October was overall quiet except for one thing....the Springboks won the World Cup Rugby... AGAIN! Let's take a look at what else happened during October. There is also a link to a very important poll in this newsletter, please participate - it will take you 2 minutes.
SPRINGBOKS has done it again...
From the whole of Hoedspruit, congratulations to the Boks for once again bringing home the Web Ellis Cup! The last three games were nothing but gut wrenching but we supported our boys all the way.
The Boks are currently busy with their countrywide tour and many are disappointed that we don't get to see them in Limpopo this year. Afterall, there are quite a few players from the Lowveld: Trevor Nyakane, Faf de Klerk, Kwagga Smith and Vincent Koch.
Don't worry boys, we will support you on the Big Screen.
Now we stand behind the PROTEAS. May we celebrate another win shortly.
Essex Cleanup Project - Good News Story
HCS committed to get the Essex water pump station cleaned up in an effort to work with AFB & Public works to ensure that preventative maintenance to our water infrastructure is not left to the way side. The project was delayed by a day due to the much needed rain - no complaining here. But, we managed to finish ahead of schedule that same week.
It was a major success and Colonel Gherbavaz from AFB Hoedspruit joined us for an inspection on 20 October. He was blown away by the result of the hard work put in by volunteers. And so were we.
We would once again like to thank the following people & businesses for their unwavering support when we ask for help:
- AFB for providing the lunch packs daily
- Le Bamba Hoedspruit for the water and cooldrinks daily
- Maruleng Municipality for the use of their TLB
- Bergvlei farm for the labour and removal of refuse
- Sable Tours for the labour and tools
- Paintsmiths for the waterpump
- K2C & Kitcor for use of coolbags to keep food fresh and cooldrinks cold
- Dave Berry, Emil Scheepers Prokureurs, Marianne, Belinda Blignaut, Kitcor, Brian Brink, Sue & Peter Greef, Deon Pansegrouw and anonymous that donated money towards tools, PPE and fuel.
A big thank you to our own Marie Helm and AFB's Barney van Dyk for overseeing and coordinating the project. Like always, you are "staatmakers".
You can watch our video of the project here: Click here
Drakensig Oxidation Ponds Project
Our next project will be clearing of the oxidation pond overgrowth in Drakensig. This project goes hand in hand with the Essex project for preventative maintenance. This may seem as an unimportant project as there are so much else going on, but believe us when we say, it will all make sense after the change coming to "Hoedspruit water" is announced. (Press release on meetings & progress will be sent out in December after final approval received from Department of Defence & Sanedi.)
If you or your business would like to get involved, please contact Lizmari on 083 459 0526. Jaco Scheepers from Sable Tours have pro-actively built "contraptions" to assist with the work and we need some funds to cover the costs for the tools and extra labour.
If you would like to make a donation, please do so into our bank account with the reference "Ponds".
Bank details for donations:
Hoedspruit Chambers
FNB Hoedspruit
63040356148
Illegal Dumping
The notice is out and the fines for illegal dumping has been set at
R10 000.
This is a huge win for the community if we can enforce it. Now, each of you will play "police man/woman" and report it to the correct authorities. We will publish the notice on your website.
Remember to keep an eye out, take photos, note the time & location and report it. MLM will do the rest.
Municipal Spotlight
Maruleng Municipality (and Mopani District Municipality) has been under fire for a lot of things this year: Valuations, Rates, Unfinished projects, Sewage and now irregularities in municipal spending.
The Auditor General is about to receive a letter from Maruleng Municipality DA councillors about the damning report on Unauthorized, Irregular, Fruitless, and Wasteful Expenditure (UIFWE) for the 2020/2021 financial year.
The UIFWE incurred for the 2020/2021 financial year was R281 575 750 - half of our municipal budget.
The question begs, is this the prelude to the more recent reports or have things really improved?
We sincerely hope that the next reports will indicate an improvement on these type of expenditures but ultimately, eradication of them. Residents are still struggling to come to terms with bad service delivery and more and more are calling for organisations like a rate payers association to take over and appropriate funds responsibly. Rate payers are tired of empty promises, they want action. Soooo.....
We want to hear from you, please take part in our poll. Please click on THIS LINK and send it to all your friends, family and/or neighbors that live in Hoedspruit to also participate. We will give feedback in the next newsletter.
EVENT: HCS Golf Day
We are having our first annual Golf Day in January.
The main purpose of the Golf day is to create a day for avid golfers to enjoy, companies to network and of course to raise funds.
The funds will be used for regeneration projects in Hoedspruit. And hopefully, if the turnout is great, we would like to donate some of the funds to worthy community organisations that require financial assistance.
If you or your company is interested in joining us, sponsoring a prize or becoming a main sponsor, please contact one of our organisers:
Nareanka Whitfield - 082 848 0184
Matts Blom - 079 620 0409