Have Yourselves A Very Merry Christmas

Our last edition of 2021!

With a couple of tough years behind us, many will be delighted to have some free days to wind-down, (apart from Christmas shopping), spend time with family and friends (apart from Christmas shopping), really listen to our children (apart from when they want to go Christmas shopping) and focus on what’s most important in life (and it’s certainly not Christmas shopping!).

Financially, many of us will be glad to see the back of 2021 (and Christmas shopping) and be more than relieved that we have made it through to the end of this year, even if it is just to gather strength for whatever 2022 plans to throw at us.
But in all the excitement of being surrounded by so many people, be it family, friends, or simply the abundance of folk spending their time in the Garden Route, let’s be sure to remember what Christmas is really all about. It’s a time to celebrate, with others, the awesome gift that we were given two centuries ago. The gift of Jesus Christ, who came to bring us all life, hope and freedom. (It’s free – no credit card or payment plan required, and there’s no queue at the till either.). Now isn’t THAT something worth celebrating?

Here is wishing all our readers, writers, advertisers, friends of The EDGE’ and visitors all the REAL joys of Christmas.

And, of course, an AMAZING 2022!

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SUPPORT LOCAL THIS SEASON

We’re dreaming of a local Holiday Season, how about you?
We have just had our local elections, and a new Council is finding its feet, but what if we extend our “voting period” and vote for our local economy this holiday period?
Voting with your money
Voting can be instrumental in different ways – bestselling author and respected advocate for food justice and sustainability Anne Lappe said that “every time you spend your money, you cast a vote for the kind of world you want.”
Small communities across the globe have seen a decline in locally owned businesses and the subsequent outflux of those that cannot make a living where they used to live. As people left, small towns became ghost towns with a significant loss of services, schools, health care, etc. Is that the “world” we want for Knysna and Sedgefield?
Greater Knysna’s economy has been hit hard by the COVD-19 pandemic. Local support is a key factor if we want to keep our local independently owned industries in business. There are many advantages, but the most obvious is that when you spend money at a local business, your money is likely to get reinvested back into the towns where we live. If you spend it at big online shopping platforms, your money is definitely not being reinvested locally, maybe not even in South Africa.
Why would one buy products made in overseas factories when similar items are produced locally, at competitive prices, and with more heart for people and the planet? The “world” that we vote for should foster a sustainable, resilient local economy that creates jobs and opportunities in Greater Knysna. A world that cares about communities.
A 2019 Business Report estimated that South Africans spent about R260 Billion over the traditional Christmas holiday period. Even if only a fraction of this money is spent in our towns, it will make a significant contribution to our local economy.
If you are doing gifts this year, why not ask your family for vouchers or gifts from your favourite local businesses? Think local crafters & manufacturers, gift shops, clothing stores, florists, restaurants & coffee shops, hair & beauty salons, art venues, handmade and homemade goods and local service providers. Experiences are great gifts too!
Support local businesses without spending any money.
There are non-monetary ways that you can support local businesses too. Recommend them to visitors and other residents, especially online. Like and share their social media posts, tag a friend, write a nice comment with an emoji, post a photograph (preferably of your purchase), and leave an online review. This will “give their posts legs” and boost their online exposure.
Vote with your heart
Greater Knysna is fortunate to have numerous organisations doing fantastic work in the community, whether creating food gardens, beautifying public areas or running soup kitchens. Get involved – donate local and volunteer local! There is an African saying that it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to build a village. So, join us this year to make our Holidays dream come true – let’s have a local Holiday season!

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Picture:- Jason White, a PR Councillor for the DA, takes the oath to serve Knysna to the best of his ability. At 23 years old, Jason is the youngest person ever to serve on the Knysna Council. (See full story on page 4 of edition 628)

 

Whilst the first meeting of Knysna’s newly elected council was a testimony of democracy at work regarding the number of parties represented, it did not provide much hope for smooth-sailing governance of the town over the next five years.

The councillors, some brand new and others seasoned politicians, hit a deadlock on their first decision – that of the election of a Council Speaker, and it seems that next Monday, the fate of Knysna’s Council could well be decided by the toss of a coin.

The inaugural council meeting was held on Monday, 15 November, at the Council Chambers and officiated over by Knysna’s Acting Municipal Manager, Dawie Adonis. On opening the proceedings, Adonis emphasized the importance of this new five-year term in the context of political leadership and stability as well as administrative stability for Knysna

To underline this point, the Acting Municipal Manager (AMM) pointed out that during the previous five-year term, the Municipality had had four Mayors, 11 Acting Municipal Managers and eight Directors of Community services. He called this a clear indication of the instability within the Municipality.

“This five-year term will be a watershed moment to ensure that Knysna Municipality regains its glory day competitiveness as a number one tourist destination within the Garden Route. This Council will be tasked to ensure community cohesion and to establish a strategic plan for Knysna,” he said.

Next, all 21 councillors (eight DA, seven ANC, two each for PA and KIM and one each for EFF and PBI) were ceremonially sworn in by the Municipality’s Legal Services Manager Melony Paulsen. Each swore to uphold the South African Constitution and perform their functions as a member of the Knysna Municipal Council to the best of their ability.

After that, the AMM announced that the election of the council speaker would begin. Politically, the position of Speaker is of exceptional importance, especially when numbers in rival coalitions are even because once the Speaker is in place, if the council reaches a deadlock on any matter, the Speaker automatically has the extra deciding vote. As voting for the positions of Executive Mayor and Deputy Mayor would be next on the agenda – this extra vote wields a lot of power.

The two nominations for the Council Speaker position received from the floor were the ANC’s Ward 3 Councillor Mncedisi Skosana and Julie Anne Lopes, a PR councillor for the DA.

But there was no doubting that deliberations, and indeed negotiations, had begun long before the start of the meeting. By Friday last week, the word on the street was that with eight seats, the DA might take control of the council with the additional votes of the two KIM (Knysna Independent Movement) councillors and the single PBI (Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners) councillor. But a weekend is a long time in politics, and by Monday, rumblings of a different plan started echoing in the political corridors.

Indeed, just before the election of the Speaker was due to start, the ANC requested a five-minute caucus and were followed out of the chambers by the two PA (Patriotic Alliance) councillors and the PBI councillor. When they returned, it was the turn of the Patriotic Alliance to go on a 15-minute caucus break.

One councillor who may have broken the deadlock was the new EFF councillor Neil Louw, but he made his position clear very early on by announcing that as a ‘disciplined member of the EFF’, he would be abstaining from the vote – as he was awaiting instruction from his party at a national level.

Once the councillors had all returned to chambers, voting was done by ‘secret ballot’, and the count confirmed that each of the two candidates had received ten votes. After that, the AMM had no choice but to adjourn the meeting, as per the Local Government Municipal Structures Act.

The Council is to reconvene on Monday 22 November and once again vote to fill the position of Speaker. If the same outcome occurs – two candidates with equal votes – the act states that “…the person presiding at such meeting must determine by lot who of the two candidates will hold the office for which the election has taken place.” According to the AMM, this will be by the flip of a coin!

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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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