Tony Boniface, Fish Hoek
It’s not all gloom and despair.
My wife and I usually turn on our TV at around 6pm to watch the news, flitting from one news channel to another. More often than not it’s a depressing experience.
In fact, last night I was about to say to her that she shouldn’t spoil the evening by turning the TV on for that purpose. But she had… And what a good thing it was that she had!
What had come up? The virtual rally organised and presented by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. We were immediately captivated by the largely constructive things that were being said by a wide range of speakers on SA’s endemic corruption problem. Here was a group of people who were gatvol with SA being on the slippery downward slope and were determined to do something about it – from the bottom up – not the other way round.
And then this morning I finally got around to renewing our vehicle licences. I had been putting it off for weeks! Although I had always been impressed by the efficiency of the staff there in the past, I had been concerned at the very, very long “socially distanced” queue outside Fish Hoek’s municipal offices. And indeed there was a very long queue when I got there shortly after 9am.
A query made at the office door confirmed that this was indeed the queue for vehicle-licence renewals and not for the library next door.
I was then asked how old I was and quite truthfully I replied, 80. The official then told me to join the queue way up the line next to the door. Even so there must have been at least 10 or more people ahead of me. By now there were chairs to sit on, and the same official quietly and efficiently kept the queue orderly and ensured that we did our part in moving forward playing musical chairs as each customer left.
At the desk, the man behind the counter was very polite and efficient and in next to no time I was done and out of the building – well before 9.30am.
By now I was indeed in a good mood, and, on getting home, grabbed The Echo to read while having some coffee. What a good positive read it was too: “Ndihluthi bag feeds family of four,” about a project started as a school project by inventive school boys; “Masiphumelele baker has recipe for success”; and “Warrant Officer Du Toit retires after 37 years” reminding us we are very lucky to be living in Fish Hoek where we have a police station where the word “service” is clearly understood and is practised.
Aren’t we lucky to be living here?