On Thursday 22 October 2015, Overstrand’s recently elected Junior Town Council for 2015/2016 was inaugurated during a rather poignant event held in the Hermanus Auditorium.

Following on Speaker Anton Coetsee’s words of welcome, former junior town councillor Hope Botes, a pupil attending Northcliff House, enthralled the attendees with her beautiful rendition of Hallelujah, accompanying herself on the guitar.

Thereafter, outgoing junior mayor Johan van der Merwe took to the podium to thank Overstrand Municipality for the opportunities afforded him and his fellow junior council members, promising that "the skills instilled in us as learners during our term of office will be shared with other children at the respective schools” and declaring unequivocally that the outgoing council takes pride in being “associated with a municipality that is truly a centre of excellence”.

At the council meeting held Wednesday, 28 October 2015, the Overstrand municipality was afforded an opportunity to get first-hand information from the minister of finance Dr Ivan Meyer on amongst other Overstrand’s allocation from Provincial Government for the 2015/16 financial year.

Minister Meyer’s presentation focused on:

• Preparation  for the Provincial adjustments budget;
• Preparation  for the Provincial 2016/17 MTREF Budget;
• Strengthen the partnership with the Overstrand Municipality; and
• To prepare the Municipality for Fiscal Outlook: SA

In his presentation he mentioned very important budget policy principles which are the following: Constitutionalism, Evidence Based, Public Value, Rule of Law, Partnerships, Game changers, Whole-of-society approach, Citizen Centric and Provincial Strategic Plans and Goals.

Dr Meyer eluded that his visit is aimed at “Taking the Budget to the People” and he also congratulated Overstrand on the following:

Twenty-four of the top South African beaches that have achieved Blue Flag status for the forthcoming 2015/16 season have also received special recognition for their sustained commitment to marine and coastal conservation through their long-term and continuous participation in the international Blue Flag Programme.

The commendable achievements of the stakeholders responsible for the success of these beaches were formally acknowledged with the presentation of awards at the launch event for the 2015/16 Blue Flag Season. The new Blue Flag season opens officially on 1 November and the launch event took place at Grotto Beach in Hermanus in the Overberg region today.

The new long-term achievement awards have been introduced to mark the fifteen year anniversary of the implementation of the international Blue Flag programme in South Africa. This respected eco-label has been implemented by WESSA since 2001, with the support of coastal municipalities and conservation parastatals.

On Tuesday 1 September 2015, Mayor Nicolette Botha-Guthrie had occasion to brighten up the lives of those who reside in Kleinmond’s informal settlement, Overhills, when she “turned on the lights", so to speak.

Quite a while back, members of this community raised their concerns about having electrical appliances but no electricity with their Ward Councillor, Lisel Krige, who took it upon herself to make their dream a reality by canvassing support for the electrification of Overhills.

Overhills was added to the municipality’s electrification programme, and when funds became available in the 2014/15 financial year, the project was launched in October 2014 and completed in August this year. At a cost of R2,5 million, around 376 households are now electrified.

In her address on the day, Mayor Botha-Guthrie pointed out that this was no easy feat. Several challenges had to be overcome – one being that houses standing under the existing Eskom overhead lines had to be relocated first. The lay-out of the terrain and the placement of the existing houses also complicated the installation of the new electrical overhead network considerably.