A WALK WITH THE MAYOR

This morning I had the Mayor of the Overstrand visit me. The Overstrand Municipal area  encompasses an area, from Gansbaai to Rooi Els, with many little villages inbetween, including the one in which I live.  Why did she visit me you ask? Well, a few weeks ago I wrote a letter to the Democratic Alliance saying that if our present councillor was to stand again then they would not have my vote.

Following on this the Mayor phoned me asking for an appointment. I mean, me, a nobody in a little town with no clout. Well, I said, yes but I won’t speak to you if you bring the said councillor along. She said he wasn’t aware of this visit and would not be told about it, but as I was clearly unhappy she would want to see me.

We had a bit of bother trying to co-ordinate dates, her diary obviously infinitely fuller than mine but eventually set down a time and date.

So, this morning she arrived, a little ahead of the appointed time, apologetic, for being too early, and saying that she would wait if I was busy! Of course, I wasn’t. My time is my own and I had set the morning aside for her, so in she came, refusing tea as she was combining a visit to me with some other business she had in the town.

What impressed me most though was the friendly, disarming smile and her hand stretched out and saying “Margie? Nicolette.” Well, I grew up in the era when one addressed the Mayor as “Your Worship”. Here I was now on first name terms with the Mayor. Not bad for a nonentity I thought.

We spent over an hour, going over the reasons which had led me to write to the Democratic Alliance, with her listening patiently, explaining a few facts that I wasn’t aware of, yet also agreeing that many of the problems that I had listed were genuine and needed attention.

Then she took a walk with me, up and down the road to see exactly what I was concerned about. She learnt a few facts about our town and I learnt a great deal about how she intended tackling them, and other things.

She was open, revealing details that were not for open discussion and entrusting me with confidential information. I was very impressed.

When she eventually left, we parted good friends. She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said if she ever found the time, could she pop in again. She thanked me for my time and my openness and said she would read the list I had given to her over the weekend and promised to try to rectify some of the things mentioned.

Well, you know how they say never to trust politicians? Somehow I think this lady is genuine, and that she is not going to let me down. I think she has integrity and a refreshing honesty. I am hoping that she will be able to get some results.

In the meantime, may I wish her luck because I think she is going to need it. I am just an insignificant fish egg in the big pond of life, and yet she was prepared to listen, to talk, to take me into her confidence. I appreciate that and will do what I can to help her should I be called on to do so.

Now if only our councillor could be a little like her....

Postscript

I am running this on both my blogs, because I feel this requires a broader audience. Normally I keep my writing life and my personal life separate but there are always times when one needs to break the rules. 

The fire in our midst

Today the wind is blowing - thank goodness only today and not a few days ago when the mountain fire was at its worst. It started on Wednesday 17 March - some say squatters, some say arson - but whatever it was, nobody realised it would take five days to vent its fury on our little coastal community.

Stories abound of people who had their precious belongings squeezed into their cars, dogs, cats, and even birds. One woman had no space for the parrot, so wrapped the cage in wet towels and left it in the kitchen sink, hoping for the best as she movedout of her threatened home to stay with friends in a safer haven.
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Children being ferried from school in Hermanus had to go via Sir Lowry's Pass through Rooi Els, Pringle Bay and Betty's Bay to reach Kleinmond as the fire wreaked havoc on the R44 which was closed. A day or two later the fire had swung across the back of the mountain and was then close to Rooi Els and Gordon's Bay - and Clarence Drive was closed. Kleinmond came in for its share too, when the fire swept across Hanneshoek, Jean's Hill and came close to the golf course.

Luckily for property owners, not a house was lost though the fire came close. More sadly though one fireman lost his life. Being dog tired, after nearly five days of relentless fire-fighting he lay down to sleep a little too close to the fire engines, and when they were once again called to respond to yet another emergency, he did not hear the call and the fire engine drove over him. How terribly sad this was. Another fire-fighting volunteer lost the soles of his shoes and was gamely trying to get about on blistered feet. A local resident helped by getting ice from the local golf course to ease the pain of this poor man.

Helicopters raced back and forth with water buckets dropping their cargo on sky high flames. Rumour has it that had they worked a half an hour longer on the Friday then the fire could have been contained that day. But who knows how tired these men were. After three days I am sure they needed some rest too.

When it was all over by Sunday, everyone was exhausted. Our blackened mountain will recover no doubt. We were lucky in so many, many ways. Help came from far afield, even Cape Town sent its crews to assist. Locals rallied around with food and sustenance. Fire-fighters and volunteers - we salute you.

NUCLEAR - NO WAY

Looking at the horrific pictures of the latest earthquake to hit Japan, and the resultant tsunami was an eye-opener. However, the effects of this on the nuclear power plants was even more scary. How can we even entertain the thought of these power plants?
I think of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and now the Fukushima disaster and then I think of the Koeberg station right on my front doorstep. It is to my mind so fool-hardy to commission these nuclear plants when there are safer alternatives.
Have we learnt nothing from the past? Hiroshima,  and Nagasaki, were both terrible crimes against humanity, yet here we go blithely putting our faith in nuclear power stations which are going to be our downfall.
At the moment I believe there are over 1,9 million people without electricity because the nuclear plants have had to be shut down. Some of those who lived near these plants have been subjected to radiation checks, some have shown signs of contamination. They are without their homes in many instances, and what is more, the country has ground to a halt. Its a dire situation.
Nuclear power is not what the world needs. We have places like Iraq trying out nuclear programmes. Who knows what this will do to our world.
The only way we can look after the future of the planet is to stop any nuclear devices, including the generation of nuclear electricity. There are alternatives: like wind power, solar power, wave power, all a lot less dangerous to the survival of mankind.
In my own neighbourhood, the powers that be are looking at the feasibility of a nuclear power station at Gansbaai, less than two hours drive away. No! No! No!
Granted we have an unlikely possibility of having an earthquake here unlike San Francisco, and the Pacific, or the Ring of Fire, but it can happen. We are not totally immune to the forces of nature.
I don't want to leave a legacy of nuclear danger to my family, friends, compatriots. Do you?