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Stoep Chat

’s weekly stories, observations and conversations from Knysna and beyond.

13 August 2020

HIROSHIMA REMEMBERED

If you visit Japan’s flourishing city of Hiroshima today, it is hard to imagine it was once a wasteland, the site of the world’s first atomic bomb. I visited it in 2002, and met…

If you visit Japan’s flourishing city of Hiroshima today, it is hard to imagine it was once a wasteland, the site of the world’s first atomic bomb. I visited it in 2002, and met one of the bomb survivors, who made a powerful impression on me. Last week was the 75th anniversary of the US military’s bombing of Hiroshima – 6 August 1945 – and it brought back memories of meeting him. No one had ever seen the destruction an atom bomb could cause. The energy it unleashed was so powerful, it flattened the city. Around 65,000 buildings were obliterated…

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6 August 2020

ARE WE EATING OUR POLLUTION?

Some of you may know that Action Ad’s late co-founder Hanlie van Niekerk made art out of junk. She turned bits of rusty metal found in the veld into brilliant artworks. I really loved…

Some of you may know that Action Ad’s late co-founder Hanlie van Niekerk made art out of junk. She turned bits of rusty metal found in the veld into brilliant artworks. I really loved them. I was less keen on her “flotsam” art, old shoes that had washed ashore that she made into a kind of mural. I was thinking about that recently when I read about research on litter on Cape Town’s beaches. I was surprised to learn that during lockdown - serious lockdown in April when beaches were deserted - there was almost as much litter on the…

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30 July 2020

TERRACE HEATER BAN A GOOD MOVE

DO you ever see something that seems so obviously wrong, but when you say so, everyone looks at you in surprise? That was the experience I had some years ago while walking to a…

DO you ever see something that seems so obviously wrong, but when you say so, everyone looks at you in surprise? That was the experience I had some years ago while walking to a pub with workmates on a chilly winter’s evening and saw for the first time those giant outdoor “terrace heaters” on a hotel stoep. “Good grief! That is crazy. What are they trying to do? Heat the sky? What a waste of energy. Haven’t they heard of climate change?” My choms looked at me askance. Well, they said, it was nice to sit outside in winter and…

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23 July 2020

CIGARETTE BAN A FAILURE

In early May I wrote that the government’s ban on cigarette sales during Covid lockdown was misguided. Good to see this view backed up by University of Cape Town research, released on Tuesday, that…

In early May I wrote that the government’s ban on cigarette sales during Covid lockdown was misguided. Good to see this view backed up by University of Cape Town research, released on Tuesday, that points out the many problems with the ban and recommends that it be lifted immediately. I wrote that some of the negative consequences were likely to be a huge spike in the illegal trade, plus a massive loss of tax revenue in our already ailing economy. And so it has turned out to be. UCT’s Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products says the sales…

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16 July 2020

Plett’s shipwrecked sailors

SAILORS regard the South African coast as one of the most treacherous in the world because of our stormy weather, and the coastline is littered with shipwrecks. One that captured my imagination was…

SAILORS regard the South African coast as one of the most treacherous in the world because of our stormy weather, and the coastline is littered with shipwrecks. One that captured my imagination was the Portuguese sailing ship São Gonzales that sank off Plettenberg Bay in 1630. She was one of 33 ships that sank in South African waters between 1505 and 1796 – roughly nine a year. Many others simply disappeared without a trace. The São Gonzales was on her return voyage from India to Portugal when she developed leaks. In order to repair her, the captain anchored at Bahia…

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9 July 2020

NSRI’s anti-drowning squads

IT is a shocking experience to see someone drown. As a teenager I saw two youngsters being swept out to sea at Noetzie. They were both on lilos and neither could swim. The current…

IT is a shocking experience to see someone drown. As a teenager I saw two youngsters being swept out to sea at Noetzie. They were both on lilos and neither could swim. The current brought one back, but the other boy was never seen again. I thought about those boys this week when I read the latest magazine of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), in particular a column by NSRI’s chief Cleve Robertson. He wrote about the drowning of a Joburg boy on a school outing earlier this year that had made headlines, had led to an inquiry and…

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2 July 2020

THE BUTCHER, BANKER AND VICAR

THERE were some real characters in Knysna’s early days. Take the Irishman called Old Firth. His job was to man the toll at the Knysna River bridge, and at one time was the village…

THERE were some real characters in Knysna’s early days. Take the Irishman called Old Firth. His job was to man the toll at the Knysna River bridge, and at one time was the village butcher. Those of us used to getting our meat in polystyrene and cling-wrap might have been a bit startled by Old Firth. He would apparently lead an ox down Knysna’s Main Street, ringing a bell and carrying a noticeboard that read: “THIS IS YOUR MEAT FOR TOMORROW.” I read about Old Firth in that fascinating old book by Winifred Tapson I mentioned last week: Timber and…

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18 June 2020

Lockdown Wildlife

DON’T you love all the videos and photos of wild animals moving into urban areas during lockdown? It seems that all over the world wild animals have taken advantage of the coronavirus lockdown and…

DON’T you love all the videos and photos of wild animals moving into urban areas during lockdown? It seems that all over the world wild animals have taken advantage of the coronavirus lockdown and are happily strolling around areas they would normally avoid. I’ve seen shots of deer at a pedestrian crossing in Japan and grazing on lawns in London. Wild boar in front of flats in Corsica and buffalo on an empty Indian highway. Jackal in the streets of Tel Aviv and coyote in the suburbs of San Fransisco. In Kruger Park lions have moved onto the golf course…

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11 June 2020

Three Years Since the Hills Were Orange with Flames

On Sunday Action Ads’ Julie sent me a text: “Three years ago our hills were orange with flames.” It was the 3rd anniversary of the devastating Garden Route fires that raged from Sedgefield to…

On Sunday Action Ads’ Julie sent me a text: “Three years ago our hills were orange with flames.” It was the 3rd anniversary of the devastating Garden Route fires that raged from Sedgefield to Plett. Julie saw the first orange glow at dawn on 7th June 2017 way over at Dam se Bos. Little did she know that before the night was out their house would be one of over 900 houses in Knysna that burned in the worst fire in the region since 1869. Most of you will never forget that day, what happened to you, what you did…

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4 June 2020

What on earth is going on at Knysna Municipality?

Just when you thought it was safe to sigh with relief after a new acting municipal manager had taken the helm of the bankrupt municipality and appeared to be turning it around -…

Just when you thought it was safe to sigh with relief after a new acting municipal manager had taken the helm of the bankrupt municipality and appeared to be turning it around - she resigns. Why? Well, from her resignation speech it appears there are plenty of reasons, some quite alarming. I had never heard of Dr Michele Gratz until she was appointed acting municipal manager in February after the permanent incumbent had been suspended. A quick Google showed she had won awards for clean governance when she ran Mossel Bay Municipality, rated one of the country’s 10 best-run municipalities.…

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28 May 2020

How was the storm this week!

Our street lights went out, a neighbour’s fence blew over, and there is snow from the Cape mountains to Lesotho. Sometimes when I am in a storm like that with wind so strong…

Our street lights went out, a neighbour’s fence blew over, and there is snow from the Cape mountains to Lesotho. Sometimes when I am in a storm like that with wind so strong you fear the windows might blow in, I think about the storms I experienced in the Southern Ocean on the SAS Agulhas research ship back in the 90s. I get goose-flesh remembering, and part of me hankers after the thrill of seeing the ship’s bows rise up a wave so high I felt it must surely topple over, and then smack down into the trough with a…

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21 May 2020

Cheered by the Food Parcels, Dispirited by the Snakes

When I read Knysna Municipality’s latest newsletter I cheered – and then a bit further on I felt dispirited. Cheered because the municipality has done a good job in getting food to hungry people…

When I read Knysna Municipality’s latest newsletter I cheered – and then a bit further on I felt dispirited. Cheered because the municipality has done a good job in getting food to hungry people who have lost jobs and income in the lockdown. To date it has helped 5,400 households. Then I read that garden services could now apply for permits to clear overgrown areas that may be harbouring “pests like rats and snakes”. Oh my. Poor snakes. Such an old-fashioned and, well, uninformed view. We know rats can carry diseases. They have multiplied and the natural balance has tipped,…

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14 May 2020

The Raid That Stole Hitler’s Radar

I have just read a new book about an amazing group of men that changed the course of World War 2. It is “SAS Shadow Raiders” by Damien Lewis and I want to share…

I have just read a new book about an amazing group of men that changed the course of World War 2. It is “SAS Shadow Raiders” by Damien Lewis and I want to share it with you. It is about a small group of British soldiers – the beginning of the famous Special Air Services - who parachuted into France behind enemy lines to steal a highly sophisticated German radar and sneak it back to Britain. It was early 1941 and Britain was bleeding. Hitler had marched across Europe crushing nations. As Churchill said, Britain and the Allies were fighting…

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7 May 2020

The Cigarette Ban Was Not Well Thought Out

I am not a smoker, but I think the government’s about-turn on cigarettes was not well thought out. Why did it decide to continue the ban on cigarette sales during the already severe stress…

I am not a smoker, but I think the government’s about-turn on cigarettes was not well thought out. Why did it decide to continue the ban on cigarette sales during the already severe stress of indefinite lockdown? We all know that smoking is bad for one’s health. If governments worldwide were to embark on a concerted, sustained, effective mission to reduce cigarette addiction over time, I am sure it would be met with massive approval, including from many smokers. But they have not. All over the world cigarettes continue to be sold as a legal drug. So why, when people…

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30 April 2020

Back to Work, but Not Much Will Change

Great news that 1.5 million South Africans will go back to work when lockdown moves to the slightly easier level four on Friday. Must be a huge relief for those selected companies and employees…

Great news that 1.5 million South Africans will go back to work when lockdown moves to the slightly easier level four on Friday. Must be a huge relief for those selected companies and employees in mining, construction, manufacturing and services. Truth is, for most of us, not much is going to change. We will now be able to buy winter clothes, order take-aways and exercise, but the details of the legal exercise regime have yet to be announced. Not at gyms, which will remain closed. Another change is that we will all have to wear cloth masks when we go…

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23 April 2020

A Crisis Brings Out the Good in People

Isn’t it wonderful how a crisis like Covid-19 can bring out the good in people? I am thinking in particular of a 99-year-old man in the UK and a 10-year-old boy in Cape Town.…

Isn’t it wonderful how a crisis like Covid-19 can bring out the good in people? I am thinking in particular of a 99-year-old man in the UK and a 10-year-old boy in Cape Town. Some of you may already have seen the old man’s heroic efforts. He is Captain Tom Moore, a Yorkshireman, former British army officer and World War 2 veteran, who at the age of 99 decided to raise money for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). He thought they were doing a brilliant job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak that has flooded their hospitals for weeks. Captain…

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