservedly said it was an absolute
rip-off if the statement was correct adding that
currently a 2 litre was R95 everywhere but limited to
2 per people at the pay points.
● John Rivettsaid: “Th a t ’s a total con because the oil
already in the country came in at the OLD price-just
plain price gouging.”
● Rafe McKinnon suggested getting an air fryer.
● Jackie Stevenson Joubert said: “Don’t cook with
oil. Healthier for you anyway.”
● John R Potter said almost not at all, as he bought
himself an air fryer for Christmas.
● Robin Collett said: “I use coconut oil so it doesn’t
affect me and I don’t fry much either.”
Buzzing on Twitter in
Ndlambe this week ...
● Dogs available for adoption. @Retreat2Eden
tweeted “Please - open your hearts to the idea of
fostering - even if it is till there is space
in an organisation. For each
person fostering, a life is saved.
Dogs available for adoption
from #Retreat2Eden,
# Po r t A l f re d .”
● Ndlambe dog attack.
@TulzTulz87 tweeted “we
need you at Kenton-on-Sea the
dogs… has ravaged and killed the
member in our Community they are
R o t t we i l e r …”
● Water supply issue. @GavinCame tweeted “Wh i l e
you are about this @MYANCgovt, what about the
water supply in #Ndlambe, going on for 18 months!”
Talk of the Town
Call us (046)
6 24 - 4 3 5 6