Port Elizabeth of Yore: Military Record of John Gilfillan Bunton in WW2

Just over a century ago, the name Bunton was well known in Port Elizabeth as John’s father and grandfather in their day were both owners of the Grand Hotel in Belmont Terrace. When John’s father, Henry, changed careers in 1927 and went farming in the Selbourne district near Kirkwood, the name Bunton would never again resonate with the residents of Port Elizabeth.

John would attest to serve in the artillery. Later his younger brother, Peter, would join him in the same unit. It was during the opening stages of the battle of El Alamein on the 13th July 1942 that John would be mortally wounded, and Peter, who served in the same unit, would see his brother for the last time as he was stretchered away never to be seen again by him.

Such is the madness of war.

Main picture: John Bunton in North Africa

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Visit by John Campbell in 1862

Recollections of the town by visitors especially in its early days, provides an indelible record of how they viewed the town but more importantly, how it operated. Some of the descriptors relate to the residents’ industriousness and the consequential hustle and bustle whereas others refer to the stark bareness of the hill especially prior to the planting of trees.

These recollections of John Campbell, a surveyor, and passenger aboard the Eastern Province who visited the town from the 25th February 1862 to the 17th March 1862, adds a fresh layer of depth to the understanding of this bustling town.

Main picture: The first breakwater around 1866

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: HMS Good Hope: Royal Navy training base at Seaview

South Africa’s declaration of war against Nazi Germany on the 6th September 1939 would have a profound impact on South Africa. Among the vortex of events would be the establishment of a Royal Navy training base at Seaview being the only Royal Navy training base outside the United Kingdom.

Main picture: The interesting thing about this picture is that it is pre-1934. They started construction on the hotel in 1934 from the right of the hotel as you looked at it with the ocean behind you. The giant Norfolk pines are not yet even visible, the two structures that are visible are on what would become hotel land.

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A SMAC in the Face #74:  Hapoor

(For those who do not follow American politics closely, the symbol of the Republican party is the elephant)

The Addo Elephant National Park outside Port Elizabeth was established in 1931 and is home to 600 elephants, up from 11 when it started.  A legendary beast amongst them was Hapoor, so named because he had a chunk missing from his ear caused by a hunter’s bullet.  His name was an Afrikaans portmanteau of “hap” meaning a bite or a piece, and “oor” meaning ear.  He was a large and assertive beast who dominated his herd from 1944 to 1968. 

You can see where this analogy is going although I have to stretch a bit, I admit. 

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A SMAC in the Face # 69:  Election 2024 – Can You Kill a Cockroach?

My name is Bond, Nkandla Bond (courtesy of VBS, unpaid of course), aka JZ, aka Spear of the Nation, aka Father of the Nation (23 children and counting), aka uBaba, aka Number One, aka Number One accused, aka Dead Man Walking (according to his medical parole submission).

The genital warts have returned, the rash is back

JZ has arisen from the foetid heap of ANC history to haunt SA again by joining the shiny new MK Party.

For SMAC’s look at the 2024 elections, the new MK Party and SA’s oldest politician, now that Gatsha Buthelezi has shuffled off into his sunset, read on

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A SMAC in the Face #66: The Elephant in the Room

By every metric, South Africa is bleeding.  It’s as if we’ve been infected by a haemorrhagic virus like Ebola which causes every organisation in the country to bleed.  Actually, it’s a well-known virus that’s been around for 30 years – the ANC. 

Barring SARS, SARB and the Department of Finance, every department and most municipalities are dysfunctional and supplying fewer or more shoddy services every year.  Institutional memory and competence were replaced with anyone from a disadvantaged group as long as they vaguely matched the job requirements. Nor did they look too hard at the applicants’ experience, track records or qualifications.  This combined with preferential procurement created fertile ground for the virus to flourish until incompetence and corruption now dominates every facet of the public sector economy.

This SMAC will not look into the Health Department which is eyeing the private Medical Aid reserve funds or that Water and Sanitation needs up to R1 trn to sort it out or anything similar. The remit is too large.  This SMAC will restrict itself to the sorry sordid sagas of the SOEs and their toxic debt piles that are bankrupting them and hobbling the economy.

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