A different view on current affairs & history
Main picture: Fire engulfing the offices of the P.E. Advertiser
For me and possibly other Port Elizabethians, the road up Cooper’s Kloof, commonly known as Albany Road, does not have the same prominence or cachet of either Russell or White’s Road. Nevertheless, it does serve as a vital arterial road carrying traffic both to Cape Road and through to Walmer via Target Kloof.
Main picture: Albany Road in 1865
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Main picture: Henry Lichtenstein
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Spare a thought for explorers, adventurers and soldiers of the nineteenth century. Nothing today comes close to their sense of isolation from their family and friends as these intrepid souls departed from their hometowns. It is reasonable to assume that the departing spouse was virtually non-contactable from the moment that they sailed away. One such character was Jacob Glen Cuyler who would arrive in South Africa via an extremely circuitous route. He become an important character and play a prominent role in the settlement of the British Settlers in the Eastern Cape. His assistance to the arriving settlers is commemorated in a street adjacent to Fort Frederick, known as Cuyler Crescent and which becomes Cuyler Street as it heads inland.
Main picture: Captain Jacob Glen Cuyler
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Like a sketch artist’s first lines on a blank piece of paper, at first the object is unclear and undefined. Yet as each additional line is applied to the sketch, the subject gains focus & the confused canvas gains clarity. So it is with the unfolding Zuma / Gupta / State Capture / dirty tricks /trumped up charges saga. Thuli Madonsela in her noble endeavour applied multiple illuminating strokes with the release of her much anticipated State Capture report.
Yet, once again, there is insufficient granularity of detail in the sketch for a formal criminal charge to be laid. Instead, South Africa will have to wait again with bated breath for the final strokes to be applied: This time in the form of a commission of enquiry.
Thoughts and comments on the imperfect sketch so far and prognostications about possible future events
Main picture: President Jacob Zuma, Atul Gupta and the Eastern Cape Premier Noxolo Kieviet at a New Age breakfast in Port Elizabeth
In hindsight, will the first week of November 2016 represent such a critical moment in South Africa’s fractious history? From a noble ideal to remove the shackles of apartheid from the majority of South African citizens, the ANC has descended into a cesspit of venality, corruption and the abuse of the organs of state for nefarious purposes.
Yet this week has already witnessed the unravelling of implicit and unwavering support for the ANC by even its most ardent stalwarts.
As such, could this month, which commenced so auspiciously for democracy in South Africa, be the advent of a new dawn?
Main picture: South Africa is burning, a metaphor for corruption, malefeasance and the capture of the organ of state
Puzzles, riddles, problems or posers but whatever you chose to call them, they are all Brain Teasers. Many of these Brain Testers will probably have seen by you before but now is another opportunity to test your abilities at resolving them? Continue reading
With the recent release of the proposed Medical Aid tariffs for 2017, medical costs were once again thrown into the spotlight.
What are the drivers of increases and what is the prognosis over the next twenty years?
Prior to the arrival of the 1820 Settlers, it would have been an exaggeration to claim that Port Elizabeth was sparsely populated as that was an overstatement of the facts. Indeed, it was mostly depopulated. Apart from a dozen farmers in the whole area from the Sunday’s River to the Gamtoos River, there was an understrength company of soldiers based at Fort Frederick and thirty-five inhabitants mainly residing along the coast at the foot the Hill.
In addition there were bands of Khoikhoi but as they were peripatetic, evidence of their existence was seldom seen.
Main picture: Port Elizabeth in 1833
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