Something now being done right in Western Cape

LAST week I did a business road trip down the Garden Route, into Cape Town for a day and a half, then up the West Coast and back to the Eastern Cape via Oudtshoorn. I overnighted in Riversdale, Stellenbosch, Cape Town and Montague.

When I parked my vehicle outside a mall in central Cape Town, a man standing behind greeted me, saying, "Good morning sir. I see you are from out of town. Your vehicle will be safe, so no need to worry." He was a metro policeman, and was standing nearby half an hour later and gave me the thumbs up as I returned to my vehicle.

I then took stock of my trip thus far and realised that all the street lights were working at night in Riversdale, and that the towns I had been through were clean and pothole-free. I had seen traffic police and SAPS, and in Cape Town, metro police, all doing their duty.

On my return to Port Elizabeth, I felt as though I had been in a different world. During the 2500km trip in the Western Cape, I did not come across one pothole, truly not one.

All the roads, main and secondary, were well marked and well tarred. In all the different towns, street lights were working, all of them.

I even drank water from the hotel rooms' taps, because it was clean and fresh.

I marvelled at the clean towns and cities, the constant presence of law and order officials, and the traffic lights which worked. Clearly something is being done right in the Western Cape. If only the same could happen in my beloved Port Elizabeth.

Gordon Upton, Port Elizabeth