What can you do for your Plainsman

View of Eastridge taken from Melomed Hospital

 Perhaps it is time that we consider that a society is judged by the way they treat the poor. Nothing can be further from the truth that Plainsman don't treat its poor properly.

NGO's are struggling to help various communities through assistance and services. Most of the times these NGO's operate without government funding or funding from corporates. Lack of funds severely restrict the type of help that NGO's offer the communities they operate in. 

Self employed and proud of it

Unfortunately very little assistance comes from ordinary Plainsman who are in a position to effect change either via their services or their pockets. Yet people in despair and hopelessness would welcome help from anyone, does'nt matter how small. 

Making ends meet

Plainsman who are self-employed should not have restrictive municipal laws to discourage the opportunity to help themselves. The City Managers should welcome the initiatives taken by Plainsman who create legitimate employment opportunities for themselves and others in the community.

Big business and corporates should also create space and opportunity for communities to grow their businesses by sharing and also providing skills to those looking for such opportunities.  As mentioned  in a previous article, Mitchells Plain is a gold mine for those who invest in it. But the investment will be trebled or quadrupled if they in invest more in the human resources Mitchells Plain has at its disposal and not only as cheap labour.

It is time that Plainsman bring back the spirit of ubuntu that used to be the nature of the people of District Six. Though most of our people are generally poor it does not mean we should not help one another. 

We can and will make the difference if we try......

The good, the bad and the very very ugly

If you wondering, yes this is a part of Mitchells Plain

Coming from Athlone on Vanguard Drive a sign welcomes you to Mitchells Plain and for a wee moment you see some beautiful natural creations and oh yes lovely homes but almost hidden are scenes of abject poverty.

Wedding picture taken in the Westridge Gardens

 Mitchells Plain has numerous facilities, both private and public. However at the current moment public services like the Mitchells Plain Day Hospital does not adequately care for the needs of Mitchells Plain residents. A new hospital opened recently but it still has not alleviated the problems faced at the Mitchells Plain Day Hospital. At this stage I don't want to elaborate but just mention the issues with the City of Cape Town municipality's service delivery.

There are a number of good schools in the Plain that has consistently produced good results since its founding. Then you have the exceptional schools that despite its past gangster infection, has rehabilitated and has blossomed to become leading schools in the Western Cape. Mondale and Spine Road High Schools are such examples with the latter even hosting a FET college, namely False Bay College.

Spine Road High going places

A great number of professionals comes from Mitchells Plain among others, doctors, lawyers, engineers, educators, nursing sisters and the list goes on. Of course we can't leave out our celebrity politicians after-all the current mayor of the City of Cape Town, Her Duchessness Patricia De Lille lived in the Plain for a while.

The Plain also boasts 3 big malls and a number of smaller ones together with an industrial hive provides a significant amount of jobs for the area.

An entrance to the Town Centre Mall

Mitchells Plain has always been a gold mine for bigger corporations which has a tendency to monopolise instead of working with Plainsman (Mitchells Plain residents) through home industries, hawkers and other smaller players to increase employment opportunities.

Westgate Mall

Prevailing unemployment is a major contributing factor to gangsterism, drugs and other criminal vices which have become quite common in Mitchells Plain. Recently certain sectors have been held at ransom while police declared it no go areas, leaving innocent civilians at their own peril. That says mountains about our police services.

The people of Mitchells Plain are so busy looking after the needs of their families that they don't even notice how their city is being managed. Perhaps............

Oh Mitchells Plain

A view of a section of Mitchells Plain taking from the top of the dune in Dagbreek avenue, Westridge.

I was but a young boy when Mitchells Plain was found. At the time Mitchells Plain was a windswept, sandy and dusty place to be.

Welcoming visitors

Most  people visiting or even the first residents because of the distance from Cape Town, Wynberg and Claremont, considered it to be in another time zone.

Mitchells Plain was meant to be a relief to the overpopulated dumping grounds (Manenberg, Lavender Hill, Bonteheuwel etc.) of the apartheid regime's Group Areas Act of 1950. The purpose of the Act was to cleanse prime areas of black, coloured and indian people so that whites could live in peace and quiet.

Most of those that moved to stay in Mitchells Plain did so because it was cheap to do so and they had no other alternative. Initially people from the townships frowned upon those who chose to stay in Mitchells Plain. To an extent they pitied Mitchells Plain residents and often you would hear that the people in Mitchells Plain would hang their used tea bags on the line to dry and then re-use it. Naturally the latter was not true. 

Lillies drape the dunes during September

Today a lot of people still flock to Mitchells Plain because you still get affordable housing. A number of things have changed since then. Not all of it for the better though.

I moved to Mitchells Plain because I wanted to live there and secondly it was within my wage bracket or the other way around.  

Coming from Athlone on Vanguard Drive a sign welcomes you to Mitchells Plain and for a wee moment you see some beautiful natural creations and oh yes lovely homes but..................