Mouse at Play

The Editor is away… gallivanting in the Richtersveld and neglecting his Grandpa duties… but not without leaving stern instructions for the News Editor (me) to write his Two Bits column for him while he’s away. Now these are big shoes to fill (13s to be exact)!
Working with my father in the newspaper he established 31 years ago has been the greatest privilege of my life to date. He has wisdom that only years of experience will give you and a keen understanding of how people tick. He cares deeply for the community our newspaper serves and has toiled long and hard to make it into the newspaper it is today.
***
The weekend before last was glorious. I took my 16-month-old son, Daniël to the beach with our two manic, beach-crazed pointers. The sun was out, the sea was sparkling, everything was perfect. Well, only because with extreme will power I blocked out the beer cans, plastic bottles, bait boxes, cigarette butts and sardine heads that littered the beach as far as my eyes could see. So with my hand firmly on Daniel we navigated our way through the rubbish minefield to make our way to the sea.
Now because I had Maximus and Flash with me I had very few options. Of these, Zimbali beach (next to Salmon Bay) is usually my choice because it’s the closest. This beach is a favourite with dog walkers and fishermen and Flash is fishing crazy. She makes a beeline for the closest fisherman and assume a rigid ‘on point’ position for most of our stay. The hounds wolf down every bit of discarded bait they find… There’s a handy fishing line disposal box mounted on the stairs as you are leaving the beach, which doesn’t seem to get much use.
Not exactly the picture I would like to paint for any potential holidaymakers we would all like to see lounging on the ‘pearl of the North Coast’.
But who is responsible for keeping our beaches clean? My fear is that this particular beach gets forgotten. It’s on the edge of Ballito and has three access points, one from Ballito, to the south Zimbali’s residents and guests from the very luxurious ‘beach pool’ and finally at the Tongaat River Mouth. So is it Zimbali’s responsibility, KwaDukuza municipality’s or the new UIP? I put the question to them.
Zimbali said while it isn’t their responsibility they do employ cleaners to sweep a stretch of beach about 5km long from their main access point at the beach pool. So possibly Zimbali’s crew doesn’t reach that far. The Ballito UIP precinct manager Thierry Leclezio said yes this beach was on the list for both them and KwaDukuza to clean. He said they clean from Willard Beach to the beach at Falk le Roux Lane (Zimbali beach) but that on weekends they only have a skeleton staff on duty. The UIP’s role is to supplement KwaDukuza cleaning service, who are the main guys responsible for the cleaning. KwaDukuza didn’t respond to my query.
Of course the real responsibility lies with all of us. The saying goes, ‘no grit, no pearl’. Well, I think we need to get our grit together. Let’s follow the example of Nicole Grobbler. This seven-year-old Salt Rock child inspired me with her determination to right the wrongs of others. After watching the short YouTube clip ‘All the way to the Ocean’ on how we are filling our ocean with plastic she decided to do something about it. She got her friends and their mums together and booked a Saturday morning to clean up Sheffield Beach. Following her example, barring bad weather Daniël and I will be on Zimbali beach this Saturday at 8am armed with black bags and gloves. Join us!
***
When I asked my dad for advice on column writing he said “just end with a joke”. So here goes…
Van’s two 18-year-old twin daughters Hettie and Betty are helping Ma van der Merwe redecorate. They’re about to paint a bedroom when Ma sticks her head round the door and tells them not to get any paint on their dresses. So the girls decide to paint the room in the nude. Some time later there’s a knock on the door.
“Who’s there?”, asks Hettie.
“Blind man,” comes the answer.
The girls look at each other and decide it can do no harm to let him in. Betty opens the door and in walks a bloke with a bundle under his arm. “Nice boobs,” says the guy.
“Where do you want the blinds?”