It was good, the other night, to see loads of familiar faces that we haven’t seen in ages. Just because Ballito has become so damned big.

The latest trick to get us out of our houses and be sociable is StorySlam, brought to our neck of the woods by Brettenwood mover and shaker Karen Doveton. It’s a craze around the world, apparently, and aims at bringing a community together through shared stories. (It’s a new take on what the Courier has been doing for the past 39 years!).

Karen hit on this as a way to raise funds for a scholarship drive she started last year. So, in the first event of 2025 she invited five members of the community to come to a restaurant venue in New Salt Rock City and speak for five minutes each on the subject New Beginnings.

Well, word got around and the place was packed. Old faces we haven’t seen for years and years were there for the talks and supper. Time was, long ago, when we’d all see one another almost daily around the shops or on the beach, in the pub. And sometimes in the gutter. But time has moved on and we’re not so sprightly anymore. Spend far too much time in front of the television.

I blame the estates. As people have moved into the estates, so they spend their whole lives there behind high walls. The motorcycle gangs of Sixty/60 and others have been far too successful in stopping the community from going to the supermarkets. As a result, we don’t see one another anymore. It’s sad. We need to get out and talk and laugh and recall those times we had a good time together.

StorySlam did a good job of that. There’s a five-minute time limit on each speaker, which is a good thing. While five minutes might seem an eternity for someone who isn’t used to public speaking, it stops other more confident types from rambling on and boring everyone to tears.

The stories that night were a good mix. Everyone has had a new start sometime in their life – sometimes through tragedy, sometimes through adventure, other times by chance. The five stories were a mix of tentative, sad, uplifting and amusing. Not a bad package of entertainment for a small donation and supper.

Bring on the next one, Karen! Details on Facebook and Instagram.

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An employee of ours who lives in Melville has not had water from iLembe since October 2023. She told the municipality at the time, and their response was that they were trying to fix the problem.

Fifteen months later, she receives a demand for R9 892.52 (but, confusingly, the bill later changed to R6 749.19 and finally to R7 054.95). So she went to iLembe and said “But I have not had water since 2023.” Their response? “You have to pay availability and for having the meter.”

What!! Expecting someone to pay availability for something that isn’t there? To add insult to injury is their complete indifference to her plight. And I doubt she is the only victim of iLembe incompetence. See the full story elsewhere in this issue.

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Are you sweating whilst putting petrol in your car and feeling sick when paying for it?

You have got the carownervirus.

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