While you've all been bizzy here in the Hive, I've been REALLY busy looking at aerial photography, and composing a long-winded petition in conjunction with hubby and our two friends who lost most of their belongings and their home during that awful 200-year storm of April, as NOTHING has been done with regards to storm damage repairs, yep NOTHING, NIX, ZERO, ZILCH!
Super frustrating, with our blood already beyond boiling point, while our friends and neighbours are getting more and more disillusioned!
Our letter eventually had eleven versions as we kept on amending and honing it down with only pertinent points, as our municipal and governmental bodies do not like reading, with letters often ending up in file thirteen; dismal service on all sides!
We however are emailing all the relevant departments, as well as our local political leaders.
One glimmer of hope is that the municipal budget commences in July, but much of the so-called governmental 'disaster fund' will end up in the back pockets of those in power!
Every engineer we chat to is in agreement that many mudslides could have been prevented if:
- Authorities did regular maintenance of infrastructure - almost unheard of these days!
- Authorities stop illegal and irresponsible building operations instead of turning a blind eye while someone fills the officials' back pockets!
Filling back pockets sadly happens in the most unexpected places as well!
Back to the problem on our road; a massive mudslide started below a sports field with a hardened surface that was built just under four years ago.
The cause now is as clear as daylight after comparing aerial photography from 2018 to the present.
They had not made any provision for stormwater run-off from this large hardened surface! No engineers could have been involved as that would have been taken care of; this was a project done on a low budget by the school, due to a lack of funding from the Education Department.
This has now turned the lives of many people upside down.
Aerial photography doesn't lie, and the image below tells a story.
After our friends' home was ransacked, the police told them that squatters have moved into some of the damaged homes, so they're now paying an arm and a leg for 24-hour guarding services as the laws of our country protect squatters, and an eviction notice is costly plus takes forever!
There now also seems to be a lucrative kind of 'business' taking off.
A very suspect-looking guy had parked his van on our road next to one of the sand heaps from the mudslide and was filling sandbags with this cleanly washed sand, and packing it into his van. This apparently is like plaster sand which is costly at the hardware stores!
We had a good chuckle at this as my friend asked him to please come and clean up her sidewalk as there's plenty of 'plaster' sand lying in front of their property!
They are now even considering taking their and the neighbourhood's plight to the press.
Just before our friends arrived to finalize version eleven of the petition, I had some fun in the kitchen and made sourdough scones for the first time.
I will never make scones again without sourdough starter, they not only rose beautifully, but were light and fluffy and really delicious!
Life really is strange, as this awful storm brought us and our neighbours (two houses down the road) really close and I would call them angels disguised as people!
We had many chuckles during our chit-chatting once the business was over with our friend saying he's even going to copy the office of the state president - the one who hid 4 million US dollars under the mattress on his game farm!
His stash was stolen by Namibians, but our president did not report the matter to the police! It is alleged that after the suspects were found, he paid them, (yes, the thieves!) as well as his domestic workers ZAR150 000 each, to keep quiet, but of course it's all come to light now, and the opposition parties are having a field day!
Never a dull moment when you live in the Republic of South Africa, with the most diverse natural beauty and the most amazing people, but sadly also home to some real skelms (devious people), and eleven official languages.
I think we'd be quite lost if we were to finally retire in another country, as our older son already has his eyes set somewhere across the waters and asked if we would consider going if he sponsored us, and when life gets crazy here, it sounds like a great idea.
However, I've heard people say that once you have been to Africa, it always stays in your blood, despite the problems this continent faces!
So for now, we'll stay in this crazy place we call home!
Original Content by 
Thank you for stopping by
Copyright
JOIN Hive using my referral LINK