On Thursday, 16 September 2021, the Provincial Minister of Human Settlements, Tertuis Simmers, joined Overstrand Executive Mayor, Dudley Coetzee and fellow councillors and municipal officials in a ceremonial sod turning event for the restart of a new housing development project in Blompark, Gansbaai.

The Blompark Housing Development, which has a budget allocation of just over R 78 million, will deliver 539 top structures.  If all goes according to plan, it is expected to be concluded by the end of March 2023.

The development forms part of the Integrated Residential Development Programme (IRDP). This effectively means that it will not only be a mixed development, consisting of houses for various income groups, but will also include commercial and recreational spaces.

On addressing those present, a clearly thrilled Alderlady Riana de Coning, Ward Councillor for Blompark, said she and the community of Blompark have been dreaming about this day for years.

In a brief history she described the excitement when the bull dozers moved on to the terrain in 2017; only to come to a standstill when the contractor went insolvent.

Special vote allows a registered voter who can't vote at their voting station on election day to apply to vote on a predetermined day before election day.

By law, special votes can only be cast on the dates specified in the election timetable and no exceptions can be made.

The closing date of applications for special votes is Monday, 4 October 2021.

Visit your local IEC office (not the national or provincial offices) and submitting an MEC 35 form. (Download the MEC 35 from elections.org.za website)

Forms can only be hand-delivered (no emails or faxes accepted), but someone else can deliver your completed form on your behalf.

Households in the greater area of Gansbaai may notice discoloured drinking water.

The colour in the 'raw' water is caused by the Fynbos in the catchment areas and is not harmful.

The Municipality is adjusting the treatment process and dosing equipment at the treatment works.

The colour will take a few days to stabilise in the network.

The treated water is 100% safe for human consumption and complies fully with SANS 241 standards.

The function for baboon management was assigned to Overstrand Municipality by the Provincial Government on 4 September 2019. The assignment is to sustainably manage the baboon population in the municipal area by keeping them out of the urban area. This must be done by implementing the Strategic Baboon Management Plan that was jointly developed by the Western Cape Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP), CapeNature (CN) and the Municipality. As a result, the Overstrand Baboon Management Joint Task Team (BMJTT) was established as the joint decision-making structure to maintain oversight over the persons tasked with the implementing the SBMP, as well as to deal on a consensual basis with contentious or sensitive matters that may arise.