Residents must take charge

A SHORTAGE of funds and a devil-may- care attitude from the local authorities has seen towns in the Kouga deteriorate so rapidly that it is difficult not to have noticed.
Potholes, overgrown verges, empty shops, broken traffic signs, no street markings and an overall feeling of disillusionment all add up to the annoyance of residents.
Because of this residents tend to become over critical of the municipality and negativity spreads like a veld fire. It becomes a cancer that is difficult to stop. Most conversations either start, or end ,with some criticism aimed at the municipality. People stop expecting anything from themselves – all the blame for the state of the town is heaped upon the local council.
Gone are the days where pride was the common denominator. Unfortunately this state of discontent is not limited to the Kouga only. The malaise seems to have spread across the country.
However, there are those who have enough self-pride or have invested in the town to try and make a difference. People like local SuperSpar owner, J P Venter who put his money where his mouth is, and tends to the lawns in Da Gama Street. Other stalwarts like Jessie Naude and Lauren D'Arcy have left no stone unturned in an attempt to get the municipality to come to the party and do what the ratepayers are paying them to do.
Now, yet another resident, Deon Goosen has had enough. By registering Jeffreys Bay as a town of dreams (Dorp van Drome) he hopes by involving all the residents in the coastal town, they can make a difference and restore it to its former glory and pristine state. For this to work he does need all the support he can get.
So perhaps it is time for all of us to stop complaining, and to realise there is no money in the towns coffers, and if anything is to be done it will have to come from the people who have everything invested here – you the resident.
– Cindy Liebenberg