THINK of the word ‘icon’ and Nelson Mandela probably springs to most minds immediately.
Or, perhaps Father Christmas at this time of year.
Alas, locally, there are few – dead or alive. Maybe the late Ray Nkonyeni, after whom our municipality will soon be named, was an icon to those he knew?
Maybe my dear friend Pauline Duncan can be considered a living icon for virtually the same reasons as Ray’s claim to fame? After all, this brave, pale former mayor risked the dreaded ‘rubber necklace’ or bush knife many a time to help keep the peace in the bloody political battles that took place here in the dark years. She’s my pick for icon, but sadly many won’t know her now.
However, we do happen to be blessed with many ‘iconic’ places on the South Coast and these we should cherish with all our might.
There’s not space enough in this column to name all of them, but the ones that spring to mind are: Mac Banana, the Waffle House, Pistols Saloon, the Crayfish Inn, Wild Coast Sun, Riverbend Crocodile Farm, Leopard Rock at Oribi and other fine locations that our upcountry friends will have fond memories of after they leave to head back to the ‘big smoke’.
However, there are two ‘iconic’ spots that that could do with a helping hand.
The first is Spiller’s Wharf, made famous by the late John Spiller with his peri peri oil that now sits on supermarket shelves around the country. Tourism CEO Justin Macrory and I were pleased to see it humming when we had lunch there earlier in the week.
A lot of money, trust and effort have gone into this quaint, iconic location on the banks of the Mzimkhulu, yet it can be an absolute nightmare to get there, even if you know the directions. Our municipality really needs to come to the party here, negotiate with Transnet and open up a road linking Spiller’s directly to Port Shepstone beachfront. The benefits for all will be vast and almost immediate.
Then there’s another ‘iconic’ spot which is somewhat more controversial at the moment: The Rock, a rustic, but legendary music venue in Pumula that has seen some of the best artistes in the country perform there.
The problem is its location – The Rock is slap bang in the middle of a residential area. It was sad to see the owner panicking last Saturday after countless phone calls from people to police, complaining of the noise.
Meanwhile, an enthusiastic crowd of perfectly respectable youngsters were lapping up the performance of up-and-coming Durban band, Evade.
Nine-thirty the plug was pulled and the bar closed, the owner obviously doing her best to appease her tetchy neighbours.
It would be a sad day indeed if we should lose The Rock and one can only hope that the owners, neighbours and the powers-that-be can find some sort of compromise.
To repeat – if the coast is to continue to build on our reputation as a fun, cost-effective, family-friendly holiday destination of choice, then we need to support the existing ‘icons’ and encourage others to aspire to reach that status.
