The Southern Suburbs Tatler looks back on some of the stories that made headlines during 2022, the year when society returned to some sense of normality after two years of Covid restrictions.
In January, southern suburbs schools shone in the matric exam results, despite the lingering pressures posed by the pandemic. SACs, Bishops, Michael Oak Waldorf School, Vista Nova School, Westerford High School, Rustenburg Girls’ High School and Star College all scored 100% pass rates (“Matrics shine despite another tough year,” Tatler, January 27).
At the end of the month, Olivia Sieff, 18, who had recently matriculated at Herschel Girls School, was killed in a hit and run outside a Claremont nightclub in the early hours of Sunday (“Woman held after teen dies in hit and run,” Tatler, February 3)
Groote Schuur Hospital received R5 million from Gift of the Givers to help it catch up with surgeries that were put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic (“NGO helps Groote Schuur catch up with surgeries,” Tatler, January 27)
In March, a Western Cape High Court ruling halted the R4.6 billion River Club development (“High Court halts River Club development,” Tatler, March 24). More legal battles followed through the course of the year until November when the court gave the development the green light, saying the ruling that had interdicted the development from proceeding had been “induced by fraud” (“Court victory for River Club developers,” Tatler, November 10)
In early May, District Six claimants started to move into the 108 new homes in Hanover Street, but some of the elderly claimants complained that they would have to climb stairs to reach their front doors (“D6 claimants have mixed feelings about flats,” Tatler, June 2)
In July, a 51-year-old armed-response guard, Mthobeli Ndyumbu was gunned down near the abandoned Claremont Bowls Club during a night in which three security guards were attacked (“Armed-response guards targeted in shootings,” Tatler, July 28 and “Slain guard mourned by the community he protected,” Tatler August 4).
Many businesses, organisations and households were left reeling by non-stop load shedding in July (“Businesses take a beating from blackouts,” Tatler, July 8).
After two years of restrictions, many charities that had taken a beating during the pandemic were finally able to hold in-person fundraising events again.
In June, the CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation had a fund-raising fun run in Sybrand Park for National Cancer Survivors Day (“Community supports cancer home fund-raiser,” Tatler, June 9)
In September, thousands attended the food fair held by the Western Province Chinese Association (“Chinese food fair back with a bang in Observatory,” Tatler, September 29).
Later in the month, well-known Observatory mother, business owner and social and civic activist Kimon Bisogno died in a shark attack at Plettenberg Bay (“Community mourns loss of Kiki,” Tatler, September 29)
In November, mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis attended the Claremont Improvement District Company (CIDC) annual general meeting where he spoke about homeless and developing a functioning infrastructure (“Claremont sewers under strain, warns CIDC,” Tatler, November 17).
A new rooftop farm, which launched in November on top of Kenilworth Centre, is working towards food security and developing new skills for the unemployed (“New rooftop farm in Kenilworth,” Tatler, December 15).