During the last Council meeting of the year held on Wednesday 25 November 2015, Executive Mayor Nicolette Botha-Guthrie yet again had occasion to share in the spoils of not one but three awards:

First to take to the floor to present their award was Gansbaai Tourism who was recently voted Best Responsible Destination by the travel industry. This World Travel Award judged Gansbaai to be “home to a cluster of responsible tourism businesses", noting that “these businesses have come together to cooperate with one another and the local authority to make Gansbaai a better place to live for local people”. 

Next up was the Department of Protection Services who handed over a cheque to the value of R70 000. In a recent competition forming part of a bi-annual conference hosted by the South African Emergency Services Institute, Overstrand was announced tops in all three categories: weight of response, community awareness and beyond-the-call-of-duty. This prize money will go towards procuring state-of-the-art equipment to aid fire and rescue services in Overstrand.

On Friday, 30 October 2015 the Bags-of-Love Christmas 2015 campaign was launched by Executive Mayor, Nicolette Botha-Guthrie, at a ceremony held at the Overstrand Municipality office.

Soon after taking office in 2010, the Mayor became the patron of the Campaign which marks its tenth anniversary this year.  The endeavour takes place annually and is aimed at distributing bags made up of essential grocery items, supplemented by additional Christmas treats, to needy families in our communities.

Interest and support has grown steadily over the years to the point where a total of 1700 bags were filled and distributed to those identified in Hermanus, Zwelihle, Mount Pleasant, Hawston, Stanford and Gansbaai during the 2014 campaign.  This number is expected to increase exponentially this year with an appeal once again being put to the business sector, churches, NGO’s, municipal staff and individuals to donate to this worthy cause. As before, the media are on board and will promote the Bags-of-Love Campaign through all available channels, i.e. local newspapers and radio stations.  Readers and listeners are advised to be on the lookout for the advertisements and broadcasts which will be flighted shortly.

On Monday, 2 November 2015, the Provincial Minister of Human Settlements Bonginkosi Madikizela officiated at the launch of the top structures of the “Cemetery Site” and “Site A” housing projects in Mount Pleasant.

The two sites are situated within the urban edge, are central to the residential area of Mount Pleasant and are within walking distance to a number of social and economic facilities.

This development is representative of the Department’s mandate to deliver integrated and sustainable human settlements in which beneficiaries have access to the resources they need in order to thrive in life.

The total project costs for the 172 “Cemetery Site” and 48 “Site A” homes amounts to over R20 million and R5 million respectively.

On addressing the audience, Executive Mayor Nicolette Botha-Guthrie said, “Everything is running on schedule and I have to extend my appreciation to the implementing agent, Motlekar Overstrand, for the quality of workmanship and consistently providing above standard houses to the intended beneficiaries in our area.”  

On Thursday, 29 October the youth of the Overstrand, accompanied by their “Partners in Crime”, marched to the Gansbaai Sports Ground for an official ceremony to mark their commitment to the fight against the growing level of crime in the area.

Not even the threat of bad weather could dampen the spirit of those involved.  The procession, led by a police band, included the Executive Mayor of Overstrand Municipality, Nicolette Botha-Guthrie, her fellow councillors, the area manager, municipal officials, members of the various Western Cape Government Departments, as well as representatives of partners such as Chrysalis Academy, Grootbos Foundation, Overberg Wheelchair association, Overberg Sports and Recreation and Afriforum.

The ‘Youth Against Crime Imbizo’ was established by the Overstrand Municipality, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Overstrand Youth Development Forum (OYDF) in October last year as a means of providing constructive after school programmes that the youth could partake in.  This was borne from the realisation that a great number of learners in the region were being left to their own devices after school, with very little adult supervision, and were therefore inevitably susceptible to all sorts of negative influences.