WE would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers, advertisers, holidaymakers, colleagues, family and friends a blessed Christmas and hopefully you will receive the present that you have been looking forward to. On the other hand, I’ve been looking forward to an F1 Ferrari while my bank manager would like me to revert to the old system whereby I banked with him. Neither of us is likely to see our dreams come true this Christmas.
LOCAL is lekker, as the saying goes, and Ndlambe and Makana over the festive season offer a wealth of experiences that should keep even the most adventurous visitors excited, from game drives, overnight camping, hiking trails, water sports and a host of other high-adrenaline activities. Or, why not just relax at a lodge, a guest house or one of our fantastic hotels, sit back with a drink in hand (alcoholic or not) and watch the ocean? The area has some excellent eateries, from Alexandria to Bathurst, to Grahamstown to the Great Fish River, there is something for everyone. The Eastern Cape is one of our country’s most interesting and rewarding holiday destinations so, to all our visitors, have a great time and we hope you enjoy your time with us.
THERE is much to do on the final weekend before Christmas. In the arty world the Port Alfred Art Club’s exhibition at the library finishes on Saturday so please get there and see local artists’ work up close and maybe find a gift. And, if you’re in the mood for a trip to the skies today, tomorrow or Saturday, why not pop around to the Rosehill Mall and take the opportunity to go for a helicopter flip? Tomorrow you can take part in the Soup Kitchen Fun Run. If you get up early enough you could make it to Kelly’s Beach where the fun starts at 8.30am. There’s also a Christmas gift market today at the Port Alfred Girl Guide Hall as well as the Estuary Care AGM at the Kenton Town Hall, and Red Leaf Nursery is also holding a workshop on Christmas table decorations. For more details as well as everything else going on in and around the area this weekend, see our Diarise This section, below.
CONGRATULATIONS and happy birthday greetings to everyone celebrating a special day in the week ahead, especially to Martin Nel, Kelly Wicks Ferreira, Grace Phillips-Page, Shane Marais, Jean Letley, Christine Holmes, twins Emily and Kate Fella, Ann Tyrrell, Nicole Phillpson, Noeline Kirsten, Kim Fryer, Marie Davies, Noel Stötter, Marianne Stiglingh, Audrey Barnard, Janet Stirk, Deetje Rooke, Shane Minnot, Janné Steyn, Michael Wilmot, Lyn Riddin, Clive Williams, Bevan Edwards, Nova Butt, Alan Lubbé, Gerhard Strydom, Jimmy McQuirk, Jacko Vogel, Penny Patterson and Clive Buchanan.
ENDING the year off for business anniversary wishes and with congratulations and wishes for further success in the future are Mooifontein Quarry, Sister Ingrid’s Clinic and not forgetting the huge and annual Bathurst Ox Braai which will be on Friday December 29 this year.
THE announcement at the ANC Elective Conference that Cyril Ramaphosa is the new ANC president gave a kick start to the marketplace and saw the rand much stronger against most international currencies within minutes of the announcement on Monday afternoon. Businesses breathed a sigh of relief as Ramaphosa’s message was he was going to root out corruption, and this pleased the international markets greatly. Conversely, Nkosazama Dlamini-Zuma’s message of unity had the markets
nervous in that it spoke of a lenient approach to corruption and “forgiveness” that investors were unhappy about. But the ANC are not of the woods yet as conference delegates are now crying foul that certain votes (23, 43, 65 – it depends on which reports you read) were miscounted, and the source of the votes is now under investigation by the ANC. This could have an impact on the Seceratary General’s post. With last year’s figures in brackets to compare against, at the time of going to press the Rand was trading at R12.77 to the Dollar (R14.07), R17.06 to the Pound (R17.37) and R15.09 to the Euro (R14.59). Commodities are trading with Gold at $1 264.61 per fine ounce ($1129.38), Platinum at $897.55 per ounce ($918.50) with Brent Crude Oil at a record low for the last half of 2017 at $57.56 per barrel ($55.25).
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.
AND our deep condolences to the family and friends of former director of finance
at Ndlambe Municipality, Howard Dredge. Howard stepped down at the beginning
of the year due to illness and died on December 15. A memorial; service will be
held on Friday (December 22). He will be remembered for his valiant attempts to
achieve a clean audit for the municipality from the Auditor General each year.
IT was with great sadness that we heard of the death of Alexandria farmer Riaan
Scheepers who died after a weeks-long battle to stay alive following a savage beating he received from robbers at the farm he managed late last month. Our thoughts are with the family.
TO those couples celebrating an anniversary at this time of year, may we add our congratulations and best wishes for your continued happiness, especially Craig and Tori Stowe, Anthony and Alide Nelson.
SAPPHIRE wedding anniversary wishes and our heartiest congratulations to Peter and Val Kilian on their 45th wedding anniversary on December 23. May there be many more wonderful years of happiness in store for this special couple.
IT’S sad that our admin staff will be one fewer at the beginning of January as Kim van Belkum left us yesterday (December 20). We wish Kim all the best for the future and say thank you for all your help in 2017.
SPECIAL belated best wishes to Tina and Hans Hon who celebrated their wedding anniversary last Tuesday.
THOUGHT for the week: “Do all the good you can, by all means you can. In all the ways you can, in all the places you can. At all the times to all the people you can, as long as you can” (quote by John Wesley).
BEST regards as always,
The Team
