Looking back on South Coast history: October 15 to 21
From a cholera epidemic to a presidential visit, it was quite an eventful week.
The president took an interest in local affairs.
October 16
1998
“President Nelson Mandela visited Izingolweni this week for the launch of a poverty relief programme.”
There was a second chance for a seal… “A shark-bitten subantarctic fur seal made a successful re-entry into nature” but a crank telephone caller was terrifying Margate women.
On the sporting front: “Identical twins Nikki and Melissa Eaton (13) of Port Shepstone stole the show at the KwaZulu-Natal Ladies’ Interclub at Scottburgh last weekend.”
October 17
October 17, 1997: Practical Ministries director Rev Danny Chetty (left) shares a laugh with foreign peace workers Pablo Veras, Steve Williams, Rosalba Oywa, Simon Fisher and Education Department’s Justice Ngesi. pic: Herald archives
1997
“A foreign delegation is visiting Port Shepstone to learn how local peace workers are resolving the conflict.”
And it was announced that increases in council allowances in KwaZulu-Natal would be considerably less than those mooted nationally.
October 18
1991
“Two men received double death penalties this week and one man was sentenced to an effective 16 years’ imprisonment for gunning down two NPA traffic inspectors after a robbery in Port Shepstone.”
“Lack of money is preventing the repair of roads in Southern Natal after the rains of September and October.”
But not all repairs had been shelved: “A four-phase plan on the upgrading of the pier, including a new access, handrails and possible extensions, is being considered by the Margate Town Council.”
And a local industry was expanding. “With more than an acre of storage under cover and a free flow system for unloading and loading trucks, the new SA Breweries’ depot in Marburg will ensure an improved service to Southern natal customers, even at the height of the season.”
1996
“A clinic has been given to the Lions Club of Hibberdene by the Hibberdene Transitional Council. All the club needed to do was find the equipment and the staff to operate it.”
And 15 of the 42 Shobashobane families who survived the Christmas Day massacre received the keys to their newly-built houses.
October 20
1995
“Welfare services for the aged on the Lower South Coast, where 33 percent of the population is aged over 65, could collapse if last week’s White Paper on reducing subsidies is implemented.”
2000
“As the KwaZulu-Natal cholera epidemic moved southwards this week, claiming at least two lives in the Mabheleni area, inland from St Faiths, disaster management teams swung into action to contain it.”
October 21
1994
“A training exercise at the SAPS Internal Stability Unit in Port Shepstone went horribly wrong on Monday morning when a young policeman was killed and another seriously injured. The head of ISU said the accidental shooting was a ‘tragedy which is most regretted’.”
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