2018 was a heart-breaking year in our area – some of which was caused by Mother Nature and the rest by Human Nature.
The year was only 25 days old when the January storm stuck – cutting a path of devastation across Dundee. Who can forget the piles of hail in the gutters, the rows of fallen trees, the twisted bits of corrugated roofing scattered around… and the nine people who died – three children, tragically from one family.

The town also came together as one to hunt for the children. Two of their bodies were found days after the storm and the third only two months later. To see people from all communities trudging through muddy fields on a Sunday morning, in a desperate search, saddened one but also filled one with a tremendous sense of hope for our town and country. In spite of all the divides, come tragedy we can unite to overcome.

It was much the case in March when Warrant Office Juggan, his wife, Molly, and close friend, Ashok Rajoo, went missing – their police patrol van seemingly washed away by a flooded stream. Again, the town united to look for the trio. People who did not even know them volunteered to send up their private aircraft and drones to help with the search.
Like the hunt for the children, that search also ended tragically. Yet again the town was united in grief.
On the political front, 2018 was one of turmoil for the Endumeni Council. If Councillors were not walking out of meetings, officials were being suspended. Former Mayor Richard Mbatha was arrested for plotting to kill Speaker Mbatha.

The May and June riots proved just how volatile our society is – within hours, central Dundee was turned into a battlefield with burning tyres, rubber bullets and stones being thrown at cars. Shop keepers pulled down the shutters as the chaos moved around the town in sporadic bursts of fury. There was further drama when the Mayoral car was involved in an accident and was subsequently written off. It appeared as if Endumeni just could not get it right.
The arrival of Spring saw the firing of the Mayor and Speaker and the voting in, albeit controversially, of a new Mayor who was accused of betraying his party, the IFP.
Our hope in 2019 is that the intervention by the MEC to appoint an Administrator will finally bring normality back to the town – residents, battered by increases in rates, in some cases of around 120%, failing infrastructure (the potholes are only outnumbered by the dead street lights) and a perceived non-application of the by-laws, are seeking stability.

Louis Albertse JNR
It was our local schools and sportsmen and women who continued to bring us good news – Louis Albertse Jnr, the Dundee golfer who has turned professional, the feats of Steven Brown and his wrestling club always amaze as they continue to win medals around the country..
Sanele ‘The Cuts’ Mncube continues to win awards in Gauteng and elsewhere on the bodybuilding circuit, Bongani Sabelo who is a top runner with the Biggarsberg Athletics Club and who has competed with the best in the Comrades Marathon – all these and more have made us proud.
And of course it is the ‘ordinary folk’ who do extraordinary things to make living here just a bit easier.
Our pray for 2019 is that both Mother and Human Nature are kinder to Endumeni. Using that amazing spirit that we experienced in the search for the missing children and the missing trio, we can surely overcome everything what this South African society – surely one of the most diverse in the world – throws at us.
It may be clichéd, but we need to consider what we can do for our town rather than wait to be served which may never happen.
The town’s slogan is Together in Prosperity. Putting that into practice in 2019 should be our motto in the New Year.

HAVE YOUR SAY:
Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram or email us at dundee.courier@caxton.co.za.  Add us on WhatsApp 071 277 1394.