BOME OMGEWAAI R44.99 p/Kg R49.49 R34.99 p/Kg R10.99

Albertus Griesel is a loner. Has been one
since forever and will most probably
never change – or so he thought. As the
oldest male in Shady Pines, it may be
assumed that a man of his stature has the
right to his opinion; which is why the
other residents accepted the quiet man
in the corner who sought (and found)
solace in the Bible he read.
His romance with the written Word was
an constant affair with self-imposed isolation.
Even Matron – the longest serving
member of the meagre staff – found
him here on her first day. She remembers
walking up to the wrinkled old man
in the corner to introduce herself. He
simply looked up, nodded, and went on
reading. She would understand (like they
all did) that The Book supplied all that
Albertus needed; except of course the
skimpy meals and the well-worn mattresses
on the rickety beds that Shady
Pines advertised as ‘luxury board and
Kontrei Gazette Saterdag 16 Maart 2013 14
ROLBOS STORIES by Amos v.d. Merwe
Dyslexia
lodging for the golden years’.
Notice is hereby given of a public participation process in
terms of NEMA Environmental Assessment Regulations 2010
and in terms of Section 41(4) of the National Water Act, 1998
(Act No 36 of 1998).
The proposed project entails the upgrading / refurbishment of
the existing bulk storage infrastructure which forms part of the
greater Carolina Water Supply Scheme and involves the upgrade
of the Carolina water treatment works from 3.5 to 6Ml/d
including the construction of sludge dams, construction of a
4ML concrete reservoir in Carolina and construction of new
operational building, new filters, clarifiers, electrical work,
etc. An Environmental Impact Assessment will be followed
for this application. The application will be submitted to the
Mpumalanga Department Economic Development, Environment
and Tourism (DEDET) for consideration.
Application for authorization will be made in respect of
NEMA activities listed in Government Notice No. 543, 544,
545, 546 and 547 of June 2010.
• Activities GN Reg 544: 9, 12, 22, 23, 37, 41
• Activities GN Reg 545: 10
Application is also made to the Department of Water Affairs
for Water use license under Section 21:
(a) taking water from a water resource
(c) impeding or diverting the flow of water in a watercourse:
(i) altering the bed, banks. course or characteristics of a
watercourse
The women in the Home gave up a long
time ago. Oh, they tried, really tried,
in the beginning, as all the newcomers
do. The sequence was highly predictable:
the new lady would be introduced
all around; there would be welcoming
smiles and then the conversation would
begin. Where do you come from? Who’s
your family? What did you do? How
many children? Blah-blah-fish-paste.
Everywhere, when older people meet,
the recounting of the past is the most
prominent thing on the agenda.
But not in the jaded chair in the corner.
Albertus had his Book, and that was
enough. He wasn’t interested in the idle,
endless, senseless gossip the other old
people found so fascinating. What did it
matter if someone stayed in Upington,
had two children and lived near Pik Botha
when they were younger? It was, as
NOTICE FOR THE APPLICATION IN RESPECT OF NEMA ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
REGULATIONS 2010 AND FOR THE APPLICATION FOR A WATER USE LICENSE
IN RESPECT OF THE NATIONAL WATER ACT 1998
Location: The Carolina Water Supply Scheme situated within
the Chief Albert Luthuli Municipalityon the banks of the
Boesmanspruit south of Carolina
Applicant:B Mdutyulwa (PMU manager)
Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality
Tel: (017) 843 4000
Fax: (017) 843 4001
E-mail: mm@albertluthuli.gov.za
far as Albertus was concerned, a utterly
stupid exercise to dig around in the ruins
of past lives. Such conversations didn’t
change anything – it simply was a waste
of time.
Of course, there was gossip about his
constant involvement with the Bible.
‘He’s a holier-than-thou person,’ they’d
say, winking at each other. It was alright
to go to church on Sundays, but this constant
reading of the Bible isn’t normal.
Then Cecilia Crause arrived. She
changed everything.
Cecilia managed to look and dress the
way the other ladies wished they could.
She smiled with her own teeth, never
permed her hair and wore dresses that
drew disapproving glances from Matron.
She didn’t walk: she floated. She didn’t
talk: she breathed life into words to create
animated conversation.
(continues on page 15)
Any representation on the application can be made to:
LEAP Contact Person :Dr Gwen Theron
Tel: 083 302 2116
Fax: 086 606 6130
E-mail: gwen.theron@telkomsa.net
Or alternatively
Jitske Botes - Jitske@telkomsa.net
A Public Meeting will be held on the 10 April 2013 from
18h00 at the Carolina Akademie School on the corner of
Visagie and Voortrekker Streets All I&AP’s are invited to
attend this meeting.
In order to register as an interested and / or affected party,
please submit, in writing, your name, contact information and
interest in the matter to the above mentioned consultant within
30 days of publication of this notice.
(Please register on or before 15 April 2013)
(from page 14)
Within a week of her arrival, she had the
Home at her feet. She organised music
evenings, started a bridge club, and arranged
an outing to the casino in the city.
The cook started making her favourite
snacks for teatime. Matron asked her
advice about the neglected garden.
Cecilia ruled Shady Pines with her
charm and a fair share of dignity and
everybody agreed that she was, indeed,
the best thing that ever happened there.
Except Albertus. The music evening did
not budge him from his chair; bridge
was a way to combat boredom’ (and
he was never bored, anyway) and only
fools go gambling with pension money.
The quiet comfort and peace of the man
in the corner irritated the busy mind of
Cecilia. All her life she had been used to
people doing things she wanted them to
do. It was a gift; her mother said, a talent
to lead and others will follow. Once she
had set her mind on something, others
would queue up to do it for her. And,
through the years, that was how her life
had been. Now, in her old age, there was
this man who didn’t even bother to look
up when she entered the room.
Whatever else you can say about Cecilia
– and there’s a lot that you can’t – one
cannot deny her perseverance. She
tried everything. Albertus ignored the
chess set she put down next to his chair.
The new Lee Child got only a sideway
glance and a ‘harrumph’. The carefullyworded
Christmas card (with nuances
only a careful reader would pick up)
wasn’t even answered with a smile. In
the end, she adopted the direct approach.
“Look here, old man,” she said as she
ripped the book from his grasp, “you
cannot go on ignoring me. That is downright
rude manners. I am vivacious, full
of life and the soul of any party. I can
boogy, tango and pole-dance. I know
all the card games, play a mean hand
of poker and can hit the bull’s eye on a
dartboard four times out of six. I know
who won the Currie Cup last year and
can tell you why we lost to Australia. I
am, to sum up, a fun-loving, sporty and
even sexy woman and I want to talk to
Kontrei Gazette Saterdag 16 Maart 2013 15
ROLBOS STORIES by Amos v.d. Merwe
Dyslexia
you.”
Albertus blinked behind his thick glasses
as if he wanted to see her better – or
because he couldn’t believe his eyes (or
ears). Cecilia had waited until the afternoon
siesta when all the others do what
old people do after lunch. She also wore
a skirt that allowed her knees to peek out
at him.
“You want to talk about Genesis? Or
Exodus? Or poetry in the Psalms” He
didn’t even glance at the knees. “Give
me my Bible.”
She sat down on his lap and threw her
arms around his neck. The book was
now behind him, out of reach.
“I looked at your file, Albertus.” She
said his name with a slight accent on the
last bit. “And I know why you read so
much.” This time she got a frightened
glance, which encouraged her to go on.
“I almost missed it, you know? Those
files are actually just there for when we
die: who to call, who’s the undertaker,
which church to inform. Very clinical
and extremely depressing. When it
said that you had no family, I wondered
about it. Under your next of kin, it simply
stated Miraa, deceased.”
“What?”
“Miraa. Maria spelled out wrongly.”
By then Albertus had turned deathly
white. “It’s all history,” he said, “in the
past…”
“No. It’s all about the present.” The
rebuke was gentle. “My middle son has
dyslexia, just like you do. How far are
you with the Bible?”
He hesitated. “Daniel. I’m almost
through with him.”
She noticed he ignored the bit about dyslexia.
“If you want, I can do the reading
for you?”
Funny things have happen in Shady
Pines. Some old people come there to
die; others have their own reasons. Most
are lonely and wish they had could turn
the clock back to start over. Cecilia came
there to continue developing her gift
of making people do what she wants.
Albertus was there to read the Bible,
despite his dyslexia; or maybe because
of it. It was something he wanted to do
before he died.
Matron was there when Cecilia read the
last book, Revelations. Ever since John
and Jude it was a race between Albertus’
failing heart and the final chapter in the
Bible. He’s been inactive too long, the
others said, sitting there reading his Bible
all the time. What they didn’t know
was that Albertus never read the Bible.
He heard snippets here and there during
the infrequent visits to the church. He
detested those meetings. How could they
expect him to sing along if he couldn’t
read the words in the hymnbook? And
what about those silly little papers they
gave out at the door where you had to
tick off what you’d give or where you’d
help?
Maria’s sudden death had been the
wake-up call. If you didn’t know what
God was all about, how could you go
out there and meet Him? He promised
himself that he’d work through
the Bible, laboriously, word-for-word,
before he went.
When Cecilia read the last verse, he
looked up at her and smiled. Matron said
it was a relieved smile. Then he got up
and walked to the kitchen to ask them
(very nicely) to make some of Cecilia’s
snacks.
“But Albertus! Your heart…”
“I’m sure it’ll hold up for a while. I
promised myself to get through that
book before I did anything else. Now it’s
finished. Thank you.” He hesitated for
a second before going on. “Now, about
tonight’s musical programme? Maybe
you could include a polka? I can dance,
you know?’
That evening he taught her to polka.
Cecilia told Matron the next day that
revelations aren’t restricted to the Bible
only. “I had quite a big one last night.”
Like the lady she is, she never told them
everything. She wanted old Albertus to
last until the next dance, at least. She
says dyslexia is when you read the right
thing, wrongly.