People’s Post Grassy Park/Retreat E-edition 14 July 2026
KEANAN HARMSE KEANAN.HARMSE@NOVUSMEDIA.CO.ZA
The Princess Vlei Forum(PVF) is partnering with theCityofCape Town to explorethe installation of Closed CircuitTelevision(CCTV)cameras in Princess Vlei afterone of thefootbridgeswas vandalised just weeksafter thefacilityopenedtothe public.
TheForum expresseddeep disappointment over theincident, describing it as an attack on
acommunity assetthathas alreadybecomea populardestination forthousands of residents. Sinceopening,the 4,23km trailhas provided residentswitha safe,scenicspace to walk,exercise andconnect with nature
ResidentsofGrassy Park andthe Princess Vlei Forum(PVF),who fought formorethana decade to preserve Princess Vlei from aproposed shopping mall development, celebrated the launch of thePrincessVleitrail afterthe ribbon wascut on Wednesday10June(“VleiTrail Park launched”, People’s Post,16June)
AccordingtoPVF chairBridget Pitt, thetheft of thewooden bridge slatswas notsimplyan actofvandalism buta loss forthe entire com-
munity
“Thisisanact of theftand destructionagainst thecommunity,” shesaid.
“Those whodid this arestealingfromthe people of Grassy Park,Lotus River, Lavender Hill, Retreat, Elfindaleand beyond.Someone must know whodid this –itwas nota simple operation. We urge anyone with informationto come forward.”
Thevandalism occurredonlythree weeksafter theofficial openingofthe R10,2million development,which includes boardwalks,bridges, seatingareas,restoredfynbosand upgraded public facilities
City rangersreportedlyinterrupted suspects
removing wooden slatsfromone of thebridges on Tuesday30June, causingthemto flee and abandonthe stolen timber
come alongand support theevent becausethe feedingprogramme makesa huge difference forour kids.”
Williamschallenged other schoolstoenter andensurethe eventisa success.
“Wealsoencourage thelearners andtheir parentstotakepart. We call on thecommunity to support Blisters forBread,it’sa fun event andthe benefitisthe satisfaction of knowingyou have done something worthwhile.”
forBread my family he eventin antpeopleto
Participants canchoosebetween a10kmwalkstartingat07:30 and a5km walk starting at 08:00.
Entriesare limitedto10000 participants,and registrations closeatmidnightonSunday2 August.Onlyonlineentries will be accepted
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engagementsour International RelationsDirectorate initiated with affectedforeign missions,” he said AliSablay, Gift of theGivers spokesperson,saidthe organisation sawtothe humanitarian needsofthe thousandsofpeople. He said theirteamprovideddaily hotmeals, bottled water, toiletries, baby care packsand otheritems they required “Weconstructed shelters for theinclement weather, especially forthe womenand children and teamsassisteduntil thelastpeople were putonthe busand takento Musina Repatriation Centre
“The organisation also provided them with snackpacks…wenever left untilthe last person wason thebus.”
oudoursociety
melody andsoundslikea prayer or plea for understandingina time of senselessbloodshed During thewar,despite thenewsreports commentingonthe latest batchofdeathsand destruction, many youngmen were draftedand sent in droves like bullets in an assembly line Tragically thesonghas become an idyllic lament fora societywhere we canall respect andcarefor each otherregardlessofskin colour,culture or creed.Civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jnr, whopreachedpeace andnon-violenceinhis questto fightracesegregation andinequality, wasassassinatedalong with MalcolmX
As if thecallfor basicdignity andequal rights is so outrageous it couldleadtodeath Even musicallegendBob Marley whose protestsongs supported peace, freedom and “One Love”, wasshotbut survived apolitically motivatedassassination attemptahead of the 1976 generalelectioninJamaica
Thesedaysapathyand cynicism have become apopular camouflagetoendurethe widespread hate,violence, intoleranceand propa- ganda infiltrating ourpsyches wherever we go
Whetherdoom-scrolling on ourcellphones, listeningtothe news on ourcar-radiosoreven stopping fora quickcatch-upatwork, we’re flooded with thelatesttragicnews. Once againwe’ll hear aboutthe latest airmissile strike in theMiddleEast, theprice of petrol andgoodsskyrocketingagain,the unrestricted plagiarism of AI models regurgitatingartworks andvoices, allfor thesakeofprofit. Prideand prejudiceseemstocloud our societyevenmoresothese days,while these algorithms,these heartlesssystems capitalise andadvertise on anycontent that canshackle theviewers in an endlessloop that keepstheir profits high andour attentionspans low. Andso“Imagine”,a song of hope,remains more relevant than ever in 2026 they feed anyofour easlike Philippi and They take he morning school there efor them.” impact of firsthand, ecomtheannual
Ahistoric local young
HHSvolleyballergetsWPcolours
KEANANHARMSE
Atalented youngvolleyballplayer from HeathfieldHighSchool,AyabongaBerry,was lookingforward to making hiscommunity proudwhile he representedthe WesternCapeatthe Volleyball SouthAfrica(VSA) Inter-ProvincialTournament(IPT)
Thetournament, that took placeinJohannesburgfromWednesday 8JulytoSaturday11 July,was hosted by theVolleyballSouth Africa andthe GautengVolleyballUnion (GVU).
Theprovince fieldedfourteams (u-19boys, u-19 girls, senior menand senior women) at the Wits University venues Regionally theassociationroutinely hosts localindoorand beachevents, includingvarious legs of theWCVAtourand junior trials around localvenuesinBelharand CampsBay Ayabonga,a middleblocker,alsorepresents LotusLions VolleyballClub(LLVC). People’s Post spoketothe youngplayerto hear this thoughts on howheand histeamwere faring in theIPT
This is the firsttimehe’srepresentingWestern Province (WP) sincefalling in love with volleyball last year
On hearinghehad received hisWPcolours he
THECOACHES FOCUSED MORE ON TEAMWORK THAN INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
said he was“incredibly excited”
“Itwas amix of emotions.I didn’t want to celebratetoo much becausemybrother didn’t make theteam, butatthe same time Iwas incredibly excited. My family andfriends have been sendingmevoice notessayinghow proud they are.”Lastmonth,Ayabongaand hisbrother Siyabongaalsoensured theirclubclinched thecoveted boys’and girls’ teamstitlesatthe Cape Town VolleyballFederation(CTVF)u-19 YouthDay Championships.
“Weplayedour firstmatch againstNorth West andbeatthem3-0.We’re in agroup of four teams, so we play threegroup matches, whilethe otherpool hasonlythree teams,”he said Ayabonga helped lead histeamtoanother victorywhentheybestedtheir next opponent, Limpopo, proved to be atough competitor,he said “After beatingNorth West,wefaced Limpopo,
whowerethe previous champions. That match wasmuchmoreintense becausetheyreally challenged us,but we stucktoour game plan, stayed composed,controlledthe ball andmade sure we putthemunder pressure before they coulddothe same to us.Wealsobeatthem 3-0.”
On Thursday 9July, they facedMpumalanga, whohavestrongmiddleblockers, accordingto Ayabonga
He said leadinguptothe tournament training hasbeen very intense.
“Our coachespushedusfromthe start. They hadone goal forus: to play ourbestgame. The week before thetournamentwerepeatedthe
AyabongaBerryand his team pose fora group photobefore their match. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
same playsand drills over andoveruntil they became second nature.”
Thecoaches focusedmoreonteamworkthan individual performances.“They told us that everyone whomadethe team alreadyhad the talent,sonow we needed to become astrong team.Itdoesn’t matterwhether we argueoff the court; once we’reonthe court, we play together.That’sexactly what we’vedone. We enjoy ourselves, we play with smiles on ourfaces and back oneanother.”
HeathfieldHighSchool principalNadia Aanhuizenwas beamingwithpride at Ayabonga's selectiontothe team andwishedthema successful tournament
one of the playstobeperformed at the festival. PHOTO:SUPPLIED
Humanityfest launches with a procession
ArtscapeTheatre litupfor thelaunch of the20thedition of theWomen’s Humanity Festival on Wednesday8 July as guestgatheredatthe Chandelier Foyer, marking70years sincethe historic 1956 Women’sMarch andcelebrating Artscape’s own55thanniversary.
Theevening opened with avibrant arrival procession by WomenUnite,led by Thandi Swaartbooi,followedbya moving welcomeperformance,while Ingrid Jones, co-founder and Editor-in-ChiefofMikatekoMedia,reminded theaudiencethatchangeisnot createdbyone heroic individual butbycommunities that refusetostopcaring, that acttogetherand keep walkingtogether.
NancyRichardsand thewomen of Woman Zone unveiled theirbeautiful Everywoman
FESTIVAL CALLSON EVERYONE TO MOVE BEYOND REMEMBRANCE INTOMEANINGFUL ACTION
Artscape CEOMarlene le Roux welcomed singer,songwriterand producer Jimmy Nevis whoannounced theperformance of hisanthem “Prey”,a rallying cryagainst SouthAfrica’sGBV crisis,following theannual Women’sHumanityWalkfromthe Cape Town CivicCentreto Artscape on Women’sDay,9 August
Le Roux said theFestivalisabout transformingremembrance into responsibility “Gender-basedviolencecontinues to devastate ourcommunities andpersons with disabilities
Kirstenboschbringsfree winterfunforfamilies
Winter Wondersprogramme is back at the Kirstenbosch National BotanicalGardenuntil Monday 20 July.The programme startedon Saturday 27 June andoffersfamiliesa mixof creative andoutdoor activities during theschool holidays
Children aged 17 andunder enterthe garden freelyfor thedurationofthe programme.Familieswho have notbooked in advancecan also secure afreeticketatthe Kirstenbosch ticket office on arrival.
“WinterWonders is aboutcreatingmeaningful,memorable momentsinnature, especially forfamiliesduringthe winter school holidays,” says SarahStruys, Events andTourism Manager at Kirstenbosch.“With free entryfor children andactivitiesthatcombine creativity,culture andenvironmental learning,wecontinueto make Kirstenbosch aspace wherefamiliescan spendtimetogetherwhile connectingwith nature.”
SOMETHINGFOREVERYCHILD,EVERYDAY
TheHappy by Nature area runs dailyand offershands-onactivitiesfor youngervisitors. Children cantakepartinpot-a-plant sessions, wheretheyplant theirown indigenous plants to
take home.Rockpaintingtables, acosynature corner with achalkboardwalland building blocks,and aself-guided scavengerhunt throughthe nursery— completedwitha parent —round outthe dailyprogramme
RHYTHM,ARTANDGUIDEDWALKSATMOYO
From Tuesdays to Fridays, visitors canjoin marimbaand drumming sessions, trysandart, or take part in guided garden walksatMoyo restaurant
Theguidedgardenwalks aredesignedfor children aged sixto12and runbetween 12:00 to 13:00. Each walk ends with acomplimentary hotchocolate at Moyo.Groupsmeet at the restaurant.Today (14July),a guided bird walk suitable forall ages will be ledbyFelicityEllmore from theCapeBirdClub.
Visitors canexplore thegarden’sscenicwalkingpaths, find aquiet picnic spot,orwarmup with amealatMoyo, Fynkos or Vida eCaffé. TheBookshop andGiftShopare offeringdiscounts throughout theschool holidays Spotsonthe guided garden walksmustbe booked in advanceonDineplan. . Formoreinformation,contact gianpaolo@ botsoc-kirstenbosch.org.za.
CapeTownbreakstourism records—butnotdomestic
Cape Town’s tourismsectorhas recorded a landmark year,witha newreportrevealing record visitornumbers,revenue andjob creation across thecity.
Cape Town Tourism’s2025EconomicValue of Tourismreportshows thesectorgenerated approximatelyR24,5 billion in direct tourism spendlastyear, with R19billion of that coming from internationalvisitors.
Tourismaccountedfor 6,3% of thecity’stotal grossvalue addedand sustainedmorethan106 000 jobs.“Tourismisone of themostpowerful toolswehavefor creating jobs anddriving economicgrowthinCapeTown,”saidMayco memberfor economic growth andtourism James Vos. “These resultsshowthatour strategy is working. By focusing on theright marketsand campaignsthatconvert interest into bookings,
2030 aims to increase visitorspendingtoR34 billion anddoubletourism jobs to over 200000 by theend of thedecade. “CapeTowndoesnot standstill. We invest,innovate andcompete My ambition is to seetourism create opportunities in everycommunity andsupport more jobs across ourcity.”
However, thereporthighlighted asharp contrastindomestictourism performance. Local tourismspend fell approximately32% from R8 billion in 2024 to R5,5 billion last year,despite domestic overnightvisitor numbersremaining closetointernational figuresataround1,42 million
Theaverage stay fordomesticvisitorsdropped from 5,2nightsto4,4 nights,withdaily spend decliningtoR882
CelesteMathews Wannenburg and Gaireyah Frederickswithanexcerpt of KomFietnaSaam,
