OBS Junior School boasts an astronomy club which has successfully made it through all four rounds of the regional astronomy quiz competition, beating 80 schools, to represent the Western Cape at the nationals in Gauteng in October.
Every year, Obs Junior joins the quiz to encourage grade-seven learners to consider a science and maths path in high school.
Obs Junior teacher Margaret Rosberg, who has been running the club since 2007, says that astronomy incorporates science in a fun way. “We hope that they will follow a science career once they leave school,” she said.
FORMER Obs Improvement District COO Brian Amery has called on residents to use the newly formed ward committee as a way of communicating long-term problems and ideas with the City.
Brian is the Observatory representative on the new Ward 57 committee, under which Obs falls.
Ward committees are representative structures set up in terms of the Local Government Municipal Structures Act. They are a consultative committee established to assist councillors with strategic ward-related issues.
Ward committees in the City of Cape Town serve for a term of five years, and Ward 57 councillor Brett Herron, who was elected last year, recently put together his local committee for the new term.
Brian was nominated onto the committee by the Observatory Civic Association. He is one of eight community representatives, each representing a different part of Ward 57.
At the first meeting of the Ward 57 Ward Committee, Brett consulted the committee members on ward-allocation projects.
The City gives about R700 000 per year to each ward councillor for spending on local ward projects. The ward committee helped Brett compile a list of projects.
Brian says he put forward a wish list of 63 items ranging from a heating system for the municipal swimming pool, to a four-way speed hump at the intersection of Trill and Lower Main Road.
The committee recently discussed the wish list, and a few of Brian’s ideas were flagged as implementable. The next step is for Brett to finalise which projects will be chosen and submit them to Subcouncil 15, under which Ward 57 falls, for approval.
Feedback about what has been prioritised will be given at the next ward committee meeting, set for November.
Brian says a few Observatory projects which he feels have a good chance of making it onto the final list, include the raised Trill Road intersection and park benches.
Brian says he is available to act as a channel of communication to Brett and the City Council, but not for petty issues such as potholes that need to be fixed. Those issues can be raised through the C3 complaints monitoring system of the City by emailing contactus@capetown.gov.za or SMSing 31373.
Contact Brian at amery@iafrica.com
See www.obslife.co.za for progress on already committed ward projects.
CRIME is down in Observatory, says Ursula van Stavel, Observatory Improvement District’s (OBSID’s) COO, but she warns that complacency has taken hold among residents and is threatening the survival of community-driven safety initiatives.
Ursula said perceptions are that crime is decreasing, but added that she was still awaiting the latest official statistics from the Woodstock police to confirm.
It is clear, though, that Observatory is still the highest contributor to crime in the Woodstock precinct, mostly because of the high volumes of theft out of motor vehicles. This happens mainly when objects are left visible in cars.
Ursula believes that an unfortunate spin off of the lower general crime levels is complacency among residents.
This has had a devastating effect on community-driven safety initiatives, such as the Observatory Neighbourhood Watch (ONW).
She constantly tries to recruit members to the ONW and makes an urgent call on the community to sign up.
Ursula said crime in Observatory tends to come in waves, and the latest is a spate of house-breaking in the past month.
She says that most of the criminals are young males from Salt River and are often addicted to drugs.
The Observatory Public Safety (OPS) patrols have identified the Shelley Road soccer field as an escape route for criminals, because of a broken fence that leads onto Robins Road. Ursula has approached Brett Herron, Ward 57 Councillor, about the possibility to have access closed off at night.
Because night-time crime tends to increase during summer, the OBSID plans to strengthen its night-time patrols.
The OBSID’s public safety function will be strengthened by three recruits from the Chrysalis Academy, which rehabilitates young adults who are at risk of falling into a life of crime.
Ursula says Chrysalis runs a highly successful programme in training youngsters to turn their lives around. The three interns will join the patrols in November.
The OBSID’s daily routine is to meet with the OPS to discuss the previous night’s incidents, and identifying the crime hotspots. This information is then used to work out where the patrols should be concentrated and where the mobile patrolling station should be placed.
Commenting on the patrollers recent brave pursuit of armed robbers, Ursula said that yet again they have performed beyond the call of duty and that they are “totally dedicated to their work”.
Ursula said one of the biggest problems experienced with the OBSID’s public safety project is the language barrier between the control room and callers from the community. Often calls are misunderstood or aren’t conveyed properly to the patrollers, because the centre operator struggles with English.
Ursula has requested that the security contractor appoints a control-room operator who is fluent in English.
The Observatory library was chosen as a pilot site for a library-based book club, and hosts book club meetings on the first Saturday of each month.
Nadia Ismail, the librarian in charge of the book club, says the project was kept very low-key in the pilot phase, which ran from April to September. The idea of library book clubs is currently under review, and will continue as usual until the City makes its final decision. If the project works, the City will be launching a book-club system for all libraries by next year.
Nadia said that it is a very informal book club, and there are about ten regular members. They’ve managed to read widely, from romances by JR Ward to the memoirs of the Duke of Windsor.
The book club meets every first Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30 am at the library.
Meanwhile, a Sub-council 15 quarterly library report revealed that Obs library had 8741 visitors from April to June, up from 7110 people in the previous quarter. Nadia says the library is traditionally busier in the winter months than in summer. The library’s membership now stands at about 6 000. In the last quarter, 99 new members signed up.
Apart from the usual books, CDs, DVDs and newspapers, the library also offers free internet access to members.
The library provides residents with holiday activities for the children as well as weekly story telling sessions, and the Friends of Obs Library knit baby beanies and socks for the Mowbray maternity ward.
LYTTON Road residents are taking initiative to combat the crime in their street by raising funds to install CCTV cameras on certain houses.
The residents have been holding meetings to raise R33 000 for 14 CCTV cameras. With 50 homes in the street, this could theoretically be raised if each household contributes R660.
David Raphael, a Lytton Road resident and former Observatory Neighbourhood Watch chair, said that the impetus for the project was a recent incident in which 20 tyres were punctured in the street.
So far, R9 000 has been raised for the cameras from residents and from the Green Elephant Backpackers on the corner of Lytton and Milton Road.
David said that a camera will be placed on the front of certain houses.
Green Elephant owner Howard Richman has offered the security system of his business as the monitoring station for the cameras. But David said that soon they may find a dedicated monitoring station for the project.
The minutes of the meetings held so far have gone up on the project’s own website, www.lyttonroad.co.za.
The cameras they are aiming for will have night vision and motion sensors, said David.
THE gutted Barmooda building is finally being repaired after months of delay following the petrol bombing of the controversial nightclub.
The building on the corner of Lower Main Road and Station Road has been an eyesore since the arson attack at the end of June this year.
Renovation was set to start in September, but was delayed because the Zhauns Property Group, the company which owns the Barmooda building, was negotiating with the insurance company over whose contractors would do the work.
It was finally decided that the insurance company would appoint contractors to repair the building, and Precision Maintenance Services (PMS) from Heathfield recently started the contract. They are currently removing rubble and cleaning the building before starting repairs.
Ash Almed from the Zhauns Property Group estimated that the job would be finished in about five months.
They have reiterated that Barmooda would not return as tenant.
THE mystery that gripped Observatory after 43-year-old Paule-Henry Botha, a resident of Cranko Road, disappeared on his morning jog dissolved when the Woodstock Police viewed CCTV footage of him withdrawing money and boarding a train at the Cape Town Station.
Overstretched Woodstock policemen had to spend hours requesting and searching through footage after distraught housemates of the Observatory-based chef reported him missing.
On the day of his disappearance, R 3000 was withdrawn from his account at Cape Town station and fear gripped Observatory as desperate missing-person alerts were circulated. But fears that he had been kidnapped evaporated after the footage showed him calmly boarding a long-distance train by himself.
Hilton Malila, media liaison for the Woodstock police, said that the police closed the case after seeing the footage, saying that he clearly left of his own free will. Bank ATM footage, as well as CCTV coverage of the Cape Town station, showed Paule carrying two tog bags, and wore a yellow jacket and blue jeans.
This was different from the jogging clothes in which his best friend and house mate, Jana Cloete, saw him last. Jana and her network went through harrowing days and nights as they desperately searched for their missing friend. She took off work to search. Paule’s employers, for whom he worked as a chef and butler, had hired an expensive private detective.
Paule's former partner flew down to Cape Town from Johannesburg to help with the search, and even called in the help of a psychic.
On the morning of Paule’s alleged abduction, he dropped Jana and her boyfriend at the Obs train station. It was the last time she would see Paule, who was dressed for his usual morning jog.
Jana sounded the alert when Paule did not return home, and she saw his car keys, cell phone and work clothes laid out in his room as though he had never returned from his jog.
While the search was still under way, Jana became emotional when she told ObsLife that she sent him many emails just in case he had run away, but was convinced that he would not do such a thing.
But after the news emerged of the CCTV footage, she responded to ObsLife’s questions via email: “I am tired, tired, tired. I don't really know what I feel. I do know I am so thankful that he is alive and not hurt or in trouble somewhere. I also know that it must have not been easy for him and something pushed him to it. I am feeling sorry for him and hope that he will be OK. He must be going through hectic emotions, I imagine, or perhaps not? I cannot say. I don't know if any of us really ever get to know other people. People scare me a bit now."
THE lively drug trade bubbling barely below the surface in Obs burst out into the open when a suspect fled a police operation, raced down Trill Road in an Opel Corsa and rammed into a stationary car in front of Mimi in Lower Main Road.
The Claremont crime intelligence unit and the Mowbray Police were involved in what appears to be a police sting gone wrong.
One Police source said weeks of detective work was wasted when a search of the suspect’s car revealed nothing.
The chase started outside Mezani Lounge in Main Road and involved several police vehicles. Lower Main between Trill and Station Road was instantly blocked off when the suspect smashed into the car.
The man, an unidentified foreign national, was cornered by four police vans and one private car, and a plain-clothes detective searched the vehicle. He ripped out floorboards, door panels, lifted seats, and checked below the car.
The suspect, believed to be a bartender at Mezani, was argumentative and kept on shouting at the police. He also argued with the owner of the maroon Ford into which he crashed.
He did not have drivers licence, and said the car belonged to his brother.
He was arrested when he tried to bar the police from continuing the search on his car. He was taken to the Mowbray police station, but was later released.
THE City
denies that the 50-year-old sewerage system in Observatory is the
underlying cause of the exponential increase in e.coli
levels in the Liesbeek River, but an
expert in charge of maintaining the river says that the sewerage
system is under strain and does require maintenance or an upgrade.
Recently,
figures from the Sub-council 15 report showed a huge rise in the
e.coli levels
in the Liebeek River. E.coli, a
common bacterium in the human digestive system,
is not necessarily a problem, but
high e.coli levels
may be an indication of risk because disease-causing germs are most
likely to be associated with increasing counts. The report warned
people not to swim or fish in the river.
The sewerage
system used in Observatory dates back fifty years and is built out of
pipes made from a glazed type of clay almost like pottery.
Gerald Theron,
retired sewerage, water and sanitation manager for the City, said it
would cost billions to replace the sewerage system. Not only will the
City have to replace the main pipes, but residents will also need to
replace their own pipes connecting their plumbing to the City’s
system.
Gerald said
that it is mostly not the pipes which are the problem, but the
joints. The old clay pipes use ropes which are corked into the joints
to seal them instead of rubber which are used on the newer pipes.The
ropes decay and rot away, causing the joints to leak. The clay also
starts to crack due to old age, causing the pipes to leak.
Gerald doubted
the link between the increasing e.coli
counts in the river and leakage,
explaining that the leakage is minimal and that the sewerage flows
efficiently to the Raapenberg pump station in Mowbray from where it
is pumped to the Athlone wastewater treatment works.
But Jason
Mingo, Liesbeek Maintenance Project manager, said: "My
personal view on the system is that it is under strain and does
require maintenance and possible upgrade.”
He says that from time to time there
is “back flow from the sewage system which then spills into the
storm water system and by doing so enters our rivers”.
Jason said, however, that these
events are “infrequent and isolated” and that it is not justified
to blame one factor for the increasing ecoli levels. He mentions
increased birdlife as another possible cause of the increase, as well
as homeless people living on the banks of the river and pollution
carried by wind into the river.
Gerald said
that the municipality does spot checks on the pipes by inserting
cameras to find cracks or leaking. They are given a budget to fix the
pipes in the city, and focus on areas with the most problems. The
city will respond to specific complaints from residents, he said.
THE Hortishop
would probably have been one of the better-known specimens in the
village’s quirky menagerie of businesses were they not stuck away
in a pokey corner in between some of the dodgier clubs on Lower Main.
Somehow, the
kite banner hopefully placed in front of the shop every day does
nothing for its visibility. Despite a name change to Hortishop two
years ago, the previous name Gro-shop still adorns the entrance.
But if the
co-owner and manager Trevor Owen’s description is anything to go
by, it is doing a roaring trade. This probably has to do with the
fact that it is the only hydroponics shop in Cape Town since 2003.
Hydroponics is
a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in
water, without soil. Hortishop sells soil, nutrients, beds and tools
to grow ones own hydroponics garden, and the shop extends to the back
garden where they have their own hydroponics garden and where they
garden organically too.
Even though
the shop has changed its name is hidden in a corner along Lower Main
Road, and even after they had merged and changed their named from
Gro-shop to Hortishop two years ago, Gro-shop is still the advertised
name at their shop.
A kite banner
is at the entrance of the shop . The shop is managed by co-owner
Trevor Owen and forms part of a business that has outlets in
Johannesburg, KZN and George.
Trevor grew up
in Birmingham, England, later ventured to work in Spain where he met
and started dating a South African woman. They then left Spain and
moved to South Africa and fell in love with the people and the
country. Trevor is a fomer Obs resident. “I won’t live in England
again permanently, will only go there on holiday. South Africa's my
home,” he said.
When ObsLife
asked Trevor why base the shop in Obs he said: ''This is the right
place to start a business. It's got the right sort of people who want
to grow their own vegetables, want to grow their own herbs. The
people in the city more shop at the supermarket and people down here
have their own food gardens going, there's a community garden,”
said Trevor, and joked: “There's a lot of students around here,
they like to grow their favourite plants.”
Apart from
hydroponics, the Hortishop also advises people with worm farming and
organic gardening.
The Little
Growers is a charity project
organised and sponsored by the Hortishop to help under-privileged
orphanages and schools to grow their own vegetable gardens. They
assisted with the Obs Junior School's garden seven years ago, and is
currently helping a school in Thornton.
Volunteers are
always needed for the Little Growers
project. Trevor says people are
needed to either donate their time, or if unable to do so, donate
equipment and materials to make these projects possible.
Hortishop has
also introduced a mineral water range to aid the Little
Growers project. They are needing
outlets to stock the mineral water, charging R10 per 750ml and R7.50
per 500ml. All proceeds raised will go towards the project.
OBSERVATORY is home to the largest indoor
rock climbing facility in South Africa, which was started on the
corner of Collingwood and Anson Road ten years ago.
City Rock is
owned by climbing enthusiasts Robert Breyer and Charles Edelstein.
Observatory was the location of choice due to it being very central
for many as well as being close to various outdoor rock climbing
areas.
Tarryn
Maclean, the gym manager, said it often happens that Observatory
residents are unaware of City Rock and accidentally stumble into the
premises in search of something else and are amazed at what they had
found. The premises are situated in the industrial area of
Observatory, and do not hint at any rock climbing facilities from the
outside, looking exactly like any one of the small factories in the
street.
Tarryn, who
has been working for City Rock for eight and a half years, says that
they receive many clients from Obs, especially the foreign students
who have experience in rock climbing.
The business
has picked up a lot over the last three years, she says, with people
becoming more aware of it. The hosting of kiddies parties has also
boosted turnover.
They currently
have 25 personnel and 500 members, including famous climbers, such as
Paul Robertson, Marius Smigelski, Joe Mole, and Matthew Bush.
City Rock
offers three styles of rock climbing - top rope, where the ropes are
already set up for the climber; bouldering, which is about climbing
large boulders two to four meters off the ground without ropes, and
sport-lead-climbing, where a team of climbers use clips as they
ascend.
Lead climbing
gives more of a thrill for the climber because it is riskier.
City Rock,
with its high walls covered in brightly coloured grips, offers 190
different climbing routes, including caves, spread over 450 square
meters of climbing wall and a further 250 square meter bouldering
area. The most difficult route is graded 27.
Tarryn says
the climbing equipment shop at City Rock is the largest in South
Africa. Members or visitors who don’t have their own gear can hire
it at R50 per session.
Apart from
lessons for first-time climbers, at R200 each, yoga classes are also
offered.
At City Rock
kiddies parties, held for six or more, the children climb for one and
half hours. Gear and facilitators are included.
City Rock
opens seven days a week. Monday to Thursday they are open from 9am to
9pm, Fridays they open from 9am to 6pm, and Saturday, Sunday and
public holidays, they open from 10am to 6pm.
Alison Gathercole proves that neither Obs
nor entrepreneurship is the preserve of the youth. At age seventy,
she opened a new business at the Gateway to Obs centre where Lower
Main meets Main Road.
Alison worked
as a bookkeeper for many years, and decided to start the new venture
when she completed a nail technician course. This led her to team up
with three fellow course-goers and start Alison’s Nail Boutique.
She had to
fight her family's concern and disapproval, but at the recent launch,
her son Michael Gathercole, expressed his pride in her achievement.
"I am also proud of myself, but don't tell anyone," Alison
joked to ObsLife.
Although it
has been a slow start to business, Alison says she is positive about
the business picking up. Her salon offers acrylic or gel nail
enhancements, manicures, pedicures, waxing, eyebrows and lashes,
massages and facial treatments.
Call 021 447
1181 to book an appointment.
