Ja, Well, No, Fine the authorities

By Trevor Watkins, Chairman Jeffreys Bay Residents Association 

When the authorities wish to discipline their citizens for some action or omission, they usually start by issuing a fine.  This is meant to remind you that you have done wrong, that you are being punished, and that if you do wrong again, you will be punished again.  Given the enthusiasm with which the authorities fine their citizens for every imaginable type of transgression, this system works well for them.

If you forget to brake going down the hill into Humansdorp you might get a R500 fine. If you forget your ID book and drivers license when you pop out for a loaf of bread, that could cost you R200. If your dog makes a tiny little mess on the beach, that could cost you R300. As I am sure we have all heard the official smugly informing us, “I’m just doing my job. I don’t care what your excuses are. Sign here to acknowledge your guilt please.”

If your brake light on your car has burnt out and you get stopped, then you will get a big fine. If you go out in the same car tomorrow and get stopped again, you will get another big fine.  Every citizen is subject to a possible fine every day. The authorities make an absolute fortune out of  our inability to keep up with every little rule and regulation that we are supposed to know.  It is just another tax upon the already over-taxed citizens.

So, why can’t we, as residents, fine the authorities when they mess up? When their incompetence turns our roads into deathtraps, when they fail to produce the correct documentation at the correct time, when they allow tons of sewage to spill onto our beaches, why can we not just “Do our jobs” and fine them for every transgression?  If I see a large pothole on a municipal road, why don’t I issue a fine against the municipality for every day that the pothole remains unfixed? If I see raw sewage in a pool on the beach because the municipality did not maintain its pumps adequately, why do I not issue the municipality with a huge fine for every day that the sewage remains? And since this problem affects every citizen who wanders down to the beach, why not let every citizen issue a fine to the municipality? After all, they have no problem issuing a fine to every citizen whose dog wanders onto the beach.

Of course, if we held the authorities to the same standards as they hold us, they would quickly go bankrupt due to their incompetence. Its okay for them to hold a business to a high standard of hygiene, for example, but don’t expect themselves to be held to the same standard. It would be a bureaucratic nightmare, they say. It could never work.  Actually, its really quite simple. The municipality does not need to pay out any cash to its citizens, and it does not even need to keep a record of fines issued against it. We will keep a public record of fines against the municipality, and the amount of the fines will be deducted from any fines owed TO the municipality by citizens and residents. In other words, any traffic fine or municipal fine against you can be set off against any fine you have levied against the municipality.  Good plan? Sure. Would the authorities agree to it? Never – its not in their interests.  We are the sheep to be shaved, not them.

At least we can do one side of this arrangement. The Jeffreys Bay Residents Association has setup a page on their website at https://sites.google.com/a/jbayra.com/jbayra/opinions-menings/municipal-fines

Where anyone can add an incident to the database and assess a fine against the municipality.  You can also view all the fines assessed by other residents so far. 

Make your anger and indignation at the shabby way you are treated by the authorities heard. Fine them, again and again, for every act and omission they are responsible for.

The ongoing tragedy of Dolphin Beach

I like to swim in the sea on Dolphin Beach everyday, weather permitting.  For me, it is one of the major perks of staying in this pretty coastal town. This beach is the foundation of the tourist trade in Jeffreys Bay.  It alone is the reason why thousands of holidaymakers visit us each year, and why they don’t visit Gamtoos Mouth, or Humansdorp, or Hankey in the same numbers. Together with the perfect break at Supertubes, the pristine sand and beautiful waves at main beach are our single greatest asset, and yet our civic leaders are allowing this resource to rot before our eyes.

The beach is filthy. Broken glass and plastic bags litter the beach. Although there are always council staff lounging around, no one is cleaning the beach. Visitors must carefully pick their way through the infested sand, over the collapsed concrete paving, past the disconnected showers, around the pools of waste water.  Stupidly placed waste water outlets gouge holes in the sand every time it rains, right under the main steps down onto the beach.  Failed pumps allow great dams of raw sewage to pollute the beach near the Ski boat club.  Our premier asset has to be closed to avoid poisoning our visitors and ourselves. Should we be surprised if these visitors never return?

 

Our beautiful beach, widely acknowledged as one of the best in the country, has lost its blue flag status. How many overseas visitors, surfing the internet for blue flag beaches to visit, never discover Jeffreys Bay because it isn’t there on the list. What is the cost to our economy of the visitors who never came? How many more became unemployed because there were no visitors to service?   Is the council doing all it can to recover our blue flag status? Is it cleaning up the beach after every minor storm? Is it repairing the damage done by its own badly situated stormwater drains? Is it containing the sewage leaks, repairing the infrastructure, investing in our single greatest asset? Or is it refurbishing the mayor’s office?

The following information is extracted from a letter from WESSA (the blue flag coordinator) to the Kouga Municipality (KM):

·         The South African National Blue Flag jury meets on 1^st July 2012.

·         WESSA would probably conduct a completion inspection by 1 September 2011.  

·         By this time KM must have replaced the two inadequate pumps with two larger capacity pumps to handle the December and Easter peak sewage flow.

·         Full blue flag status will not be awarded if the new pumps have not been replaced and are not fully operational by 1 October 2011. 

·         WESSA would probably adopt the same measure as in this past season in that any Blue Flag status shall be immediately withdrawn for the rest of the season if a sewage spill occurs during the season.  This would be for any reason besides factors beyond municipal control, such as lengthy regional power-outage.

·         If the pumps cannot be replaced by October 2011, Kouga Municipality is advised that the SA National Blue Flag Jury would probably not be in favour of granting pilot status, due to risks of further sewage spills and negative publicity to the Blue Flag programme and to the Kouga Municipality.

In summary – Jeffreys Bay has until 1 September 2011 to get its act together, to install adequate pumps to control sewage flow, to tidy up main beach, and to attempt to regain our coveted Blue Flag Status. Failure to do so will be disastrous.