Looking back on 2024
Constantiaberg Bulletin takes a look back at the news that made headlines in 2024, reflecting on the moments worth remembering.
In January, the return to school for Westcott Primary School pupils and staff was made all the more auspicious by the presence of Premier Alan Winde and Education MEC David Maynier. More than 500 children started the new school year at the Diep River primary school, including 55 Grade Rs and 74 Grade 1s. “New classrooms for Westcott Primary,” Bulletin, January 25).
In February, the Wynberg Boys’ High and Junior schools’ flag was unfurled at the South Pole by past pupil Andre Conradie. Mr Conradie, 61, of Plumstead, carried on a tradition of taking the schools’ spirit and pride to all corners of the earth (“Wynberg Boys’ schools’ flag reaches South Pole,” Bulletin, February 1).
In March, taxi groups feuding over route turf in Tokai struck a peace deal after violent scenes near the Blue Route Mall the previous week with shots fired and vehicles vandalised (“Taxi groups sign deal after Tokai violence,” Bulletin, March 14)
In April, the increased use of a Pollsmoor prison gate in a Tokai avenue was a source of growing congestion, speeding and noise unsuitable for a residential road, residents said. The fed-up Glenbrae Avenue residents said they wanted the gate restricted to weekday daytime use by Pollsmoor residents only, which was the case prior to the outbreak of Covid (“Prison gate draws flak from residents,” Bulletin, April 12).
In May, the trimming and felling of trees on a Spilhaus Avenue property and an adjoining strip of the Klaasenbosch Greenbelt to “improve the view” left Constantia residents and environmental groups fuming (“Greenbelt tree felling draws outrage,” Bulletin, May 2).
In June, a bid to build a three-storey shopping and office complex on Constantia Main Road drew opposition from a civic group, environmentalists and a church rector (“Development threatens valley’s untold story – cleric,” Bulletin, June 6).
Vulindlela Place of Safety is a safe house run by the Amazing Grace Upliftment Centre, an NGO helping children in Westlake Village. The safe house provides counselling and safe, temporary placement for at-risk children, says the organisation’s founder, Lydia Ingpen, describing it as “a happy place for children who need love” (“Vulnerable children find refuge at Vulindlela,” Bulletin, July 25).
In August, 30 women who have endured abuse as well as the counsellors who have helped them were treated to a special day by the Tokai Lions Club on Women’s Day (“'We are here; we have survived’,” Bulletin, Aug 15).
In September, preparations were under way to establish a U-turn homeless support centre at the Church Street Methodist Church in Wynberg. However, about R100 000 a month would be needed to run the centre for the homeless in Wynberg, said church minister Reverend Graham Goodwin (“Funds needed to run Wynberg homeless support centre,” Bulletin, September 25).
In October, Constantia Rotary Club helped to level the playing field for children in Philippi by unveiling a R3 million multi-purpose sports facility at a primary school there (“Constantia Rotary gives Philippi a sporting chance,” Bulletin, October 10).
The City’s land-use decisions and its draft Municipal Planning By-Law show its “fundamentally flawed” approach to public consultation and administrative justice. So said Tracey Davies, the head of the Constantia Ratepayers and Residents Association's land-use committee, at the civic group’s AGM in November (“City diktats spur urban creep, warns civic,” Bulletin, November 28).
In December, a lawsuit against the City and various government authorities for failing to manage the Cape Peninsula’s baboon population was settled out of court, said the activists who filed it (“Baboon case settled out of court, say activists,” Bulletin, December 12).
