THERE’S quite a lot to do this weekend starting with Christmas in July Celebrations at the Historic Pig and Whistle Inn, in Bathurst. It starts on tomorrow evening with gumboot dancing and a choir, and ends on Sunday with a roast lunch. On Saturday between 9am to 1pm, D’vine Deli is hosting Grape Escape at Postmasters Village. And you are invited to taste and enjoy the wine paired with snacks. Rotary is holding another bargain hunt at 9am at the Civic Centre car park. There is also a model aircraft show at the PAHS sports grounds, from 9am. And, if you are so inclined, get to the Little Entrepreneur’s Market from 10am until 12 noon at Red Leaf Nursery. Then, on Sunday, the Port Alfred Presbyterian Church presents The Kentones – A Night with Noel Coward, starting at 3pm. To honour those who fought and died at the Battle of Delville Wood on July 15 1916 there is a Remembrance Parade at the MOTH Shellhole in Port Alfred.
A FRIEND at a medical exam was asked if he was fit, to which he answered, “I have run the Comrades six times”. The doctor replied, “I was referring to you physical fitness, not your mental health”. One wonders what the good doctor would have said about the runners at the Washie 100 Miler that took place last Friday from Port Alfred to East London? If you have driven to East London from Port Alfred, the journey is a long one, taking at least one-and-a-half hours, even if there are no stop-and-goes along the road (and, of course, you keep to the speed limit). But imagine getting to East London and then turning back to race back to Port Alfred. Well, that’s exactly what Tobie Reyneke did. Read about his epic adventure on the back page.
THE Ward 10 committee for sport and recreation’s proposal to extend the East Beach car park by removing sand dunes has been a hot-bed of contention this week. Talk of the Town asked what readers thought of the proposal. Although some thought this might be a good thing the overwhelming answer was “hands off the dunes”. Read about the proposal on page 4.
IT’S been another week of scandals and political intrigue, with the Gupta-managed Black First Land First debacle, the public protector’s ill-advised recommendations and the political in-fighting in the ANC as they jostle for support in the race to become the party’s next president. The South African Communist Party finished its conference earlier this week with the possibility of pulling out of the tripartite alliance with the ANC and Cosatu. In the meantime, the rand is approaching free-fall and, if we don’t pull our socks up, we could well find ourselves in a similar position to Zimbabwe, where people became multimillionaires overnight, as the currency plunged through the floor with respect to other currencies. Come on politicians. Stop all this nonsense and try and fix a country that is in serious need of fresh leadership, as well as tangible, attainable and sustainable plans for our future.
HAPPY birthday to everyone celebrating a special day in the week ahead. May there be many wonderful times ahead for all, especially Zandisile Qakamfana, David Roll, Inez Victor, Ryan Murphy, Marlene Coetzee, Ronald van Niekerk, Johan van Zyl, Portia Gwente, Rob Owsley, Carel Scheepers, Jonathan Riddin, Hayden Hanstein, Jacqui Reed, Charl Hilpert, Kenny Turner, Dylan Cox, Ben Ford, Molly Quirk, Alice Torr, Marlene Tarrant, Delene Hawkins, Janet Basson, Gilbert Coetzee, Oliver Davies, Pumeza Maronya, Peter Pinnick, Melissa Tweedie, Chante Lynn van der Merwe, Anthony Rudman, Dave Cockcroft, Kerry Butt, Audrey Geyer, Marion Bartlett, Len Eaton, Oliver Robinson.
BUSINESSES celebrating the success of another year with best wishes for many more anniversaries to ReMax Ocean Club Kenton-on-Sea, Sungwa Bricks and Keryn’s Dive School.
THERE have been a number of things that seem to be happening in the markets this week. The price of Brent crude has dropped again, mainly due to over-supply. The price of platinum dropped to below $900 per ounce, and the currency has seen a sharp decline since the public prosecutor’s faux pas in asking for the constitution to be changed. The Reserve Bank is mandated to protect the rand in order to develop a thriving economy, and the High Court ruling confirmed this. Since then, public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, through her spokesperson, said that she had never intended to command the constitution be changed, just suggested it. The fact that Mkhwebane didn’t understand her job has begun a wave of mistrust in the public protector, and businesses have lost confidence in her ability while questioning how she could have been appointed. At the time of going to press and with last year’s figures in brackets to compare against, the rand was trading at R13.39 to the dollar (R14.37), R17.29 to the pound (R19.08) and R15.33 to the euro (R15.91). Gold was trading at $1 217.55 per fine ounce ($1 338.32) with platinum at $904.20 ($1 096.00) and Brent Crude Oil at $48.19 per barrel ($47.66).
SPECIAL thoughts and prayers are with all those folk who are not well, who are having or have already had tests, operations and treatments. “Sterkte” to Roy Potter, Andrew de Vries, Dot Fetherstonhaugh, Ben Kember, Myrna Keet, Barbara Tee, Brenda Shelton.
CONGRATULATIONS to all couples celebrating a wedding anniversary this week, especially Ryan and Jo le Roux, Bryan and Yvonne Robinson and Andrew and Isobel Meyer.
CONGRATULATIONS to Gavin Rathbone and Amanda Mould who tied the knot on Sunday in Port Alfred. We wish you many happy years together.
WE would also like to congratulate Kevin Mileham and Natasha Mazzone on their recent nuptials and wish them all the best for the future together. Best wishes and our heartiest congratulations.
WHAT has happened to our cricketers? The first test against the English was a disaster, with missed catches, wickets falling off no balls, terrible fielding mistakes, Vernon Philander’s injury and Kagiso Rabada’s ban. This was the first time the Proteas have lost at Lord’s Cricket Club since re-admittance 23 years ago. Manager Russell Domingo has had to fly back to South Africa to see his mom who is critically injured in a car accident. Perhaps with Faf du Plessis back as captain for the second test at Trent Bridge, starting on Friday, the team will be more motivated to still win the series.
THOUGHT for the week: “Prosperity depends more on wanting what you have than having what you want”.
BEST regards as always,
The Team
