Nuusbrief 2 van 2011 / Newsletter 2 of 2011

		PO Box 1101 Jeffreys Bay   6330 South Africa   Posbus 1101 Jeffreysbaai   6330 Suid Afrika	(:      042 293 1405  Ê:      0866 532 363  È:      083 44 11 721		š:      info@jbayra.com  ü:      www.jbayra.com  Bank:  ABSA 1940 420 527
Jeffreys Bay Residents Association / Jeffreysbaai Inwonersvereniging
Newsletter 2 of 2011 6 August 2011 This newsletter provides an update to members on the activities of their residents association since our last newsletter in May. The membership of the organisation continues to show healthy growth.  We now have: 152 voting members 315 non-voting members 6 business members, and 532 prospects (details in database, but no membership form signed) This is a total of 1,005 individuals known to the JBRA, approximately one tenth of the total population of our area. Two very successful recruitment mornings were held in local shopping centres in May. The committee is about to launch a post office box recruitment campaign. If you are already a member, please pass the membership form in your postbox to a friend or neighbour. We are negotiating with several closed residential estates in J Bay to do a bulk registration of all their members. This saves individual estate residents the hassle of completing and delivering registration forms, and will also allow the residents of the estate to speak with one voice at JBRA meetings. Please contact the JBRA if you would like to do the same for your estate. Membership of the committee has fluctuated, with several members leaving and being replaced by new members. Details of the current committee members are on the website. Our 2nd quarter General Meeting was held on 15th June at the Newton Hall. Approximately 70 people attended this lively meeting. The address by Dries du Preez of Fountains Estate on the new low cost housing developments near Aston Bay resulted in considerable discussion. This project has been put on hold while a new Record of Decision is agreed upon by the various parties. Numerous articles by the JBRA committee have appeared in the Our Times, generally once every 2 weeks. These articles are also posted on our blog, where members are welcome to add their own comments. The website at www.jbayra.com remains our primary means of communication with residents. News items are regularly posted on the  News page. Residents are strongly urged to inspect these items from time to time, as they refer to documents or events with a direct impact on Jeffreys Bay, such as new Windfarm developments. Contact numbers under the Info tab contains the latest contact details for all the new councillors, as well as key municipal officials. The Calendar gets updated each month with upcoming municipal events and meetings. The interactive Jeffreys Bay map can be searched by street name, making it easy to find any address in J Bay (or the world, for that matter). An updated contact list for all the civic groups, churches and charities in J Bay appears under the JAG tab. The JBRA committee has met with the senior officials of the Kouga Municipality (KM) on 4 occasions. Detailed minutes of these meetings are kept and can be viewed on the website. Many issues are raised with the KM officials, but the responses can only be described as poor. Committments are seldom kept, meetings are missed without apology, and some issues are simply ducked.  While we have had some successes, much remains to be done. A useful meeting  with the new mayor, councillor Booi Koerat was held in late July. The mayor appears determined to root out incompetence and corruption within the council, and to bring good governance to our district. We will support him wholeheartedly in this endeavour, but we will also demand results in a reasonable timeframe. Following a meeting with 2 concerned JBRA members, the committee facilitated the first meeting of the "Legal Watchdog Project". The aim of this project is to ensure that the actions taken by the KM  comply with the legal requirements of the various municipal acts. For example, certain committees such as the Financial Oversight Committee are obliged to meet at least once per month, and to issue written reports. If these legal requirements are not met, the Legal Watchdog Project will raise this with the KM, the JBRA, the council, and the Province. Anyone interested in assisting with this project can contact Dr Gustav Barnard at 042 293 4224. The infrastructure in Jeffreys Bay is deteriorating at an alarming rate. Following the recent heavy rains, potholes are everywhere, sewerage overflows are common, bridges are collapsing. The cash-strapped KM is not coping well with these problems, as we are all aware. However, to address these many problems, we must first identify and list them, then allocate responsibility for them, then record when they are actually fixed. This could be a huge task. Past committees have felt this was  beyond the scope of a voluntary residents association. Fortunately some very kind people in Gauteng have developed a remarkable website called www.Mobilitate.co.za, which addresses just these problems, and have made it freely available to all South African towns and districts. The JBRA is using this website to log all the small and large infrastructure issues around our town. Any JBRA member is welcome to register on the website, view existing issues logged on the interactive map, and log their own new issues (including photos). Each time an issue is logged it is automatically referred to the appropriate councillor by email. The councillor is then expected to follow up on these issues until they are resolved, then mark them as fixed on the website. The councillors performance can be monitored, issues can be escalated, outstanding issue lists can be printed, emails can be sent, all from the Mobilitate website. The JBRA committee has been trying to arrange a meeting with the Jeffreys Bay Councillors to discuss this and other issues since the election, so far without success. As  we all have the welfare of Jeffreys Bay at heart, we expect to have these necessary discussions soon. Crimespotter is another brilliant feature on the Mobilitate website. Like the www.Gotcha.org.za site (which will be phased out in favour of Crimespotter), you can log crime incidents in J Bay as they occur on an interactive map, allowing crime patterns and realistic crime stats to be extracted. You can also log crime Alerts for crimes or incidents in progress. Mobilitate will then send an SMS to everyone registered for alerts, for free. This is ideal for alerting Blockwatch members and interested residents to any developing situation very rapidly. It could also be a key component of an effective disaster mangement system. Crimespotter also includes a blockwatch management and scheduling system, amongst other facilities. The system has been demonstrated to the head of the J Bay Blockwatch, who is very enthusiastic about using it. Anyone can register on  Crimespotter at http://gotcha.crimespotter.co.za/, log issues, log crimes and receive alerts. To control rogue registrations by email spam sources, new registrations must enter a "Captcha" code (random characters readable by a human but not by a computer), and your email address must be confirmed, by replying to a confirmation email. If you have any difficulty with the registration process, call Mobilitate direct at 012 809 3231 or Trevor Watkins on 042 293 1405 for assistance. One of the biggest challenges the JBRA faces is effective communication with the residents of J Bay. Residents seem to be extraordinarily reluctant to make their voices heard, on our blog, on our website, on Mobilitate, in emails, even in letters to the JBRA. It may be fear of publicity, or fear of technology, or fear of the authorities, or simply fear of the effort involved. The JBRA does not wish to be a one way megaphone, shouting information at the residents but rarely hearing anything in reply. To make it really easy for a 2 way conversation to occur, we have setup an email Googlegroup for the residents association. Once registered on the Googlegroup you can communicate with everyone else in the group simply by sending one email to one address(jag1@googlegroups.com). You will also receive an email every  time anyone else communicates with the group. You can  leave the group anytime you want, by selecting an option included in every email received, or you can change how often emails from the group are received (1 summary per day, 1 summary per week). Googlegroups is an ideal way to conduct an email dialogue between people sharing a common interest. Everyone can have their say, issues can be debated, past discussions can be reviewed, consensus can be developed. The JBRA will also use the googlegroup to post any important information received, such as Council notices, meetings, etc. To join our JBRA Googlegroup, visit http://groups.google.com/group/jag1 or send an email to info@jbayra.com. Every municipal ward is required by law to appoint a ward committee of 10 residents, reporting to the ward councillor. This ward committee is required to meet regularly (at least once per month), to discover issues and problems within the ward, to report these to the ward committee, and to follow up on their resolution. The ward councillor must then raise the issues identified by the ward committee at the council meetings. A small stipend may be paid to ward committee members to cover any expenses. Ward committees are generally elected at a public meeting in the ward, shortly after the municipal elections. Kouga ward committees will be selected in the very near future (dates are not yet available). Please consider whether you would like to stand for a ward committee, and who you would like to elect as members of your local committee. You can communicate with your local councillor, with the KM, or you can send an email to info@jbayra.com. The JBRA is a completely independent organisation, responsible only to the residents of Jeffreys Bay. Our boundaries extend from Woltemade Street in the south to Kabeljous in the north and the R102 in the east. Other areas in Kouga have their own ratepayers and residents associations, such as Paradise Beach and St Francis. All these residents associations share many common problems, such as dealing with the KM, rates assessments, crime, and so on. To avoid constantly re-inventing the wheel and to make best use of scarce manpower and resources, an umbrella body for residents associations in Kouga was formed, known as FEKRRA (FEderation of Kouga Ratepayers and Residents Associations). FEKRRA has been very active in tackling issues of mismanagement and corruption in the past, under the chairmanship of the late Joe Oosthuizen. Following Joe's untimely death, a new FEKRRA committee has recently been elected, with Louis Geldenhuys of  Oyster Bay as chairman and Trevor watkins of JBRA as vicechairman. You can find out more at www.fekrra.org. Jeffreys Bay is a unique, beautiful town. It is our town. It can become a thriving tourist attraction, or it can become yet another failed South African municipality. The future depends on us, the residents of J Bay. What are you doing to secure the future of your town?			Nuusbrief 2 van 2011 6 Augustus 2011 Hierdie nuusbrief dek die aktiwiteite van u Inwonersvereniging sedert die vorige brief van Mei. Ons ledetal styg steeds teen 'n gesonde tempo, soos hieronder getoon. Ons het: 152 stemgeregtigde lede 315 lede sonder stemreg 6 besigheidslede, en 532 potensiële lede indat hulle op ons databasis is maar nie 'n lidmaatskaps-vorm voltooi het nie. Die groottotaal is 1,005 persone wat op een of ander wyse met ons geassosieer is, dus een tiende van die totale inwonerstal in ons area. Twee baie suksesvolle werwingsaksies is in plaaslike winkelsenta gehou in Mei. Die komitee gaan 'n posbus werwingsaksie loots. Indien u alreeds 'n lid is, gee dan u eie posbus vorm aan 'n vriend of buurman. Ons onderhandel ook met verskeie geslote gemeenskappe in Jeffreysbaai met die doel om met 'n massa registrasie al hul lede by ons te betrek. Dit sal al die rompslomp van voltooiing en terugbesorging van vorms uitsluit. Die inwoners van die gemeenskappe kan dan met een stem praat by JBIV vergaderings. Indien u in so 'n gemeenskap bly, kontak ons asb. sodat ons u ook kan betrek. Lidmaatskap van u komitee het geskommel, met verskeie lede wat bedank het en met ander vervang is. Die details van die lede van die huidige komitee is op ons webwerf. Ons tweede kwartaalikse Algemene Vergadering is op 15 Junie in die Newton Saal gehou. Daar was ongeveer 70 mense teenwoordig by hierdie vergadering. Dries du Preez van Fountains Estate het die vergadering toegespreek oor die nuwe lae-koste behuisingsontwikkelings naby Astonbaai. 'n Lewendige reaksie was die gevolg. Die projek is tydelik opgeskort hangende 'n nuwe ooreenkoms wat bereik moet word deur die verskeie partye. 'n Groot verskeidenheid artikels deur die JBIV se komitee het in die Our Times verskyn, normaalweg een elke twee weke. Die artikels is oop nou op ons blog, en lede is welkom om hul eie kommentaar daaroor op die blog te plaas. Die webwerf, www.jbayra.com is steeds ons primêre vorm van kommunikasie met inwoners. Nuusartikels word gereeld geplaas op die Nuus gedeelte. Inwoners word aangeraai om gereeld hierdie nuus te lees en sodoende op hoogte te bly aangesien dit verwys na dokumente of gebeurtenisse wat direk vir Jeffreysbaai raak. Dit sluit projekte soos die voorgestelde Windplaas in. Kontaknommers onder die Inligtingsknoppie bevat die nuutste kontakdetails van al die nuwe raadslede, sowel as sleutel beamptes in die Munisipaliteit. Die Kalender  word elke maand opgedateer met gebeure en vergaderings in die Munispaliteit. Die interaktiewe Jeffreysbaai kaart sal u details gee van straatadresse hier te lande sowel as in die res van die land en die wêreld. Onder JAG verskyn kontakdetails van al die plaaslike groepe, kerke en liefdadigheidsverenigings. Die JBIV komitee het op vier geleenthede met senior beamptes van die Kouga Munisipaliteit vergader. Notules van die vergaderings word gehou en is ter insae op die webwerf. Vele knelpunte word op die vergaderings oorgedra aan die beamptes, met weinige reaksie. Afsprake wat gemaak word word slegs by wyse van uitsondering nagekom, met die ander wat sonder kennisgewing of verskoning vermy word. Dit behels normaalweg vergaderings wat netelige, en dus belangrike, onderwerpe moet hanteer. Ten spyte van enkele positiewe resultate, is daar nog veel te vermag. 'n Goeie vergadering wat gehou is met die nuwe burgemeester, raadslid Booi Koerat, het plaasgevind teen die einde van Julie. Die burgemeester skyn erns te hê met die uitroei van onbeholpendheid en korrupsie in die raad, en wil blykbaar goeie bestuur in ons buurt vestig. Hiermee wil ons hom heelhartig ondersteun. Ons eis egter ook dat dit moet plaasvind binne 'n redelike tyd. Na aanleiding van 'n vergadering met 2 lede van die betrokke JBRA, het die komitee die eerste vergadering van die "Legal Watchdog Project" gefasiliteer. Die doel van hierdie projek is om te verseker dat die stappe wat geneem word deur die KM in ooreenstemming is met die wetlike vereistes van die verskillende munisipale wette. As voorbeeld kan genoem word dat sekere komitees soos die Finansiële Oorsigkomitee verplig is om ten minste een keer per maand te ontmoet, en skriftelike verslae uit te reik. As hierdie wetlike vereistes nie nagekom word nie, sal die Legal Watchdog Project hierdie inligting saamvat en voorlê aan die KM, die JBRA, die raad van die muninsipaliteit, en die provinsie. Enigeen wat belangstel om te help met hierdie projek kan dr Gustav Barnard by 042 293 4224 kontak. Die infrastruktuur in Jeffreysbaai verswak teen 'n onrusbarende tempo. As gevolg van die onlangse swaar reën, het slaggate oral ontstaan, riool oorstromings is algemeen, en  brûe stort in duie.Die bankrot KM is nie in staat om die mas op te kom nie, soos ons almal weet. Om hierdie vele probleme aan te spreek, moet ons hulle eers identifiseer en op 'n lys plaas. Die verantwoordelikheid daarvoor moet toegedeel word en dan moet vasgestel word of en wanneer hulle werklik reggestel is. Dit kan 'n reuse taak wees. In die verlede het  komitees soos ons gevoel dit buite die bestek was van 'n vrywillige inwoners-vereniging. Gelukkig het 'n paar besondere mense in Gauteng 'n merkwaardige webwerf ontwerp wat hierdie taak verrig. Die webwerf se naam is www.Mobilitate.co.za, wat net vir hierdie tipe probleme ontwikkel is. Die program is vrylik beskikbaar is vir alle Suid-Afrikaanse dorpe en distrikte. Die JBRA gebruik hierdie webwerf om al die klein en groot infrastruktuur kwessies rondom ons dorp aan te meld. Enige JBRA lid is welkom om te registreer op die webwerf, om bestaande probleme wat aangemeld is op te soek op die aanlyn kaart, en om hul eie probleme aan te meld, wat fotos kan insluit. Elke keer as 'n saak is aangemeld is word dit outomaties verwys per e-pos na die betrokke raadslid. Van die raadslid word dan verwag om oor hierdie sake op te volg totdat hulle opgelos word, en dit dan af te merk op die webwerf as synde afgehandel. Die raadslede se optredes  kan dan gemeet word, uitstaande probleme kan gelys word, en e-posse vanaf die Mobilitate webwerf webwerf gestuur word. Die JBIV komitee het by verskeie geleenthede gepoog om 'n vergadering te reel met die Jeffreysbaai raadslede, sonder enige sukses. Ons verwag van hulle om, siende ons hopelik beide die welsyn van Jeffreysbaai op die hart dra, om wel die nodige besprekings en samewerking te vermag. Crimespotter is nog 'n briljante funksie op die Mobilitate webwerf. Ons www.Gotcha.org.za word uitgefaseer ten gunste van Crimespotter. Hier kan jy misdaadvoorvalle in Jeffreysbaai op 'n   interaktiewe kaart aanmeld sodat die  misdaad tendense en geloofwaardige misdaad statistieke beskikbaar raak.  Jy kan ook op Alerts misdaad of pogings daartoe aanmeld. Mobilitate sal dan gratis waarskuwings SMS aan almal wat geregistreer is daarvoor. Dit is ideaal vir die vinnige inlig van Blockwatch lede en belangstellende inwoners. Dit kan ook 'n belangrike komponent vorm van 'n effektiewe rampbestuur stelsel. Die Crimespotter program behels ook 'n blockwatch bestuur en skedulering stelsel. geriewe. Die stelsel is gedemonstreer aan die hoof van die J-Bay Blockwatch, wat is baie entoesiasties oor die gebruik daarvan. Enigeen kan op Crimespotter registreer by http://gotcha.crimespotter.co.za/, probleme en misdaad aanmeld,  en kennisgewings  ontvang. Om vals of spam registrasies per e-pos te voorkom, moet nuwe registrasies 'n "Captcha" kode (lukraak karakters wat 'n mens maar nie 'n rekenaar kan lees) gebruik, en jou e-pos adres moet bevestig word. Besonderhede op die webwerf. As jy enige probleme het met die registrasie proses, skakel Mobilitate direk by 012 809 3231 of Trevor Watkins by 042 293 1405 om hulp. Effektiewe kommunikasie met die inwoners van Jeffreysbaai is een van die grootste uitdagings wat die JBIV in die gesig staar. Inwoners skyn uiters traag te wees om te hul stemme te laat hoor op ons blog, webwerf, op Mobilitate, in e-posse, en selfs in briewe aan die JBIV. Dit kan wees vrees van publisiteit, die tegnologie, die owerhede, of eenvoudig net die vrees van die poging om betrokke te wees. Die JBIV wil in tweegesprekke tree met sy lede. Daarom het  ons 'n groep op Googlegroup vir die inwoners vereniging geregistreer. Sodra jy geregistreer is op die Googlegroup kan jy met almal in die groep kommunikeer deur bloot 'n e-pos aan jag1@googlegroups.com te stuur. Jy sal ook 'n e-pos ontvang elke keer as iemand anders kommunikeer met die groep. Daar is verdere moontlikhede, inligting op die webwerf. Googlegroups is 'n ideale manier om 'n e-pos dialoog tussen mense met 'n gemeenskaplike belang te voer. Enigeen kan hulle sê sê, dinge bespreek, vroeëre besprekings hersien en konsensus bereik. JBRA sal ook googlegroup gebruik om enige belangrike inligting soos Raadskennisgewings, vergaderings ens te plaas. Om aan te sluit by ons JBRA Googlegroup stuur 'n e-pos aan info@jbayra.com of, besoek http://groups.google.com/group/jag1. Die wet vereis dat elke munisipale wyk 'n wykskomitee van 10 inwoners moet aanstel. Hierdie komitee doen  verslag aan die wyksraadslid. Hierdie wykskomitee moet gereeld bymekaarkom (ten minste een keer per maand), om kwessies en probleme in die wyk te vind, om dit te rapporteer aan die wykskomitee, en om op te volg dat die problem opgelos word. Die wyksraadslid moet dan hierdie probleme by die raadsvergaderings opper. 'n Klein toelae mag betaal word om komiteelede se uitgawes te dek. Wykskomitees is oor die algemeen kort ná die munisipale verkiesings.verkies op 'n openbare vergadering in die wyk. Kouga wykskomitees sal in die baie nabye toekoms gekies word (datums is nog nie beskikbaar nie). Oorweeg dit asseblief om te staan ​​vir 'n wykskomitee, asook wie jy verkies as lede van jou plaaslike komitee. Jy kan kommunikeer met jou plaaslike raadslid, met die KM, of jy kan 'n e-pos te info@jbayra.com stuur. Die JBRA is 'n onafhanklike organisasie, wat verantwoordelik is vir die inwoners van Jeffreysbaai. Ons grense strek van Woltemade straat in die suide tot Kabeljous in die noorde en die R102 in die ooste. Ander gebiede in die Kouga het hul eie belastingbetalers en inwoners verenigings, soos Paradise Beach en St Francis. Al hierdie inwoners verenigings deel baie algemene probleme, soos die hantering van die KM, munisipale fooie, misdaad, ens. Om voortdurend die wiel wee riot te vind is swak gebruik van skaars mannekrag en hulpbronne. Daar is dus 'n oorkoepelende liggaam vir die inwoners verenigings in Kouga gevorm, bekend as FEKRRA (Federasie van die Kouga-belastingbetalers en inwoners Verenigings). FEKRRA was in die verlede baie aktief in die aanspreek van probleme van wanbestuur en korrupsie, terwyl dit onder die voorsitterskap van wyle Joe Oosthuizen was. As gevolg van Joe se ontydige dood, is daar onlangs 'n nuwe FEKRRA komitee verkies met Louis Geldenhuys van Oesterbaai as voorsitter en Trevor Watkins van JBRA as vise-voorsitter. Jy kan meer oor Fekra leer by www.fekrra.org. Jeffreysbaai is 'n unieke, pragtige dorp. Dit is ons dorp. Dit kan weer 'n florerende toeriste-aantreklikheid word, of dit kan verval in nog 'n mislukte Suid-Afrikaanse munisipaliteit. Die toekoms hang af van ons, die inwoners van Jeffreysbaai, af. Wat doen jy om vir die toekoms van jou dorp te verseker? Kom ons staan saam vir die beter opsie.