News roundup: The good and the bad of 2018
A number of NGOs, such as Rotary, Round Table and the Lions, continue to help the needy and the disadvantaged.
There was plenty happening in Boksburg in 2018 and the Advertiser was on hand to share the news as it happened and as it impacted the community.
It was a year of good news and plenty of negative reports as well, as Boksburg continued to be rocked by constant crime, be it murder, housebreak-ins, robberies or theft.
One such shocking story was of the 13-month old missing Brackendowns baby, abducted on May 2, who was found in a home in Windmill Park.
A pending case that runs over to 2019 is of the Cinderella woman, Hildegard Steenkamp, who is accused of defrauding her former employer, a medical equipment company, of over R460-million.
There was also other moments of shock and horror, as when a fire blazed through Retail Park in July, damaging numerous stores.
At the end of November, numerous vehicles were set alight and about eight people injured when a group of protesters struck in Jet Park. The violent strike action concerning the plastics industry swept throughout several cities on the East Rand, including Benoni, Kempton Park and Spring.
In 2018, the Leeuwpoort housing development project rolled ahead, even though it was temporarily halted by members of Military Veterans and a group called Amalgamated Business Forum.
The mega housing development was stalled for weeks. These two groups reportedly stormed the construction site and threatened workers, demanding that when contractors are awarded a tender, by law that 30 per cent must go back to the community but they are failing to do so.
Good news, however, was that phase three of the Boksburg Lake development project was completed. This forms part of the multi-million rand development project aimed at giving the lake and its surroundings a facelift.
The entire project started with the renovation of the boathouse that was revamped at a cost of about R4-m, a couple of years ago. No further progress was, however, made to remediate the body of water.
Community involvement
Boksburg again hosted the Cansa Relay for Life, held annually, which shows support for those impacted by cancer.
In 2019 the relay will be held at the Boksburg Stadium, and the Advertiser backs this project, just as we continue to back every group and organisation that takes a stand against cancer.
Good news is that Boksburg again celebrated community empowerment occasions such as the Mandela Day, the Shavathon, Cupcakes of Hope and the Cansa Relay for Life.
Constant support for the SPCA in 2018 has again shown the willingness of the community to lend a helping hand, which was also evident during the Cape Town water crisis. The many sick children are in desperate need of medical care.
Service delivery woes
There were also plenty of complaints regarding service delivery, be it water leaks, potholes or electricity outages.
Such service delivery issues, towards the end of the year, focused especially on a lack of electricity in townships and informal settlements.
Reiger Park, Delmore and Joe Slovo, witnessed constant protest actions, with communities blaming each other for outages and the local government for poor services while illegal connections become the norm to survive.
Another story of shocking service delivery is that of Scribante Haven in Cason.
All indications are that the elderly will be battling to use the flights of stairs at Scribante for the early part of 2019.
The Advertiser has on several times in 2018 reported of the broken lifts at Scribante. Along the way, the metro promised, many times, that new lifts would be installed, with the set time being constantly extended.
Eventually, it was revealed that the contract to install the lifts expired on June 30. There was, however, no indication of the lapsing of the contract during September when the Advertiser reported it was promised the lifts would be available at the end of October, and installations would be finalised by mid-December.
Talking about shocking government service delivery, consider the story of Wayne Clark. It cost him over R500, two days off work, and a visit to a “very dodgy” doctor, for a medical certificate to get restrictions for an artificial limb and contact lenses removed before he could get a temporary driver’s licence.
Yes, somehow the government added three restrictions to Clark’s learner’s licence – contact lenses, artificial limb and glasses. At least he needed glasses when driving, but then somehow an artificial limb also got added.
Artists and performers
The Advertiser conducted numerous interesting interviews with those in the artistic field. These include authors Elaine Macdonald and Erika Bester.
Macdonald is predominately known as an author, scriptwriter and children’s television presenter in South Africa.
Her latest work as an author was I See an Elephant, which was published by Penguin Random House in 2018.
Bester, or better known by her pen name, Kristin Ping, has lived in Sunward Park for the past six years. She has found enormous success by publishing directly on Amazon.
She also made the USA Today Best-Selling Books Top 150 list for August.
The Advertiser also met up with Sunward Park resident, Dr Gavin Moore, who is writing a book about different types of mummies from around the world.
The 54-year-old multi-talented doctor has a love for adventure and has climbed the Kilimanjaro Mountain, dived in the Red Sea and visited the Amazon jungle.
And then there is Zijn-Rudolph van Zyl, who is a young performing artist who is quickly making his mark in the entertainment industry.
He creates and takes part in wonderful new artistic projects. Today he is known for his killer solo performances with dramatic fashion statements.
Little Arts Live Theatre’s owner, Louw Breytenbach, in 2018 travelled to America for an internship to teach and also learn about American performing arts at theatres and drama camps during July.
He is now ready to share his insights with the Boksburg community, with plans afoot to launch a theatre exchange programme.
The Boksburg Creative Art Centre’s Penguin Room reopened in 2018. The centre hosted an exhibition called Loving Vincent. It proved to be a new chapter for the Penguin Room as it was filled with beautiful art, music, artists and their guests.
The Advertiser spoke to Bartlett artist, Heydee Breganski, who enjoyed a solo exhibition of her work at a gallery in Parkhurst. Breganski’s work is inspired by places she has experienced and which are ingrained in her.
Then there is Peter Fortuin, who has delved into the world of art with great success. He recently made his name as a portrait painter by creating artworks depicting politicians and several public figures, from the comfort of his home in Reiger Park.
One interesting organisation birthed in Boksburg is AmAfrikan, which showcases the very best in African designer products, driving entrepreneurship and growing the industry locally and around the world.
About 30 per cent of AmAfrikan artwork comes from the East Rand.
On the music front, the Advertiser spoke to André van Wyngaardt, who is a singer, songwriter, composer, and and artistic painter and lives in Ravenswood.
Medical negligence
The Advertiser reported on shocking stories in 2018 regarding botched operations and shocking medical treatments.
In one such case, the Advertiser reported on a horror story which unfolded at two government hospitals, affecting the same patient.
Boksburg paramedic Peter Andrew Brink, also known as Andy, witnessed three of his own toes amputated, and without apparently receiving proper medical care, had no other option but to have his right leg amputated just below the knee.
Less than a month later Andy died, a couple of days after a further amputation.
During April, the Advertiser ran a print exclusive story of Rechael Tamine, who was ready to welcome identical twin daughters into the world.
But her beautiful family were left incomplete and heartbroken after the twins were born at 27 weeks and then, according to the mother, left to die at Tambo Memorial Hospital.
After a long battle, a nurse agreed to sign an admission of guilt about incorrectly stating the cause of death and Rechael was then able to bury her babies.
Then there was the story of Jageleen Hermanus, who claimed that health workers had left a needle inside her body while receiving kidney stone treatment at Tambo Memorial Hospital.
A day after she was discharged from the hospital, Hermanus says she began experiencing pain, feeling like she was being prickled by something inside her right upper arm.
Eventually, after much strife and toil in discovering the root of the pain, a surgeon was called to perform medical operations and remove the needle.
In 2018 it again became apparent that Boksburg urgently needs a state-of-the-art hospital. A DA oversight visit to the hospital confirmed that critical daily maintenance is keeping alive one of the oldest state hospitals in Gauteng.
It will cost an estimated R800-million to replace the current building.
Success stories
2018 was not all doom and gloom.
The Advertiser learned, for example, about young entrepreneur Tshepo Sedumo from Atlasville.
This entrepreneur has created his unique and stylish boomboxes with genuine wood, speakers, batteries, wiring, amplifiers and LED lights.
Then there is the good news story of young farmer Njabulo Mzolo who does his agricultural activities from the comfort of his home in Villa Liza.
A success story of note is the Dawn Park production, Thesha (street slang for “work”), which won the Best International Web Series category at the Vancouver Web Fest in Canada and also won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the Die Seriale Festival held in Giessen, Germany.
On an education front, the Boksburg Correctional Services launched a school for juveniles. The school is called Tari Liswa (New Leaf) High School for Grade 10 to 12 juveniles.
