Join us for the 50th anniversary of the Rooiels Ratepayers' Association and the launch of Breeze 2022 on 18 December 2022 at 18:00 PM at Gossip Corner. Limited seats are available, so secure yours directly with the restaurant. The price of R150 includes a welcome drink and a divine short-rib main course.

Additional drinks and dessert menus are available. Attendees will receive their copy of Breeze 2022 at the event.  
Contact details to make bookings at Gossip Corner:
Telephone number: 076 853 2955 Email: [email protected] Website: gossipcorner.co.za
Address: 5 Anemone Street, Rooiels

Dear fellow Rooielsers,

This is the feedback from the Kleinmond Police Joint Operations Committee (JOCOM) meeting on Monday, 28 November 2022.

Crime numbers remain relatively low. This reflects the seasonal crime patterns, which often involve aggression.  Aggressive behaviour also accompanied the business robberies in Kleinmond and Betty’s Bay in the days before the current two-week reporting period.
 
Rooiels and Pringle Bay did not report any cases for this period, while Betty’s Bay reported a few burglaries and drug-related incidents. Most of the crime was centred around Kleinmond and included burglary, arson, assault, general theft, drug-related crimes, and gender-based violence.
 
Reports indicate that most burglaries and theft occur during the day, with roughly a third of incidents occurring at night.
 
SAPS arrested several suspects in all categories.  They successfully used the available licence plate recognition (LPR) camera system to track a vehicle and arrest the culprits. The station commander secured resources to increase visible policing and emphasised the importance of collaboration between all neighbourhood watches and security agencies for successful crime prevention. SAPS appeal to everyone to be vigilant.
 
Child & Family Welfare offices sadly fell victim to arson with their offices severely damaged. Rapid action by the community led to the arrest of two suspects.
They reported a significant increase in children being abandoned. The Child and Youth Care Centre is at capacity and registration for additional capacity is a complex matter.  There is a pressing need for temporary carers, especially for infants.
 
The Sixteen days of activism started on 25 November with a special event for individuals affected by Gender-based violence. Joint efforts of SAPS, Child & Family Welfare, CPF and other care facilities will host several events to raise awareness of the areas that are most in need.
 
The annual Visible Policing drive-through plan is being finalised – another collaboration effort of SAPS, Overstrand Municipality response departments, neighbourhood watches, and security agencies. Details of the event will be communicated through the various Community Policing Forum (CPF) member channels.
 
The Community Policing Forum (CPF) announced that the Hangklip-Kleinmond Community Police Forum Facebook page will soon be revised and will be the formal channel of communication with the community. 
 
The Kleinmond Festive lights will be switched on by the mayor, Annelie Rabie, on Wednesday 9 December 2022 at 20:00.

Please report all incidents immediately to SAPS, your security agency, and your neighbourhood watch to initiate the required activities.

ASK Control room

• Local     028 125 0050
• Cellular 073 781 8583

SAPS 

• Local      028 271 8200  (now, with power backup during load-shedding)
• Cellular  082 443 6069  (for when the normal line is down)
  
  

Take care!

The Budget priority submissions for priorities 6-10 were made to the Ward Councillor.  Download attached the full list for the Ward and here is the list for Rooiels specifically.  The first 5 priorities were decided by public meetings held at Crassula Hall Betty's Bay and with the Overhills community

​Ward Feedback Bulletin October 2022 – Budget – Fynbos Threat – Baboons - Services
 
Empty Erven Plot Clearing Policy
The Overstrand Municipality has passed a Policy that requires all empty erven to be maintained at 50cm – which means cutting all the fybos even lower.  Can you imagine the destruction of all our proteas, guarri bushes, bitou and to the pollinators and animals that rely on it?  See details of the objections made by many experts and our neighbouring villages.  This is a serious indictment of lack of care for the environment that underpins the economy of the Overstrand and for our legacy and the importance of biodiversity globally.
 
IDP and the Budget
The joint and separate meetings for Wards 9 and 10 have revolved specifically around the IDP and in particular around the Budget.  The most recent meeting was a public meeting held in the Crassula Hall on October 25th which was attended by your Ward representative and several Rooiels ratepayers.
 
Overhills, Betty’s Bay, Pringle Bay and Rooiels have all grown considerably since the last IDP and there is not enough equipment or staff to cope with this growth.  Furthermore the equipment is old and constantly needing to go for repair.  It was, therefore, agreed that improving the ability of Kleinmond Overstrand Municpality to service ratepayers is going to be the main priority for the IDP. 
 
The meeting was asked to name their top 5 priorities and they selected:

• Water pipe replacement, maintenance and response to breakages
• Roads, paving and maintenance,  Stormdrains and streetsigns
• Waste management including sewerage
• Kleinmond Equipment upgrade
• Environment – invasive alien removal, education, and some other specific tasks for funding to be put forward by Bettys Bay Conservancy on behalf of all Ward 10

 
Then in addition there were other aspects that were considered important by different villages – including:  Recreational facilities in Overhills and Mooiutsig, Taxi Rank/shelters, new Bettys Bay Fire depot, and various others. 
For Rooiels we requested the process be put in place for the Rooiels Nature Reserve Protection and for the Rooiels Conservation Overlay to help conserve our biodiversity and the character of the village for the future.
 
We have not yet received from the Councillor the final priority list that will be put forward. 
 
Baboon matters
On 18th October a public meeting was held by the Mayor in Kleinmond to discuss baboon management in the forthcoming IDP.  The meeting was attended by ratepayers from Kleinmond, Betty’s Bay, Pringle Bay and Rooiels.  There was a mix of people attending who were at polar extremes of people who enjoyed living with the baboons in the area and others who wanted them removed.  It was agreed that the present monitoring system has not worked.  Baboons were not kept out of the CBDs and incidents have increased. There was a strong preference expressed for community managed systems to avoid a system that is very bad for the baboons and for community relationships and cohesion. 
 
It was suggested that individual meetings would be held in the different villages to assess the best way forward.  Indication was given that there might be budget allocated to some communities to support their own efforts at management.  At the public Ward meeting on 25th October, Councillor Els indicated that this budget would not be sourced out of the Ward budget but would be from a separate account and was to be discussed separately.  The notice of meetings for each of the villages was placed on the Rooiels Communications WhatsApp on 29 October.  The meeting for Rooiels will be held on 17th November at the Pringle Bay Community Hall.  The Notice is available on the Rooiels relevant OM documents blog on the website.
 
The experiment with monitors trying to keep baboons out of the villages has been a disaster for the baboon troops, as it separates them from the coastal fynbos and shoreline foraging that is important to their diets.  This means that when they do escape the monitors they go for the quickest rewards which is usually the houses, that in turn means that despite, or perhaps because of, the monitors there have been far more incursions and baboon incidents in these villages since monitoring began.  Baboons are important to biodiversity and to the ecosystem in this area.  People have now taken up most of the coastal lowlands that baboons in this area need to access, and the fynbos needs the baboons.  We must find a way to continue to co-exist or accept that our villages become just seaside holiday towns and not villages living with nature as part of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve.  The Mayor agreed that it would be possible to ensure that when ratepayers sign up to register for municipal servicers, they are given a form that acknowledges the special regulations applying in this Biosphere.  She referred to a similar form she had been required to sign in Prince Albert.
 
Service issues
The roads have been graded but unfortunately there are still problems accessing the storm water drainage equipment.  Betty’s Bay still have streets that are a quagmire and the equipment keeps breaking down.  We have been assured that the Budget held over specifically for Rooiels is still being kept for Rooiels. 
 
To assist our security people, please can we ask each Rooielser to keep the road signs in the area around them clear of grass so they can be seen better – we are scheduled to have the roadsigns repainted in green when they have completed Betty’s Bay.
 
Nature all around us
A few fortunate people have seen the otters, our birds are all busy nesting and raising their young and while visits have been fewer – please see the video of the latest visit from “Diego” the leopard male that comes around from time to time.  Leopard Camera Blog
 
 
Yours sincerely,
RERA Exco