Southern Suburbs Tatler takes a look back at the news that made headlines in 2023, reflecting on the moments worth remembering.
In January, Kelly Prowse, an 18-year-old Rustenburg Girls’ High School pupil from Constantia, was the country’s top matriculant with a 97% aggregate and eight distinctions. Kelly also scored the highest mark in the country for maths, with 100% (“Rustenburg girl is SA’s top matric pupil,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, January 26).
In February, an invasive beetle that posed a threat to trees across South Africa was found for the first time in Newlands with subsequent infestations discovered soon afterwards in Rondebosch, Mowbray and Claremont. The polyphagous shot hole borer beetle was spotted in a boxelder at a private residence in the leafy suburb (“Invasive, tree-killing beetle hits southern suburbs,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, February 2).
In March, we reported that a memorial service was held for Friends of Arderne Gardens (FOTAG) committee member Hank Lith, at the Arderne Gardens. Mr Lith died of a heart attack on New Year’s Day while on holiday in Gauteng (“Remembering Hank Lith and his green gift to a city,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, March 2).
In April, hundreds of Muslims joined people of other faiths as they broke their fast during various community iftars – an opportunity for Muslims and non-Muslims to “meet neighbours and break bread together” (“Iftar brings community together,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, April 13).
In May, Windsor High School drew flak for not immediately closing its tuck shop after it was found to have no halaal permit. This came after the Rondebosch East school hired a new catering company to serve warm meals and snacks to pupils and staff (“School tuck shop in hot water over halaal permit,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, May 4).
In June, we reported that the City had the go-ahead to evict about 30 people living on the old circus grounds in Observatory. The group, which had occupied the municipal property since 2016, asked the City to let it rent the site, but the City applied for an eviction order in 2019 so that it could reincorporate the site into the Hartleyvale sporting precinct (“City gets eviction order for Obs circus grounds,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, June 1).
In July, about 50 people from various District Six organisations held a peaceful picket at the old Tafelberg Crèche to object to it being used as a homeless shelter. They included members of the District Six Civic Association, the Upper District Six Neighbourhood Watch and the Silvertree Rugby Club. They wanted the site to be used for community recreation instead of a shelter (“D6 groups march to oppose shelter plans,“ Southern Suburbs Tatler, July 20).
In August, the City secured heritage approval for its biggest inner-city social housing development so far – around 700 units, at the old Woodstock Hospital, which is being occupied by members of Reclaim the City, a housing social movement (“Boost for inner-city social housing,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, August 3).
In September, we reported that the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court had thrown out an assault case against Rondebosch Boys’ High School rugby coach Clinton van Rensburg due to lack of evidence. He had been accused of assaulting a former SACS pupil after a rugby match between the two schools in August last year (“Court throws out assault case against coach,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, September 7).
In October, the Pinelands community mourned the death of civic leader John Berry who served Pinelands in various ways for decades. He was the chairman of the Pinelands Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association for more than 20 years. He also chaired the Pinelands Community Police Forum and the Pinelands Street Camera Project and helped Pinelands become a city improvement district (“Pinelands civic leader leaves his mark,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, October 5).
In November, the Claremont Improvement District Company (CIDC) released its third State of Claremont report, which showed that the Claremont CBD had not only rebounded from the impacts of Covid-19, but was continuing to attract new businesses, increased investment and growth (“Claremont CBD bounces back from Covid,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, November 9 ).
We ended December with an article on St Anne’s Home in Woodstock − a 119-year-old shelter for abused women and children − which is struggling to stay afloat. Board member Pat September said they needed R250 000 to meet their operational needs. The main home in Balfour Street, Woodstock, has 12 staff and currently accommodates eight women and 12 children (“Women’s shelter faces funding crunch,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, December 7).
