On Friday, 26 October Mayor Dudley Coetzee had the opportunity to engage with business owners in his home town of Gansbaai on his ‘meet and greet’ walkabout to see how they are doing and what their issues were.

He was accompanied by Deputy Mayor Elnora Gillion, Councillors Riana de Coning and Andrew Komani, Gansbaai Tourism office manager Glenda Kitley, as well as Cape Whale Coast tourism manger Frieda Lloyd.

It was a busy morning and they got to meet quite a number of business owners, including De Wet and Morkel van Niekerk of Superspar, Chris van Rensburg of OK Foods, David Sawtelle of Pam Golding, Betsie de Will of ABSA, Jan and Doreen Barnard of Bayview Furnishers, Cheryl Lorenzen of Sportzone and Genery Fick of Pep Stores.

During the next few weeks leading up to the start of the fire season, we urge communities to be more vigilant and not to start unnecessary fires particularly during dry days.

People are also asked to remove unnecessary rubble on their properties which can pose a serious fire risk and houses next to grasslands need to ensure that there are sufficient fire breaks between their properties and the grasslands.

Residents should cut back overhanging tree branches close to their properties and also clean their gutters as leaves that end up in gutters can pose a fire risk.

People must also ensure that they have the contact details of their local fire authorities at hand should there be a fire emergency.

The Overstrand Municipality is a creature of statue and operates within a constitutional framework as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution) - the supreme law of the country;

The Municipality has the right to govern, on its own initiative, the local government affairs of its community, subject to national and provincial legislation, as is provided for in Section 151(3) of the Constitution and Section 4(1)(a) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, No 32 of 2001 (Systems Act);

The Municipality has executive and legislative authority in respect of, and has the right to administer, the matters provided for in Sections 156(1) and 229 of the Constitution, Sections 8 and 11 of the Systems Act and Section 83(1) of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, No 117 of 1998 (Structures Act);

Overstrand Municipality started a process of verification of the housing waiting list on 1 November 2018 whereby citizens in need of government subsidised housing opportunity must ensure all existing information is correct and updated or register as a first time applicant.

A number of 8 201 applicants were registered on the database on 31 October 2018, but the information of individual beneficiaries may be out-dated, for example changes in income, number of financial dependents, change of address, etc. 

The Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP) household income limit increased in July 2018 from R15,000 to R22,000 and it therefore creates an opportunity for more citizens to register/verify their information.