NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2020 We are pleased to be back in action after an enforced hiatus Exco’s Note during lockdown. We have been working behind the scenes and hope you find the following informative and encouraging. Richard Kenny, longstanding Chairman of the STCA, has resigned his chair- manship while remaining an active Exco member. We are deeply grateful to Richard for his inputs and commitment over the years – thank you Richard, we hope you enjoy your ‘retirement’! We are delighted to introduce Simon Metcalfe as our new Chairman. Simon has been an Exco member since 2018 and was unanimously voted into the role at our most recent Exco meeting. Simon’s special areas of interest are environmental matters and community safety. MEMBERSHIP We encourage all ratepayers and residents to play their part in maintaining the beautiful area in which we live. By joining the STCA, and taking an interest in the issues that affect us all, we can collectively make a difference when it comes to … • Rights, interests and welfare of all ratepayers and residents in our precinct • Policing and safety • Municipal efficiency and expenditure • Environmental and ecological matters • Development • General infrastructure You CAN have your say. We do all of this for you at the STCA for only R120.00 per family per year. Ratepayers and residents’ associations are essential bodies who must engage with the city and various other stakeholders on behalf of their members. We need to keep our eyes open and ears to the ground so that we can report any issues to the City of Cape Town that could escalate if not handled timeously, and for that, we need active citizens. The more members we have the greater our voice. Quote by a South African investigative journalist who handles criminal issues … ”If it were not for the various Ratepayers Associations reporting to their Municipalities the things pertaining to their areas, this would be a very different South Africa. They are vital in the communication process keeping this Country safe and a better place” Subscriptions are R120.00 per annum. Banking Details: Standard Bank Fish Hoek (Brand Code 036009) Account number 073815209 Ref: Initials/Surname/Cell no SUB-COUNCIL, CITY OF CAPE TOWN The Sub-Council 19 area consists of 3 wards (61, 64 & 69), and stretches from Muizenberg to Kalk Bay, Ocean View, Masiphumulele, Kommetjie, Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town along the coastline and ends at Cape Point. Meetings are open to the public and the STCA and other civic associations can witness the Council (political and executive) in action, but not participate directly. The STCA can pass over written submissions and also lobby outside of formal sessions. Sub-Council is chaired by Cllr. Patricia Francke and administered by Desiree Mentor at the Fish Hoek Civic Centre. The political leadership includes 3 ward councillors and 3 PR councillors. At the recent August meeting topics included: • Presentations by Disaster Relief on Masiphumelele fires and Humanitarian Food Relief Services. • City Biodiversity Branch on the increased use of snares in our nature areas which are being set by local communities. (Please report illegal activity to the public emergency call centre on 107 or 021 480 7700) • Projects and events – blanket drive; Women2women support; painting of rental stock homes in Ocean View. • Kommetjie Rd opening; local dams 90% full; increased number of liquor licence applications but Council notes the negative impact on health, accidents, and gender abuse. • Summary report made on coastal water quality ratings (CWQR) and the new national guidelines. Gregg Oelofse, who oversees coastal management for the City of Cape Town, had the following points of note for the Simon’s Town area: 1. Frank’s Bay – CWQR was good. Trend – no change. Potential faecal matter sources (PFMS) – storm water runoff checked. 2. Seaforth Beach – CWQR (Fair); trend (regressed); storm water runoff checked; pump station checked. 3. Boulders Beach – CQWR (Fair) – no change. 4. Simon’s Town Long Beach – CQWR (Poor) - no change. Storm water and pump station checked. Intervention to be made on pump station. 5. Glencairn Beach – CQWR (excellent). Trend variable. FAR SOUTH PENINSULA COMMUNITY FORUM (FSPCF) The STCA participates in the FSPCF, the joint voice of civics and communities, including consultants and specialists, in the Far South which exists to provide a platform for all the ratepayers associations in the Far South. City of Cape Town uses this forum to consult ratepayers on planning issues related to roads, development, coastline management and the like. The STCA participates in the FSPCF to ensure its ratepayer’s voice is heard. The FSPCF also runs a Facebook page where local issues and activities can be shared. COMMUNITY SAFETY The STCA gives a big shout out to the Simon’s Town (ST) Community Police Forum (CPF) who played a vital role in enabling our local lockdown to work well, and who also monitored and supported its impact on our community, especially food security. The CPF is a statutory agency that aims at ensuring police accountability, transparency, and local effectiveness by bridging the gap between the police and the community. Community Safety is coordinated through the CPF. Residents are represented through their Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) Clusters coordinated Sector 1 (Glencairn) - chaired by Lindy Rich, and Sector 2 (Simon’s Town) by Joe Kramer. The CPF is chaired by Eileen Heywood, a resident of Glencairn. Our communities are also represented on the CPF by the STCA (Simon Metcalfe), and the Simon’ Town Business Association (STBA) (Trish Inggs). The CPF brings resident based NHWs together with: police representatives (SAPS, Law Enforcement, and Traffic); City of Cape Town (COCT) represented by Cllr. Simon Liell-Cock and occasionally by Social Development on homeless persons issues; The SA Navy and the Military Police also participate. The responsibilities of the CPF and the NHWs ramped up a lot after lockdown. Crime went down with lockdown and the curfew and apart from a few edgy issues over compliance regarding exercise, dog walking and wearing masks it was a quiet time. However, food security became a crisis rapidly for informal settlements, street people, and for residents whose income stream evaporated overnight. The City couldn’t cope with all the need and many residents rallied support for feeding schemes. The CPF helped by monitoring the situation, highlighting the need and supporting frontline services providers. The CPF ‘drafted’ Gary Carlton to facilitate the complexity of groups and food deliveries. Lindy Rich helped organise a meal delivery service to assist local residents. The empty streets meant the collapse of the meagre income stream of the ‘Pink Vests’ and the ‘street people’ generally depended on food kitchens set up by residents. The street people were eventually rounded up and sent into quarantine camps like Strandfontein. On their return we now have some 45 hungry homeless people, half of whom are new faces. The dilemma with feeding the homeless is that it is a self-sustaining dependency. As long as there is feeding Simon’s Town is an attractive ‘home’. Not to feed them is inhumane but ongoing feeding without any social work intervention to facilitate a rehabilitation process is unsustainable. The COCT resources are stressed by the metropolitan scale of need so the immediate hope of support from Social Development and Law Enforcement (LE) looks bleak. Simon’s Town is a key tourist resource on the peninsula and its streets need visible street patrols to enforce by-laws related to vagrancy (eating, sleeping, toilet, mental health, alcohol and drugs). Equally, we need social work inputs to know who the street people are and what risks and opportunities exist, for them and for us. Finally, we cannot talk about helping the hungry without recognising the hugely valuable work feeding Redhill settlement, the street people, and local residents undertaken by pastor Shaddie. Equally important has been the generosity and effort given by Simon’s Town and Glencairn residents. A big ‘High Five’ to you all. The STCA encourages residents to keep up the effort. Pastor Shaddie’s work can be supported by making a donation to My Father’s House (NPO), Nedbank, Account No. 120 429 0628; Branch 198 765. If you reference meal donation the proceeds go to feed local residents and the street people. The Community Kitchen is situated at 12A Squires Building, Station Rd., Simon’s Town - opposite Admiralty House. Contact: 082 381 0384; [email protected]. Anyone may purchase a very good meal from the kitchen, on a Saturday, for R60,00, the proceeds of which go towards feeding the children at Redhill. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Kudos are due to Cilla Bromley (GEESE) who has worked tirelessly and selflessly over many years to promote the health and cleanliness of the Glencairn Wetland. We are sure that the report of excellent water quality at Glen Beach is in no small way an outcome of all this effort. Please take the time to read AN APPEAL from Cilla at the end of the newsletter. INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEAN UP DAY - SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2020 False Bay is an internationally recognised Global Marine ‘Hope Spot’, which supports a unique and diverse marine environment and encourages adventure tourism. Simon’s Town is the gateway to this natural wonder. The CLEAN SIMON’S TOWN initiative led by Alison Bannister and Glencairn GEESE run by Cilla Bromley are once again encouraging local residents, environmental organisations, educational institutions, local businesses, PRASA and the SA Navy to support the coastal clean-up of the beaches and sea frontages from Glencairn to Millers Point. The proposed Clean Up is part of The International Coastal Clean Up ICCU when thousands of people across the world flock to their local beaches to remove debris and litter.