Newsletter - May 2023

To moan, or not to moan...that is the question.

The month of May was not without it's challenges and a lot happened in Hoedspruit. Sewerage pumps broke...again. The public participation for the draft Budget/IDP was held as well as the rep forum - many are not happy. Property valuation objections were due before 31 May - again, many are not happy. SANRAL released their reply to the public participation concerns - mixed reviews. The mall project was forsaken, then Checkers pulled out, then it was rebuked as rumors, then on all was OK. The community was up in arms about public urination, potholes and general service delivery.

So, nothing new, you might say.

You know what makes our story different from other towns?

We talk about it, we invite community members to come up with solutions, we hold the service delivery providers accountable where we can and we place pressure on the powers that be and demand better. Better for our town and better for ourselves.

This is the beginning of a beautiful journey - albeit long and slow, but beautiful nonetheless.

We are three months in and the tsunami of overwhelming issues and concerns has turned into loads of smaller waves that is much easier to "surf".

All thanks to our members, management team, ward committees, volunteers, municipal workers, community organisations and caring Hoedies.

Keep up the good work, change is "a coming"!

Our Website is LIVE!

Yes, phase 1 of our website is live after some hard work and the generous sponsorship of Hoedspruit businesses. Thank you to our Marketing & PR guru Sulene, who have exceeded expectations with the design. And a HUGE thank you to the sponsors: Aerotel, Campfire Properties & StacknStore.

You are invited to browse our site where you can sign up to join HCS, read news, have access to some valuable resources and see what's happening in the Hoed.

We would also like to invite you to let us know if you can think of anything we need to add or change. By now you should know, that your opinion matters!

Issues - outstanding & in progress worth mentioning

The work of HCS will never be done and to many it may look like there isn't much progress. Believe us when we say, we are working hard on it. We would like to share the most pressing issues that are outstanding in terms of feedback, solutions or just answers. And some where progress is happening. We have made a commitment to the community to request an FAQ event with the mayor. He has agreed to address all your concerns and and answer your questions, but we have yet to receive the feedback from the directors and a date for the event. We will keep following up and will notify everyone as soon as it has been confirmed.

Herewith the list of issues:

1) Water Rates - AFB provides the town with water but don't receive any fees. Where does our water rates go to? No answer received on this yet.

2) Plastic View - what is being done from the municipality's side? Community organisations & residents are hard at work trying to come up with ideas, funding & locations, but the lack of collaboration with provincial & local decision makers makes this a hard task. Our hope is to get some more information from the housing tender that was released recently.

3) Water & Sewerage upgrades - the task force presented their plans to the DOD and we wait to hear what the planned solution is. The budget has also made provision for such projects. The question is will it be managed and overseen correctly this time around. Good news is that the Le Bamba Sewerage pump seems to be in working order now - after weeks of follow ups and lack of communication from Mopani reps.

4) Traffic Calming Measures - your cries have been heard and the municipality managed to get funding for speed humps. These will be constructed at 2 or 3 important stop streets to calm traffic in town. They will also be making use of local resources than having to wait for external contractors. The project should kick off soon.

5) Traffic Safety Officers - Maruleng has also applied and received budget for additional traffic officers to assist with the deteriorating traffic lawlessness currently experienced in town. In addition, Townwatch has gotten involved and is assisting the traffic department with certain activities.

6) Town cleanups - Maruleng has an EPWP allocation of resources to assist but have not done so since the beginning of the year. We had an interaction with the schedule manager and he has vowed to assist with the monthly ward cleanups that is scheduled by the Ward 1 committee.

7) Noise & Public Behavior By-Laws - this has been taken up with the municipality and the hope is that a new bylaw be promulgated shortly to take care of the noise & public behavior issues that has also been left untreated over the past years.

8) Traffic signs - we are aware that some traffic signs are old, overgrown by bushes or trees and the general amount of signage in town makes traffic signs disappear in the masses. This will also be addressed. However, if you have the means & resources to assist with these issues, please feel free to contact us so that we can arrange a date to fix some of the issues.

Many other questions have been submitted like Kampersrus water, illegal vendors, rubbish, valuation formulas, etc. and will be answered. So, keep an eye out on our calendar and Facebook group for the invitation.

SANRAL R40 Interchange Meeting

A town meeting has been schedule for 8 June, 16:30 at the Rhino Convention Centre regarding SANRAL's replies on the concerns document submitted.

We will hold a healthy debate about the project and invite the community to come and join.

It is important to have people from both sides of the isle to create a healthy debate.

All replies must be submitted to SANRAL by 15 June 2023.

Special Thank you

We would like to thank Tom van der Meulen for sharing some of his amazing photos of town that was used for our website. It wouldn't have been the same without it. Thank you Tom!

Onwards and upwards Hoedspruit! Remember to become a member if you want to continue to make a change. We cannot do this without you, and never want to try. You will always be our inspiration.