NOBODY’S A WINNER

The results of Knysna’s local elections are in, and it is clear that no party has a ‘winning’ advantage.

With news breaking early yesterday of the ANC taking six of the eleven wards (3,4,6,7,8 and 11) and the DA the remaining five (1,2 5,9, and 10), it seemed that the two rival political powerhouses would be leaving the smaller parties in the dust.

But towards the end of the day, it appeared that the proportional votes were making a substantial difference to the council seat allocation, not only pushing the DA (with eight seats) one seat ahead of the ANC, but more importantly, giving neither of them anything close to an outright majority.

Though KIM (Knysna Independent Movement) did not win any wards, they won two seats through the proportional vote, as did the PA (Patriotic Alliance). The remaining seats went one apiece to the PBI (Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners) and the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters).

According to figures from the Electoral Commission website, when combining the ward votes and the proportional (PR) votes for Knysna as a whole, the DA won 35,44% of the votes and the ANC 33,2%.

Next in line was KIM with 7,9% closely tailed by the PA with 7,37%

Of the 42 790 registered voters in Knysna, only 23 906 voted, making it a 55,87% turnout.

The fact that no single party has an outright majority in council means that both the top two parties – the DA and the ANC – will need to form coalition agreements with other parties to gain control. Indeed, unless they form a coalition with each other, which is highly unlikely, both of these parties will need to secure the support of at least two of the smaller parties to get a majority.

The Electoral Commission still has to declare the results to be accurate. Meanwhile, the Acting Municipal Manager, Dawie Adonis, has scheduled the first meeting of the newly elected Knysna Council for 11 November. At this meeting, councillors will be sworn in and then go through the motions of electing a House Speaker, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and a Council Whip. They will also vote on which councillors should take Knysna’s three seats on the District Municipal Council.

Whoever is chosen as Mayor will also announce his or her Mayoral Committee.

No doubt there will now be a time of feverish scrabbling amongst politicians as the larger parties attempt to curry the favour (and vote) of the smaller parties.

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DA TIES UP SEDGE WARDS

Sedgefield’s Wards 1 and 2 were both won by the DA. According to the Electoral Commission website, Levael Davis retained Ward 1 by securing just over 45% (1189 votes), with the ANC taking 35% (913 votes). In Ward 2, newcomer to the DA candidate list Cleone Vanston received a convincing 1 466, (64,67%) of the total Ward 2 votes. Her closest rival KIM took 10,59%, and the GOOD Party came third with 8,16%.
Both DA candidates have voiced their gratitude to the voters who placed their faith in them.
Levael Davis, who is also his party’s Mayoral candidate, looks forward to continuing the hard work he is so well known for.
“Firstly, I would like to thank the Lord for giving me another term to serve our community. I also thank every voter for their support, and I look forward to achieving even greater successes in the future. There are some great projects in store, so I will continue to work alongside our Ward 2 Councillor for all our residents and a better Sedgefield.
Cleone Vanston is grateful for this new, albeit rather daunting, opportunity.
“I would like to thank all who came out to vote in our local government elections, despite the weather and challenges we faced. Thank you to all our DA voters for your trust and support.
I look forward to serving our community in Sedgefield, Karatara and the surrounding areas in my term as your ward 2 DA councillor.”

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HOLMES TAKES COVER

By Melanie Baumeister

Razina Theba, an up-and-coming novelist and author of “A home on Vorster Street: A Memoir”, has spotted and harnessed the incredible talent of our home-grown artist, Houghmorden Jansen – better known as Holmes The Creative.

Whilst on holiday here in Sedgefield in December 2020 and enjoying our outdoor markets, Razina came across Holmes’ colourful works and knew, instantaneously, that his style was perfect for the cover of her memoir. According to the artist himself, the author was browsing with her husband, and they were immediately taken in by the small exhibition that Holmes sets up every Saturday at the Mosaic Market. “It was the first time in ten years that her husband had liked any art!” Holmes expounds. Razina set about procuring a few of Holmes’ small A5 pieces that adorn interiors all over the world. She took his details and the rest, as they say, is history.

Jonathan Ball Publishers expedited the ‘back and forth’ of the cover art, with Razina in the control seat, two sketches of Razina as a child and the geography of Vorster Street, along with an artistic brief, were sent to Holmes, and these were combined to create the cover of Mrs Theba’s memoirs. The story offers a fresh narrative of this time in South Africa’s history from a unique cultural viewpoint. A gifted storyteller, Razina has a vivid, sensory style; her writing expertly mixes humour with emotional intimacy. No mean feat as Razina is also a busy attorney and divorce mediator. This, her first book, is bound to intrigue and entertain a readership that will identify with her story set during tumultuous times in South Africa’s past.

“Holmes has exceeded all my expectations in delivering a piece of art that was both soulful and cheeky. He pulled this off with very few instructions!” Razina had time to type as her star started its upward trajectory as a writer. She mentions too that Holmes’ cover art is part of a Facebook competition for those of you that are au fait with the social media platform, go and have a browse and check out the competition at:
https://gbasbookcoverawards.com/
Personally, this reporter thinks that Holmes should win hands down!

With thanks to Jennifer Ball at Jonathan Ball Publishers for the image of ‘A home on Vorster St: A Memoir’ by Razina Theba. Cover Art by Holmes The Creative.

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SPEEDO SPEEDSTERS

On 15 October at 4pm, four well known local men braved the cold and indeed surprised looks of drivers, pedestrians, shoppers and shopkeepers as they dashed along the streets of Sedgefield wearing nothing but the skimpiest of purple speedos.

Their courageous run was part of the Hollard Daredevil Challenge to promote awareness of prostate cancer. Like other small pockets of runners all over the country, Mike Wood, Pedro Goncalves, Stephan Jansen Van Rensburg and Trystenn Titchener stripped down to (almost) bare essentials and set off from Cafe Vienna on a short but well witnessed run through the CBD and back. Traffic stopped, and surprised pedestrians cheered them along the way.

We aren’t sure if they “Ran Cancer out of the ‘hood” as the Daredevil campaign suggested, but they certainly provided some spring cheer on the streets of Sedgefield.

According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of South Africa, the latest projections show that prostate cancer will be the most common cancer in South Africa by 2030. Early diagnosis can mean a 95% chance of being cured – So get checked! Visit www.prostate-ca.co.za for more information.

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THEY’RE ALL LOOKING FOR YOUR X

With Municipal elections set to take place on 1 November, residents of Greater Knysna will be spoilt for choice when it comes to candidates and indeed parties. According to the list published by the Independent Electoral Commission, there are no less than 19 registered parties competing for the 11 wards in Knysna and two candidates running as independents for Wards 3 and 4.

Sedgefield and its surrounding rural communities are made up of two wards. Ward 1 is Sizamile-Smutsville; Rondevlei; Myoli Beach; Cola Beach; The Island and Hoogekraal, whilst Ward 2 is Sedgefield Town; Karatara; Farleigh; Kraaibosch; Fairview; and Barrington.

Ward 1 has 14 parties vying for a seat on the Council, while Ward 2 has 13. In some instances, the same party candidate is competing in both wards. Although this may seem strange, it must be remembered that candidates are not only competing to win their wards but also to accumulate the highest total number of votes in the Municipal Area for their party. These votes will go towards winning ‘proportional seats’ on the Council. Simply put, even if a candidate doesn’t win a ward, any vote they get will make a difference for the party. Of the 21 seats on the Council, 11 are ward councillor seats, and ten are ‘proportional’ – this is so that the total number of party representatives on the Council is proportional to the number of votes received by their parties.

According to information on the IEC website, the parties and candidates vying for your vote on 1 November are as follows:-

Africa Restoration Alliance: Venessa James (Wards 1&2)
African Christian Democratic Party: Rean De Necker (Wards 1&2)
African National Congress: Khayalethu Rhodes Henene (Ward 1) and Claudine Croutz (Ward 2)
Cape Independence Party / Kaapse Onafhanklikheids Party: Simon Povey (Ward 1) and Clayton Doubell (Ward 2)
Congress Of The People: Bavumile Jada (Wards 1&2)
Democratic Alliance: Levael Vincent Davis (Ward 1 and Mayoral Candidate) and Cleone Vanston (Ward 2)
Economic Freedom Fighters: Luvo Dayimani (Ward 1) And Yolelua Madolo (ward 2)
Good: Nataniel Oelf (Wards 1 & 2)
Knysna Independent Movement: Margaretha Susan Campbell (Ward 1) And Kirsty Hofhuis (Ward 2)
Knysna Unity Congress: Cecilia Mc Kay (Ward 1)
Patriotic Alliance: Donelyéann Oelf (Ward 1) And Calvin Jaysen Appels (Ward 2)
Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners: Elsperth Hartzenberg (Ward 1) and Samuel Lodewyk (Ward 2)
The Organic Humanity Movement: Clint Vorster (Wards 1&2)
United Independent Movement: Dirk Beukes (Wards 1&2)
Vryheidsfront Plus: Stefanus Brink (Wards 1&2)

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WORLD RECORD BROKEN IN SEDGEFIELD – 76 HALF MARATHONS IN 76 DAYS

Yesterday (Tuesday 21 September 2021) saw local runners joining Henry Cock as he ran his 76th consecutive half marathon along the streets of Sedgefield. That’s 21,1km of running every day, for 76 days – making him the new Guinness World Record holder…. for men.

Interestingly, the record for women is more (102 consecutive ½ Marathons), but if Henry has his way, he will be breaking that record too in 36 days. Indeed he will run right past it en route to his is final goal – 133 half marathons on the trot!

Henry began his amazing journey on the 8th of July 2021 at Kosi Bay in KwaZulu-Natal and, all going well, will run his last half marathon somewhere around Vioolsdrift in the Northern Cape. He will then have achieved a total of 2 800 km.

Surprisingly, running isn’t Henry’s biggest ‘thing’ – his most important mission on this more-than-impressive running tour is to raise awareness about Mental Health and raise funds for the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG).
Henry hopes to raise R4 million for SADAG through his ‘Mentally Aweh Initiative’.
“If I can raise 10c from 8000 people for every kilometre I run in 2021, that’s one coffee per month, per person, I can reach my target and help people get the help and support they need for mental illness,” he says.
In South Africa, one in five people suffers from a mental health disorder.

“Yet, 75% of these people don’t receive any mental health care or support,” says SADAG’s Founder Zane Wilson. Shockingly, the percentage of South Africa’s uninsured population that has access to some form of mental healthcare is under 1%.

In 2019, Henry started seeing a therapist.
“After months of therapy,” he said “I got the courage to take medication and admit to the people I cared about the most that I suffered from anxiety.”

Unfortunately, mental illness is still very stigmatised, and many people are ashamed to admit or seek help for their mental health issues. They believe that they are weak or that there is no treatment or hope for mental illness.
“It takes great courage to speak out and recognise that you suffer from a mental disorder. The more we can open the conversation surrounding mental health, the greater the understanding and empathy will be for those that suffer,” Henry suggests, “In many ways, it’s easier for me to do a 21,1km run every day for 133 days than it is for some people to get out of bed to face another day. I’d like to inspire as many people as possible to become a beacon of hope for those who suffer in silence.”

SADAG, the country’s foremost mental health counselling and support NGO, operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is manned by over 200 volunteers. The pandemic has put a huge strain on an already failing mental health care system, and now, with thousands of people feeling vulnerable, anxious and lonely, SADAG is busier than ever. From January to September 2020, SADAG received 315 666 calls – that’s enough people to fill the FNB stadium more than three times. From 2019 to 2021, the calls have increased from 600 to 2,200 daily. SADAG also runs the only suicide prevention helpline in South Africa, which costs over R120 000 a month to operate.

A stipulation from the Guinness World Records is that for every run, Henry must have at least one other person running alongside him as a “witness”. There has been no shortage of volunteers to fulfil this role. “Lookout for Henry passing through your city, join him, cheer him on or have a chat”, Zane Wilson encourages.

Support Henry Cock on the road with his Mentally Aweh Initiative.
Follow him on Facebook: henry.cock or on his website www.runhenryrun.co.za
Donate: www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/mentally-aweh

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BEZUIDENHOUT SMASHES SIMOLA HILLCLIMB RECORD

  •   Andre Bezuidenhout claimed his fourth King of the Hill title and set a new Simola Hillclimb record with a time of 34.965 seconds at an average speed of 195.624 km/h on the 1.9 km course.
  •   2019 Modified Saloon Car champion Franco Scribante set a new record in the Class Finals of 39.303 seconds but lost the King of the Hill title in the Top 10 Shootout to Pieter Zeelie – a first-time winner.
  •   JP van der Walt took the Road Car and Supercar title despite crashing during the Sunday morning warm-up session.
  •   Winners of the Virtual Simola Hillclimb, which ran concurrently with the weekend’s live event, were: Virtual Classic Car Friday – Denis Mitchell, and Virtual King of the Hill – Emile de Villiers.

It’s official – the Simola Hillclimb has a new outright record! Andre Bezuidenhout lived up to expectations, as well as his bold pre-event promise of a sub-35-second time, by powering the agile 2007 Gould GR55 to the best-ever time on the 1.9 km Simola Hill, stopping the clock in just 34.965 seconds. He achieved this late on Sunday in the final all-or-nothing Top 10 Shootout for the Single-seater and Sports Prototype category. In the process, he slashed his current record time from 2018 by 0.563 seconds – achieving an astonishing average speed of 195.624 km/h!
“It was a close-run thing, as the shadows were already starting to come over the track when I did my run in the late afternoon,” Bezuidenhout said. “If we were 10 minutes later, I wouldn’t have been able to go that fast as the temperature began falling. So it was the perfect run in the end. I desperately wanted to do a 34, and the team worked very hard to achieve this great result.”
Despite having just taken a well-earned victory, Bezuidenhout is already looking forward to the 2022 Simola Hillclimb. “I think there’s still more to come from the car as, until now, I’ve been driving the car as it came from the UK in 2018. Now we’re going to start working on the suspension, and we are looking at adding launch control for next year because, at the moment, it’s 100% my right foot, whereas a lot of the other cars have traction and launch control systems.”
Robert Wolk was second in the Top 10 Shootout in his 2007 Ferrari-powered A1 GP car, ending on 37.205 seconds following consistent improvements throughout the weekend and a personal best time of 36.819 seconds in the Class Finals. Byron Mitchell finished third with a time of 40.381 seconds in his 2002 Reynard Formula VW single-seater, just half a second ahead of Andrew Rackstraw in a similar car.
Devin Robertson was the quickest of the sports prototype machines and fifth overall in the Top 10 Shootout, powering his high-revving 1.4-litre Suzuki-powered Radical SR1 Clubsport to 41.075 seconds, beating the only Ford 5.0-litre V8-powered Shelby CanAm in the country, driven by Rui Campos to a time of 41.676 seconds. Michael Verrier was seventh in the Nissan 3.5 V6-powered version of the CanAm on 43.645 seconds.
Andrew Schofield ended eighth in the 2015 Mygale Formula Ford (47.456 sec), with James Forbes ninth in his 2006 ADR MCE3 (47.751 sec). Finally, Megan Verlaque wrapped up her first Simola Hillclimb with an impressive time of 47.876 seconds in the tiny Suzuki 600 cc Speedcar Xtreme, rounding out the Top 10 with a super-competitive time of 47.876 seconds.

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CATCHING THE LOVE BUG

Written by Pamela Victor, photograph taken by Andre Victor.
On Saturday, 28 August, crowds gathered at the slipway next to the lagoon to witness the unveiling of Sedgefield 1 – a mosaic creation by Masithandane’s mosaic team – Hyla Hartlief, Sophia Nguma, Petrus Kiewiets and Ricardo Baadjies – that is bound to become one of the village’s greatest tourism icons.
Jacky Weaver, Chairperson of Masithandane, welcomed everyone to the historic unveiling, and Colleen Durant, General Manager of Visit Knysna, expressed her appreciation to all involved in the project.
“Sedgefield can be justly proud of this mosaic masterpiece, and it can confidently take its place in the overall Knysna Interactive Art project,” she said.
Then Masithandane’s guitar group, the “Lil Dudes,” delighted the crowd as they played and sang Bob Marley’s “Three little birds” with much enthusiasm.
Then the big moment arrived. Councillor Skozana and Ms Durant cut the red ribbon while Jacky Weaver and Hyla Hartlief peeled back a white silk cover. Voila! ‘Sedgefield 1’ emerged – a gleaming bright blue and silver mosaic masterpiece with a perfectly crafted protea on her boot and colourful panels of flowers on her bonnet. Her headlamps sparkled in the sun as laughing children rushed forward eager to climb onto her wooden seats.
After a long dreary winter, the rain stopped, the clouds separated, and sunbeams danced upon the water. Sedgefielders, both young and old, gathered around the once dilapidated volksie taking “selfies” and having fun.

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SURF MASTERS AT VIC BAY

Picture by Sadie Schalkwyk :- Local surfer Tasha Mentasti taking 1st place in the Open Woman’s division of the SA Masters’ Surfing Championships. 

Report by Slade West.

Victoria Bay hosted some of the country’s best surfers over the weekend at the SA Masters Championships, and the Bay rose to the challenge of delivering fantastic waves throughout the three-day competition.
This was the first time the prestigious event has been held at Vic Bay, with seven teams from across the country coming together to compete on this classic point break wave.

The Masters event brings the top surfers from their age divisions, those being over 35, over 40, over 45, over 50, over 55, over 60 and open woman’s divisions.

Eden Surf Riders held their own at their local surf spot, with some impressive results across the board. Sean Holmes achieved 2nd place in the Over 40 division, with David Pfaff taking 4th place.
In the Over 45 age group Shane Pratt took 4th place.
Patrick Cuthbert achieved a 4th place finish in the Over 55 division, and Stephen Hair finished with a 3rd place in the Over 60s.
Local lady Tasha Mentasti was the star of the day, taking 1st place in the Open Woman’s division with one of the highest-scoring heat totals of the day, a 7 point ride and a 9 point ride giving her a total heat score of 16 points out of a possible 20.

Overall, a successful weekend of surfing with great conditions and a good vibe on the beach. We hope to see more events like this in the near future at our local point break.

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SUSPENDED MUNICIPAL MANAGER RESIGNS

After 18 months of suspension, during which he received full pay, Knysna’s Municipal Manager, Dr Sitembele Wiseman Vatala, has finally resigned, giving the local authority the opportunity to at last fill this important post on a permanent rather than acting basis.
Said Christopher Bezuidenhoudt, spokesperson for Knysna Municipality, “We can confirm that the Executive Mayor received Dr Vatala’s resignation on Saturday, 21 August 2021. Dr Vatala has taken up the position of Municipal Manager at the Central Karoo District Municipality. His resignation will serve before the Council at a Special Council Meeting on Wednesday 25 August for further deliberation on the disciplinary matter.”
Dr Vatala’s suspension has cost the local taxpayers a vast amount of money, with a monthly salary of R115 000+ paid in full for the 18 months (whilst an ‘Acting’ Municipal Manager has also had to be paid), plus hundreds of thousands of Rands in legal costs (unfortunately the Municipality were unable to provide the official figure at the time of going to press). Yet, still, questions are being asked as to whether or not Council should accept the Municipal Manager’s resignation in Wednesday’s meeting and move on, or continue taking appropriate legal steps against him.
Whilst a cut and dry departure of Dr Vatala might save further legal expenditure on the matter for Knysna; many believe that in the bigger picture, if Council believes he is guilty of any misconduct, allowing him to move on to another post in another municipality would be setting a dangerous precedent, adding another nail in the coffin of good governance.
Indeed, in March 2019, when it was first announced that Dr Vatala had been appointed as Knysna’s new Municipal Manager for a three-year term, a quick online search revealed that the previous year he had left Emalahleni Municipality in Mpumalanga under a dark cloud. However, it seems that because the allegations raised against him (irregular appointments and nepotism reported in the Dispatch Live in December 2018) had not ultimately resulted in charges of misconduct, they did not affect his application for Knysna’s top post.
Less than a year after his appointment in Knysna, Dr Vatala was placed on precautionary suspension following a Special Council Meeting on 13 February 2020 due to allegations levelled against him. At the same time it came to light that Knysna Municipality had reportedly plunged from a projected R50 million cash surplus in November 2019 to a projected cash deficit of more than R200 million.
The Knysna Ratepayers Association claims to have played a major part in Vatala’s suspension. A statement made on their Facebook page at the time explained the reasons they were determined he should be brought to book.
“We became aware that properties to a value exceeding R60 million, that had previously been disclosed as Contingent Assets, had inexplicably been omitted from (Knysna Municipality’s) Annual Financial Statements by the CFO. The Municipal Manager, who is also the Accounting Officer, signed off on those statements. The Auditor General queried the removal of those assets and was provided with false and/or misleading information regarding their status. We submitted a complaint to Deputy Mayor Tsengwa against Dr Vatala in connection with this matter, as well as in connection with a tender that should have been awarded to a local company, but was unlawfully awarded to a company from out of town that had tendered a price R3 million higher than the local company.”
When the Deputy Executive Mayor Councillor Aubrey Tsengwa announced Dr Vatala’s suspension at the Special Council Meeting of Feb 2020, he said that Council would appoint an independent investigator and the Municipal Manager would be on suspension for the duration of the investigation.
“The investigator must submit its findings to the Municipal Council within 30 days,” Tsengwa promised.
The process has clearly taken a good deal longer than expected and indeed substantially drained the coffers of our already cash-strapped local authority. We look forward to bringing you details of Council’s decision on the matter, and indeed to the future appointment of a new Municipal Manager.
Watch this space.

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