|
Turtle Essays Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
| << April25, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 130 dated 25 April 2005 |
May09, 2005 - Turtle Essays Edition no 132 dated 9th May 2005 >> |
|
Turtle Essays Edition no 131 dated 2nd May 2005 ** Have you ever dreamed of learning fly fishing? I've found this Comprehensive Training Guide Kit which contains all the necessary tips and techniques you need to become an experienced fly fisherman or fisherwomen. You'll learn fly casting techniques, trout fishing techniques, how to tie fishing knots, and other great fishing secrets from pros that earn a living from fishing! Why not check out the Fly Fishing Guidebook Now ? Visit http://www.flyfishingguidebook.com/swres/brerrabbit.html and then come and try out our rivers and streams ** In this edition: Editor's blurb Khayelitsha R405 million rand in speeding fines in two months!! ** Editor's Blurb Hi there folks! Welcome to all my readers, new and regular. This week we will visit a township on the Cape Flats which is one of the fastest growing in South Africa. In the second article I'm back on my hobby horse about our traffic authorities and there novel way of doing road safety. I hope you enjoy them. See you all next week. Geoff Fairman ** Khayelitsha. Khayelitsha (???New Home???) is a large township about 35 kilometres from the centre of Cape Town. It is the fastest growing township in South Africa and at present houses about 400,000 + people in formal and informal housing. The township, is 20 + years old and has grown considerably from its dusty beginnings in the early 1980s when families began settling there. Khayelitsha from the air appears to be well laid out with roads and formal housing that is being built with government subsidies. Unfortunately, although there are ongoing building projects to provide housing for the people, many thousands still live in wood and iron shacks on the outskirts of the township. Life is really hard. Shacks are built close together and fires often break out raising whole settlements to the ground. Although many shacks have electricity they do not have running water or toilet and bathroom facilities. Toilets are built hundreds of metres away and cater for the whole community instead of being one per household as you would find in most modern societies. Water has to be carried from a central tap. Conditions in the formal area of Khayelitsha are improving quickly. A local business support centre, which serves as a base for micro entrepreneurs has been developed. It provides training programs such as sewing, doll making and pottery for women. Once trained the women start their own home businesses and sell all the goods they produce. Unbeknown to most Capetonians, Khayelitsha is the first black township to own its own community radio station. Zibonele Community Radio station broadcasts from a shipping container within the informal settlement of an area called Town Two. The station's name which means ???self reliance??? broadcasts in Xhosa and has been on the air since 1995 . Its main focus is community health. With the increase of tourism in the Western Cape ,Khayelitsha is doing its best to attract its share of visitors. Tour companies offer tours into the township where you can experience a bit of township life. For those who would like to stay over there are a number of bed and breakfast establishments where one can enjoy traditional African meals such as mutton stew and maize porridge. Local African brews such as Amarhewu are also on the menu. What is Khayelitsha doing to attract tourists? Khayelitsha is developing a lookout area on a hill near its Mitchells Plain entrance which will become a permanent attraction. It will include a restaurant, arts and crafts centre and a number of drama studios. For golfers, Khayelitsha is the first black township to have a golf course. A tourism information centre has been established at Oliver Tambo Recreation centre in Mew way road. This centre serves as a multi-purpose indoor sport arena and was built during South Africa's unsuccesful 2006 Olympic Bid. Over the next few years Khayelitsha can become one of the main tourist attractions in the Cape. At present however, it is not safe to venture into the township on your own. Crime is rife, with car highjackings, murders, rapes and theft being common occurrences. Tour companies trading in Khayelitsha have developed links with the the locals and will take tourists to areas where it is safe for visitors to go. A visit to Khayelitsha will open the eyes of the visitor to a life one can only experience in a township. If and when you visit Khayelitsha enjoy the tour, it will be an experience of a lifetime. See you there soon. ** R405 million rand in speeding fines in two months!! That's what they are collecting here in the Cape Town Metropole in the name of road safety. Motorists are being ripped off by devious means. Cameras hidden behind poles along highways, traffic police sitting behind vehicles in a bush with a hidden camera are some of the methods being used. Most people can afford to pay the fines so they do not act as a deterrent. It's much more inconvenient for a motorist to be caught speeding by a traffic official than to be sent a fine in the mail. They will speed again and again and just pay the fines. The authorities are using a cowardly practice to fill their coffers and to stay out of confrontation with the public. Road safety is not something that can be policed with cameras. Yes! cameras can highlight hot spots where people disobey traffic rules and commit violations. Once these spots have been identified the traffic authorities should carry out a blitz to nail the offenders and it can be done as often as is deemed necessary. In many instances you will catch the same person a number of times disobeying the traffic laws. Repeat offenders can be taken off our roads for good if need be and in this way road safety can be improved. Using the blitz method improves the chances of not only capturing road offenders but other more dangerous criminals as well. Around Cape Town there are many traffic departments and by employing a few more officials to do the blitzes I'm sure that our roads would soon be a much safer place to be. Criminals would also think twice about using the roads for their activities as they would never know where the next blitz would be. ps. Cape Town authorities have had a mess up in their traffic control computer programs and tickets totalling R405 million which should have been posted within 30 days of the incident happening have not been posted to offenders. It is possible that the tickets could be deemed illegal thus causing the traffic department as loss of R405 million. This is the second such occurrence since the end of last year. ** Turtle Travels new blog is online now. http://turtleessays.blogspot.com There are some interesting new articles being posted today. Be sure not to miss them. * Like to have your own rose garden. Find out how to do it from an expert. Here is his link: http://hop.clickbank.net/?brerrabbit/mcplants ** For my personal details, contact address, and warnings regarding products advertised in this ezine please read the disclaimers which can be found at: http://www.turtlesa.com/Disclaimer.html See you all soon Geoff Fairman ** |
|
| << April25, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 130 dated 25 April 2005 |
May09, 2005 - Turtle Essays Edition no 132 dated 9th May 2005 >> |
|
Turtle Essays Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
|
Archives powered by Zinester's Mailing List Service
Details on Turtle Essays |
Browse for more newsletters at Zinester's Ezine Directory
Managed by Zinester's Mailing List Management |