Burst water pipes in Wavecrest

May 13, 2012

The Municipality is hard at work repairing burst water pipes in Wavecrest. Three pipes burst last night and will be fixed this morning.

JBay residents awoke to find no water in Wavecrest this morning.

Water was cut in the Oribi Street area of Wavecrest earlier today and the pipe there is in the process of being fixed.

Thereafter the Municipal maintenance team will switch off water in the Spekboom area of Wavecrest to repair the remaining burst pipes.

Ageing pipes are to blame for the damage and the Municipality regrets any inconvenience to residents.

 

 

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71 year old woman stabbed and robbed in St Francis Bay

May 12, 2012

By Bev Mortimer:

A 71 year-old St Francis Bay woman was struck on her face and stabbed on her forehead, then robbed in her own home.

According to a police report from the SAP Corporate Communications, the 71 year old St Francis Bay woman was attacked in her home and robbed during the early hours of Sunday morning, (6 May 2012).

According to police information, the woman was asleep and was awoken at about 2:30 am when her bedroom light was switched on. An unknown man was standing in her bedroom.

The woman enquired whether he was the security guard. She realized that he was not the guard when he took her handbag and cell phone from her bedside table. She managed to press the panic button.

The man stabbed her on her forehead and slapped her on her face. He then ran off.

The woman received about 25 stitches to her forehead. Police are investigating a case of Armed Robbery. No arrests have been made.

Source: St Francis Chronicle

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Photo of the day – Antartic ice berg

May 11, 2012

Photo: Ralph Timmermann, Alfred Wegener Institute

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R55 million assets seized from poachers

May 11, 2012

The joint security forces including the Endangered Species of the Hawks, the NPA and Department of Environmental Affairs have made huge strides in efforts to thwart rhino poaching in South Africa.

The Kariega Rhino’s before brutal poachers attacked them.

This team has seized assets in the region of R 55 million, believed to have been acquired through criminal activities, particularly rhino poaching from Dawie Groenewald and two veterinary surgeons, Drs Karel Toet and Manie Du Plessis.

Since January this year 99 people were arrested for rhino related crimescountry wide.

One on the most prominent and notorious syndicates led by Joseph Nyalunga and 8 others were arrested on the 2 March 2012 outside Hazyview in Mpumalanga. During the operation over R 5 million rand in cash was seized from his house in Mhulu, hidden in a trunk in his garage. Several firearms, knifes and vehicles were seized from the suspects.

A Chinese syndicate responsible for the buying of rhino horns in Bruma Lake were arrested by the Hawks. Four Chinese nationals were arrested and charges of racketeering are being brought against them. The value of their operation is estimated at R 3 Million. The accused are still in custody.

Currently 57 cases are on the court roll in which 161 accused are charged. 65 of these accused are held in custody while 96 accused have been released on bail according to Police spokesperson Colonel Vishnu Naidoo.

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Photo of the day – surfing the Point

May 10, 2012

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House robberies in Wavecrest still a problem

May 10, 2012

The Community Police Forum held their quarterly meeting at the Jeffreys Bay Police Station this week and presented the crime stats to those in attendance.

The biggest concern for Jeffreys Bay residents remains the ongoing problem of houses being robbed in Wavecrest. There appears to be different gangs of all race groups operating with impunity in the suburb, despite the best efforts of the neighbourhood watches and Warrant Officer Potgieter, the Policeman in charge of Wavecrest.

Due to the national clampdown on the release of crime stats, the community was not informed as to how many house breakings are actually taking place in Wavecrest at present.

There has also been an increase of robberies of businesses in the St Croix Street area as well as an unusual increase in activity in C Place.

On a positive note, contact crimes have been reduced and theft of motor vehicles has also shown a decline in Jeffreys Bay.

The Democratic Alliance is continually requesting on a national level for the Police to release crime stats regularly to enable the community to join in the fight against crime in their suburbs. The reasoning behind the black out on crime stats remains obscure and surely does not help in the war against crime in South Africa.

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JBay locals go to Funky Town

May 9, 2012

Jeffreys Bay locals were treated to a sneak preview of its latest accommodation offering when Funky Town opened its doors during the Oosterland Street market last week.

Nearing completion and officially opening to the public during May, Funky Town wowed the locals with its fresh, unique décor, its sublime art pieces and its entertainment areas. Guests will enjoy a splash pool, jacuzzi, fire pit and a pizza oven, to mention just a few of Funky Town’s amenities.

Bruce Gold and isabeau Joubert with some friends at Funky Town

Owner, and Marina Martinique developer, James Hinton came up with the concept of FunkyTown a few years ago. Having bought the property (the original venue of Potters Place) in Oosterland Street during 2006, Hinton has really enjoyed breathing new life into the old building.

“As you wander through Funky Town, you will be transported back in time, with decor reminiscent of bygone times, re-created in funky, functional spaces. Yet Funky Town is also equipped with every convenience for the modern day traveler” said Hinton.

Funky Town is for the ‘back packers’ of yesterday, who have fond memories of these establishments across the globe. The social aspect of cooking together, watching movies together and making new friends over a few drinks will remain the same, but each traveler will have their own, modern upmarket en-suite room.

JBay locals having fun at Funky Town

Through this breed of new traveler the ‘Flashpackers’ concept came about. FunkyTown is now one of a handful of flashpacker properties in South Africa and is on the fore front of a growing worldwide trend.

Funky Town offers 8 beautifully equipped en suite rooms, with multi functional spaces to cater for every need: from accommodation and events, to conferences and small weddings The entire property is a wi-fi hot spot, perfect for the
modern traveler and the public areas are large and spacious.

FunkyTown would like to extend an invitation to all the JBay locals to pop in and have a look around.

“Join us for a ‘Funky Blu Medina’ cocktail or simply come in and have a look around” said James. “Our aim was to give JBay something to be proud of. By working together we can promote JBay as a tourist destination. It’s only through collective efforts that we will start to really grow and sustain our tourism industry.” he added.

Find out more information about Funky Town and view more images here

Stand a chance of winning accommodation at Funky Town by simply visiting and liking the Funky Town Face Book page

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Auditor General is dismayed about state of Municipal finances

May 9, 2012

Terence Nombembe, the Auditor General says the state of financial affairs is dire in South African municipalities and has criticised the government for the weakening of the pillars of governance.

Nombembe also expressed concern about the vulnerability of his office in the wake of what he said was a growing lack of support from the government to his warning about this deterioration according to an article in Business Day.

He said supply chain management, service delivery, security of government information and accuracy of government reports were deteriorating.

“Things are more serious because the people employed by the government to do work are the least prepared and equipped to do it. The situation is dire” said Nombembe.

“What we are saying is not taken seriously, not by the government, not by ourselves and those who need to do something about it.”

He said his office would soon release the audits of local municipalities, and he was dismayed by them.

The Kouga earned a disclaimer on the 2011 Financial Statements, the worst possible audit finding. The Auditor General found many problems within the Kouga’s supply chain management that led to irregular expenditure amounting to millions of rands.

The allegations made by the Democratic Alliance on Monday regarding the non payment of pension money to the service providers after these funds were deducted from the workers will cause more concern about the state of finances of the Kouga Municipality.

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Prevent bad municipal appointments

May 8, 2012

The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Richard Baloyi must take steps to prevent the current scramble to appoint dubious municipal staff before regulations regarding the appointment of Municipal Managers and top level managers take effect in July.

A director in charge of the Kouga’s Infrastructure will be appointed soon.

Kouga is one of the municipalities who is suddenly trying to appoint all the top level directors with interviews taking place recently.

The Democratic Alliance in Kouga is concerned that some of the aspirant candidates do not have the necessary qualifications for the job. “Should any appointments be made where the candidates do not have the necessary qualifications and/or experience, we will ask the Provincial MEC to set aside such appointments”, said the DA.

Draft regulations on the appointment of Municipal Managers and Section 56 managers were tabled and discussed in the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs last week.

These regulations set out the requirements in terms of education, experience and skills for the appointment of municipal managers and senior officials.

Importantly it also sets out the categories of misconduct which would prohibit, for specified terms, the employment or reemployment of municipal officials found guilty of financial misconduct, corruption, fraud, dishonesty, discrimination and sexual harassment.

If local government is to work effectively then it is essential that rogue officials are not employed in municipal administrations.

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Photo of the day – Eiffel Tower

May 8, 2012

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