As 2024 draws to a close, the Southern Suburbs Tatler takes a look back at the news which made our headlines.

The year kicked off with support for Palestine as more than 200 people gathered outside the Tennyson Street mosque in Salt River to sound an interfaith call for peace (“Interfaith call for peace in Palestine”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, January 11).

We had our first-day-of-school pictures and cheered for the matric class of 2023 as the results were announced.

Schools in the southern suburbs delivered excellent results, as always, with Cannons Creek Independent, St George’s Grammar School, Herschel Girls’, Rosebank Progress College, Rustenberg Girls’ High School, SACS, Seven Steps Academy for the Deaf, Star College, St Joseph’s College and Westerford all achieving a 100% matric pass rate (“Southern suburbs’ schools ace matric exams”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, January 25).

Dryden Street Primary School in Salt River was burgled and vandalised in February, with teachers arriving to find the windows had been broken and R2 500 stolen from the office (“Dryden Street Primary burgled, vandalised”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, Thursday February 8).

Rustenburg Girls’ Junior School celebrated its 130th anniversary this year (“Rustenburg Girls’ Junior School looks back on 130 years”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, February 8).

We reported on the upgrades and repairs that had taken place at Kenilworth racecourse (“Kenilworth racecourse back on track”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, February 15).

Whhile crime in Kenwyn and Rondebosch East had seen an increase as Lansdowne police chief Colonel Michael van der Bergh shared the latest figures at a public meeting at the Range Road hall in Kenwyn in March (“Crime up in Kenwyn, Rondebosch East", Southern Suburbs Tatler, March 7). Armed robberies at homes and businesses, thefts, and drug possession are among the 510 crimes reported for the Kenwyn and Rondebosch East area from the beginning of August last year to the end of February.

In April, we reported on the Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA’s) plans to demolish abandoned buildings on the corner of Railway and Tide streets, near Woodstock train station, which had become a haven for crime and squatting (“Plan to demolish railway buildings”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, April 4) and the Cape Town Society for the Blind celebrated its 95th anniversary.

The City planned to remove six public trees from a Newlands parking lot after they were infested with the polyphagous shot hole borer beetle in May (“Newlands trees fall prey to invasive beetle”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, May 16), while Oude Molen tenants were outraged by the provincial government’s plans to redevelop the site for social housing and mixed-use development (“Outrage over Oude Molen development bid”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, May 30).

In June, we reported on plans by Tommy Bruwer Town Planners to consolidate and rezone two residential plots in Rondebosch to establish a franchise restaurant (“Restaurant planned for residential Rondebosch”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, June 20), and the City released a new site in Newmarket Street, Woodstock for social housing (“City releases new site for inner-city social housing”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, June 27).

The City had to stop work on the Salt River Hall’s roof in July after it emerged the City did not have the necessary permit to work on the more-than-100-year-old building (“Salt River Hall faces uncertain future”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, July 11) and the Mater Domini home that takes care of destitute pregnant women appealed to the public to support them during their tough financial times (“Home for abandoned pregnant women in need of help”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, July 18).

Pupils at Pinelands High School were suspended and faced disciplinary action in August after a video on social media showed what appeared to be pupils running a mock slave auction (“Suspensions at Pinelands High over ‘slave auction’”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, August 1) and the Salt River community mourned the loss of Abdullah Abbas, the owner of the famous family-owned butchery who was considered by many to be a “pillar in the community” (“Salt River mourns its butchery king”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, August 15).

Hundreds of people, both hearing and deaf, took part in the 10th annual Silent Walk in Newlands.

More than 300 people took part in the 10th annual Silent Walk in Newlands in September to bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing (“Hundreds join 10th annual Silent Walk”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, September 12) and former residents of Harfield Village, Claremont and Newlands who were evicted during Apartheid were given a warm welcome by current Harfield Village residents during the third annual Walk of Remembrance (“Harfield Village welcomes visit by former residents”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, September 26).

The Young Guiding Stars Sacred String Band led the Walk of Remembrance, which started at Livingstone High School.

A 62-year-old Chinese national was shot in the Howard Centre parking lot in October. Several shots were fired, and the man was hospitalised after taking a bullet to the chest (“Bullets fly in Howard Centre parking lot”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, October 17) and the Newlands community mourned the loss of long-time shopowner Mushtaq Dawood Bhatkar who reportedly died due to heart failure (“Newlands cafe owner was ‘one in a million’”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, October 31).

In November, we reported that the Claremont Dramatic Society, one of Cape Town’s oldest theatre associations, was ready to rebuild. They were one of only two remaining theatre associations that had managed to stay afloat in the wake of the pandemic, but were short of committee members, leading to a hiatus in its theatrical activities (“Drama society ready to rise up”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, November 7).

The body of 66-year-old Dhananjaya Verdarajalo Naidoo, of Kenwyn, was found in Newlands Forest, after he had gone missing on Saturday November 16. His family had reported him missing and launched search operations in the forest. His body was found on Wednesday November 20, about 10 metres off the Contour Path (“‘He left this world doing what he loved’”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, November 28). Medical reports indicated that the former teacher had passed away from a heart attack.

This month, several dozen protesters gathered near Amazon’s SA headquarters in the new Riverlands development as part of a global campaign accusing the online retail giant of labour abuses, environmental degradation and threats to democracy (“Protesters tackle Amazon at its new HQ”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, December 5) and we reported that the Basic Education and Skills Training (Best) College in Salt River will close its doors after 25 years due to a lack of funding (“School for struggling pupils to close”, Southern Suburbs Tatler, December 12).

The Southern Suburbs Tatler team thanks everyone who has contributed to its stories this year and looks forward to sharing more news in the new year.

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