APRIL MAY 2015
www.mountainecho.co.za
MOTHS GOLF
DAY 16 MAY
[email protected]
082 4938700
PAGE 11
NO WATER = NO LIFE:
UKUNGABINAMANZI = UKUNGABINEMPILO
DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE: KWA SANI PETITION
Under The Tin Hat
Democratic Alliance Councillors Trish
Crawley and David Adam organised an
There is definitely a nip in the air and all information table and petition in Underberg
sorts of things are going on. Load shedding with DA activists supported by Deputy Leader
which causes water problems which in turn MPL Francois Rodgers.
becomes a pain in the proverbial!
Do you know that 60% of the 223 river
The Boot + Saddle MOTHs are pleased to ecosystems in South Africa are threatened
advise that we have inducted a new member, by pollution and 255 are critically polluted?
Paul Cuthbert, into the MOTH Order. 84% of all deaths caused from diarrhoea, are
Welcome Paul, may you enjoy you time with attributed to unsafe water and poor sanitation,
us bunch (yes I know that it is not of which 66, 4% are children under 5 years of
grammatically correct!)
age. Child mortality more than doubles if
Early May sees us do a raid to Leadswingers children drink water that does not come from
Shellhole, the home of the Swartberg a tap.
MOTHs. These raids normally turn into very No access to water means that communities
festive events.
have no means of ensuring personal hygiene
And lastly the Boot + Saddle Golf Day or caring for the ill or elderly family members.
Fundraiser on 16 May. The team is slowly There are cases where communities share
getting prizes and extra sponsorship in and water sources with their livestock or other
everyone feels that it will be a good day. animals. Unsafe water and poor sanitation
Please see the Advert that Paul has kindly kills more children than malaria, measles and
printed for us giving contact details etc.
HIV/AIDS combined.
And on that note, till next time,
The Democratic Alliance is calling for major
intervention to prevent more unnecessary
deaths and illnesses caused by the water crisis
in our beautiful province,
Kwa Sani is having its own share of water
issues and our DA councillors have initiated
meetings with the Harry Gwala district
municipality officials, who have as their main
function, water and sanitation. They are
Boot and Saddle Shellhole
trying to expedite the issues and to urgently
Sponsored by Macdonald Steel
resolve the instability of the derelict pump
Host the 6th Annual
station in Underberg and the two reservoirs
M.O.T.H. Golf Day Fundraiser
in Himeville, which are not providing
Date :
16 May 2015
adequate and reliable water for Underberg and
Venue :
Underberg Country Club
Himeville. They have also raised their
Cost :
R 250-00
continued concern regarding the unsanitary
(Cost include: Free Mulligans /
Boerewors Roll and Beer/Cold Drink / and unsafe conditions of the portable toilets
that are provided in the townships due to the
Dinner for Two / Goodies Bag)
large number of informal housing that
All Players receive a Prize
continues to grow due to inadequate formal
Plus A Raffle and Auctions
Contacts: Bruce 072 376 9537 / Mouldy housing in both townships. They will keep
you posted. Cllrs Trish Crawley may be
072 405 8854 / Pete 082 441 1310
contacted on 0834470766 and Cllr. Dave
Adam on 0837747257. (Editors Note:
Contact us on (033) 397 8500 for all your Underberg and Himeville Villages were
without water from thursday 16 - tuesday 21
Steel and Roof Sheet requirements.
April because the pumps were not working.)
Defending champions Johann Rabie and Gawie Combrinck will be gunning for a second Old
Mutual joBerg2c title when the nine-day mountain bike race fires its opening shot near
Heidelberg on the outskirts of Johannesburg on April 24. Rabie and Combrinck will headline
a field of 800 riders for the 950km stage race, which crosses four of South Africa’s nine
provinces en route to the Indian Ocean.
OLD MUTUAL JOBERG2C STAGES:
Day 1 – Karan Beef near Heidelberg to Frankfort School
Day 2 – Frankfort School to Reitz Showgrounds
Day 3 – Reitz Showgrounds to Sterkfontein Dam
Day 4 – Sterkfontein Dam to Winterton
Day 5 – Winterton to Clifton Prep on Nottingham Road
Day 6 – Clifton Prep to Glencairn Farm near Underberg
Day 7 – Glencairn Farm to MacKenzie Club near Ixopo
Day 8 – MacKenzie Club to Jolivet Farm near Highflats
Day 9 – Jolivet Farm to Scottburgh
LOVE FOR STRANGERS
“Papa we’re looking for you!”
“Papa’s missed his 8 am connecting flight in
Istanbul!” That is the mail I received from my
mother in Paris on Wednesday 21st January.
According to the staff of Turkish Airlines, “he
refused to get onto the plane”, but should
she believe that, she asked.
My 75-year-old stepfather, a dignified whitehaired man, had just spent six weeks in his
home country, Ghana, and was travelling back
to France where he had lived for the past
forty-five years. He had phoned Mum before
starting his return journey, to tell her how
much he was looking forward to going back
and seeing her again.
Immediately, Mum phones the French
consulate in Istanbul. They say that due to
health reasons, my dad had needed help to
get out of his first plane. Later that evening,
after a last check at the Paris Airport, in case
Papa had managed to catch one of the four
next flights to Paris scheduled on that day,
my brother, Isaac, and sister, Sephora, book a
flight to Istanbul for early the next day.
Then began a race against time – the first two
days are crucial when looking for missing
people. Real detective work, ranging from
reviewing the latest airport videos,
interviewing security guards who had helped
him, to sticking up in the streets 200 posters
designed on the spot by Isaac, with a photo
of my dad, the headline “HELP US” in Turkish
and in French “Papa we’re looking for you”
at the bottom, notwithstanding countless calls
to the consulate and the police. The language
barrier, unfortunately, slowed them down. To
complicate matters, Papa had had his bank
card stolen before leaving Ghana and his
phone was not working!
My dad was spotted on a video stepping into
a taxi that dropped him in a street near the
airport. The next day, a
passerby saw him next
to an underground stop.
Then four interminable
On selflessness
A fundamental
concern for others
in our individual
and community
lives would go a
long way in making
the world the better
place
we
so
passionately
dreamt of. - Nelson
M a n d e l a .
Kliptown, Soweto,
South Africa, 12
July 2008
days elapsed with no news whatsoever.
What could I do from Underberg? “All you
can do now is wait and pray”, texted my
non-religious sister. And pray we did… So
did my mother in France, relatives in
Switzerland, and every day, too, the elders
of my mum’s congregation, with her – she,
like us, is one of Jehovah’s witnesses (JW).
They also sent out a photo of my dad with
my sister’s details to the Istanbul branch of
JW.
Well, nearly a week after the event, Séphora,
who was due to fly back to France the next
day, received a telephone call from the JW
Istanbul branch telling her that our dad was
with them! Some of Jehovah’s witnesses
on their preaching work had picked him up
after he approached them.
As we found out, my father had suffered a
minor stroke during his first flight and was
helped out of the plane in a wheelchair, but
left stranded at the airport until late at night.
He then spent one night at a hotel, one at
the hospital, two in the street, in the dead
of winter. When he saw the poster, he tried
to walk to the consulate, without success,
and finally waited at a coach station where
he saw the Witnesses.
Travelling could turn one into a tramp
overnight. When you are without money,
without a phone, aged and sick, a foreigner
and the wrong colour, who will show true
love to you? Marina Dorland
(Dear Paul, Thanks for being welcoming.
You will find my story herewith with a
photo. Please let me know if you like it. It
was so amazing that it’s important for me to
share it, as a tribute to those who helped
my dad and to promote more love and
hospitality (the Greek word means “love for
strangers”) in the community. Best regards,
Marina Dorland.)
My sister, Séphora with my dad, Seth, in Istanbul: reunited after an
exhausting search