Port Elizabeth of Yore: Camping at Bushy Park Beach in the 1930s

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

In the era prior to World War Two, coastal towns such as Port Elizabeth were inundated with holiday makers. Their accommodation was not a luxury five star hotel with three hot meals per day. At best it would be accommodation in the house of relatives in the city. This is what my maternal grandparents experienced every Christmas vacation not for one week but for four weeks. Many indigent farmers from upcountry would arrive by ox-wagon. Even so, most would camp somewhere along the coast. This blog takes a surreptitious peak at family and friends camping at Bushy Park beach in the 1930s.

Main picture: Charlie, Billy & Ivan Clark at Bushy Park beach

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Story of the Buffelsfontein Farmhouse

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 9 Comments

Officially this homestead is not accorded such a nomenclature. Nor is it recognised as one the houses which existed prior to the arrival of the 1820 Settlers. The reasons why such houses still exist – Draaifontein House is another exemplar – is due to the location outside the town environs itself but this house is unlikely to survive the tender mercies of the property developers ad infinitum as civilisation encroaches upon it.

Main picture: Buffelsfontein by EC Moore

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A SMAC in the Face #24:  Turnaround Strategy No. 2452

By Blaine McCleland in Jokes 0 Comment

Probably the most overused phrase in the limited ANC lexicon apart from ‘provincial (or similar) structures’ or ‘loyal cadres’, is the phrase, ‘turnaround strategy’.  I was reminded of this by a newspaper report of 2 March on the Limpopo State of the Province Address (SOPA) debate that ended as a shouting match when the corrupt ANC and the immature EFF were literally at each other’s throats.  The Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL) had revealed to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that documents relating to R1.1 billion in irregular expenditure had disappeared from the agency’s offices in Polokwane.  A dog ate my homework moment.  So what’s new: the massive irregular expenditure, the loss of documents or the excuse?

The RAL was ordered to sort their document mess out and present a ‘turnaround strategy’!

Now we have the Post Office which has admitted to having a R8 billion hole in their finances.  The old Post Office never shot the lights out.  It wasn’t like the Royal Post Office where a letter posted in the morning would arrive with the afternoon postal delivery.  Nevertheless, ours was reliable, cheap and secure.  Only the most urgent documents were delivered by courier.  Although the long downward process started early on, this really got kickstarted by the complete shutdown by strike action of the Jet Park warehouse hub for months in 2014.  In mid-March the Post Office presented to Parliament its latest turnaround strategy in a hopeful document entitled, Post Office of Tomorrow.  Humph!

The public are sick of these interminable turnaround strategies which begin with the appointment of a new Board, a completely new suite of executives with their completely new office suites, who in turn appoint, without the mandated recruitment processes, a coterie of fools, family members, bae’s and ben10’s, people they owe favours to and some just for luck to make up numbers.  Few are qualified to do the job or are indeed interested.  They make a lot of promises and initiate some grand unthought-through and overpriced projects while they skim and take backhanders in Louis Vuitton handbags.  When it soon turns to guano, the turnstile strategy kicks in.  It’s out with the old and in with the new while the newly jobless are buffed up, retreaded and redeployed elsewhere in the state machinery to continue their work of destruction and corruption. 

Rinse and repeat.

Looking Back: An Appreciation of PE in the 1880s.

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

From “Memories” by the Lionel Cripps, C. M. G.

Published in Looking Back Volume IV No. 1

The first sight I had of Africa was when we passed Cape Verde, with its white sands and a quivering heat to match. I felt drawn towards it by an attraction that, up to now has never waned; not a bad start for a youngster who had great longing for adventure in the half empty continent!

Main picture: 1872 Watercolour entitled View of Port Elizabeth from the hill behind the cemetry by Oliver Lester in 1874 in NMM AM

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The German Community

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Of all the nationalities in the world, I can count the Germans as being an integral part of all aspects of my life from my father-in-law being German, my best hiking buddies, my best running friends et al. Notwithstanding their integrity and hardworking character, they were cast for many years as bogeymen due to the World Wars and the policies and practices of the Nazi Regime.

Main picture: The Liedertafel after it was set ablaze by an enraged mob

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Port Elizabeth of Yore:  Joys and tragedies of sea swimming of the 1880s

By Dean McCleland in Jokes 0 Comment

Having already dealt with the bathing rules, regulations and customs such as non-mixed bathing i.e. males and females swimming together – how immodest – and the areas allocated for swimming in another blog, I will now deal with the bathing events and tragic incidents in the 1880s as recalled by a Mr N. Cripps who would later be appointed as the first Speaker in the Rhodesian Parliament.

Main picture:  1894 Bathing House at the mouth of the Baakens River

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A SMAC in the Face #23:  Going Nowhere Slowly

By Blaine McCleland in Jokes 0 Comment

In September 1939, Nazi Germany taught the world a new word – Blitzkreig (Lightning War) – when they conquered Poland in a matter of weeks after using extensive false flag operations and spurious justifications.  As an aside, seventeen days after the start of the invasion, the ‘morally superior’ socialist Soviet Union also invaded Poland in accordance with the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact and they divvied up the country between them.  This supping with the devil was doomed to end badly.  In May 1940, Germany drove home the meaning of Blitzkrieg when they swept through Western Europe and Dunkirked the undercooked British Expeditionary Force.  To make sure that the world knew what Blitzkrieg meant, they unleashed Operation Barbarossa just over 13 months later on their erstwhile allies, the Russians.  They were only stopped at the gates of Moscow six months later.

Fast forward to the illegal American invasion of Iraq in 2003 during which they subdued a highly militarised country, 70% the area of Ukraine with a similar population, in 43 days half a world away.  With America razzamatazz marketing, they eschewed the word Blitzkrieg and instead referred to it as Shock and Awe.  Semantics.  It still just meant that a lot of people got needlessly killed rather quickly to satisfy the bloodlust of a few.  America also used lies to justify their invasion.  This was led by Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney with the dupes being George ‘Keep Away From Sharp Knives’ Bush and Tony Blair.  The lies were the supposed hidden weapons of mass destruction of the species Nuclei and Bacteria.

29 years later and another deluded putz, Putin, decided that his borders were looking untidy what with Ukraine making overtures to NATO.  This was a cold war foe, the hatred of whom was buried deep in the dark axions of an ex-KGB officer’s foetid mind.  Who would rid him of this turbulent ex-comedian, now president, he asked?  “Me!”  he answered himself after Trump failed to strongarm Zelensky over Biden’s son.  Having carefully prepared the ground like megalomaniacs before him, using false flag operations and the downright lie of the rebirth of Nazism in the Ukraine, he unleashed his version of a Biltzkrieg on the 24th of February.  His overwhelmingly superior forces stormed across the border from three sides and triumphantly went … nowhere.   They were soon bogged down and became the docile prey of Ukrainian drones circling above.  Nearly a month on and Russia has not yet captured a major city while suffering innumerable losses which they will not admit to on the pain of serious prison terms.   

Their lack of progress brought to mind that great SABC TV program, Going Nowhere Slowly, which aired from 2005 and featured a red 1966 Chev Impala called Chilli Pepper slowly touring South Africa and ending in many sticky situations like running out of gas. 

Perhaps Putz Putin would have done well to have watched this program before he decided to invade the largest country in Europe with his Schlock and Bore.

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Era of Hunting

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 2 Comments

Prior to the 20th century, hunting was both a sport and a source of protein. The early explorers and adventurers in the 18th and early 19th century all reported encountering huge herds of elephants and even buffaloes roaming around in the vicinity of Kragga Kamma. By the time of the arrival of the Trekboers in the mid-eighteen century, most of the large game had been exterminated except for a patch near Alexandria.

Now it was the turn of the small game to be decimated all in the name of sport.

Main picture: PE Hunt Club on Willowby Farm, now Glen Hurd, owned by George Parkin

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A SMAC in the Face #22: Clever Rhino

By Blaine McCleland in Jokes 0 Comment

*  This refers to Clever Panda which does not seem to be a copyrighted image or idea but seems to have risen organically and its paw prints are all over the web to become like a meme.

In a 23 February column in Politicsweb, Andrew Donaldson suggested that to save the Rhino from the depredations caused by the Chinese quack remedy industry, we should just reclassify them as Pandas – an eminently innovative approach.  At least the Rhino is hornier than the Panda so breeding back their numbers should be a doddle.   Andrew’s sentiment prompted today’s whimsical cartoon.

Unfortunately, the facts on the ground are not whimsy.  In the decade, 2011 to 2020, about 6800 Rhino were slaughtered at a rate of just under 2 per day.

One of the reasons for the dramatic rise of zooicidal killings, from insignificant numbers prior to 2007, was the advent to the throne by the ANC’s very own Rhino, the horny, thick-skinned and throwback Zuma who was allowed to preside over the country without adult supervision.  Replacing the successful Scorpions with the ineffectual Hawks, the general hollowing out of the Police, together with the very important division of Crime Intelligence and repurposing of the State Security for his own ends, gave carte blanche to parasitic poachers.

In general, the blame should also be laid at the door of the ANC and their brother liberation movements in neighbouring countries whom they refuse to criticise.  The steadily worsening economic conditions in the region and South Africa in particular and the concomitant increasing unemployment has led people to take desperate measures – poaching is one of those.

Many approaches have been tried – like dehorning – but with limited success.  Perhaps Andrew Donaldson is right and we have to think out the box – Priscilla has.